Never Forget
Chapter 3- Old Ways

After that last incident I was okay, well if stuck 25 years in the past, falling in love with your younger dunk mentor, okay. Life continued as normal, well sort of I guess. I don't know how he did it or what he said, but Haymitch got me into school. It was normal, like it was before I got reaped. The town kids socializing with each other on one side of the room while the Seam kids sat away from each other not wanting to talk with anyone. Across the room some of the town girls were flirting with Haymitch, I felt a clenching in my chest but something else distracted me. Among the townies I saw someone familiar. It looked like Prim but not exactly. It was my mother, I realized with sudden shock. Next to her there were two other similar looking girls. I felt like I knew them but I wasn't quite sure. Ugh. Another memory block. I looked closer at the girl on the right when I realized who the two girls reminded me of. Madge. I quickly looked around on this side of the classroom. Not that far away I saw him standing there with another guy with his back to me. I was going to walk up to him when, just then, the bell rang and the teacher walked into the room. Perfect timing.

After school I went home, well Haymitch's house, alone. Haymitch stayed behind at school because of a little incident in the boys bathroom. When I got back to the house Mrs. Abernathy wasn't home yet. That is when I realized I had no idea where Haymitch's dad was, or what happened to him considering I never heard them talk about him. Oh well, I'll ask Haymitch about it later… but for now I can finally get some alone time to think.

After dumping my bag a books from school I quickly made my way over to the fence. Not as poorly looking as it was, well is, 25 years from now, but it was still pretty bad. I quickly scaled the fence and was on the other side. I started walking and breathed in the familiar air. Walking aimlessly around I ended up at my old meeting spot with Gale. I stepped over to where I hid my bow and arrows. When I reached down I expected to feel the familiar curves of my bow but I only felt, emptiness. Damn, I thought, why would I think it be here in the first place? Well I guess I could try to snare some squirrels. Deep in thought I stood up and started walking deeper into the woods. I didn't realize anyone else until they were standing in front of me.

"Hey! Who are you? What are you doing here?" The one guy said. I noticed something familiar about him but then I realized that everyone here will remind me of someone. There were two of them, one with a bow and some arrows, the other with some snares with some squirrels hanging from them. I looked closer at the guy with the bow and arrows and saw something familiar in him. Why can I never realize who these familiar people are before they tell me their names? I pondered.

"Jakxon! That's that new girl in our class! Sorry 'bout Jakxon, he gets jumpy while we're hunting. Hey are you okay?" The other guy asked seeing me daze off. Then, once again, the identity of the person hit me. My father. Well now this wasn't surprising considering this happened twice before. I snapped my attention back up to him, taking in his familiar features after not seeing him for 5 years.

"Umm, yea, sorry. You just surprised me I guess. I'm Katn- Catnip Evergreen," I whispered the last part. This reminded me exactly of my first personal meeting with Gale, talking to each other in the middle of the woods.

"Hey, Cat-cat right? I'm Darion Everdeen. We were just wondering what you were doing in the middle of the woods, you startled us from hunting," my dad told me. Oh great, now another person got my name wrong, and it was my dad. But I guess that's okay for now.

"Oh, well I felt like escaping from town, I needed to be somewhere familiar. I used to hunt in District 11, but I don't have anything to use so I just started to walk around," I shrugged. Maybe they have an extra bow and some arrows I could use…

"Really? You hunt? That is so awesome! I have an extra bow I made that you could use, that is if you hunt with us. Fair deal? I'd like to see how good you are," he replied. I was right, he did have an extra bow. My dad always did telling me- You never know when you're going to need it. I guess he needed it now.

"For a girl," I heard Jakxon whisper to my dad. I'll show him.

"Thanks Da- Darion. I'll hunt with you. Let's have a little competition, who can get the most amount of kills in two hours," I challenged them smirking. I knew I could easily beat Jakxon but I wasn't sure about my dad. I guess I'll see.

"Okay, time starts after I give you my extra bow. We'll meet back up in the clearing near the fence after the two hours. Come on!" he yelled at me and Jakxon, as we were just standing there watching him walk away. I quickly jogged up to him as we made our way to where his extra bow was.

Two hours later I made my way back to the clearing. I was the first to arrive back, so I laid out my haul. I got four squirrels, easy enough, and four rabbits. They were easy catches but I also managed to find two wild turkeys. I thought it was pretty good and as I was making my way back to the clearing a pheasant crossed my path. I easily shot it cleanly and continued on my way back.

"Hey Cat- cat, Whacha get? I mean your back so early you couldn't have gotten anything good, and also cause you're a girl and all," I heard Jakxon come up from behind me. Oh great, now I'm alone with this prejudice pig. Well at least I can change his mind set about me.

"I'll show you later, what'd you get?" I asked, trying to encourage his thoughts at the moment. A sly grin creped up onto his face.

"Oh, I got six squirrels, two rabbits, and this wild turkey. A large haul if you ask me," He told me beaming like a six year-old on his birthday. Ah, now it's my time to shine.

"Nice. I didn't get anything big," I started, "I just got these four squirrels, four rabbits, and these two turkeys. Oh, and this pheasant," holding the pheasant up. His jaw dropped at the sight of the plump bird I was holding up.

"Whoa, that's impressive. I've never even caught a pheasant before," he glared. Ha, now I'm even more proud of myself, showing this arrogant kid how good I am.

"Hey guys! Did you get a good haul today Jax?" My dad yelled at us from across the clearing.

"Hey Dar, I got a normal catch today, but you should see what Cat-cat caught," Jakxon said pointing to me. I just shrugged and held up the pheasant. I smirked when I saw his eyes widen.

"Yea, I shot a pheasant. And some other animals. What'd you get?"

"Eh, just a few squirrels, rabbits, turkeys. The usual," my dad replied. We gathered up our things and climbed over the fence. "Hey, do you want to hunt with us on Friday? That is the next time both of us are free,"

"Sure, see you Friday!" Dad, I whispered to myself. I made my way back to Haymitch's house, almost sure Mrs. Abernathy would love the meat I'm bringing back. The house was approaching but all of the windows were dark. Strange, I thought, I expected at least Mrs. Abernathy to be home by now. I made it to the door, opened it and walked inside. I placed the haul on the kitchen counter and walked into the family room. I drew weary when I saw what was there. On the ground lie Mrs. Abernathy with a pool of blood surrounding her.

A/N- So I have finally updated! Just a few things. 1) Take the quiz on my profile. It will help me conclude the plot for the story. 2) Should I write in other's POV? 3) Can any of you give me something to work on with the story? I'm having trouble trying to improve my writing. Thank you people :) Please reveiw, PM, or email me (my email is on my profile) to awnser the questions. Thank you once again, especially to TacoBelle!