I don't own The Hunger Games.
The mile sprints were a big occasion in the Panem Allstars cheer calendar, as Enobaria had reminded the squad at least ten times in the past two days. They would test the fitness of the cheerleaders, see who was at the top of the list when it came to endurance and stamina, and who would be the final few to be added to the list of cuts.
Annie had continued training with the team, but she had to pass a sprint every day for the rest of the week by breaking five minutes. She was scared- cheer was her life. But that didn't stop her from ignoring the hunger pangs in her stomach as she skipped breakfast that morning.
"Ready?" Cassidy stretched out on the grassy sidelines as Johanna, the first to run her sprint, completed her penultimate lap. Clove would be next, followed by Cassidy and then Marvel and Glimmer. Annie was last.
"No. Not at all." Annie stretched out her quads as she watched Johanna run. She would break five easily- she was barely even sweating.
"Well." Cassidy shrugged. "At least you're looking a little thinner."
"You think?" Annie glanced down at her stomach. Her light blue tank-top was baggy and her black Spandex shorts would slip every so often, but she didn't see herself as any different when she looked in the mirror.
"Yeah. What do you weigh now? One five?" Cassidy asked as Johanna effortlessly completed her laps.
"4:33:12!" Enobaria announced her time and wrote her name and the time at the top of a white board. "Anybody that falls more than thirty seconds slower than that time will be cut!"
"One hundred and six." Annie responded, but she didn't listen to Cassidy's response. She was too busy worrying about being cut. Of course she had trained for this, all the girls had. It was part of their cardio and they all had great stamina, but Annie felt lightheaded and dizzy when she stood. It didn't seem, to her at least, like a great sign.
Eventually, the time came for her to run. Clove had fell short of Johanna's time by two and a half seconds. Cassidy had ran a 4:54:36, and only one girl had failed so far.
She did not want to be the second.
"4:42:53!"
Annie was panting heavily once she crossed the finish line after the final lap. She took a moment to lean over with her hands on her hips, desperately trying to catch her breath as Enobaria approached her.
"Good job Cresta, but you've still got a long week ahead of you." Enobaria slapped her on the back. "Meet me out her tomorrow morning, seven thirty sharp."
"Yes coach." Annie said as her breathing began to level out again. Enobaria nodded to her and walked away, hugging her clipboard to her chest.
"Clove?" Annie stopped the vice-captain as she walked past her.
"Hmm?" Clove raised an eyebrow as she turned around to face her. The rest of the team were beginning to make their way back to the field, but Annie had a few questions that couldn't wait.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"It sounds like you already are."
She waited until Enobaria and the cheer squad had gone back up to the practice field.
"I want to ask you about something I heard about Johanna." Annie fidgeted, feeling awkward to be asking Clove instead of Johanna herself. But this was something she needed to know, and Johanna would never tell her herself.
"Ah, hell." Clove rubbed her forehead and sat down on the grass. "You found out about Gale, didn't you?"
"Yes. How did it happen?" She had been researching cases of cheerleaders having relationships with players in the Panem web archives and the consequences, but had never expected their loyal captain to make an appearance in the search.
"She was eighteen and it was her second year at Panem. We were close- we had come up together from high school and had made it onto the squad pretty young. We were both naïve and innocent, so I guess that's why we never thought that Coach Enobaria would find out." Clove explained.
"About their relationship?" Annie asked, sitting on the grass next to Clove and her gym bag.
"Yes. Johanna told me everything as soon as they started dating- their first date, first kiss, the sweet things he said. They were hooked one each other for the whole ten days it lasted."
"What happened?" Annie asked as she watched Clove pull at the grass.
"Enobaria found out. She'd been acting suspicious around Johanna from the very start of her relationship with Gale. It's weird Annie, it's like she has a six sense about these things. Johanna wasn't the first she caught out. Anyway, she had caught on before they had even began dating and ten days later she presented Johanna with an ultimatum. Carry on dating Gale and get the hell off of her squad, or call it quits and be destined for Panem greatness. Obviously, she chose Panem." Clove unzipped her gym bag as she finished her story.
"So that's why…" Annie trailed off, not really sure if she wanted to tell Clove about whatever the hell had been going on with her and Finnick.
"That's why she confronted you about Finnick." Clove finished for her.
"How did you know about that?" Annie asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.
