Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games and am making no money from this.
This story, like most Hunger Games stories I've read will be told from various points of view. As normal, I'll note when they change.
Prim
I knew shopping with Glimmer wouldn't exactly be fast, but I had no idea how far she'd actually go. After getting money from the bank (which involved quite a bit of shock and confusion on the bank's part), we've gone to literally every store that sells any sort of product a girl could ever possibly use.
It's impossibly slow and tedious. Well, at least it was until Glimmer talked me into trying a few things on myself. It was just one thing, I swear! I really meant to just try one thing on to humor her. And that's all it was, one dress. But then somehow I needed matching shoes. A girl can't clash after all, can she?
I won't ever wonder how Glimmer gets Katniss to do anything she wants; the girl can be really insistent, and can pester with the best of them. It isn't really annoying, per se; it's the sort of thing where you just do what she says to get her to stop. You plan to just have it be one time, but it never seems to stop at that.
Not that it's all bad. Glimmer actually has good taste in clothes for the most part. Now I don't want to be quite as blatant about showing off as her, but she actually talked me into quite a few nice outfits. They're different from what I usually wear; more grown up.
"New experience for you?" she asks me sometime during the day.
"Shopping? No, I've gone shopping before."
"Shopping with Katniss doesn't count. I've seen how she dresses."
"What do you mean?" I blink.
"Oh come on, if they were the same size Katniss could swap clothes with that Gale guy and no one would notice." Well, Glimmer sort of has a point there. "Face it; Katniss is terrible at being a girl. And you poor girl, you've never had a proper female role model to do things like, well, take you shopping properly."
"You say that like there's a right and a wrong way to shop."
"Well of course there is, Prim. You can have lists and just go to stores get what you need, watch prices and all that. But that's totally wrong! The right way is to just go and browse, try things on, buy whatever you like, then get the right accessories and buy all that you like and not care about how long you've taken or how much it costs." Glimmer smiles at me.
"Glimmer, most people can't spend all day shopping and they certainly can't afford it."
"Yeah yeah, yeah. It sucks to be most people, but we aren't most people, Prim. I'm a Victor and you're a relative of a Victor. We could do this every day and still never run out of money. And like you said, it's Saturday, so you have a day to waste. So relax and enjoy"
"Well, um, I guess so…" Wait, what's Glimmer doing? Oh, those are nice shoes… They're a lot closer to what Glimmer would wear than what I've ever done, but wait, are they in my size? Maybe I could just try them on…
"You know Prim, if acting totally irresponsible is too much for you still, how about I buy?"
"Well they do look really nice…" Maybe letting her have her way on this one isn't so bad.
Madge
Haymitch and my father are really panicking. Apparently, whatever rebellion plans they had are in disarray now. Not that they tell me anything, but I overhear plenty. Like for instance the Quarter Quell plans are a disaster for the rebellion. It seems like quite a few Victors are rebels (hardly a surprise) and now there's going to be a whole lot less of them.
I don't need to listen in to secret plans to know that the Quell card targets a few people, namely Katniss and Glimmer. After their Tour, I'm not entirely surprised. After all, there were major riots in 11 and a nationwide power outage that lasted nearly a full day when they visited 5. Neither one made the news of course (everyone was told the power outage was a minor local issue) but I saw the real news reports.
The terrorist strike on the Capitol apparently wasn't part of the plan either, which honestly is a bit surprising. It's not often that things happen that the rebellion doesn't know about, but this was a total shock to them. It's pretty amazing really; someone managed to plan and execute a massive attack on the Capitol that absolutely no one saw coming; not Snow, not Haymitch and not my father.
It seems like some really bad stuff happened during that attack too, because my father and Haymitch were discussing it forever. I'd love to know what, but there's no way either of them will tell me. Unless I can somehow get it out of Katniss or Glimmer I might never find out.
Glimmer apparently is an unexpected thing too. Namely, the fact she's here in 12 and seems to be staying. They seem rather nervous about what she might do here, so they've asked me to well, frankly to spy on her and Katniss. My father and Haymitch called it keeping an eye on them and letting them know if Katniss or Glimmer are going to do anything troublesome, but let's face it, it's spying.
