Clara.
I wake up in the morning singing. Why? Because tomorrow is my birthday. I'll officially be seven years old. I get out of bed and walk downstairs. Gale is there making chocolate chip pancakes.
"Those look delicious," I say.
"Thank you," he says back. "You're up early."
"I couldn't sleep. Tomorrow is my birthday," I explain.
"That's exciting. I have to get you an awesome present," he says.
"Really?" I ask. He nods and hands me a pancake. I nibble on it as we talk. I know I shouldn't ask this question, but I have to. "Why did you like Mommy?"
"Because your Mommy was nice and pretty and we hung out a lot," he tells me.
"Why did you hang out?" I ask. At first Gale seems like he's considering something, but then he stops.
"We were best friends and we needed to have fun," he explains.
"Oh," I say.
Gale.
"Why did you like Mommy," Clara asks me. How do I explain this?
"Because your Mommy was nice and pretty and we hung out a lot," I say. That's not the whole truth. When I say hung out I mean hunted, but I guess we were hanging out as we did that. And we did hang out in town and for a couple minutes before we started hunting. I'm guessing that they haven't told her about how horrible our world was, so I'll just leave it at that.
"Why did you hang out?" she asks me. How do I put this?
"We were best friends and we needed to have fun," I tell her. We had fun out in the woods, and we were happier when our families had food, so I'm not lying this time either.
"Oh," she says.
"Gale? Clara?" Katniss is coming.
"Hello, Katniss," I say.
"Oh, hello. Clara, why are you up so early?" she asks.
"I'm too excited for my birthday," she says.
"How about you go try to sleep again," she tells Clara.
Clara sighs. "Okay," she says. Katniss picks her up and carries her upstairs right as she finishes the pancake.
Katniss comes back downstairs and we stare awkwardly at each other. Maybe now, I think.
"Don't, Gale," she says. Why does she always have to read my mind? "Peeta's already worried and I don't want him to freak out anymore." I raise my eyebrows. So is that the only reason I shouldn't try anything? "Shut up Gale. There are more reasons."
"Fine," I say. I've given up on acting like I'm over her. It's no use. She can tell that I still like her.
"Don't worry. I won't," I say.
"Okay," she says.
Katniss.
"Okay," I say. He smiles and I realize how much I've missed him. I know that he designed the bombs, but is it really his fault? Did he really cause my little sister's death? Is that really a big enough reason to be mad at him? "I'm going to check on Clara." He nods and I go upstairs.
When I get to the door of their room, I see a piece of paper. I read it.
Everyone better be nice to me. It's almost my Birthday.
There's also a poorly drawn picture of a birthday cake.
Clara is so funny. This is one of the reasons why I love her. She seems to like Gale. I go into their room and see Orion in deep sleep. I don't bother him. I walk to Clara's bed. She's laying there with her eyes closed. She's snoring.
"I know you're faking," I say. Her eyes open and she giggles.
"How did you know?" she asks.
"You don't snore," I say. "Come on. If you can't sleep we'll go do something useful with our time."
"Okay," she says. She gets up and goes in her closet to change. I go downstairs and see Gale sitting and eating a pancake.
"Gale?" I ask.
"Yeah?" he says, turning around to face me.
"Do you still like me?" I ask.
He looks surprised. "Honest?" he asks.
"Honest," I say. He nods. I close my eyes and imagine what it would be like if I still liked him too.
We're married and have two kids: A baby boy and a girl. They both have black hair and gray eyes. We have pictures of Prim all over the house and there isn't a picture of Peeta in sight. My thoughts are interrupted.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Gale asks. I don't do anything at first. How do I respond to this question? If I say no he'll feel hurt. If I say yes he'll get cocky and try something. If Peeta heard he'd be upset. I finally have to answer, so I close my eyes and shake my head.
"Okay," he says with a fake smile. He gets up and leaves the room. I sit down at the table and eat a pancake.
"Mommy?" Clara asks.
"Yes, Honey?" I say.
"Do you still love Daddy?" she asks.
"Yes, I do. I love Daddy very much," I tell her.
"Why does Gale love you if you don't love him?" she asks. Did she just hear our entire conversation?
"I don't know, Sweetheart," I say. She walks to me and takes a bite of my pancake. I'm okay with it because I got a very big one. "Let's go." I stand up and we walk to the front door.
"Where are we going?" she asks.
"We're going to help Uncle Haymitch clean his house," I say.
"Really?" she asks, unbelievingly. I nod and she, reluctantly, walks out the door.
Haymitch.
"I hope you two brought gas masks," I say.
"We're only helping you clean you're kitchen," she says. Kitchens do need to be sanitary.
"Well…okay," I say.
Katniss.
Perfect. He's too drunk to remember what he keeps in the kitchen that I might poor out.
The whole time we're working, I can't find the bottles. I can't look well enough. I feel to guilty for lying. I try not to lie. But today I lied to Gale. My daydream was beautiful.
