Chapter Text
“I think you should give it a try, Annie. It could be good for you.” Dr. Aurelius adjusted his glasses and looked at her expectantly, waiting for a response.
Annie inhaled deeply as her fingers drummed restlessly against the side of the leather couch in her therapist’s office. He had suggested that she start swimming regularly at her university’s communal pool to help ease her persistent anxiety.
The swimming itself wasn’t really the issue. She had grown up on the ocean, after all. She’d been swimming since she could walk. No, the prospect of going swimming again wasn’t what was causing her heart to pound in her chest.
“It’s a communal pool,” Annie said simply, as though the simple phrase could accurately convey the uncertainty that was building in her chest already.
“Is that important?”
“Yes,” she responded, slightly irritable. Softening her voice, she said, “Communal pools have people.”
Dr. Aurelius gave her a small smile. “You’re not afraid of people, Annie, last I checked.”
She huffed and leaned back on the couch, the cushions accommodating to fit her body. “I know that. But I don’t like people watching me exercise and communal pools have germs and...children pee in them!” Her voice grew in volume the longer she protested.
“Children are peeing in your university’s pool?” her doctor asked as he raised an eyebrow.
Annie deflated. “Well, I suppose not.”
Dr. Aurelius leaned forward, serious. “I understand that you’re nervous, Annie. But I’d love to see you get out of your comfort zone a bit. Change up your routine, do something different.”
“I haven’t even been swimming in years,” she protested weakly, as if it would do any good now.
“Your body doesn’t forget. It shouldn’t take you very long to get back into it. This week, I want you to go to the pool, swim for a bit, maybe talk to some people, if you want. Then, I want you to tell me about it next time we meet.”
“Okay,” Annie found herself agreeing. “Fine. I’ll give it a try.”
He gave her an assuring smile, crinkling at the corners of his eyes. “Good. Until next week, Annie.”
“Well, I think it’s a good idea,” her roommate, Johanna, said. “Who knows, maybe you’ll meet someone and you can finally get laid.”
“Johanna,” Annie rolled her eyes and tried to ignore the rising blush on her cheeks. “I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the point of the assignment.”
“Sure, it was.” Johanna poured herself a cup of morning coffee and turned away from the kitchen counter to face Annie. “Come on, when’s the last time you’ve had sex? Or even kissed someone? You need to loosen up. Hell, even your doctor knows it.”
“If he wanted me to loosen up, he wouldn’t have told me to go to a swimming pool. Not exactly the sexiest location, is it?”
She could just imagine the sharp smell of chlorine and shuddered at the thought of even thinking about sex there.
“I don’t know. A bunch of half-clothed athletes in one area,” Johanna smirked and took a sip of her scalding coffee. “You could do worse.”
Annie sighed, sensing that arguing with Johanna was pointless. “Alright, well, enough of that. Are you doing anything tonight?”
Johanna shrugged. “Don’t know. Maybe I’ll go out with Katniss tonight. She could use some fun, too. Why, you want to come?”
“No, I have a paper to write,” Annie responded, internally grateful for the excuse. Clubs and partying had never really been her scene, anyway. “Maybe next time, though.”
Johanna laughed, clearly seeing through it. “Sure, Cresta. Have fun at the pool.” She finished her coffee and grabbed her purse on her way out the door, leaving Annie alone in the apartment.
She glanced around the room, searching for anything to do to occupy her time. Johanna’s discarded coffee mug still sat on the counter, so Annie took her time carefully rinsing it out.
Eventually, though, her patience wore thin and she packed a bag to go to the pool. Ignoring the flashes of panic that made her want to run back home, Annie made the quick walk to the pool. She hadn’t ever gone before; not that it would make the experience any less daunting if she had.
For a university pool, Annie observed, it really wasn’t too bad. The stench of chlorine was prominent and so very different from the smell of saltwater from home.
Going to college in the midwest hadn’t exactly been on Annie’s plan for her future, but it worked out okay. She was a psychology major, and her school had one of the top psychology programs in the country.
Even if she was landlocked on all sides without an ocean in sight, and she had to use their community pool.
It was still early, leaving the pool relatively empty, to Annie’s relief. Her nerves abated, if only slightly. There were only a few people swimming laps as far as she could see, which helped ease the tightness in her chest. She tried to ignore the feeling that everyone was watching her.
Which was absurd, of course. Nobody noticed her.
Although she hadn’t been properly swimming since starting college, her body remembered the motions. Her strokes cut cleanly through the water, and she soon forgot that anyone else was occupying the pool at all. It wasn’t anything like swimming in the ocean, but all things considered, it wasn’t half bad.
Annie still had two hours before her first class that day, giving her plenty of time to swim. If she was lucky, she wouldn’t have to talk to a single person.
After swimming possibly more laps than she should have, she pulled herself out of the water to catch her breath on the edge of the pool. The pain of exertion was a familiar one, and Annie almost wanted to laugh at how natural swimming had felt.
“Hey, I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.”
Her breath caught in her throat at the sudden interruption. It was a male voice addressing her, and whoever he was sat down to join her at the edge of the pool. Heart racing, Annie said nothing.
