Prologue
Katniss sighed, she had always hated the limelight, but this was the easiest and fastest way should could earn money for her family. She didn't originally believe that she would ever go down this path. She wasn't what anyone in their right mind would call girly and she didn't think of herself as beautiful. However, it was working for her, so she wasn't going to complain too much. Being a part of this world wasn't her idea of fun, but it paid for her family to move out of the Seam and into an upper-class neighborhood and allowed her to save up for Prim's college- her little duck was going to be a doctor someday. So, she grinned and bore it. Katniss moved to scratch her nose only to be yelled at by a crew person not to touch her face, they didn't have time to re-do her make up.
If anyone had asked Katniss what she wanted to be when she was younger she would've answered that she was going to be in the Olympics for Archery or be a Wilderness Survival Guide like her dad. Her father had always been her hero and had taught her many ways that she could live off the land, she always found it endlessly fascinating how he was able to turn nothing into a livable camp in the middle of nowhere. He taught her how to hunt, build shelter, find edible food sources, and create fire. The lessons he taught her later turned out to be invaluable when he had died when she was just 12 years old. She knew her dad would hate that she didn't love what she was doing as a living now, but she thought he would be proud of her for providing for the family.
Her mother was basically catatonic after her father's death, she ate only when prompted and didn't move from her bedroom otherwise. Katniss can remember holding Prim at night, trying to block out the sound of their mother's cries from the next room over. It was over the next month of watching her mother's continued comatose state that Katniss realized something needed to be done. She ended up taking any odd job she could come across to purchase groceries and then foraging in the woods behind their house for any wild berries, roots, and flowers she could supplement with. Katniss supposed it was because she was the breadwinner in her family at 14 that lead her down this path. When someone approached her about a job where her beauty could lead to other huge opportunities (their words, not hers), she couldn't turn them down. Her mother at that point was doing better, she was a part time nurse at a local clinic, but Katniss was still afraid that she would relapse. She needed to make sure the family had money should that happen again. Katniss moved to adjust the bodice of her dress, it was a complicated contraption that showed far too much skin for her liking and was once again yelled at not to touch anything. The people she had to deal with were probably Katniss's least favorite parts about her job, it seemed the people in her position were towards the bottom of the totem pole and weren't always treated with the most respect. A lot of people thought what she did didn't even classify as work, often thinking it was easy but she knew what went into it.
Prim was the light of Katniss's life, whenever Katniss felt the pressures of the industry weighing down on her she thought of her sister and that made it all worth it. Prim was the best person Katniss knew, she was kind, beautiful, caring, and always saw the best in everyone. She was Katniss's opposite. 'Prim is going to be an amazing doctor someday, she is probably going to find the cure to cancer', Katniss thought with a shake of her head. Katniss knew with everything she's done in her career that she could stop now, and her family would be comfortable for the next few years, but she worried. She didn't know what she would do in place of this, she didn't finish high school, she didn't have a college degree. What would happen if their mom got sick? So, she stuck with it. Her career had cost her best friend, her childhood, and the chance at a normal life. Prim was her driving factor at this point and Katniss was glad that her sister has the chance to live her dreams.
Katniss sighed again, schooling her face into a determined and fierce expression she stepped out from behind the runway stage and sashayed down the platform. Cameras going off faster than at any point in the show previously as the Fashion Awards Model of the Year for 2018 made her first appearance.
Hi everyone, I hope you've enjoyed the first chapter. I wanted to do a modern day model AU of the Hunger Games featuring Everlark (or Peenis- whatever floats your boat). Chapters should be longer after this and my goal is to update this story weekly.
Let me know your thoughts!