In Our Favor

Ch.3

📍Hotel Room
8:00pm

I'm taking my makeup off in the bathroom while thinking about today, as Finnick sits on my bed.

"Do you think mom and dad knew?" He breaks the silence.

I pause, genuinely thinking about the question. I wouldn't put it past anyone in Panem, not even my own parents.

"I don't know." I say back to him, continuing to remove my makeup.

It's silent for a minute.

"It's fucked."

"Hm?"

"That we can even consider mom and dad knowing but not telling us. It's fucked."

I look at him for a moment, and turn back to the mirror. He's right, and it sucks that I'm making excuses for them. If they did know, they should've told us. But I guess it speaks for itself.

"Alright, goodnight Flo." We need rest for training." He says, walking toward the door.

"Goodnight Finn." I hear my door click closed.

I finish up in the mirror and change out of my robe into my shorts and tank top. I turn the bathroom light off and softly shut the door.

I sit on the side of my bed and take in the view. If the situation I'm in wasn't so dire, I'd say I'm at peace. Relaxed, no. Thinking, yes. But it's unbelievable what I'm thinking about.

It's Katniss. I've just met her today and I already feel a connection. That's stupid, I know. I'm probably getting attached to anything to hold onto the life I have left. But it feels real. It feels like I like her, a lot.

As I'm submerged in my thoughts, I get a knock at my door.

"Come in." I say softly, still halfway in my head.

The door opens and through the window reflection, I see the brown haired girl I was just thinking about.

"Katniss." I acknowledge.

"Hey Florence." She says.

Her light footsteps tread around to where I am, and she sits beside me, looking out of the window as well.

"I'm so sorry for your loss. I know she was really close to you." She says quietly, almost at a whisper.

"Thank you. It's okay, just really sudden, you know? Everyone knew except us." I confide.

"If I knew that they hadn't told you guys, I would have. It's awful to find out that way."

"I appreciate that."

We stare out of the window in a comfortable silence for a moment before I speak up.

"Oh, I'm sorry about Finnick. Again. I wanted to do it formally this time." I slightly laugh.

"It's nothing. Honestly, I'd rather be stuck with you two than any other tribute." She says.

I smile.

"Do you apologize for him a lot? Finnick."

"I've been doing it ever since his family took me in. He's never been the most civil of sorts." I reminisce.

"Right, and that was when?"

"Hm?" I ask.

"When you got adopted, when was that?"

I stay silent for a second.

"God, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, I don't know why I asked such a personal question." She retracts.

"No no, it's okay. Honestly, I feel like everyone tip toes around it like it's some sensitive topic. When in reality, it was a happy thing." I assure her. "But it was when I was 12. As soon as I could attend the reaping. It's kind of unfortunate because I never really had a good childhood, you know? I went from absent parents to the games. I only had 2 years of real happiness."

"I'm sorry, that's awful." She says.

"But it's okay. Because those two years really were happy. The Odair's treated me like family immediately. And in these past 10 years, I've had nothing different. Other than these games, I have a pretty happy life."

"Makes me happy to hear. Popular to contrary belief, me too. 12 was always seen as poor and sad, but we made it work. My mom and Prim are all I needed to be happy."

Katniss and I talk into the night until she finally says that we both need rest. We say our goodbyes, and she goes back to her room with Peeta.

---- 8:00am ----

I wake up to Finnick knocking on my door. I groggily get out of my bed to let him in.

"What." I ask, partly in my dream still.

"There's breakfast in Haymitch's room. We're all going." He says.

"5 minutes and I'm out." I tell him.

"Alright." He walks away.

I shut my door and trudge over to my bathroom. I wash my face, brush my teeth, and fix my hair. I put on casual clothes for now. Training is today, and Zero hasn't given us our outfits yet.

I walk out of my room and across the hallway to Haymitch's, significantly bigger, room. There, I see all 3 tributes sitting down at the table, and Haymitch in front of everyone.

I take my seat beside Finnick and see the deluxe breakfast on my plate. Haymitch clears his throat, signaling that he's ready to speak.

"Training starts today." He begins. "This isn't only an opportunity to practice for the arena, but also to show off your skills. Remember, this isn't like the last game. This is truly a killer's arena this year. Everyone in that room with you is only there because they're murders." He explains.

Finnick and I make eye contact, not worried at all. I don't know if it's our cockiness or what, but that doesn't scare us at all.

"Now," He continues. "Not only are you showing off your skills, you also need to make allies. Starting off in the early days of training can really pay off in the end."

"I'm sorry, but don't we already know this stuff?" Finnick stops him. "What about this is new?"

"Hey," Peeta intervenes. "Let him talk."

"I mean, I'm just saying. We aren't learning anything new." He says in return.

"Shut up and you might." Peeta snarks.

Finnick shifts his body to look at Peeta. "Look 12, I know you're used to winning with luck and love, but some of us actually fought to be here. Excuse me if I don't want to risk going into the arena with the same information from a decade ago." He tells Peeta off.

"Finnick-"

"Stop." Katniss looks to Peeta.. "Okay, Finnick is right."

Finnick and Peeta's face both look surprised. Honestly, mine too.

"We need advice and information that no one else has. Haymitch I know you have it, you're a victor from the poorest district. Give us something." She explains.

Haymitch slightly nods at her, realizing that she's right, and continues to talk about the next games, in more detail this time. I give Katniss a soft smile and she returns the same one back to me.