Sink or Swim | f. odair

ii

"FINNICK?" SHE ASKED, running her hand through the water.

"Yeah?" He replied.

"How many times is your name in there?" She asked. The reaping was just a day away and the two teenagers were terrified.

"Ten. You?" He said.

"Three," she said. He smiled at her and grabbed her hand.

"They aren't going to call you," he reassured her.

"You aren't going in either," she told him sternly.

"I don't know," he sighed.

"You aren't going in," she repeated, squeezing his hand in hers.

"Take my mind off of it," he said.

"Okay, what do you want to be when you grow up?" She asked.

"I want to take over my dad's business. What about you?" He asked.

"I want to be a singer," she replied, blushing. She'd never told anyone that before. It was her biggest secret.

"That would be fun. You could go to the Capitol and have whatever you wanted," Finnick smiled at her.

"I'd bring you with me," she said honestly.

"I'd like that," he smiled. She leant into him and rested her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her and held her close, not wanting to let her go in fear of her leaving forever.

"Why can't fish ever pass their exams?" She asked, hoping to lighten the mood a bit more.

"Why?"

"Because they're always below 'C' level!" She laughed. He chuckled and shook his head.

"That was terrible," he said.

"But it made you laugh, didn't it?" She asked, feeling proud of herself.

"Yeah, it did," he smiled and planted a kiss on her forehead.

"Promise you won't leave me all alone," she demanded.

"I promise."

-

"REMEMBER SCOUT, TODAY is about trying to find allies," Jerome said as they walked into the training facility. They both froze at the door.

"So far I'm not overwhelmed by our choices," she said quietly.

"We should just find out who we trust the least and work our way up from there," Jerome said. He'd always been good at making friends. The opposite of her in every way.

Scarlett looked around and saw Gloss and Cashmere throwing knives at dummies and Johanna swinging around an axe. Enobaria was fighting with sticks with a helper and a few others were throwing spears. She avoided them all. Instead, she went to visit Beetee and Wiress at the survival station. They were trying to make a fire by spinning wood on wood.

"You should move your hands downward," she advised as she walked up. They both looked at her as she stopped in front of them.

"And faster too," a new voice said. Scout turned to see Katniss. She smiled a greeting and knelt down next to the two geniuses. They did as instructed and smiled as smoke began to rise.

"Thank you," Beetee said. Katniss and Scout just nodded.

"By the corner of the table," Wiress said, looking up at where the game makers and workers sat watching them.