Empty boxes lay across the room, save for one half-full box that was at her side. Photographs were strewn around where she sat on the floor at the foot of her bed. She was gasping for breath, her knees were drawn close to her body and nested her chin, and her hands were clenching either side of her head. Her eyes were closed tight, for fear of opening them and seeing his smiling face looking back.
Victor laughing. Victor's headless body. The two of them rolling down a flowered hill. His head rolling into the ditch.
Annie screamed.
She had been packing, her college move-in day a mere three days away. Had she been in her right mind, she'd have been glad no one was home to witness her breakdown. Then again, had she been in her right mind, there wouldn't have been a breakdown in the first place.
After coming across a stack of pictures from her high school days, she indulged in the nostalgia. However, an old picture of her and her old best friend had sent her reeling.
...
The last day of school before Winter Break, sixth-graders Annie Cresta and Victor Aguilar raced to his family car. They had been promised after school hot chocolates if they could tough out the last day without complaints. It never snowed and was rarely cold in their home of California, but they were in the seasonal spirit nonetheless. Annie won and shot into the back seat, fastening her seat belt as her friend joined her.
"Finally, you slow poke," she teased, poking a slender finger into his arm. He faked injury and clenched his arm. They fell into a fit of giggles. Victor fastened his seat belt as Mrs. Aguilar was pulling out of the lot. The children fell into rapid conversation about each of their classes and their peers. Victor was in the middle of telling Annie just how important it was for her to try out for the swimming team when the accident happened.
The car rolled violently. That's all Annie could remember. That, and the sight of Victor. Or, part of him. That image was burned into her brain like a polaroid. The framing was sideways because the car was resting sideways. Just the green grass, the downward slope, and the shocked face of her best friend.
...
Just as Annie let out another shriek, a strong pair of arms embraced her. She felt herself being rocked and heard a soft shushing in her ears. Her head was brought to rest against a well muscled chest and only then did she allow herself to open her eyes. What she saw was a calming blue, like the crystal clear ocean on a cloudless day. As she let it take her over, her breathing steadied.
"There, there," he murmured. A calloused hand found her face in an attempt to brush away the tears that weren't there. Annie sighed and burrowed a little deeper into the blue.
...
More than anyone else in her whole life, Finnick had been there for her.
Before the accident, they had met only briefly. Annie of course knew Finnick, even at twelve his charm and good looks had made him infamous. And he had just become the star of the middle school swimming team, making him her instant crush. But their only interaction had been one day at the beach, a few weeks into the school year. Annie had been swimming for hours, hardly even coming up for air it would seem. Finnick was with a group of new swimming friends and took a notice of her.
"Hey!" he called out as she finally emerged from the water. Oblivious that anyone even knew she existed, she kept walking to her towel and beach bag. "Yo, little mermaid!"
Her head snapped up in his direction. She had been called some variation of "Ariel" or "the little mermaid" ever since she'd first seen the film as a toddler; the long red hair and love of the water kind of made it a no-brainer. Upon seeing the new love of her life, kissed with ocean water and the sun, she froze in her tracks.
"What, you lose your voice too when you leave the water?" His crooked smile was enough to make her melt.
"Wha- oh, no, sorry," she mumbled quickly. She brushed back a long lock of red hair. He stopped walking just inches from her and let out an easy laugh.
"I don't bite, babe." His words flowed off of his tongue like honey. "I've been admiring you for hours now. You could live in the water." She felt her cheeks flush with color, and her lips pulled into a smile.
"If only it were socially acceptable, believe me I would." He laughed again and Annie thought that it just might be her new favorite sound.
"You should try out for the swimming team. Or, I mean, you should be on the swimming team. Doubt a tryout would even be necessary," he winked as he spoke, and her stomach flipped.
"Oh, well, maybe," she said timidly, pushing at the soft sand with her toes. She was about to speak again when his friends yelled out to him.
"Just a minute!" he called back. He reached out and squeezed her arm gently. "Promise you'll think about it." He winked and then just as quickly as he'd come, he was gone. And, of course, once back at school Finnick never said another word to Annie. They didn't have the same friends and shared only one class, so interactions were minimal anyway. She scared herself out of trying for the swimming team and went back to her little world with Victor.
After the accident, Annie broke down. People said she went crazy, but then again who wouldn't in her situation? After the initial hospital visit to check her vitals, she was sent home. She kept hearing the word "miracle" used to describe her end of the accident. Sure as hell didn't feel like a miracle. She showed classic signs of depression. Lack of sleeping or eating, no interest in things that used to excite her, a general state of deflation. She did nothing but sit in her window and stare outside for a month. Rather than going back to school, she went back to the hospital. Mental hospital, to be exact. There she remained for the rest of her middle school career. One day the summer after she was admitted, she had an unexpected visitor.
