She sat perfectly still as her mother pinned back her hair, shaping it, letting it flow in loose curls. "It frames your face." she mused, slurring the words more to herself than to her daughter. She pulled a bobbypin out from in between her lips and secured it into her hair, eyebrows furrowing as she stared at the girl in the mirror. "Keep your head up." she said, and her voice was resolute. One hand still wrapped around a curling iron, she grabbed both sides of Annie's face and made her face forward. "No use not looking at yourself now. No use fretting."
Her father was well to do in town- he owned one of the best fishing boats in the sea. The S.S. Lena, named for a girl long since lost. Her namesake remained, however, and had managed to collect its owner a pretty penny every day. Business thrived, and that meant good things for the family. They could afford the best.
From almost birth, she had been trained. How to speak, how to respond to questions, those things had come first. Before she learned to say "mama", she learned how to say "please". These things, these were the most important things. She was placed on a healthy diet. Extravagance was not something she had ever known, to keep her slim and fit. Toned. She'd never even tried liquor, even though her mother seemed to have that constant, half-lidded look about her that meant that she'd had wine for breakfast, maybe some vodka for lunch, maybe something else. She had grown to accept it, a necessity of her mother's life to get her through the day. Usually, she cracked jokes about it to her best friend, made light of a situation that she knew would soon be dire. This day, she was complacent, transfixed on what was ahead.
"Don't bother waiting even a second." her mother said, running her hand through her daughter's hair, careful not to muss up the curls. "Someone else might take your spot, then where would we be?" she sighed, placing the bobby pins on the table. Leaning forward, she kissed Annie on the head. She closed her eyes for a second, turned and left the room.
Annie reached forward, running a hand though her curls. She practiced her smile, practiced throwing her hand forward. There was no way around this, she reminded herself. It should have been Lena, but there was no Lena any more. This was the day she had been waiting for, and yet her stomach lurched, in its peculiar way. She was buzzed with energy, an adrenaline she had never felt before. She stood up, smiled at herself in the mirror again, and remembered what her best friend, Margot, had told her.
"The game starts from the reaping. Every moment counts, so don't waste them."
She shrugged, slipping on her shoes. She put her hands on her hips and left the room, for what she hoped would not be the last time.
It must have been a cosmic joke, or maybe it was in the cards, but when her name got pulled from that bowl, she wanted to laugh. She wasn't bitter, but how funny was that? All these preparations for protocol to volunteer, and she got picked herself. Suddenly, her body surged with energy. This was a sign, she told herself. A sign that this was it. This was the right decision. Even if she had been feeling a little squeamish that morning, she was doing the right thing. The good thing, for her father, for her family. She was going to win this.
Her mother kissed her on the head, told her to remember everything she had learned in school. Her father thanked her for being so, so brave. Margot promised to tell her everything she'd miss for when she got home. Then she sat alone, waiting for them to come get her. Her fingers itched for a knife. She was sick of this part, this sitting around waiting part. She wanted to get it over with.
His name was Johnny Fletcher. Of course she knew him- they had all known for a long time how this would end, and the two of them had quickly formed a bond. He was funny. He had blue eyes, light brown hair and he was tan. Well-muscled, she had noticed. That could be threatening later, she knew, but they wouldn't have to worry about that for a long time. She wouldn't have to size him up until the end, and by then, maybe she would have come up with a plan. Better yet, maybe someone else would take care of it for her. Maybe she could kill his killer, maybe she would go home a hero to his family.
She wanted to pull the pins out of her hair, but she remembered what Margot had said about not wasting a moment. So instead she leaned outside of the car on the way to the train, smiling to the people of District 4 and trying to make a good impression. They all knew her, of course, but she figured she shouldn't take any chances. If she were less shy, maybe she'd blow kisses. She knew this would have helped her chances, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. That felt like such a private decision, to send someone a kiss. She couldn't tarnish it for an extra sponsor. She couldn't.
