The Capitol Games

Chapter 4- The Capitol

This chapter is dedicated to AnushnaParya for her motivating comment!

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Turns out, Nate wouldn't be able to join us on our little vacation. Sam's bummed, but I'm a little relieved, to be honest.

We are speeding on a train, which has mom, dad, Sam, Finnick, Addie, Haymitch, me, and a hundred other staff members.

Dinner is in progress currently; mashed potatoes, rice, a green curry, and garlic bread. No meat. I'm sitting next to Haymitch, and Sam, opposite Addie and Finnick. I observe Addie. She acts normal, apart from a few things I notice – she keeps tucking a lose curl of red hair behind her ear when Finnick tells her a joke, and when she laughs at it. She also seems a bit more smiley, I swear. Her green eyes seem to sparkle when she talks to Finnick. Finnick catches me looking at him and raises his eyebrows in a question. I brush him off and shake my head. I wasn't really looking at him anyway, I was looking at Addie.

What the hell?

"Lian..." Sam says beside me.

"Hm?" I ask, tearing my gaze away from Finnick and Addie.

"What's up?"

I blink. "Sam, are you okay? You never ask 'what's up'. Nothing is up. We are having dinner."

Sam moistens his lips and looks closely at my face, narrowing his eyes.

Afraid that he will guess what I was thinking, I smile a bit, and push his face away from mine. I draw his attention back to the table by gesturing at the argument that mom and Haymitch are having. Sam smiles, and gives one small breathy chuckle

"Finnick can have some," Haymitch suggests, lifting his beer bottle. "He is eighteen."

"Annie will go nuts Haymitch," Mom says, rolling her eyes.

Haymitch laughs. "It's so funny how... motherly Katniss Everdeen has become!" he exclaimes. "When you first drank Katniss, you were seventeen! Wait, that means our Lian and Addie can have some too!"

I laugh. Loudly. Haymitch is so so fun, and I honestly love him. He's the fun uncle I never has. He understands me completely, and he is so fun to be around. I'm also pretty certain that he already knows that I've gotten drunk before. So has Finnick and Addie

"Interested Lian?" he asks me, offering me his beer mug.

"No thanks Haymitch." I say, then in a dramatic undertone add "At least not while mum and dad are watching."

The table erupts into laughter, apologies, snorts, threats and warnings.

I head back to my compartment soon after. As I was just pulling on a shirt, I hear a knock on my door, and Sam enters.

"Hello Sam." I say, straightening the covers on my bed. "I was just going to sleep." I turn to him. "Need anything?"

"Yes." Sam says nodding. "Is it just me or does Addie like Finnick."

I whip my head up.

"Yes! Oh my god how did you know?" I ask him. I personally couldn't make out until Addie told me.

"She definitely seems more...smiley somehow." Sam says.

So it wasn't just me!

"I know right? Do you think Finnick likes her too?" I ask Sam.

I tried observing Finnick and he seems completely normal to me. I am not that good at reading people and probably he seems smiley to Sam.

However, Sam just shrugs. "I don't know. He seemed completely normal to me."