Hey guys! We are already at 31 reviews! Wow all you guys are amazing, please keep it up! I have all the way until chapter five written, and will probably manage to write all the way to chapter seven today, so updates will be coming pretty fast, but please don't let that stop you from leaving a review! Every time my phone gets an email I light up like a kid on Christmas when I see it is a review!
MeaganOneDirection: Hey glad you like it! The battles were fun to write, too! When Peeta was giving the tour, I basically just went different rooms in my house and changed one or two things here or there... I think you'll love the title of this chapter :)
TheWomanWhoCodesAndWrites: Aren't they always? I love battling! The nicknames came off the top of my head. Not this chapter, but the next one we will see more nicknaming, but by Jo instead of Finn. Silly Annie, Finnick loves you! I still really haven't decided what they were talking about while talking about him, but it will come up eventually. I'll figure it out.
SecretsandSugarCubes: Aww thanks! I love writing his character too. It's fun.
Catching Fireflies: Annie had an awful life before, but she has lived in Graceland the longest, so I feel that makes up for it. Kinda, not really... At least they all get along :)
MiaBelles: Those were my favorite nicknames too. Peeta's brothers are older than him, so they have, by this point in their lives, graduated high school and are at college. Asher is a junior in college and Ryan is a freshman in college. Hope that helps :)
Anarchy Girl: I'm glad you enjoyed it! Bonding is cool and stuff, broski! It is fun to write and I respond to y'all's reviews cuz I feel like I am bonding with y'all :)
pumpkinking5: Graceland is kinda heavily based off my house. The top floor is based off a combination of my current bedroom mixed with my dream house. I also made it blue instead of pink since there are boys there too. The reason they are all so close is because they support one another, so yay! I love writing Finnick and Annie, it is so much fun and they are freaking adorable!
TARDISRose: We can be massive nerds together! We both love Hunger Games, Pokemon, The Princess Bride... And Doctor Who (looked at your Pen for that...)
Guest: Well I'm glad you are ready for some Peeta and Katniss, but that will come along a bit later, if it comes at all (it probably will). Katniss and Peeta aren't as crazy for one another as Finnick and Annie and are willing to take longer to admit things to themselves and one another.
Alexandra Jackson rocks Hades: No problem! Y'all should go back to doing it, nothing is stopping you (as far as I know at least). Glad I brought back childhood memories!
StarBright18: Sorry the Pokemon stuff confuses you. I didn't go into too much detail because this is a Hunger Games fandom, and not Pokemon. Please forgive me. I'm glad you like everything else though! :)
axes tridents and snares: Glad you liked it! I always picture Gale as a Marvel fan (the movies and comic books, not character. That would be weird...) In some upcoming chapters you will see a lot more friendships forming and see more into the characters lives and interactions with one another. :)
Chapter 3- That's What Makes You Beautiful
Finnick
I went to bed hours ago, but I'm awake right now. It is six in the morning and I am sweating because of my own subconscious. I am never able to sleep through the entire night. Everyone else is so lucky because of it. I think the only person worse off is Annie.
She will come into my room at three in the morning saying she had a nightmare, or I will hear her scream all the way from her room. I hope Gale is a heavy sleeper. Everyone else is. Only I tend to wake up for her screams. I don't mind at all though.
I love it when she comes into my room wearing her black tank top and pink plaid pajama pants that are far too big on her. She is gorgeous. Even after screaming and thrashing in her bedroom, when she gets up, her straight brown hair is only slightly ruffled. Her side bangs come just below her right cheekbone while the rest of it goes almost halfway down her back. Her brown eyes are always so full of hurt and confusion, and even though I know her eyes aren't what they are supposed to look like, they still look perfect to me. It's also the only time I can see her without makeup. She looks beautiful both ways. I love seeing all her scars covered up, but I also love being able to see them because it means I've seen something no one else has.
I hate that I wish she would come in here, or that she would scream and need me to go in there. When that happens, it seems she chases away all my nightmares. What is wrong with me? I sound like I want to have sex with her. I don't. I joke about sex because I can pretend it never happened to me. I can pretend I didn't get raped on countless occasions. I get out of my bed and leave it the way it is. I never make my bed. No one does unless we have a volunteer group coming over.
I walk into the room across the hall where the mini kitchen is. I put some water in the Keurig and wait for it to release a cup of French Roast. In the meantime I pull out milk and sugar cubes. I never drink coffee without it. Gale says he drinks coffee, making three of us on this floor who do, Johanna being the only other one. Katniss and Peeta drink tea mostly and Annie, no matter what time of year, will drink Hot Chocolate. I am tempted to make her a mug, but remember it is still only six in the morning.
