CHAPTER 2
THE FISHERMAN'S FESTIVAL
The people of District 4 have started to prepare for the upcoming Fisherman's Festival. It's a week of festivities in order to celebrate another successful year in the fishing industry. This year is extra special for the townspeople because Finnick Odair had finally accepted the district's invitation for the first time in many years.
A lot of people have set up stalls in the town proper, with games and food. There will also be entertainment outside the Justice Building where they will be showing theatrical plays and other acts.
On the last day of festivities, there will be a fishing exhibition. A lot of the men here are excited about showing off their fishing skills. There are different stages or levels.
The first level, a spear would be used as their weapon, the next a trident and the last would be catching fish with your bare hands.
My father won that competition for 10 years. The people of the district always remember and honor him every year and somehow, I feel as if they do it to spite me and my mother. I wish I could just stay home. But my attendance is a must. Pft.. As if anyone's happy to see me.
For the next few days, I roam town with Buddy and observe everyone. I wouldn't admit that I was actually looking around for a certain victor. But I'm out of luck. I haven't seen a glimpse of him at all.
I don't get this. One moment, I totally hate the mere thought of him and then the next, all my mind can think of is him and how he looked at me before he left. He's such a complex person.
Maybe I'm just paranoid. Maybe it was nothing. But what if he likes me? My heart skips at the thought and I feel my cheeks turn pink. I halt on my tracks, ignoring the curious looks the people are giving me and shake the thought out of my head. As if that's gonna work.
Buddy barks excitedly and I tell him to quiet down. This is clearly not the time to misbehave.
I hear a familiar chuckle and look up to see none other than the guy I was looking for. "Finnick," I breathe out. I mentally kick myself for sounding so obvious.
He smiles. "Allison," he says. "I've been looking for you."
Holy shit, really? I clear my throat. "Well, here I am. What do you want?" I ask him, straight to the point. Give yourself a pat on the back, girl!
"Will you be my date?" he asks, taking on a serious tone.
My eyes widen. Did he just ask me out? Is he for real? Oh. God. Calm down, Allison! "Oh... Uhm, okay," I answer lamely, trying hard not to blush.
He raises an eyebrow at me. "You're not gonna tell me to fuck off?"
"Do you want me to tell you to fuck off? I retort.
He laughs in amusement. "Sorry. I'm just... surprised. You seem nicer today."
I narrow my eyes at him and he throws his hands up in surrender. "Hey, hey, I meant that as a compliment. Not to mention you look real cute today," he winks.
I wore a white floral sundress and sandals coz the weather felt warmer than usual today and boots seemed too uncomfortable.
"So," I say as we start to walk together, Buddy trotted in front of us happily. "Where are we going?"
He looked thoughtful for a minute. "Well, I wanna have a look around town first. I guess we'll see," he answers.
Everyone in town greets Finnick and some people acknowledge my presence every now and again so as not to make Finnick suspicious that the town doesn't give me much respect. I greet them back anyway.
The girls are all throwing me death glares but I try to ignore them. They can't hurt me. Finnick winks at them and they all swoon. I feel jealous. Damn it.
We stop at a food stall that serves cold beverages and sweets. The vendor seemed overly eager to serve Finnick and grudgingly took my order.
Finnick orders a "chocolate shake" and some salted bread and I order a "rootbeer" and "chips".
"Won't that get you drunk?" Finnick asks in an all-grown up tone.
I roll my eyes. "This doesn't contain alcohol so no worries," I say before nibbling on my chips.
Finnick shrugs. "Oh okay," he eyes my food and then looks at me. "That's why you're so thin. You should try to eat healthy."
I sigh in frustration. "I'm slim. There's a difference." He snorts and I scowl at him.
"I do eat healthy. And I eat a lot. I just don't feel like eating much today," I explain.
"Hmm," Finnick looks thoughtful for a minute and grins charmingly at me. "Is it coz I make you nervous?"
