A/N: Hi everyone I read your reviews and so I'm sooo sorry. You see this is my first fanfic. I don't really know how publishing works but I think I got the hang of it. Here's the real chapter 2: Enjoy and review!
Katniss POV
Prim and I walked to the so-called park. It was a few minutes walk from home. The park was a big circle divided in four parts. At the center was a huge fountain. At the north were the shops, At the east were the gardens, At the west were the benches and at the south were the ponds. Prim and I came from the North-east direction so while we were passing by shops I got a few glances from some people particularly the group of teenagers my age that snickers and scowls when they saw me.
We found Mom at the ponds, talking to a woman with a 5-year-old girl clinging to her. When mom saw us,for the first time in years, She smiled. "Oh here they are Hazelle" She whispered to the woman who I think is called Hazelle. Hazelle was just like me. She has gray eyes and brown hair with some white streaks here and there. Hazelle smiled at us. "Katniss,Prim this is Hazelle. I knew her when we were kids. Like me,She also lost a husband..." And there she is. Whenever Mom talked about dad,She simply lost her train of thought. But I'm surprised Mom rejected the urge to be lost again and talk.
"Hazelle these are my kids Katniss-" She pointed to me. I just let out a faint smile. "-and Prim." Prim beamed at her saying hello. "Hi miss Hazalle..." Hazelle smiled in return. "Oh of course Evy,Katniss and Prim This is Posy-" She gestured to the five-year-old "-She's my youngest. I think Rory and Vick are in the shops and Gale is at the Gardens...Posy Dear, Can you call Gale? Tell him we have friends to accompany" She smiles while talking to Posy. Posy is very little...She has gray eyes and Black and brown hair. Her hair falls loosely by her shoulders. Little Posy nods. "W-wait!" They all looked at me. I immediately felt self-conscious. "Sh- she might get 's a big park after she be okay wandering the park alone?" Posy smiled at me. " Thank wo,katnit, but i can do thit on my own" Why is her s sounds like a t? With that Posy ran away.
I sat at the grass. I inhaled a big gulp of air. The scent of nature dancing around my nose. It's been a while since i've been in somewhere with natural grass reminded me so much of the times my father and I went hiking and swimming.
A few minutes later, We heard a loud giggling noise. I looked up and saw Posy on someone's shoulder.
"I pound Gale!" She giggled. The boy put her down. " More like I found you Posy" He smiled. "What's up?" He asked. " Gale" Hazelle answered " This is Katniss,Prim, and their mother, Evy. Can you give them a quick guide around the park?" " Sure " He replied without hesitation.I can feel his eyes on me. I just looked at the grass I was touching.
"Hi I'm Gale" He said. "Hi" I replied. I don't want to be rude. I was sure I need to reply whenever someone was talking to me. "Come on" He said. Prim stood up to follow him. I did too. "I'm gonna stay here Katniss" Mom said "If you don't mind" I shook my head. Her face lit up, And it rarely does. "Come on" Gale said with a hint of impatience in his voice.
As Prim said goodbye to mother, I feel very serene. Like I know I'll be safe. It's been a long time since I felt this kind of feeling.
"Hey" I didn't know all this time Gale was watching me. "Hey" I said. "How long have you been in Panem,Gale?" I asked. He shrugged. "A while." I sighed. "You alright Katniss?" Prim asked beside me. I managed to smile."Yeah" "Let's go!" Gale cried with excitement.
We followed him to places while he points and give us guides. "That's the gardens." He said while stopping at the east side. "Usually people crowd this place at night because it has the best view for the fireworks." "Fireworks?" I asked. He nodded "Every other saturday, The D1 holds firework parades at the park so the people has something to talk about. The last parade was held yesterday evening. Too bad you missed it. It was fun."
Now it was Prim's turn to ask questions. "What's the D1?" " Here in Panem,The government is divided in 13 parts."Gale explained " That's the D1, D2 ,D3 ,D4 so on and so forth until it was D12. Each D has a specialty. D1 was luxury. They create the beautiful things for the community. D2 was masonry. Thay supply the weapons and the guards,or more known as peacekeepers, for Panem. The other 10 D's are much less useful." He looked at us to see if we can keep up. He probably think we did because after looking at me he said "Ready to move on?" Prim and I both nodded.
