𝙲𝙾𝙽𝙵𝙾𝚄𝙽𝙳 ° finnick odair ¹

11

That night, they all gathered in the living room, spread out on the plush velvet couches. Adrienne's head was spinning with worry. If she got a low score, she would be considered an easy target and the careers would take her out. If she got a high score, she would be seen as a threat and the careers would take her out. It seemed to be a very small range out which Adrienne considered the 'safe zone'.

Suddenly, the Capital theme song stated playing from the television, scaring the blonde girl and causing her to jump slightly. Finnick, who was sitting beside her seemed to notice and chuckled lightly. The girl just rolled her eyes and shoved him jokingly, causing him to just laugh more.

"Good evening." The purple haired man said from the screen; he the host to any talk and or news show in the Capital. Or all of Panem, really. "I'm Caesar Flickerman. As you know, tonight, the tributes were rated on a scale of one to ten after careful evaluation. After much consideration and debate, the Gamemakers evaluation of each tribute is as follows."

Adrienne took a deep breath waiting impatiently for her name to be called. The tv show host looked down at his cards, slowly building the anticipation. The blonde girl's hands started shaking again.

She felt as someone placed a hand comfortingly on top of hers. Looking over, she saw Finnick looking at her with a comforting smile. The girl returned the gesture before adjusting her hand so she was holding his hand in return.

"From District One," Caesar said, glancing repeatedly from the camera to the cards, then back to the camera. An all too familiar face appeared on what Adrienne assumed was a green screen behind the host. "Kit Benson, with a score of...ten."

Her breath hitched. If Kit really was after her, there was no way she would be able to take him on. Not alone, anyways.

The man kept reading through the names, and Adrienne immediately noticed a pattern; the older kids usually got the high numbers, like sevens or eights, while the young kids got lower, usually ranging around a five.

"From District Four, Vern Everest." Caesar spoke slowly as a picture of the boy in question appeared behind him.

The blonde girl stiffened up and immediately reached over, placing her free hand on top of Vern's hand without even looked at him. As if it were an instinct, the boy held it back.

"With a score...of eight."

The room erupted into applause as Vern's nerves left him and a happy smile came to his face as he let out a sigh of relief. "Eight..." He spoke, seemingly speaking to himself. "I'll take it."

"From District Four..." The purple haired man spoke again, causing everyone to go silent and turn back to the screen. Finnick squeezes the girl's hand a little tighter. "Adrienne Sallow, with a score of....nine."

Once again, everyone started cheering, happy about the high score the girl received. She let out the breath she was holding, a wide smile spreading onto her face as she turned to face Finnick, who was smiling back at her.

Not being able to help herself, she threw her arms around the boy's neck, hugging him tightly to herself. After a moment of hesitation, she felt his arms snake around her waist, hugging her back.

"Thank you." Adrienne whispered softly, the words only meant for him to hear.

"For what?" The mentor asked, clearly confused.

"For believing in me."

She heard Finnick let out a soft chuckled, his breath brushing lightly against her neck. "Always."