I push through the front door and am greeted with a mouthful of confetti, as it explodes from a canon a few feet in front of me. The whole room is draped in black gauze, with flashing black and white lights dotted everywhere. The white carpet reflects the iridescent shimmer of the light hitting the confetti, creating the illusion of moonlight on water. On top of that, there are mirrors stuck on every other inch of the walls, and the thumping music makes it hard to concentrate. It's quite an eyeful to take in all at once, but I don't get a second to look around before Johanna embraces me and shouts incoherent slurs into my ear. The sharp scent of liquor is overpowering and I know she's already drunk. "Happy birthday Johanna!" I exclaim as she takes my coat for me and flings it onto a wooden table, laden with a black cloth. "Katniss, come inside everyone of my friends is wants to meet you and Peeta right now!" She gives Peeta a quick kiss on the lips and ushers us through a curtain. I lean in to Peeta as if I'm going for a kiss. He puckers slightly, but before our lips touch I move towards his ear and say 'Is that how Anjelika kissed you?' I then stalk after Johanna so he doesn't have time to reply. Through the curtain is a swarm of more than 100 sweaty bodies, so close together my skin chaffs as I squeeze past. Somewhere along the way I clock eyes on Grenadine Chaiman, my friend that helps me run archery class, sitting on one of the plush futons away from the heaving crowd. Her short brown hair is pulled up into a small bun and the green shimmering dust around her eyes highlights the sea blue colour. I weave my way towards her, shouting her name over the loud music. She sees me, excitedly waves, and downs her drink before coming over to me with extended arms. Her purple bodycon is covered in reflective fabric that crunches as her arms wrap around me.
"Katniss, you're here!" She exclaims, squeezing me tightly.
"Yeah, I had to come...its Johanna." I say as she lets go.
"Is Peeta here? Did you bring him?"
Just the sound of his name tugs on my heartstrings, causing a mixture of good and bad emotions.
"Yeah, but I'm still not talking to him."
"Did he apologise?"
In response I purse my lips.
"Sort of. He said 'sorry' but...somehow sorry doesn't cut it."
"Yeah I know what you mean." She says. "When Thom cheated on me I-"
"Peeta didn't cheat on me. Not really." I interrupt, because I don't want anyone making up their own version of what actually happened.
"I know, but I'm just saying, I told him he could either never speak to the girl again or leave. He promised he'd never speak to her, but I caught him chatting with her at work. So I made him leave."
"That's harsh." I say, wincing at the thought of Peeta leaving me or vice-versa...something I never like to think about.
"But sometimes you have to be harsh. You've got to tell him what's going to happen and show him who's boss!"
Nodding, I take in this information. My current approach, of icing him out for god knows how long doesn't seem to be working. If I want Peeta to take me seriously and respect that I need more than just an apology, I have to be more abrasive and cut-throat...like Grenadine. But somehow the thought of that happening doesn't seem to be enough.
She grabs my arm and tries to shake the cloud hanging over my head. "Enough about Peeta, aren't we supposed to be having fun tonight?"
I shrug. "I'm not really in the mood for anything exciting."
This doesn't stop Grenadine from grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the dance floor. It's heaving with people, all sticking together from the buckets of sweat. I'm not keen on being in tight places, so I try to leave the floor, but Grenadine is bent on dancing with me.
"Katniss...stop being such a buzzkill! Here..." she reaches over her shoulder and grabs a glass of something off of a tray a shirtless, shiny man in carrying, "drink this and you'll loosen up." She puts the glass in my hand and I stare at the bright pink liquid. It's so thick I can't see out the other end.
"If you don't drink it I swear to god I'm going to pour it down your throat!" She says, and I actually believe her. So, as to avoid being impaled, I take a large gulp of the drink and cough excessively once it's gone down my throat. The drink is 90% spirits and it burns.
"You wuss! Just think about how Peeta kissed someone else and that'll get you drinking." Grenadine says. The constant, niggling reminder sits at the back of my brain and waits for any opportunity to present itself. Keeping it at bay is too difficult to do alone, and I know that alcohol will help me push down that thought. So I down the whole glass and shake it off quickly, before my throat erodes.
"That a girl Katniss!" Grenadine exclaims raising her arms with her palms open. I give her a high five just as I'm handed another glass, which I down again. The shiny man is impressed, so he gives me another glass, and another. And another. Nothing. So I take another drink. After a while I loose count of how many I've had.
I'm buzzing from head to toe. My body, fuelled by the liquor, surging with energy and an ecstatic spirit. I loose myself in the atmosphere. Dancing against steamy skin, letting strangers touch my waist, legs and arms as they dance with me. Singing songs I've never heard. Closing my eyes to feel the bass vibrating through my body like an earthquake tremor. Laughing at someone who vomits inches away from me. It's Johanna.
"Johanna!" I scream and wrap my arms around her. She pushes me away and vomits again, a few feet from where I stand.
"Hey, Johanna. Happy birthday day! Are you having fun?"
Between coughs, she gets out, "A little too much." Then her face contorts and she wretches again.
"That's nice. That's very nice. I'm gonna go find the pancakes and talk to the pancakes about that thing...do you want to-" her splurge of sick interrupts me.
Now I'm swaying from side to side with the crowd, following them wherever they may take me. Trusting these lovely people to catch me if I fall. Falling onto a naked chest, conducting the heat from their skin to mine. I feel the searing warmth, burn against my flesh. Then I feel the cold floor against my skin, so refreshing. There's a sudden sting on one of my legs, but it's gone in a second. I can hear my heartbeat inside my head. I don't know if I'm hallucinating, but I feel a warm sticky liquid underneath me. Maybe someone spilt their drink. Suddenly the room starts to swirl inwards, as if being sucked up by a tornado. I decide to lay here for a while until the room stops spinning. My fingers try and grip the floor, but it's so wet and slippery I can't get a grasp on anything. My eyes slid shut, but I can still see the blazing red and blue of the flashing lights and feel the current of the tornado pulling me into the swirling storm. The music turns into a low hum, the bass frequencies so strong they make my head buzz. Suddenly a force lifts me from the sticky floor and I'm floating in mid-air. No crowd, no music, no nothing as the breeze rushes through my hair. Then my head is pulled up and is resting against a warm rock, that smells of musky cologne. My hand traces the lines engraved in the rock and my fingernails try to carve a K, then I realise I'm not leaning against stone but a human chest. I open my eyes and look up to see Peeta carrying me to safety. The moonlight creates a halo around his head, illuminating his blonde locks. The smell of him mixed with the sweet summer air calms me. He's so beautiful. I wonder if my Peeta's been replaced with a real angel, that's carrying me to heaven. The angel looks down at me, his icy blue iris' magnificent. As a cloudy white vignette blurs my vision, his eyes are the only thing I see. I'm lost in the luminous sea, as they stare right through my being...
