Finnick Odair's Story: Dark Secrets (The Hunger Games Fanfiction)

Starting Again

I wait a few days before trying again. These days pass painfully slowly, and I spend my days pacing my apartment or swimming in the sea. Occasionally, gaggles of teenage girls watch me from the beach as I swim furiously up and down. When I get out of the water, they swarm around me like bees to a honeypot and try to chat me up, even though I must be at least seven years older than them.

"Finnick, right?" one girl says, flicking blonde hair from her shoulder and teasing the buttons on her light blue shirt.

"Um, yeah," I nod, grabbing a towel and throwing it across my shoulders before beginning to head back towards my house.

"I'm Marina," she says, blushing. "It's nice to meet you. I've heard so much about you." She stands in my path to stop me from walking up the sand. I sigh. I'm painfully used to girls trying to flirt with me, and it gets a little boring sometimes. In the Capitol, I probably would have adored the attention, flirted back, maybe even invited her home with me.

"Hi, Marina," I sigh, a little halfheartedly. "I'm sorry, I really have to go."

A voice lingers in my head; Snow's. This isn't the Finnick Odair he wants me to be, all miserable and boring. He needs me to be charming and flirty and charismatic, as if nothing is wrong.

"I'm sure I'll catch you later, yeah?" I smile and wink at her. She blushes and skips off to boast to her friends about capturing a little bit of my attention.

I trek across the sand, back to my house. My bedroom window doesn't even face the sea, which is annoying; maybe I can get them to give me a new house with a more pleasant view, rather than the town. Once I'm inside, I dry my body with a towel and pull on a fresh pair of shorts.

Then, there is a knock at the door. Sighing, I go to answer it, and frown when I see Ray standing on my front steps.

"What do you want?" I say, a bitter tone seeping into my resentful voice. He almost outed me a few years ago when I ran away, threatened to reveal my location to the Peacekeepers.

"Just wanted to welcome you, Finnick," he says, eyeing me up and down with a smirk on his face. "You look so... different."

"It's been five years, Ray," I snap. "I'm not a little boy anymore."

"I can see that," he laughs. He takes a step towards me but I keep my feet firmly on the ground as he becomes only centimetres from my face. His breath smells vile.

"What do you want?" I snarl, knowing that I could probably take him on in a fight. He's tall and bulky, but I have the advantage of being younger and more agile, training from the Games still fresh in my mind.

"I want you to know that just because you're back, it doesn't mean you own the place. They might love you in the Capitol, but it's a different story here," he says, his eyes searching mine as if to try and uncover a dark secret.

I raise an eyebrow. "Feeling threatened, Ray? Afraid you're not going to be the alpha male anymore?" I chuckle. His eyebrows quiver in anger.

"Just keep your head down, pretty boy. Don't cause any more trouble. Remember what happened last time you tried to shake things up here," he says, and I wipe a fleck of spit from my cheekbone. With that, Ray turns on his heel and walks away.

Groaning, I shut the door and head back inside. I don't need any more trouble here, life is already stressful enough. I fail miserably at making myself an omelette for lunch, so I end up heading out into the town to find a restaurant to eat in.

I keep my head firmly down as I explore the streets, keen to go unnoticed as I search for somewhere to buy lunch. A few people glance twice at me as I pass, but thankfully no one approaches me. I don't need any attention at the moment.