Ouch guys, the lack of reviews is hurting me. You can write anything, I don't mind if it's praise or criticisms – just someone write something, kay? :(
Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games or any of its characters.
Chapter 4
I wake just like the previous morning – my father knocking on the door. This time, he comes in to see me. He glances at the crumpled, dirty dress on the floor and sighs.
"Good morning, Madge." He says, not quite looking me in the eye.
"Morning, father." I yawn and stretch, raising my arms above my head. They hit the wall behind me and I curse my clumsiness silently, rubbing my knuckles which had begun to ache.
"Madge… Where did you go yesterday? You didn't come back to the house after the reaping." He still wouldn't look at me properly. I sighed, and for some reason, didn't want to admit to him that I had been in the Seam. I sensed that he wouldn't let me go back there – important girls from the Town weren't meant to be in places like that. They didn't belong there.
"I went for a walk." I reply, picking at the fraying hem at the bottom of my t-shirt. I knew I wasn't a great liar, but neither was he.
"Well, I spoke to Darius yesterday… He said he saw you walking with a boy?" I relax. Ah, good, he hadn't seen me in the Seam. Just with Zach.
"I, uh, had to ask him for directions." I say, before I can stop myself.
"Why? You know the town well." He asks, looking at me oddly. I could tell he thought I was lying.
"I was walking, and thinking about Katniss, and I-" I hadn't been expecting myself to choke up here. Katniss and I had had sort of been friends, sure, but it wasn't like we were best friends or anything.
My father isn't good with emotions, even worse with comforting. He nods and takes my silence for an answer, leaving without another word. I lie back down on the bed, feeling tired despite having slept late. I close my eyes and drift off to sleep for another hour or two.
When I wake, my father has gone to work. The house is empty, aside from Toby downstairs, but I can't hear him.
I get up slowly, and dress in comfy clothes, an old pair of jeans, a t-shirt and jacket, old shoes. I have nothing to do today, seeing as it's Saturday, so no school. Normally I would read, cook or play my piano or something, but today I felt like going out, which was unusual. I went downstairs and received a cup of tea from Toby. We exchanged pleasantries but nothing more than that. I sat at the island in the kitchen as I sipped my tea, and thought about where I would go today.
The town bored me. I knew it well, and besides, I didn't want to go past the bakery again, and be reminded of our tributes who were probably on their way to the Capitol. The Seam was out of the question – I didn't want to bump into Zach, or worse, Gale.
I wondered how Gale was doing. He had just lost his friend and hunting partner – and I had overheard the girls at school gossiping on whether Katniss and him were an item or not. I really had no idea, but wouldn't be surprised if he liked her. I could see them together.
I shake my head, trying to get rid of thoughts of Gale. What did I care about his love life? In fact, what did I care about him? I snort, and get up from the counter. I go through to the sitting room, where reruns from the reaping are playing on the TV which has been muted. I sit on the sofa in front of it, not wanting to be here, but knowing tat I had missed yesterday's showings. Besides, I was kind of interested this year – I wanted to know who my friend would be up against.
I sat there, watching the tributes be chosen or volunteer, trying to size each one up as an opponent, but I don't know anything about this kind of stuff, so I give up after District Five's tributes.
I make myself watch the reaping, to hear Prim's screams again, and Peeta looking more scared than I had ever seen. I watch he and Katniss shake hands, and retreat into the Justice Building. They must have edited out the salute for the reruns.
I hug a cushion to my chest, wondering what was happening right now to them. Were they still on the train to the Capitol, or were they already there, being prepared to look their best? I didn't know, and decided to try to stop thinking about it. I needed to take my mind off everything that was going on, I needed to be occupied with something. I get up and leave through the back door without bothering to mention to Toby where I was going or when I would be back. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't, I had no idea.
It's not sunny today, and grey clouds cover the sky. I draw my jacket closer around me, and wish I'd picked something warmer. Instead of heading to the Seam or the Town, I had walked to the fence that shut us off from the outside, the unknown.
Apparently it was electrified, or so the sign said on it, but I doubted it. However when I sat down, I kept myself a good two metres away from it, just in case.
It was quiet here. I could still see the buildings of the Seam in the distance, but was for away enough for it to be tranquil. I was fairly sure I knew my way back – I didn't want to bump into creepy Zach again.
I didn't really know what I was doing here. Maybe it would be a good place to read or something? Other than that, I couldn't think of anything interesting to do.
I lay back in the grass and look up, wondering if I could spot any oddly shaped clouds, but the sky is grey, not a hint of blue showing through. I sigh and roll onto my front and shut my eyes, not really thinking about anything. Instead, I let my mind go blank, which was a nice change from over thinking everything.
