CHAPTER ONE
MEETING FINNICK ODAIR
"Mom!" I storm through the dining room and give her and the mayor my most impressive glare. "I'm busy today!"
Mayor Eli chuckles. "Teenagers.." I hear him mutter in amusement.
My mother smiles. "What exactly are you doing today, dear?"
I roll my eyes. "I need to give Buddy a bath," I answer, trying to make it sound so important. Buddy is my dog. He's a big, fat dog with blonde hair. He's really cute.
She raises a brow at me. "You give him a bath for what? 5 minutes?" She crosses her arms in front of her chest and gives me a knowing look. "He's not so bad. He's very charming and good-natured."
"I don't give a sh-" I stop myself when my mom gave me the look. Crap.
"Ali," my stepdad starts. "Finnick Odair only stays in this district for a short time. He's always in the Capitol. We need to give him our time and make him feel welcome."
"But I never had to meet him the past few years. Why start now?" I ask in exasperation.
"Well, your dad and I have been talking..." Mom trailed off.
I raised a brow at them. "And?"
"Well, Finnick Odair is Panem's most eligible bachelor. And he's from District 4. Though he's spent 10 years in the Capitol, this place is his home."
"And your point is, mother?"
She sighs as if the answer is so obvious.
"Maybe you stand a chance," she said.
I fall silent. Finnick Odair is Panem's biggest PLAYBOY. I bet he's slept with every woman in the Capitol. He's nothing but SCUM.
I want to say all that but I don't. Instead I walk out and head towards Buddy's dog house. He seems eager to see me. His excitement brings a smile to my face. I take his leash and we start walking to the direction of the lake.
On the way there, a lot of people throw me icy glances. Some people compliment my dog. Some people mind their own business. I like the latter.
Few minutes later, I take Buddy's leash off and he runs toward the water and jumps, splashing water everywhere. I giggle in amusement. "You enjoy yourself, Buddy!" I call out to him.
"Nice dog," a suave voice startles me and I look quickly to it's direction on top of a tree. The guy has bronze hair and tan skin. He's wearing fashionable clothes and I can tell he isn't from around here.
But he looks so familiar...
Then, realization hit me. Holy shit! "Finnick Odair..." I say through gritted teeth.
He smiles down flirtatiously at me. "You must be the mayor's daughter."
"Stepdaughter," I correct him. He shrugs and jumps down. Kinda impressive since he was really far up that tree. But I don't care. Hmph.
"So..." He drawls as he approaches me. "Does the mayor's stepdaughter have a name?"
I glare daggers at him. "Allison. But I think calling me by my first name is incredibly distasteful. You don't know me."
He walks closer and his face is now closer to mine. I can feel him breathing on my skin. He was smirking. "Such a beautiful name... For such a beautiful girl."
I feel the blush creeping up on my cheeks and I want to push him. So I do.
SPLASH!
He'd just fallen down the water. Buddy immediately begins swimming his way to the guy thinking he needed rescuing. But of course perfect Finnick knows how to swim. He starts laughing hard inside the water and play with Buddy.
I scowl. That dog has no loyalty. I call him over and he starts shaking the water off of his fur. Finnick follows and shakes the wetness off his hair with a profound grin. It seems he can never stop grinning, it's irritating. "I'm glad you're amused," I said sarcastically.
He grins even more. "You've got me quite entertained today. Not to mention really wet," his eyes take on a dangerous glint and I back away from him, grabbing Buddy's leash. He tries to be violent and we run. I brace myself.
"What if I return the favor and make you wet too?"
I glare at him and stomp off. "No thank you. And you deserved that, you creep."
He just laughs and lets me walk away.
Buddy and I head straight to the bathroom when we get home and ignore my mom's questions. If I'll be meeting Finnick Odair again, I don't wanna look mediocre. He's such an ass. I need to show him that not everyone is interested in him. Okay, he's definitely good-looking. But his attitude just pisses me off.
I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I guess I look pretty good. I've caught some of the guys at school staring at me in the cafeteria during lunch. Although no one ever had the courage to ask the mayor's stepdaughter on a date. Everyone knows I'm off-limits. Aside from that, some people think I'm a gold-digger after my mom's wedding so I have no friends. I do have one friend. Well, he's actually my cousin so I don't know of he's suppose to be considered as a friend. He's a year younger than I am. His name's Jared. He's kinda annoying most of the time though.
I finish shampooing Buddy's hair and proceed with my own bath. The warm water starts to relax me and I try to enjoy the little piece of heaven until I see Finnick Odair again. I finish off, dry myself and prep up. In all of District 4, I'm one of the girls with the most beautiful hair. My long, brown hair is probably my best asset. I star to apply a little eye make-up to emphasize my brown eyes and then apply light lipstick. I never use too much make-up. It makes me uncomfortable. I do have a liking for eyeliner.
I chose a blue off-shoulder dress with a flared skirt and I slip in my favorite black boots. I give myself one last look and raise an eyebrow at my reflection and smirk. I am so ready.
An hour or so later...
"He's so late," I grumble as I sip my tea in the sitting room. He's just so incorrigible. My mom pats my hand to try to pacify my growing irritation. Mayor Eli is busy reading a book and doesn't seem to be affected by Finnick Odair's lateness. "Can I be excused?"
"Allison," my stepdad finally acknowledged us. "We have to wait. Finnick Odair is a very busy man. I'm sure he has a good excuse for being late."
