Thank you all for the reviews so far! Mostly dialogue in this chapter but it was necessary. Tell me what you think of this so far. Am I taking it too fast, too slow? I didn't double check this so sorry about mistakes.
Disclaimer: I don't own THE HUNGER GAMES, I'm just a fangirl.
Word Count: 2,044
Finnick's Point of View
"Girls your getting too close to my stand. Could you please move to your left a bit? I just don't want to hurt any of you if I have to get to the water." I ask four little girls dressed in sparkling mermaid bathing suits. They play with the sand making some type of sandcastle in their eyes but it really looks like they're trying to burry something. Some of the girls begin decorating the sides and top of their 'sandcastle'.
"Sowwy Finnish." Lilith says looking up at me
"Lilith its Finn-ick remember?" I tell her chuckling
"Weally?" she replies grabbing her collection of sea shells
"That's always been his name silly!" her friend says
"It has. Do you need help moving your toys?" I smile
"No we got evewyding." she replies picking up a few of her neon colored buckets
"Okay." I put my sunglasses back on
Focusing on the people in the water, I notice that everything looks fine. The waves aren't as high as they usually are which makes me worry a little less. No one is out too far either. Not many people here today; why would there be anyway? Its Tuesday afternoon most people are still at work. Taking my binoculars I look to my left to make sure my co-worker is at his stand. I see him. I get his attention by waving my hand around. Once he looks at me I signal to use the bathroom and he nods his head. Climbing down from my seat I watch for Lilith and her three friends. It looks like they're sitting on their towels playing with a sticker book. I smile getting off the last step, listening to their giggles.
"Hello again ladies." I tell them walking by
"Hi Finnish!" Lilith stands out from her friends. Those girls are just adorable, they come to the beach almost everyday. And every time I have to tell them that they need to move their towels because they're too close to me.
The hot sand burns my naked feet. I walk past the concession stand to the employee bathrooms. No one is in the male bathroom stall so I just walk right in. After I do my business I walk back out passing the concession stands again. Usually I don't pay attention to them because its such a pedestrian thing, ever since working here. Someone catches my eye, not just someone because if it was anyone but her I wouldn't stop walking to stare. I've never seen her here before. Since when does Annie work at the beach with me? Shouldn't she be in at least one of my rotations for life-guarding? Or shouldn't we be in a few concession stand rotations?
I almost walk over there and order something for myself just to talk to her or get a closer look but I remember that I shouldn't be leaving my stand too long; I take a short walk back to my favorite little mermaids. As requested they're still in their same position but I can't help but feel that ever since I went to the bathroom they have moved their towels again.
As usual no one needed saving today. Once its eight o'clock I get a call from my boss telling me that we need the beach-goers to start packing up. Telling the mermaids its time to go home is never my favorite part of this job. They pout and tell me that they'll be good if they can stay for another hour, but I know I can't let them. My co-worker and I patrol the sand for any trash before we clock out for the day.
Inside the mini locker room (only for the employees) I put my whistle in my locker, take my work bag out then look for my boss. Would it be crazy, stupid or risky of me to ask if she could put me in at least one of Annie's rotations? I don't mind this job I mean it could be worse. And I'm not one to complain about things or even ask for things really. I find her just outside the women's locker room.
"Hey."
"Oh hey Finn. You need anything?" she asks. Ms. Fish (as we call her) is a real nice lady but it feels wrong of me to ask so much from her. If she does indeed put me in a new rotation it affects everyone so she'd have to reschedule not just me but the rest of the employees.
"Umm I was just wondering if... if uh you could put me in a new rotation?" my palms are sweaty
"Why? Are you having trouble working with anyone?" she asks kindly
"No I just wanted- to to be in a rotation with... Annie." I look at the ground
"Oh I see someone's got a crush on Annie. Oh I love romance!" she says excitedly
"What! No no um actually we have this project thing in in school... and we need to b-
"Say no more. I'll work on it for next week okay? Plus I think it is about time for you guys to be working with other people." she says putting a finger to my lips
"Thanks." I tell her once her finger leaves my mouth
So maybe asking her for that wasn't crazy, stupid, or risky. I can't believe it worked out as well as it did though.
