Something Worth Living For [THG] // Finnick Odair

XV

"Self-confidence and self-courage are your greatest strengths."

― Lailah Gifty Akita,

By dinner my hair is almost completely dried. Normally it's a bit wavy but today it has gotten a bit curlier than usual and I like it. I put on some sweatpants over the shorts before leaving my room because I felt a bit cold.

Lyme is the only one at the table when I get there. I serve myself some food on my dish, including a piece of red meat. I sit down in front of her and start to cut the meat in little pieces.

I chew and swallow two small pieces, the gagging is always present. But I feel like it's getting a bit easier every time I do it. Ryle, Brutus, Enebry, the stylists and prep teams join us a few minutes later. Ryle eats a big piece of meat in a matter of seconds. I look at him and wonder, how does he do it? It seems too simple, eat. But for me it's really hard, I have never liked meat so I grew up eating nothing of it, my parents didn't care, they didn't like my tantrums when they tried to make me eat some of it so they just gave up.

I eat a few more pieces of the meat, with less gagging, I am so conscious of the rest of them and I don't want them to notice, especially Enebry, they are eating and they would find it disgusting and I would be so embarrassed. Then when I have eaten more than half of the piece of meat, I eat the rest of my food, some cooked vegetables, lentils and a slice of bread.

I excuse myself and leave them as soon as I'm done. They are always talking about Ryle and what he can do in the Games, it's annoying since I'm always ignored. At 7:50 I leave my room and make my way to the lift.

"Where are you going, darling?" Enebry asks me.

"I just need a bit of air." I say quickly. "Need some time alone to think about certain stuff."

"Alright, but don't be late."

"I won't."

Once inside the lift I press the R instead of the G of gymnasium. For some reason I'm nervous, maybe because this time will be different. We won't train, we won't fight. We are only going to talk about tactics.

When the doors of the lift open, the first thing I feel is cold. Up here is really cold, mostly because it has no walls to cover it, and the next thing I feel is overwhelm. The view is amazing. I walk towards the edge without even thinking. I can see the sea, the big quantity of tall buildings with several lights turned on. I can see the stars and the moon above me, the whole thing it's just too beautiful.

"I thought this would be better than the gymnasium."

I jump and turn around quickly. Finnick is there watching me with a smirk, no surprise there. He walks next to me and looks at the sea too, and then looks back at me, his eyes shining with the reflection of some of the lights of other buildings, but they also shine with an inner light.

"It's the third time you scare me in that way."

"I told you, you are way too distracted. You are like daydreaming 99% of the time."

"I was just looking at the view."

"Yeah, it's really captivating." Finnick says. "But let's start, shall we?"

"Yeah, we shall."

Finnick sits on the floor, resting his back against the railing, which is built all over the edge of the building. I mimic his actions and sit next to him. This way the air that is blowing doesn't affect us as much.

"Okay, so the private session." Finnick says. "First of all introduce yourself as you walk in, say your name and your district. Be polite. They like that."