Chapter One.
AN.
This is how I always imagined Annie and Finnick meeting, before the games changed them both into who they are in the books.
Of course I couldn't just have them meet at a party or at school or something, no I had to throw in a shark:)
I walk out of the school gates alone.
Its not that I don't have friends, I'm actually almost popular, but I'm not in the mood for the constant babble of meaningless conversation that I live for most of the time.
I'm walking slowly, weighed down by the books in my bag. I love to read and I'm smart, so smart I'm almost nerdy, but I do a good job of pretending not to be most of the time out of class. I'm also a bit of a chatter box, but because of my previously mentioned and slightly embarrassing intelligence half the time people don't have any idea what I'm talking about when I start to theorizing or speculating and as they say, "Zoning out".
I follow the stream of people until it thins out then turn and make my way to the jetty. The jetty is an old jetty that ships stopped using years ago and has fallen largely into disuse but makes a perfect place to swim, if you know its there. Not many people do, I stumbled across it years ago accidentally and I come down here all the time.
I walk all the way down to the end where thrill seekers like myself normally throw themselves of the sides over the jagged rocks into the deep water further out for the rush but today its quit. Theres a few lone swimmers and a group of boys further down showing of with their tridents but mostly its deserted. Sitting down with my legs dangling over the deep end with the spray occasionally stinging my legs I pull out my book and sink into it, my librarian would have a fit.
I'm so absorbed in my book I barely register the cries for help until its almost to late. When the shrieks finally pierce my conscience I jump up and scan the see until I make out a young boy thrashing and screaming a long way out and an ominous black fin circling him.
I consider the option of throwing myself of the side of the jetty and swimming around but know that I will never make it to him in time. My only other option would be to throw my self of the end which is considered suicidal. Desperately my eyes scan the sharp rocks for a safe place to jump but I draw a blank. Unless I can jump over.
"You'll never make it over" a rough voice from behind me startling me so that I almost fall of the end of my own accord but I don't.
Finnick Odair.
He must have been with the group of boys and tridents but he's heard the shouts before me and has managed to make it to the end of the jetty before I've done anything.
Typical.
I could rant for a long time on Finnick Odair but for the moment I content myself with raising an eyebrow at him.
"No?" I ask him cooly then turn and dive as far as I can out across the rocks, refusing to think about what I'm doing. I just make it to the water but cut my feet really badly on the rocks. I can feel the salt water stinging them but don't pay them attention. Just like I didn't pay attention to the dive. Under normal circumstances I would never have thrown myself of the end, I'm crazy but I'm not stupid. I've thrown myself of all the cliffs even when none of the other girls would, and only a handful of boys and every one said we were crazy, but nothing as dangerous as this.
I start to swim as fast as I can towards the boy and am unsurprised to hear a splash behind me as finnick follows me into the water.
The young boys yells for help have changed sickeningly to screams of fear as the shark circles closer.
I swim faster.
His terrified flailing increases and as the shark closes in he punches it hard on the nose, I'm inclined to think its an accident though it seems to have shocked the shark who swims a little away and gives me enough space to dart in towards the boy. I tread water and try to hold him aloft as the shark returns to circling. Finnick reaches us soon after and takes most of the boys weight while I try to calm him down.
He cant be older then 4 and he's tiny.
"Hey sweetheart, your all right now we've got you" I croon softly stroking his head to calm him down.
"Whats your name bud?" finnick asks him gruffly.
"Charlie" he murmurs wide eyed and shaking.
"well Charlie you did a pretty good job of that shark" finnick tells him in the same gruff voice. "you got him right on the nose, "scared the shiliving daylights out of 'I'm i reckon" he says his tone is admiring and i cant help but grin when he covers his swearword with "the living daylights" which I've never heard anyone under 40 say. it seems to have calmed Charlie down as well although he still looks shaky.
The sharks circling becomes more urgent and he slowly starts to close in.
"We should get going hey? Its getting a bit cold out here for me" I say my tone light so as not to scare Charlie but I shoot finnick a look over his head and I know he understands.
"Can you swim Charlie?" finnick asks and Charlie nods scornfully (every one in district four can swim) but I can see he's far to shaky to out swim the shark.
The water around us is turning a dark red and I realize its my leg, I must have cut it worse then I thought. Tentatively I reach down with my fingers and feel my ankle but pull my hand back up quickly at the pain.
I look up to see finnick repositioning Charlie on his back so he can take all his weight.
"I've got an idea" I say in the same light tone. "Charlie why don't you stay on his back to keep look out on the way back?" i hope finnick understands that I'm trying not to make Charlie feel useless. "but you to aren't going to be able to swim that fast, well not faster then a shark anyway, so you swim around to the left side of the peer all the way to the beach and get out of the water, and ill swim around the left to draw the shark away."
