p class="p1"span class="s1""Write about something you love," Professor Coin tells the class. Annie writes the prompt in her notebook and nods. emEasy enough. /em"It's supposed to be a simple but powerful assignment. It's due next class. If you're going to be gone early because of the break, then please email it to me."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Annie closes her bag and goes to meet Madge for lunch. She tells Madge about the assignment and she nods. "Seems easy enough."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Yeah," Annie says. "I'll probably write about the ocean…" She trails off. "Or burritos."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "I would pick burritos," Madge laughs./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Of course you would," Annie says. "If you had the choice between Gale and burritos you would probably choose burritos."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "I don't know about that," Madge trails off. Then she thinks about it for a second. "Yeah, probably."/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"***/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "This is so hard," Annie groans./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "It's not polite to talk about me while I'm out of the room," Finnick calls from his bedroom./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Shut up!" Annie yells, her face turning hot. She's glad he's out of the room. She hates blushing, especially in front of him. /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "What are you doing?" he asks, walking into the room. He's wearing sweatpants, two different colored socks and the same dark blue backwards snapback he was wearing the day she first met him. She loves when he wears it. His golden hair always pokes through the front and it makes him look extra cute. She's always had a soft spot for boys in hats./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Creative Writing assignment," she groans./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" He hops up on the counter and peels a banana that was sitting on the counter. "As much as I pick on you for being a writing major, I do give you props," he says, as he takes a big bite of the banana. Then he says something else, but it comes out completely jumbled because his mouth is full of mashed up banana. /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Swallow and then speak," she says as if she's instructing a child./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "What's the assignment?"/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Write about something you love."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Easy. Just write about me." /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" She groans. "I'm serious, Finnick. This is due tomorrow and I have absolutely nothing."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" He sits next to her. "That's not true. You wrote your name."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Don't you have work to do? I don't think I've ever seen you do a bit of work."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "That's 'cause I have a huge gap between classes and work, so I stay in the library and work so I don't have to go home or do anything at home."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Wow, you did something smart for once," she jokes./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "This is abuse, Annie Cresta," he says completely seriously. He looks straight into her eyes before cracking up. Just seeing him laugh makes her laugh, and soon they're leaning against each other gasping for breath. They look up at each other when their laughter dies down, but that only brings about a new wave of laughter. Annie grasps her sides and tries to stop and she looks up to see tears are in Finnick's eyes. They finally stop laughing and both sit there trying to catch their breath. /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Alright. I'm going for a run," Finnick says, taking his phone and keys off the counter. He shoves his feet in his sneakers and heads for the door./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Maybe a shirt, Finnick? It is November."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "I'm fine," he reassures her. "I run like this all the time. How do you think I get all the ladies?" He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively and then walks out the door. /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Annie just rolls her eyes and laughs. "I live with an idiot," she says out loud to herself. She pulls her knees up on the couch and balances her laptop on her legs. She opens the word document and starts to write./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" emThere are a ton of things I love about him. The way his hair sticks to his forehead after he showers, his eyes, his laugh, how he tries to act like he doesn't care when he really cares more than you'll ever know. I love his body and his muscles and how he looks in snapbacks and sweatpants. I love how he tries to put less sugar in his coffee because he knows it upsets me. I love how he leaves his door open because he's afraid to keep it closed at night. I love how the more I get to know him, the more he opens up to me. He puts a wall up so he doesn't get hurt. I don't see how anyone would ever want to hurt him./em/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1"em But here's the thing. I don't just love him because he's cute. I don't just love him because he has amazing eyes or a great body or he's a really great swimmer. I don't just love him because he's flirtatious and charming. I love him because he's one of those people who can make me smile or laugh even when I'm feeling horrible about myself. I love him because he talks to me even though I'm not the prettiest or the funniest or even the nicest all the time. I love him because he holds my hand at parties because he knows it makes me feel safe and sleeps in the same bed as me because it makes us both feel happier and pretends to be my boyfriend to complete strangers because they always mistake us for a couple and he knows it makes me laugh. I like him because when he texts me first or invites me out it makes me smile because I know that for just one second, I crossed his mind. /em/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1"em I love him because of the little things I notice about him. Like how his eyes turn darker when he's upset or concerned or how he never wears matching socks because he's too impatient to match him when he does the laundry. I notice the way his eyes light up when he laughs, the way he tries to be masculine all the time, and the way he tries to show off but usually ends up failing. I notice the way he's way more sensitive