CHAPTER 1: Finnick Odair

I stand in front of my new pretty sea side home and cradle Buttercup, my tabby cat, in my arms. I was 12 years old. My name is Katniss Everdeen, and I live in the beautiful District 4. I loved it here. It was the prettiest District in my opinion. My father is the owner of a large Fishing Company, Capitol Seafood, that exported the seafood directly to the Capitol, so it was safe to say that we were on the rich side of District 4. I had everything I wanted, but I wasn't spoiled. My younger sister didn't even know what the word spoiled meant. My mother was a bit snobbish, but my father was the kindest soul that ever lived. When he wasn't too busy with Capitol Seafood my father would take me fishing in his large boat. He was great with a harpoon, but I could never grasp the talent. I myself was skilled highly with a bow and arrow, which was out of place in District 4. I wonder if I will ever have to use my skills. This reminds me that my first reaping was two days from now and I was nervous. Nervousness was new to me because my parent's had always protected me. But here it was different. No amount of money could stop my name from being reaped. Another reminder that no matter how much money you have, the Capitol owns you lock, stock, and barrel. We had just moved to a new, larger home in the wealthy subdivision Estancia Seaside Estates.

"Where do you want this box, Mrs. Everdeen?" A mover asks as my mother as I stare at the large house.

Someone starts tickling me from behind and I know right away that it is my daddy.

I giggle and turn to look in to the handsome face of my dark haired father. He smiles at me and stops tickling.

"Well, my little Kat, you and Prim go ahead and picks rooms!" he says playfully and stands up to assist my mother as she orders around the movers.

My little 8 year old sister Primrose jumps up and down next to me, with her blonde curls splashing across her face.

"Come on!" I tell her and take her hand as we both run into the large 3 story house.

We walk hand in hand through the front hall which had a gold and red style and then we find the white staircase and we run up.

The wood on the floor makes a click clop noise as we run up the stairs and appear in what seems to be a play room.

"Cool!" Prim says as we look around the toys.

I see some dolls and I roll my eyes a bit. I was 12, almost a teenager. My parents seemed to forget that sometimes.

I watch Prim pick up some dolls and I impatiently want to head over to the rooms. She doesn't make any move to leave the toys, so I tell her, "Prim, I'll be finding my room."

She absently nods and I head to the first door I find and look into it.

It was large princess themed room and I look skeptically at the pink wallpaper and pink carpet. I wrinkle my nose in disgust at the canopy princess bed.

Nope, I think and close the door heading to the next room.

I go through 9 rooms on the second floor and then sit dejectedly on the staircase. None of them were right. I guess perhaps I could talk to mom about buying stuff for a room.

Prim had already picked the first room I saw. Of course she did. She was the princess type. I was the boyish type. I'm not a tomboy for sure, but I do like getting dirty and going outside.

Prim is frightened to venture to our old backyard without an adult with fear of getting hurt by a stranger or something. I relished on the idea of someone trying to kidnap me. They would be sorry they ever tried to capture Katniss Everdeen

I stand up as a mover comes by me, carrying a box and opening a door I assumed was a closet.

It was a stairway. I follow him intrigued, and head up to a small floor with only a sitting room, and 4 rooms surrounding it.

The man smiles a gap toothed smile and says, "What are you doing up here Missy? 'Tis only a small floor."

I smile back at the old man and say, "Well, I can't find the perfect room in the fancy other floors."

He smiles and puts the box down on a simple side table and heads back down the small stairway.

I push open the first door and I find a beautiful room. No, breathtaking. It had completely glassed walls.

If I didn't know better, I would have through it was only a platform in the air. I walk in awe as I see a simple twin green bed was in the room with marble flooring. There was a couch, loveseat, table, and lamp. I see two more doors in the glassed room and open them. One is a large closet with a desk in it and the other door is a bathroom.

When I walk cautiously towards one of the glass walls I see the view of a beautiful beach. White sand, Aqua blue water and bright green palm trees.

That's when I know for sure this is my room. Even the color of the bed was me. I smile and put my small suitcase on the floor and begin unpacking in my new house.

"Please pass the butter." My mother smiles and asks me as I pass it to her.

We were having our very first lunch in our new home, and everyone was in a good mood.

"So what rooms did you girls choose?" my mother asks and smiles at Prim and I.

Prim answers first and fidgets in her booster seat even though she was 7.

"I choose a pink room! It's really pretty mommy!" she beams and then focuses her attention to her lobster.

"I choose a room on the third floor. It's beautiful. All glassed." I tell my mother and father as I finish my food and wait to be excused to go to the beach.

Silver where clinks as my mother drops her fork, then picks it up quickly again. "The third floor has very small rooms sweetie. That is practically the servant floor."

My father intervenes, "Caroline, I don't see any harm. Let Katniss keep the room."

I send him a smile and watch as my mother relaxes instantly and says, "Well, I suppose so Andrew. Katniss dear, if you're finished you may go explore, or do whatever you younglings like to do."

I jump up instantly and give my mother a hug. She was never in this good of a mood. Letting me leave the table early to have fun? Moving had its perks.

She smiles at me. "Please stay safe dear." She tells me and turns to my father, "Andrew, do you think that…" I hear her start but her voice fades out as I head out a back door that leads into a small green backyard.

I look around our new backyard and I love that my dad had put targets on a side for me to practice my archery.

I see my reflection in our small pool and I stare at it.

I was beautiful. As vain as it sounded, it was true. I had long elegant brown hair and sparkling bluey gray eyes. I had a beautiful face and I know that sounds really vain. I knew it though when I always saw boys taking double takes on me, or girls jealousy glaring at me. I didn't really care about the attention.

