I do not own The Hunger Games.

Ch. 21: Taking a Break

"Everyone, this is Andrea. She's going to teach us how to knit." Madge introduces a dark haired girl who has, quite possibly, the most arresting greenish eyes I've ever seen: they aren't strictly green and seem to reflect the light exactly the way the ocean does at the marina. No wonder Finn is all over her, she's gorgeous.

Why are all the women around me stunning?

Andrea clears her throat and says with a smile that brings out a dimple in one cheek, "It's crocheting, actually. And you can call me Annie. It's sort of a new nickname but it's growing on me."

Oh? As far as I recall, Finn's the one who gave her that nickname. Maybe his persistence is paying off after all. I wonder if he knows that.

Annie sits in a jangle of bangle bracelets, her colorful skirt spread out around her like bright flower petals. With her long, wavy hair and those eyes, she looks could be a gypsy or a witch. Or a mermaid. I picture her on golden sand, wind blowing through that long, dark hair, beckoning Finn with her low, husky voice.

She keeps talking. "Madge said she wanted to make Christmas ornaments for the dorm, and I thought these would be perfect." Annie holds up two tiny items in shades of red and green yarn; each has a small candy cane tied to it.

"They're darling!" Madge claps enthusiastically.

They sort of make me want to throw up, honestly. But I've been bored ever since the kiss; sort of lying low, just studying and staying out of trouble. I'm so bored that I'm almost looking forward to going home, so you would think this would be a welcome diversion. I'll get to quiz Annie, and that's an added bonus, right? But I can't seem to summon any energy for something this adorable. Next thing you know, she'll be having us knit little caps for a maternity ward. Madge throws me a warning look, though, as if she can sense my desire to run from the room.

So I take a hook anyway, despite my firm belief that this will neuter me. "How many of these do we have to do?"

Annie's hypnotic gaze meets mine levelly. "Two hundred and fifty."

Fuck.

-o—

I'm sort of enjoying myself, I'll admit it. Weird, huh? There's math involved in each of these ornaments, and I like seeing something get created with just a flick of my wrist. Really, it's not that different from Engineering. I spy Madge smirking at me as if she can tell I'm actually into it, so I stick my tongue out at her.

We're talking boys. What else are we going to fill the time with? Each little ornament takes about five minutes. Do the math – we're going to be at this for a whole bunch of time in the next couple of days. We might as well settle in and get to know each other, right? Madge is explaining who everyone in our little group is – Annie already knows Finn, of course – and has just gone into a description of Gale.

"Gale's a prick," I interrupt.

Madge sighs.

"Seriously, Madge, that's even his name. Hawthorne. Get it? He's a little prick." I almost drop a stitch and have to focus on my hands, so it surprises me when I hear Katniss come to his defense.

"No, he's not," Katniss says quietly. "Guys, I think I really, really screwed this up."

"Katni—"I put my hands in my lap, wondering where she's going with this.

"No, Jo. I think I hurt them both, for no reason. Or maybe for the worst ones: I didn't want anything to change and I didn't believe in myself. Who comes all the way across the country and doesn't want to change?" Her eyes sparkle with the sheen of tears. "And Madge, I think I hurt you too. Did I? Do you like Gale?"

Annie's looking from Katniss to Madge quizzically, so Madge fills her in on Gale and Peeta, the kiss. All of it. I wonder if she's stalling so she doesn't have to answer Katniss's question.

"Do you, Madge?" Katniss isn't letting her off the hook, though. "Let's just get all of it out there. Please? Do you have feelings for Gale?"

Madge is silent, obviously weighing her options. Finally, she raises her eyes to meet Katniss's. "Yes."

Katniss smiles a shaky smile. "How come you never said anything?" At Madge's incredulous look, she laughs. "Let me re-phrase: how come you didn't say anything once we got to L.A.?"

"Probably the same reasons you didn't mention your fight with him at the end of summer: we had to settle in, then classes started and we were busy making new friends. I wanted for all of us – Peeta and Gale and especially you and I - to just start over, you know? And then we saw Peeta at that frat party, and Jo over here made time with Gale." She shrugs. "I figured I would just leave well enough alone. Find another fish in this sea, something like that."

Annie holds up a hand that jingles musically from the bangle bracelets she wears. "Wait. Let me get this straight: Gale likes Katniss. Madge likes Gale. Johanna and Gale hooked up, and Gale kissed Katniss. Is that right?"

Madge laughs. "Yeah. Pretty much. I'm the only person in this room – besides you, Annie – who hasn't kissed Gale. And I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who wants to." She laughs harder.

Eventually, I have to wipe my eyes; that's how hard I'm laughing. When she puts it that way, it is pretty hysterical.

"So, how was he?" Madge side-eyes Katniss and I and resumes her crocheting.

