A/N: This is a prequel to my fanfic Secrets. It's totally separate, so you can read this without the other. But there are some references to Secrets. It's Finnick's story taking place from the 65th games to Katniss' games. While Secrets is a Katniss/Finnick story, this is Finnick/Annie. He had a love life before her.

I sit on the beach, watching the waves draw back before they crash at my feet. I wasn't able to sleep last night. In a few hours, I will have to go shower, get dressed in my best clothes, and pray I don't get Reaped. I'm only 14 and haven't applied for tessarae, so it's fair to say the odds are in my favor. And hopefully, someone will volunteer for me. The only thing I'm comfortable killing is fish. District 4 is considered a 'Career district', but we're not as enthusiastic as Districts 1 and 2. That being said, we do have our fair share of volunteers, but we don't have any type of special academy. Just one period in school called Games Training. There's stations to practice skills necessary for the games, and sometimes previous victors from here have come taught lessons.

"Hey, Finn." Somebody says. I turn around, it's Annie Cresta. She's working on some type of net. Even though she's 12, we're pretty good friends, and she's my neighbor. Her mother makes nets. My dad always buys from Mrs. Cresta. I would've sworn that they would end up dating, but my dad recently married a Capitol woman named Juliet. They have a toddler daughter named Dahlia. My mom died in a boating accident when I was a little kid. To this day, I don't know why. My sister, Adrienne doesn't really like Juliet. I don't either.

"Hey, Annie." I stand up and hug her. "How are you?" I ask tentatively. It's her first reaping, and I can tell she's terrified. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't dreading it.

"I'm scared, Finn." She pouts. "What if it's me?"

"If it's you, I'll volunteer. Promise." I tell her. There's no way I would let the girl who's practically my kid sister into the Arena alone. Annie sits down next to me, and lays her head on my shoulder. Her dad was crazy, they all say. Rumors say that he didn't die in a rough storm, but that he ended his own his life by drowning himself. I know it bothers Annie, but it's obviously not true. That doesn't stop some of the kids in school from teasing her. I don't know how long we stay there, watching the dark sky turn to purple, then pink, then an orange, until the sun is up. Then Adrienne walks over to us.

"Finnick! You have to get ready! The reaping's in a little more than an hour." Adrienne calls for me. She's twenty, and very happy to not be in the reaping bowl any more. Even though she's a lot older than me, she's almost as close to me as I am with Annie. I tell both of them everything. She basically raised me. Adrienne hugs Annie, and invites her and her mother over for dinner tonight.

I wash my face, put on a pair of clean pants and a buttoned shirt. I go through the effort of even combing my hair. I sit on my bed. This might be the last time I'm in this room ever again. Don't be stupid, Odair. It's obviously not going to be you, I tell myself. But still, what if it is me? I shake the negative thoughts out of my head. Adrienne sits down next to me kisses me on the cheek. "Don't worry, okay? Find me after." I can't find my dad. Then I remember, he really doesn't care too much anymore. My mother was very beautiful, but she was from District Six. She looked different. Her bronze hair and brown eyes didn't fit with District 4's dark brown hair and sea green eyes. Her skin was paler too. Like Annie's. After my mother died, my dad found it hard to even look at Adrienne or me. We both have her hair color, but Adrienne looks just like pictures of my mother when she was younger. He spent most of his time on his boat, and at bars. At the age of 8, Adrienne became in charge of the house. And me. She did a pretty good job of helping us grow up.

I walk to the Justice Building, the center of the district. It's about a five minute walk from my house. They prick my finger, and I get in the pen with all the other boys, standing by the 14 year olds. My friend, Sebastian comes up to me and slaps me on the back. "Hey, there Finnick." I greet him back, and then we quiet down. Our District Escort, Ariel comes to the stage. She's wearing a ridiculous Capitol outfit and a matching blue wig.

She plays the same video that's been played every year, and then it's time for the reaping. "Should we start with the boys this time?" Most of the boys cheer. "No, of course not! Ladies first." Ariel sticks her hand into the bowl. She decides on a name. "Lily Alexanders." I don't know who she is, but a older girl- she has to be at least seventeen- comes to the stage. Lily looks like most of the District Four girls with her green eyes and long, bronze hair. She's pretty cute, but I shake those thoughts out of my head. Totally not the right time for girls, Finnick. "And now for the boys." She moves her hand around the bowl, and almost picks up a name, but decides on the one next to it. Slowly she unfolds it. "Finnick Odair." She reads.

