Chapter Three

The bell rang for lunch and Annie made her way to the canteen and bought some soup and bread. She sat with Tobias who had just come from the assault course. They were joined by Minerva and, shortly after, Curtis.
"Abate's going to love seeing us all sat together," Curtis laughed. "He'll tell us how proud he is of us all getting along and all that rubbish."
Minerva pulled a strand of hair over her top lip to resemble Mr Abate's moustache, "It brings me great pride to see you all conversing and planning," she said in a comically low voice. "One of you will be victorious –" she hurriedly dropped the accent and her hair as she saw Casio walking towards them. The other students laughed at her blushing face as she tried to hide it by looking down into her soup.
"Well, ladies and gentlemen," Casio clapped his hands together. "It gives me great pride to see you all sat together-"
"Oh, yes, sir. We've all been conversing and planning. You have no idea," Annie said with a deadpan expression. Tobias smirked.
"I'm glad. And congratulations, Miss Cresta!" He waved Finnick over to the table. Annie closed her eyes and sighed. "Miss Cresta killed you earlier, Mr Odair," Casio informed him.
"Are you serious?" Finnick's jaw dropped. "You're talking about the assault course, right? You beat me?"
"Finnick's in the game?" Tobias asked. A stern look from Casio made him correct himself. "I mean, the assault course. I've never got that far."
"Finnick, being the most recent Victor, is the final difficulty level of the virtual assault course. And Miss Cresta here defeated him in a record breaking eleven minutes and seventeen seconds," Casio said proudly. Finnick's jaw was still wide open. Casio continued, "In fact, we haven't had anyone beat Finnick in two years, a Mr Earnshaw was the last to achieve that."
"Right, I remember him," Minerva enthused. "He made it right to the finale but the girl from Two drowned him. I remember it because he was screaming for his mother," she laughed.
"So he beat Finnick but he didn't win? Great!" Annie joked.
"Aw, poor little Annie, are you scared?" Curtis teased. "I'm going to win!"
"Dude, you're wrong," Tobias shrugged and sat back in his chair. Annie smirked. "I challenge you both to a fight in Finnick's class after school," she suggested. They both laughed but accepted. Annie turned to Finnick, "Is that okay? And you can close your mouth now," she smiled.
"Sure, that'll be interesting. I may have to take you on again, Miss Cresta; we'll see how you fare in real life. Earnshaw didn't beat me, that's for sure."
"Challenge accepted," she grinned at him. They finished their soup after Casio and Finnick left and Annie went to find Mags. She was less confident in the survival aspect of the Games; although she was more than competent in fighting and attacking, she knew she'd need to improve to become the best of the best. The time passed quickly and the bell rang to signal the end of the day. The few students still in training left and Annie, Minerva, Curtis and Tobias sat on the bleachers waiting for Finnick.
"Hey guys," he greeted them. "So is your fight still happening?" He winked at Annie and she nodded confidently, and then added: "Unless these two have chickened out!"
"No way, girl!" Tobias punched her arm lightly. "Let's go!"
"Right now?" Annie laughed. Tobias jabbed her playfully in her stomach and Annie grabbed his wrist reflexively, but it was snatched away before she could get a firm hold. Annie pounced on Tobias, who span round and ducked. She managed to fling her arms around his neck so she was hanging on his back, then pushed her feet off of his lower back, flipping over his head and dragging him to the ground. He was momentarily shocked at the rapidity of her movements, so she took the opportunity to pin his arms down with her foot. "Surrender!" She laughed.
"Not a chance!" He smirked. The fight continued; Annie's slenderness allowed her to slip between his legs and through his arms, her strength allowed her to bring him to the ground for seconds until he overpowered her, and her years of training meant she knew how to remain balanced and scheming all the time as she wore him out. Tobias was panting when he shook his head incredulously. "You're an agile beast, Cresta..."
"Why thank you," she grinned with a curtsey.
"I give up, it's like I'm a lion and you're a gazelle, the difference being you're impossible to catch and eat..."
"I'd say I'm a lioness," she winked, roaring. "Curtis?" she invited him to the floor. He shook his head and raised his hands in a premature surrender.
Finnick had, of course, been watching and was grinning from ear to ear. "You're an absolute star," he grinned, pulling her into a hug and kissing her cheek. She subconsciously closed her eyes and breathed in his scent.
They spent the time with Finnick as a revision session, rushing through everything they'd learnt in the past seven years at school and highlighting the weak areas they each had, to focus on those areas in the next few days. Annie practically ran home, bursting with a renewed excitement. When she told her parents the news, her dad scooped her into his arms and told her he was proud of her for the first time in years. In fact, the last time he'd ever said that was when she'd been accepted into the academy at the age of eleven. Her mum looked on, smiling. When Annie went to hug her, she simply looked at the framed photograph of Harmon on the fireplace; Harmon was Annie's brother, though she'd never known him. Her mother and father had Harmon at the age of seventeen and he'd been chosen when he was twelve to fight in the Games. He had lost, of course, but that was a good enough reason for Annie to try her hardest to win and honour his memory. Annie's mother was distant from her all night, but seemed to have recovered after listening to a news item on the radio the following morning. It was a patriotic report straight from the Capitol, reminding all parents and young people of the pride that came with being a tribute. After that, Harmon's photograph was adorned with a medal the local tinker had fashioned for him on the tenth anniversary of his death.
