WE HAD JUST SAT DOWN FOR LUNCH when Bristel rushed in and ordered us to arise in our District orders. It was confusing at first, but we rushed to stand and lined up in order, holding our heads high just as Bristel instructed. None of us expected what happened to occur.
President Snow strode in, his white beard thin and and beady eyes narrowed, reeking of roses and another metallic smell I couldn't quite place...almost like blood. What was he doing here? I knew that he observed training from afar, but never heard of him visiting the tributes. His shoes clicked as he walked ever so calmly towards us, like we were friends instead of kids lined up to die. He nodded respectfully at Theo and Relly, of course, but refused their gazes, repeating this gesture with Olsen and Delanee and the kids from 3. He seemed uninterested, bored even, as if he was only inspecting us, calculating our odds just for the fun of it. He came to me and didn't even nod, but when he reached Finnick, he stopped, turned on his heel to face him, and stared for what seemed like a century. I could tell Finnick was getting nervous. His hand was twitching to flip back his hair like he always did when he was anxious, but he didn't displace himself from the stance Bristel had strictly instructed us to-arms by side, head straight up, back straight and shoulders broad. Finally, Snow nodded at him, his eyes scaling viciously at the boy, puncturing through whatever dignity he had left.
"You're the boy from 4, am I correct?" He asked, his voice velvety but bold.
Finnick nodded and managed to respond. "Yes...yes Sir."
Snow stared at him, a wicked look beneath his eyes, as a small smile flickered upon him. Something red had formed at the corner of his mouth, but he calmly dabbed it away, eyeing Finnick once more.
"Odair, correct?"
Finnick nodded once more, staring straight ahead so he wouldn't have to meet the President's eyes. Snow gave him one last smile before he looked to turn away.
"I wish you luck in my Games then, Finnick," He said, more cheerily than I had ever heard him. "And let the odds be ever in your favor."
He walked down the rest of the line, not bothering acknowledge any of the other tributes like he had Finnick. When he finally came to the last tribute from 12-Dayzin-he turned away and smiled at Bristel, nodding in appreciation.
"That will be all, Bristel. Thank you."
With that, he left, leaving no trace of his presence besides the sickly smell of roses and a dumbfounded look on Finnick's face.
Bristel clapped her hands and gestured back to the lunch tables.
"Lunch will continue!"
We resumed what we had been doing and took our seats. Everyone was quietly chattering, excited and frightened that Snow had visited. Olsen and Delanee looked utterly lost and infuriated, blessing Finnick with bitter, twisted glances as they gossiped sourly to their new recruits from 11.
"Wow," Raymond exclaimed as we sat down. Like me and many others, Snow had nonchalantly walked by him, not even nodding. It kind of hurt. "How does it feel to be Snow's favorite tribute?"
"I'm not his favorite," Finnick snapped, poking his spaghetti with his fork.
"You're the only one he talked to," Anthea teased, taking a bite of lasagna. "He didn't even look at me."
"Or me," I added lazily.
"Or me!" Raymond piped up, sipping from his drink. "He totally favored you."
"I don't know," Finnick said, throwing his fork down. "He was kind of...creepy."
"Of course he's creepy!" Raymond grinned, patting Finnick on the back. "He's like, one hundred. What do you expect?"
"He's not one hundred, Ray," Anthea corrected colorlessly. "He's seventy-four, actually. And yes, he was creepy."
"Very," I agreed, staring at Finnick in concern. Snow's appeal hadn't seemed to make him very happy. "He looked at him like he was-"
"A piece of meat?" Finnick cut me off, his eyes burning with fire and humiliation.
"Yeah, I know. I got that vibe too."
"Oh, Finnick." Anthea sighed, shaking her head. "He's harmless. He probably just saw you tossing that spear around on the video recordings and thinks your strong."
"Or he saw him strutting around in his outfit at the parade," Raymond added, biting into a bread roll. Finnick buried his head in his hands.
"I don't what to be his favorite because of how I look," he mumbled, looking up at us. "That's weird."