"Fine... I'll give him 15 minutes. If he still hasn't arrived, I'm heading out."
Just then, there was a knock from the door and our butler peers in. "Mr. Odair has arrived," he announces. Mayor Eli motions for him to let Finnick Odair in the sitting room. A few moments more, Finnick walks to us, a sickeningly charming smile on his face.
"I'm sorry I'm late. I had to go home for a bit to check on Mags. She was having a bit of trouble handling Annie," he explaims apologetically. If I remember correctly, Finnick has a soft spot for Annie Cresta, the victor of The 70th Annual Hunger Games. She went mad after she saw her partner lose his head (literally) in the arena. Poor girl.
"No need to apologize, Mr. Odair," the mayor smiles and motions for him to sit in one of our plush arm chairs. Finnick gracefully sits down and gives me a look and a wink. I scowl at him.
"It's good you've found time to change your clothes. We wouldn't want you to catch a cold now, wouldn't we?" I smirk as I recall the glorious moment I pushed him to the water.
He smirks back. "Well I wanted to look as presentable as you do, Allison. After all, you took all these efforts to beautify yourself for me this evening. I'm flattered."
I blush profusely and glare at him. How dare he!
My mom and stepdad look at the two of us, obviously confused at what's going on. "You two know each other?" My mom asks.
Finnick nods. "We met this afternoon at the lake where she pushed me."
My mother gasps in horror and gives me a fierce look, "You unbelievable girl!"
"He asked for it," I say, seething.
My stepdad sighs in exasperation. "We apologize for our daughter's misbehavior."
"No need, Mayor. I truly enjoyed my encounter with Allison. And I'm hoping I could spend more time with her during my stay here. Her company is quite... Refreshing to me," he says, his smile unwavering. As if I'd ever agree to that!
"Of course! She'd be more than willing to spend time with you," my mother raises her eyebrow at me, daring me to contradict her. I knew better. I keep my mouth shut but I continue to glare at Finnick. He's done it. He's really pissed me off BIG TIME but he remains unfazed.
Another knock on the door, it was the maid this time. "Dinner is served." We all move to the dining room, Finnick walked beside me, of course to irritate me further. I don't acknowledge him even when he took a seat beside me at dinner.
All three of them talk all through dinner while I remain quiet and pick at my food. I've completely lost my appetite. I tuned out of their endless chatter and was about to excuse myself when Finnick called my name. I grudgingly look at him.
"Yes?" I ask him.
"Your mother was just telling me that you have a talent in music," he says and I can tell that he doubts it with his tone. Hmph.
"Yeah. So?"
"So, why don't you be a good girl and play us a song?" my mom suggests but obviously it was a command.
I roll my eyes and walk over to our grand piano. I started to play the piano late. I was already 12 when I learned. My stepdad was into Pre-Panem music and he has a big collection in his study. I've gone gaga over them ever since I heard them years ago.
I can also play guitar. I don't know how I learn them by myself but I have to admit, I sound okay. I stretch my fingers and start playing one of my favorite songs. My mom recognizes it immediately. It's her favorite too.
"Ooh I love this song," she says enthusiastically. "Do sing for us, dear."
I sigh, close my eyes and sing.
Oh my love, my darling...
I hunger for your touch
A long, lonely time...
And time goes by...
So slowly
And time can do so much...
Are you still mine?
I open my eyes and see Finnick looking at me, his expression unreadable. My mom is singing along and Mayor Eli looks proud. At least I've done something right for them today. I bet Mr. Perfect over there is eating his doubts about now.
I need your love, I need your love...
Godspeed your love to me...
I end the song with a nice flourish and as the last notes resonate through the room, all the people in the room, including our servants, burst into applause. I look at all of them and smile in gratitude. Suddenly, I didn't care if Finnick Odair was in my personal space. Maybe he's okay after all. At least he appreciates good music. Maybe he's not so bad.
"Thank you, everyone," I say and go back to my seat beside Finnick. The atmosphere between us suddenly seems more civil than it was a few minutes ago. I guess he was really impressed.
After a few more minutes, Finnick bade us goodnight and we all see him to the door. A car was waiting for him and a chauffeur opens the back door.
"Thank you for having me here tonight, Mayor Eli, Madam Catherine. Dinner was most enjoyable. And Allison," he turns to me, all serious and I don't know why but my heart started beating faster than usual.
"W-what is it?" I ask him, trying to look more confident but failing.
He smiles, not his usual flirty, annoying smile. But a sincere one. He takes my hand and kisses it. "I'll see you again."
I stood there, dumbfounded as he enters his car and leaves our driveway. I stare after him in silence until my stepdad started to cough and I'm brought back to the present.
"Well, that turned out quite better than I expected," Mayor Eli lightly chuckles.
My mother pats me on the back. "Well done, dear. You've made a great impression on Panem's most eligible bachelor," she winks at me.
I don't believe this. I tell myself. Stop it Allison! There is no way I'm ever going to admit that I have a stupid crush on Finnick Odair. No freaking way!
A/N: I am so sorry if my update is a bit delayed! I got sick last night and I couldn't finish the chapter sooner. But I do hope you enjoy this as well. The title of the song is Unchained Melody by The Righteous Brothers. I don't own The Hunger Games and of course the song. Love much! Xoxo