Spying is something I'm not thrilled about. I can see why they'd ask me to do it, I'm one of Katniss' only friends, I'm over at the house fairly often anyway, and I tend to blend into the background, but I don't like it. I don't like spying on friends, and really, I don't like blending into the background.
Being nearly invisible and totally inoffensive is a skill that's gotten me through life, but I'm tired of it. Being as important as your average piece of furniture is no way to be. I'm not sure how, but I have to do something different. I'm just not willing to go through the rest of my life like this.
Maybe spending time with Katniss and Glimmer will help me find some change I can make. It's a happy coincidence I'm supposed to be with them, and that's where I'm going now.
I come across Glimmer walking with Prim, apparently on the way back from town. It's odd seeing them together; in a lot of ways they look more like sisters than Prim and Katniss do. Both are blonde, and while Katniss lived a lean Seam life, she always made sure Prim never when hungry. Especially in the past year, the effects on Prim are really showing. She's gotten taller and she's started to develop as she goes through puberty. It's not hard to look at Prim and see the beautiful woman she'll be in just a few more years.
"Hi." I wave to them. "What are you two up to?"
"Shopping." Prim waves back to me.
"Shopping? What, you two didn't get anything?" Glimmer and Prim are strolling along, not carrying a single thing.
"As if. Glimmer bought half the district." Prim rolls her eyes.
"I seem to recall you getting just a few things." Glimmer comments dryly.
"You twisted my arm! It would have been rude not to say yes!"
"Oh yeah, I totally forced you to squeal and jump around and say how hot this looked or how cute or how perfect it'd be with just the right accessories." Judging by Prim's blush Glimmer hit the mark there.
"So where's all the stuff you bought then?" I ask.
"Glimmer bought way more than we could carry, so she had to pay the stores to deliver it all."
"Hey, I'm used to having a car! It's not my fault no one's bothered to pave the roads out here."
"So now I'm gonna be stuck at home accepting deliveries all day." Prim complains.
"You mean sitting on the couch playing video games and having to actually pause the game and walk a few steps to answer the door?"
"Well I didn't want to say it quite like that." Yep, Prim's busted again.
"Actually Madge, it's good we ran into you." Glimmer looks at me.
"Why's that?" I ask.
"I need to talk to Gale Hawthorne, but I have no idea where to find him."
"Why ask me? Why not try his house?"
"Well see, I don't actually know where he lives." Glimmer says a bit awkwardly.
"Ah, ok, well that's no problem; it's just a short walk." Really, though, everything's a short walk in 12; it's just plain not that big.
"Great." Glimmer smiles at me. "Prim, you going to be ok on your own?"
"Of course." Prim rolls her eyes. "I'm not a kid you know."
"I know. This shouldn't take long, so I should be home soon." Glimmer's learned to think of Katniss' house as her home fast apparently.
"Is this about last night?" Prim asks. I don't really have to ask what happened last night. I know Gale was hurt in the mine accident and I can imagine Katniss wasn't thrilled when she came home and found out.
Glimmer hesitates. "Partly."
"Don't be too hard on him, ok? He's just trying to do what he thinks is best. And besides, he and Katniss go way back."
"Geez Prim, it's not like I'm going to beat him up or anything."
Prim doesn't look entirely convinced. "Well ok then. I'll see you at home." Prim waves and heads off towards Victor's Village.
"Do I really look like I'm going to just beat people up?" Glimmer asks me.
"Um, well, maybe just a little?" I laugh awkwardly.
Katniss
I'm finally wandering home. It's not that I had some magical revelation or anything; I actually didn't bring anything to eat and now I'm hungry. Stupid Victor's lifestyle making me grumpy if I miss a meal.
I walk into my house and almost trip over a pile of boxes right away. "What the heck?" I ask out loud. There's boxes everywhere. What, did all of the stores in town suddenly start using my house as a warehouse or something? "Prim! What's going on here?"