Only someone insane would be up at six in the morning when they have nothing to do. I've gotten four hours of sleep, maybe, because of the midnight tournament. I need this coffee if I am going to last the entire day. If I'm not mistaken, it is the last day of summer vacation, and tomorrow we are going to be shipped off to school, where people stare at the poor abused freaks.
I have taken a sip of my coffee when I hear the only sound that can make my heart stop. It is the one thing that scares me more than my own past. I hear Annie screaming. I put my coffee down and run to her room.
She is covering her face again and making it to where no one can get to it. I pull her into my arms and let her thrash around. "Annie, you're safe. Annie, it's not real. Annie, open your eyes. Annie, I'm here." Annie, I love you. I always say that silently. I do love her. I have loved her for as long as I can remember. That doesn't mean I'll admit my feelings or date her.
I don't let go of her, even after she stopped thrashing around. I just let her sink into me and cry. I want to cry every time she does. It breaks my heart to see her like this. When she does calm down enough, I pick her up and carry her to the living room and place her on the couch. I grab the fourth Harry Potter and give it to her, since I know she is rereading it, and head to the kitchen where I make her a hot chocolate and grab my cooled off coffee.
"Finn?" I look at Annie and see her smiling. I sit down on the other side of the couch and let her put her legs on top of mine. "Thanks."
I can't stop the smile from spreading across my face. Making her happy always makes me happy. There are butterflies going crazy in my stomach, just trying to escape. I'm sure she can hear my heartbeat from where she is at. It is pounding like crazy. It's early and I can tell she is shivering. I pull her close to me and let her warm up. We turn the television on to our DVR where a series of recordings are. I know Psych is her favorite show, so I turn it on.
She seems to be fully engrossed in the show, and doesn't seem to notice my eyes are only on her. She really is a princess. I gave her that nickname because she has always been. At the end of the episode, we look out the big glass wall and see the beach and calm waves. "Finn, you want to go swimming?"
I never object. It isn't uncommon for us two to go swimming in the early hours of the day and watch the sunrise from the sand. "Of course I do."
We go to our rooms and put on swimsuits. I am ready in two minutes but Annie takes ten. She comes out looking beautiful in a skirted one piece that with mostly pink, but has rose patterns with bright white. Her hair is pulled into a side ponytail and she has a light coating of makeup on.
She looks beautiful, but everything about her screams that she is self conscious and doesn't know what to do with herself. She owns a two piece bikini, a black and white one with some hot pink on the top, but she won't wear it because she thinks she is fat. Just because one isn't a stick and is a size six to eight doesn't mean they are fat. She won't go outside without makeup because her face has some acne, like every other teenager in Graceland. She has her bangs cover up one eye brow, because she thinks it is too bushy. It isn't. I wish she would be more confident. I really think she is too pretty to do this to herself.
I sigh and grab us towels to use at the beach. It is only six forty-five, so we should have it all to ourselves. Annie holds the elevator for me and we head down. We take the elevator so we don't wake up everyone else in the house as we go downstairs. We take the back door and lay our towels down on the sand.
The moon is just out of view and the faintest rays of the sun are coming into view. "It's so beautiful."
I want to tell her that her beauty far surpasses the beauty of the sunrise. Everything pales in comparison to her. We watch the sunrise over the beach until it is high in the sky. We have said words with no meaning to one another, yet to me, they mean the world.
With a sly smile on my face, I pick up Annie and throw her into the water, letting the cool waves consume us in their comforting arms.
Johanna
I wake up and run my hands through my short red hair, spiking it up in an odd way. I don't care. It's the morning. I get out of my bed and see Brainless is still asleep. The girl could probably sleep through anything. I probably could too, though. We sleep in the room next door to Annie and always manage to sleep through her screams. Everyone seems to, except Finnick, who is as light a sleeper as they come.
I walk go and sit on the couch and see the television is already on. I assume since that is was Finnick and Annie who were awake because they are the only two who could wake up at the crack of dawn for any reason. I look out the huge window and my suspicions are confirmed when I see Finnick holding Annie over his shoulder.
I know he likes her and she likes him so they should just become an item so the rest of us could move on with our lives. Still, if they go out too soon I can't initiate my grand plan I plan to reveal tomorrow after school.