For a second, I think my heart stops beating. My world crashes down around me. I'm surprised I manage to stay standing. "Oh shit." I whisper. I slowly walk to the stage, still in shock.

"Finn! Finn!" I hear the sounds of Annie being dragged away by Peacekeepers. I can't even bear to look back.

"Well aren't you quite handsome." Ariel smiles at me. It takes everything in me to not roll my eyes. "Finnick Odair and Lily Alexanders, our tributes in the 65th Hunger Games! Shake hands you two." I shake her soft, pale hand. "Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor."

We're escorted into the Justice Building. Our families and friends have five minutes to say their goodbyes. My dad, Juliet, Dahlia and Adrienne rush in. Dahlia starts crying, so I kiss her on the forehead, and they leave. I don't say anything to Juliet. I hug my dad. "Try to get a Trident. You can do this." He tells me, and pats me on the back.

Adrienne lets out a choked sob. "I'm betting on you. You're smart, and know how to hunt food. I'll see you soon, okay?"

"I'll try. I love you guys." I hug both of them. Just then, Annie Cresta runs in, and my dad and Adrienne are escorted out.

"Finn!" She throws her arms around me. "You can't go! You can't." She stops, as if an idea hits her. "You have to win. Promise me that?"

I nod, and hold her tightly. "Of course. I'll try my best." The same Peacekeeper drags her out. A few minutes later, Ariel comes into my room, holding a bag with my things, to bring Lily and I onto the train.

District 4 has had a handful of victors over the last sixty-four years. So we have a surplus of mentors. This year, our mentors are a elderly woman Mags, who looks to be about seventy, and a man named Grant. He's in his twenties, and won the Games a little over ten years ago. He's sort of a legend amongst me and my friends. He's slept with more Capitol women than the average Capitol celebrity. He decides to work with Lily "because she's pretty hot." I sigh in disgust. If I was his age, I would never date a seventeen year old.

Mags brings me into the lounge car. Mags won the 10th Hunger Games. She's been getting salary from the Capitol for a while now, so she doesn't work. But she gives away baskets that she's woven herself to poorer families in the district. They're so well made, that they can carry water. She's really sweet. I'm glad to have her as my mentor. My grandmother used to be pretty good friends with Mags, and she would always come over when I was younger. She stopped coming over when my grandmother died in the same accident that killed my mother.

"Finnick." She hugs me. "It's great to see you again, though I'd have to say the circumstances aren't favorable. I'm sorry, but I'm here to help you."

"It's good to see you. It's been a while." I sit down in one of the large chairs. "So, how does this whole thing work?"

Mags ties her dark brown hair up into a ponytail. I can tell she's trying very hard to cover up the greying. "Well when you get there, you'll meet with your prep team. Your stylist will decide on a look for you, and you'll wear whatever he or she puts you and Lily in for the tribute parade. It's important because that's when then sponsors will first see you. Then, you have three days of training, followed by an individual session, where you need to impress the Gamemakers. Then you get your training score, and give your interview with Caesar Flickerman. And then you have your Games. When you win, you'll have another interview to do."

If I win. I don't think the odds are in my favor at all - there are 23 people who will do anything to make sure I'm dead by the end of the month. If that isn't enough to terrify me, I don't know what is. "What makes you so sure I'll win?" I ask Mags. I know District 4 has a handful of victors, but Districts 1 and 2 have so many more. They win it almost every year.

"I just have a feeling. I know that you don't want to kill anything but fish. But you have to defend yourself. Maybe we can get you a trident. Grant can get you a lot of sponsors." Mags smiles, but it doesn't reach her eyes. She stands up. "Well, I'll be in the lounge car." Mags kisses my cheek. "Don't over think things." I try not to. At the dinner on the train, I keep to myself and pick at my food. Grant attempts to start a conversation, but Lily and I aren't too keen on that idea. He ends up talking to Mags and Ariel a little. I excuse myself and head back to my car. I throw my clothes on an oversized chair in the corner of the room, and crawl into bed, just wearing my boxers. I'm not in the mood to deal with that right now. I pull the soft, white blanket over my head, and try to fall asleep. Maybe I can try to pretend this isn't happening to me. But this is my new reality. My only reality.