Finnick Odair.
She was too drained to display any surprise, or to feel any surprise for that matter.
"Hey, babe," he said with his signature smile, sitting across from her at a fold-up table in the recreation room. "I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd pay you a visit."
Silence.
"How are you holding up?" His eyes were hopeful, but not enough to elicit anything from the girl.
Silence.
"That bad, huh? Maybe I can break you out of here," his eyes held mischief as they probed Annie's vacant face. "It's a big decision, I know, so I'll let you sleep on it." He sighed as he stood, chair scraping tile behind him. "I'll see you around, mermaid." He walked around to her, placed a kiss on top of her head, and was gone.
It took another month of visits before he got a change in facial expressions. Another three after that before he got her to speak. Six months after his first visit he finally got her to indulge him in a conversation longer than five minutes, and it progressed from there. Eventually they carried on like the oldest of friends. Nothing they talked about ever carried too much significance. Comments of the weather, or reviews of the newest music Finnick had shared with her, stories from her stay at the hospital, or of Finnick's days at school. But they never spoke of swimming, or Annie's mental state, or of the accident. One of Annie's last days there, also Finnick's last day of eighth grade, she finally brought up something that had been on her mind for quite some time. He was in a hurry to leave (to make it to graduation, Annie knew, he was just too polite to say) but she stopped him as he was standing from the couch where they sat.
"Finnick?" she asked, her fingers loosely finding his. He looked down at her with an inquisitive look. "Why did you visit me the first time? Or, any time after that, really, but especially the first time?"
"I told you, I was in the neighborhood." His easy smile was meant to dismiss the question, but Annie only tugged at his hand a little harder. She shook her head and he knew she wouldn't let it go. He sat back beside her on the couch and completely tangled his fingers through hers. She instinctively gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "I was, quite literally, in the neighborhood. I have weekly sessions with Dr. Braddock," he continued as she began to voice her confusion, "we've all got our demons, babe." She respected how he had never pushed her to talk, so she left it at that.
She had developed a deep love for literature in the hospital, and had completed the two and a half years worth of coursework in only her last year there. She returned to school in the fall with the same age-group she had left. Many kids had gone to different high schools, but enough were left behind that remembered Annie. Rumors spread like mad and she was learning that quickly. Whispers behind her back, ludicrous questions asked to her face, it was too much. However, Finnick stood by her side. He walked her to every class, aside from the last period of the day in which he had swimming. He convinced her to join the team the following year and the rest was history.
They remained the best of friends (and only friends) throughout high school, and were going to college together. They had each been heavily scouted by colleges looking to improve their swimming programs. In the end, the school that was the farthest from home yet still offered full ride scholarships to both Finnick and Annie won them over.
...
Finnick was the only person that could calm Annie down when she was having an episode, and he was good at it. Granted, all he had to really do was hold her, maybe rock her back and forth or whisper affirmations, but he prided himself on helping the girl. He had taken a quick liking to her and couldn't deny just how important she was to him. He noticed the photographs scattered about them and felt a pang in his chest when his eyes landed on the one that had undoubtedly sent Annie over the edge. He kept one arm around her shoulders but pulled the other away to push the pictures into a pile, burying that certain one deep in the pile.
"Would you like to lie down?" he whispered into her hair, to which she nodded. He hooked his free arm under her drawn up knees and effortlessly lifted her. He laid her down and sat in the spot next to her. She rolled over so that her back was to him, and he heard a feeble whisper.
"Can you hold me, Fin?" Wordlessly, he lay down on the bed and slid his arms around her. He pulled her to him so that the front of his body was completely flush with the back of hers and they sat in silence. He remained until he heard her breathing deepen and even out. His arm had fallen asleep, so he extracted himself from his sleeping friend. He looked around the room and half-sighed, half-laughed.
"Half a box packed. Cutting it close, aren't we, Cresta?" He turned and smiled at the peaceful figure. He walked over, placed a kiss on top of her head, and busied himself packing up her belongings.
Starting out is always a tall task, especially with this duo. There is a lot of back story information I plan to incorporate into future chapters, so I wanted to get the big Annie backstory out of the way. Apologies for graphic content, I'm a sucker for following story details as much as possible, so I stayed as true as I could to her reasoning for going mad. Please review and let me know what you think! (: