A/N. I just got THG today, and I must admit. Gale is love. So… why not create a story about… his little brother (Cale, he's totally my character. Hehe) ? Weird, I know. But come on. You'll love it. So… Review!
BTW. Kierra's POV in this is extremely short. I think you need to get to know her more. She an angelic type, but with sass. She's also loud and bubbly, not in this chapter, but in chapters to come! She has gone through a lot though, so she is a little angry. And maybe a little depressed? No. Cale is more quiet and thoughtful, but rebellious. Like a little Gale! :] Handsome, smart, talented. Yup. That's Gale! (And Cale.)
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Cale's POV
It had been a year since the last Hunger Games. Almost a year, actually. Just two weeks away from the Reaping.
My brother, Gale, was now too old to be a contender. However, at 15 years old, I wasn't. And my name was now in the large, glass bowl twenty two times. He used to take all of the slips, for our tessarae. But now my other brother and I must share the forty two slips and counting. Gale was out hunting for food, preparing for the Reaping.
My brother, who was sixteen, Atlan was lounging about. Unlike my brother and I, whom were the most sought after in the District (not to brag…) Atlan was… grungy. He didn't do anything at all, and just laid around.
Not really at all what the girls around here wanted.
"Hey… Cale? Yeah. That Kierry girl isn't gonna like you if you stare off into space like that." He snickers. I laugh inwardly at the irony.
"Of course. Because Kierr-a would go for you, huh?"
"Yeah. But she's two years younger. I prefer to go for the older women."
"Okay. Anyways, Katniss was two years younger than Gale."
"Look where that got them." Silence fell upon the two of us. Katniss and Gale were best friends. Then… Katniss went to the Hunger Games. She and a boy from District 12 fell in 'love' on the show. However, Gale really did love her. And it broke his heart. It was complicated, and it still continues. She and Peeta are not together anymore due to the complications.
Could it really turn out like that with me and Kierra? I shake my head. She wouldn't even go for a guy like me. She's too pretty. She came from District Three, which is known widely for the beautiful people that live there.
"Whatever." Atlan's low voice croaked out.
"Yeah. I'm going out. Today's Gale's day to hunt… but I'll go sell some of the stuff I caught." I grab a burlap sack filled with my catches from yesterday. Just a few plump squirrels and a rare find- a nice baby bear. That should get me tons.
"The hob?"
"Uh huh."
"Tell your girlfriend I say hi." Atlan sneered and turned back to the T.V. Lucky him, it always worked when he wanted it to.
"She's- not my girlfriend. We're friends. Just because you can't get a girlfriend doesn't mean you can trash talk my best friend. Who happens to be a girl."
"Oh yeah. Okay." He examined his left hand carefully, as if to make me seem unimportant. I shove my worn brown boots on and slam the door as I exit.
How dare he? He knows Kierra. They used to be friends. We all used to be friends. Me, Gale, Katniss, Atlan, Kierra. But the Hunger Games changed everything. Everyone was so relieved that the Capitol announced they might shut off the Hunger Games. But did they?
No. And now Kierra, Atlan, and I are all eligible to go that huge Arena and die. And Katniss and Peeta Melark are on the run from the Capitol.
Kierra and I met a long time ago. Well, it seems like a long time. It actually was two years ago. I was fourteen, she was thirteen.
-Flashback-
The smell of new books, pencils, and paper lining the wooden shelves of the High School of District 12's Square is almost tangible. Kids are running around, trying to get the last bit of fun in before the teachers can ruin it. The freshmen, like me, are getting situated, looking around for familiar faces.
I stand with my brothers, and their friend, Katniss Everdeen. Girls stare in the halls, whispering to each other. Atlan and Gale talk about the upcoming Hunger Games. Katniss stares at a locker.
And then the talk starts. Gale mentions a new girl in town. Some girl from District 2 or maybe even 3. Either way, she's bound to be loaded with money. And most likely stuck up. I trace the pattern of wood paneling on the school's outer walls absentmindedly, not paying any attention to the conversation my brothers are talking about.
Katniss stares at me.
"Don't you want to know more about her?" She asks, tilting her head in an ever so slight way, that makes me blush.
"No." Why can't I ever conjure up anything more than that when I'm near Katniss?
"Why? You might like her."
"I already like someone." Great. Just admit to her you like her.
"Oh." She nods, smiling as if she understands. She turns to Gale. Gale.
"Let's go to class." She looks up at his and he nods, turning to say bye to me. Atlan joins them and Gale and Katniss join hands.
When did they ever join hands? Suddenly, the whole hall goes quiet. And I turn to look with them all.
And I gasp. Because coming down the hall, is nothing more than an angel. Well. Not really. But this girl looks like one. She has dark, straight hair, and pale skin, with dark black eyes. She looks like Katniss, only much prettier.
Why is she coming towards me? Her eyes dart hesitantly between me and the small slip of paper in her small hands.
I'll never forget the first words she said to me.
