"I'm sorry, Ann," Madge says. "I'd love to let you live with us, but we already have four people in a two bedroom apartment. I think that's enough of a fire hazard as is."

"I know," Annie sighs, leaning back against the plastic chair in the dining hall.

"I think Jo has a friend who is looking for a roommate. I can get their number for you."

"Really? Does she go here?"

"No, I think he goes to Northeastern."

"A boy? No way! I can't live with a boy!"

"Come on, Annie. This isn't fifth grade," Madge raises her eyebrow. "It's a two bedroom. Plus, Katniss and I live with Gale and Peeta. It's not a big deal."

"I guess," Annie mutters.

"Do you really have a choice?"

"Not really." Since their college is in the city, juniors and seniors aren't guaranteed housing. Most students just get an apartment and don't bother with housing, but Annie's parents wanted her to enter into the housing lottery and give it a shot. She didn't get it, and now she was left to scramble for an apartment while sleeping on Madge's couch in the meantime.

Madge stabs a piece of lettuce with her fork and pops it into her mouth. "Come on. Just give it a go."

"Alright. I'll text Jo and get his number."

"Good girl. Now let's get to class. You know how Heavensbee is about lateness."

Great. I'll meet you at Cafe Nero tomorrow at 3 to make sure you're not a serial killer. ;)

Annie had been texting Finnick Odair for only five minutes, and he had already used a winky face and didn't even seem to care about meeting her in public. She stared at her phone, wondering if she should respond seriously or jokingly. If you were so worried about me being a serial killer, you wouldn't be meeting me in person now would you?

Touché. See you tomorrow, potential future roomie :)

"Annie, are you going to be antisocial all night, or are you going to help us pick out a movie?" Johanna says loudly. Johanna doesn't live with Katniss, Peeta, Gale, and Madge because she claims she needs her own space, but she lives close enough that she often hangs out with everyone.

Annie met them all her freshman year. Gale, Katniss, and Peeta all lived in the same hometown and all ended up going to colleges in Boston. Katniss goes to Northeastern which is where she met Johanna. Gale wasn't interested in the college track so he moved to Boston to get a job because he was sick of the small-town life. Peeta goes to MassArt because he wants to be an art teacher. Madge met Gale when she went to company he works at. They started dating shortly after they met. Katniss and Peeta have been dating on and off since high school. They both want different things. Peeta wants a serious relationship and Katniss wants a casual, no-strings-attached arrangement. Annie met them all through Madge, who is attending Emerson as a journalism major. Despite the fact that they all go to separate schools, they've all been inseparable since freshman year, and that's only grown since Peeta, Gale, Katniss, and Madge all moved in together. They were willing to get a bigger apartment to accommodate Annie, but when her parents wanted her to try and get on-campus housing, they couldn't wait for her.

"Sorry. I had to set up a time to meet up with Finnick tomorrow."

"Yes, Cresta. Look at you with the romantic prospects," Gale cheers.

Annie's cheeks get hot from embarrassment. "Are you crazy? You know Odair. She would literally never date him," Johanna fills in for Annie. "They're going to be roommates."

Gale roars with laughter. "What's so funny?" Annie asks. Johanna and Peeta join in, and soon Annie is the only one in the room not laughing. Annie grabs a pillow and throws it at Johanna. "Johanna Mason, you better tell me what's going on."

"Kitty has claws," Johanna says, putting the pillow back on the couch. "Relax. You're just pretty different on the surface that's all."

"Then why-"

"Let me speak," she interrupts. "Cresta, I love you but you're a basket case. If I told you that from the start, you would never get an apartment and you'd be sleeping on the couch for the whole semester. Just meet the kid, and I'm sure you'll like him."

"How different, Johanna?"

"Give him a chance."

"Johanna," Annie raises her voice. She can feel her chest getting tight. She has a hard enough time getting along with people, let alone living with someone she barely knows and has nothing in common with.

"He's my friend, Cresta. What did you expect? The poster boy for Good Roommate Weekly?" Johanna asks. Gale laughs at this. "He's a jock. He goes to parties. He brings home girls. He drinks. He smokes pot."

"But pot's illegal!"

"Welcome to college," Gale laughs.

"Give him a shot, Annie," Madge says. "You can always move out if it's really bad."

"Who knows? Maybe you'll end up being soulmates or something," Gale jokes.

Annie checks her phone for probably the one hundred and twelfth time since sitting down at Cafe Nero. "Where is this boy?" she mumbles. It was already 3:25 and she had to be at a magazine meeting at four.