Katniss and I both sputter.

Madge levels our attempts to brush her off with a no-nonsense look. "Oh, come on, spill it. Like Katniss said, let's just get it out there. I have to live vicariously through someone and it might as well be you two."

I find myself talking, even though I'm sure it's going to make Katniss uncomfortable. "He was nice. A little sloppy, but he was pretty drunk. Frankly, I'm pretty surprised that he could…uh...you know…at all." It's stupid, but I don't want to swear in front of Annie.

I want to make a good impression, so fucking sue me!

Annie smirks. "You weren't sure if he could get an erection but you still went up to his room anyway?"

I'm stoked that Annie isn't put off by me so far, so I give her a smile. It's probably the first genuine one all night. "Yeah. I figured that I could just crash there, worst case scenario." I warm to my topic. "Nice hip action. Not too big but not too small, either. I think he trims, but not obnoxiously. All in all, I would give him an 8."

Katniss just stares at me and shakes her head before chiming in. "He has soft lips."

"That's it?" Madge asks. Like she thinks Katniss should have way more information saved in her brain than that. Frankly, I'm surprised Katniss's head didn't explode when his lips touched hers. Doesn't she have some sort of "virgin self-destruct" kit enabled?

"Sorry. I don't really have enough experience to have my own grading system. Unlike some people." Katniss nudges me and I drop a stitch, so I punch her. She hits me back until we're doing that girl hand flap thing that guys make fun of.

Yeah, we're mature.

"Stop! Ow! Stop!" Katniss tries to move away. "Seriously, guys, I need help! What am I going to do with this whole situation?" She groans.

I back off and get up to start the kettle so we can take a little break, because the only advice I have for her involves picking a guy and showing up in stilettos and a trench coat and nothing else. Call me crazy, but that doesn't seem like something Everdeen would go for. Or Peeta. Gale, however, would have no problem taking the hint and doing something with that. Granted, he'd probably have Night Ranger or Whitesnake on as background music, but he'd still close the deal.

Annie clears her throat, her eyes fixed on Katniss's unhappy face. "Why'd you come to L.A.?"

Katniss bites her lip. "Well, I got this scholarship. I didn't really have a choice; I just knew that if I stayed at home, there was nothing for me there. This lets me get away and maybe make some good choices so I can make a better life for my sister." She winces. "Does that sound stupid or ungrateful? I don't dislike it here. It's just…different…than home."

"Did you think that those choices might mean taking risks? Being different?" Annie surprises me with her line of questioning. She doesn't seem tense or anything. More like this is a question she's thought on for a while herself.

"I guess I hadn't thought about it," Katniss answers. She pulls her braid over her shoulder and starts fiddling with it in a way that tells me she's uncomfortable.

"I came to L.A. so I could stop being me." Annie announces matter-of-factly. "I wanted a totally fresh start where I could be anything or anyone I wanted. No one here knows where I came from or who I was before. I can be a different person every week, if I want."

I snort. I can't help it, really. "Come on, Annie. You and Madge are like freaking supermodels. What could you possibly have to run from?"

She meets my eyes, crochet hook poised in mid-air, then carefully puts it down and beings rooting through her voluminous bag until she pulls out a Coach wallet. She flips it open to a bunch of pictures and slides it my way.

"That's me." Annie points to a dark haired girl with a serious expression on her face standing in a swim team photo. Her hair is scraped back off her forehead in a brutalizing ponytail and her shoulders are hunched as if she's self-conscious and is trying to make herself as small as possible. Even her eyes are averted from the camera. "Never quite good enough for my coaches: not fast enough, not strong enough, not thin enough, not dedicated enough, not putting in enough effort."

She pulls the wallet back and stares at the photo for a minute before shutting it and putting it in her bag. Her expression when she turns back to us is relaxed, almost satisfied. "I'm tired of not being enough. That part of my life is over. There is nothing here that could make me feel like as much of a failure as I felt in the last four years. So, I'm starting over. "

Katniss gets a faraway look on her face as she considers Annie's words and idly traces the outline of a flower painted on the jeans she's worn at least twice since she brought them home from Peeta's. I've almost asked her if she wears them because she likes them or because of him, but I've stopped myself. She has enough to deal with right now without me opening that wound.

"I like that idea. Starting over." Katniss nods. "Let's all start over."

Madge nods, her eyes sparkling with determination as she raises her water bottle. "Here's to starting over."

-o—

We're laughing over little things Finn has been doing for Annie. Not just little gifts like flowers or the Starbucks card she found slipped under her door, but notes made of cut out hearts telling her how pretty she looks, or a paper crane for luck on the day of their Physiology final. She explains how sweet she finds them, but she's not sure what to do with it all: she's never had a guy pay this much attention to her and it's a little strange.

