Hi, everyone! I'm going to keep this short, but I wanted to apologize for taking so long to update!
Y'all enjoy :)
The following days after the opening ceremonies were pretty uneventful. The whole district—scratch that, the whole country was waiting for the monumental interviews. Of course, the actual fighting in the arena determined who ended up dying and who ended up surviving, but during interviews sponsors were either lost or gained. Sponsor money could potentially save your life in the arena and I contemplated all the different angles Katniss and Peeta could do during their interviews.
The afternoon of Interviews, I gallivanted into town to visit the Mellarks at the bakery. As soon as I walked in the front door, I was greeted by a sweet aroma of different baked goods. I stopped in my tracks and inhaled slowly. The smell of freshly baked bread was my favorite scent of all time—second to that of strawberries of course.
I was then greeted by Mr. Mellark who was leaning up against the counter at the front of the store.
"Hello, Madge!" he said with a smile. I always liked Mr. Mellark. He was a tall, built man but was always so kind; kind of like a teddy bear. His wife however, was a complete witch.
"Hi Mr. Mellark, how are you today?" before responding I saw his eyes sadly look down to the floor. "Pretty good considering the circumstances." I gave the man a knowing look, and proceeded to head back out the door. "Well Mr. Mellark, if you need anything, just let me know. See you soon!" Before he had the chance to return a goodbye, I was already on the cobblestone streets of the town.
I ran a few errands before heading back home to get ready for tonight's events. First was a stop to pick up some shoes from the cobbler, a short man named Mr. Inglebert. Following that, I picked up some odds and ends at the market place, and finally, I stopped in the Justice Building to visit my dad.
With the Games going on, and having some Capitol guests in the district, my dad is constantly busy this time of year. Sometimes he's so busy, he forgets to even eat or bring lunch to his office. I trotted up the carpet-lined stairs leading up to my father's office and found him sitting behind his wooden desk flipping through and marking various documents. He looked up slowly from his work and smiled at the package I held in my hand.
"Madgie, did you bring me my favorite?" I nodded and placed the roast-beef on rye sandwich into his hands, then reached into my satchel to give him a bottle of water I bought while I was out.
"You're the best daughter, anyone could ask for. You know the right?" he said while chuckling. I blushed from the compliment and walked behind his desk to plant a kiss on his cheek.
"Of course, I know daddy. But thank you for reminding me." My comment just made him chuckle some more so I headed out of his office. "Love you dad, and see you tonight."
I made my way back home in silence, thinking of how tonight would end up.
Would Gale Hawthorne talk to me? Probably not, Madge. Stupid to even consider. I thought to myself. I don't even know why my thoughts constantly drift to him. He's been nothing but rude to me—minus last night of course. But, that doesn't count, does it?
I finally reach my front steps and walk quietly into my house as to not wake my mother up. She's probably drowning in a dose of morphling, but its best to be safe.
I look around my house and find a note from our maid, Linda, stating that she is out running errands.
After running upstairs to double check that my mom had in fact succumbed to a drug induced slumber, I sat in front of the shiny black grand piano in my sitting room. Before playing, I smoothed my dress over my thighs, and flexed my hands repeatedly—a habit I had developed from years of piano playing and frustration. I closed my eyes and began tickling the ivory keys causing a light tinkling melody to be put out into the air. I smiled while taking in the gradual rising and falling of the tune happy from the relief my playing brought me.
As I finished up my piece, I got a strange feeling that I was being watched, and took a slow cautious look of my surroundings. As my eyes reached my open front door, I gasped at the sight of a tall, brooding figure leaning up against the eggshell colored door frame.
"Hawthorne, I thought we agreed that you would stop sneaking up on me." I said, a hint of humor lacing my words.
He chuckled to himself and straightened his posture. "Well, Undersee, I actually came to drop off some strawberries, But I saw that the door was open, so I came to investigate. Then, I noticed you playing, and I didn't want to interrupt. It sounded nice."
I felt a slight blush creep upon my cheeks and shifted my eyes back down to the row of keys below my hands.
Gale Hawthorne just complimented you. Say something brainless!
"My, my, my, who would've thought that we would see that day that Mr. Gale Hawthorne would complement the district princess?" He smirked at the sound of his nickname for me, and thrust the bag of strawberries out in front of me. I took them soundlessly, and sauntered off into the kitchen to get money from the jar on the counter to pay for the fruit.
Upon walking back into the sitting room, I was shocked to see Gale sitting on the piano bench, gently pressing a key.
"Have you ever played before?" Gale jumps at my presence and I immediately regret my curiosity. He shakes his head, and I sit down next to him on the bench. I play a couple of notes, huskier than the ones I played before, and watch as his gaze shifts from my hands, to my face.
I smile, never before seeing his face so calm and serene. "I could teach you to play sometime. That is if you would like. "
His serene face is soon contorted back to a scowl like I would have expected, but a look of confusion.
"I, uh gotta go." He mumbles. He pockets the money after I slip it into his large, calloused hand and strides towards the door. He pauses before he descends the steps, and turns back around to me. "Um Madge, will you watch the interviews with us tonight up at the front?" he says and my heart thumps with excitement. However, it quickly drops to my stomach as he catches himself. "Prim wanted me to ask you." I nod in compliance and shut the door as he walks back to the street.
I laugh to myself, apparently amused with the comedic thought that Gale was the one wanting my company. Yeah right, Madge.
My stomach begins to twist into knots before reaching the square. I'm not quite sure if it's because my two friend's interviews are tonight and I'm nervous for them, or if it's because Gale is going to be there; I blame the former. I see Prim wave me over from the front of the square and take a seat next to her. The Hawthornes are already seated on our row—minus Gale. Just like him to be on a hiatus at an already stressful time.
