Annie Cresta- Beyond the Sea

Chapter 6

"Anytime, sweetie," cooed Siren.
"Wait, Darcy, it's not done!" exclaimed Uridecee, suddenly remembering something.
Darcy thought for a quick moment, then replied in a cut-throat tone, "Oh yeah. Annie, how long can you hold your breath?"
I thought back to swimming in the ocean years ago, when Alana was searching for me and Finnick while we were under the water. She never found us because we held our breath so long and moved as little as possible.
He was a good teacher.
"A pretty long time," I told her honestly.
"Okay, perfect," she replied. She lead me to the chariot holding rooms, where everybody was getting into their chariot and preparing themselves. There were so many incredible costumes, all the stylists had really outdone themselves this year. Feathers, sequins, cheetah print- it was all there. The only normal thing in the room appeared to be the chariots, which were a dull, metallic gray. But my chariot was different.
Instead of a pedistol to stand on, it was a huge glass box on wheels. Suddenly I knew why I was wearing a swim suit.
"Get in," said Dime, pointing to a ladder to the top. I climbed the ladder and hopped in, then I saw Dallas approaching the ladder in a similar outfit to mine. He climbed in next to me. He didn't look much better compared to the last time I saw him.
"Get a big breath!" said Darcy, and then a large hose was stuck into the glass box. The box began to fill with water.
Dallas moved around uneasily, like the water hurt him when he touched it, but I let the water flow past my waist and up to my chest. Soon it was well above my head, and up to the top. After a few minutes, the hose was pulled out of the box.
It felt so good to be surrounded by water again, even if it wasn't the ocean. Being in the box felt like I could close my eyes, and when I opened them again, I'd be next to Finnick, and he'd be showing me some pretty coral he found underneath the water.
I could hear nothing but the sound of the rushing water swishing around, when Dallas was swimming to the top to get air. Nervousness radiated off him like heat from a fire. I could see out of the clear box Darcy saying something to him, so I swam to the surface to see what was going on.
"I can't swim," I heard Dallas anxiously report when I surfaced. Oh, great. How is that possible, when he's from District 4? It kind of angered me at first- doesn't everyone from home know how to swim?- but then I decided to cut him some slack. He's had a really rough day so far. Maybe I could teach him how, if we had the time.
Wait, no, I can't do that. I'm here to win. New Annie is here to win.
"Then just go underwater and look lively. Wave or something. It's just a box, Dallas, you're not gonna drown," coaxed Darcy reasonably. His stylist, Giana, nodded. "If anything happens, we'll be here to get you out, pronto."
I didn't hear the rest of their conversation. I slowly let myself sink to the bottom of the tank. It felt so good to be back in the water, its the only place I really feel at home. The quiet slushing seemed to sing softly to me. Now all I was missing was Finnick. I missed Finnick..
A loud voice boomed from the outside, but it was all muffled underwater.
"Three.. Two.. One."
Suddenly, a sharp jerk shook the glass box. I looked around, startled, and realized we were moving.
Here we go.
An audience engulfed us, their cheers and roars felt like an earthquake inside the box. Despite being scared shitless, I smiled and waved at everybody, and then blew a couple bubbles to the couple cameras zooming in on my face. The water made it so much easier.
I turned to look at Dallas, and then my smile faded. He was at the surface, coughing up water. Not smiling at all. He didn't make any eye contact with the audience, or the cameras and I knew he wasn't going to get many sponsors. I felt bad. I tried to encourage him.
After President Snow welcomed us, the chariots made an exit, and I finally came up to breathe. We were back stage, and the water was slowly pouring out of the box, draining. I hoped out and grabbed a towel. I began to dry myself off. That could've went a lot worse, I thought. Maybe I had a chance.
"Wow, Annie, you did great! You held your breath for a VERY long time! You're like, the girl who never drowns!" exclaimed Uridecee, excitement apparent. I smiled.
"Thank you," I said. That nickname she just gave me kinda dumb, but it had a ring to it.
The girl who never drowns.
Really all I have to do is hold my breath and know I'm at home.