That summer, Gale was happier than he thought possible in his drab little District. He detested the notion of being constantly enclosed in such a small space, as it reminded him of the crushing black oblivion of District 12's coal mines, in which his father had perished only 4 years ago. Although, being the smallest and poorest District in the country did have its advantages. It meant that every day after school, and all day on Saturday and Sunday, Gale could be alone in the woods with his best friend and the love of his life, Katniss Everdeen. They had been best friends for almost 4 years now, they understood each other. Katniss' father was is the explosion that killed Gale's father, so they could empathise with each other. Their relationship was the perfect friendship. When they went hunting in the woods, they didn't need to talk; they were not 2 separate beings, but one unstoppable hunter. They had learned to survive because they had to, life threw them into an inescapable situation; either they taught each other what they knew, learned to work together, and share the spoils of the kills, or they, and their families would starve and die. Within this time of two of them working together, something happened that neither one of them had expected: they became friends. The hard and dangerous task of illegally hunting in the woods surrounding District 12 became almost fun and enjoyable, but the real joy for Gale was seeing Katniss every day. As their friendship grew, his infatuation with her never ceased, it too, kept growing. Soon enough they had been best friends for almost four years, but a dark time was about to come to pass. During the summer before Gale's 19th birthday, it was almost time for the reaping. This year, his name was to be entered 42 times, and Katniss' 20. He was positive that this year, it was to be his name drawn from the dreaded reaping ball, and he would have to leave Katniss and his family to fend for themselves. On the day of the reaping, he and Katniss met up earlier than usual to go to the Meadow, on the outskirts of the woods and pick strawberries for the Mayor, knowing that he had a keen fondness for them. Whilst silently picking the vibrant rouge strawberries from amongst the grass, Katniss said to Gale, "You know, I think Madge likes you." Gale would be lying if he said that he'd never noticed the angelic face, and heavenly blonde ringlet curls that belong to Madge Undersee, the Mayor's daughter. Although Gale was adamant in the fact that Katniss was oblivious to his love for her, he pretended that he had forgotten completely of Madge's existence, when in fact, he hadn't. If not for Katniss, Gale would be a drooling fool for Madge Undersee. His lie was more to convince himself of his devotion to Katniss, than her, I think.
"Who's Madge?" Gale retorted with a false sense of confusion. Katniss looked slightly horrified at this, although Gale had no idea why. Her reaction shocked him to his core, he started think too much, about how he's overdone it, how Katniss has figured out his secret love for her, how she'll knock him back and nothing will ever be the same again. Instead of saying any of this, Katniss just gave a light hearted giggle and said with the smile that only Gale can bring out of her:
"You know… the Mayor's daughter? The one we see every Sunday? The one that likes you?" Gale probably would have been annoyed at that last remark, if he was paying any attention to what Katniss was saying; he was just lost in her ruby lips, and her perfectly formed smile. He was snapped out of this trance when Katniss asked "What's the matter with you today? You're acting strange."
"Just reaping nerves, I guess. I can't stop thinking about what's going to happen to my family if I get reaped." He lied. In fact, it was Katniss that never left his thoughts. If he died in The Games, would she cry? Would she be as distraught as he would be if she were to die in The Games? I doubt it, he thought. She'll probably just move on to someone else with half a brain and the ability to trap a damn squirrel. "You nervous about Prim?" Gale asked.
"No, it's her first year, her name's only been in there once, they're not going to pick her. In all honesty, it's you I'm worried about. If you go, who's going to be my hunting partner?" She said while leaning over to him to give him a half-hearted hug. His heart started beating 1000 beats per minute; he thought he was going to pass out from joy! To calm himself, from his homemade leather satchel he pulled a large white loaf of bread with an arrow pierced through its centre, and handed it to a quizzical looking Katniss. "Look what I caught!" He bellowed out in a strange, but humorous voice, scaring off any lurking predator within a 10 mile radius! For Gale, making Katniss laugh was likened to the sensation of finding money on the ground, it happens rarely, but when it does, he felt on top of the world! She pulled out the arrow, and quickly stuffed the loaf up against her nose, taking in the wondrous aroma of baker's bread. She tore it in half, giving half to Gale, and before it even had a chance to go cold, she had eaten the whole half! Being full was a strange sensation to Katniss, because although her family didn't border on starvation every meal time any more, it was very rare that she'd get the opportunity to eat haplessly. She let out a huge belch, bringing a slight smile in the corners of Gale's mouth. "Happy Hunger Games!" She shouted in a Capitol accent, and Gale, still chewing his bread, swallowed hastily and shrieked out in equal verve: "And may the odds be ever in your favour!"
