𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘 𝗦𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗞 ᐅ 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙞𝙧

𝙏𝙒𝙀𝙇𝙑𝙀

⌌⊱⇱⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⊷⊶⊰⌍
This was the fate I
decided.
⌎⊱⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⊷⊶⇲⊰⌏

Still shaken from the haunting nightmare that had plagued my sleep, I rubbed my eyes as I exited my bedroom, ridden with the fatigue from last night's party and dreading the trip to district ten later that day.

Ten, Eleven and Twelve were the poorest districts by a landslide, and walking past starving families without the ability to help them seemed wrong. I'd always been among the poorest in District Five, even though it was a rich District. I was looking down upon, ridiculed and shunned — what made it worse is that these people weren't. Poverty was their norm. And although I'd do whatever I could to ensure at least one family gets food, I knew I couldn't help them all. That was impossible.

As my eyes adjusted to the light the bright corridor provided, arguing voices echoed through the hallway. I immediately tensed. The shrill voices pierced my ears. Who was here? Did we do something wrong? Was it the peacekeepers that showed up last night? But the closer I got towards the end of the hallway, the more evident it became that I was incorrect.

"I've been your best friend for how many years?" Jameson asked, irritation evident in his voice.

My shoulders slumped. Nothing was wrong. Just Jameson being Jameson.

Yvette audibly sighed. "Ten, Jameson."

"Yeah, ten! And so how do you think I would feel when you pick Lynx to be your maid of honour! Huh?"

"You're not a girl—"

"I don't care! Does it even matter?"

"Well, technically speaking..."

"Best man, then, I wanna be something!"

I walked into the room with a tired smile. Jameson has always been so dramatic — I often wondered how Yvette has put up with him all these years. The smell of pancakes filled the air. My smile widened. Pancakes only meant Finnick was here.

I stopped in my tracks before shaking the thought from my head, as though it were there against my will. And they were. Finnick was the sort of person who crept up on you. I never expected to like him, or to be his friend, but it's what I ended up doing anyway, and no doubt if I admitted that his ego would rise beyond human limitation. 

"You're a pain in my ass, is what you are," I joked as I turned the corner into the living room. Finnick smiled up at me from the sofa.

"That's not enough!"

"You're a pain in my ass too, Jameson, is that enough?" Haymitch sniggered.

"No! It most certainly isn't!"

With what must have been the most confused expression, I jumped onto the sofa next to Finnick, making him chuckle at me.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Jameson's having a tantrum because you're Yvette's maid of honour. He's a little jealous," he said with a grin before turning to Jameson. "Honestly, it's quite an achievement that you manage to act like you're five at your old age."

Jameson shook his finger at him. "I'm not in the mood, boy!"

Finnick and I burst into laughter, and as I stole a glance at Finnick, I found that he was already looking at me, his face lit up. It was irritating the effect he had on me. He could turn the worst day into the best in an instant, and that's the sort of control that scared me.