than he ever wants anyone to know and that he puts on this mask and pretends to be someone he's not so he can be liked. I like him without the mask. When he has the mask on he's cocky and drinks and tries to escape from the world. When he has the mask off he is a sweetheart to children and makes pancakes at two in the morning and cries over /emTarzanem. /em/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1"em I love the way he can make a stupid joke that will make us laugh for a long time and we just sit there red-faced holding back the tears as as people look at us and wonder why we even started laughing in the first place. And if they ask we usually try to explain but can never stop laughing enough to make the words understandable. Or sometimes we even forget what made us laugh in the first place and that usually just makes us laugh even more. Physical relationships are great but they're not everything. Sure, I would love to be in a relationship with him and yes, I do think about it a lot, but at the end of the day, he's my friend. I like that he considers me a friend because even though other people may get upset and consider themselves friend-zoned, I just consider myself lucky to have gotten to know him. /em/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"em***/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Should have brought a shirt," Finnick mumbles as he knocks on the door of the gang's apartment./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Where's your shirt?" Madge asks, as she opens the door./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Finnick rolls his eyes. Sometimes Madge is a little too uptight for his taste. "I got too caught up in the 'I'm going for a run' ruse. Can I borrow one of Gale's or Peeta's?"/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" She nods and gestures for him to come in. "Okay, so her birthday is tomorrow and we still need balloons. Did you get her a present yet?"/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Finnick shakes his head. "I still don't know what to get her."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "emFinnick!" /emshe scolds. "Her birthday is emtomorrow!"/em/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "I'm really bad at giving presents, okay? And she's so special to me that I can't just get her anything."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "God, you're in deep," Gale laughs, just having come out of his bedroom. "You're a goner, Man."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Finnick looks down to avoid keeping eye contact with anyone. He's getting closer with everyone, but he's still not that close with them and he feels uncomfortable when they joke about this. He knows he likes Annie, but Madge knows the reason why he's stopping himself from being with her even if she thinks it's a stupid reason. /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "She's Annie. You could probably get her a book or a pack of pens and she'd be happy. Or she said she was going to write about the ocean for her Creative Writing assignment. I think she misses home."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "That gives me an idea."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Tell me so I can tell you if it's a good idea or not."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "No," he says. It needs to be a surprise. /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Fine, but if you fuck up, it's on you."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"***/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "How did you and Annie meet?" Finnick asks as they leave the party store with more balloons than they know what to do with. /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "We both go to the same school. We met freshman year when we had speech together. It was the worst class ever and we bonded over how horrible it was and always helped each other with our speeches. Annie hated speech so much so I always offered to let her practice in front of me so she wasn't as nervous to give her speeches in front of her class. Then I introduced her to everyone else and we've all been friends ever since."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "How did you meet everyone else?"/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "I met Gale at work. He was already best friends with Katniss and Peeta because they all live in the same town and all happened to move to Boston after college." She pushes some of the balloons out of her view. "How did you meet Johanna?" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" He laughs. "This is a good one. She never told you this?"/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Madge shakes her head. "Johanna never tells anyone anything. As so beautifully exemplified by Katniss on Halloween."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Are they still fighting?"/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Yeah. It's a little better. They can stand to be in the same room as each other, but they still won't tell any of us what's going on. I've learned it's best to just leave them alone. It's their business and they can tell us their secrets when they're ready." She pauses. "What's the story?"/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Alright, so I work at the coffee place on our campus. Johanna was in there and some guy started hitting on her. He was being a total ass, putting his arm around her, not letting her get up from the table until she agreed to go out with him… the whole nine yards. So I was about to go up to them and help her out, but obviously as you know, Johanna can handle herself." Madge nods and chuckles a bit. She knows that a little too well. "So she stands up and pours her coffee all over him."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "No way!" Madge says, completely shocked./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Yeah," Finnick confirms. "I mean I kind of felt bad for the guy. That was really hot coffee. But he also totally deserved it. So I went up to her and gave her a free coffee and made sure she was okay. The best part was she just looked me up and down and said, 'You better not put any moves on me or you'll end up the same way.' Then she grabbed the coffee and walked out."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Madge laughed and then started to laugh even harder as they tried to get the balloons onto the bus. "This wasn't the smartest idea I've ever had."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "I must be rubbing off on you."