*Willow's POV*
I walk into the schoolhouse with my eyes glued to the floor. I know everyone is staring at me as I walk by them in the hallway. If I look up, I might hold eye contact with someone and then they might start walking over to me. I can't risk the rude comments they might say to me.
I don't have any friends. I remember the time where I used to have too many friends. I don't know what I did to make them all hate me, but I must've done something.
Maybe if my hair was curlier, they'd like me more. Or maybe if my eyes weren't as blue, they'd be able to enjoy looking at my face.
If I looked like Rye I would be popular. He has dad's blonde hair like I do, but he's got mom's gorgeous green eyes and tan skin. All I have is fair skin and blue eyes.
I've distanced myself from Rye, although he seems to not notice. He still buys me necklaces and rings and I do appreciate it every single time. But it's hard to be close to him when I'm always compared to him.
If he brings a friend home, Mom always expects someone that I bring as well. She doesn't realize that I have no one to bring home. I have nobody. I lock myself away in my room when Rye has his friends over because I can't risk them not liking me. I can't be the one to ruin things for Rye, I care about him too much to do that.
I'm shaken from my self-pitying thoughts by the sound of my body landing on the floor. I quickly peer up to see Odette standing over me.
Great.
"Maybe you should watch where you're going next time," she says while laughing.
The girls around her quickly start laughing as well, because they all follow her around like minions. Always doing whatever she says and whatever she wants.
"I'm sorry," I remark while quickly grabbing my things. I look through my blurry eyes as water starts to line my lower eyelids.
Just as I reach for my pen, she kicks the stuff I previously picked up out of my arms with her foot. I quickly try to regain my balance but I land on my knees, evoking even more laughter from everyone.
I scramble to pick everything up again when I feel a hand on my back. A tear falls down my face as I turn around quickly to find Flynn by my side.
His hand reaches for my face but I quickly brush the hand away and wipe the tear by myself. I stand up with all my stuff and I quickly begin to leave but Flynn grabs my hand.
"Are you alright, Lo?" He says to me quietly. I nod my head quickly and begin to wriggle out of his grasp. I turn around and begin to walk down the hall, ignoring him calling my name.
_
*Flynn's POV*
My eyes shift from Willow's gorgeous blonde waves to Odette's faded brown hair, which compares nothing to Willow's. Her brown eyes twinkle with a hint of humor but I glare at her.
"That wasn't funny, Odette." I say while looking at her. She gives me a fake smile and begins to twirl her hair around her finger.
"Come on, Flynn, can't you just have some fun?" She says as she bats her eyes. The sound of her voice makes me want to throw up. "It's just Willow, everybody does makes fun of her. You don't even know that girl."
"I don't want to see you touch her again." I remark while walking away, running into her shoulder as I move in the opposite direction as her.
Willow doesn't like to speak to me at the schoolhouse. She thinks it'll make people hate me as well, so she isolates herself from me until we get home. I think it's ridiculous, because I'd rather hang out with her than the jerks I call "my friends."
At this point, they're default friends. I'm popular because I'm Finnick Odair's son and for some reason, that gives me an upper hand. I wouldn't say that I appreciate the popularity either though.
It comes with rude friends and attention I don't love. It also takes me away from my best friend, although I'm not sure Willow even thinks of me as her friend.
As I walk into class, I find my so-called "friends" at one of the tables in the room and they call me over to sit with them. I look across the room to see her sitting by herself, but I know that if I were to go sit with her she'd be infuriated with me.
I sigh as I sit down beside Eloise and Roone. They both give me a look as I slump down in my chair and place my head in my hands.
"What's the matter, Princess?" Roone asks while slightly poking fun at me. They all call me that due to the fact of me living in the victor's village.
Although they all have fine houses in town, they still like to poke fun at me.
"I'm fine," I mutter while grabbing a pencil to copy down what the teacher begins to write on the chalkboard. "Doesn't matter."
They all know I live by Willow, but they don't know that I basically live at their house. Katniss is practically my second mother when my own can barely function.
My mother is deteriorating as time goes on, probably due to the fact of me growing older and the time since she's seen my father growing as well. I never got to meet him, but I've seen reruns of his games and Katniss has told me stories of their conversations and adventures. But that's not enough, and neither is just looking out for Willow from afar.
Recently, I've had to intervene more frequently. And I know that if the bullying doesn't start to decline in occurrences, Katniss will lose her cool and I do not want to be around when that happens.
"What's been going on with you lately?" Eloise asks me, and I turn to look at her.
I stopped talking to her as much when I had found out that had spread a rumor about Willow. I forgave her after a while, but I'm still iffy with anyone that makes fun of anyone.
Roone is my other best friend, and I love him dearly. Now Eloise, I can tolerate. I lost my love for her a long time ago.
"You've been blowing your cool at everything we do."
"I apologize for not appreciating the bullying you guys commit." I say, slightly harshly.
Her face moves slightly at my tone and then looks back down at her worksheet. I sigh as I lean closer and whisper an apology to her. She nods her head and I start to feel slightly bad, before remembering that she once made fun of Willow as well.
_
The day drags slowly on as usual, and finally we make it to the last class of the day. This day has been far worse than most, and I can't help but feel as if it's my fault.
I know that Willow doesn't need saving. She's incredibly stubborn, but also so smart and so strong. I didn't need to step in today, I know she would've found a way out herself.
But I can't just stand on the sidelines and watch her fight a battle by herself. Sometimes everyone could use a hand or two, and I just wish she could realize that.
My attention is brought back to reality by the annoying sound of Odette moving. She sighs loudly to spark everyone's attention and she does it twice to make sure I'm paying attention to her.