I gulp. He got me. But there's no way I could admit that. "NO!" I say defensively and scoff. "I mean, why would I be? I don't think of you that way."
"But you do think of me right?" he moves his face closer to mine and my face has turned into a remarkable shade of red. He knows! And he's teasing me about it!
"Ehem..."
We both turn around to see who it was and immediately jump apart. Shit...
"Good afternoon, Mr. Odair," my stepdad, Mayor Eli greets him.
"Good afternoon, Mayor Eli. Care to sit down?" Finnick gestures to the chair beside him.
Mayor Eli had his own plans though. He scurries between the two of us and orders a plate of buttered shrimps and a beer.
"Uhm, where's mom?" I ask my stepdad. I glance at Finnick and he looks quite nervous. I smile inwardly. So he gets nervous too.
"She went to buy some clothes for you to wear tomorrow. Which reminds me," he stops eating. "Make sure to be around for the fishing exhibition tomorrow. Mr. Odair will be with us to watch."
I nod, not really in the mood to argue. I'm too embarrassed to say anything else.
In a few minutes, my mother arrived carrying bags full of clothing. They excuse themselves and head back to the direction of the Justice Building while Finnick and I continue walking, checking things out.
"How old did you say you were?" Finnick asks out of the blue.
"I'm sixteen. Turning seventeen in two months. And you're 24 right?"
"I'm flattered you know even the smallest things about me," he teases again.
"Oh please," I roll my eyes. "Those kinds of information are common knowledge."
"I love when you talk smart," he fakes a swoon.
I stop on my tracks and turn to him. "Are you like this with everyone?" I ask, making it evident that his flirting is annoying me.
"Hmm.." he looks thoughtful again. "Pretty much, yeah."
Okay.. That was the answer I was afraid of. And yet deep down, I knew that's just the truth. Finnick Odair is Panem's biggest playboy. And I find that unacceptable.
I turn on my heel and walk away. I hate this. I shouldn't even be affected. But you are.
"Hey!" I hear him call out to me. "Wait up!" I don't slow down until he catches up. "You mad?"
"No."
"Really?" he looks at me disbelievingly.
"Yes. Really," I say.
"So why are you walking away from me again?"
"I... I got bored." I say, my head held high to look snotty.
That probably hit home. "You're... bored? With me?" he asks in such a hurt tone.
"Yes. I am."
He remains quiet for a bit. Then, "I see... That's a first."
"There's always a first for everything," I state condescendingly.
He nods. "Yeah."
I walk over to a store that sells hair accessories and finger some stuff to try to look busy. I try something with a red rose on it and look in the mirror. Finnick has been watching all this time. I ignore him and fix the pin on my hair.
"That looks great on you," he says quietly.
I take it off and place it back. "Nah." I move on to other stuff and he follows me. I pick up a headband with cat ears and put it on, eyeing it in the mirror. "Hmm.."
Finnick gives me a curious glance and then smiles. "Cute."
I take it off as well with a huff. Honestly.. He's just saying that. Not gonna work for me.
In the end, I just chose a plain, black hair tie. I walk out and of course Finnick follows closely behind me. Then I feel his hand grab my arm and I stop. He turns me to face him.
"Hey," he starts. "I'm sorry if I offended you earlier. Believe me, I didn't intend to."
I stay silent, my eyes blank. It wasn't enough. But I'm not exactly sure what I want from him.
"And when I said that pin looked great on you, I meant that. And I've never seen anyone look cute with cat ears till I saw you wear them," he continues. He's stroking my bare arms softly and looking deep into my eyes and I realize...
He's telling the truth.
I can't help but smile a little. "Okay." He smiles back and we start our little tour again.
The two of us walk over to a game stand. "You have to shoot 4 balls inside the hoops. You shoot all 4, you get the grand prize," the owner said to Finnick.
"So what's the prize?" I ask him.
"Well, you get to choose between these 3 big stuffed toys," he gestures to a huge bear, a dog and a fox.
"I want the fox," I say.
