Fireflies
Chapter Two
The Day Everything Changed
March 14th 1997
I was helping James in the barn, trying to put my free time on Friday after school to good use. All I could do was sweep the floors and bring water to the horses. James was the one who did the hard work, but we didn't mind it being this way. The two of us made a good team. The barn was looking good by the time I finished and all the horses in the stable had been taken care of. Dinner time had crept up on us before we knew it and the two of us were washing up in the kitchen as Saw laid dishes on the tables. The Hawthorne's were going to be joining us that evening. No one would tell me why, though. Not that I minded. I enjoyed the company of Gale and Prim enjoyed the company of Rory and Vick. Momma would not be joining us for dinner, she never did. Sae would tend to her later on.
As soon as I heard the knocking on the door I rushed to open it. At the age of eleven my childhood had long left me, but I always felt a surge of excitement run through me when Gale was around. My best friend gave me hope for a light in this dark hell I was doomed to call my life.
"Catnip!" He greeted me with open arms, just the way I liked it. Hazelle greeted me with a smile and Sae took baby Posy to lie her down for a bit, Rory and Prim took off for the toy chest and little Vick trotted after them. I took coats and neatly tucked them away in the downstairs closet. James came out to greet Hazelle with a friendly kiss on the cheek. But as he pulled back, I could see the two say something with their eyes. The way they looked at each other made me feel queasy. It was odd.
I didn't think too much of the strange exchange and dragged Gale into the kitchen with me. We sat and conversed quietly about...Well, everything. It felt like we hadn't seen each other in so long, though it had only been a few hours as he walked me home earlier that day. Sae continued to stir her large pot on the stove and Hazelle helped out. James was still cleaning up the house, though everything was in a neat order. A nervous habit he had, I guess. But every so often, I could still see the adults giving each other sly looks, as if they wanted to talk alone, but Gale and I were in the way.
Having eight people crowded around our tiny kitchen table didn't leave much elbow space. But I enjoyed being close to both Prim and Gale. James was on the other side of my sister, helping her cut her meat, and my best friend was helping one of his brothers do the same as Hazelle helped the other little Hawthorne. Greasy Sae smiled at me from across the table. At first I thought it was a loving smile, but I soon realized it was more sympathetic than anything else. I found it strange. All three grown-ups were acting strange.
"What's going on?" I asked as I pushed a stray potato around my nearly empty plate. I was too nervous to make eye contact with anyone. Despite the fact everyone there was family to me, having so many eyes on me at once was unnerving.
"What do you mean, Katniss?" Hazelle was a trained child psychologist, though there weren't many job opportunities in Seam for that, so he was just a Laundromat employee. She knew how to talk to children in a clam and soothing manner, and even I felt more relieved and relaxed when her words reached my ears.
"There's something you're not telling us," I replied, putting on my brave face, I wasn't going to be defeated or turned down for an answer by this. I knew what I was talking about, something wasn't right. The adults at the table exchanged glances and that confirmed it for me. I wasn't making this up, there was definitely going on that I was being kept in the dark about.
Greasy Sae cleared her throat ad turned to my baby sister, "Prim, why don't you go show Rory and Vick your new bed sheets?" I knew it was just to get the younger kids away, but Prim was really excited about her new Barney & Friends bed sheets James had gotten her (after she had soiled the other ones a few nights before after a nightmare). I knew the boys were going to love them too. Three children scurried away and I felt Gale grip my hand under the table. I didn't squeeze back.
"Katniss," Hazelle spoke my name as if it was fragile, as if I was fragile. "Sweetie, there's something we need to talk about with you. You need to know that this is for the best. We all love you here, darling, and we would never try to intentionally hurt you, but this may upset you." I squirmed in my seat. There was nothing that could upset me at that point. I'd already lost my world when daddy died, they would never dream of separating Prim and I, what did I have left?
"Katniss, you know how much I enjoy you helping me out, "James said, his eyes full of truth. "I'd give anything if you and I could always work together like we do, but..." He was struggling for the right words, too afraid to say it straight to me. So Hazelle took over for him.
"Katniss, we've all been trying our best these past few months to keep things the way they've always been. We never wanted anything to change after...after the accident." Hazelle tripped on her own words. She had been trying to avoid mentioning the accident, I could tell. Gale squeezed my hand again as Hazelle continued to speak. "What I'm trying to say is things are difficult right now, Katniss. Your momma is going through a rough patch right now and it is in all of our best interests to help her get better, but we aren't train to do so. There's a doctor coming in the morning to take her to the hospital where they can help her, do you understand, Katniss?" I did, but I couldn't nod. "You and Prim are going to come stay with me and the boys for a while. Sae and James are going to sell the farm-"
"WHAT?!" I screamed as loud as I could. I was fine with momma going to the hospital. I needed her to get better for Prim's sake. I was fine with moving in with the Hawthorne's; they were my second family, after all. But I was not fine with my daddy's farm being sold. He had put everything he had into making that farm perfect. It had been his dream, his ideal place to raise his family in. I couldn't sit by and watch Sae just sell it.
