DESTINE, finnick odair

CHAPTER SEVEN

ೃ࿐ ୨⎯ "act one" ⎯୧
CHAPTER SEVEN:

RYLIE

A month of Nova and Finnick's agonising transparency was making Rylie lose her mind.

The way they'd hold hands under the dinner table, and sneak into each others houses late at night. The thought of what they were doing sickened Rylie.

Each day, she drifted further and further from her sister. It was as if Nova was a stranger. Everything Rylie said, Nova would find a problem.
She couldn't help but feeling like everything was her fault.

Autumn was creeping in, leaves gradually turning orange. District 4 was never lucky enough to get snow, so Autumn was about as cold as it got. Fishing was big in the fall. It was a good time to be living in Four.

Not for the victors. Straight after the newest victors - this year Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, finish their victory tour it was living hell for Rylie and Finnick. They'd be interviewed all the time, taken off to the Capitol to read of a script to be the Capitol favourites for another year.

Rylie didn't see the point, it wasn't like they were ever going to be needed from the Capitol again. She'd rather be forgotten, but yet she still wanted to remembered.
The only problem was - she was being remembered as the wrong girl. She wasn't the girl that laughed at Finnick's stupid jokes in front of the camera. She despised having to put on the act. There was nothing worse. She was just 'Finnick's best friend.' Finnick was the favourite first, but the Capitol saw them as a package deal. She wanted to be remembered for Rylie. Not for some random girl she pretended to be.

Today was the day the victory tour arrived in District 4. It was a blessing in disguise. She knew how awful it was for the current victors, but for Rylie, it was great. She got to see some of the people she loved most.

Orna Bellgaze - the escort of the District 4 tributes. She'd worked closely with Finnick and Rylie ever since Finnick's games. A beautiful woman, elegant and graceful with silver hair. She was humble for someone from the Capitol; she was always generous, kind to anyone she could be. For Rylie, she was like a motherly figure, someone to look up to. Finnick, on the other hand wasn't so fond of Orna, he had his reasons. But no one could deny the fact that Orna was a beautiful soul.

It wasn't just Orna. Her husband, Fletcher Bellgaze - Finnick's designer, came with her. Rylie didn't know Fletcher well. He always seemed mysterious. He was a wise man, very calculated. Rylie always got the impression he intended to plot against the Capitol, despite being from it himself.
Of course, Rylie's designer came too. Halle Glint. A majestic redheaded lady who always saw the best in Rylie and every tribute handed to her from District 4.

And just as she expected, a knock at the door sounded Rylie out of her thought.
"Coming" She shouted excitedly through the house. She needed someone to talk to so much she was almost sprinting down the stairs.

She could see a reflection behind the blurred glass and the nerves underneath her skin sparked.

"Oh my god h-"

It was only Nova.

"Hey" Nova spoke, bluntly. She was wearing the same red t-shirt as she was the night before when she disappeared off to Finnick's. Now, her neck was covered in tiny purple bruises marking proof of Finnick onto her. They only made Rylie feel even more nauseous than before.