Chapter 1: First Encounter

It was high noon in District 4 on one of the hottest days of the year. The sun burned the back of Finnick's neck as he stood ankle deep in the body of water outside his house that he had nicknamed Fish Olympus. He thought of the name when he was six and had one day seen the sun make the top of the water shimmer like gold. It reminded him of a bedtime story about the Greek Gods that his father had told him. This was his absolute favorite fishing spot because it was always crawling with fish.

And fishing was the exact reason he was there today. His dad had given him an ultimatum; either he bought some food from the marketplace in town or he caught some food himself. Finnick hated going into town because of how people looked at him. They all had their own ideas on why his mother left, but he tried to just tune them out and stick to what his father had told him.

"Finn! Are you having any luck?"

Finnick's dad interrupted his thoughts, and unfortunately caused him to jerk his legs. He sighed deeply as he saw the fish swim away in all different directions.

"Ugh, I was." He grumbled under his breath.

Riley Odair stood on the shoreline grinning at his son. "You know you could always save some trouble and go into town."

"Why should we spend money when I could just as easily get our food for free?" Finnick started for the shoreline, dragging his trident in the water behind him.

"You can't avoid people forever, Finn. And aren't you getting tired of fish?" His father's voice was soft and full of understanding.

"I think I'm gonna try and use my rod to fish off the dock."

Riley knew why his son was trying to change the subject. He always changed the subject. One day, he was going to call him on it, but right now he understood that 12 year olds weren't supposed to be good at facing their problems.

"Just be careful not to fall in."

"I will." Finnick walked right past is dad without looking him in the eye.

"I'm going into town if you're not, I guess."

"Yeah. Okay. But it's gonna be in vain. I'll catch something." Finnick turned towards his father, trident in hand.

Riley looked at his son. He couldn't believe how grown up he was. It seemed like just a week ago that he was this little boy with a mop of blonde hair that used to run around without a care in the world. Now he was a reclusive pre teenager that didn't socialize with anyone because he was worried about what people thought of his family. It made Riley sad to think that he was missing out on what should be some of the most fun years of his life.

"Yeah, I know you will. I'll just pick up some spices to garnish the fish with. I'll be back in an hour." Riley watched his son grab his rod from the shed and head out onto the long dock that he had built over 15 years ago. After a few moments of watching Finnick attach the bait to his line, Riley turned and headed into town.

Finnick wiped the sweat off his brow. He couldn't believe how hot it was today. Not to mention he was getting frustrated, which was only making the fishing experience all the more miserable.

"Damnit!" Another fish had gotten away before he had reeled his line in. He chucked the fishing rod into the lake and pulled his knees into his chest. Why wasn't he able to catch anything today? Why wouldn't his dad just leave him alone about the whole socializing thing?

He watched as the rod drifted further away from the dock. His mother had given it to him on his eighth birthday, so he couldn't just let it go, no matter how mad he was. He tried to stand up quickly, but the water on the dock caused him to slip and he hit his head on the wood floor. Knocked unconscious, Finnick fell off the dock and into the water.

Annie Cresta wasn't sure exactly where she was going. She knew the Odair's lived down the road, but she wasn't sure how much further. If she didn't get back to her house soon, her parents were going to suspect something, but on the other hand she didn't want to go home without completing her mission.

The water was gorgeous. She couldn't imagine living in a district where she couldn't always look out a window and see those shining waves. Despite how desperate and glum Panem had become lately, the beauty of water always seemed to give Annie hope and make her smile.

Finally she saw the house. It was small but homey. Taking a deep breath in an attempt to keep her courage, she briskly started walking toward the front door. She stopped once she saw him. He was fishing off the end of a long dock. Finnick Odair. The sun shining on Finnick's curly blonde hair made her heart stop. He was cute and Annie had had a crush on him since she first saw him at school. Unfortunately, since his mother had left, he rarely came to school. From what she heard, he spent most of his time working with his father. Even though she had no plans of approaching him, she instinctively attempted to make her short frizzy red hair look more presentable.

All of a sudden she saw him throw his fishing rod into the lake. Why was he upset? Her mom always told her to not be nosy, but she just wanted to go up and ask him to tell her all of his problems so she could help him. Maybe she would give him a hug. Annie blushed at the ridiculous thought.

