Chapter One - Distinctive
"I can't believe he's here in Panem! Do you think we'll be lucky enough to meet him?" A red-headed girl bounced up and down happily with her equally excited friends surrounding her. They were laughing, giggling, and staring at the large poster hanging across the streets from them.
"He's so gorgeous..." The short blond said, trailing away from her sentence.
ha
"Who is that anyway?" The brunette girl standing beside her gawking friends was bluntly chewing on a croissant. She was hopelessly waiting for them to continue walking again in the lively streets of Panem.
One girl gasped dramatically. "You don't know who he is? He's Gale - Gale Hawthorne! He is only the sexiest male model EVER! Katniss, you should have known this by now!"
"Annie," Katniss signed impatiently. "I don't care about any of this stuff. What I do care about is you, me, and Prim going back home."
"Fine. Fine."
Katniss scrolled down list of available jobs, unhappy that every single job was either too difficult or barely had any kind of decent salary that could last her for a full month. Katniss had already finished high school; college was something that she wasn't aiming for and her younger sister, Primrose, was the only living family member she cared about. Their mother had went off to marry a rich beau five months ago, leaving them behind in their somewhat decent house. Strangely, the woman also left behind fifty thousand dollars in hopes that her children would forgive her for leaving at such a sudden time.
"Cashier, toilet scrubber, catsitter..."
The bright colors of one particular advertisement caught her eye. She examined it curiously before grabbing the house's only phone to call the number listed on the ad.
"Hello?"
"Hi, I'm interested in that job offer you posted online."
The woman at the other end cheered happily, causing Katniss to flinch and pull the phone a few inches away from her. "Yes! I need an assistant right away. If you could please come to the address l put on the ad, then we can start as soon as possible."
Katniss sighed in relief. "When do I st-?"
"Now."
The advertisement's main location was not what Katniss had expected it to be. She stood in front of a large building down in the busiest city of Panem. High-end stores were all over the place with several tall company buildings smacked right into all the chaos of people and vehicles going up and down the street. It was almost pitch black in the night, but the lights of the city made it seem like the city itself was alive, and indeed it was. Katniss reluctantly found the strength to finally go inside the building, heading in the direction of the female receptionist who instantly settled her dark brown eyes onto Katniss' gray ones.
"You must be the new assistant. Please follow me to Miss Shim's office."
The woman gestured for Katniss to come into the elevator with her. She quickly pressed one button, and in a matter of seconds, they were both standing on the twenty-eighth floor. Company employees were all over the place. Many were clutching onto several sheets of paper filled in with important information or typing at the computers.
"Just take a right over there and stop when you see the large white door."
"But there are so many doors here. How will I-?"
The receptionist interrupted her. "You'll know when you've found it."
Katniss paused for a minute, staring at the doors of the elevator she had just ridden, but the whole traveling process to the job's location was way too long. She fumbled through the floor, checking every white door that she passed. The fact was - all the floor's doors were white. It took about a half an hour until Katniss found that one particular large white door. Nervously, she knocked on it.
A young blond girl answered the door.
"Welcome! I've been waiting for you," She greeted happily. "You're my new assistant, is that correct? My name is Glimmer Shim - Shim's for Shimmer. The modeling agency thought that shortening my name was better than having it said fully. Oh, wait! I haven't invited you inside yet. Come in. Come in."
"I'm Katniss Everdeen. I guess I'll be working in your company from now on." Katniss stated as she stepped into Glimmer's office.
"This is my father's company, but he's away right now." It wasn't hard to notice Glimmer's bubbly tone change to a more serious-like one. It was safe to assume that she didn't get along well with her father, and perhaps her mother too.
"Anyway," Glimmer sighed. "I need you to accompany me to a party tonight."
"To be honest, Miss, I'm not really fit for a party right now."
"Just call me Glimmer like everyone else does. And don't worry about that, Katniss. I have people who specialize for these type of events." With a small phone call, two stylists came into the room.
"Cinna! Holly! I need you both to help my assistant prepare for a night party today. We'll be leaving within two hours."
"Right this way," The male stylist said gently, holding out his hand to Katniss. She hesitated for a moment, but eventually agreed to be be 'stylized'.
"This won't hurt, right?"
"Right...of course."
Something in the stylist's tone told Katniss otherwise.
"You look gorgeous, Katniss. Are you ready?" Glimmer came into the dressing room. She was in a beautiful red cocktail dress that went down to her knees; her hair was put into a very elegant bun, and the matching red heels she was wearing only added to her tall height. Cinna and Holly had already left, leaving their 'work' to go examine herself.
Katniss looked at herself in the mirror. She was taken aback slightly by what she saw - herself with her long brunette hair curled together into a tight twist ending with more curls at the bottom. She wore an emerald green one shoulder cocktail dress, and her feet were adorned by a black set of stiletto heels, which she was still trying to get comfortable walking around with.
"Yeah, I am."
"I have a limo waiting for us outside. Come on."
The girls quickly went down to the main floor, exited the building, and went inside the long black limousine parked conveniently next to the entrance. Katniss sat uncomfortably in the car seat. Glimmer was sitting next to her, using a small makeup compact to put on a slight tint of lipstick. Their driver took a head start doing his job, and it wasn't long before they stopped in front of a huge mansion. Several other limousines and a few cars were already parked at the location, but there were still people arriving. Katniss peered outside the car window, observing the many glamorous guests walking out of their vehicles into the parking lot.
"Miss." The sudden voice of the driver startled her, making Katniss realize that Glimmer was already standing outside, waiting for her to come out.
"Sorry."
"We're missing all the fun!"
"What on earth am I supposed to do here anyway?"
"You're a guest and besides, we have to go meet up with my boyfriend."
Glimmer pulled Katniss into the mansion's main room where people were talking to each other, or gathering around the refreshments table. Katniss felt like she was in a completely different atmosphere. It was strange being around the high-society.
"Glimmer." A young male suddenly come toward Glimmer, giving her a slight peck on the lips, to which she responded strongly back to. The male was tall, handsome, and had short brown hair. He looked familiar...
Could it be?...
"Katniss, this is Gale."
"You're the new assistant, right? Pleasure to meet you."
"Gale? Hawthorne?"
"You say that like it's a bad thing." He laughed.
"No. No. I was just shocked. My friends are huge fans of yours."
The conversation was cut short when Glimmer and Gale went off to get some drinks. Meanwhile, Katniss was left alone.
"I better find something to do." She muttered to herself.
"Lost?" It seemed like everyone just loved to startle her.
"What the..."
Katniss turned around to meet the eyes of a tall male with noticeably blond hair. He was extremely handsome.
"No. Just left behind."
"I'm Cato." He chuckled, placing his drink on top of the table next to them.
"I'm Katniss Ever-"
"Cato, I didn't know you would come." Glimmer and Gale appeared somehow behind Katniss; their faces showed clear disdain.
"I was wondering when I'd see you two."
"If that's the case, we'll be moving over there."
Glimmer tugged Katniss along, but before she could, Cato grabbed Katniss forward toward him. He leaned down, low enough to whisper into Katniss' left ear.
"I'll see you later, Katniss."
Author's Note: I thought about this earlier when I got myself into a tight situation today. As for the future, the second chapter will be long, trust me. I just wanted to get the first chapter done before I did anything else today.
Tell me your thoughts. I'd love to hear them.
Also, this chapter has not been fully proofread yet. I promise I'll check it over again tomorrow. Please pardon any mistakes!