You Asked For This - Finnick Odair

Advice

"How to fall in love: Choose an unavailable person."
— Unknown

...

"I'll never understand why you like him," a thirteen-year-old Coral Newport shakes her head at one of her old friends from school.

The 64th Annual Hunger Games just ended a few weeks ago and life has gone back to normal. Meaning that conversations have switched from the games to more frivolous things. Like cute boys. Meaning, much to the strawberry-blonde's dismay, Finnick Odair.

"And I'll never understand why you don't!" Quarie Mares responds.

Coral and Quarie have been casual friends for a while. Sometimes, they still talk, but not often. Cora isn't the type of person to easily maintain friendships. So, while she loves and appreciates her friends, she mainly sticks to her family. But days like these are always nice. The days she gets to catch up with her old schoolmates.

Quarie is a typical District 4 girl. Beautiful with her teal eyes and freckled, tan skin. Her blonde hair bleached light from the sun and salty sea.

Cora often wishes she looked like the girl. Yes, she knows she's pretty and looks unique compared to most of District 4 (much like the rest of her family). But she doesn't want to be the unique kind of beautiful. She wants to just be beautiful. To blend in a little.

"He's annoying!" The green-eyed girl argues, smiling an upside-down smile.

"How is he annoying?"

Cora huffs. "He— ugh! With his little smirk and his teasing! Don't even get me started on the teasing. And he pulls my hair. His stupid little face and his eyes—"

"What about his eyes?" The blonde interrupts, a devious smile on her face.

"They're just— I mean—"

"Cora," the tan girl laughs, interrupting once more.

"What!?"

"Are you sure you don't like Finnick?"

Cora makes a face. "What? Of course I'm sure!"

"Okay... it's just..."

"It's just what?"

"You haven't stopped smiling this entire time you've been talking about him."

...

"Cora?"

The young woman snapped out of her daze. "Yeah?"

"Where did you go?" Xena Tinsley asked with a knowing look in her eyes.

"Just remembering a conversation I had when I was young," Coral Newport brushed the comment aside, knowing what her best friend meant.

Finnick Odair and Coral Newport had been back in the Capitol for a few days. Xena was over at Cora and Finnick's apartment to keep the strawberry-blonde company. Finnick was getting ready for an appointment he had that night.

The pink-haired woman narrowed her eyes. "What was the conversation about?"

The strawberry-blonde didn't want to answer. It felt weird but she wasn't sure why. And so, she ducked her head, trying to avoid the question like a child.

But Xena saw the smallest upside-down smile on her face. And she knew. "It was about a certain golden-haired, mutual friend of ours, wasn't it?"

The green-eyed woman's head snapped up to look at her friend. "How did you—"