She glances at the door just as a tall boy with golden curly hair that falls into his eyes, and a water splattered tank top walks in through the door. Her heart nearly stops. Johanna mentioned he brings home girls and he was a jock, but she didn't expect him to be nearly this attractive.

"Annie Cresta," Finnick says, turning around the chair so the back is against the table. He sits on it with his legs straddling both the sides.

"Is there something wrong with sitting the right way?" she asks, raising an eyebrow. "Also, I have a meeting at four, which normally wouldn't have been a problem except you were twenty five minutes late."

"Oh, Jesus," Finnick says, fixing the backwards baseball cap that he's wearing. "Jo said you were a little uptight, but this is more than a little." Annie glares at him. "Listen, Sweetheart."

"Don't call me-"

He interrupts her. "Would you rather Buttercup?" He grins and his eyes light up. His eyes are very green. A beautiful sea green that reminds her of the oceans from back home. He's a jerk, but he's a pretty jerk. "Listen, Annie. You have a meeting, so let's not waste any more time. You need a place to stay, and I need someone to split the rent. We may not agree on a lot of things, but I think we can both agree that this will be a hell of a lot easier if we both cooperate."

Annie nods. "Fine."

"Great. I'll text you the details and you can check out the place tomorrow."

Annie gets up. "Sure. I have to get to my meeting. It was…" She trails off. Should she be honest or polite. "Nice meeting you."

"Likewise." Annie's about to walk away when he speaks again. "And Annie?" She turns to see him smiling at her with his white teeth and green eyes. "One rule. Thou shalt not piss me off."

"Johanna," Annie seethes, as soon as her friend picks up the phone. "This better be a prank."

"So you met Finnick," she answers, calmly.

"Yeah, and he's horrible! He's cocky, rude, inconsiderate-"

"Cresta, get the stick out of your ass. He's a good kid. At least I think. I've never really hung out with him sober." She starts laughing maniacally.

"Johanna, this isn't funny. I can't live with him!" Annie's bus pulls up and she taps her Charlie card and sits down.

"We've been through this. You don't really have a choice. What are you going to do? Live with those train wrecks for the rest of the semester?"

"I could alternate between their couch and your couch."

"Oh, fuck no. I barely tolerate you as it is. My apartment is off limits. Especially to uptight juniors."

"I'll split the rent."

"Cresta, you need a real bed. He's not that bad. I thought you said you were going to give him a chance."

Annie sighs. "Fine. I'm meeting up with him to see the apartment. We'll see how it goes."

"Good morning, Annie. I brought you coffee."

"You didn't have to-"

"It's nothing."

"It's also three in the afternoon," she points out.

"Coffee doesn't have a time limit," he says, taking a huge sip of his.

Annie takes a sip. "This is so sweet! If you drink coffee like this every day you're going to develop diabetes by the time you're twenty five."

"Nonsense," Finnick says taking a sip. "Yours is the bitter one."

"How many sugars did you put in your coffee, Finnick?"

"Ten."

"Ten?" Annie confirmed, practically spitting out her coffee.

"Seconds." Finnick finishes. Annie gives him a confused look, letting him know she has no idea what he's talking about. "I turn the sugar canister upside down and count to ten."

"Oh my god, Finnick. You're going to die."

"I'm fine. I swim a lot. I'll be okay."

"If you go into diabetic shock, you're not my problem."

"Don't you already have to have diabetes to go into diabetic shock? I'm fine, Annie. Now come on. Let's see the apartment." He takes a hold of her wrist and starts leading her down the street.

"Let go," Annie commands wriggling out of his grip.

"Sorry, Cresta," he grins. "I forgot. It's your first time with a boy. You must be nervous."

Annie rolls her eyes and tries to act indifferent, but a blush creeps up to her face nonetheless. "Here it is. We're four and our apartment number is 2B."

"Or not 2B," Annie jokes.

"No, it's 2B," Finnick says, the joke completely going over his head. "Hold this." He hands his coffee cup to Annie and grabs his keys out of his pocket. Annie can't help but stare at the way the muscles in his back move between his tank top as he turns his key in the lock. "Welcome to my humble abode!"

Annie gasps. There are clothes and empty beer and soda cans, littering the entire apartment. The couch is tilted so the back is on the floor, and there are dirty dishes piled high in the sink. There are open bags of chips all over the counter and there are crumbs to go with it. "Did you get robbed?"

Finnick laughs. "Nah, I just had a party last night. I woke up too late and I didn't have enough time to shower and clean up. I chose the shower because Mindy was still here." He winks and Annie feels close to panicking.

"I can't live like this," she chokes out. Her chest starts to get tight and she can barely breathe. "I can't sleep on a couch for the rest of my life either." She grabs the nearest solid surface, the counter, as a way to steady herself.