/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"***/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Finnick's foster father used to make lamps out of old bottles. Since Finnick was the oldest, he taught him how to do it as well. Finnic spent the next few days taking an old bottle and filling it with sand from one of the beaches in Massachusetts. He wished it was Florida sand, but this was good enough. He had Peeta help him paint waves on the outside of the bottle so it looked like a beach. This was going to be his only gift to her when he heard Annie talking to her mom on the phone in her bedroom./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Yeah, Mom. I'm staying here all break. It will be fine. My roommate's great. I really miss you though. I wish you were here. My birthday is always hard without you."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" That night during dinner, Finnick notices Annie on her phone. "Hey, Annie," he says. "Can you get the notebook we wrote all of our rules in. I want to update it."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Do you have a new one?"/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Yeah, thou shalt not text at dinner."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "You have stupid rules," she says, but she gets up anyway. Finnick grins when she leaves her phone on the table and he quickly takes it before it can lock again. He scrolls through her contacts until he gets to the one labeled "Mom" and then quickly puts it into his phone./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "I should make a rule that you can't make any more stupid rules," she says putting the notebook on the table. /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "There are no stupid rules," he says./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "That's what the person who makes stupid rules is supposed to say."/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"***/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" After dinner Finnick says he's going for a walk to clear his head, but he really goes outside to call Annie's mother. When he heard that Annie missed her mother, she thought it would be a good idea to see if she can come for her birthday. It's a stretch because her birthday is only a day away, but he thought he would give it a shot anyway. He can still give her the lamp, but he really wants to give Annie something special for her birthday, and her mother was able to come to Boston for her birthday, he thinks that would be really special. /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Finnick sits on a bench and clicks on the number in his contacts. It rings a few times and then a woman's voice answers. "Hello?"/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Hello," he says. "Is this Mrs. Cresta?"/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Ms. Cresta," she corrects. "But yes, it is. May I ask who's calling?"/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "This is Finnick Odair," he says, assuming Annie must have told her about him. He heard her talking about her roommate, and Annie is always on the phone with her mom, so she must know his name./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Who?"/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" His heart stops for a second. Maybe she didn't mention his name. "I'm your daughter, Annie's roommate."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "No, that can't be."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "I assure you it is, Ms. Cresta. I have been living with your daughter for the past few months. I figured she would have told you about me."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Oh, she did. Except she told me she was living with a girl."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Annie closes her bag and goes to meet Madge for lunch. She tells Madge about the assignment and she nods. "Seems easy enough."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Yeah," Annie says. "I'll probably write about the ocean…" She trails off. "Or burritos."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "I would pick burritos," Madge laughs./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Of course you would," Annie says. "If you had the choice between Gale and burritos you would probably choose burritos."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "I don't know about that," Madge trails off. Then she thinks about it for a second. "Yeah, probably."/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"***/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "This is so hard," Annie groans./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "It's not polite to talk about me while I'm out of the room," Finnick calls from his bedroom./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Shut up!" Annie yells, her face turning hot. She's glad he's out of the room. She hates blushing, especially in front of him. /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "What are you doing?" he asks, walking into the room. He's wearing sweatpants, two different colored socks and the same dark blue backwards snapback he was wearing the day she first met him. She loves when he wears it. His golden hair always pokes through the front and it makes him look extra cute. She's always had a soft spot for boys in hats./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Creative Writing assignment," she groans./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" He hops up on the counter and peels a banana that was sitting on the counter. "As much as I pick on you for being a writing major, I do give you props," he says, as he takes a big bite of the banana. Then he says something else, but it comes out completely jumbled because his mouth is full of mashed up banana. /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Swallow and then speak," she says as if she's instructing a child./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "What's the assignment?"/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Write about something you love."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Easy. Just write about me." /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" She groans. "I'm serious, Finnick. This is due tomorrow and I have absolutely nothing."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" He sits next to her. "That's not true. You wrote your name."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Don't you have work to do? I don't think I've ever seen you do a bit of work."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "That's 'cause I have a huge gap between classes and work, so I stay in the library and work so I don't have to go home or do anything at home."