The day was a drag for Finnick. Each class had been a bore - maths, physics and then, pretty much the only 'exciting' lesson of the day being physical education. His free periods had been interesting, he had to admit that - he'd learnt the odd thing about how to cook pasta in three different ways from one of the cooks, to add some sort of sauce which would impress whoever he was cooking for. Not that he did cook, that is, he could cook the odd thing from fish to salad? If that counted, but he counted it as cooking nevertheless. His second free period had been a bit more interesting. He had learnt more about the mysterious Annie Cresta: where she had come from; whether she was an only child or not, which she was; why she was here and what District Four was like. She interested him, from the smile she made whenever he made the odd sarcastic remark to the shake of her head when he said something which wasn't the brightest of things, but he didn't care. She was nice,had the sweetest of personalties and seemed rather innocent. Admittedly, the antithesis of him: he was relaxed for the majority of the time and took everything with a pinch of salt, no matter how difficult or stressful the situation, but when he did snap or flip or get upset, everyone knew about it, he wasn't the calmest of people when that happened. Innocent, too, he was not.

Prone to him, his thoughts changed quickly enough and soon he was thinking about his plans later on that evening. Marvel, one of his closer friends - despite him not completely agreeing with him half the time as he flickered between relationships: there had been Glimmer, Delly, Madge, and now more recently there was Jackie, but apart from that he trusted him. Again, he was quite the opposite of him, too. He had only had one serious relationship, that being with a girl named Katniss, who he had been with for two years before the ended it three weeks ago after deciding that they were both after two different things. He had watched from the sidelines for a while, figuring that Peeta liked her and she had begun to lean towards Peeta rather than himself, so instead of fighting for it to work he let that happen as he knew he could no longer win her heart. So now, he had no plans to get into another relationship for the time being. He was too caught up with school work. But he liked the new girl. Annie. He tasted her name in his mind, he was curious, and she was pretty, she suited her personality.

He was too caught up in thought when he walked straight into the back of the one who occupied his thoughts. He stumbled, catching himself on her shoulders in which she turned around and looked at him, rather startled. She had been talking to Clove, and like Finnick had told her, she was one of the most cheery people she had ever come across. Clove had pretty much taken Annie under her wing, staying with her for the majority of the day as they seemed to share lessons.

"Watch it, fish boy. You'll frighten her away already." Clove grinned. That name had stuck with him ever since they had taken a trip to the beach one year. Everyone had been sunbathing, or drinking, or just relaxing in general, whilst Finnick had spent a good three quarters of the day in the sea.

"No, no. I know him." Annie then said gently, putting out her arm in attempt to steady him, "Finnick, right?" Now that was stupid of her to say, she had practically spent most of the day with him or thinking about him. "Well, I know it's Finnick, um-"

Finnick's grin widened, "Sorry about that. And yes, it's Finnick. The handsome one who showed you aroun-"

Clove hit his arm, raising a brow. "Sorry, he's always like this, likes to show off to the new ones."

"I do not."

"Yes, yes you do. When do you ever call yourself handsome?" Clove laughed.

Annie watched the two bicker, smiling. Were they together? They argued like they were an old married couple, eventually deteriorating into a conversation full of names which she cleared her throat at. "Um… I'll see you tomorrow, Clove. And it was nice to sea you again, Finnick." She said with a small grin, seeing if he would pick up on the pun after hearing Clove's nickname for him. The girl besides her grinned, brushing her dark hair out of her face.

"I like you. We're on the same wavelength here."

Finnick could only roll his eyes but nodded nevertheless. A tease, huh? And a sarcastic one too.

"Anyway. I will see you tomorrow." Annie smiled, her cheeks blushed before she turned and left. At least she had two people she could class as friends now. It was better than what she had originally planned.

Once Annie had gone, Clove looked to Finnick with a brow raised. He never acted like that around anyone, never. Unless it was her, but that didn't matter, they had practically grown up together under the same roof so they could act like complete idiots around each other without excuse.

"What?"

"You. Then. You never act like that."

"That was the usual me..."

