Something Worth Living For [THG] // Finnick Odair

Chapter XXI

Finnick and I trained for about another forty minutes, we keep doing what we were doing before he got angry and yelled at me. He tackled me to the ground a few times and I had to get free, I managed to do it like half of the times. Then we practiced with the sword, not much but still.

"I think we should go." Finnick tells me. "It's almost 7:00 a.m.."

"What? It can't be that late!" I say.

"Well it is, so we better go."

As we walk out of the gymnasium we notice the sun creeping from outside, every time we train in the morning we never see the sunrise, it's still dark when we finish. We get inside the lift as soon as the doors open, Finnick presses the buttons of our floors and the doors close again.

"Just so you know." Finnick starts, looking at me with curiosity. "Kade, the boy from my District, wants to form an alliance with you."

"Yeah, right." I say chuckling.

"Why wouldn't he?" Finnick asks me. "Didn't you learn anything from what we talked down there?"

"I just find it weird someone I don't know wants to be my ally, when not even Ryle wants to."

"So, what do you say?" Finnick asks, putting himself in between the doors, so they wouldn't close and stopping me from getting out.

"No." I say flatly.

"Why not?"

"Because alliances don't work, they always end up killing each other and as you get to know the person better it just gets harder because you know that at one moment that person will die or you will have to kill them, it's better to be alone."

"But it can help you survive longer, two are better than one." Finnick says. "Can you just think about it? And when we see each other again tonight, you can tell me the answer."

"Tonight? I thought we would train at lunch time."

"Yes, tomorrow." Finnick says. "Today we will train at 9:00 because the scores will be given at 3:00 p.m. and I'm sure people will wonder where you are and we don't want anyone to suspect, and I have to be with Kade and Divya."

"Oh, okay." I say, nodding. "Then I'll see you at 9:00, can I go now?"

"Will you at least think about it?"

"How can I be sure I can trust him? How can I know he will not kill me when I'm sleeping?"

"I know him, he won't do that." Finnick says. "At one point you two will have to go separate ways, though."

"I'll think about it, alright? But I still think alliances don't really work."

"Alliances may come in handy, if you know to choose your allies correctly." Finnick says, as he moves slightly to the right, making room for me to walk out. "Rest well and I'll see you at 9:00."

"Okay, good-bye." I say and walk out of the lift.

When I walk into the apartment, I only see two avoxes by the dining room. It seems no one has woken up yet, as I am making my way to my room, I hear footsteps and then I hear a door opening. I freak out and start running to my room, I open the door quickly and get inside.

They think I'm having some kind of affair with a guy, with one of the tributes, that's what Ryle said. They saw me wearing Finnick's jacket so they think that's what I have been doing, that I have been sneaking out with a guy. I think it's better they think that, than they find out I'm actually being trained by Finnick, the mentor of 4. I don't even know if that's against the rules or if it's punished in some way, it must be though.

I go to my bathroom and take off my clothes quickly, I take a hot shower but only wash my body, I leave my hair untouched, when I finish I go back to my room and choose nice, warm clothes, it's still cold but not as cold as last night. I put on a light yellow trouser, a long-sleeved-black-shirt and a red coat.

When I'm done I walk out of my room and eat breakfast, Ryle is already there. I sit next to him after I grabbed some food and put it in my plate. We eat in silence for about ten minutes, I think we don't even look at each other or anything else.

"You were in a hurry this morning." Ryle says when he finishes his breakfast.

"What?" I ask confused.

"You ran to your room like a maniac this morning." Ryle says.

"I heard someone coming and I didn't want anyone to see me in shorts, especially if it was Brutus." I lie. "That would have been kind of awkward."

"Why were you wearing shorts with this cold, anyway?"

"I couldn't find anything else to wear, it was the first thing I found." I lie again. "I was really thirsty so I just came out quickly and then I heard someone coming, so I ran back to my room."

"You are very weird, you know that?" Ryle says chuckling.

"Probably you are right." I say shrugging.

"Ready to get your scores!" I hear a high-pitched voice screaming a few feet away from us, the enthusiasm couldn't be missed. Enebry is probably more excited about it than us.

"Of course." Ryle says smiling at her. "Can't wait!"

"That's the attitude!"

Enebry sits at the end of the table, where she usually sits and immediately an avox girl puts her breakfast in front of her. She puts her napkin on her laps and starts eating, piece by piece, chew by chew. Hmm, she must think we are savages or something like that by the way we eat.

"Good morning!" Brutus greets and sits in front of Ryle, on Enebry's right.

When I'm done eating my breakfast I excuse myself and go to the living room and sit on the couch, Ryle follows me and sits next to me. He doesn't say a single word or anything, he does nothing after he sat down.

Fifteen minutes later, both prep teams and the two stylists have joined Brutus and Enebry at the table, Lyme is the last one to wake up today. She sits next to Brutus and starts eating without saying a word.

"How high do you expect your score to be?" Ryle asks me.

"I don't know, maybe a fi..." I was going to say five but then I remember Finnick yelling at me, telling me how I always think I'm less than what I'm really am. "Between a five and an eight, what about you?"

"I want a ten! I will be really upset if I don't get it."

"A ten is really high, don't beat yourself too much if you don't get it."

"But I will get it, you will see."

"Alright, whatever you say." I say shrugging at him.

I really hate when people is cocky, I don't why it bothers me so much. Maybe he is just being confident, and I need to be more like him. And that's something I don't really understand, what is the difference between cockiness and confidence? There must be a really thin line between them, so how can you be confident without crossing that line and being cocky?

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QOTD: If you were in THG, what would be your strategy? Would you make alliances?

Please comment and vote! <3