"Annie, he said he liked you on the practice field. Anybody stood within ten feet of him heard it, including you. Enobaria may or may not have heard, but this never helps." Clove produced a copy of Star magazine from the previous day. She flipped to the fourth page, where a picture of her and Finnick sat at a table in the French restaurant was printed largely across the top under the headline 'Odair Affair- Panem QB spotted with mystery woman!' The picture was grainy and obviously shot from a cell phone, but she could clearly make out Finnick's laughing face and the back of her own head. She scanned the article quickly, which had been printed just days after their encounter.
"I wasn't on a date with him, I have a boyfriend!" Annie protested. "I was saying hi!"
"Doesn't matter." Clove shrugged and flipped the tabloid shut. "Enobaria knows, and so will other cheer squads now. The rules can't be broken or even bent, and she needs you to know that."
Annie dropped her head in her hands and sighed loudly. Clove stood and offered her a hand up, which Annie accepted.
"If it makes you feel any better," Clove said as they made their way towards the practice field. "You're not the first Enobaria's caught, and you definitely won't be the last."
…
"I'm going to talk to her."
Finnick paced back and forwards in the locker room as an irritated Cato followed him with his eyes.
"Sit still."
"I have to talk to her. I gave her two days, but now I have to talk to her."
"Sit. Still."
"She deserves an explanation. I need to give her one, I-"
"Fucking sit still, man!" Cato finally snapped. They were the last ones left in the locker room that morning as all the other players had already gone out for practice. In a few minutes, Brutus would be hauling their sorry asses outside.
"Do you think I should say anything?" Finnick asked, coming to a standstill.
"I think we should go practice."
"Do you think she's annoyed? Maybe she's confused? I don't know!" Finnick tugged on his hair as he groaned in frustration. He barely even knew Annie Cresta, so he wasn't quite sure how he felt a true connection to her. He could no longer deny it, not now that she had heard him admit it.
"So talk to her. Worst case scenario, she doesn't like you and you both get to keep your jobs." Cato shrugged. He stood and pulled his jersey over his head.
"Great." Finnick sighed. "That's great."
"Odair! Stone!" Their coach's voice sounded through the door. "Get out here now!"
It was cold, really cold, and Finnick wasn't in the right mind-set to practice. He had failed to complete more than one pass that day, he could barely think up new plays, and he called the wrong names when he wanted to put on into action. He had almost broken a thumb messing up a simple catch, and Brutus was jumping down his throat at every opportunity he got. Not that it mattered to him- he was benched for the next game anyway.
He needed to talk to Annie, to straighten things out. The problem? He didn't know which way was up anymore. Annie Cresta had triple front flipped into his life and catapulted it into chaos. She was just so different to Izabelle- she was kind, she cared about others and she knew how to smile. But Izabelle was his first love, his constant, and the one he owed everything to. Finnick was reluctant to leave her, but he couldn't keep lying to both of them. It just wasn't fair.
"Annie!" He called her name as soon as she got a break from her tumbling session.
"Annie!" He yelled again she didn't respond, although the girls around her all seemed to hear him. Finnick resorted to jogging over to her and tapping her on the shoulder. Her body tensed all over when she turned to greet him.
"Yes?" She asked, nervously glancing over her shoulder.
"Hey." He answered awkwardly. "We, um, haven't really had a chance to talk."
"Don't worry about it." Annie's smile was strained, and she stayed three feet away from him at all times. "It's cool, it's all good."
"You don't sound like yourself." Finnick raised a sceptical eyebrow.
"I'm fine, honestly. You should get back to training. I'm bringing Parker, my boyfriend, to the game this week."
"I'm benched." Finnick kicked at the ground in frustration, though he didn't know which part he was annoyed at the most.
"Oh. Sorry about that. Look, I'd love to chat, but I have to train. See you around." Annie ran back to the other girls, and was gone before he got the chance to even say goodbye to her.
"How did it go?" Cato asked when Finnick had re-joined him. He was sat slumped on the bleachers with a water bottle, beads sweat trickling down his forehead.
"I…Don't know." Finnick shrugged. "It was weird."
"Oh. What were you going to say anyway?" Cato asked as he cracked the bones in his neck and fingers.
"That I'm intrigued by her, but I love Izabelle and wouldn't leave her for a girl I've only known for a month that is dating someone anyway." Finnick explained.
"Finn, you're my friend and my teammate. You're like a brother to me. But I can't take this anymore." Cato groaned, resting his head in his hands.
"What?" Finnick frowned in confusion.
"This! All this will-you-won't-you shit. Just…Can we please talk about something else?" Cato was near to begging- Finnick had been prattling on about Annie pretty much since the moment he met her.
"Gladly." Finnick laughed and rubbed his knuckles into Cato's skull. "Now come on. I want to play some football."