"Katniss, that you?" Prim yells from somewhere upstairs. "I'll be right down!" She better have some good answers about all this. This is more than I had gotten from town my entire life before I was reaped.
I finally hear Prim coming down the stairs. Good, I'll get some answers and we can see about cleaning this mess up. My mom's out seeing patients but she'll throw a fit if she sees the living room like this.
I look over at Prim and nearly have a heart attack. She's in a sky blue dress, form fitting and showing off a fair bit of cleavage (it wasn't long ago she didn't have any to show off at all!) and it's cut short, way above her knees. To top it off she has on matching heels (which aren't as high as Glimmer wears but still more than I'd like) a, gold necklace and a pair of earrings. On another girl, even though it shows off her curves it'd be a tasteful, descent outfit, but this is Prim for god's sake!
"P…Prim!" I gasp out.
"You like it, Katniss?" She smiles and twirls around, showing off her new outfit.
"What the heck is that Prim?"
"It's a dress, Katniss. It's new; you like it?"
"Where the heck did you get that thing?"
"In town today; Glimmer and I went shopping." Glimmer! I should have known! She's the one that did this to Prim! She turned my innocent little sister into a Mini Glimmer!
"Where is she?" I ask, trying to hide the venom.
"Oh relax Katniss, this is no big deal. Besides, she isn't here; she'll be back later."
"But what if someone sees you in that Prim!"
"That's sort of the point of wearing something like this, Katniss: for people to see and for me to enjoy the reactions. Yours certainly has been funny." She giggles at me.
"Primrose Everdeen! This is no joke!" From her giggling, I'm guessing she doesn't believe me.
Glimmer
The Hawthorne house looks a bit run down. But then all of 12 looks run down to me; by the local standards, it actually isn't bad at all. It makes me wonder what Katniss' old house looks like. I'll have to get someone to show it to me sometime. I doubt it'll be today though; there's more important things to do now.
I ditched Madge once we got to the Hawthorne house. Well, I was nice about it, told her I had something personal to talk to Gale about, but let's face it, I ditched her. It's nothing personal, really. The girl's got some sort of angle or something; I can tell she's out of her comfort zone somehow, but I just plain don't have the time to figure it out today.
I walk up to the house and knock on the door. (There's no doorbell to ring.) It takes a few moments before the door opens. There's a kid who looks like a miniature Gale standing there, staring slack jawed up at me.
"Hi, I'm looking for Gale Hawthorne. Is he around?"
"Um…" He's seems to be stuck on the staring part of this and can't get to the actual talking.
"Is this the Hawthorne residence?" And I get more staring. Couldn't get a kid who isn't just learning he likes girls; just my luck.
"Rory, who's that the door?" asks a voice from inside. Thankfully it sounds like this kid's mom. I see her coming to the door. She's an older woman who looks pleasant enough, though her body clearly shows signs of having lived a hard life. Par for the course in 12.
She looks me over quickly, doing a pretty good job of hiding her surprise. I've gotten used to that reaction from pretty much everyone in 12. "Hello, I'm Hazelle." she introduces herself. "Can I help you?"
"Hi, I'm Glimmer. I'm looking for Gale Hawthorne. Is he around?"
"He's inside." She looks down at the Mini Gale. "Rory, go get your brother, please." Ok, so now he has a name. That's almost like progress. He finally stops staring at me and goes back inside.
"What do you need with Gale, if you don't mind my asking?"
"I just need to talk to him."
"I see. May I ask what about?" She's trying to keep it light, but it's obvious there's suspicion there.
"That's um, a bit of an awkward question." Yep, I'm adding to the suspicion here. "I'm not really allowed to say."
She gives me a disapproving look. I can't blame her; I'm basically justifying all the suspicion she has of a strange, famous girl from 1 just randomly showing up at her door.
Gale picks that moment to come to the door. Lucky me, I get to go from an awkward conversation with his mom to what will probably be a very nasty conversation with him. He gives me a rather cold look. "What do you want?"