While we were halfway to the shops,Prim asked "You never did tell us what was the 13th part of the government." Gale stopped at his tracks. When he turned to us he was smiling. "Smart one are ya?" He winked.
Am I stupid? or Is Gale just plain attractive? I never noticed before but we could actually be siblings. We have the same color of hair; olive skinned both of us and even our eyes were both startling gray. "The 13th part is called the Capitol. Only the high ranked people get to work there. " Gale started walking so we did too "The Capitol is the main part of the government. Its responsible for everything. They keep the D's in line. People think working for the capitol is a huge honor but I think its dumb. I mean, Look at the careers"
We were almost at the shops. Gale pointed to the group of teenagers who smirked at me earlier. They were a group of 5, 3 boys 2 girls. The girls were shopping and dragging the boys around. One boy with blonde hair with blue eyes noticed we were staring and smirked. He had muscular features so he looked like he can take anyone who challenges him.
"Come on" Gale grabbed my forearm and led me to the west part. Away from the careers. "Why are they called the careers?" I asked. Gale kept his stony expresson. "They're the sons and daughters of people who work at the capitol. Some of them are cool enough to be a part of the careers like Peeta." " Peeta?" "Yeah he's a baker's son from D12 but when he won the annual games, The careers let him in." "Oh" Wow, I'm learning a lot of what Prim might encounter tomorrow huh? But there is one thing that bothers me..."Gale, What's the games?" I asked. Again with the poker face! "The games..." he murmured "The games is a special contest at Panem high, The best school in Panem. It consists of games to test the brain,agility,survival and endurance. The ones who loses gets expelled from school."
"What?" Prim shrieked "They can't do that!" Gale sighed "Apparently they can ,Prim. Why did you think Panem went into hiding, hmm?" What? Went into hiding? "What do you mean went into hiding?" He looked confused.
"Didn't you have some problems getting here?" He asked. "Actually we didn't" I answered "Mom drove us here. She knew the way even with her eyes closed." Gale still had a confused look in his face but after a few minutes, He got it. "Ohhhh...So That's why ...well you don't know what happened?" Both Prim and I both shook our heads.
"Oh well" Gale shrugged. he sat down on one of the benches. He motioned us to sit down next to him. Prim sat next to him while I was sat at the grass,Knees at my chest, ankles crossed.
"This city,Panem went into hiding" Gale started saying. I rolled my eyes and whispered "Duh!" Gale smiled "The rules of civilization was too much for the capitol so they went to hiding and no one bothered to look. I mean Panem wasn't even a part of U.N.! To the outside world, Nothing is special at the Appalchia mountains but to us, It's where the city of Panem is located. They say there was a D13 but no one knows or cared. They say D13 wanted to be a part of civilization so before they went into hiding they struck a deal with the capitol : They let them leave and live while they say nothing about Panem and why they left. And so D13 is gone."
After some silence, Prim finally said "You know a lot about Panem.." He shrugged. "Let's go back They'll be worried" We nodded.
When we got to mom we found some other boys playing with Posy. " Vick and Rory" Gale said as if he was reading my mind. "That's Rory, He's twelve years old." "Like me!" Prim cried. I smiled. Even Gale managed a smile " Looks like you have a playmate,Prim" I said. She nodded. She approached Rory and after a few minutes they started playing with each other. "Let me guess That's Vick" I pointed to the boy watching Prim and Rory play. "Yeah He's ten years old." Gale agreed "You really love your sister huh?" I looked at Gale. "That's an odd question but...yeah more than anything" He nodded. "Well, It's been a pleasure seeing you again Evy but we got to get going!" Hazelle said. Mom nodded "Yeah we should get going too. Come on Katniss, Prim." "See ya Gale" I said, Leaving his side. "See ya Catnip" I turned around to face him. "What?" He shrugged "At least you have a nickname" I smiled. Catnip..."Yeah thanks See ya" We were the first to leave, leaving Hazelle and her family with wide smiles and pleased expressions. "Where are we going?" Prim whispered. I just shrugged. We went to the school Prim had a scholarship into and also the school Gale mentioned that had the games, Panem high. "Are you ready?" I asked, She nodded. "It's not like thay'll refuse though." She smiled. " Here we go" She held my hand tighter. Then we walked through the doors of Panem high
