I see Gale from across the yard at school. He must have been staring at me for a while because when we finally make eye contact he reaches up and scratches the back of his head. Our signal. He wants me to meet him later. I nod my head very slightly, enough that no one but him would notice it. One corner of his mouth rises slightly and he turns away from me and back to his lunch. We used to only see each other a couple times a month but since Katniss has left district twelve to go to the games he has been giving me the signal almost every day. I guess he just wants a distraction. That's okay, so do I.
—-
I meet him in the dark, he waits a block down from my house for me to come out. This started when I was 14 and he was 16. I had always thought he hated me and he eventually admitted that he had, because I was born into "a nice rich life", but if Katniss was friends with me then I obviously had some redeemable qualities. It took me a while to get used to Gale, he was unlike anyone I had ever met, the way he would do anything to protect the people he loves.
I am walking on the street on my way to our usual meeting spot when a hand grabs me and pulls me into an alley. I whip around in a panic but then I see Gale's smile in the night and I match his with one of my own. "What are you doing?" I ask, wondering why he is here instead of our usual spot.
"I got tired of waiting for you." He responds. I stand on my tippy toes and throw my arms around his neck to pull him down so our lips are level before kissing him. The kissing is new, it started shortly before Katniss left. One day we were sitting in the park during the night and all of a sudden he just kissed me.
"Madge" Gale says when we pull away, "Do you, I mean would you, be interested in seeing the forest?"
I gasp. The forest is something he and Katniss share. I am surprised that he would want me to show it to me. "I would love that." I say to him and I mean it. It is a huge part of Gale's life that I have never seen before.
—-
We agreed to meet on the next Sunday. He said I had to meet him behind an old building where there was a hole in the fence that we could enter through with a low risk of being seen by people passing by.
When I get to the fence he is already there. "Are you ready?" he asks me and in a low voice and I nod. I have never done anything like this before, I'm not the kind to break a lot of rules.
"Don't be nervous." he says noticing my facial expression, "We won't get caught. I've never been caught before." He pushes the fence out of his was and climbs through the opening, when he is on the other side he holds the piece of fence so that the opening is wider for me to go through as well.
Once I get through he drops the fence back into place and takes me hand. We take a few steps and quickly disappear into the trees. There is a meadow near here somewhere but we must not be in the right place because where we are is heavily wooded.
Gale turns around and pushes me against a tree, kissing me. I tangle my hands in his hair. He pulls away his grey eyes meeting my blue ones and he smiles but its a pained smile "I've only ever been in the forest with one other person before." He says and I nod, knowing he is talking about Katniss. "Its been really lonely around here since she left. Come on, let me show you around." He says and stretches his hand out to me. I put my hand in his and we walk deeper into the forest. He doesn't have to be alone anymore.