I begin ringing my hands causing them to become raw and in pain. When I finally decide that my hands hurt too badly, I settle for tugging on the ends of my ponytail. I must be in a total trance because I only notice that Gale has assumed the empty seat next to me when the nation's anthem is played through speakers in the square.
I take a moment to study his face and find it in its usual scowl; jaw clenched, brows furrowed, eyes narrowed—the whole nine yards. I notice his eyes start to drift towards my direction, and start to move my own as to not be caught staring. However, much to my dismay he sees me and my face blushes a bright pink.
He probably thinks I'm some obsessed school-girl, fawning over his good looks or something. Although his eyes stay narrowed, I swear I see the corners of his mouth turn upward ever so slightly into a tiny smirk.
I roll my eyes and give my attention back to the screen. The first tribute takes the stage, and it's a girl named Glimmer in a ridiculously see-through gown. No doubt sex-appeal is her angle.
"Whore." I mumble to myself. I must not have been too quiet because Gale gives me a look that strays between amusement and respect. He takes a look at the barely clothed girl on the screen and smirks in approval of her attire.
I scoff, annoyed with his acknowledgement of this, for lack of a better word—skank.
"Jealousy isn't very becoming Undersee." His smirk has now grown wide across his face, his eyes lit up with mischief.
"I am not Jealous of her. I just find it very trashy that she is revealing that much of her body on national television." Gale chuckles, obviously amused with my answer.
"Jealous." He says again. Annoyed, I look back to the interviews and observe the rest of them in silence.
The large muscled male tribute from District 2, Cato, comes across as a menacing killer while his counter-part, a small girl named Clove, while just as menacing seems more sadistic. Both are scary if you ask me.
The rest of the interviews fly by. Only a few of the tributes catch my eye: a red headed girl from five, a crippled boy from ten, a huge boy from eleven, and a small twelve year old girl from eleven.
Its Katniss' turn up next and I find myself getting nervous. I quickly grab Gale's hand for support, and find myself shocked when he doesn't let go.
Katniss takes the stage and looks completely stunning. They decided to stick with the whole fire theme because her dress flows down her looking like flames licking at her feet. She looks breathtaking and powerful. Her interview goes on unhitched, the whole time Gale sits with his face contorted and his hand occasionally squeezing mine. He only calms after Katniss' buzzer goes off and she walks off the stage.
He then notices that he is holding my hand, and quickly releases it looking completely disgusted. Whether he is disgusted with himself or with me, I have no clue.
Peeta is his charming self in his interview up until the final portion where the whole thing takes on a bout of seriousness.
"Handsome lad like you. There must be some special girl. Come on, what's her name?" Caesar says smiling.
"Well, there is this one girl. I've had a crush on her ever since I can remember. But I'm pretty sure she didn't know I was alive until the reaping."
I search my mind curious as to whom Peeta could be referring to. For a slight moment I even consider it being me.
"She have another fellow?" Caesar, now curious ,asks.
"I don't know, but a lot of boys like her."
Well, there goes me. I may not know everything, but there's one thing I do know. Not a lot of boys like Madge Undersee; that is if any do at all. Now intrigued at the mystery behind the situation, I lean forward to listen more.
"So, here's what you do. You win, you go home. She can't turn you down then, eh?" Caesar nudges his head toward Peeta, promoting his idea.
"I don't think it's going to work out. Winning…won't help in my case"
"Why ever not?"
"Because…because…she came here with me."
It suddenly clicks in my mind that he is talking about Katniss and my mouth gapes open in surprise. I find that Prim, Mrs. Everdeen, and the majority of the square have the same reaction.
I look quickly to my right to gage Gale's reaction, only to find that he's gone.
I curse to myself and decide to go track him down. Why on earth I come to this decision is beyond me.
I reach the meadow in record time, panting from my run there. I search frantically, looking for signs of Gale.
I finally find him sitting on the ground with his knees tucked to his chest, a bottle of whisky in his hand. Quietly, I walk over to where his is and mimic his position.
"Go away Undersee." He spits his words into the silence and I instantly regret coming here.
Annoyed, I snatch the bottle from his hand and take a large, quick swig from it. The amber liquid burns as it trickles down my throat. We sit in silence for a few more minutes until I decide to break the silence.
"She has a chance you know; actually, she has a damn good one. Sponsors will be tripping over each other to sponsor her." He looks down and then towards me.
"That wasn't her up there—that wasn't Katniss. That was some girl, transformed by the Capitol, falling all over Mellark."
"Gale, she was just trying to get sponsors and frankly, Peeta helped a lot. I'm sure she doesn't feel the same way about him." A long silence follows; the only sound coming from the light summer breeze.
"I didn't even get to tell her. She'll never know how much I cared about her. How much I…. loved her."
My stomach for an unknown reason drops at his confession of love her. I don't know what this feeling is, but I sure as hell don't like it.
"She would hate you, you know?" Now between his blatant stubbornness, and this sinking feeling in my stomach, I'm furious.
"For what?"
"Giving up on her." I get up and start angrily walking back to my house. I think I hear what I make out to be Gale calling out my name, but I don't turn around. There is no way I'm giving him the satisfaction of seeing the tears spill down my face.
Hey guys! Thanks for reading, and remember: please review! Sorry this update took a while, I've been extremely busy! I hope y'all enjoy this chapter though! It was a little hard for me to write. Next chapter will be another Gale/Madge encounter!