“I’m Finnick Odair,” he offered her a charming smile. Annie took a moment to survey her new companion.
Bronze hair, tanned skin, and unbelievably green eyes, Finnick Odair was undeniably pretty. He was popular and well-liked, and he had a sort of notoriety on campus for hooking up with girls and leaving shortly after. Finnick was something of a celebrity on campus, being on the swim team.
And, in all honesty, Annie found him to be mildly annoying.
“Annie Cresta,” she responded to his introduction.
“Well, Annie Cresta, what’s a pretty girl like you doing alone in the pool at 9 in the morning?” he asked as he flashed another flirtatious smile.
“9 in the morning?” she echoed dumbly, the words registering a moment later. “I have class in 30 minutes!”
Annie stood up and hastily reached for her towel, drying off her body as quickly as she could. Her brown hair was still wet so she tied it up into a bun, hoping it didn’t look too ridiculous.
“Need some help?” Finnick asked, observing her with a slight smile. “Where’s your class? I could give you a ride.”
Under normal circumstances, she would have denied his offer out of both fear and politeness, but Annie didn’t consider these to be normal circumstances. “Sure, okay,” she muttered distractedly, because the walk took fifteen minutes and she was running late enough already.
“Great,” Finnick smiled and helped her gather the rest of her stuff. She told him the address and he got her there with five minutes to spare.
“Thank you,” Annie said, slightly flustered. She probably looked idiotic now.
“It’s no problem,” he smiled back.
Perhaps Finnick Odair wasn’t as annoying as she initially thought.
“You talked to Finnick Odair?” Johanna spoke a little too loudly and Annie winced.
She picked at her salad halfheartedly before answering. “Yeah, I was running late to class and he gave me a ride so I wouldn’t have to walk.”
“See, I told you that you’d meet someone,” Johanna said with a satisfied smile. It had been her idea to get lunch and get an update on Annie’s outing to the pool.
“It’s not like that. We’re not even friends. We barely talked.”
Johanna shrugged. “Well, he wouldn’t have offered you a ride if he didn’t like you.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Annie said, staring intently at a piece of lettuce. “I don’t like him.”
“Your face says otherwise.”
She felt her face heat up but kept eating. Really, she could hardly say that she liked Finnick. She barely even knew him, after all. How could you like someone you didn’t even know?
“Hey, it’s not a bad thing. He’s hot, he gave you a ride, you’re allowed to like him,” Johanna said. “Besides, you could use someone like Finnick Odair.”
“What does that mean?” Annie asked, trying not to feel offended.
“Just that you need someone to brighten your life up,” Johanna said simply.
So maybe that wasn’t entirely false. But even so, that person who brightened her life up wasn’t going to be Finnick Odair.
Annie sighed and looked up. “He’s not my type. He’s annoying and arrogant and I don’t like him, alright?”
“Sure,” Johanna said, unconvinced. “Whatever you say.”
Despite the fact that she ran the risk of seeing Finnick again, Annie went back to the pool. Although she had to deal with the anxiety, it was nice to be able to swim whenever she wanted. What did it matter if she ended up seeing some boy there?
“Annie!” Finnick’s voice called out from behind her. So much for hoping. “You came back.”
“I wanted to swim,” she replied coolly.
Finnick nodded and laughed softly. “Yeah, I figured. We are at a pool. Mind if I swim with you?”
Actually, she did mind. Annie didn’t like when other people watched her exercise, especially when it was someone as athletic as Finnick. He could see that she was uncertain.
“You owe me, remember? I gave you a ride the other day.” A beat of silence stretched between them. “Hey, it’ll only be a few minutes. Give it ten minutes, and if you still don’t want me there, I’ll leave. Deal?”
“Okay,” Annie agreed, because it seemed to be the easiest course of action.
Predictably, Finnick was an amazing swimmer. Somehow, though, Annie didn’t feel entirely out of place next to his perfect technique. It almost felt comfortable, swimming with him.
“You’re a good swimmer,” he said when they had finished over an hour later. “Sure you’re new to this?”
“I’m not new, actually,” she replied as she dried herself off. “I grew up on the ocean. In California.”
“Really? I grew up in Florida, near the coast, too.”
She caught herself smiling, and understanding for the first time why so many women fell for his charm. “The pool’s nice, but it’s nothing like the ocean.”
Finnick nodded in agreement, and she caught a hint of wistfulness in his expression. “I have to agree with that. You’re really easy to talk to, Annie.”
Annie paused and looked up. Nobody had ever said that about her before, and she wasn’t sure how to respond. “Well, you’re the first to say so.”
“How about we go get a coffee tomorrow?” Finnick asked abruptly. “Here, I’ll give you my number.”
Taken aback, she waited for the familiar twinge of anxiety to come so she could decline. For someone supposedly so smooth with words, that had come out of nowhere. But Finnick was looking at her so hopefully that she couldn’t help but say, “Okay. Yeah, coffee sounds good.”
She could just hear Johanna’s I told you so in her head.
His smile made it all worth it. “I’ll text you the details. See you tomorrow, Annie.”
“See you tomorrow,” she echoed back softly, wondering what she had just gotten herself into.