I wake up from the sun shining in through the curtains. My head is fuzzy, and I can tell I've been tossing and turning all night. I put on a pair of sweatpants, and am too lazy to find a shirt. I walk through the train cars, ignoring the gawks from two purple-haired Capitol attendants. I sit into the breakfast car, and pour myself a glass of coffee. I've never actually had it, I've only ever seen Juliette drink it. I take a taste, and almost spit out the bitter liquid. "You don't drink it plain!" Ariel laughs. She calls over an attendant and tells them to add some milk. She hands me a sugar cube. "Trust me. They taste fantastic. When I was a child, I ate them instead of putting them in drinks."

I stir it around the cup. It's actually pretty good now. I think I like coffee. Grant tries to crack some jokes, and Ariel tries a few attempts at conversation, but everyone's too tired. Mags doesn't look up from her tea. I hadn't even noticed, but Lily is probably the most tired out of all of us. She's wearing her reaping dress, and still has her hair the way she wore it. "You alright?" I ask her, as we're walking back to our rooms. We're in the same car, but there's a sliding door in between our rooms. She sits on my bed, and stretches out.

"Your bed is so much more comfortable. I'm gonna sleep here." She tells me in a joking tone. I can tell she knows that if it bothered me, she wouldn't have said it. We live four days away from the Capitol by train, so we're gonna spend a lot of time together on the train. "Well, I'm gonna to put on some real clothes. Be back in a few." Lily really is very good-looking. But we might have to kill each other at one point, so I shut those thoughts off. I put on a tee-shirt I brought with me, and make my bed. She's back a moment later. For a girl, she changes very quickly. Lily's wearing a pale pink tank top, and a pair of jean shorts. It's hard to not stare at her legs. "Tell me about yourself." She smiles, and flops down on the bed.

I wonder if she notices I'm staring at her. I hope she doesn't. I lie down on the bed next to her. "Um. I'm Finnick. I'm fourteen. My dad married a really annoying woman from the Capitol. I don't like her. I'm really good at tying knots. My best friend Annie taught me. She's my neighbor, and we're really close, even though she's twelve." I really don't have anything good to say. I wonder how stupid I sound. "Your turn. Tell me about yourself."

Lily sighs, and tucks her hands behind her head. "Well, I'm Lily. I'm eighteen. I have two older sisters and a twin sister. We're not identical. I was really hoping I wouldn't get reaped. But my mom lost her job, so me and my twin sister had to apply for tessarae a few times. I guess the odds weren't exactly in my favor." She doesn't seem as upset about her whole situation as I would be. As I am. "Wait, your dad married a Capitol woman? How'd that happen?"

I laugh. "Well, a year or two after my mom died, Juliette- that's her name- went vacationing in a hotel outside of 4. She went out on a boat, but got lost and ended up by where my dad goes out fishing. He brought her home, and let her stay until her hovercraft came to pick her up. But she never left. They got married in the Capitol a few years later, and Juliette's been trying to get us to move back there ever since. She just had her own kid, and she's terrified they'll get reaped."

"Does she wear the freakish makeup that they all wear on those television shows?" Lily asks. In school, we studied the Capitol, and we got to watch a Capitol television show. "You know, bright green hair, tattooed breasts, purple skin, other ridiculous alterations?" I've seen some pretty crazy Capitol fashion trends. They dye their skin and hair, tattoo things all over, wear shoes most people can walk in, and spend fortunes on clothes that they'll only wear once.

I shake my head. "No, she's not that bad. She tries to fit in back in 4. Not that it really works. Her hair's black. But she wears a lot of makeup, and dresses crazy. She always wears short, tight dresses and high heels, even if it's cold out, or she's not going anywhere that day. And she always gets these magazines delivered straight from the Capitol with the most ridiculous headlines: Some victor got drunk at a party. A television star has a new boyfriend. Someone who did somebody had a train-wreck of a party, when they made all of their guests wear pink. It's so stupid, but she's obsessed with them. I don't get it."

Lily rolls her eyes. "They watch us fight to the death on a television show. Those magazines seem fairly normal and ethical in comparison. Capitol people are just… I don't know. If I win, I would hate it. Just because you'd have to spend time with them. And I could never ever be able to do that. I hate every single one of them." She takes her words back. "No offense."

I laugh in agreement. "None taken. She treats my sister and I like trash. She thinks we're District low-life nothings. I can't imagine how she'd treat people from outer Districts like 9, 10, 11 and 12." I don't notice that Lily's scooted closer to me while I was talking. She puts her head on my chest and looks up at my expression.

"Is this okay?" She asks me. I nod. She barely knows me, but I guess she trusts me enough. Being in these situations bring people together. "Are you going to try?"

"I have to at least try. So if and when I die, they'll say I died fighting. Or something poetic like that." I tell her.

