The Story of a Mad Girl [Annie Cresta x Finnick Odair THG Fanfic]

Jealousy

The next few days went by fairly quickly. We arrived at the Capitol and got settled into our District apartment. Since arriving, Thomas rarely leaves his room, prompting Mags to take responsibility of bringing every meal to his door for him. On the other hand, Finnick and I had been meeting in my room to talk strategy as often as possible. With his coaching, I was able to do reasonably well on the scoring earning myself a respectable six out of twelve.

"This is good," Finnick comments one night after finding out about my score. "It's pretty average, so you shouldn't be seen as easy prey or a threat. The other careers will most likely invite you into their pack during training today," he finishes taking his usual seat at the end of my bed.

Propping myself against the bed frame, I add worriedly, "What about Thomas? Didn't he get a nine? That's pretty high..."

Finnick takes a second to think and begins again with a shrug, "A nine is not that high considering all the tributes from District One and Two got either ten's or eleven's. So, it's safe to assume that they might still invite him. But it's futile since he was the one so hellbent on being alone anyway." He adds with a twinge of irritation returning in his voice.

"Yeah, I guess..." I add sadly.

I wish you would join the careers with me, Thomas.

It's a selfish thought, but it would make me feel a lot safer. Seeing my distress, Finnick stands up and extends out his hand, "C'mon, you don't want to be late for training." Taking his hand, I let him lead me out of my room and towards the Training Hall. Once we arrive, he stops and turns to face me, grabbing my shoulders so that I face him. Looking into my nervous green eyes with his sparkly blue ones and I begin to calm down. I've never seen him look so genuine before. His features are relaxed, and for the first time, his smile seems natural. Like for once, he is not trying to impress anyone.

"Now remember you got a good score, so this your opportunity to show your worth. Walk-in there confidently with your head held high, and you'll do fine, okay?" Finnick says, attempting to reassure me.

I nod, and he lets go of me. With the sound of the door opening, I turn and walk into the training room. Refusing to look at the other tributes, I keep my head up and head straight towards the rope tying area. Before I reach my destination, I hear a male voice call me over. Turning, I see that I was invited by Oliver from District Two to sit with his pack (made up of Titus from One, Raven from One, Shayra from Two, Himself, and now me) on a nearby bench. Relieved to see they want me as an ally, I head over towards the group.

"What's his deal?" Oliver asks as I arrive, gesturing towards Thomas, who was walking toward the survival skills training monitor after refusing his invitation.

"I don't know. Thomas won't even talk to me. Guess he thinks he is better off alone," I reply, unsure of my answer. We haven't spoken since he stormed off to his room that day on the train. It made me sad because I enjoyed talking with him. He was good at making light of the situation.

"What a dumbass," Shayra laughs, sharpening one of her dual swords. Satisfied with her work, she stands up and slashes the air, "I guess we shall just have to remind him of his deadly mistake in the arena won't we," she adds menacingly. I look over at Raven, who seems to share my discomfort but just shrugs her shoulders.

Oliver rolls his eyes, but Titus enjoys her show and laughs, "Jeez Shayra keep it in your pants until the games start, we still have five days." Shayra ignores him and sits back down to continue sharpening her blade. Noticing my discomfort by her menacing display, Oliver turns shooting me a curious glance, "So Four, I saw you scored a six yesterday, what can you do?" This question makes the rest of the pack look up at me in expectation. I can feel my heartbeat in my chest as I reply, "I made traps tying knots and such; I can tie rope fast. I am also pretty good with knives. Back in Four, when catching fish, I used to have to throw the knife and cut the rope to release the hanging trap."

The careers looked at each other, judging whether or not any of my skills were worth anything until Oliver spoke up, "Not bad, I heard this arena might be mountainous so knot tying will be pretty useful. You should teach me some time," he adds, smiling at me. This comment made his district partner Shayra irritated as she voiced how unamused she was by my 'skills.' Over the next few days, I taught Oliver and Raven (who joined later out of curiosity) how to tie knots. But this task became increasingly difficult with Shayra finding any moment to 'accidentally drop' one of her swords near me or randomly insult me. One day, Shayra had purposefully tripped me while we were exiting the training room. Sprawled out on the ground in embarrassment, I opened my mouth to say something, anything back to this cruel girl, but Raven stops me. She hovers over me and offers her hand. I take it, and once I'm upright, she whispers, "It's not worth it," and with a parting smile, takes off with Titus to their district apartment.

I told Finnick about her behavior and my frustrations that night. "You said this started after Oliver asked you to show him your knitting skills?" he asks, leaning forward, concentrating on my story. I nod, and his brows furrowed as he sits back on the couch and folds his arms across his chest. With a sigh, he begins, "I think that psycho blonde likes Oliver, and she is jealous that he is giving you more attention..."

This answer shocks me, and I look up at Finnick, "What am I supposed to do? Ignore him?" I ask, trying to hide my frustration but failing miserably.

"No, you want him as your ally. From what I hear, he is the pack leader, and so his likeness towards you will help keep you alive. Despite what Shayra says, I doubt she will actively act against Oliver and kill you, so maintaining his attention is what you should focus on" He shifts uncomfortably after hearing his own words while dawning an unfamiliar expression on his face.

Is he jea...

My train of thought is cut off when Finnick abruptly sits up from his seat next to me on the couch and glides to turn on the monitor in front of us. "We should get back to discussing the arena," he says quickly, and he begins going over the tributes again, playing their videos and highlighting their strengths/weaknesses.

Over the next few days, we continued discussing strategy, and I was beginning to feel more confident in my odds of possibly not dying. Somehow Finnick knew that judging by thick thermal arena outfits, it will be freezing weather with the possibility of ice and snow. After already agreeing with my idea to stay with career pack until most of the other tributes have been hunted down, Finnick suggested I wait until I find a safe time to slip away (like during my shift at night watch) before going off on my own. Though it was good Finnick was helping me formulate a plan, this only made the games more of a reality and I began to have nightmares.