Dead in the Water | An Odesta Fanfic

Chapter Nine

There was still a dull anger burning away in Annie's chest when she woke up the next morning. Her dreams these days were always about the arena, and she had spent the night watching Kai die in every way imaginable, with Finnick standing carelessly by and doing nothing every time. She was rather happy to find that Finnick was not at the breakfast table once again. After the dreams she'd had, Annie didn't think she could hold herself back from choking him out if he had been there. Instead, she took out her anger on the spread of food in front of her, spearing it with her knife and mushing flavors together until it was inedible.

​Bay watched her carefully from across the table. "How did you sleep?" he asked.

​She looked up at him, glaring over the mess of food on her plate. "Do you even have to ask?"

​He shook his head. "Carry on."

​Annie stuck the knife back into her food and dragged it around for a minute. "Let's just say, Finnick's safer staying out of the apartment this morning."

​Bay didn't press her any further. When Kai came into the dining room with Luna, Annie quickly shut up. She couldn't bear to destroy his hero the day before the Hunger Games began. So she shut her mouth and kept on pushing the food around her plate.

With Luna there, the conversation turned to the prep team and the work they would be doing that day. It seemed that the tributes were expected to sit through a full day of makeovers and prep work before the interviews. Annie couldn't imagine how the prep team could possibly need all day, but until yesterday, she hadn't imagined it was necessary to spend hours pacing a room in heels either.

When Annie found that she couldn't bear any more talk about dresses or makeup or hair and the pile of food on her plate was only making her feel sicker, she stood up and excused herself from the table. She wished desperately that there some place to go and get fresh air, to take a walk and clear her head, to forget about the dreams and replace them with some better memories. On a day like this back at home, she would have gone walking along the shore, watching the waves and letting the water rush over her feet until it was impossible to be angry. There was no ocean here, of course, but there had to be a way outside. The building had to have a roof of some sort – maybe there was a way to reach it?

Annie turned the corner into the living room, only to stop dead in her tracks. Leaning against the doorway as if he had been there all week, was Finnick Odair.

"Good morning." he said, with that same grin as always.

Annie could not think of a worse way to describe it. She might have crossed the room and knocked him down right then, had Kai not coming running out of the kitchen behind her.

"Bay and Luna are still talking about the prep team," he was saying. "They were wondering if –" He stopped when he saw Finnick, just like Annie had. But unlike her, he didn't seem to have the urge to punch him in his smirking face. "Finnick!" he exclaimed. "You're back!"

"'Morning Kai!" Finnick replied, reaching out to ruffle Kai's hair like he had done during the training scores announcement. It was sick, really, the way he pretended to care about them at all. Annie's hands clenched into fists at her sides, but she held herself back.

"How are you feeling about tonight?" Finnick was asking Kai. "You ready for the interview?"

So he knew. He knew they had interviews that night. He knew she had needed him, and still he hadn't shown up. But he had the guts to walk in here and ask Kai about his interview prep?

"Finnick," she said, fighting to keep her voice level. "Can I see you in the hallway?" she looked pointedly at Kai. "Alone?"

She must have masked her anger well enough, because Finnick didn't seem at all concerned "Of course," he said, still acting like a gentlemen. Acting like he hadn't just spent the night drinking and fooling around with every woman he could get his hands on.