↠ Tidal Wave ↠ Finnick Odair ↞

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~ [chapter five] ~

ᶠˡᵃˢʰᵇᵃᶜᵏ
"Have you lost your mind?" Finnick couldn't believe what he'd just witnessed.

"No!" Cassia sat against the wall, her body racking with sobs. "I just got angry."

"You punched him in the face!" Finnick clarified. "What did he do to make you that angry?" Cassia stopped crying and wiped her face.

"I really don't remember. He said something and before I knew it his nose blood was all over my hand." Finnick sat down next to Cassia and rested his head on her shoulder.

To him, this was kind of funny. His two best friends, fighting over a candy bar. He knew Cassia was going to be the one who took it too far; inside, he wanted to laugh.

"Where is Dominic, anyway?" He asked after a while.

"I don't know," she said quietly. "I should probably go apologize." She gave him a silly smile and left the room.

Finnick sat there for a moment longer before getting up to join his friend. Of course this wasn't the first time like this had happened- Finnick had been the victim of one of Cassia's vicious fist throws before. More than once. This wasn't a rare occasion.

Usually, Finnick would get mad. He'd let his anger out and then apologize even though it wasn't necessary. But now all he felt like doing was laughing. And nothing was funny about the ways things had gone down despite the stupid starter of the argument.

Maybe things aren't so terrible after all, he thought as he sprinted down the long hallway to catch up with Cassia. Against all the odds, maybe things weren't so bad.

•••

Cassia had a look of rage and fire in her eyes. "Snap out of it!" She said, waving her hand in front of his face. "Your life is literally on the line here."

"I'm sorry," he said, his facial expressions morphing, fueled by anger. "How do you expect me to get along with them?"

"I... I don't. I just expect you to stop being stupid." She crossed her arms and walked away- clearly she was off on the better foot.

"I can't stop being myself," he grumbled, even though he knew she couldn't hear him anymore. Finnick was done with the snotty careers for the day. He was fine with dying if it meant avoiding any more conversations with them.

In reality, he was immensely over exaggerating. What he needed to do was not let her tell him what he could or shouldn't do, but it never worked out that way. As much as he hated to admit it, Cassia was always right in these types of situations. She lived in survival mode. Finnick lived in his own world, trapped inside his head.

Cassia was right again. He had to snap out of it. He risked another glance at his friend, who had occupied herself with the careers. Again, her head was in the right place. But Finnick knew one thing- he couldn't let her get in his head. He was here for her, after all. And if Finnick wanted to prove himself and save her, he had to do it on his own terms.

•••

"Weapons aren't the only thing that will keep you alive in that arena." Finnick stood in his own world, trying to focus on the fuzzy words of his instructor while also searching for Cassia. When his eyes landed on her, there was this glowing passion in her eyes as she studied the woman who was talking intently.