smooth sailing; frankel

[charade]

Sometimes, Katrina pitied the poor fucks unlucky enough not to be born in district four. What did they do for fun? Played with rocks or wandered alleyways for most of them, she assumed. Or shoveled cow crap from sun up until sun down. In four though, they had the ocean. The beach. Fishing. It was the happiest place on earth as far as she was concerned.

She walked down the shoreline, looking for a good spot to set up. She’d left her steel-toed boots at home for once, opting to go barefoot. Her bikini top was a deep green, and the bottom a pair of cut-off jeans, shortened to above her thighs. She liked to think having more of her legs exposed made her look taller. Even though she was pushing six foot, the presence it lent her was undeniable. That and the dark sunglasses.

Eventually, she found a decent spot, even though there were a couple of people around. Ones she recognized from the training center. Especially the one in the middle. Nevah Krearns. A girl from one of the families that people fell all over because they’d had tributes in the games. Big fucking deal. She thought sarcastically. It only mattered if you came home.

She wasn’t sure if she could say they were friends, but they knew each other. Had hung out in the same groupings of careers a couple times. Trained together. Bitch had a mouth on her, but Katrina could respect that as she had one too. However, unlike her, Nevah had enough charisma to have sycophants in her orbit. Or maybe it was just the family name. Seemed like she was popular enough that there were weak-minded careers ready to do whatever she said if it meant she was going to pay them attention.

Or maybe they just wanted a taste.

When she wasn’t trying to order people around, that Krearns girl was always sucking face, and rarely the same one twice. But hey, more power to her. If you got it, flaunt it, as the saying went. Bit of a control freak, but always up to do something fun. While Katrina could be prickly, she could tolerate people if they proved themselves. Like old Zedekiah whenever he’d gotten to. Shooting the shit in the locker room and drinking stolen beer? Good times.

Miss ya, Zeddy boy.

“Well, look what the tide dragged in,” she said, plunking down her small cooler and unfolding her lounge chair a few feet away. As usual, Nevah was being attended to by some goddamn simps, this time a wide-eyed girl that she’d probably convinced to buy her that ice cream to cool off, and a shirtless hunk of a young man that looked way too happy to be helping Nevah with her sunscreen.

She settled into her chair, leaning back and taking a cold beer out of the cooler, popping the top off and taking a swig. “Working on your tan today, Nevah? You do look a little pale.” She smirked. It was just a small jab. While she liked starting shit, that afternoon, relaxation was at the forefront of her mind.

[d6a georgie cham 🍓🐢 frankel]

It is all I hear nowadays, Niven, Niven, Niven, the unlikely progeny. Twins thrown the side in favour of the runt. Of course, its weak-minded Newt’s fault for father’s sudden disregard for us both. His near miss and my collapse of being at daddy’s standards. Well fuck all that intense career training. There will be no more extra-curriculum for me. Just the minimum to get me to nineteen, then I can be out of this hellish family.

There is only one good thing about being a part of my family and that is the name. A rotten but not forgotten name. It is been so long since Krearns was whispered in the games but still, I have these bitches and hoes at my side tending to me like the goddess I really ought to be. Other than a history in the slaughter match, there is nothing good about the Krearns family. We are just a pack of hypocrites, holding onto the fame the death of our cousins has brought us…I am honest about the fact that I take advantage of it.

Take the suave boy I have massaging sun lotion into my back right now; his family is probably one of the richest in District Four. A far grander bank than a Krearns kid could ever imagine. Now I basically have him on a leash just because I am a part of one of those families. Of course not many other families relish in their game’s history, I cannot remember the last time I bumped heads with a Cheyne kid…

The beach is the same as every other day. Packed with sun blocking beasts and kids screaming like gulls that should really be in their beds. ”I really need to work on these tan lines, these bikini straps are damn useless…” I tell the girl I picked up in the career centre last week, who offers me a vanilla cone with a waffle stick stuck in the top.

“Well, look what the tide dragged in,” My peace is disturbed by the intrusion of a very disrespectful girl. Another I have bumped heads with in the training centre, Katrina…can’t remember her last name as it is not an important one anyway. This girl, we really clash but there is a little speck of respect for her. Maybe just a tiny bit. ”Hey, can’t you move? You are blocking the sun.” I retaliate to the words of my so called paleness. If she can think she can hurt my feelings, she should really live with my father for…twenty-four hours. ”Do you have nobody else to sit with or have you lost your friends?”

[charade]

Katrina shifted her chair over a foot or so. Not because she cared about staying in a Krearns good graces, but because she didn’t feel like escalating things if she didn’t have to. But honestly, how was she in the way? “I don’t see a sign on this part of the beach with your name on it.” She grumbled instead.

Katrina moved her sunglasses to her forehead, raising an eyebrow quizzically at the other girl. She was one to talk, making a quip about friends. Did a vapid person like Nevah Krearns even know the meaning of the word? Those two hanger-on’s were definitely not friends. They were basically furniture. “No friends today,” she said simply, sliding the sunglasses back down and stretching out on her lounge chair.

“Just me and a coupla of beers.” It was a spot with a good view as well, just far enough away from the water’s edge that there was no danger of the tide coming in, but close enough to it that the sound of waves breaking on the shore could soothe a person into sleep. Maybe she’d go swimming after this, maybe she’d pour a beer out on Nevah’s head before she left.

You know, just because she could.

“Careful you don’t sit in the sun too long, you’ll look like a boiled lobster.” Hmm, maybe she should have said shrimp. Lobster was expensive after all, and games families were treated with a degree of awe, as though they were related to a victor or had big money. She yawned, Nevah seemed to be in rare form, not as prickly as she’d seen the girl be before.  She sighed. It was fun messing with people, but would it be a good idea right now, on her day off? 

“So this is your idea of fun then?” she said lazily, taking another swig. "Should have some music playing. Not much better than watching people dance." 

Damn. She should have brought a bag of chips. Or maybe a couple of sandwiches.