lover/fighter - Finnick Odair

Chapter 33 - Fun in the sun and one shocking realization

"And I really can't change your mind?" whines Annie with a begging look. Meanwhile, she clings dramatically to Rhea's arm.

Although she's been subjected to the red-haired girl's persistent efforts for quite some time now, she can only laugh. "I'm sorry, seriously. Something like that is just not for me, but I wish you luck to win," she bargains.

The time in District 4 has flown by. It didn't take Finnick and Annie long to convince her to delay her stay until the beach festival, and now the time has come.

Just as her newfound friends from the Seaside District have explained to her on several occasions, the temperatures are really climbing steadily upward at the moment. The afternoons are getting warmer, the days longer, and for the first time in her life, Rhea's skin color has left the spectrum that can be titled "pale". The latter in particular is a development that pleases Rhea more than she would ever admit, precisely because she quickly realized that among the people here, she had seemed downright sickly pale at first.

Overall, she has to admit that her body image has changed noticeably in the last few weeks, and in an absolutely positive way. After initial difficulties, she has gradually become accustomed to the fact that people here generally don't seem to attach much importance to appearances, which makes her life much easier. She can afford not to think about it all the time, and the lack of tension also brings much more serenity to everyday life.

Despite her polished self-esteem, Rhea still doesn't feel much urge to pose half-naked in front of half the district, even though Annie insists that it would certainly be fun. In the end, she had to settle for Rhea's agreement to watch the spectacle and cheer her on from the crowd.

They are already on their way to the village, where all the preparations have been completed by now, and still Annie makes one last futile attempt, even though it's too late for that anyway. After being rejected again, however, she now finally seems to realize that her efforts are pointless and drops the subject. "Winning isn't really that important to me," she sighs, somewhat lost in thought.

Rhea eyes her with a small smile. "That's right, you only want to be a winner of hearts. Or rather, you want to win one very specific heart," she croons with amusement.

"Don't laugh, this is serious business," Annie counters, pouting. "If you can get a guy to look only at you in a horde of lightly dressed women, surely that's the ultimate proof that he likes you."

Rhea frowns but laughs. "In theory, maybe. On the other hand, you shouldn't expect too much. In my experience, most men have frighteningly little self-control as soon as it comes to bare skin," she explains, and a bit of bitterness mixes into her previously cheerful disposition at the thought. Even though the people of District 4 are fundamentally different from the Capitol's upper class, Rhea just can't seem to shake her mistrust.

She admires people who always see the best in everything and everyone, but at the same time she looks with concern at this kind of naivety. The more you look into it, the more it pulls you back and forth between the two sides. In the end, the right path probably leads through the middle, as it usually does, but finding that path is easier said than done. How are you supposed to know who you can trust and who you can't, when you know for a fact that what you see are merely the versions of others that they deliberately want to show you.

"He's not that kind of guy," Annie proclaims with conviction. "And I know he likes me, I'm just not sure if in that way. That's why I'm doing this."

"Not a totally outlandish plan, I guess," Rhea comments with a shrug. Granted, if she were in this situation, it certainly wouldn't have been the first thing she thought of, but if there's one thing she's learned, it's that Annie's way of thinking, while a bit odd at times, works for her in inexplicable ways. That being said, the last thing she wants to do is impose her always pessimistic way of thinking on Annie. She'd much rather hope that a tiny bit of Annie's positivity, wherever she takes it from considering her backstory, rubs off on her.