Annie's the first to hear the commotion down the hall and pin it to the right cause. She laughs, "That must be Finn. Honestly, does he ever get tired of women throwing themselves at him?"

I shake my head. "No. But frankly, if I had guys doing that, I'd have one of those take a number machines that they have at delis."

"Ladies! And Miss Cresta as well?" He grabs his chest eloquently, but his eyes widen a little at the sight of Annie. It makes me want to cackle. "What are you up to?"

Annie rolls her eyes at his over-the-top expression. "We're taking over the world via crocheted ornaments. Want to help?" She proffers a hook in his direction.

Finn declines graciously. "No. But I did bring snacks from the enemy camp." He holds out a baggie full of cookies. "Peeta's been baking non-stop for a week and it is awesome."

"Finn!" Madge chastises him.

He shrugs. "I'm just saying that we can all reap the rewards of his pain. Try these, you won't be disappointed." He passes cookies to all of us and I see Katniss inhale two at once. It dawns on me that this is the first thing I've seen her eat in at least a day and I frown at the realization. Hell, if it takes Finnick Odair and contraband cookies to get Katniss to eat, so be it.

I take a bit of the dark brown cookie in my hand and it gives under my teeth with a resounding snap. Crumbs fall onto my tongue like shrapnel as the bite of ginger and sweet undertone of molasses melt in my mouth. Like everything else about Peeta, there's a depth to these cookies that's surprising in that the finish morphs from ginger to smooth lemon, leaving the mouth refreshed. I could eat about a dozen of these and I must not be the only one - Katniss has grabbed three more and is nibbling on them, then dunking them in her teacup.

Annie, who's never had baked goods from Peeta, actually moans. "Oh, my God. These are amazing."

"I know. They're worth the heartbreak, aren't they?" Finn nods.

"I don't know about that, Finn," Katniss says. She clears her throat. "How is he?"

"Listening to a lot of John Legend and Keb Mo, baking up a storm. Oh, and he cut his hair."

Madge gapes. "What?"

"Gave himself a buzz-cut. Said something about wanting a fresh start." Finn brushes crumbs off his fingers.

Katniss swallows, hard. "I wish I could do something for him. And Gale. I just wasn't prepared –"

I interrupt, "There is something, Everdeen. It's called a threesome." Finn snorts, Madge smirks and Katniss shoots me a dirty look. Hell, if I thought for a second that Peeta and Gale were amenable, I would have been on them both like white on rice that first night.

Finn slides into our little circle and sits next to Annie. "Enough about the star crossed love affairs of Lambda Chi. Annie, aren't you going to console me for losing a lap race to Brue today?"

"Finn, get out. Seriously, if you're not going to help us with our craft project, you need to leave so we can focus." I point at him with my hook. I need to hear about a shirtless and moist Brue MacLeod like I need a hole in the head.

Annie backs me up when she says gently, "Finn, you're a distraction and we're having a good night."

He waggles his eyebrows. "Am I a good distraction?"

Annie sighs. "Remember when I said that I didn't want to date you because you were a player and I couldn't trust you to ever be serious? Well, this is why. I'd hate to think that this is the real Finn Odair."

His easy-going smile disappears and he leans toward her. "I never joke about the pool."

"Oh? How about we have a little competition? We'll do four laps – winner gets their wish." Annie casually picks up her crochet hook and begins stitching.

"Is my wish so obvious that you can name it?" He's looking at her with the cockiest grin I've ever seen.

She's counting stitches under her breath, ignoring him as he watches her. "If you win, we go out."

He lets out a little whoop of joy. "And if you do?"

She studiously finishes an entire row. Finally, she meets his gaze. "If I win, you don't ever ask me out again."

Finn looks visibly shaken for a second before the cocky Odair grin is back in place. He winks at Annie. "Good thing I never lose."

-o—

The girls show up for Annie as a sign of feminine solidarity. Even though I'm conflicted – Odair is my best friend, after all – Annie's pretty cool. And I'm sure that Finn could handle being knocked down a few pegs. Plus, this event appeals to my competitive spirit.

I know, I know. Shocking, right?

The McDonald's Swim Stadium is outdoors. Even though Los Angeles is pretty warm in December by most standards, that water is going to be freaking cold. Most of the college co-eds present are tanning themselves in preparation for their trips home, not actually in the water. I shiver in my sweatshirt as I see at Annie getting ready for the match, stretching before her lane, trying to get her muscles warm. She wears a green iridescent one-piece on that looks like the scales of a fish. It exactly matches her eyes, which almost glow in her excitement and I realize exactly how happy she is to be competing again.

"You ready to kick his ass?" I hand her swim cap to her.