I can see that Finnick's going to object to this, probably wit some sexist comment or unwilling to not be the hero of any given situation.
"The shark will follow me" I sigh lifting up my leg so they can see the edge of the deep bloody gash. I I'm running high on adrenalin so I can barely feel it but it does look very impressive and I start to feel a little bit sick at the sight of it. "Ill see you up on the beach hey Charlie?" I smile reassuringly roughing up his hair and without looking at Finnick I turn my back on the and strike out for the right side of the peer.
I don't look back to them once but swim as hard as I can towards the peer. I sense more then see the shark closing in on my heels. I can still barely feel my leg but theres the sickening sensation of the skin flapping around ad the water inside my leg but I ignore it and keep swimming. As I draw level with the end of the peer I realize I wont make it. I'm losing a lot of blood and I can feel myself grow weaker. The water all around me has been turned a deep red and my bloods driving the shark into a frenzy, I can feel the water churning at my heels. I turn desperately towards the peer and realize with a sinking sensation that the only ladder onto the peer is a rusted frail broken one but worse it on the other side of the peer so I cant get to it without leading the shark strait to finnick and Charlie. My legs start to give out but I continue to tread water with my arms looking around desperately. The group of boys is standing on the peer screaming advice but I cant hear what they're saying. I hear the creak of the ladder and look over the see finnick help Charlie until willing hands pull him onto the peer then clamber up himself. Well, at least they both made it out, so I might as well try for the ladder my self. I strike out but my legs can barely move me forward and I cant do it with my arms alone. I turn to the shark without any hope, but hey might as well go out with a bang. The shark stops playing games with me and starts swimming strait towards me, closing in for the kill. Before it gets to me I see a streak from of the jetty and finnick odair lands on top of the sharks head and buries his trident in its brain.
The shark spasms and thrashes but finnick handles it while I try to stay afloat. I can feel my legs becoming numb and I feel slightly dazed.
Finnick swims across to me when he's sure the sharks finished.
"Your legs bleeding" he tells me as if he kills sharks every other day.
"No shit sherlock" I grimace.
"Here" he says pulling of his shirt and handing it to me and I wrap it around my leg.
"Come on you have to get out of the water" he grabs my arm and starts to drag me towards the ladder.
"I can swim for myself thanks" I say embarrassed about being pulled through the water by a half naked Finnick (embarrassed, but that doesn't mean I wasn't enjoying it a bit). My legs cant kick properly so I squeeze them together and kick like a dolphin under the water to the ladder. Its clear that I will never be able to climb it with my leg so finnick scoops me up like I weigh nothing (which believe me is sadly far from he truth) and hauls me up the first few rungs until his friends can get a hold of me and pull me up.
I lie on the jetty gasping then lean over the other side and heave my guts up.
"Charming" Finnick drawls from behind me where he's lying on the peer exhausted.
"I try" I shrug.
All his friends crowd around him congratulating him on killing the shark, taking no notice of me which suits me just fine.
I gingerly peel Finnick's shirt f my leg but wrap it around tighter when I see the bloody mess it is.
I look up when I sense the quit. Finnick and his posse are half way down the jetty with Charlie in the middle of them on some ones shoulders having the time of his life.
Typical finnick, ill just let you save my life then ill save yours but don't expect me to hang around, nope I'm off see ya.
Screw him.
"Is your leg ok?" finnick asks from behind me where he was lying before startling me so much I nearly fall of yet again.
"They've gone to take Charlie to the hospital, he cut his hand quite badly on the ladder on his way up" I can tell by his tone that he knew exactly what I was thinking but refuse to give him the satisfaction of acknowledging it.
"Whats you name by the way?" he asks.
No fucking way.
We've been science partners for a month, we've just saved each others and Charlie's lives and he doesn't know my name.
"Annie. Annie Cresta." I reply again not letting my thoughts show. "whats yours?"
"Finnick Odair" he replies gruffly.
"I thought it was something like that" I reply vaguely.
He's lying on his back still short of breath and still half naked. He's so hot which is such a waste. I'd be completely in love with him if he wasn't such a git.
"Is you leg ok?" he asks again pulling me away from my internal ranting. I glance down at the shirt which is now soaked with blood and the more I concentrate on it the more painful it becomes until I can feel tears in my eyes but I refuse to let them fall.
"Hurts like a bitch" I reply vaguely but keep my facial expression away from pain. I dunno why I'm trying to act so tough when normally id be blubbering by now.
"Wish I was as strong as you, if I was cut that bad id be blubbering by now" finnick says in an eerily in tune with my thoughts.
"Thanks" I murmur.
AN.
I'm not happy with the ending but I'm working on it in my head and I might change it if I come up with something better.
Flames welcome and probably well deserved. :)