"And killing kids isn't?" Raymond stared into Finnick's eyes seriously, then shook his head. "Look, I'm just saying, it's not a bad thing to have Prezzie Snow on your side, kid. If he likes you, can you imagine all the people that adore you? And you know what people mean?"
"What?" Finnick didn't seem too excited.
Raymond continued. "That means sponsors. And you know what sponsors do?"
Finnick huffed. "What?"
"They give you stuff," He said, demonstrating by handing Finnick a bread roll. "They help you win. Thirsty? No problem, here's some water. Hungry? Well, us Capitol folks can't have Finnick Odair starving! Better send him some food. Injured? No problemo, take some medicine! Anything you need, they send. The problem, however, is getting sponsors, and you already have that covered."
I think Finnick actually smiled like the old Finnick would've, crooked and cute.
Raymond grinned at him and tousled his hair.
"Atta boy!" He cheered. Finnick drew back, a full smile in place where a frown had once been.
"So that whole thing with Snow was good?"
"Yes!" Raymond slurped up some spaghetti and nodded.
I was about to interject that it was actually not okay the way Snow had goggled Finnick, but there was a hand at my shoulder. The others stared behind me like there was a ghost, but when I glanced back, I just saw Relly, her eyes narrowed at Finnick. When she looked back at me, she nudged me up and gestured to her table.
"We need to talk," She said, her voice dead and toneless. I arose and stared nervously at Anthea, who gave me a thumbs up.
I sat down beside Relly at the Careers's table, only it wasn't exactly the Careers's table, for 2 sat over by the corner and Finnick and I were over with 5. It was like sitting down in a business meeting. The carefree attitude I had witnessed yesterday when Theo and Katrina were laughing was gone, their smiles replaced by grave expressions. I sat down next to Relly and faced Theo and Katrina. Up close, Theo was even scarier than I had imagined, with ropes of muscle and a sever buzz cut, leading down to his defined jaw and pursed lips. Katrina was thinner, but still bigger than me. She had long, lank brown waves that fell to her hips, and her eyes were small and cynical, as if she was summing everything up into one, huge math equation. Finally, Relly spoke, and now that she was free of the knife from earlier, she cupped her hands together in solemnity.
"You told me that Pretty Boy could get sponsors," She said, meeting the eyes of her friends and nodding, even though she spoke to me. "You said that people liked him."
I sucked in my breath. "They do," I answered quietly. "People love him. People have always loved him."
A smile escaped on Katrina's face for a moment, but she quickly masked it with a pokerface.
Theo nodded. "Yeah, but the Capitol-"
"You saw how they reacted to him at the Opening Ceremonies," I said, surprised at how bold I was. "They went crazy. They adore him."
"We already knew that," Katrina answered, her voice smooth but sharp. "But we didn't know, well, I guess how loved he is."
"Honestly, 4, I wasn't really considering you," Relly said honestly, meeting my gaze. I kept up my somber face as she went on. "Sure, your group has potential. I mean, both those kids from 5 are good, sure, and Pretty Boy's not bad with a spear, but we didn't need the dead-weight. Know what I mean?"
I nodded, although really I couldn't understand what she meant at all.
Relly smiled the same playful grin from earlier. "We knew Pretty Boy would get sponsors, sure, that's pretty clear, but nothing that could truly hamper us. When Snow came in today, I think...I think it was pretty clear how much of a pull Pretty Boy does have."
I frowned. Was this a good thing or a bad thing? Did they call me here to tell me that Finnick had made the top of their kill list? I certainly hoped not. "Wh...what do you mean?"
"We mean," Theo leaned forward. "He's become a threat, and he's in alliance with you and 5. That makes you threats too."
Shit. So they weren't here to make friends, they wanted me to know that I had put us in hot water. I think they saw my collected expression flicker into dismay, and as I slouched back, I honestly wanted to walk away when Theo went on.