I keep forgetting my last year of High School starts tomorrow. I'm getting old. At least I won't be an awkward loner. Gale said he is a senior as well and is fine with taking whatever classes I'm in since he already completed his credits. I'm still not excited, but I'll at least be less alone.
I walk to our mini kitchen and see there is water in the Keurig. Proof Finnick was in here. There was also a used French Roast blend and a box of sugar cubes on the small counter top. The open hot chocolate package wasn't in the trash, meaning Finnick made hot chocolate for Annie. I pop in a French Roast and let the Keurig do its work when Gale walks in. "Hey."
I look up from my almost-done-being-brewed-coffee and look at him. "Hey." We let awkward moments pass before he grabs a mug of his own and makes himself a cup. "What do you want in your coffee?" I ask him.
"What?" He looks at me confused.
"What do you want in your coffee?"
He shrugs and takes a sip of it, black. "I drink it black."
I smile. "We're going to get along just fine, Handsome."
He was taking a drink of his coffee when I said that. He started to choke at the bluntness of my statement. "Excuse me?"
He doesn't know my nicknaming process. I get to know them for a day and typically come up with a nickname for everyone in a day. Finnick was Sexy, Katniss was Brainless, Peeta was Bread Boy and Annie was Little Mermaid because after I got to know them, those were the words that stuck out to me. Gale is simply Handsome. "Don't worry about it. I give nicknames to everyone. That just happens to be yours."
I start to walk away but he stops me. "What's up with you? Why are you here? I could pretty much guess for everyone else. I have no idea why you're here."
I shrug. "You know everyone else? Tell me what you think. I can tell you how far off you are."
Gale and I make our way to the couch, coffee in hand and I see him rise to the challenge. "Annie has been here the longest and I assume she was physically abused because of her scars and her fits. Finnick was molested somehow because it is obvious he wants to go out with Annie but he is simply too afraid to do so, and he makes sex jokes about himself constantly. Peeta was also abused and that abuse either caused him to lose his leg, or his leg was the reason he was abused. I assume Katniss has some abandonment issues because she seems the most closed off and is constantly going to check up on her sister, like she would've disappeared or something. You, I have no idea though."
I let a smile cross my face. He was actually pretty close. He must be better at reading people than I thought. "Close. Annie has been here the longest and she was physically abused, but in a completely different way than you think. Her mother was a scientist who would test everything out on Annie, and would try to change Annie's genetics. Finnick was sexually abused, but it was so much worse than you think. His mother and father sold him and his sisters off as prostitutes for a night. When they came here they were all checked over for STD's and all three of them have to go to the hospital monthly to make sure they are in good health and their diseases aren't getting worse. Luckily none of them had terminal illnesses, by some miracle. Daisy has actually gotten rid of all her illnesses, but still has to go back for checkups. Peeta was abused and his mother caused him to lose his leg, though he doesn't remember losing it. He was knocked out during that part. Katniss was abandoned one hundred miles away from here at a gas station and walked, bused and hitchhiked here with less than twenty dollars."
I let everything sink in for Gale. He has no idea what all of us have been through. "What about you? Why are you here, Gale?"
He looks at his hands and looks back up at me. "Tell me your story first."
I shrug. "What's to tell? My dad had a drinking problem and every time he got drunk he would come in my bedroom and molest me. I ran away and brought Toby with me so he wouldn't suffer the same fate." My past isn't a big deal to me, but that is probably because I wasn't liberated from an awful home. I freed myself. Gale is staring at me with shock but I don't let it bother me. "What about you?"
"My mom was a drug addict for four years. People found out and called the cops. My brothers, sister and I were all sent here so we wouldn't be separated, and because it was so close to my graduation."
I nod and let his words sink in. What would it have been like to have a mom for a drug addict? Scary? Alone? How did he not get involved? I don't want to ask though. He has already told me a lot.
I turn on the television and let my thoughts be washed away by the distracting voices on the screen.
So we have seen all our POV's now. I hope you liked each character! Again, please leave a review telling me your thoughts and everything.
Special thanks to: MeaganOneDirection, MiaBelles, Mikey Jacquez, Natura Nature, SecretsandSugarCubes, SibunaChika1227, StarBright18, StayAlways, axes tridents and snares, Anarchy Girl, Catching Fireflies, TARDISRose, Alexandra Jackson rocks Hades, Kyranoel, Fire Kitty 12, MewWinx96, babymcflurry, .krause and cutegirlems for adding this story to their favorites! 19 already!
My 20 followers, you guys all rock too!
-Juliet
