Finnick and Annie (Short Stories)

Hidden Talent (Johanna's POV)

Promt: Finnick surprises everyone by playing the guitar.

There's nothing fun about District Thirteen. One look at the place can really bring down your spirits. Nevertheless, I try to find ways to entertain myself. Just today I was lurking around some of the lower floors where I definitely shouldn't have been lurking and I ran across an old guitar case. How it got there is beyond me, but the thing looks about as old as District Thirteen.

Coin is very strict about keeping everybody on schedule and everything, but I've never been very good at following instructions, and Katniss and Haymitch are no different. Even Annie and Gale are here. We're all crammed inside Finnick and Annie's tiny shared compartment, where I decided it would be funny to interrupt their nauseating romanticism.

I plop down the guitar case and start plucking at the strings. Haymitch shakes his head and walks out the door immediately. "I'm too old for this crap," I hear him murmur as he leaves.

Katniss wears her usual frown, and Gale seems amused. Annie whispers something in Finnick's ear and he shakes his head while chuckling. I think I might vomit. "Fine," he agrees begrudgingly, taking the guitar from my hands. Annie smiles and moves back slightly as he sets the guitar on his lap and starts tuning the damn thing.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"No offense, Johanna, but you can't play to save your life."

"Like you can." I roll my eyes. He plays a chord in response and smiles. He struggles a bit at first, but slowly gets the hang of it, playing a slow melody on the ancient instrument.

"What the..." Katniss' permanent frown is replaced by an expression of shock. Gale seems pleasantly amused, and Annie looks at him like he just became even more perfect than she already thought he was.

"Where the hell did you learn to play the guitar?" I ask amused.

"I have a lot of spare time at the Capitol. I bought one of these things and one of those instructional videos. You're looking at a level five."

Annie laughs softly and I roll my eyes.

"Guess you'll never stop surprising me."