"What's wrong, Odette?" Aurian asks softly towards her, sucking up as usual. I genuinely think he might be in love with her.
I can't fathom how, though.
"I just feel like nobody likes me anymore." She pouts and looks around the table for sympathy.
I try so hardly not to, but I eventually cave in and laugh at her.
She scoffs at this action, and goes on further, "I don't feel welcome here anymore."
"Nobody hates you." Roone says while looking at her. I can't believe he's falling for her schemes.
"Flynn hates me." She says softly and then fake cries into her hand.
I begin to nod my head in agreement but I soon get a nudge in the rib cage by Eloise and I roll my eyes before starting to speak straight bullshit.
"I don't—" I stutter, almost gagging at the words coming out of my mouth. "I don't hate you." I say quietly and she perks out of her hands and asks me if I'm serious.
I give a final look to Eloise, who raises an eyebrow at me, then answer.
"I don't hate you, I just very much dislike you."
The bell signaling the school day rings and I quickly grab my things before she can start whining and complaining at my previous statement. I walk out of the classroom without saying goodbye to any of my "friends" and head outside to find Willow.
I see her sitting underneath a tree with a book in her hand and I can't help but smile at the sight. I walk towards her and sit down beside her.
"Hey, Lo." I start while grabbing the book out of her hand.
She looks up at me and I laugh as I see her begin to reach for her book back. I begin to pretend to read the contents of the page until she finally snatches it from my hands.
"You're not supposed to take a book from someone who's in the middle of a page." She starts while flipping back to the page she was on.
"Yes, I forgot the rules that come along with reading." I say as she glares up at me and I crack a smile, which causes her to start laughing.
She eventually looks back down at the page and I can't help but study her face. Her hair is pushed back behind her ears to prevent it from getting in the way, and her blue eyes shaded by dark eyelashes that curl at the end. Her lips are slightly turned upwards, forming a faint smile that looks so welcoming anyone would want to say hello to her.
I'm fairly certain everyone despises her because of her beauty, because she outshines anyone and everyone in this schoolhouse. It's so unfortunate that such a kind soul gets treated so poorly. She never did anything to deserve the way she gets treated.
"How are your knees?" I ask softly while looking at the sky. I watch as she shrugs in the corner of my vision and I turn to look back at her. "If anything happens like that again and I'm not there, just tell me and I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."
"I'm not helpless, Flynn." She states while closing her book and placing it in her arms. "I can take care of myself." She stands up and I mimic her actions, but I'm able to give her a look she cannot avoid, due to me being much taller than her.
"I never said you were," I remark while slightly laughing. "But it also doesn't hurt to have someone looking after you."
She looks at me briefly before turning and starting to walk along the pathway. I follow after her and we walk in silence until we reach the town, and she suddenly stops. I give her a look and she brings her finger to her mouth to hush me. She points into an alleyway and I spot a small child.
She grabs my hand and drags me towards the child, and I don't say anything. Once we reach him, she kneels down to his level. The kid has tears streaked all over his face and is slightly shaking.
"Are you okay, darling?" She asks while lightly brushing his hair off his face. "Where's your Mommy at?"
"I—I don't know," he stutters in between shaky breathes and I can't help but feel bad.
He can't be more than six years old, and he's all alone. But this doesn't cause Willow to falter, because she keeps the same friendly look on her face.
"That's okay," Willow starts while grabbing his hand. She leads him towards the end of the alleyway and looks down at him.
"Where was the last place you saw her?" I ask softly. He looks up at me and then turns his head to point in the direction of the hob. "We'll find her for you."
We walk across the street towards the hob and we enter through the side door. Willow picks him up and puts him on her hip so he can look through the crowd to find her. Once we've checked half of the hob, she pauses for a moment and gives me a worried glance. I shrug my shoulders reassuringly and she looks back at the child.
"What color of hair does Mommy have?" She asks while picking up a piece of her hair. "Is it like mine or his?" I watch as she point it my hair and I make a silly face at the small child. He laughs slightly then nods at me.
"Let's look for a brunette lady then." I remark while beginning to look through the isles.
Every brunette lady we come across, we ask him if it's his mother. Yet it seems as if every single one is not his mother.
Finally, after more than an hour of searching, we find a frantic-looking woman that is crying in a corner. To our luck, this woman is brunette. We walk over towards her and gently tap her shoulder. She looks up at us with an unpleasant look in her eyes until she sees the young boy in Willow's arms.
"Kona," she whispers as she takes him from Willow's arms.
A smile appears on the woman's face and she immediately gets a brightness back in her face.
"Thank you so much for finding him." She says as she holds the child, 'Kona' I assume, tightly to her chest.
"It was no problem." I remark while looking at the woman.
The conversation eventually dims out with much gratitude towards us, even though we barely did the minimum of being a decent human being.
As we begin to walk out, I notice a few people that seem to be holding cameras at us, but I give it no further attention. I've been in the spotlight my entire life so these people really don't bother me.
_
She walks up the steps to her porch before turning back to look at me. She starts to say goodbye but I interject.
"Walk into school with me," I start while looking at her. "Walk with me to your locker and then I'll leave you alone."
"No, Flynn, you know the rules," she starts but I shrug my shoulders and scoff at her.
"Who cares about rules?" I ask with a smirk on my face. "I'll see you tomorrow, Lo."
I begin to walk away and I hear her mutter under her breath. I chuckle slightly before any remaining happiness gets stripped from me as I walk into my dark and lifeless home. I set my bag down beside the stairs and I see my mom sitting on the kitchen floor. She has a smile on her face, so I don't approach her.
I rarely ever approach her.