The girl on fire, or was she? She despised the person she was now and hated herself even more for choosing Gale over Peeta and destroying their friendship. Sometimes she still repeated the words over and over again in her head: "You love me, real or not real?" "Real." He would reply, always. But not anymore.
"Hey," Gale said, locking eyes with Katniss.
"Hi." Katniss replied, her ghost voice lower than a whisper.
"What's up? You look down." He could see right through her as she lied through the skin of her teeth.
"Nothing, just tired. When are we going hunting again?" Quickly trying to change the subject. Gale was the last person she would tell about her still being desperately in love with Peeta.
"Maybe in a couple of hours, I have work to sort out at home. Oh, and remember, whenever you want to talk about your situation I'll be here." He said.
"Sure. And thank you, for everything." She replied, not quite meeting his eyes.
As he left, she knew what she did was wrong. Peeta was her rock, she was nothing without him. She fought for him and the star crossed lovers from District 12 were separated, all because of her. All because of Gale. She had to stay strong, just as she told her mother to not cry as she left for the games. She would stay strong; for Prim, for her people, for Peeta. No matter what it took.