"But," he said, his eyes glittering with some sort of boyish enthusiasm. But? "We were talking, and Relly brought up some points that your team would be beneficial to us. We thought that if we complied with you, it would enhance our chances. If Pretty Boy is bringing in Sponsors, not only does that help him, but it helps his alliance. Instead of taking out the threat, we've decided we want to join together. You get what I'm saying?"
I was speechless, literally, I couldn't form words. I just sat there dumbly, wondering if I heard him correct.
Theo waved his hand in front of my face. "Yo, you get it?"
"I...I think so," I finally stuttered.
Katrina seemed to find the need to make it clearer. "We want an alliance with you, Pretty Boy, and 5. I believe we also have the common enemy of 2."
"Yeah," I mumbled. "We do."
Katrina smiled. "Good. That makes things easier. So, do you agree?"
"To what?"
"The alliance."
Instantly, I nodded. "I agree...I mean, we agree."
"Good." Theo leaned back from his seat and grinned. "We'll strategize tomorrow during lunch."
"And training?" My question struck him with indifference.
"I'll train with the guy from 5 and Pretty Boy," He demanded.
"Their names are Raymond and Finnick," I mumbled, feeling the need to correct him.
He waved his hand dismissively. "Yeah, whatever. You stick with Katrina, and the chick from 5 and Relly can do their thing."
"But she boxes," Relly said, shaking her head. "I'm with the knives. God, Theo, you should know that by now."
He smiled-actually smiled-as she pouted. "Fine, fine whatever. Isn't that guy from 5-"
"Raymond."
"Right, Raymond, he's good with knives, right?"
I nodded. "Yeah."
Theo looked at Relly. "You work with Raymond. I'll take Pretty Boy-"
"Finnick, his name is Finnick."
"Yeah, Finnick. You go with Katrina and Anthea rides solo. Understood?"
Although it sounded silly, he was the one that had been training for this since he could walk, so I decided to go along with him. "Sounds great."
With that, I walked back over to my group, trying to contain my excitement. They stared at me with wide, eager eyes.
"What'd they want?" Raymond whispered, leaning forward.
I couldn't hold back my grin any longer. "Oh, nothing."
My group sighed sadly, but then I went on.
"They were only interested in an alliance. No big deal."
I thought Anthea was going to scream.
"What!" She exclaimed, sitting on her hands so she wouldn't pound them on the table. "They what!"
"They wanted an alliance." I smirked. "Thanks to me, and oh, Finnick."
Finnick was shocked. "Me? What did I do?"
"You're popular." I shrugged, watching as he blushed. "Snow's little visit made up their minds. They actually view us a threat, but they thought better to join us than fight against us."
"That's crazy!" Raymond breathed. "We're with 1! See, I told you Snow's visit would do you good, kid."
I scornfully shook my head. "I still don't approve of the way he looked at him."
"Pervert," Anthea said under her breath but secretly, she was grinning over at Theo, Relly, and Katrina, who were enjoying a laugh again. Hopefully not about us.
"Now listen," I said, leaning forward somberly. "Theo's pretty much already made it clear he runs the alliance. He's made training arrangements and wants to strategize at lunch."
"Who made him boss?" Raymond snorted, obviously displeased at having another guy be in charge.
"Ray, shut up. He's a Career, from 1, and most likely just saved your ass by accepting us into his alliance. So you will listen to him and keep your rude words in your mouth," Anthea hissed. Raymond immediately shut up.
"What are the training arrangements?" Finnick asked quietly.
"Theo wants to train at spears with you," I told him, smiling when his face lit up. "And Raymond, you'll be training with Relly at knives."
"Aw man," He sighed. "She always hogs the station."
I ignored him. "Anthea, you are, and I quote, 'riding solo'."
"So I go alone?"
"You do your thing." I knew she was happy from the way her eyes lit up. Finally, I said,
"And I'm with Katrina. Is that clear?"
They nodded, and I smiled.
"Good. I think the odds just turned in our favor."
I felt at ease when I realized that it was true.
