I sit in our cove, waiting for Chris, my eyes frequently dodging from the sea to the cave entrance where very soon Chris will arrive. I am filled wig energy, my excitement for seeing him again overflowing. We meet every Saturday and today is no exception.
I've known him since I can remember. According to his father Chris held me in his arms when I was only three days old. Ever since he went to see 'the baby' on Saturdays, when his father visited my mother. I can't ever remember him not being there. He's like my big brother. As time went on he grew to be more than that. We met up at the beach after school and searched the caves until one day we fell upon the cove. Our cove. For the first time we had the freedom of speech, the freedom to discuss the Hunger Games and what we knew of them, after all, one day soon Chris would be entered for the first time. Now we come here every weekend, spending schooldays elsewhere.
Finally he emerges, but he's not alone. He is followed by a boy with seaweed green eyes, olive skin and perfectly placed hair. I recognise him, though at first I can't put my finger on it.
Chris sits down beside me, shooting me a grin. "Hay. Look would the tide washed up."
I frown. Who is this boy who dares interrupt our weekly routine?
"You know who it is, right? Finnick Odair, the Hunger Games victor."
Oh, of course, I remember now. "You won last year right?"
"That's the one," he says. "Used my trident to spear the tributes. Simple skills you see," he says smoothly.
I raise an eyebrow. "So you won single headedly?"
"Well, I guess when you put it that way..."
"So you had no outside help," i say sharply.
"What can I say? These are the Hunger Games. You all want to kill each other, babe," he says.
"So you mean you never had help from sponsors or escorts, stylists, even mentors?"
"I guess they did do their bit, though the stylist didn't have to work too hard..."
"My grandma is the only reason you're alive! If it weren't for her you'd be prawn toast right now," i snap, narrowing my eyes to glare at him.
"Annie," Chris warns.
I role my eyes at him. "Why is he here? This is our spot. We come here every weekend. I don't need some ungrateful victor coming in here, insulting my grandmother and calling me babe," I say.
"Annie, apologise!"
"No. She's right. I guess flirting has worked on every other girl. I shouldn't assume you're like them. I won't call you babe anymore. And you're right. Mags saved my life," he squeaks in a small voice. For the first time since the victory tour I see a different victor than the flirtatious, big-headed boy with the trident. I see a humbled, sensitive boy. The boy my gran told me about. The boy I know today.
Finn never did come to the cove again. I guess he realised that it was my special place with Chris. He hung out with us after school though, and on Sundays. I began to trust him more, fear him less. I saw the boy that no one else did. They'd left him no choice. But as he explained to me three years later as we sat on the beach, the day Chris was ill, I was different. With me he had a choice.
"That's what I love about you Annie. You bring out another side of me that I've never seen before."
I took him to the cove that day. He told me about his games, about how he had allied with the careers, one of whom had become his friend. He told me how he felt when she had died, the raw emotions that he'd never felt before and never told anyone but me about before. And then he kissed me.
He moved in near us after that when his mother died. I saw him every day. Chris too. The three of us became inseparable. I remember telling Chris about my feelings for Finnick for the first time.
"It happened when you were ill that time. We talked and then he kissed me. And I liked it. Do you mind?"
"If you're happy, I'm happy. You've changed your tune though. What happened to the ungrateful victor who insulted you?"
"All just for show. You should know that," I grin as he splashes me with sea water. Ever since Finn and I became a couple, secret mind, but we knew all of each other's secrets. Even the darkest of secrets...
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The 70th Hunger Games
FanfictionThe 70th Hunger Games are looming and Annie Cresta is as nervous as ever. With her grandmother and boyfriend due to leave for the Capital in a couple of days, Annie is panicking about how she will survive without them. Little does she know just how...