"We need to talk."
"I don't need you meddling in an argument Katniss and I are having."
"Yes you do." We're at unpleasant now, next stop: nasty.
"We've gotten along just fine for years without you, we'll keep managing just fine without you getting involved, thanks."
"Yeah, maybe, but we still need to talk."
"So talk." he frowns.
"Not here; in private."
He stares at me for a while, like some sort of childish contest. "Fine." he groans after a while. "I'll be back in a little while, Ma."
He walks out of the house and starts down the road, not bothering to see if I'm following or not (I am). We walk down the road wordlessly, quickly getting away from the houses and to a meadow along the district's outer fence.
Suddenly Gale stops and turns around, facing me. "Look, I'm sure you mean well. And I know you've helped Katniss out a lot, and I appreciate it, really I do, but this is between her and I, so leave it alone, all right? This is an argument we've been having for a long time and you aren't going to magically swoop in and fix it, so just go home already. Actually wait, why aren't you at your home? You live in 1, not here."
"Katniss invited me to stay here, so I am."
"Isn't that illegal?"
I shrug. "Nobody's arrested me so far."
"Cute. So we done here?"
"Not even close."
"Ugh, women. You just live to meddle, don't you?" He rolls his eyes. "Fine, give me your big speech about how I'm not understanding and need to listen to other people's feelings and all that crap and let's get this over with."
Ok, that's it, time for a new approach. While he's babbling he doesn't see my fist until it's already connected with his jaw. Lucky for him I didn't hit him that hard, just enough to make a point.
"What the fuck was that?" he demands, holding his jaw where he just got hit.
"You were babbling on about feelings; so how do you feel now?"
He looks at me and after a moment breaks out laughing. "All right, all right, I'll play along. What's on your mind?"
"We need to talk about the Quarter Quell."
"The Quell? What the hell is there to talk about there?"
"I know who three of the tributes are going to be."
"Three? What the fuck?" I can see him thinking, trying to work it out.
"That's right. One is a close friend of yours and the other two are nineteen years old."
He stares at me. "Oh mother fucker. Are you fucking serious?"
I nod. "I may be famous for a lot of jokes at Katniss' expense, but I would never joke about this."
"Are you sure? I mean, could you be wrong?"
"Snow told us himself. He wouldn't lie; he loves using the truth as a weapon."
"Oh fuck me. What the hell did I ever do to that stupid son of a bitch?"
"Well Katniss has told me some of the things you've said about him…"
"Hey, I didn't say any of that shit where he could hear!"
I smile. I know I said I wouldn't joke about this, but Gale just left me such a huge opening there. "I know. Actually, it has nothing to do with you; you're just collateral damage."
"What the fuck's that supposed to mean?"
"Snow's targeting Katniss and I. You're just involved because it gets to her. I doubt Snow cares about you at all."
"I should have talked about him where he could hear then." Gale mutters. "Wait, if I'm a tribute that means I get to be on TV and can say whatever the fuck I want!"
"That's a bad idea, Gale."
"Why? What the fuck are they going to do? They already plan to kill me."
"You have family."
"Oh fuck!" Gale almost yells. "The whole fucking nation nation's going to be watching me, listening to what I have to say and I can't say what I really want to?"
"Well, you can, but there's a price. Same as Katniss and I; we can do lots, if we're willing to watch people we're close to die."
"Son of a bitch. Telling Snow to eat a dick isn't worth Rory or Ma's life." Well he's certainly right, but I can't deny indulging in a fantasy of picturing Gale says exactly that in his interview. It would be the shortest, yet most memorable interview I've ever seen.
Gale looks me in the eye, his posture stiffening, almost a combat stance. "So why are you telling me this? This some plan to fuck with my head? Psyche me out and make me an easy target or some shit like that?"
"Oh I absolutely have a plan I'm working here, just not the one you think." I'm making sure to not match his combat stance. The last thing I want here is a fight; Gale's too important to what I have in mind to make an enemy of.