I hide my face in my heavy textbook curiously as Gale makes his way to her locker. With Thom grinning next to me I can't help but muffle a laugh with my book. He taps her on the shoulder anxiously, she turns surprised to see who it is. As I expected he nervously runs a hand through his dark hair. Johanna looks extremely confused, he begins talking. He told us he wanted to ask her out on a date for this Friday. Thom and I are having a bet; I bet she'll say no then slap him in the face. Thom thinks she'll say no now but cave into it later on. I'm going to be making an easy twenty bucks.
Concentrating back to Gale and Johanna I watch with amusement as she declines his offer. From this far away I have no idea what they're saying but from her wild hand gestures and angry expression I think she's pretty mad. Thom grabs my shoulder pulling us both around so that we stare into my locker instead, in fear of Johanna noticing us watching. Just then Gale sulks over to us. He leans his head against the lockers next to mine. I turn around and give him a reassuring slap on the back.
"She called me a shallow and overconfident shit face." he says with a stunned expression
"Well what did you say to her?" Thom asks carefully
"I told her that I'd really like to get to know her better and was wondering if I could take her out Friday."
"Are you sure that's all you said?" I press
"...well no..." he slumps, bowing his head
"Dude what did you fuck up this time?" Thom responds
"I may have told her- that she looks smokin' hot in that top she's wearing..." Gale blushes comically looking at his feet
"Why on Earth would you say that? Girls are sensitive toward that type of stuff." Thom starts
"Yeah. They hate it when guys call them hot. They like beautiful or gorgeous stuff like that." I finish
"You guys could have told me that! Now I have no chance of her ever talking to me again." he pouts
"What if we talked to her for you?" I question looking at an exasperated Thom
"Are you crazy? Knowing the two of you, you'll fuck it up even more!" he says putting his head in his hands
"If we use my charm and Thom's- whatever he's got- maybe she'll see that you aren't a shallow overconfident shit face." I tell him. He looks at me pensively as does Thom.
"If you two mess it up, I swear I'm going to tell Annie some things you didn't even know I knew about you." he points his dagger eyes at me
"I swear we won't because unlike you the ladies come crawling into my hands." I smile
"So that means you talked to Annie?" Gale grins
"Um no actually but I'm working on it!" I say shoving his shoulder, as Thom laughs loudly
Once we get kicked out of the hallway by Mr. Flint I head home but not before shooting him an annoyed look. Usually I don't hate my teachers but that guy really ticks me off, something's wrong with him. I feel like he's always watching me just like our PE teacher Coach Snow. That guy has some lurking eyes that never miss a thing.
I get home to my mother cooking as usual. After I finish my homework and her homemade meatloaf I slip on my red bathing suit, my white uniform tee, and my sunglasses. Then I hurry back downstairs to give my mother a kiss good bye.
Jogging to the beach I can't help but feel excited for next week. I'll finally get to work with Annie because working with her will mean I have to talk to her and she'll have to talk to me. Then (fingers crossed) we'll get along at school which means we'll eventually be friends which means that... I'm rambling aren't I?
Passing the men's locker room my eyes light up to Annie a few feet away walking to the concession stands. I'm usually never excited about work but since I'm going to be seeing her more often I feel my heart thump thump thump inside like its a human at sea trying to breathe. She walks by me and my heart flies up to the moon and back. I get distracted too easily around her.
Quickly I get to my usual post. The mermaids aren't here yet in fact only a few people are.
My shift went as ordinary as it usually does. There was a lot of people by dinner time. With the sunny sky and mild temperatures I can see why people would want to enjoy their evening at the beach. I had to repeatedly tell a bunch of annoying boys to not pass the buoys. They kept screaming whenever I blew my whistle probably to drown out its irritating screech. They're there for a reason, idiots. Unfortunately the mermaids weren't here at all today. I didn't want to bother my boss today about the new schedule she's working on since I asked her only yesterday. However, Ms. Fish caught my attention as I was getting ready to walk home.
"So I finished the new schedule last night." she says enthusiastically
"Really? Thank you so much." I tell her
"You still have the same hours but with new people."
"That's okay." I nod
So you guys must be wondering why I never mention Finnick's dad huh? Well the next chapter that's in his POV I promise to answer that question for you.
I tried to add some humor in this chapter and get the plot going. You can see that Gale and Thom are important to Finn so they'll be in many chapters. Do you think Johanna overreacted?
Do you guys want me to add in more Lilith?
Leave a review and you'll get a mermaid! :) JK ;)