I rose to my feet, hitting my fists down on either side of my plate. Everyone jumped, not expecting me to act this way. Upset? No, I was furious. They could toy with my life as much as they wanted, but I refused to let they destroy the only thing left that belonged to my daddy.
"Katni-"
"NO!" I yelled, "You can't sell the farm, I won't let you do it!"
"Katniss, we can't keep running it." James told me, but I was barely listening. I could see red. "Either we sell it and get some money to support you girls, or we watch it collapse, have the government claim it and have you girls taken away with it."
I stormed away, up to my parents' bedroom. It was still my safe have. I curled up into my daddy's pillow and sobbed. I prayed to the Lord that he would give my daddy back so he could run the farm again. But he didn't listen. God was selfish, keeping his new Angel all to himself. I needed him more. I needed my daddy with me, holding me close to him and telling me everything was going to be alright again.
I don't know how long I had been lying there when I heard the knock on the bedroom door. My tears had dried up and I was left with sore eyes and a headache. I didn't move to open the door or even yell at the person to come in or go away. I had no strength to do either. My body was so tired of raising its voice; there was no point in straining it further.
Gale came in, either way. He crawled up beside me and pressed a sloppy kiss to my temple before settling down on the bed. I didn't move. He wrapped one around my waist and used the other to prop his head up on his fist. And there we stayed in silence for a long time. It wasn't uncomfortable for us to be like that, we loved each other in a funny way. It wasn't the first time we had laid like that in bed. Whenever I had slept over at the Hawthorne's and had nightmares, I would go to Gale rather than Hazelle.
"Things will be okay, Catnip," He told me. But I had asked for the words from my daddy, not my best friend. "You get to come live with me; we're going to have loads of fun." I refused to answer him. "Cheer up, Catnip. Things could be worse."
"Worse?" I mumbled at first before gaining my voice back, twisting so I could see him. "Worse? How could things be worse?"
"You've still got a whole family who love you." Gale reminded me softly, but he didn't know anything. His father and he had never been close, much more distant than me and my father.
"I just want my daddy." I replied, forcing myself back down into the bed, pushing my face into the pillow and masking the sobs. Gale's arm around me tightened. He leaned in close to my ear and whispered, "I won't let anything hurt you. I'll always be here for you, I promise." I took his words straight to heart. I needed Gale to always be there for me. How would I survive without him?
A/N: Poor Katniss :(
Sorry for the minor absence...I wasn't sure what way to take this chapter for a while...But I think I have it going good for now :D
Also...Remember how I said that this story is being written in a notebook during my gaps between classes in college? Yeah. I dropped outta college. That kinda means no gaps...BUT I AM STICKING TO THIS STORY! And the notebook form of writing! Still the same as before, I'm just writing it at home instead.
I know this is a bit shorter than the past two chapters, but I felt like I needed to finish it there before I rambled on about something completely unimportant...er. Unimportanter.
ANYWAY!
Every other chapter is gonna be past/present-ish. I want to go between the two so you guys can sort of see how things happened to get Katniss the way she is now without just her explaining it to a character, but actually witnessing it.
I also wanted to extend your anticipation...What Mellark did I kill?
OMSG! My favorite part of the reviews was pretty much everyone going 'YOU CAN'T KILL PEETA!' No one gave a damn about Gale actually being dead...As long as I didn't actually kill Peeta XD hahaha! But did I? I could have...I might have...Who knows?
QUICK FACT! This chapter is set 5 days before my 2nd birthday! EEEP! ...I was still an only child back then...BUT! That does also mean that 1997 is NOT my strong point in history! ...Okay, ya got me! I don't have a strong point in history because I pay attention to very little...BUT STILL! You get my point...Hopefully...
And if you don't know what Barney & Friends is...You had no childhood AT ALL!
PS! This is being bumped up to M next chapter for future chapters! Hope you don't mind! May not have any smut in it (I will warn you if I change my mind on that, don't worry), but more for content in it...
Thank you to;
candykisses101: haha! That makes two of us :D Aw, I guess so...Prim is 18 and Katniss is 22 (: Thank you :D
MaidenAlice: Glad you think so (: Thanks :D
pimkfides09: Ah...Good question...Thank you :D
rochay97: Yay! I'm glad you loved it (: Thanks :D
Reaper98: But is it one of Peeta's older brothers or him? Who knows...haha! Aw...Horrible feeling, sorry for making you feel that way...We'll find out who it is next chapter (: Thank you :D
AwesomeMan327: Yes...Peeta...Thanks :D
I love you guys!
You make me smile sooo much! You have no idea how much it means to me to hear your reviews...
Thanks for reading, please review (:
Love, Miss C. Rhiannon X