ODDS

charmer

𝓓𝓪𝔂𝓼 𝓱𝓪𝓭 𝓹𝓪𝓼𝓼𝓮𝓭 since the whole "Finnick Fiasco", as I had deemed it within my head. Well, a day and a half, but it had felt an eternity longer.

Finnick was avoiding me. I didn't blame him, not completely anyway. There was something going on with him, I knew that much. Anyone with a decent mind could say that much. But if he didn't want to tell me, that was fine. I barely knew the guy and he didn't exactly owe me anything.

Suddenly, my wrist made a cracking noise and I froze, the pain throbbing up and down my arm. I dropped the sword that I'd been clutching and held my wrist with my other hand, cradling it loosely.

"Alana, my gosh. Are you okay?" Sander had become extremely protective of me over the short time we had known each other. I guessed that I held some kind of resemblance to Tora or something. He hadn't let me out of his sight, which reminded me a bit of Morgan, so I didn't mind. It was a comfort for both of us, in a way.

"Uh-yeah... No. No, I'm not okay." I stumbled out. My wrist ached, like bolts of electric hot pain shooting through my lower arm. This was going to put me at a disadvantage in the games.

One of the trainers came over, taking my arm into his hands. Apparently, it had been a sprain of sorts. He bandaged it up, telling me to be careful over the next few days in order for it to heal more quickly. You know, before I died.

Deciding that I'd had enough training for one day, I trudged over to the elevator before saying my goodbyes to Sander. It was four in the afternoon. I wouldn't see him until later that night. Sander had taken training seriously, which made sense. He had been training at the academy, according to Zane.

I leaned up against the glass walls of the elevator, a sigh escaping my lips. The elevator door began to shut, but was stopped abruptly by a small hand.

Opal.

"Mermaid girl! My gosh, it's such a coincidence seeing you here!" she said in a mocking tone. She rolled her eyes as the doors trapped us in together. "You know," she continued, "that wrist is going to cause you some trouble in the arena in a few days."

I tried ignoring her, my eyes glued to the changing numbers above the closed doors. The next floor couldn't get there fast enough.

Before I could realize what was happening, Opal had me pinned against the wall, her face so close that I could smell the sweat dripping down her face and the fruity scent of her breath. The mixture was nauseating.

"It's Alana, isn't it? I'll call you Ally, since we're such good friends." she smirked, no doubt enjoying the uncomfortable look on my face. "I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I don't like being shown up. That whole parade gig we were apart of? Yeah, that's not going to happen again. Are we clear?"

My eyes were probably wide as saucers, but I gulped and nodded nonetheless. Despite the anger coursing through my veins, I pushed it down. I wasn't about to get into some fight over a stupid parade.

"I'm sorry, I like to be answered verbally, you know, to make sure I know that you understand." she talked to me in a baby voice, as if I were years younger than her. My face felt hot as I let out a breath.

"Yeah, we're clear." I answered after a beat.

"Fantastic." she deadpanned, not caring to back up and give me space.

The elevator opened, and I realized that we had travelled up to the roof by mistake. Before us stood four bodies. Zane. Mags. The mentor from Twelve, Haymitch, I believed was his name. And Finnick.

Opal backed up, capturing the essence of innocence on her face. She tucked some fallen hair behind her ear.

"Is everything alright here, ladies?" Zane questioned, ready to deal with the dark-headed girl beside me.

Opal didn't miss a beat. "We were just getting acquainted, weren't we, Ally?" she looked to me, a winning smirk plastered to her face. The mentors didn't look so sure.

I nodded, giving a small smile myself. "Yeah." I managed to spit out. Opal nodded approvingly at this, moving to get off on the roof.

"I'm going to take the stairs for some extra exercise. You can never be too prepared!" she said a bit too cheery. The mentors moved to join me on the elevator.

"Bye Ally!" she called as she threw a wave my way. I kept my face blank.

The doors closed just as Opal flipped her hair over her shoulders, sauntering her stupid little walk. Silence filled the elevator, as well as worry. Finally, they couldn't take it anymore.

"What was that all about?" Haymitch broke the silence, making Finnick and Mags flinch. I just shrugged.

"You mean to tell me that you have no idea what she told you?" Zane deadpanned.

"She gave me a warning." I replied simply.

"A warning?" Finnick repeated, obviously confused.

"What kind of warning, darling?" Mags questioned.

"She told me to stop showing her up."

Silence.

"And you said...?" Zane urged me to continue.

I turned to face the four in the elevator. Their faces all held varying degrees of confusion. Zane seemed a bit more tense than the others, but then again, that was kind of who Zane was. Mags looked genuinely concerned, and Finnick was definitely ready to fight someone. Haymitch stood there, just curious to know my answer, acting as a sort of spectator.

"I told her that she was clear."

More silence. Before they could say anything or ask anymore questions, I continued.

"What I didn't tell was that despite her attempts at intimidation, I'm not scared of some too-cool-for-the-districts girl from One, of all places, and who is named after a freaking rock."

Shock painted the faces of the four victors before me. I didn't stop there.

"And when I told her that she was clear, I really meant that I understood what she was threatening and I most definitely will be 'showing her up'. And when we get into that arena, I'm going to kick her ass."

I heard the elevator beep, signifying that we had reached the fourth floor. I turned on my heel and continued forward, not looking back to see if they were following. Before I made it to the hallway where my bedroom sat, I heard Haymitch's voice pipe up, and a grin upturned my face.

"Well. She's a charmer."