She nods. "I'm going to smoke him. Jo, you're going to be okay with that, right? We're such new friends –" Her brows draw together as she tucks her hair into her cap.

I laugh. "Annie, we may not know each other super-well, but I think you're just what Finn needs to knock him back down to earth. Now, let's do this so that we can go back to packing and get the hell out of L.A."

I turn back to join Madge and Katniss on the bleachers and notice that Finn's cheering section, including a sad looking, almost bald Peeta, have arrived. Gale returns Madge's wave. I take that as a sign that fraternization is okay.

"Hey, Peet. Nice haircut."

"Jo, hey. How are your finals? Ready to go home?" He smiles at me. We haven't spoken since that odd dinner over a week ago. I'm glad he doesn't seem angry with me.

"Finals were good. I did pretty well. I'm ready for a break, yeah. You? How are you doing? Nice hair, by the way."

"Thanks. Time for a change, I guess. I'm pretty ready for a break." He laughs drily, the sound drawing Katniss's eyes to his face. "You and Finn are driving, right? You should come by the frat house and pick up some snacks for the road. I know Finn's told you how much I've been baking, since…you know." He rubs the back of his neck. He looks up and catches Katniss's eyes before looking away quickly.

"Thanks for the offer, we'll do that. Have you met Annie yet? She's really cool."

"She must be to put up with Finn." We both laugh at that. I see that Katniss is still staring at Peeta while he's sneaking peaks back.

Fuck. Seriously? I want to shake the shit out of the two of them. Finn is right: this Star Crossed Lover bullshit has to stop. It's worse than Romeo and Juliet.

Peeta jerks his head to some splashing in the pool. "Looks like Finn and his coach have arrived."

"See you later, then." I turn around and stop dead. Finn and Brue are getting out of the pool, water sluicing off of them as they grin at all of us.

I've seen Finn close to naked plenty of times, so the golden smoothness of his body in his tiny, black Speedo, his gold-kissed hair glistening with droplets of water in the mid-afternoon sun, teeth gleaming in a smile designed to make even the granny-est of panties smolder and erupt into flames does nothing for me. Actually, it makes me want to laugh because every girl in the place who isn't a friend of his is busy giving him a mental handjob right now, and he knows it.

No. What's got me hanging in the moment is Brue, standing next to him and patting him on the back. I've never seen Brue in his swim gear. He's as tan as Finn, his Speedo just as tiny. It cups his tight ass perfectly, making me want to grab it.

I have to gulp, especially when I see him walking toward me. The frontal view is almost as good as that ass. Almost.

"Jo, haven't seen you around much lately."

I'm mesmerized by the water rivulets trailing their way down his broad shoulders to his chest. Is that stubble I see? "Finals were a bitch, but they're done now."

"Yeah. Same here." He scratches at his chest.

Yep. That's stubble. He must let his chest grow out after the season is over. I want to fist pump, since that's the first unattractive thing I've seen about him. Seriously, even his fucking feet are attractive. I smile widely at him and he blinks, his hand halting in mid-scratch.

"You're guy is going down today. Annie is going to whip him."

"Oh?" He cocks an eyebrow but his eyes twinkle. "You think? Finn's pretty good in the pool."

"Annie's gonna go the distance. She's a fighter, that one." I glance over at her, but she's ignoring everyone with her eyes shut and her hands over her ears. I wonder if she's picturing her victory. I turn back to Brue to find him watching me.

"Will I see you before you leave for break?" It's a question out of left-field, but it dawns on me that I've missed him the past week or two when we haven't spent much time together. Running alone has been fine, but it's not nearly as much fun as when I have him to challenge me.

I nod. "Yeah. We're getting snacks from Peeta for the drive home. Maybe I'll see you then."

"Don't leave without saying goodbye, okay?" His adam's apple bobs. "I've got to get back to Finn."

"K. Tell Finn good luck for me. He's gonna need it."

Brue turns to walk away, giving me a fine view of his spine and ass, complete with grip-dimples where my hands would fit nicely. Or my ankles, really, once they were locked around his waist…

He tosses words over his shoulder, catching my obvious ogling. "Oh, and Jo? May the best man win."

I cross my arms over my chest as I feel my face flame. "She plans on it, Brue."

Come on, Annie. Kick his ass.

(A/N: special thanks to Baroness Kika for kicking my ass this week. This is the worst transition chapter, but it does introduce Annie and it moves us along a bit. We'll need that for the next two chapters which are CHRISTMAS!BREAK for the gang.

The tiny ornaments scene is based on an actual event. It took 4 of us a 2 very long nights to crochet 500 ornaments. Each room in my dorm got 2 ornaments with candy canes and a tiny little note from the four of us wishing them a Happy Holiday. Looking back on it, I probably should have been studying!)