I groan, sitting up in bed. Today I was finally going home. "Come on," I say to the bronze-haired boy next to me, "pack your stuff. We get to leave this place." I don't have much to pack- the blue dress I wore at the reaping, some outfits I wore over the course of my time in the Capitol, the black outfit I wore in the arena, some lingerie, Cinna's dresses, and of course, my mockingjay pin. I put it all in a large backpack and throw that on my back. I put on a small bit of makeup and braid my hair.
Finnick comes up behind me. "Come on, let's get to the hovercraft." Apparently, we're taking a hovercraft to District 7, where we'll drop off Johanna and get on the train to 12. That way, we don't have to stop to refuel. Finnick, Johanna, Haymitch and get in the elevator, push "HC" and get off at an underground stop. I hate being underground. I feel suffocated.
The hovercraft ride is short, maybe two and a half hours. The train ride will be three days. Johanna says goodbye, and tells me to call her. My house in the Victor's Village will have a phone, running water and constant electricity. Which is a nice change. Before the games, I would have to boil water on the stove and fill it into the bathtub. For my district and my family, me winning the games has brought them a lot of good things. For me, it's only brought nightmares, and turned my life into a living one.
The train is much shorter this- only 5 cars. There's two sleeping cars, a dining/bar car, a lounge car (with a TV!) and a car where the train drivers stay. I've never seen them leave their car. When we get on the train, there's a large dinner waiting for us. I barely touch it. Finnick and Haymitch try to make small talk, but it doesn't work. My mentor gives up and retreats to his room with a bottle of liquor. I go to walk towards my room. "Sleep with me tonight?" I ask Finnick. He nods and follows me to my room.
I change into my pajamas in front of Finnick - even though he's Finnick Odair, the most wanted man in Panem - he feels like a close friend. Even though I've only known him for less than a week, we have so much in common it almost feels like I grew up with him. Besides, according to the Capitol magazines lying around, I'm Katniss Everdeen, the most wanted woman in Panem. Suddenly, I understand what Haymitch and Finnick were arguing about. We're supposed to be an item. Not going to happen. I slide into bed.
"Finnick, can you keep a secret?" I ask him. He nods. "The man... who I went on a date with lived in an apartment building. He was in 3A. When I was leaving, I bumped into a woman with a key that said 3A on it." Saying it out loud made me feel that much worse. "I'm a home wrecker. They have a daughter, too."
"Oh, Katniss." Finnick sighs. He puts his arm around me. "That isn't your fault. Did you want to sleep with him?" It's a rhetorical question. We both know that the answer is no. "Exactly. You just did what you had to do to keep your family alive. Don't ever forget that." I can tell that he has trouble taking his own advice. Finnick sits up against the headboard. "Speaking of your family, here's what you're gonna tell them: Since District 12 is one of the less popular districts, you have to lobby to get sponsors during the year, not just during the Games. It's something most of the victors do. Got it?" I nod. "And besides, the only other living victor in 12 is Haymitch, and he's gonna back you up."
"Got it." I look up at Finnick. "Do you have a family? Back in 4?" I don't expect him to answer. But I want to know.
He answers slowly. "My mother died when I was young. I have my father, my two sisters, and..." He trails off. "You know when somebody isn't family, but you still feel that need to protect them, Snow still could kill them if he wanted to?" Gale comes to mind. "Do you remember the 70th Games?"
I shrug. "Not really. I wasn't paying attention that year." My father died the year of the 70th, that game and the game after, I didn't even watch.
Finnick nodded. "Well that was the year of the flood. I had two tributes to take care of because Mags had a stroke." I met Mags in passing. I knew that she was like a mother to him. "The boy tribute- he was 12 years old, didn't want to be in the Careers. He got his head cut off the first day. The girl, I knew she was different. She was quiet, shy. I assumed she would be like Johanna, and show her killer side once there were only a few people left. The gamemakers gave her a 7, a pretty good score." Nothing compared to Finnick's 11. He sighs, continuing. "Well it turns out that watching her district-mate get beheaded triggered her mental illness. For lack of a better word, she went insane. She hid for the next few days. On the 4th day, there were 10 people left. The gamemakers decided to cause an earthquake, giving nobody a fair advantage. But there was a dam that broke causing the arena to flood, and being from 4, she was the strongest swimmer."
"Oh. I remember her. I think she was one of the only victors who didn't kill anybody." Out of all the beautiful women Finnick Odair could have- he choose a poor mad girl back home? Not that Annie isn't beautiful. I remember watching parts of her games at school and all of the boys in my class would wolf-whistle when she appeared on the screen. She has long dark hair and the same captivating green eyes as Finnick. "Do you love her, Finnick?"
He shrugs. "Yes. No. Maybe. I-I don't know. I know I love her, but I don't think it's in a romantic way. I love her the way I love Mags. Yes, she's beautiful, but because of the...way she is, I would feel like being in a relationship with her would take advantage of her." He looks tired. "Lets go to bed, alright?" I turn of the lights and drift to sleep.
I wake up in the middle of the night. Finnick is softly snoring. I tiptoe out of bed and into the dining car. My growling stomach reminds me I barely touched dinner last night. I take one of the sandwiches, pour myself a glass of water, and carefully cross into the lounge car. Haymitch is watching some wilderness show. It's pretty violent. The main character, (I suppose) is a blond teenage boy. He's stabbing all of the other teens around him with a trident. Trident. Haymitch is watching Finnick's Games. My water spills all over the floor.
A/N: Cliffhanger anyone? I'm not sure if all my facts on Annie were right, let me know if I goofed?
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