THE SIREN'S SONG 𓇼 F. ODAIR

30 ~ the break in

Carolina didn't see Johanna Mason in person until the girl was in District 4 for her victory tour.

She had heard things about the girl, of course. Johanna was stubborn, hard-headed, mean, and rebellious, and those were just what Carolina had gathered from her camera appearances. Carolina knew firsthand that the Capitol shut them off when things took a turn.

When Johanna stepped foot in District 4, all Carolina wanted to do was stay inside her house and wait for the girl to return to the train and leave. She was embarrassed about dating Cyrus. She didn't have a choice, but she couldn't tell Johanna that.

Carolina hadn't even realized she was embarrassed of dating a Snow until she saw Johanna's face. The girl was so unafraid of the Capitol that she didn't even think about masking her emotions the second she stepped foot in the party. And she looked at Carolina with disgust. That look made Carolina rethink everything.

Were there other victors who looked at her with that same disgust but were smart enough to hide their real emotions?

She knew some of the victors knew of her predicament, but none knew the whole story. What if they thought of her as a member of the Capitol? What if Snow succeeded and managed to strip every last bit of district from her? The Capitol will never see her as one of their own, and if the districts stop seeing her as one of them, then what would be left?

She would just be nothing.

"You need to stop caring about what other people think of you," Finnick said when he finally got Carolina to confide in him. "No one is ever going to know everything that is going on in your life."

"Not even you?" Carolina smiled, lifting her head off of his shoulder to look at him.

It was the night they were supposed to have dinner with the newest victor. Finnick had expected Carolina to already be ready when he knocked on the door, but he was only greeted by a bored Charlie who pointed Finnick to his sister's bedroom where he found his girlfriend sitting on her bed wearing pajamas.

Finnick was trying to convince Carolina to go, and as always, the man was starting to wear her down.

"No, I am the exception," Finnick shook his head, causing Carolina to laugh.

"Is that so?"

"Definitely," Finnick nodded. "Ask me anything about your life."

"Alright," Carolina bit her lip in thought. "What is my favorite color?"

"Blue like the sea," Finnick said immediately. "But not to wear. You prefer wearing warmer colors."

"Okay, that was too easy," Carolina pursed her lips in thought. "How about my middle name?"

"Marlowe," Finnick had a cocky smile. "Give me a hard one."

"Okay then, Finnick Riven Odair," Carolina nodded, leaning closer to Finnick, who rolled his eyes at the use of his full name. "When is Charlie's birthday?"

Finnick's face went blank. He straightened his posture and cleared his throat.

"You know what, we are going to be late," Finnick stood up and went to Carolina's closet. "You should really get dressed."

"Oh my god, Finnick!" Carolina laughed. "You still don't know? You were at his birthday party!"

"I know it's in... June?"

"May!" Carolina corrected. She grabbed the dress out of Finnick's hands and pointed to the door. "Out!"

"Come on, it's nothing I haven't seen before."