After their hearty breakfast, Katniss and Gale made the one and a half hour trek from where they ate breakfast to the hole in the fence at the edge of District 12, hardly anything was said during this time, as the fear of the Reaping had begun to set in on them both. By the time they had gotten back to District 12, it was 11am, and the sun was well on its way to the 12 o'clock peak. First they hit The Hob. It's usually busier on Reaping Days, as it's where all the people with a bit of money to spare bet on who they think will be Reaped for the 74th time. Despite his favourable odds, the people of The Hob know Gale well enough to not bet on him… at least, not to his knowledge. Gale and Katniss went stall to stall, buying and selling whatever they saw fit, although they might get a better price somewhere else, they always buy some meat from Greasy Sae, one of the Hob's many meat vendors, as she is the only one who can be counted upon to buy wild dog, and when Gale's having an off day, he'd much rather come home with wild dog than come home empty handed! Once the Hob trading was done, they had only the strawberries remaining, so they began to walk to the home of Mayor Undersee, as he would pay ridiculous amounts for small quantities of strawberries, but because both Katniss and Gale are friendly towards Madge, they try not to rip him off too much, but after all, money is money, no matter where it comes from! When they arrived at the huge white front door of the Mayor's house, Gale carefully placed the basket of strawberries down next to his feet, not so close that he might step on them by accident, as he did one time, and rapped his large, heavy knuckles against the fair white paint on the door. After about 20 seconds of silent awkwardness, Madge came to the door, when she opened it, and Gale saw her for the first time in a month, his expression said that he's just been hit in the face by a brick. Madge's reaping outfit was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, it was a beautiful satin dress, flowing right down to her knees. It was pure white, except for some beautifully stitched flowers that reflected District 12's Meadow in summertime, roses of red, the deep magenta of a violet, and the pulsating bright yellow of a field of clover. She was also wearing the most beautiful pin he'd ever laid eyes on! It was a pure gold circle, about an inch and a half in diameter, containing a mockingjay in flight, holding an arrow in its mouth. The sunlight glinting of the top of the mockingjay's right wing caught Gale's eye, and for the first time in his life, he was completely dumbstruck by someone's beauty. It isn't that he didn't find Katniss beautiful; on the contrary, he believed her face to be one of the most alluring in the entire country! It took an unsubtle, solid nudge from Katniss just to get him to stop staring long enough to pick up the damn strawberries! He silently handed Madge the basket, making sure that he had spread his fingers wide enough that wherever she gained a grip on the basket from, she'd have no choice but to touch his hand. Gale has always been this way however, whether it be on the hunt, in the hob, or with girls, he could instantly weave inescapable plans, so that his prey, whoever it may be, would fall right into his will. Sure enough, his plan succeeded admirably, but not in the way he expected. Instead of taking the basket from him directly, Madge made a long, soft stroke, all the way from Gale's strong elbow, past his rippling biceps, to his rugged, capable hands. Katniss was too busy admiring the vast, empty halls of Madge's house to notice anything, but Gale felt everything. Not just the touch, but what it meant. As a return gesture, in his own way of informing Madge of how he feels, he carefully placed the basket in her small, yet eager hands, ensuring that he felt her soft, dreamy skin for as long as he could without Katniss noticing. When Katniss snapped out of her spacey daydream, Gale and Madge parted hands faster than is visible to the naked eye. Clearly craving Gale's gentle touch more, Madge said in a soft and innocent voice,
"I think my father's change jar is on top of the lower living room cabinets, but I can't reach it… Gale, could you come help me please?" An obvious lie, but Katniss was too bewildered by the fact that Madge had more than 1 living room to notice anything. As Gale and Madge stepped inside, with almost perfect timing, Madge's mother shouted from upstairs,
"Madge dear, could you please close the front door; it's getting ever so draughty up here!"
