Fair Fight

Chapter 13

That evening my team of preps, stylist, escort and mentor and I are seated around the dining table on the Disrict 4 floor. Dishes of stews, soups, wild rice and beans, tender meats and goblets of fine drinks are lined up the middle of the table. Reid is not present, he has opted to dine alone in his room. That's fine by   me. It would turn the happy atmosphere into a hostile one. Finnick is seated beside me and keeps kicking his foot against mine. It's a simple gesture and I appreciate it. He is trying to tell me that everything will be okay, that's what Finnick does. He always tries to make the best of a situation. I give him a smile and nudge his arm, which results in him spilling cranberry sauce all down his shirt. "Sorry," I tease, with a mock sheepish look on my face. 

The preps are awash with amazement of how stunning we both looked at the ceremony. It seems as though that's all they talk about the whole meal. My brother and I aren't really one for clothes and fashion and gossip, so we steal a plate of desserts and sneak away from the table and onto the balcony outside. The cold wind of the night whips my hair into my face as Finnick opens the screen door. We can hear the roaring of Capitol citizens in the streets down below, celebrating the opening ceremony. I grab a chocolate nest from the plate we brought with us and nibble at it. "How are you feeling?" Finnick asks. I take a breath and look my brother in the eye. "Honestly, I don't know," I confess, "sometimes I feel as if I might honestly have a shot at winning, and then other times I just can't help thinking that I'm the weak link all the way from the seaside District. Tomorrow everyone will see how hopeless I am and I'll be the joke of Panem." Finnick shoots me a disapproving glance. "How can you say that? You won't be the fool, the others will be for underestimating you. You can hunt food, you can weave nets, use a spear. You are not weak. Emma Odair, you're a tough nut to crack and you won't go down without a fight. To heck with that, you won't go down at all, you're going to leave that arena with a crown upon your head. Wait till you see."

  A warm fuzzy feeling settles itself in my stomach, calming me down. Making me feel on top of the world, ready to conquer whatever the Capitol throws at me.