Finnick laughs and shakes his head. "Alright. A fox then. One game, mister," he says and the owner gives him a ball.
"Good luck," the owner says as Finnick prepares to shoot. He exhales a bit and throws the ball.
"One point," says the owner.
Finnick shoots again.
"And that's two."
I beam at him. "Go Finnick!" I cheer. He smiles mischievously and shoots.
"Three points! Last one!" the owner looks very excited. I start jumping and other people have joined in cheering for Finnick.
"Finnick! Finnick! Finnick! Finnick!"
Finnick shoots for the final time. And...
"Aw you missed!" the owner said and the voices die down in disappointment.
Finnick smiles sheepishly. "I got distracted," he explains to me.
I smile back. "It's okay." He takes out a few coins to pay for the game and we turn to leave.
"Hey, wait! Please!" It was the owner. Finnick and I exchange confused glances.
"What is it?" Finnick asks.
"You uh.. You can have the stuffed toy," he says to me.
"Really? But Finnick lost the game," I point out.
The owner shakes his head. "It's a gift. I.. I was a friend of your father. Please," he hands me the fox. "Take it."
Finnick looks just as bewildered as I am but I take it anyway. "Uhm.. Thank you, mister."
He smiles at me. "No matter what anyone says about you, I know.. I know you are like your father." With that, he left us.
I hug my new toy and smile sadly. This is one of those days I'll always remember.
"Let's go," I tell Finnick.
Finnick walks beside me, his hands in his pockets as he looked at the night sky. "So... When he was talking about your father, he wasn't talking about the mayor right?" he asks, obviously intrigued.
I shake my head no. "He was referring to my real dad, Xen Conde."
Finnick halts and looks at me in surprise. "Xen Conde?"
"Yeah. What is it? You're acting really weird," I cross my arms in front of me, waiting for him to explain.
"So you're saying you are the one and only daughter of the Xen Conde?" Finnick asks persistently.
"Yes, now tell me what's got you so worked up," I say, scowling at his ridiculous reaction.
He smacks his face with his palm. "I can't believe it."
"Is that an insult?" I ask in a dangerous tone.
"No!" Finnick exclaims defensively. "I just," he pauses, trying to find the right words. "I can't believe I've found you. I didn't know that what I've been looking for is already right in front of me this whole time."
"What is that suppose to mean?"
He sighs. "I'll tell you when the right time comes."
"And when exactly is the right time?"
He cocks his head to the side. "Soon?"
Hmm.. Fine. I'll let it go. I shrug. "Okay. Deal. I'll wait. But you gotta give me the complete answers."
Finnick smiles. "Deal."
It was getting really late so he walked me home and promised to see me again the next morning.
I enter the house and walk quietly in the dark but the light in the living room suddenly lights up. I jump in fright. It was mom and my stepdad.
"How was your date?" My mother asks excitedly.
"It was... okay," I say, not giving any details.
"Do tell what happened, dear, and don't make me guess," my mom lightly scolds me. "Did he kiss you yet?"
"Mom!"
My stepdad sighs in defeat. "I'd appreciate if you don't become too attached to that boy."
"Darling, a few weeks ago, you were agreeing with me in matchmaking these two. What happened?" my mom frowns at her husband.
"I don't think he's a very good choice after all. He's a playboy isn't he?" he says in a not-so-convincing way. Hmm.. He's hiding something.
I raise a brow. "Maybe he is. But we are just friends. I don't like him in that way." Liar.
"If you say so, Alli," my mom winks at me, obviously not believing a single word.
I excuse myself and go to bed. That night, I dreamed of red roses, the crashing waves, the warmth of the afternoon sun and Finnick Odair.
A/N: Hey everyone! I just wanna take this time to thank the people who added this story to their favorites and to everyone who started following this story.. I appreciate it a lot. I love you guys! I hope you liked reading this chapter coz it sure was fun writing it. Not to mention I have plot twists and surprises waiting for you guys in the next chapters. Do find time to review! I'd love to know what you guys are thinking. Love, Me. ;)
