27 minutes. 27 minutes I've been talking to the same guy I just met, but it feels like I've known him for years. I smile when I look into his blue eyes. I'm not good at making friends, I don't even know how to socialize without being mean to people. I'm so deep into my thoughts that I don't hear Chad speaking: 'Prim?'. I wake up and shake my head, asking him what's wrong.
He doesn't gives the answer immediately. He gets his hand trough his hair. 'I-' he stutters. 'I asked you if you'd like to come over for dinner at my house.' he says while looking at the ground, like he was affraid to ask it. Why would he be? You can't fall in love in 27 minutes, that's not even possible.
I shake my head. 'No...' I say, trying to sound angry. I see him nodding dissapointed. 'I don't think I'd like to,' I say. 'I'd love to.' His face clears up. And then we both laugh. It's been a while since I last laughed. Mom and dad has been fighting over something these days. Yesterday dad slept on the couch, and deep in the night I heard mom cry.
Chad smiles and grabs my hand. What does that means? Is he falling for me? That's not possible. People dislike me, some people just talk to me because my parents saved everybody from the Capitol. They don't really like me, they just like the fact that I'm an Mellark child. But instead of pulling back my hand I simply smile. He smiles too. Please don't think that I'm falling for you, just please... I think before we walk away. I pull my hand back to grab my cellphone. 'Sorry, need to text my brother so they know I'm away for a while.' I say while I think about what the type.
We stop walking so I can type the message. It doesn't takes long, because it's not a long text. "Hey, will be home later. Diner at the Hawthornes. Love, Prim". I send it away and start to walk again. And a few seconds after I putted my cell phone in my pocket Chad grabs my hand again. And I feel my cheeks getting red. We don't talk during the walk. After five minutes we reach his house. The house isn't big, but isn't small too. The walls are white on the outside and it has a red roof. At the edge of the house I see a few packing boxes piled up. He and his family just moved from District 2 to district 12.
After the Capitol has fallen the districts decided to live in harmony, never have war again. They build roads between the districts so you could travel against them. We still produce things, but different now. District 13 built the roads and are still taking care of them. District 11 is taking care of the food. And district 12 has it's own job.
Chad opens the door. 'I'm home' he yells. A man and woman walk down the stairs. When the woman sees me she smiles. 'Is that your girlfriend?' she asks Chad. Chad looks shocked. 'No, mom! She's just a friend... She can stay for diner, right?' he says. The woman nods and shakes my hand. 'I'm Mrs. Hawthorne. But you can just call me Madge, okay?' she says. She has blond hair, that's tied up. She's wearing a white dress with a pink flower pattern on it. The man smiles at me. 'I'm Gale.' he says while giving me a little nod. He looks like he's waiting for something, and I look back, not knowing what to do. '...And you are?' he asks. Well, that was embarrassing. 'I'm sorry.' I say. He laughs. 'Well, hello Sorry'. And then I laugh too. I don't hope they find out I'm faking that laugh. '...I'm Primrose Rue Everdeen.' I say. Madge and Gale look at each other. 'could this be?' Madge asks. Gale shrugs, and asks me if I'm related to Katniss Everdeen. How do they even know my mother? I nod. 'Yes, she's my mom.' I say. And suddenly I realize who I'm talking to. Gale Hawthorne. The best friend of my mother when she was my age is back to town. My stomach hurts when I think about the fact that my parents have been fighting over him a lot. I hate him for that, even if he couldn't help it. "Katniss.. I thought we had finally finished this chapter..." I can still hear my dad yelling it at her. And now I finally understand whre they were fighting over.
Gale nods slowly, 'how is she doing?'. We walk farther in the hall. I open my mouth to tell him that she's fine but before the sound escapes he already asked if he could come over someday. My instinct is telling me to say "no" but instead I slowly nod and smile. I walk to Chad again, not wanting him to ask more questions. I rub over my arms to make the goosebumps go away. 'Cold?' Chad asks me. But I shake my head. It'd be stupid to tell him that it's because of his dad. He's still his dad. Chad smiles at me, and I feel my cheeks get warm. I look at Madge, who's serving the food.
We eat, talk and laugh. And after an hour we're done. I thank Madge and Gale for the diner and open the door. 'Hold it, Primrose!' Chad says while he grabs his jacket. 'I'm taking you home, okay?' he asks. I smile and nod. He grabs my hand and my stomach hurts again. Why is he doing this? Together we walk home, and when I open the door my dad hugs me so tight that it hurts. 'Dad? What's wrong?' I ask. He shakes his head. 'Where were you? We've been worried, Prim!' he says mad. I shrug. 'I texted Finn!' I say while pointing at my brother. He smiles. 'I forgot to tell them?' he says while he grabs his glass of beer. 'Sorry, Prim. Forgot to tell them that you have a boyfriend who's the son of Gale Hawthorne.' he says while taking a sip of his beer. I feel my head turning red again. 'He's not my boyfriend...' I say. My mom walks looks at us. 'G-Gale?' she stutters. Chad nods. '...My father.' he says while looking at the ground. My father nods. 'You look like him.' he sputters. Chad looks guilty at Peeta, like he's apologizing. Did his parents told him about his life when he was a teenager?
Chad gives me a little nod. 'Bye, Prim.' he says before he walks away. When I close the door I look at my father. 'What the hell was that? I heard the way you said it, dad!' I yell at him. I calm down. 'Just don't judge him, okay?' I ask. And before my dad can answer my question I'm already upstairs. I don't want to see what he thought about it.
1:28 at night, and they're still fighting. I walk downstairs, and make sure they can't see me, but I can listen. 'Katniss, did you know what was even worse than being tortured by the Capitol? No? Thinking about the fact I'd never see you again. Time was like a bomb, one fire and your time was over. That thought tortured me my whole life, Katniss! You don't even give a single fuck about me, do you?' Peeta yells at her. Katniss gets up from the couch. 'Not if you act like this!' she yells back. Peeta sighs. 'Why do you have to be such a bitch about it, Katniss? They were right. It was áll for the games. You should have married Gale, and I should have stayed alone forever. Die alone. Live an unhappy life, because that's the only thing I deserve. To be unhappy.' Peeta says. I hear a door slam and my mom bursts out in tears. I slowly walk upstairs again, not making any noise. I fall down on my bed, and then the tears start rolling over my face too. Dad left us, maybe for forever.