"Annie? Are you okay?" She just shakes her head, not even able to speak. His green eyes cloud with concern and maybe even fear. He bends down so their eyes are on the same level. "Are you having a heart attack? Or a panic attack? Are you diabetic? Did I kill you with the sugar?" Annie holds up two fingers, letting him know it's the second one. "Shit, what do I do?" Annie wishes she could help him or just get over it, but panic attacks don't work like that. He looks so worried and she feels guilty that it's her fault.

Finnick picks up the phone. "Jo? Yeah, it's Finn. I think I sent her into a panic. Does this happen a lot?" Annie can her the muffled sounds of Johanna's reply. The entire room is spinning, and she tries to focus only on her breathing. In. Out. In. Out.

"She'll get over it," Johanna tells Finnick.

"It's scary, Jo," he says. "Can she even hear me?"

"I'm not a doctor, Odair. Probably. She'll calm down. Listen, I have class. Good luck with your new roommate." Finnick curses at the phone. Jo can be a real bitch when she wants to.

Finnick kneels down in front of Annie and puts his hands on her shoulders. "Hey, Ann. I'm sorry. Annie, this is really scary. It's like you're not even here. Please come back."

Annie can barely focus on anything, and she feels herself completely slipping away from reality, but then she sees green. Soon, green is all she can see. Everything is green. Where has she seen this green before? Finnick.

Annie feels herself being pulled back to reality, and the first thing she sees is Finnick's beautiful green eyes. "Hi, Finn," she whispers. Those two simple words make Finnick relax almost immediately.

"Oh, thank God. I thought I broke you or something."

"I'm sorry," she breathes out.

He hugs her. "Don't be sorry. It's my fault. You should have told me you have anxiety. I just thought you were uptight and unreasonable."

"I didn't think you would understand."

"I'm not a complete asshole, Annie Cresta. It's mainly just an act." He looks around. "It's not usually this messy."

"Do you need help cleaning up?"

"Please?"

"Sure, cleaning is really calming to me. Now, where's your dust pan?"

"I don't have one."

Annie rolls her eyes. "We'll go shopping later. Do you at least have a vacuum?"

He nods and runs to retrieve it from the closet.

Annie can't tear her eyes away from him. It's all an act? What did he mean by that?

"Hey, Ann?" Annie nearly blushes when he calls her that. Stop it, Annie. He's a total asshole. He's just being nice and it's catching you off guard. "Can you help me? I've never actually turned it on. My roommate used to do all the cleaning."

Annie rolls her eyes. "That's going to change. You're going to have to pull some weight around here too." Finnick sighs and she can see him about to object. "No buts. How about you start by washing the dishes? That's a simple enough task."

He hands her the vacuum and then trudges over to the sink. "So," he says, as he turns on the faucet. "Jo said you go to Emerson?"

Annie nods and begins to sweep some of the crumbs from the counter into the garbage. "Yeah. She said you go to Northeastern. What's your major?"

"Marine Biology." He starts scrubbing a really grimy dish that has been sitting in the sink for at least three days. "What about you? What are you majoring in at that pansy college of yours?"

"It's not a pansy college."

"Come on, it's not like anyone who goes to Emerson is actually going to get a job. You're all going to be homeless and in hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt."

Annie feels a lump in her throat. That's always been a huge concern for her, but she doesn't like to think about it. "I'm a Writing, Literature, and Publishing major."

"Homeless," Finnick sings, over the sound of running water.

"At least I'm doing what I love."

"So am I. At least my doing what I love pays more."

Annie desperately searches for a way to change the subject. "Johanna mentioned you play a sport?"

"Yeah, I swim." Annie sighs longingly. She's from Florida so when she was growing up, she was more comfortable in the water than she was on land. Too bad Emerson doesn't have a pool. Annie tells Finnick this and he nods like he relates. "I'm from California so I totally get you. I don't know what I would do if I couldn't swim. It takes all my stress away, you know?" Annie nods. Swimming is the one constant in her life. The one thing that was always easy for her. That, and writing. "I could probably get you into the pool at Northeastern as long as there's no practice."

"Really?"

"Yeah, what are roommates for?"

"So you're actually letting me live here? Even after my little spectacle?"

Finnick fishes into his pocket and pulls out a set of keys. "Of course. I decided that the second you texted me. Don't worry about what happened. I'm just as, if not more, fucked up as you are." He tosses her the keys but she misses and they fall into the garbage can. Their eyes meet and they both burst out laughing.

"You're going to have to learn to catch better if you want to be my roommate."