Nothing ever good: Maysilee Donner.

Part one in the nothing ever good series, a one-shot about Maysilee Donner and Haymitch Abernanthy.


"Nothing good comes from falling for a Seam boy, surely mother told you that! It's ridiculous, really Maysilee, I mean Haymitch? Really?" Her sister Freya exclaimed, flopping down on her bed in the room she shared with her twin sister. Her eyes darted around the room, the peach colours of the walls, the soft white curtains and the small amount of clutter that came with two teenage girls living in the same room.

"I don't expect anything to come of it you know, but you've got to admit he is pretty easy on the eyes." Maysilee laughed, trying to forget the fact that indeed her mother had told her about not falling for a Seam boy, and found that very unfair, it's not as if she herself could dictate who she was attracted to. "But I digress, it's just a crush after all." She shrugged, pulling her nightclothes on and flopping into her bed on the neater side of the room.

"It's not going to be long before she gets word that you've been hanging around with him you know." Freya smirked at her sister, imagining the scene their parents would create, their father because Maysilee would be dating a boy, a good looking boy with an attitude no less, and their mother because Haymitch was a Seam boy.

"Oh get over it, it's not as if I'm snogging him round the back of the school or anything." She teased, knowing her twin had done just that the other week, with a boy two years older than her no less, at least Haymitch was merely a few months older than them.

"At least he's a merch boy." Freya retorted, a sharpness to her voice which hadn't been there before suddenly made an appearance.

"Since when do you care? It's not as if they can help living in Seam." Maylisee sighed with an eye roll, she knew her sister couldn't take the teasing like she did. That's generally how it goes, the first ones to dish it out can never take in return.

"I care because you're my sister."

"Bull. You care because its something to tease me about." Maysilee retorted.

"No, that's just a bonus." she grinned.

Maysilee rolled her eyes again, she often did when talking to her sister.

"Whatever, I'm pretty sure we have bigger things to worry about." She yawned, slipping into bed.

They were all worried, teasing each other was just a pitiful distraction, it was the reaping next week and there was twice the chance of getting picked. Freya turned out the light and slipped into her own bed. Maysilee wasn't too worried about herself, she was 16 and had never had to sign up for tesserae, she was as safe as she could be. Only four slips of paper contained her name, the odds were so small it was barely a possibility. Instead she dwelled on Haymitch, he was the same age, but there was many, many more than four slips with his name on. He must have had at least 8, if he signed up for his own tesserae, 12 if he did for at least one family member. He might have put in extra to trade and tie them over... Every possibility Maysilee thought of ended in Haymitch's total going up, and up, and up. Eventually the girl fell asleep with the help of a very twisted game of 'counting sheep'.


"Hey! Hey, Haymitch, wait up!" Maysilee called, flinging her bag on her shoulder and hurrying after the boy the next day.

It was much too hot to run after him, it was by far the hottest day of the year so far, subdued only by the weakest of breezes which casually wafted in the air. The sky was a cloudless blue, which only added to the brightness of the day, and Maysilee would be lying if she said it was her favourite type of weather, she much preferred the winter. She and Haymitch walked down to the square together after school most days now, and Freya had yet to tell her parents, much to Maysilees delight.

The taller boy turned around and gave her a half smile, which is as much as you could expect to get out of Haymitch in public.

"Hey squirt." He smirked, teasing her about their height difference.

"I'm still growing okay?" She laughed, pretending to be defensive as they walked along the path, chatting amicably about useless topics for the first half of their journey.

"I'm nervous." She blurted after there was a moment of silence between them. They'd exhausted all the small topics worth talking about, as they often did. "About the reaping."

Haymitch sighed a little. "You're names only been in four times." He said, trying to keep the resentment out of his voice, he didn't resent her, not at all. Just the differences in their circumstances. "You're as safe as you can be at sixteen."

"I'm not nervous about my name being picked… I'm worried about yours." Maysilee said quietly, looking up at him. "How many times is your name in?"

"Twenty two." He admitted without question.

"And that's why I'm nervous."

"Come on, there's people with their name in many many more times than me, and besides, odds are I won't get picked, my name is twenty two in several hundred."

"The odds are never in anyones favour." She muttered resentfully.

"Maysilee!" He said, looking around to see if anyone had overheard. Haymitch knew that was kind of a double standard, because he was prone to making comments like this on many an occasion. But he was no stranger to trouble, and he wanted to keep Maysilee from being introduced to it. "I know, but you can't just say things like that, not around here." He said quietly, trying to console her anger.

"But there's twice the chance of us getting picked this year! And it's not fair, nobody should have to go." She sighed, just as quietly, realising that she should be quiet.

"Yeah, you're right. But we do, so let's just grin and bear it alright? In a week it'll all be over for another year okay? In a week, odds are, we'll be fine, alright?"

Maysilee nodded, but she couldn't shake the feeling that he was wrong. "Alright." She mumbled. Haymitch smiled sadly at her, hoping, wishing even, that he was correct.

The rest of that journey was spent in a comfortable silence, if not shrouded in false hope.


A week later their names were reaped and they were being ushered onto the train to take them to the Capitol. She couldn't even take comfort in the fact that Haymitch was with her, because she'd rather him be anywhere else, at least if he wasn't here there would be a chance, no matter how small, that they might end up together. Now there was none. Twice the tributes, but not twice the victors. At least one of the pair was facing their death, but the odds were, they would both die.


Another week passed, in which the capitols first crime against Haymitch Abernathy took place, they had taken 'his' girl.


A/N Thank you guys for reading, this was a really good story to write, this is part one of a three part series and hopefully I'll upload the next one within a week or two. Reviews are greatly appreciated, I love to hear what you guys think, and constructive criticism is welcomed greatly. I love you guys :3 x