Finnick Odair, aged 14. District 4.
Valeria Alves is beautiful. Her hair is long and brown and curly. Her teeth are a little too big for her mouth, and her smile makes something tingle in Finnick's stomach. He watches as she tucks a lock of hair behind her ear, and writes something down from the board. Perhaps he should be paying attention himself, but to be honest he can't really see the point in it. In the end it doesn't matter if he can factorise quadratic equations does it? He'll just end up being a fisherman like his father, and his father before him. Fishermen don't need maths.
Finnick notices Valeria is suddenly looking in his direction then, and he unabashedly stares back. Her because her cheeks turn red and she looks away, but Finnick can see she's smiling, making him grin.
"Odair! Pay attention!"
Finnick is brought out of his silent daydream by the angry voice of his teacher, Mr Harrison. Rubbing his tired eyes, he sits up slowly and tries to understand what's going on. At the front of the room Liat Cresta is standing poised at the whiteboard, evidently having just solved the complicated maths problem written there.
Liat is one of those clever people, who always seem to understand what's going on and never get into trouble. Finnick wishes he could be more like him.
"Mr Odair. Now that you've so kindly decided to join us, why don't you assist Mr Cresta by telling him where he's gone wrong?" Mr Harrison says.
Narrowing his eyes to try and see the numbers correctly Finnick quickly looks over Liat's careful calculations. He had no idea what it all means- it all seems like mush to him.
"Well Mr Odair?" The teacher was getting impatient.
"I'm sorry sir. I don't know," He admits gingerly.
"As I thought. May I suggest that you actually pay attention Mr Odair?" Mr Harrison scolded.
No you may not, Finnick thinks, and returns to watching Valeria Alves out of the corner of his eye. Maybe if he asked her down to the pier she would say yes?