"No, no it wasn't. Since when do you accidentally trip over someone?"

"That was an accident! I was thinking about-"

"Thinking about what?"

"Um… later…" He didn't want to tell her the truth so tried to think of something else. "About how i'm going to send out a message about how we should all meet in the woods later."

She still looked unconvinced, but nodded: "Sounds good. Count me in. Maybe you could ask your little friend…" She dragged the last few words out, "Annie, too."

He shrugged, "Would she cope with a drunken Peeta and Gale? Especially a drunken Marvel. I can barely cope with that."

"I'm sure you'd be her knight in shining armour, fish boy." Clove grinned, beginning to walk away, "I'll see you later!"

Maybe it would be a good idea to invite her. It would allow her to meet the others, but then again, how would he contact her? He didn't have her number so was unsure how to, so quickly took his phone out of his pocket and messaged Clove.

Finnick: About Annie. Any chance you have her number?

And a few minutes later, his phone buzzed in response.

Clove: Knew it! And already thought ahead, it's (insert number here)

Finnick smiled down at his phone at the quickness of her response, that was one thing he couldn't fault Clove on, she was always on her phone, and if she wasn't, she was either sleeping or something was wrong. So he put his phone away, making his way home through the bustling streets of Panem City. He didn't have a crush on this girl, though. He had only known her for a few hours, only had what? Three conversations? He was just intrigued, her persona to him was interesting, he had never met another being who hadn't lived in Panem for all of their life, and because of it, she had an accent, it was calm, soft, almost a hint of 'poshness' to it and he liked that. Maybe he would invite her, after all.

The forest was always a gathering point for their group of friends. There was a clearing deep within the forest, one which they had put together themselves. They had found fallen tree logs for seats, which were all based around one central point: the fire. They often came here in the summer, when the air was humid and warm, a gathering which they all greatly looked forwards too. Admittedly, it wasn't in his plans to host one tonight, but now Finnick was and he had no idea on what he was doing. Usually he just came along to these types of things, often bringing a few cans of cider if that. But he was happy, content as he pulled out his phone, sitting on a bench outside his home.

Finnick: Hello :) It's Finnick, Clove had your number if you were wondering how I got it. I was wondering if you want to meet with a few of us tonight?

His thumb lingered above the 'send' button on the screen, maybe she would totally reject his offer? Then he would look like a fool. But he sent it anyway, feeling as if he had butterflies within him. He was never nervous, especially when texting, but this it felt different… weird. So he shrugged it off, sitting down on his couch whilst he sent a message out to all of his group.

"How was your first day, darling?" Micheal Cresta asked as his daughter walked through the door. "Make any friends?"

Annie smiled at his greeting they had always been a close family. "It was good, thank you. And I think I did, a girl named Clove and a boy named Finnick… You know, the one mum got me to show me around? He's quite nice."

He raised a brow, "I'm glad to hear your making friends. Tommy called earlier, was wondering how you were. You'll have to give him a call later."

She nodded, "I will. They could stay over one time, couldn't they? My friends from Four?" She asked as she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She glanced at it, an unknown number? She paused, before looking to her father, "I'll talk to you later, dad. I've got schoolwork to do." She told him before heading upstairs. Whilst walking, she unlocked her phone, smiling when she realised who it was.

Annie: Oh, hey! Um, sure?

She was cautious, 'a few of us', this meant more than just him and Clove. She hadn't met anyone else, and was pretty happy with the two people she had met, but continued to type.

Annie: What time? And who's going?

Finnick: 6:30 by the lake? Not that you'll know where that is, I'll meet you at yours - I know where you live, remember? ;)

Oh, well done Finnick. Now I seem a right freak. Did I really need to include that?

Annie: Right, great? xD Sounds good! Who else by the way?

Finnick: Me, Clove, Katniss, Cato and a few others. They don't bite!

Annie didn't reply for a few minutes, did she really want to do this? She wasn't the best around people she didn't know and she had only been living here a day. But she decided to, anyway. What harm could be done?

Annie: Okay. I'll see you then! :)