As soon as they were to the train, she kicked off the shoes and pulled the dress up and over her head. She moved to the mirror, giving herself a once-over. She didn't look as toned as she would like. She hoped none of the other tributes saw her and thought she wasn't a threat. She hoped-
The door to her car pulled open without warning, and she turned, half naked, to see a man leaning against the doorway. She screamed, screamed so loud the man started to yelp, and she scrambled for the dress on the floor, holding it up over her haphazardly.
"What?" he asked, eyes wide as he looked around. "Did you see a spider or something? I really can't work with you if you're going to freak out over-" he looked toward her and then his look of concern immediately faded. Instead, he grinned.
Of course she knew who he was, though it hadn't occurred to her quite then. He was Finnick O'dair, her mentor. He had won a few years back. He was only a year or two older than her, she thought, if she did the math in her head right.
She had never been good at math.
She stared at him, not even permitting him a glare. A blush crept up her cheeks. She was horrified. Bitting her lip, she looked down at her feet.
"Look." he moved forward a little, so she took a step back. He laughed, a low chuckle under his breath, and she wondered if he thought she was being a child. "Okay." he said smoothly, and he stepped back, covering his eyes with his hands. "No peeking, Annie, I promise. Put your clothes on and tell me when we're okay."
She stared at him for a second, making sure he wasn't going to peek. It didn't matter, she supposed. Tons of people were going to be seeing her in less than this soon enough. Still, when she was sure he wouldn't peek, she crossed the room and put on shorts and a t-shirt, putting her hands on her hips and watching him. "We're okay." she said softly, and when he pulled his hands down, he was still smiling.
He had a nice smile.
"Sorry 'bout that." he mumbled, leaning against the doorway again. "Recently, nudity has become less of a thing I notice." he ran a hand through his hair, sitting up straight again. "I need to take a look at you anyway." He moved forward, putting his hands on each of her wrists, pulling her arms out, checking her wingspan.
She knew all about him. She knew about the trident, about all his sponsors. She knew he was well known. She guessed it could be a lot worse. She could have a mentor with no idea what he was doing.
"Mags should be here soon." he said conversationally, sweeping some of her hair off her shoulder. "We'll have to do something about this..." his words were mumbled, holding a lock between his fingers. "Don't want it to get in the way." He cradled one of her wrists, letting his other hand fall as he put her arm up and spun her around, slowly. "Not bad." he told her, nodding his head.
"Not bad?" she asked, eyebrows raised. She had been working every day for this moment, and she was concerned at a 'not bad'.
"Can't let you get too cocky, can we?" he smiled at her again, looking down. He brushed his finger against her hip and she blushed. She looked up and tried to hide it. "You could have a little more meat on your bones, but we can work on that before the games." he looked up, seeing her face. He furrowed his eyebrows. "You're shy, aren't you?"
She didn't respond- she didn't know what the right answer would be.
"We can work with that." he told her, pulling himself away from her. "Too many district four girls, they try to look badass. Sure, that works with some sponsors, but there are so many people that blend in... All these tough guys, they just become faceless, you know? But a pretty, able-bodied girl who doesn't go around boasting about it, that's interesting. That makes you interesting. That makes you capable. And that, my dear, will get you sponsors."
He turned then, making his way toward the door. He wrapped a hand around the doorway, turning back to her. "You've had a crazy day, you must be starving. They have the best strawberry shortcake I've ever eaten here."
She shook her head, grinning a little despite herself. "I'm not supposed to eat junk like that. Mom says it'll ruin my tone."
"You've got enough tone, believe me." His eyes flickered for a second, and he reached forward, grabbing her wrist again. "I'm not gonna mess you up, Annie. I won't steer you wrong. You deserve a break."
And so, she thought, maybe she did.
Hi guys! This is my first HG fic so I'm still getting a feel of things, but I thought I'd add to the list of the fics based around Annie's games and how she fell in love with Finnick and all that. Some parts will be kind of hazy and other parts more distinct depending on how I think Annie's thought processes might have gone at the time. So I know this might be a bit much but I'd love any and all feedback/interest because I'm super interested in Annie and Finnick as characters! Thanks as always.