I continue exploring my backyard and find not much else as I head down a small sandy path down to the beach. It was only 2:00PM, so the sun was shining brightly and I walk into the bright sand and laugh. I laugh and just run around the sparkling beach. It would seem as if I had never been to the beach before, but whenever I was on the beach, I was happy.

I finally decide I want to head into the water and I take of my shirt, which I had put a tank top under, and I had already been wearing shorts. I hated bikinis. I morbidly hate them.

I take down my hair from its braid, and I run into the water blissfully.

The blue water splashes against me and I float on back until a wave comes and put's seawater in my mouth. I'm never doing that again. I swim further out to some rocks and realize I was going too far out. My house looked tiny in the distance so I start to swim back when something clutches my leg.

Fear hits me as I look down to see what my foot was stuck in. It was a net.

I franticly see the tide coming up and I struggle to get myself free.

The waved start getting bigger and the water gets higher by a few inches. My head was only an inch above the water. Or my mouth was only an inch higher than the water. I try to scream but I only feel the waves hitting my face. I try to clear my mind and I scream, "HELP!"

I hear the noise of someone swimming and I try to see who it is.

"I'm coming! Don't move!" I hear a voice that sounded like a boy's.

"I obviously can't move or I wouldn't' be here." I can't help but cough out as a wave hits my face and I cough.

I hear a hollow laugh and feel someone touch my legs and I feel a sharp item hit my leg. "Ouch!" I complain and I hear the boy apologize.

I feel the net on my leg fall off and I instantly swim up.

The boy who saved me grabs me with his strong arms and swims, holding me, to a rock.

He lifts me up to the rock and I cough up some water. "If I catch up to the idiot who left that net there, it will be a sorry day for him." I mutter darkly and then turn around to see my rescuer.

I see a breathtakingly handsome boy with bronze hair. He has sea green eyes and had no shirt on.

I see him staring at my face and I see his expression is amazed. Amazed at what? Ugh, I hope it's not my looks again.

He smiles at me and I stare at him for a second before smiling back. "Thanks. I would have been in a really bad position if you hadn't saved me." I tell him and he grins.

"No problem. I was fishing and then I saw a head peak out of the water and heard some noise. You did pretty well staying above water with all of the currents." He says running his hand through his bronze hair.

"Yeah, well I'm a good swimmer." I tell him rolling my eyes and he smirks at this.

"What?" I ask him curiously.

"You're different then most girls. Most girls aren't like you. You almost drowned, and the first thing you say is that you're going to kill the person who left the net there." He says this and laughs. "Most girls would also be trying to snuggle or kiss me by this point."

I smirk at the handsome boy. "Don't get to full of yourself."

I glance back at my house and then look back at him. "What's your name?" I ask him.

"Finnick Odair. Or should I say your tall, handsome knight in shining armor." He says with a slight bow.

"Yeah yeah. I'm Katniss Everdeen." I tell him and hold out my hand.

He shakes it and as we shake hands, I feel that a friendship that will last forever has formed.

"Well Katniss, can we call it friends?" he asks splashing the water with his foot.

I hesitate slightly but then answer, "Sure."

He smiles and then looks down almost blushing.

"I got to get heading back to my house. My mom will have flipped by this time." I tell Finnick and jump of the rock and he does the same.

"Sure you can swim? I can carry you if you like." He says winking and flexing his muscles.

I chuckle. "I think I can handle myself." I tell him and start to swim with rapid strokes back to my house.

I can stand now and I walk up onto the beach and cough a little of water.

Finnick comes behind me and walks with me up to my house.

He looks surprised to see my house and says, "You guys moved in. I live next door." He says and points to a large house next door and I smile.

He insists on walking me to my house and when a servant opens the door she gasps and shrieks, " !"

My mother quickly rushes to me and ushers me into the house.

"I'm fine mom." I tell her and try to move away from her firm grip when she asks, "What happened?"

Finnick steps in. "She got caught in the water by a net." My mother gasps at this and leads me to a small sofa.

"She was coughing very badly. I think you should do a check up on her to make sure she's fine, ."

I shoot him a death glare which he returns with an innocent smile.

"Thank you darling. What's your name?" she asks Finnick, and he responds, "I'm Finnick Odair. I live next door to you guys." He tells my mother and she smiles at him.

She leans down to brush my hair when she says, "Katniss, he's very handsome."

I blush beet red and say, "Mom!"

Finnick smiles at this and laughs. I was starting to like Finnick. He was different than most boys. He had a personality and sense of humor.

I'm ordered to rest on the couch and Finnick is welcomed to stay by my mother and she leaves us alone.

"How old are you Katniss?" the boy asks me as he sips the hot chocolate my mother made us.

"12. How about you?" I ask him and lay down on my side away from him.

"I'm 14. So it'd your first reaping huh?" he tells me and I tense up and sit up.

He looks apologetic and says, "Sorry Katniss. I didn't mean to upset you."

I nod and then stand up. I wanted to shoot.

"Hey your mom said to stay in—"he starts, but I leave the room into my backyard.

I didn't really care what my mom said. I wanted to shoot, and that's what I was going to do.

I pick up my bow and an arrow and take careful aim at the target and release it.

It hits the target dead in the middle. The chances of me hitting the target wee even to the chances of you waking up in the morning.

"Whoa. You're amazing with the bow." I hear Finnick say behind me and I turn to look at him.

"Yeah, it's a hobby of mine." I tell him and he takes his trident and throws it at the target and it hits the target middle a well.

I laugh and tell him, "Looks like we're both experts at a weapon."

He grins and I grin back.

We were friends. Finnick and Katniss. We both knew right there that we were going to get along great.

Hey! I wanted to do another story with FinnickXKatniss so here it is! Katniss lives in District 4. PLEASE REVIEW! Please don't follow or favorite without reviewing

LEXI

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