"Hello."
I looked up from my journal to see green orbs starring back at me. I was startled at first, but the sight of this girl comforted me instantly in a way words could not express. That voice would never leave my head.
"Hi," I said awkwardly. I was working on Johanna's oath. I considered it as a fail.
"I'm Annie Cresta," The girl said, taking a seat next to me. I smiled.
"I know," I replied. Now that I think of it that was so stupid! I sounded like a stalker and from the look she gave me I probably looked like one to. I was ashamed on the inside, but not on the outside. I'm Finnick Odair!
She sat beside me and I got a good look at her. She had long, dark brown hair that cascaded in a curtain around her shoulders and face. Her large green eyes were slightly far apart and had a natural, comforting glow about them. She was beautiful.
"You're Finnick Odair, right?" She asked. I felt embarrassed that I didn't tell her my name after she told me hers. Annie Cresta, it was. It had a nice ring to it. It suited her, from what I could tell.
I nodded bashfully. I tried to concentrate on Jos' oath, but I really couldn't. She was just so kind and thoughtful and nice. Even though she only spoke a few sentences to me, I felt like I knew her page by page like a beloved book.
We talked a while and I felt like I knew her even better. She had a sister that died in a mass shooting. I instantly thought of Johanna, whose sister died in a mass axe murder. Her other sister was only five who liked to tell silly stories of a giant squid that roamed our oceans freely. She seemed imaginative. Annie lived with her mother and father in the richer part of district four. I had always lived in the poorer part and had never been there before. Now, however, there is no poorer part of the district because when I did win the games I funded my old neighbors to live in the proper houses of the district. There were only five families, so it wasn't hard to pay for it or barely made a dent in my large pile of money that grows.
Her family was also a large tribute to poor families. They gave a monthly sum of her father's earning for families to buy groceries. My parents used to rely on them for our food because we could not afford anything. We faced very big hardships having eight members in the family.
"So there is only four of you now?" I asked carefully, digging a dent in the sand.
"Well, my other sister, whom was thirteen died just a few weeks ago," A smile played on her lips. "I believe you know her. Coral?"
I wanted to cry. Everything was escalating so fast that I didn't want to talk anymore. That was where I had seen those green eyes before! Coral. She had the mimicking eyes of Annie.
I nodded solemnly. Tears dappled my cheeks with a vulnerable appearance. Annie hugged me kindly.
After a few minutes I admitted ashamed: "I really liked talking to you."
It was about the most embarrassing thing I ever had to do. I shouldn't say 'Had' because I wanted to. I wanted her to know that I was there for her no matter what. I just hoped that she'd be there for me too.
I think I loved her.
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"And then Mira came! I was already sad enough; I didn't need that bitch coming along. I was already considering breaking up with her, but I didn't want to do it when I was crying, because she'd tell everyone a whole different story!" I was explaining my encounter with the maniac Mira to Annie. She was a really good listener.
"So then she tells me, Fin I'm breaking up with you. I'm sitting there crying in the sand and she tells me she's breaking up with me? So than I thought she was even worse. When she left I went to my house and she was sitting there drinking my coffee! She's all like, 'Oh, Fin. I decided that we're back together,' and I was all like, 'Get out of my house!' And then she took a steak knife and stabbed me in the shoulder!" I slid my shirt down my shoulder and showed her the scar. Her eyes widened but she remained quiet.
"And then she started beating me up! So I took- um- I took .."
I really couldn't finish that sentence. How was I supposed to tell my new best friend that I stabbed my ex-girlfriend?
"I stabbed her in the heart so she'd die quickly.." I was very embarrassed that I said it that fast with that much energy. My voice trailed off, but the words I had spoken clearly clung to the air, pregnant with meaning. I dared to look cautiously at Annie. I expected her to look at me with a look of disgust. I had killed a girl. But I killed more than three in the arena and got applauded for it, but here, I killed someone and I'll go to jail? This world was screwed.
"Finnick, it's okay!" Annie said. She rubbed my back and hugged me as I cried. "It's okay!" She reminded me so much of Coral it made me cry even more. When I was done crying we sat on the couch and watched the news on television. It was always depressing, but I watched it to make sure that one of the girls I had slept with in the past wasn't murdered. I didn't really give a crap anyways though.
