𝕯𝖊𝖋𝖎𝖑𝖊𝖉 𝕰𝖑𝖊𝖌𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖊 // 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗢𝗱𝗮𝗶𝗿

Chapter 1

"Stop worrying, Iris. You'll be fine."

Looking over to where Loralie stands next to me, I give her a sad smile. The escort can't possibly know that nothing will ever be fine. "Thanks, Loralie. You've been so kind to me."

"You're welcome, sweetie," she says in her squeaky voice. "One more party and then you're done until the next Games."

"Right. I can definitely do this."

"Of course you can, you're a victor," Blight says, gripping my shoulder in support. "You'll find that you can do anything you set your mind to."

Stealing myself, I smooth down the nonexistent wrinkles in my dress. It's a beautiful off the shoulder gown, with a lovely floral pattern. A green necklace made to look like leaves, wraps around my neck, matching the earrings I wear.

Loralie practically pushes me towards the door that we've been hovering by for way too long. Time to finish this damned victory tour. And then back home. At least... until next year.

As I enter the room, I'm amazed by the color. I know that sounds stupid, it's been months since I won my Games, I should be used to this by now. But I'm consistently shocked by the vibrant explosion that appears to happen whenever the Capitol is involved.

All eyes turn towards me. Don't let them see your fear, or your hatred for that matter. Plastering a bright smile to my face, I walk with all the confidence I can muster. I end up following Loralie because I have virtually no social skills and have absolutely no clue what to do at a party. Blight slips away to go talk to some of his friends before I can regret my decision of not following him instead.

"Let me introduce you to some of my friends," the Loralie says, ushering me towards some Capitol citizens. "Everyone, this is Iris, District Seven's newest victor."

"It's such a pleasure to meet you," a man with blue skin says.

"I had a feeling you were going to win right from the start," a woman adds dramatically.

"Oh, um, thank you?" I hesitate, but one look at Loralie's face tells me that it wasn't a great response. "Thank you, you're all so kind," I say, hoping I fixed my mistake this time.

"You're such a sweetheart," one of them says, laughing.

"If you'll excuse me for just a moment," I say politely, "I'm going to go grab a drink."

"Of course," Loralie chirps, none the wiser to my actual intentions.

To be fair, I do grab a drink before continuing on my way to an unoccupied balcony. I've never been good with people, I'm terrible at finding the right things to say, but this is just a nightmare. I hate this so much, how can I possibly make this my life?

I drain the glass like it was a shot instead of a goblet of wine. Maybe it'll help numb me to the events transpiring. I wish I didn't have to hide my feelings, or change who I am to better suit people who don't even live in a place remotely like District 7. This could quite possibly kill me.

Leaning heavily on the railing, I stare up at the moon. The moon doesn't exist to please anyone. I doubt the stars are forced to trade their souls for their mere survival. I wish I could be like them.

"You look like someone who needs another drink."

Whipping around, I turn towards the figure with a speed only found in someone who's survived the arena.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." The man looks to be around the same age as me. His hair is a bronze color, his eyes a green-blue that can only be described as an ocean-like hue. Not that I've ever seen the ocean, but I'd imagine it'd look something like this.

"I wasn't startled," I blurt out before I can stop myself. I mentally facepalm at my idiotic response. This is why I don't have any friends.

Instead of commenting on my social awkwardness, he just smiles at me. I won't lie, he is a tiny bit attractive. Not that I'm interested, he's not my type. Is it possible to have a type if you've never been in a relationship before?

"Do you want to talk about why you're out here instead of enjoying the party?" He walks over to join me by the railing. Handing me another drink, he says, "they're supposed to be fun."

"For who?" I ask, chugging my new drink just as fast as the first one.

"Wow, you can really put that stuff away, can't you?" He seems genuinely impressed at my ability to empty the glasses given to me.

Shrugging, I reply, "Apparently." Sighing, I hunch over the railing. I wish I had another drink to stop the memories that threaten to flood my conscious mind.

"See, you're looking depressed again, that's usually a bad sign," the stranger says. "What's wrong?"

"What isn't wrong?"

"Fair." He pauses for a moment, as if trying to decide how to proceed. "You know, it's hard at first, learning how to manage this chaos." He gestures towards the party for emphasis. "But I've learned the hard way that it's best to confide in someone and let them help you, instead of trying to struggle through it alone."

"I've always been alone." Why did I say that? He doesn't need me to unload that kind of emotional baggage on him.

"I think it's time to fix that." He turns towards me, a cocky smirk dancing across his lips. Not that I was looking at his lips, to begin with, it was just an observation. "I hereby pledge to be your friend for as long as I live. Unless you get rid of me before then."

"I..." I trail off. How do I tell him that nobody has ever wanted to be my friend before? "Really?"

"Yep, you're officially stuck with me." By now he has a brightly lit smile spreading across his face, like he actually means it. "The downside is that you have to stop changing the subject whenever I ask what's wrong."

"It's stupid, really." In hindsight, it all seems pretty ridiculous.

"I like stupid."

Staring at my feet, I start to speak, "Well, it basically boils down to me just hating everything to do with the Capitol and the Hunger Games."

"It's more than that, I can feel it." He rests a comforting hand on my shoulder, giving me a slight confidence boost that usually results in me making a fool out of myself. "Don't be afraid."

"I feel like I'm being forced to play the part of someone other than myself," I confess softly. "Like the Capitol took everything I am and smashed it to a million pieces, not even letting me try to fit the fragments back together again."

"Unfortunately, that's what they do," he says, a pained, haunted look clouding his ocean-like eyes. "They destroy you, change you, before forcing you to pretend everything's alright."

"I look in a mirror every morning, and all I see is a Capitol creation. Not myself, not a person, but a Gamemaker's mutt." I squeeze my eyes tight, fighting the tears back. I won't cry now, I won't give in.

"I wish I could say it gets better, but it doesn't. The only things you can do are find things that make you happy and try to come to terms with your new life."

"Maybe..."

A Peacekeeper stomps out onto the balcony, his armor clattering. "Miss Gilardi, President Snow would like to speak to you."

"Are you going to be okay?" the bronze haired man asks, wearing a concerned expression.

Nodding, I turn towards the Peacekeeper. "I wouldn't want to keep him waiting." I start to leave, but suddenly stop. "Wait! You never told me your name."

"Finnick. Finnick Odair."

Author's Note

I wasn't planning on uploading this until next week, but I was too excited to wait. I have so many ideas for Iris, and I'm honestly stoked to get to share them.

Updates for this story won't be quite as consistent as with my other stories. I'll try to update as often as I can, but it might not be every week.

If you haven't already, it would mean a lot to me if you went and checked out my other HG fanfics.