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Wow, you did something smart for once," she jokes./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "This is abuse, Annie Cresta," he says completely seriously. He looks straight into her eyes before cracking up. Just seeing him laugh makes her laugh, and soon they're leaning against each other gasping for breath. They look up at each other when their laughter dies down, but that only brings about a new wave of laughter. Annie grasps her sides and tries to stop and she looks up to see tears are in Finnick's eyes. They finally stop laughing and both sit there trying to catch their breath. /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Alright. I'm going for a run," Finnick says, taking his phone and keys off the counter. He shoves his feet in his sneakers and heads for the door./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Maybe a shirt, Finnick? It is November."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "I'm fine," he reassures her. "I run like this all the time. How do you think I get all the ladies?" He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively and then walks out the door. /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Annie just rolls her eyes and laughs. "I live with an idiot," she says out loud to herself. She pulls her knees up on the couch and balances her laptop on her legs. She opens the word document and starts to write./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" emThere are a ton of things I love about him. The way his hair sticks to his forehead after he showers, his eyes, his laugh, how he tries to act like he doesn't care when he really cares more than you'll ever know. I love his body and his muscles and how he looks in snapbacks and sweatpants. I love how he tries to put less sugar in his coffee because he knows it upsets me. I love how he leaves his door open because he's afraid to keep it closed at night. I love how the more I get to know him, the more he opens up to me. He puts a wall up so he doesn't get hurt. I don't see how anyone would ever want to hurt him./em/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1"em But here's the thing. I don't just love him because he's cute. I don't just love him because he has amazing eyes or a great body or he's a really great swimmer. I don't just love him because he's flirtatious and charming. I love him because he's one of those people who can make me smile or laugh even when I'm feeling horrible about myself. I love him because he talks to me even though I'm not the prettiest or the funniest or even the nicest all the time. I love him because he holds my hand at parties because he knows it makes me feel safe and sleeps in the same bed as me because it makes us both feel happier and pretends to be my boyfriend to complete strangers because they always mistake us for a couple and he knows it makes me laugh. I like him because when he texts me first or invites me out it makes me smile because I know that for just one second, I crossed his mind. /em/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1"em I love him because of the little things I notice about him. Like how his eyes turn darker when he's upset or concerned or how he never wears matching socks because he's too impatient to match him when he does the laundry. I notice the way his eyes light up when he laughs, the way he tries to be masculine all the time, and the way he tries to show off but usually ends up failing. I notice the way he's way more sensitive than he ever wants anyone to know and that he puts on this mask and pretends to be someone he's not so he can be liked. I like him without the mask. When he has the mask on he's cocky and drinks and tries to escape from the world. When he has the mask off he is a sweetheart to children and makes pancakes at two in the morning and cries over /emTarzanem. /em/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1"em I love the way he can make a stupid joke that will make us laugh for a long time and we just sit there red-faced holding back the tears as as people look at us and wonder why we even started laughing in the first place. And if they ask we usually try to explain but can never stop laughing enough to make the words understandable. Or sometimes we even forget what made us laugh in the first place and that usually just makes us laugh even more. Physical relationships are great but they're not everything. Sure, I would love to be in a relationship with him and yes, I do think about it a lot, but at the end of the day, he's my friend. I like that he considers me a friend because even though other people may get upset and consider themselves friend-zoned, I just consider myself lucky to have gotten to know him. /em/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"em***/em/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Should have brought a shirt," Finnick mumbles as he knocks on the door of the gang's apartment./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Where's your shirt?" Madge asks, as she opens the door./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Finnick rolls his eyes. Sometimes Madge is a little too uptight for his taste. "I got too caught up in the 'I'm going for a run' ruse. Can I borrow one of Gale's or Peeta's?"/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" She nods and gestures for him to come in. "Okay, so her birthday is tomorrow and we still need balloons. Did you get her a present yet?"/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Finnick shakes his head. "I still don't know what to get her."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "emFinnick!" /emshe scolds. "Her birthday is emtomorrow!"/em/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "I'm really bad at giving presents, okay? And she's so special to me that I can't just get her anything."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "God, you're in deep," Gale laughs, just having come out of his bedroom. "You're a goner, Man."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Finnick looks down to avoid keeping eye contact with anyone. He's getting closer with everyone, but he's still not that close with them and he feels uncomfortable when they joke about this. He knows he likes Annie, but Madge knows the reason why he's stopping himself from being with her even if she thinks it's a stupid reason. /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "She's Annie. You could probably get her a book or a pack of pens and she'd be happy. Or she said she was going to write about the ocean for her Creative Writing assignment. I think she misses home."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "That gives me an idea."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Tell me so I can tell you if it's a good idea or not."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "No," he says. It needs to be a surprise. /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Fine, but if you fuck up, it's on you."