After what might have been minutes or hours, I sit up, and brush the leaves from my hair. I'm colder than before, partly because evening is closing in, and partly because of lying on the cold ground for so long. I stand up and brush my clothes down before setting off back towards my house, which I manage to reach without getting lost and having to ask for directions.
As I come near to my street, I notice someone standing on the pavement, alone. As I draw nearer I think that it may be Gale waiting for me again, and am about to yell something abusive in their direction, but stop myself when I realise it is not him, but Zach.
Shit. What do I do? I think. Surely he wasn't here for me? And how did he know where I lived?
I try to walk past quickly, head bowed, but I am unsuccessful.
"Hey Madge. Fancy seeing you here," Zach drawls. I pretend to not hear him, despite the fact that the street is silent and we are only a few metres away form each other, and keep walking.
"Aw, Madge, don't ignore me." He says. I turn and look behind me and flinch. He's much closer than I thought – he must have followed me. He takes a step forward when I turn round, and I take a step back. He frowns for a second, but then returns to smirking at me.
"Why are you here, Zach?" I ask, trying to sound firm. His smirk grows and he rocks back on his heels, looking away for a second.
"Ash, so you know my name now? Looks like I'm getting a bit of a reputation." I stare at my feet, refusing to meet his gaze.
"You haven't answered my question." I reply. He moves closer to me, and this time, I don't move away again, trying to stand my ground.
"Ah, Madge, various reasons." He says, leaning closer and placing his hand under my chin, tilting my head up so that I have to look at him. All previous anger instantly disappears, to be replaced by fear. I didn't like him touching me, but I felt frozen. I wanted to slap his hand away and run to my house, but I couldn't move from fear. Why did he scare me so much?
"Don't touch me." I manage to whisper. He chuckles slightly, and leans even closer. My eyes widen and I stiffen as he moves his hand to my shoulder, just touching my neck.
"Madge…" He murmurs, pinching a strand of my hair between his thumb and forefinger.
"Don't touch me!" I repeat, taking a step back this time, my muscles beginning to work again. The smile is gone from his face, to be replaced by coldness.
"If you know what's good for you, you'll play by my rules." He growls, advancing forward again. I take a few more steps back. His rules? What did that mean?
Just as Zach was about to speak again, a voice interrupted him.
"She said to not touch her, Zach." My head whips round to the source of the voice. Surely that couldn't be-?
Gale steps out of the darkness, a grim expression set on his face, his brown eyes cold and hard. Zach pauses, looking slightly confused. He looks from me to him, him to me, then sighs and pushes his hair away from his face.
"See you tomorrow, Undersee." He smiles at me, turns and walks away, just like that.
I breathe a sigh of relief and sit on the pavement quickly. Gale doesn't move.
"Why are you here?" I ask, not looking at him. I hear him sit next to me, and I look up at him. He keeps a good distance between us.
"I saw that he was heading this way, towards your area, and followed him. I wanted to make sure that he wouldn't… Hurt you." He looks away from me as he says this, which is lucky for me as I feel a slight blush appear on my cheeks, which I am disgusted at. Nevertheless, it was the first time a boy had been concerned about me.
"Why do you care?" I mean to sound harsh, but it comes out softer than I want. He shakes his head and looks at the ground for a few seconds, then stands up and walks away without another word.
After a few minutes of trying to process what just happened, I get up, and enter my house. Dinner is waiting for me on the table, left by Toby – my Dad doesn't eat with me, not anymore. He has too much work for that.
I eat it quickly, not really tasting it, just wanting to get up to my room. However, before I can do that, Toby comes into the room, and leans against the door frame, eyeing me warily.
"Madge, where have you been?" He asks. I want to lie, but I just can't.
"I was by the fence." If he's surprised, he doesn't show it.
"Why?"
"I don't know." I answer truthfully. He nods.
"You be careful, alright? He says, taking my plate from me, which I snatch back instantly. He knows that I don't like having the table cleared for me. We walk to the kitchen together in silence, where I begin to wash up. He watches me for a while, before sighing and leaving me to it. Once I'm finished, I go upstairs and have a shower, letting the hot water relax me. I try not to think about what has happened this evening, and for once, it works. I pick out an old book of mine and read until I fall asleep mid sentence, the book still in my hand as I dreamed of nothing.
Really not sure where I'm going with this, oh well. I know Madge seems kind of unhappy right now, but I think that's understandable. When she and Gale get closer I promise she'll be a lot more positive ^^
Read and most definitely review! I'm going to wait for a few reviews to come in before I write the next chapter.