To Save a Girl- A Hunger Games Fanfiction

Chapter 1

Part One-
I would say that my story begins on the beach, the night before the reaping for the 73rd Hunger Games. Percy Odair, my best friend and I were sparring on the beach behind his house in the Victor's Village.  These evening sparring sessions were something that we had been doing since we were little, to burn off some sort of excess energy we both had. Through those years of sparring, adventuring and overall chaos that the two of us tended to spread, we had come across an extensive collection of weapons. Our collection had started with a few fishing spears, then a few knives, and two tridents. One of the tridents was older, the handle rusting in places from years in the salty water, the other one was stainless steel, something right out of the Capitol. Neither of us knew where it came from, and honestly we didn't care. As long as the Peacekeepers didn't find out, we were living the dream. 

We weren't enrolled in the Career academy, which was an abnormality for District 4 children. Granted we weren't enrolled for two very different reasons, Percy was the brother of a victor, the great Finnick Odair. He never had to worry about putting in for the extra drawings in order to get food or supplies. In this world, Percy was as safe as he could get.  Me, well we didn't have enough money to afford to put me through the career academy. Not when it was just my mom, little sister and me. Not when I had to put my name in the bowl more and more times each year when the food threatened to run out. 

Percy and I had met around eight years ago. Right after his big brother Finnick had won the 65th Hunger Games. Of course Ceder, my sister and Aly, Percy's little sister were to blame for us really becoming friends when they decided that they were best friends for life. Percy and I had been drug headlong into their friendship and consequently formed our very own. 

If this was a normal year, our family would be at home in our little salt worn cabin off the coast eating a simple dinner right now, maybe a fish stew with some bread. Mentality preparing for the terror that the reaping brought to the Districts, even in the ones like 4, who had the Career academies. Everyone knew that the only reason parents paid for the advanced education was on the off chance that if their child was drawn, that maybe that training would give them a better shot at coming home. 

This year was special though. It was Aly and Ceder's first reaping, if you could call someone's first reaping a special occasion. Despite all the odds of the terrifying day approaching, Mrs. Odair had invited us over for dinner. When I say invited I mean we didn't have a choice in the matter, Mrs. Odair was going to make this something to remember. I loved her for it, and for everything she had done for me. 

I stepped foreword and caught Percy's strike with the shaft of my trident.

"Common Odair! I thought you were supposed to be good at this!" 

I said as he struck again, this time with his teeth gritted, 

"I'm going to get it back!" He said and I rolled away from his strike. The sand was cool under my bare feet and the metal of the old fishing trident had been slightly warmed by my clammy hands.

"Not at this rate you aren't," I was laughing as he came at me again. 

That was the deal, if you won the "duel" you got to use the steel trident. If you lost you were stuck with the old rusty one. I had had the steel trident for going on three weeks now, despite Percy's best efforts. The shriek of steel on steel reached my ears as our weapons collided.  

"The neighbors are going to complain you know. What are you two doing out here all alone anyways?"

Percy stopped so suddenly that I was just able to stop the tip of my trident from gutting him like a fish. I heard footsteps coming up behind me and I turned to find myself face to face with the source of the snarky comment, Finnick Odair. The girls at school called him "The Golden-Skinned God of District 4". I wouldn't be surprised if his picture hung in almost every girl's locker in the District.