Chapter 7

Johanna Mason POV

Annie, Madge and I are going to have lunch today at a local cafe. It's Sunday, and we figured it would give Annie a nice break from all the school-related stuff going on. We get there and get seated after a short wait, of course it's busy today. A lot of people from school like to hang out here on the weekends, their brunch is great for hangovers.

"You're getting a lot better at the cheer routines," Madge says to Annie. "It seems like you're enjoying it more, too."

"I am," Annie says, smiling. "I feel like Clove and Glimmer are finally letting up on me a little, so that's good. I just want them to leave me alone, and it seems like they're starting to."

"What did you just say?" I hear from a table close by. I look over and of course I see Clove and Glimmer sitting at a table close to us. This is great, just what we need at this moment.

Annie turns around and all the color drains from her face when she sees them. "Oh, nothing," she says timidly, turning back around.

"No, we heard what you said," Clove says. "You think we care if you live or die? We stopped talking to you because we decided you weren't even worth it."

"Cut it out," I say to them. "She didn't say anything bad about you."

"The fact that she even has our names in her mouth at all is rich," Glimmer says. "Thinking the whole world revolves around her, get real."

Annie wipes a tear from her face. I'm about to pop off and get us kicked out of this cafe, but someone else starts talking before I can.

"Glimmer, Clove, stop it," I look over and see Finnick Odair and Marvel sitting on the other side of Glimmer and Clove's table. It was Finnick who chimed in. "She literally didn't do anything."

"And why do you care?" Clove asks. "If anything, you should be on our side."

"Your side of bothering people who don't deserve it?" He asks. "Don't you have someone else you can pick on?"

"Well you shouldn't care," Glimmer says. "You don't know her."

"It doesn't matter," Finnick says. "Stop being bitches for no reason."

I get up and walk towards the trash can, pretending I need to throw something away. I pass by Finnick's table on the way there.

"Thank you," I say quietly to him. "She wouldn't have stood up for herself like that."

He just nods. Maybe Finnick Odair isn't a bad guy after all.

Finnick Odair POV

I hate that the girls on the cheer team are being so mean to that new girl. I know she's weird, everyone knows it, but they don't have to be such assholes about it. I hooked up with Glimmer last year and a little bit over the summer. She's hot, and she isn't a bad person. I just think Clove is a bad influence on her.

"What was that about?" Marvel asks me as we're leaving the cafe.

"I just, hated to see that," I say. "That girl wasn't bothering anyone, and she didn't deserve to be harassed like that."

"She's really weird, everyone knows that," Marvel says.

"That doesn't give them the right to be bitches to her."

"Clove and Glimmer are always like that, it doesn't matter who it is."

"Yeah, I know," I say. "And maybe they should be called out for that. Maybe they shouldn't just be able to treat people like that."

"Do you want to hook up with her or something?" Marvel asks me. "I guess she's pretty enough, I just never thought you'd stoop that low."

I hate that that's the first thing everyone jumps to when it comes to me and my motives for doing anything.

"No," I say. "Can't I just defend someone who's clearly not deserving of what's happening to her and who doesn't want to defend herself?"

"You can," Marvel says. "It's just, we're finally popular and we need to stay that way. Helping out weirdos like Annie Cresta isn't going to help." So that's her name. I feel like I knew that, I just didn't know her or hang around her circle very much.

"You're being so shallow," I say. "I love being popular as much as the next guy, but I don't think it's as important as everyone else does."

"Easy to say when you're Finnick Odair," Marvel says, chuckling. I know I've gotten laid a decent amount, but honestly I'm not sure there's really anything that special about me that isn't in anybody else. I just know how to use my looks and charm to my advantage.

People may think it's stupid that I defended Annie when they were making fun of her, but I really hate to see stuff like that. People already think I'm a jerk because I'm popular and I hook up with girls, but I like to think I'm generally a nice person.

Annie Cresta POV

We leave the cafe, and Johanna starts hitting the steering wheel and groaning in anger when she gets into the driver's seat. I'm in the passenger's seat, and Madge is in the backseat.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"I should be asking you that," she says. "Why can't they just leave you alone? God, I'm so pissed off."

"It's okay," I say, trying to calm her down. "I was the one talking about them."

"And you have every right to. You weren't even saying anything mean, and I would still be right behind you if you were."

"Maybe I should just join the swim team like Maeve keeps suggesting," I say. "It would make things a whole lot easier."

"No," Johanna says to me. "You like cheering, right?"

"I guess," I say, shrugging. "The outfits are cute, and the dance routines are fun. But I still don't love the loudness and the crowds at all of the games."

"If you really don't like cheering, then quit the team. Just don't do it because of Glimmer and Clove. They aren't worth it."

"Thank you," I say. "I'll have to think about it."

I want to quit more and more every day, but I also don't want to be known as a quitter. Quitting won't stop them from picking on me if they still want to, they're in some of my classes so I still have to see them. Sometimes I think it would be so much easier if I was homeschooled.

…

Johanna dropped Madge and I off at Madge's house, I always love hanging out there. Her dad is super nice. He's the mayor, so we don't see him much. Her family has known my family for a long time, so they're always super understanding of my mental health issues.

"I'm really sorry about what happened today," Madge says as we're sharing a bowl of strawberries in her room. "All of that was super uncalled for."

"It is what it is," I say. "I'm used to it."

"You shouldn't have to get used to it, no one should. No one deserves to be treated like that when they haven't done anything."

"I just can't believe someone defended me that wasn't Johanna. People at our school, especially popular people, tend to look the other way when they see stuff like that."

"I can't believe it was Finnick Odair," Madge says. "He isn't exactly known for being a gentleman, and I'm sure he had other motives."

"Like what?" I ask.

"You know what," she says. "I'm sure you've heard about him."

I've heard a little bit about Finnick and how he sleeps around, but I'm really not sure that's what this was about. He didn't even talk to me after, and what he did put his status at risk more than anything else.

"I don't think that's what this was," I say. "It seems like he was just upset by what he saw, and he wanted to help."

"Oh, Annie," Madge says. "You're so cute. It's great that you always try to see the best in people."

I hate that sometimes my friends and family treat me like a child. I know I struggle a lot, but I'm not a child. I hope Finnick didn't have any hidden motives, it's much better for me to believe that someone was genuinely being nice to me. It's such a rarity.