"Better never means better for everyone...It always means worse, for some."

In early spring, the lake was still cold, but that didn't stop Bristel from going in. He left a streak of coal black in his wake as he waded further out into the blue-green water.

"Crazy," said Thom. He dipped his hand into the lake and quickly withdrew, shaking his hand and splattering icy droplets across Gale's face. "If his limbs freeze up, you'll have to save him. No way am I going in."

"Alright," said Gale. Bristel was a good swimmer. He wasn't likely to need saving. Since he'd started working in the mines, Gale and Thom rarely saw him. He usually spent his day off to catch up on missed sleep. He slept like a dead man. After six days underground, he basically was.

In a month, Thom and Gale would be down there with him. This was probably their last lake trip for a while and Gale wanted to enjoy it. But his thoughts drifted to Undersee, casting shadows over the sunny day. After tonight, it would all be over. So why wasn't he happier? Why couldn't he enjoy this rare moment with his friends?

Bristel flopped to shore.

"Crazy," said Thom again, shaking his head.

"Only way to get really clean," said Bristel. He held up his arms to catch the sunlight. There wasn't a speck of coal dust on his skin. Come tomorrow, he would be covered once more. He lowered his arms and turned to Gale. "You're quiet today. Got something to share with the rest of the class?"

"Nope," said Gale.

"He's just thinking about Undersee," said Thom.

"Right, of course," said Bristel, rolling his eyes.

"What's that supposed mean?" demanded Gale, glaring back and forth between them.

Bristel looked to Thom, as if asking for permission to speak. Thom shrugged. "Well," said Bristel. "When aren't you thinking about her?"

"It's been a weird week," said Gale. He felt the need to defend himself against their conspiratorial glances. "I've had to think about her a lot."

Thom snorted. "So what's your excuse for the past eleven years?"

"What?"

"Undersee this. Undersee, that," said Thom. "If I had a diamond for every time you said her name, I'd be the richest man in Panem."

"Bullshit," snapped Gale, coiled to spring. Bristel, always the voice of reason, quickly intervened.

"It's sort of true," he said. "You talk about her quite her a bit."

Okay, fine...so I talk about Undersee a lot. Only because she irritated him so much, the constant thorn in his side.

"You're crazy about her," said Thom. "And you have been for ages. It was fun to watch at first, but frankly, I got sick of it a long time ago."

"We thought you'd figure it eventually," added Bristel.

Gale gaped at them, hardly daring to believe his ears. "You're the crazy ones," he finally said. "Undersee and I can't be together for ten minutes without fighting." Though that wasn't entirely true. Last night, they'd gone a lot longer than ten minutes without arguing. He wasn't about share that with Thom and Bristel, especially with what they were currently accusing him of. They were both looking at him like they knew so much more than him.

"I'm not crazy about her," he said, leaping to his feet. "I don't give a damn about Undersee. She's just an uppity town girl." Though that wasn't entirely true either. If he didn't give a damn about her, he wouldn't still feel the ghost of her touch at the back of his neck. He wouldn't feel sick, remembering how he'd made her cry.

"Calm down," said Bristel. "We're not trying to pick a fight."

"Yeah," said Thom. "Just pointing out the obvious."

"Think about it. Most townies you ignore. Why is she the only one you go out of your way to rile up."

Gale opened his mouth to speak to in his defense, but Bristel's observation stumped him. He knew why he went after Madge, because he enjoyed arguing with her, because...it gave him an opportunity to talk to her at all. She was the mayor's daughter. They couldn't be friends, except she was friends with Katniss, so then…

Suddenly, he felt as if he'd been thrown into the freezing cold lake. He did not want to be friends with Madge Undersee. He wanted more than that. He wanted the impossible. How many years had he been lying to himself? He wished that Thom and Bristel had let him continue with the self-delusions, let him believe that he hated the mayor's daughter because she was a townie, when really, he hated her for being the one girl he'd always wanted, and just another thing he couldn't have.

With a groan, he sank to the ground and buried his face in his hands. Bristel gave him a bracing thump on the back. "Cheer up," he said. "Not too late to tell her. You never know."

Madge stared glumly at the pile of homework spread across the dining room table. She'd given up nearly an hour ago. Peeta kept working. She knew he'd let her copy off of him. He didn't ask what was on her mind, because he already knew and he'd promised not to pry. Still, he glanced at her every few seconds, unable to keep his eyes from prying. Unasked questions clogged the air.

Madge sighed. He was only so curious out of concern. "We kissed," she said.

Peeta's head shot up. "You and Hawthorne?"

"Me and Greasy Sae," she said, rolling her eyes. "Yes, Gale."

"Oh," said Peeta. He put down his pencil. Since she'd brought up the subject, he figured he was allowed to ask questions. "Well, how was it?"

"Okay."

"Just okay?"

"It was...nice," she admitted. "Better." She didn't mention the letter. It didn't feel right to tell anyone, not even Peeta, about that. The kissing he could know about. The letter, somehow more intimate, needed to be kept secret.

"You're not falling for him, are you?" said Peeta, grinning.

"Don't be stupid," said Madge. The day she fell for Gale Hawthorne would be the day the earth stopped turning.

Gale stood in the late afternoon shadow of the mayor's brick mansion. Stupid Thom and Bristel. They just had to tear down the wall of willful ignorance he'd been carefully building for years; now he was rubble on the inside. What the hell am I doing here? He didn't belong here, not anymore. For the first time, he was intimidated by the mayor's house.

Tomorrow everything would be normal again...He was here because he didn't want normal. How could he, knowing the truth of how he felt? The partial truth. The more he thought about it, the less he seemed to know. He was crazy about her, or she just made him crazy, or both. He didn't love her. So was it lust? No, he knew that emotion well enough. This did not feel the same. Maybe being locked in a room with her had messed with his mind, made him believe things that weren't true.

Gale turned to leave. Then remembered kissing her, the featherlight touch of her hand, and the silent moment of understanding between them, the sort he'd never experience with anyone outside of his own family. He spun around and knocked on the mayor's backdoor without a clue what he was going to say. He waited, head buzzing, palms sweating, mouth dry, definitely crazy.

Preparing to blurt out the first words that came to him when he saw Undersee's stupid, perfect face, Gale took a deep breath, which he choked on when the door finally opened. "May I help you?" said Mayor Undersee. Never, in all of Gale's years selling strawberries here, had the mayor himself answered the door.

"Um…" said Gale. "Is Undersee...I mean, Madge. Is she home?"

"She's studying," said the mayor, his voice crisp, blue eyes sharp behind gold-rimmed spectacles. Gale had always thought of him as a weak man who smiled too much; he was not smiling now.

"I only want to talk to her for a second," said Gale. "Maybe you don't know me, but I'm-"

"I know who you are," said Mayor Undersee, his tone making clear that he knew more than Gale's name, and more than that he was the boy who sold them illegal berries. "I think you had better leave."

He's right. I shouldn't have come here in the first place. But once Gale started something, he didn't stop. His pride battled common sense. "Could you just tell her that I'm here?"

The mayor's lip twitched. "No," he said, firm and direct. "After tonight, I don't want you near my daughter. You are not to speak to her anymore. Are we clear, young man?"

Gale felt like he'd been punched in the face, again. How could he have believed for a single second that he was worthy of Madge Undersee? She was the mayor's daughter. He was a dirty lump of coal. His pride snapped under the mayor's steel blue gaze.

"Yes, Sir," he said. "I understand."