"Sure mother!" Madge replied, "We'll not be a minute Katniss!" claimed Madge, as she shut the front door. Without moving so much as inch, Madge grabbed hold of Gale's shoulder, pulled him down to eye level and set loose her lips upon his, as if they were a pair of wild animals, feeding on the sweet meat they've been denied for years. Thoroughly shocked, Gale pushed Madge away from him, only to see her edge her way back into his arms. Without a second's hesitation, he placed his huge hands on Madge's soft, pink, face and thrust his lips onto hers, embracing her with all the passion he's been harbouring for years. Gale began to slide his hands down her face, gently stroking her neck with his rough, yet delicate hands. They eventually made their way to the small of her back, pressing hard on her lily white skin, and were about to make their way south to caress the gentle area below her back, when the sound of Madge's father coming down the elegantly spiralled staircase, which ascended right up to the attic, forced them to break each other from their sweet embrace. Mr. Undersee, catching sight of Gale so close to his daughter wrinkled his brow, but then his beady eyes locked on to the basket of strawberries, and he hastily rushed down the remaining 20 steps, and subsequently welcomed Gale into his home with honour. Once he had given Mr. Undersee the strawberries, there was no excuse he could employ that would allow him to stay any longer, as he had already kept Katniss waiting a whole 10 minutes! Thinking now only of Katniss, he rushed outside the door before Madge could even say goodbye to him! Closing the door with a mighty slam, he began to power walk away from the entire ordeal, leaving Katniss trailing behind, having to jog just to keep up with him!
"What happened? Did you get the money?" She barked. In answer, he threw half of the money the Mayor gave him towards Katniss, intending for the majority of it to fall to the floor, allowing him to escape, however, unfortunately for Gale, every coin flew right into her grasp, allowing her to catch up to Gale and slow him down. When she eventually got him to stop, they had wandering into the Victor's village, and as it always is when District 12's only victor isn't around disrupting the peacefulness of it all, it was completely empty. She virtually wrestled him down to a seat on a wide wooden bench, although he could have easily resisted if he tried, looked him straight in the eyes, although to say his were wandering would be an understatement, and said, "What is the matter with you?!" He took in one huge deep breath, as he usually does to start of his gargantuan rants, and simply said,
"It's not right. Just none of it… It's all completely messed up."
"What are you talking about?!" Katniss screamed at him in rage, clearly befuddled over the entire situation.
"Why does she even bother to get dressed up like that for the reaping? It's not like she's going to get picked!" Before Katniss had a chance to reply, he screamed in frustration, and heavily stomped on the ground, causing one of the paving slabs to crack and crumble. "Think about it, in all the 73 years of The Games, in all of the Districts, has the son or daughter of a Mayor EVER been chosen?" Gale cried out. Katniss whimpered, "Well… no, but…"
"BUT NOTHING! Madge knows God damn well she won't get reaped, and she's rubbing it in our faces!" Gale roared, louder than Katniss had ever heard him before. As Katniss was beginning to consider this point, the huge bell clock that towered over District 12 chimed out, ferocious and booming, 13 times, indicating to everyone that there was only 1 short hour left before the Reaping begins.
Gale didn't even get changed; he stayed in his hunting clothes. He simply closed his eyes, laid on his bed on the floor, and thought about the kiss for the entire hour. He remembered dashing away from Madge without an explanation, or even so much as a goodbye. He loved Katniss, that's it, no one else. He liked Madge a lot, but it would never compare to the way he feels for Katniss. If he carried on kissing Madge, then she'd get the exact impression that Gale didn't want her to get, it was for her own benefit! All too soon, the bell chimed for 2pm, and the Hawthorne family, the Everdeen family, and every other family in District 12 begrudgingly shuffled their way to the town centre. After, what seemed like days, of pointless speeches, idiotic videos and moronic letters, Effie Trinket finally stuffed her powder white hand into the female Reaping ball and pulls out a single name. Gale was hoping for it to be Madge, so this entire ugly situation goes away, but it wasn't. It was Primrose Everdeen.