"So what the fuck plan are you working, Career girl?" It's amazing how much Gale swears when he's both angry and away from Katniss.
"I'm guessing there's a few woodworkers here in 12?"
"Woodworkers? What the hell?"
"Yes, woodworkers. You know, people who carve wood. The stuff trees are made of?"
"I know what wood is!"
"Then you can find someone to make all of this?" I take out a piece of paper with a few notes I made earlier and hand it to him.
Gale looks it over, his combativeness changing to confusion. "What do you want all of this for?"
"It's like you said, I'm a Career girl."
"There's no way you could use this much though."
"You're right; it's not just for me."
Gale looks me over, like he's trying to reassess me. "Will they really let us do that?"
"Of course; other districts do it. It's playing along with the system, and it'll make a better show. As long as we don't rub it in the Peacekeeper's faces they'll let it go."
"So just like our hunting; we keep the right people happy and they let it go."
"That's right." I nod.
He looks down at the list again. "There's a lot here; it'll take a while to get it all made."
"We don't have the time to wait. It doesn't matter what it'll cost, but I need it the day after tomorrow."
"Well if you're willing to throw enough money around I can make it happen. It'd be better if you let me pay them rather than doing it directly though."
"That's fine, as long as it gets done."
"All right, I'll take care of it." Gale nods, turning to walk away.
"There's one other thing, Gale."
He stops and looks back. "What's that?"
"You're done being a miner."
"This again? I get enough of this from Katniss."
"This isn't a debate, Hawthorne. You've got more important things to do than work in a damned hole all day long. Now I don't care if it's you take Katniss' money or mine but you're done being a miner. You work for me now."
"Lucky me." He groans.
"Hey, if you think you can do better without me go for it."
Gale looks at me and frowns. "You must be loving this; just come in and we all have to do what you say and become what we've hated all our lives."
"Do I look like I'm smiling? Do I look like I'm having fun? Do I look like I want to go into another arena? Do you really think I want to have anything to do with the Capitol ever again? I want to just be left alone, but since I don't see anyone offering that, I'm going to do what gives me the best chance to survive. Katniss told me that's a common theme here in 12."
Ever since I went back to 1 as a Victor I've led a pretty boring life. Most days I literally wouldn't speak until after lunch when I talked to Katniss on the phone. Now it seems like I'm juggling drama constantly. I did it in the Academy all the time; living a role that isn't you will do that you, of course. But until now I didn't realize how much I was glad to be done with that sort of thing. This is just plain not that fun.
I give Gale a last look. "We're starting tomorrow morning, right after breakfast at Katniss' house. Make sure you're there. We'll make do without all the stuff on that list for a day."
And with that I head back to Katniss' house; it's not a long walk. (In a district too small for proper roads it's not possible for anything to be much of a long walk) I guess this is my home now, maybe for the rest of my life. I know eventually the Peacekeepers will haul me back to 1, for the reaping if nothing more, but it's possible I'll be able to stay here for most of the time until then.
I walk inside and find Madge looking through all the stuff I bought earlier. "Ah good, it's all here." I smile.
"You!" I hear Katniss yell, storming in from the kitchen. Oh great, more drama. Isn't it enough already?
"Yep, It's me."
"What the heck did you do, Glimmer?"
"I'm going to need a bit of a hint what you mean, Katniss." I'm starting to wonder if living alone has any actual downsides.
"Prim! I'm talking about Prim! Have you seen her?"
"Yes, I saw her earlier today; we went shopping together."
"I know you did! And I saw what you got her!"
"Yeah, I got her some stuff, so what?"
"Have you seen how she looks? That's my sister you know!"
"So that's why you two have the same last name, I was wondering about that." I'd forgotten how tiresome dealing with people could get sometimes.
Thankfully Prim takes this opportunity to come into the room. "Oh Katniss, relax already." Prim's wearing a blue dress I got her. It actually looks really nice on her. It shows her off without being stupidly over the top or inappropriate for a girl her age.
