Madge's POV

We were so close. So close!

And then she showed up.

I was centimeters from Gale, I could feel the warmth of his breath, the heat radiating off of his skin. And then someone cleared their throat, and we both jumped.

Katniss.
I watched as Gale jumped up, ecstatic, and enveloped her in a huge hug. I guess all the tension between them was gone. Katniss laughed and pulled him closer, whispering in his ear and grinning.

"Why are you here?" Gale laughed. "I thought you were in 13."

"I was." Katniss replied breathlessly. "But I wanted to come visit you."

"Why?"

She sobered slightly. "I'll... I'll tell you later." I watched as her eyes flitted to me, and he nodded in understanding. "Hey Madge." She greeted me finally. "How are you?"

"Uh..." I didn't know what to say, I was still surprised and shocked and hurt. "Fine." Katniss stepped forward, maybe wanting a hug, but I mumbled something about the horses and walked away as fast as I could. I heard Gale something lightly, and they both laughed. It made my heart lurch. Gale would no doubt forget about our moment, now that Katniss was here. She was, after all, the girl he was in love with.

I found Romeo and Juliet in their paddock, both grazing calmly.

"Hey guys." I greeted them. Both of them instantly trotted over, and one of the farm cats strolled over and meowed. I sat down, letting the horses nudge me, the cat head-butt me.

I stayed there for at least an hour, trying to ignore the uncomfortable situation and instead running speech ideas through my mind.

"I will fulfill my duties as a President very well... No, that isn't a very good one..." I shook my headvigorously. "I, Presidenet Madge Undersee... Too formal? What could be too formal for a huge speech like this?" I smacked my hand at the ground in frustration. I was never good at writing, or making speeches. There'd be a lot of people there, too. Just the thought of it nauseated me. I decided to head inside. It was around 3:00 P.M. then, and Katniss and Gale were digging into a late lunch.

"Oh, hey Madge." Gale greeted me with a sheepish smile. He shoved part of a sandwich into his mouth. "Want some?" He tried to ask, although his full mouth made it sound odd.

"N-No thanks." I shook my head. Katniss looked at me curiously, and I could tell she knew something was up.

"I've heard that you've been sick, Madge." She informed me. "Or hurt, at least. You should eat something."

I sighed in resignation, and took a sandwich.

"That must've hurt." Katniss whispered, tracing the scars on my face with her eyes. They were faint, now, not quite as noticeable, but stil painfully different from the rest of my face.

"Tell me about it." I muttered. The sandwich was delicious, and I ate it eagerly.

"How's Peeta?" I asked her after taking the first bite. "Is he alright?"

"He's... Well, he's better. He was kidnapped, as you probably know, and a little confused at first, but he's coming around."

"Oh." I tried to think of a polite way to ask her why she was here. I was interrupted by Gale, though.

"Did he try to hurt you?" Gale asked tightly, the sandwich resting on his plate. "I heard that he was having some trouble when he first got back."

"Not really." Katniss said dismissively. "So, Madge, I heard about the whole Mayor thing."
I knew she had asked to change the subject, but the question sent shudders through me.

"I guess you heard about Greasy, too, then." I said to her sadly. She nodded grimly.

"Yes... I don't understand why they don't return her. I'll go reason with them tomorrow."

"No you won't." Gale interrupted. "Not without me."

"Or me." I put in. There was no way I'd be left behind. I was going to be Mayor, after all. If anyone should be there, it should be me. I explained this to them, and Katniss agreed.

"It'll prove to them that you're Mayor-worthy."She said.

"When should we leave?" Gale asked her, standing up and brushing the crumbs off of his pants.

"Tomorrow sounds good to me." Katnis replied thoughtfully. "Okay with you two?" We nodded in unison, and she excused herself to go to the bathroom. She left us in an extremely uncomfortable silence.

"Madge..." Gale started. "I'm-"

"I don't want to hear it." I snapped. I knew it wasn't his fault that Katniss had showed up, but he hadn't even asked me if I was okay, hadn't come after me when I was so obviously upset. "I know what she means to you."

Maybe I was being silly, but I left with my chin high and back straight. There was no way I'd let him control my feeling so easily.

I decided to go on a ride with one of the horses. I hopped on Romeo and used a lead rope as reigns. We went for a forest ride.

I had a long think about Gale. He was in love with Katniss, that much was obvious. He'd never be able to love me while he was in love with her. I sighed as I realized Gale and I could never be together.
Satisfied with the depth of my thoughts, I rode Romeo a little deeper into the forest, enjoying the beauty. But something was nagging at my mind, trying to remind me of something important.
That's when I heard yells and shouts of laughter. And then I rememberd what it was, something that Greasy had told me about a few weeks before.

"Stay 'way from the woods, Madge." She said firmly as she tended to my wounds. "I just got word today that there're Rebels livin' in all of the forest areas."

"Rebels?" I asked her in confusion. "What are they?"

"From the Rebellion." She replied. "Too cowardly tuh live in 13, yet they support Katniss."

"Then why are they dangerous to us?"

"Because, child, anyone who isn't in 13 isn't a part of the Rebellion... Tuh them, anyways."

She had later told me not to forget her warning. Being me, of course, I did just that. Acidentally.

The yells and shouts got louder, and I started to panic. Romeo shied and reared slightly, but I calmed him quickly. Then an arrow appeared out of nowhere, emberrind itself in Romeo's thigh. He whinnied in pain and took off, taking me by surprise and dumping me on the ground. I tried to stand, but my ankle was twisted. All I could do was wait for the Rebels to come, and probably kill me.

All that went through my mind was, Gale, Gale, Gale.