Lily frowns. "You know, we have a pretty good chance, being from District 4 and all… Besides, we have an even better chance this year. The tributes from 1 are both thirteen."

"They are? Don't they usually volunteer if a little kid's reaped?"

She shrugs. "I guess they didn't. And also, we're pretty good-looking so we might get sponsors that way." We both laugh. "Wanna go do something?" She suggests. Lily and I walk around all of the cars, from front to back. I feel like a little kid again, going exploring. It's actually a lot of fun. By the time we get to the last car, the sun has set. A Capitol attendant comes in, looking for us, saying that we're supposed to be at dinner. We show up and Mags is looking concerned, while Grant is smirking.

"Did you get any?" He asks me. I fight the urge to roll my eyes. He takes my lack of response as a no. "Well sucks for you." Dinner is delicious, a fish cooked with lemon and butter. We would sometimes eat that on nights where family or friends would come over. It's my favorite meal. This might be the last time I have it. I try to watch the sun as it sets, and memorize the picture. The pink and orange that streaks across the purple-blue sky. My sunsets are limited. I might as well enjoy them. I decide to talk to Grant after dinner. I'd hate to bring back Mags' memories about her games, but Grant's will be fresher in his mind. I knock on the door to his car. "Come in," he tells me. "what do you need? Condoms?" He laughs to himself.

I cross my arms and lean against the wall. I shake my head, and give Grant a small smile. "Not really. I was just wondering, well, how did you win? And what should I try to do? I don't think I'm gonna win, but I wanna at least try-"

Grant cuts me off, "See, that's where you lose. You need to be confident. Or at least tell yourself that you are enough, and maybe you'll believe it." He leans back on his bed, and puts his hands behind his head. "I'm gonna be honest with you Finnick. I don't believe in sugar coating. It's for people who can't handle the truth. And you're gonna need to be able to handle it. I killed five people in my Games, and that's just a fact. But what they don't tell you is that it's hard to forgive yourself. Even most of the winners from Districts One and Two feel shitty after. Well that's an understatement. You feel like a monster. I know this mentor- from District 12. He won the Quell. He killed four people, I think. Which isn't a lot considering there were 48 people that year. But he still feels terrible."

"Then what's the point of even trying?" I ask him.

"I was hoping you'd ask that. Well, think of your family. I saw that girl who was crying when they reaped you. She had to get dragged away. Think of how she'll feel when you're dead." Annie. She'd… I couldn't do that to her. Grant continues, "I mean it'll probably be hard when you get back. Seriously, all the Capitol women are gonna want you. But do you think you'll be able to kill? Nobody's a victor by chance. We're all bad people. And while we might feel a-okay, we were able to kill. Do you think you will?"

"Maybe. If it meant I could go back home. I'm not ready to die." I'm just terribly homesick. I don't know if I actually would be able to, but in the middle of the arena, it's a whole different situation.

Grant comes up to me and pats my back. "That's all you need to win. You have a real chance. Don't tell anyone I told you this, but Lily won't win. She doesn't believe in killing people. Not that believing in that is bad by any means, but in the Hunger Games, having those values will get you killed. Now go get some sleep or something." He hands me a foil packet. Great. I thank Grant (for the advice) and walk back to my room. Lily's wearing one of my teeshirts.

"I didn't think you would mind." Lily explains, crossing her legs. I'm pretty tall, but she's almost as tall as me. And that shirt's way too short for her. Not that I really mind. She points to the condom in my hand. "What's that?" She asks. I can tell she knows.

"Grant gave it to me. I went to ask him some advice on when we have training." I throw it to her gently, and she catches it.

Lily puts it in the drawer in the nightstand. "We should make good use of that. But not right now." We've only known each other for two days. I yawn. The clock says it's nine. Why am I so tired? I take off my shirt, and sit next to her in bed. She raises an eyebrow at me, and then laughs. "You really sleep in that?"

"No. I don't wanna make you uncomfor-" I realize how stupid that is. I take off my pants, so I'm only wearing my boxers, and sit back down. "Better?" I ask, grinning.

"Much." She says flirtatiously. We both laugh. She reaches up and turns off the light. "Night, Finn." Lily says. I pull the blanket up to my waist. Lily ends up getting wrapped in my arms. I don't think either of us mind.

Before I drift into sleep, I feel Lily press her lips against mine.

A/N: How is this? Should I continue? Like I said, this one stands by itself, but it takes place in the same universe as 'Secrets'.