Upon hearing the name, Gale knew automatically what Katniss' reaction was going to be, and he also knew that he could spend all the time in the world trying to convince her not to do it, but nothing would stop her from taking her little sister's place. Gale had no choice but to stand helplessly while his life crumbled and cracked like the paving stone he stomped earlier. The Capitol was the boot, and it had just left a giant crack in his life. When he heard Prim's refusal to leave, Gale dashed to her, picked her up on his shoulder, and solemnly carried her back to her mother. He could feel Prim's tears soaking into the pale fabric of his shirt, and to hide the fact the he too was crying, he lifted up the tiny weeping girl to his chest, and held her in his arms, resting his head on her shoulder, as she her was, his. When Peeta Mellark's name was called out, Gale received a sudden rush of testosterone, and almost screamed out the words "I volunteer!" to the entire District, but no, he could never be that selfish. Although he would do anything to save the girl he loves, risking the possibility of not only his family, but Katniss' family as well was not just anything. If they were both to die in The Games, the chances of their families surviving would be nominal at best. Once again, he was forced to stay silent as his world continued to crumble under his feet. All he could do is stay still, look down, and hope Katniss doesn't notice the tears running down his cheeks. When the time came, his one final chance to tell Katniss everything he feels for her, he said nothing. He simply lectured her on the importance of getting a bow. He couldn't even bring himself to tell Katniss that he loves her, before she goes off into The Games, likely never to see her again.
The following days were the lowest Gale has ever been. 2 days after the Reaping it was his birthday, but he didn't celebrate, he simply went into the woods, and took out his anger on any poor game unlucky enough to cross his path. It meant that in exactly one week he would be required to start work in the mines, a place he's dreaded since his father's death. After another 2 days of fruitless hunting, it was time for The Games to Begin. He watched every single second, even though he was entirely confident that Katniss would last at least the first day! It was 7pm, and Katniss was safely nestled in a tree, mindfully scouting for any predators or any animals worthy of the effort it would take to kill them, and seeing as nothing exciting was happening, the Capitol would only show her for a few minutes every hour, so Gale decided to give himself a break for once. Then something happened that he didn't expect, there was a knock on the door, and when he opened it, to his surprise it was Madge!
"I just wanted to say how sorry I am about Katniss; I know how close you are….were…" She whispered. "Are." Gale corrected sternly. "I'm sorry… I just want you to know, whenever you need something… I'm always here, you know?" Replied Madge in an innocent, apologetic tone. She impulsively wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and held her body close to his, and as much as Gale hated to admit to himself, it's the most comforted he had felt in days, so instead of retracting, he simply closed his eyes and returned the hug, wrapping his long arms around her petite body. For a moment they just stood there, as if time had frozen, and all that was in existence was him, her, and the heavenly scent of roses emanating from her hair. As they began to loosen off each other, instead of letting go completely, they remained clutching each other, each staring down in to the bright blue eyes of the other, then as if rehearsed, they both closed their eyes and slowly leaned in towards one another, until the sensation of Madge's cherry lips was present against Gale's. For the first time since Katniss was reaped, she was not occupying his thoughts, as he could only think of Madge's sweet lips against his own. Suddenly aware that his family were eating dinner only in the next room, he gently took Madge by the hand and led her out the door. They walked hand in hand for about 40 minutes until they finally reached The Meadow on the edge of the District. They walked into a large patch of evening primrose, careful not to step on too much, then Gale slowly laid Madge down on her back and lay besides her, looking up at the night sky that had developed on the journey here. The bright white stars looked so alive against the black that Gale thought to himself "If only Katniss was looking at the stars right now, she'd know I was thinking of her." He was so lost in the contrast of the sky that when Madge lightly brushed his knuckles with her lips, he jumped a little.
"What's the matter loverboy? Never kissed a girl before?" Madge said cheekily with a slight wink. "I could have kissed all of District 12, but none would have compared to one of yours." Gale replied, as Madge blushed. Upon seeing her rosy cheeks light up, he rolled on top of her, putting one arm either side of her head, and slowly lowered himself down until his lips brushed her forehead. Suddenly Madge pulled him back to the ground with a quick pull, they now lay side by side facing each other, as Madge runs her hands all over Gale's well formed 6 pack. He just gave the slightest of smiles and thought to himself…
"If you can't be with the one you love… love the one you're with."