Authors Note: So I've always thought Annie was really smart and that she was a bit crazy before the games anyway. So in this story she is 17, Finnick is 19. And he won his games 5 years ago when she was 12 and he was 14. Finnick won the 65th games and this is the 70th games.
Annie Cresta. That name suits me fine. I've always liked it. Dockers like my family can't afford three names, and I wouldn't want a tongue twister. I'm proud to have my name, until now. I hear it murmured all around me. It's being echoed from the microphone. It feels as if the sea itself chants my name. The sea of people. In the crowd. In District 4. On Reaping Day.
Slowly I get out of bed. My small bed that I share with my little sister Cecelia. I get dressed in simple clothes and walk out the door, leaving CeCe to sleep.
My room is small and pink. I'm not fond of the color. I like red better. It reminds me of roses and sunsets. The air inside my room smells like fish, probably because I live in a boat in the middle of the ocean. Not alone, of course. I'm never alone. Not since I tried to drown myself when Caleb died. I say died because everyone does, but he was murdered. By the man with the trident.
It was when I was 12 years old. Caleb, my brother had just turned 18. He was a Career trainer. So good at fighting that he decided to train tributes into victors instead of volunteering himself. Everyone liked him until one of his trainees killed their partner in the Games last fall. The dead girl was the trident man's daughter. I know who killed my brother. Trident man has a son as well. Trident boy killed his sister. I hate Tridents.
It's Reaping Day today; my brother has been dead for five years. I am eligible for the reaping still. I've calculated how many times my name is in the drawing, and I have less than 3% chance of being picked. The odds have been in my favor. I am an A student, a great swimmer, and have a steady income from fishing illegally. With a spear. It's easy. See a fish? Stab it and not your foot. A knife isn't bad either. Caleb taught me how to fend for myself in the Games, but his teaching didn't do him much good.
Breathing in the salty air, I dive in. Warm, sun-kissed water surrounds my body. It wraps its many blankets over me and I spin around. I swim around for a while and wait for Trident boy to come. He has every reaping since his own. To apologize for his father killing Caleb. He brings flowers for Mama, a new rod for Dad, and candy for CeCe. I don't know what he brings for me because I hate him. And Mama knows it. She throws his gift out into the sea before I can even see it. I thank her the next day.
With my head half in the water, I see Trident boy jogging up to our dock. He has a box of candy and the flowers in one hand and the fishing rod in the other. I don't see my gift, which suits me just fine. I don't think he has ever met me. Trident boy has golden wavy hair and muscles. I imagine his eyes to be dark and cold like the bottom of the ocean, but I wouldn't know because he's never looked at me. He has gotten taller. He must be 19 now. More like Trident man every day. I tread water quietly as he walks inside and shuts the door. I hear Mama crying and I hate him even more. How dare he interrupt our mourning every time! When he finally leaves, his face has tear streaks. That hypocrite didn't cry when he killed his sister. Or when he killed anyone else for that matter.
Mama comes outside now, she throws something in my direction. I wonder what, until I remember it's my gift. It lands quite close to me and hits the water with a little splash, ringlets radiating out from the spot where it met the water.
I'm curious as to what it is. I don't have long to decide so I dive under anyway. I see it. Barely. It's small, and golden. A necklace. I propel myself to it and then grab it and swim up.
The necklace has a pearl on it. A small thing for a Victor, but not for a poor District 4 girl. The necklace seems to be an insult. As if to say "Hey sorry I got your brother killed and now I'm rich, so here take a little thing from the very famous me."
I have the sudden desire to fling it away, but stop myself. I don't know why. Maybe it's the way the pearl shimmers in the sun. Or the fact that I can sell this for about twenty good sized fish. I put it on my neck so I don't lose it while I finish swimming, and then dive under again. I twirl around and do flips in the water. I then practice holding by breath. I can do it for about 3 minutes now.