Finnick hitting his head on the dock made Annie freeze in terror. She watched him fall into the water and not resurface.

"Finnick!" She ran as fast as she could towards the dock. When she got to the edge of the dock she kicked off her shoes and jumped in after him.

Pulling him up on the shore by his arms was the hardest part. He was heavy and the fact he was dripping wet only made it worse. Once she got him away from the lapping waves she put him down and went to his side. He wasn't breathing, so she started the technique that her grandmother had taught her. She pushed on his chest and then pressed her lips to his and breathed into him. It wasn't long before he started sputtering. He sat up quickly and started spitting out water. Annie sat back and watched him, relief flooding over her. After he was done coughing, he started shaking the water out of his hair. Once he caught sight of Annie, however, he stopped.

"How are you?" she asked.

"What are you doing here?" he snapped.

"You're welcome."

"What?"

Annie stood up and brushed the sand off of her soaked jeans. "Well although you said, 'what are you doing here', I assumed you meant, 'thank you for saving my life', so I responded accordingly." She flashed him a smile.

Finnick frowned and averted his eyes. He began to pick up the wet sand and squish it a little before letting it slip through his fingers. After a moment he reached his hand to the back of his head. As his fingers touched his scalp, he flinched in pain.

"Where's my fishing rod?"

"I'm not sure."

"You mean you didn't grab it?" Finnick snapped.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was a little too busy saving your life to worry about your stupid fishing rod!" Annie couldn't believe how ungrateful he was being.

"It isn't stupid. And I didn't ask you to save my life."

Annie threw her arms in the air. "Oh of course you didn't. You were a little too busy DROWNING TO DEATH!"

"Right. Well don't you have somewhere to be, Ginger?" Finnick's eyes flashed maliciously. "Ginger" was the nickname that they used to call Annie in school. She hated that name.

"How dare you? You listen here Finnick Odair I…"

"FINNICK!"

Riley was running toward them at full speed. When he reached them, he dropped down next to his son and grabbed his arms.

"What happened? Are you all right? Damnit, I told you to be careful on that dock!"

Finnick remained silent, his eyes wide. Annie could tell that he was scared. The harshness and desperation in his voice even scared her.

"He slipped." Annie's voice was so soft, she wasn't sure if he could even hear her.

Riley's head turned to her. "What?"

"He was trying to retrieve his fishing rod, and he slipped and hit his head."

"Did you save him?" Riley's eyes were deep blue like Finnick's. He was staring at her so intently that she began to blush.

"Yes, she did. Annie saved my life."

So, he did know her real name. He was just calling her that nickname in order to upset her. What a jerk.

Riley stood up and pulled Annie into his arms. "Thank you, Annie. I can never repay you."

Annie didn't know what to do, so she stood stiffly in his embrace. "It's not a problem."

"Dad. You're embarrassing her." Finnick's voice sounded annoyed.

Riley quickly let her go. "You're right. I'm sorry about that Ms. Annie…"

"Cresta," She finished. "Annie Cresta."

"Well Ms. Cresta. Whatever you need, it's yours. Just name it."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Finnick getting up and brushing the sand off of his clothes. He began heading back to the house. She watched the way he shook his head slightly as he walked away, like he was disappointed in something.

"Ms. Cresta? What did you come here for anyway?" Riley stepped in front of Annie's view of Finnick.

"Oh, um, I sort of came here for a favor." She couldn't look him in the eye.

"What is it?"

"Well, my daddy got fired from his job at the market, so I was wondering if you had any openings on your boat. He can do anything. He'll even just mop the deck or something."

Riley smiled. Annie was sure that if Finnick ever smiled they would look exactly alike.

"Anything for you, Ms. Annie."

Annie couldn't contain her excitement. She clenched her fists and stood on the balls of her feet. "Thank you very much, Mr. Odair! You've helped my family immensely. Now I owe you."

"Alright, I just need you to do one thing for me, Ms. Cresta."

"What?"

"Come back here tomorrow and hang out with Finnick. Please."

Annie blushed. "Oh, Mr. Odair. I don't think he would want to hang out with me. I'm sorry."

She turned away from him and began to head home.

"Annie!" She turned around to look at him.

He grinned at her again. "He remembered your name."

Annie nodded at him before turning around and running back to town.