"Annie, the door!" Her mother called at seven that morning, just as the radio piece had finished. She went to the door clad in a bath towel.
"Annie," Finnick greeted. "You need to get dressed and get to the academy, we have a busy week. Hurry!"
"Now?!" She ran a hand through her wet hair.
"Go get some clothes on and shout me when you're dressed!" He clapped his hands and motioned upstairs. She pulled on her training gear and shouted him. He emerged with a tray carrying toast and coffee. "Eat!" He ordered. She glowered at him. "Hair!" she muttered, exasperated. He shook his head and thrust a piece of toast into her mouth. She looked at his reflection in the mirror with contempt as he brushed her hair whilst she almost choked on the toast. He deftly braided it.
"What the hell are you doing?!" She spluttered. Her long, brown, damp hair was secured in a plait down her back.
"You had your hair sorted out whilst you ate, it's called multi-tasking, Cresta… I thought girls were good at it but maybe not."
"You don't need to take care of me. I'm perfectly capable of doing things myself."
"Trust me, you need me," Finnick rolled his eyes. "I'll put your coffee in a flask whilst you put your shoes on."
"You're not going to tie the laces for me?" Annie muttered. Finnick glared at her, jaw clenched, then left. She purposely took her time lacing the shoes, but when she went downstairs, Finnick was gone and a flask of coffee stood on the windowsill by the door. She sighed and left her house to walk to the academy, sipping the coffee sullenly. She made a mental note to apologise to Finnick for her rudeness that morning and the previous day. She knew that she had to be a pleasant character to win the Games, so she had to make a change.
The door of the academy was locked and she pressed a buzzer by the entrance.
"Miss Cresta," the voice seemed flat. Finnick.
"Hey, Finnick," she murmured. A sigh on his end was followed by a buzz and mechanical unlocking and she shouldered the door open. She headed straight to the common room and made Finnick a coffee as a peace present, carrying it down on a tray with a few sugar cubes and a pot of milk.
"Hi," she said sheepishly. "I just wanted to say sorry for being kind of a bitch lately, I'll change my attitude. I need you to help me so I can win."
"Apology accepted," He glanced at her awkwardly. "I don't drink coffee, but I'll have some of these." He grabbed a sugar cube and placed it in his mouth, then slipped a few into his pocket. "They can be treats for you when you do good."
"Well, if it's either that or rubbing my tummy, I'll take it."
He seemed to assess her to decide if now was the time to make a joke by tickling her stomach, but made his decision by turning away.
"So, why didn't you tell me I had to train this morning? I would have been up and ready."
"I just decided to come for you when I woke up, I'll do the same for Toby tomorrow."
"So, it's gonna be me and Tobias?"
"Mr Abate are conscious of the short amount of time we have to absolutely blitz your abilities to the highest standards, so after training last night we decided that you and Tobias were our best chance," he smiled at her delighted expression. "Congratulations, have a sugar cube."
He threw the cube in the air and Annie caught it in her mouth, laughing afterwards.
"Less talking, more training!" He said sternly. They worked on her weaknesses, mainly just improving her stance to ensure she could use all of her force whilst remaining balanced. Time passed quickly and they soon had an audience of the remaining back-up options.
When Casio arrived, the students sat on the bleachers for the daily assembly. Annie sat with Finnick, looking around for Minerva and Curtis.
"Where are they?" she muttered.
"Who are you looking for?" Finnick whispered. Annie frowned, craning her neck around. "Minnie," she whispered in reply. "And Curtis, I don't see them."
Finnick said nothing but twiddled with a loose thread on his shirt. Annie looked at him, her stomach fluttering uncertainly. "Where are they?"
"Annie-" he faltered. "They... They're not needed anymore."
"What do you mean?" She stared at Finnick, wide-eyed, scared for the first time in her life. Her class applauded Casio as he finished his speech. Everyone got up and left, but Annie and Finnick remained. Annie's eyes brimmed with tears and Finnick stared at her hopelessly, not knowing what to say. Casio, who had noticed this, strode over to them and ushered them to her office.
"I do believe, Annie," he began before the door had even closed. "That you have led a rather sheltered life. This is how things work in Panem, my dear. You do as you are supposed to, or you are extinguished."
"Dead?" was all Annie could manage.
"Avox," was all Finnick could reply.
"Minerva and Curtis snuck into the Justice Building - how they managed this is beyond me - and attempted to remove their names from the Reaping bowl," Casio was clearly not disturbed by this news. "Such cowardice must be punished, and has been accordingly."
Annie was silent, trying to decipher her thoughts. The patriot inside her knew Casio was right - that President Snow was right; always. Pushing the confusion aside, she nodded. "I understand. You can't disobey the rules, it's an act of rebellion against President Snow himself. They both seemed so up for it," she wiped away a stray tear. "But I know that I'll have the honour of becoming Victor for District Four."
"That's my girl!" Casio grinned. Finnick didn't say anything but squeezed her leg after a few moments. "Let's go," Finnick stood up and opened the door for her. When they were out of earshot, Annie stopped.
"Take me somewhere there's no CCTV," she said, voice weak and faltering. Finnick considered his options for a moment, weighing up how this could end. As the tears spilled onto her cheeks, he knew he had no choice and grabbed her hand, taking her to the roof where she cried and he held her.