"I think this is my locker." Her voice echoes throughout the halls, filling it with a pure melodic sound. Unconsciously, I move out of the way without a response. She smiles and whispers a 'thank you.' I merely nod.
I can't talk, really. My stomach's in knots and my brain hurts from trying to conjure up a simple sentence. She looks as if she's trying to figure things out here. They most definitely aren't cushy like they were in District 3.
"Do you know where Class Twenty B is?" She scratches her head, and her hair flounces up and down.
I can't answer. Could I even move? I try. I nod.
"Uhm… thanks. Maybe you could walk me?" Her sweet voice floats down the halls, while girls and boys alike still watched, stunned.
She grabbed my hand, and she blushes. I walk stiffly with her all the way to class. We sit next to each other.
And then it was the introduction time. The time which new people to the school have to come up and introduce themselves. Since District 12 never had new people, this ritual was extremely pointless. But I was interested to hear her story.
This girl… who was sitting next to me. I didn't even know her name. Then, quite suddenly, she stood up.
"My name is Kierra Tyn. I'm from District 3. I left because I got kicked out." She sat down, and instantly the room was filled with murmurs. I nudg her in the ribs, only gently.
"They kicked you out?" I realize this was the first real thing I said to her.
"Yes. They didn't want me anymore." She stares ahead, fiddling with her long hair.
That shut me up. But who wouldn't want her? I held my hand out to her, and she smiled. She hesitantly put her hand out, and wrapped two fingers around my hand.
-Flashback End-
"Cale!" I heard a sweet voice ring through the Square. I turn around to see a girl with long black pigtails approach me. I smiled.
"Hey Kierra." She approaches me with a scowl on her face. I give her a smile.
"Cale. The Hunger Games are coming up."
"So?"
"We gotta get all prepped and stuff." She sat on the cold pavement, not caring that her blue skirt might get ruined. I sat down next to her.
"Why?"
"I don't know. I just wanna." She stared up at the sky.
I roll my eyes and rub my neck, something I do a lot.
"You know, just in case." She laughs, and looks over to the Hob. "You here to trade?" I nod. She turns around, just in time to see my older brother Gale approach, holding a deer and a few squirells. Looks like he hit it big.
"Gale!" She smiles brightly at him, as he wanders over to where we sat.
"Kierra." He nodded, as she hugs him. She had confessed to me over again that she liked my older brother. If you as me, he and I look alike. I'm just younger.
"Hey." I said, not looking up at him. He pat me on the head and laughs.
"Wanna go get some bread? We can trade our stuff." I nod.
"Yeah." I got up from where I sat and brush off dirt from my pants. Gale looks at Kierra and furrows his eyebrows.
"You wanna come?" She ponders this for a moment, then shakes her head.
"No. I'm pretty sure my dad wants me home." Mentioning her dad, she pauses. She knows Gale isn't fond of the richer people. And she is one of those people. "I'll just leave. Uhm…" she hesitates and looks at me. "I'll see you later."
She waves, and slowly pulls her two braids out, letting her hair cascade down her back. I watch it flounce up and down until she's out of sight.
"Cale." Gale's deep, booming voice wakes me from my trance.
"Yeah?"
"Come on. We gotta go." He tugged my arm and I sighed.
"Okay." As we wandered down the path to the hob, I wondered if I should, just in case if I did get picked, I should train for the Hunger Games.
"Gale?" He turned to look at me.
"Yuh huh?"
"Could you show me how to hunt?" He smiled.
"You know all the things I know."
"Then could you teach Kierra?" He looks confused.
"Why?"
"Because she's worried she's going to get picked for the Hunger Games." At the mere mention of the Hunger Games, Gale's face darkens. He sighs, walks along, and kicks at small rocks on the edge of the pathway.
"I suppose. But she has a small chance of going."
"Primrose was picked."
"Yeah. But Katniss went." His face contorted into a mask of pain, and he sighed. Katniss was the girl he loved who went to the Hunger Games. And then she fell for the bakers son, Peeta Melark. The boy with the bread. We were silent for the rest of the trip. We traded in the squirrels for a nice load of bread. From the new baker.
Peeta's family didn't need the money anymore. They were free to live in prosperity.
Carrying a slightly stale piece of bread in one hand, and a small basket of biscuits in the other, Gale looked towards the sky.
"I'll do it." I smiled at him in thanks. "I don't want her to die. I love her." He said. I felt a pang in my chest. Did he like her too? The way she liked him? He blushed violently, and said, "Not like that."
I sighed a silent sigh of relief. Why did I feel so protective of her?
-Kierra's POV-
It was nearing the Reaping. Four days away. And counting. For all the training in the world with Cale and Gale, I still wouldn't feel secure in competing. I was still a skinny stick, only a thing to be looked at.
People always think I'm too delicate to be touched. Bony wire on a porcelain frame, with pale skin and a glowing undertone. Made of china, put high on a pedestal. People don't know, however, that for the last few weeks, I have been training. Alone and with Gale and Cale.