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"***/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "How did you and Annie meet?" Finnick asks as they leave the party store with more balloons than they know what to do with. /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "We both go to the same school. We met freshman year when we had speech together. It was the worst class ever and we bonded over how horrible it was and always helped each other with our speeches. Annie hated speech so much so I always offered to let her practice in front of me so she wasn't as nervous to give her speeches in front of her class. Then I introduced her to everyone else and we've all been friends ever since."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "How did you meet everyone else?"/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "I met Gale at work. He was already best friends with Katniss and Peeta because they all live in the same town and all happened to move to Boston after college." She pushes some of the balloons out of her view. "How did you meet Johanna?" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" He laughs. "This is a good one. She never told you this?"/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Madge shakes her head. "Johanna never tells anyone anything. As so beautifully exemplified by Katniss on Halloween."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Are they still fighting?"/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Yeah. It's a little better. They can stand to be in the same room as each other, but they still won't tell any of us what's going on. I've learned it's best to just leave them alone. It's their business and they can tell us their secrets when they're ready." She pauses. "What's the story?"/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Alright, so I work at the coffee place on our campus. Johanna was in there and some guy started hitting on her. He was being a total ass, putting his arm around her, not letting her get up from the table until she agreed to go out with him… the whole nine yards. So I was about to go up to them and help her out, but obviously as you know, Johanna can handle herself." Madge nods and chuckles a bit. She knows that a little too well. "So she stands up and pours her coffee all over him."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "No way!" Madge says, completely shocked./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Yeah," Finnick confirms. "I mean I kind of felt bad for the guy. That was really hot coffee. But he also totally deserved it. So I went up to her and gave her a free coffee and made sure she was okay. The best part was she just looked me up and down and said, 'You better not put any moves on me or you'll end up the same way.' Then she grabbed the coffee and walked out."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Madge laughed and then started to laugh even harder as they tried to get the balloons onto the bus. "This wasn't the smartest idea I've ever had."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "I must be rubbing off on you."/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"***/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Finnick's foster father used to make lamps out of old bottles. Since Finnick was the oldest, he taught him how to do it as well. Finnic spent the next few days taking an old bottle and filling it with sand from one of the beaches in Massachusetts. He wished it was Florida sand, but this was good enough. He had Peeta help him paint waves on the outside of the bottle so it looked like a beach. This was going to be his only gift to her when he heard Annie talking to her mom on the phone in her bedroom./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Yeah, Mom. I'm staying here all break. It will be fine. My roommate's great. I really miss you though. I wish you were here. My birthday is always hard without you."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" That night during dinner, Finnick notices Annie on her phone. "Hey, Annie," he says. "Can you get the notebook we wrote all of our rules in. I want to update it."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Do you have a new one?"/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Yeah, thou shalt not text at dinner."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "You have stupid rules," she says, but she gets up anyway. Finnick grins when she leaves her phone on the table and he quickly takes it before it can lock again. He scrolls through her contacts until he gets to the one labeled "Mom" and then quickly puts it into his phone./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "I should make a rule that you can't make any more stupid rules," she says putting the notebook on the table. /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "There are no stupid rules," he says./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "That's what the person who makes stupid rules is supposed to say."/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"***/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" After dinner Finnick says he's going for a walk to clear his head, but he really goes outside to call Annie's mother. When he heard that Annie missed her mother, she thought it would be a good idea to see if she can come for her birthday. It's a stretch because her birthday is only a day away, but he thought he would give it a shot anyway. He can still give her the lamp, but he really wants to give Annie something special for her birthday, and her mother was able to come to Boston for her birthday, he thinks that would be really special. /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Finnick sits on a bench and clicks on the number in his contacts. It rings a few times and then a woman's voice answers. "Hello?"/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Hello," he says. "Is this Mrs. Cresta?"/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Ms. Cresta," she corrects. "But yes, it is. May I ask who's calling?"/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "This is Finnick Odair," he says, assuming Annie must have told her about him. He heard her talking about her roommate, and Annie is always on the phone with her mom, so she must know his name./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Who?"/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" His heart stops for a second. Maybe she didn't mention his name. "I'm your daughter, Annie's roommate."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "No, that can't be."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "I assure you it is, Ms. Cresta. I have been living with your daughter for the past few months. I figured she would have told you about me."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Oh, she did. Except she told me she was living with a girl."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p2" /p