"I'd just like to inform you that I do not give a shit about what you want."
He rolls his eyes and turns to me. "I'd just like to inform you that you're a pain in the ass."
"Aw. You're too kind."
────────────
Valentina Laskaris never expected much f...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
♫ Valentina ♫
"THEO, TATE AND Lavinia." I reply, silently shocked he didn't say what I usually get; "I'm so sorry", "you never deserved that", "life isn't fair to us all", "you're a wuss, can't even deal with a bit of discipline".
I guess It's different because he's been through it too, so we know what it's like. The textbook responses only go so far, they don't know what else to say because It's never happened to them, nor do I want it to. But receiving a response other than one of pity is refreshing.
"Oldest was Theo, then Lavinia then Tate. Theo was 17 when he left, 6 fucking months away from turning 18. Then he could've taken us too. I can't forgive that, and I never want to see them again. Not like I would even recognise them, I can't even remember what they look like."
Finnick nods at my words. "I understand that. People always told me, mainly older relatives, that I had to love my parents despite everything they did 'because they're blood'. But that's up to me to decide, and I won't love or respect someone who traumatised me when I was still just understanding how the world works, and that made me be an adult to look after my sister when I was 10."
God, it's so refreshing to talk to someone who actually understands it, as shitty as it is. But I can tell just from his tone and body language that he feels the same.
"Kids should be kids, not working at Maccas at the age of 13, getting abused by customers and neglected by the managers, just to be able to feed us twice a week so we wouldn't starve."
"It's hard for people to understand how impactful it can be on your entire outlook on life when they haven't gone through it," Finnick is fucking wise for someone his age in the school we're in. He has a better outlook on life than I do. I just say 'fuck you' to everyone and that's that, but he actually takes into account why people say what they say. I don't have the patience for that.
"You're very wise, you know?"
"Only because no one would listen to me, so I want to listen to people. It's harder to understand someone or why they're a certain way if you don't look at the whole picture, so that's what I try to do. And if that makes me wise, then call me fucking Rafiki." He laughs and I do too, but I'm shocked he swore. I've never heard him swear before.
I've never felt so comfortable talking to someone about this before, but Finnick understands in a way others can't. So it's easier.
"This might be overstepping a bit, and you don't have to answer it if you don't want to, but is the reason you're here actually because of your underground racing thing?" He asks quietly.
My breath hitches in my throat and stays there for a bit, but when I catch it again, so much shit immediately fills my head that I don't know what to look for or think about. The whole thing replays in my head and I don't know how to form it into a sentence without making it sound like I'm an out-of-control, barbaric maniac.
