The Same Mistakes

Chapter 4

Katniss' eyes flicked between the clock that hung on the wall over her and the bottles upon bottles of ketchup splayed across the table, her hands feeling grossly sticky as she re-filled the empty condiment bottles.

It was only eight-thirty, and the diner didn't close for another hour and a half but other than the group of four loud, obnoxiously giggly girls clad in shorts and their bikini tops, the restaurant was unusually empty.

She heard the chair next to her screech as Annie pulled it back, slumping into it with a loud, exaggerated sigh.

"I miss Finnick." Annie said, dropping her head in between her fingers, her elbows propped on the table. He hasn't been home in five days. And he won't be home this weekend either; he's got a competition in Maryland."

Katniss turned her lips upwards in what she was hoping was an empathetic smile, her eyes casting downward, taking in the light blue colored shirt, 'UNC' inscripted in the front in white, bold blocked letters. The shirt was big on Annie's small, bony frame and fell off her shoulders, revealing her tanned, freckled shoulder.

Annie sighed loudly again, this time picking her head up from her hands, grabbing a bottle of ketchup, twisting the top open.

In the week and a half that Katniss had worked here, she'd heard about Finnick maybe ten, twenty times a day. There were days when he was the only thing Annie could think of, could speak of.

In a way that Katniss could probably never understand, Annie's eyes always got this far away look when she talked about him, too. The green in her eyes became glazed, a smile permanently plastered on her face as she recalled memories â€" the way they'd met, their one year anniversary, and then their second, the way they made their long-distance relationship work. She never ran out of memories to think about, to smile about.

Katniss just smiled as Annie went on, though she noticed she only did so when Johanna wasn't around. And the few times that Johanna happened to catch Annie going on, and on about Finnick, a dark, deep scowl appeared on her lips.

Katniss thought it was odd; but then again, she thought most things about Johanna were odd. She didn't question it much.

After a long beat, Katniss twisted the top of another ketchup bottle and looked to Annie, forcing a smile on her face. "Don't worry. He'll be back soon."

Not much of a speaker, much less a comforter, it was the best Katniss could offer.

Annie nodded her head fervently, using the back of her hand to push the hair that had fallen around her face away. "I know, I know, Katniss. It's just like … It's just that every day without him seems to drag on forever. I mean, I would give anything to just be able to spend like, five consecutive days with him, you know?"

Katniss nodded her head, though truly, she did not know. She did not know what Annie felt, could not comprehend having your happiness depend so fully and completely on someone else, on a boy. She didn't understand wanting so badly to spend a few days with someone â€" feeling so desperately hopeless without them the way she'd seen Annie feel for the past few days.

Annie suddenly froze, taking in Katniss. She blinked twice, her voice a velvety kind of soft as she poured ketchup into an empty bottle. "I know you think it's probably silly. The way I get …"

Katniss opened her mouth, already shaking her head. She could already count the amount of friends she had in this town on two fingers, she couldn't exactly afford angering half of them by being judgmental.

Annie shook her head back at Katniss, a soft smile on her lips. "Oh, I don't blame you. I'd think I was crazy too. But I just, I love him, you know?"