Katniss gives Prim a firm look, or at least she tries to. I don't think Katniss is very capable of being mad at her little sister. I guess that makes me the outlet. Oh joy. "Ugh, my head hurts way too much for this. Katniss, we've got things to do tomorrow morning, so don't disappear again please."
I turn and walk back out the door. I don't have anywhere to go but I'll be damned if I'm going to stay there and get yelled at because Katniss can't handle the fact her little sister is growing up.
I have nowhere in particular to go, so I wander around District 12's Victor's Village. It's a pretty strange place, really. Every district had a Victor's Village built with 12 houses constructed. In 1 it's basically full, but 12's is a ghost town. There's only been three victors from 12, and one of them is long dead, so that means ten empty houses. Haymitch's house is occupied, but I think it'd be better off deserted. The lawn is overgrown, the paint on the building is faded and peeling and in general it looks tired and dilapidated.
I pick a random empty Victor's house and walk up to porch, sitting down on one of the chairs there. The house may have never had anyone live in it, but all the Victor's houses were built and furnished years ago, just waiting for someone to earn the right to move in. I may not be from 12, but I am a Victor, so as far as I'm concerned that's good enough. This chair was put here for a Victor to use, after all.
I'm only here a few minutes before I see Madge walking up the front walk and onto the porch. She sits down on one of the chairs next to me. "Not eager for a fight? That's unusual for a Career girl." It sounds like an insult, but the way she says it I don't think it's meant to be; more of a joke almost.
"Yeah well I just got done arguing with Gale Hawthorne."
"How'd that go?"
"Not bad. I only had to hit him once."
She stops and looks at me. "You hit Gale?"
"Yeah, punched him in the face."
"Seriously? Wow. There's not many people in 12 who pick a fight with Gale, and I don't think any girls have ever tried."
"I wasn't picking a fight; more like getting his attention."
"How'd he take it?"
"He was pretty shocked, but I think he knew I wasn't seriously trying to fight him."
"How'd he know that?"
"Because I didn't hit him that hard."
"So what were you talking to him about?" Hmm, I need to think of how to answer that. Maybe say I was playing peacemaker for Katniss? Not really the truth, but Gale will be taking money rather than working in the mines so the results might look like I was there to do that.
"You know, you might not know this since I'm sure the Victor's Village in 1 is pretty full, but they don't actually turn on the bugs in these houses until someone wins the Games and will be coming to live here." Wait, what? She doesn't just know these houses are bugged; she's making sure I know she knows? What's her deal here?
"All right, you've got my attention."
"I'm not playing any game here and I don't want anything, so don't worry, Glimmer."
"So why tell me something like that? It's not the sort of information people just share."
"To show you could trust me." Yeah, maybe that's why, but it's not all of why. The girl's got a lot more to her than she lets on, even more than she's showing me now.
"And why do you care if I trust you or not?"
"Because I know what it's like to be alone, and because you looked like you could use a friend."
"What is this, pity?"
"No, not pity. Just a friendly gesture."
"Question remains: why?"
She looks at me for a moment before answering. "I've heard you didn't have much for friends in the Academy. Well I didn't in school either. Just Katniss really, and since it's her, we didn't talk much. I know what's it's like to want to talk but not have anyone there. And really I'm tired of just being some useless wallflower that no one even notices is there. People don't even realize I'm around before talking half the time, but so what? If I never say anything, what's it matter what I hear? I'm tired of it. I don't want to just be there anymore. I want a life that means more."
So there's the truth; the girl's fed up with her life. Well ok, I can deal with that. If she knows about the bugs and when they're turned on I'm sure she knows a lot more, but there's no rush to get at that. The fact she told me does show some trust, and she's obviously hoping I do the same. Yeah, I think I can do that.
"All right, I'll tell you what Gale and I talked about."
Author's Notes:
Like always, thanks to my friend JB for help with grammar edits. If anyone has comments critiques or reviews I'd love to hear from you, so feel free to PM me or leave a review. (It wouldn't be a fanfic if the author didn't go asking for reviews.) Thanks for reading.