Katniss tugged on the hem of the short black dress as she teetered on the sparkly heels Madge had forced her into tonight as they walked down Vine Street to Bump City. One of Madge's sorority sisters had told her about the Fucked Up in Fairytale Land party and Madge had promised it would be better than the frat party they had been at last week where the brothers in their whale pants played beer pong to Nsync's Digital Get Down and she was forced to drink from old boxed wine and listen to one of the brother's thrilling tales about the time he didn't wear his tennis whites on his family's court.
"Madge, I can't fucking walk in these things," Katniss whined as she stumbled over the uneven sidewalk.
Madge looped her arm through Katniss's in an attempt to steady her, but her own pre-gaming on cheap vodka in the dorm left her equally unsteady, "You are so unprepared for college, Katniss. I told you that you should have watched those Top Model episodes with us. Just walk with authority."
"Sorry I didn't take uncomfortable shoes 101, I was busy studying trying to get a full ride here" she scowled. "Where is this house anyways?" She questioned fumbling with the skirt of her dress again as it continued to ride up.
"It's just down the street over by where Ghettofest was, and stop messing with your dress, you look hot Kat," Madge scolded. As they approached the house the loud music reverberated on their skin, "I'm so happy you're out with me!" She squealed bouncing up and down, coming dangerously close to falling out of her Little Mermaid costume, which was really no more than a purple bra barely holding in her ample chest and a skin tight green skirt that she had taped sparkly construction paper scales to.
Katniss glanced down to her own figure, a short body con black dress with a fluffy tail safety pinned to the back and a headband with two wolf ears attached and shrugged, she would certainly never be bubbly Madge.
"C'mon Big Bad Wolf, let's go huff and puff and make some guy blow his load at the sight of you," Madge giggled grabbing her hand and pulling her through the crowded living room and waving every so often at someone she recognized. This was totally Madge's scene and not hers. When Madge stopped for the 4th time to talk to someone Katniss decided to break away and wander over to the table next to the keg and scooped what smelled like heavily spiked punch into a red solo cup. She carefully eyed the crowd not finding one familiar face, not even one of the sorority girls that Madge was usually flanked by outside of the comfort of their dorm room. As she looked for her blonde roommate she was stopped when an arm flung in front of her and hit the wall, effectively stopping her forward motion, "Jesus," she muttered to herself.
"Sexy dress," the overly muscled meathead next to her said, "What are you? A sex kitten? Because you look more like a wet dream then a fairy tale."
Katniss rolled her eyes and responded, "The Big Bad Wolf."
"So you'll huff and puff and blow me?" The meathead responded.
She took a sip of the heavily spiked punch and cocked an eyebrow at him, "Really?"
"Well he does resemble a pig so I guess the reference works," A new voice added in behind him.
"Fuck off, Mellark."
"Scram, Cato."
Katniss snorted as her eyes flashed to the man behind the meathead. He was relatively tall and stocky with a mop of unruly curly blonde hair and the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen. His jaw looked like it had been cut from marble and his full lips quirked into a wry smile revealing a dimple in his right cheek. She had never been so instantly attracted to anyone. She crossed her legs and took another sip of the spiked punch in attempts to subside the instant pang she got looking at his cherubic face. As her eyes traveled downwards she took in his costume, a tight white t-shirt and a pair of short red running shorts that revealed his muscular thighs dotted with fine blonde hair. She gulped as her eyes traveled back up his toned torso and met his eyes as he looked at her questioningly, "Sorry what?" She coughed.
"I said are you okay? Cato's a dick but he's pretty harmless."
"Ummm…" she stuttered, "Yes, fine, I was just looking for my friend but – " she was interrupted by a gleeful squeal coming from the center of the room and spotted Madge dancing with some girl dressed like Flounder on the coffee table, "I think I found her."
Peeta chuckled, "You know Madge?"
"She's my roommate."
Peeta took a pull from his bottle and nodded, "We went to high school together, a few years apart though."
Katniss nodded dumbly, "Oh…."
"Sorry," he grinned and extended his hand, "Peeta Mellark."
Katniss accessed his hand and then slowly shook it unable to deny the tingle that ran up her arm when he touched her, "Kat-Katniss Everdeen."
"Nice to meet you, Katniss," he replied with a lopsided grin. "So it seems we make a pair," he gestured to their costumes.
"The big bad wolf and 80s basketball player?" She responded confused.
He clapped his hands when he laughed, "Uh no – I guess I lost the red cape. My buddy Finnick stole it to be Superman, but uh, I'm Little Red Riding Shorts," he gestured to the tiny pair of running shorts she had stared at a few minutes ago. "You know like Little Red Riding Hood…"
She took the opportunity to give him the once over again, gazing at his toned body, feeling less lecherous as the punch began to really hit her, "Ahh gotch-" she stumbled into him as someone bumped into her, "I eat you." Peeta caught her against his chest and his eyes widened as she realized her mistake, "I mean – uh the wolf eats umm..." she stuttered, her face flushing.
His hand stroked her back and it felt like it was on fire. His eyes twinkled as he looked down at her, "That is how the story goes," he said quietly.
She bit her lip and didn't look away from him, should could feel the heat coursing through her body as one hand rested on the small of her back and his other light grasped her hip, his thumb circled her hip sending little electric shocks through her system. "Yeah," she whispered unintelligently.
The music around them thumped loudly and she could feel every nerve standing on edge, high attuned to the man in front of her, "But you know, I think there are some fairy tales, like maybe Grimm's where Little Red Running Shorts well he might eat the wolf."