A/N-Enjoy! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF THE REVIEWS! REVIEW, AGAIN, PLEASE! Eight more reviews and I'll update tomorrow! I AM SO SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE!

"Margaret Jane Undersee, where have you been?"

He only uses my middle name when he's upset. Oh, I'm upset, too, buddy. "Where do ya think I've been?"

I can see he's trying to control his temper. "Sit down," he says as he points to the couch. I obey. He remains standing. "Were you drinking?"

"No," I say while I shake my head. I also slur my answer, so I don't think he buys it. I promised Patrick I wouldn't tell, and I'm not. I love loopholes.

"Don't you dare lie to me!" His voice has risen considerably, but it doesn't bother me. I'm used to it. "We all know where you've been!"

"So…"

"You are grounded until further notice. No piano, no friends, no nothing! Do you understand me?"

"Oh, that stinks. I can't visit my nonexistent friends? What a bummer," I say, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

"It's not my fault you're incapable of making suitable friends!"

"Yes it is!" My voice has also risen into a shout. "You're exactly the reason! You wanna know why no one talks to me? It's all because of you! You're the reason!"

"Madge-,"

"You didn't let me finish. You," I point my finger at him to get my point across, "are the reason. People hate me because I'm the mayor's daughter! Not because of me, but you!"

"You make me look bad!" What? "I try and I try to shape you into an acceptable young girl, but you always do something wrong! First it was Gale, now the drinking! What next, Madge? What next?"

"I'm sorry if I'm not the perfect little girl you want me to be, but I'm never going to be that girl! How long will it take for you to realize that?" Tears are already forming.

"You were!"

"I never was," I shriek. "I was pretending for you. That girl is gone. This is me."

"Margaret, I don't care. Get your act together."

"You never did," I mumble to myself. I don't know if he heard, but I hope he did. Tears begin to tumble down my cheeks at a rapid pace. My father's expression softens when he sees them. "Fine," I say as I stand up. "I think we understand where each other is coming from now." Tears are streaming down my face.

"Margaret-,"

"Don't even bother," I tell him as I march up the stairs.

"Margaret," he says firmly.

"Just leave me alone," I scream at the top of my lungs. I stumble into my room and onto my bed. I curl into a fetal position and just pray tomorrow will be better.

I cry myself to sleep that night.

Headaches awake me. I am brought back into reality the moment I wake up. The Games. The actual Games are starting today. How could I forget? How could I be so stupid?

How can I handle it? The other interviews, the training scores, the Reaping were nothing. They were just preparing me for what was to come. They were preparing me for the killing, the betrayal, and the lives that will be lost. Peeta could be gone by tomorrow. Katniss could be dead by morning.

They won't be stupid enough to go for the supplies at the Cornucopia. I know that. They could still get killed a number of different ways. What if they bump into another tribute? What if they can't get out fast enough?

As I'm debating things in my head, I glance at the clock in my room. It's almost time to go to the town square, and my head hurts like crazy. There's something that catches my eye. Ugh. There's a stupid spider, and it made a stupid spider web. I retrieve one of my shoes. I'm about to kill it when something clicks in my head.

Death is a lot like spiders. Death is hidden. It does not like to be exposed. Death takes lives whether they should be taken or not. It does not care.

The spider is no different. Spiders hide and wait for its prey. It takes whatever it can. Bugs don't see it coming. The more they struggle in the web, the more they get tangled. The spider goes in for the kill, and death makes a reappearance.

I smack my shoe so hard against the wall, that it leaves scuff marks. "Really," I mutter to myself. I wipe at the scuff marks, but they keep their place on the wall.

I amble to the bathroom and wipe the spider off of my shoe. I can't help to feel a little bit bad to kill the little guy. He did nothing wrong, but then I think about where Peeta is right now. I suddenly feel less guilty.

I hate how time flies when you don't want it to. It's already time to go to the town square. I slip on some flats and run out of the house. I say goodbye to Theodore on my way out. The Games help me not to think about my headaches.

The streets are eerily silent as I stroll to the town square. There are people on their way to the town square, too, but they're so quiet I can't even tell. No one says a word. No one dares break the silence.

The town square is packed when I arrive, but it's so quiet. People murmur. Babies cry. That's it. I'm kind of glad, though. I don't want to pretend like everything is all okay. I'm done with pretending. The silence also helps with my headache.

I naturally spot out Katniss' family in the group. I see Mr. Mellark among the people, but I want to be with Prim and her mother. I'm more comfortable around them.

Smile. I have to smile in front of Mr. Mellark. I wave at him and he waves back. His family stands behind him. Patrick stands by him, too. Is Patrick Peeta's brother?

"Hello," I say to Mrs. Everdeen and Prim. The Hawthornes aren't there yet.

"Hi," Prim murmurs back. Mrs. Everdeen just smiles. Well, she attempts to.

Time slowly ticks away. I mean excruciatingly slow. The Hawthornes finally arrive right before the Games begin. Everyone says hello except for Gale. Huh, that's odd.

I stand next to Gale for two reasons. Rory looks like he really wants to stand next to Prim and he can't do that if I am. The second reason is that I've learned to appreciate Gale's company. Appreciate is a good word. It doesn't insinuate anything.

Gale ignores me as I take my place next to him. Hm, he must just be scared.

"Hi," I say to him. No one is really near us. We're kind of out of the group. We're the outcasts. I'm used to being the outcast. Peeta was never the outcast. He was always with a group of people. He just has a magnetic personality.

Gale ignores my greeting. "Gale?" His eyes dart to me for a fraction of a second. "Gale?"

"Oh, so now you bother to acknowledge me? Why don't you hang around with that townie of yours?"

"What are you talking about?" Please don't start now…

"I saw you at the bar. Did you bother to acknowledge me? Are you too embarrassed to be seen hanging around with people from the Seam in front of your new boyfriend?" He says boyfriend in more of a snarl.

"Gale, it wasn't like that," I sigh. He rolls his eyes. "Gale, I'm sorry! I would've, but I was on a date!" Gale's expression doesn't change. "He's not even my boyfriend." Gale still refuses to say a word. "You just wouldn't understand."

"Understand what?"

"I was trying to get back at my father by drinking!"

"Why?"
"He set me up with that guy. To get back at him I decided to talk my date into going to the bar with me. I was afraid he would get jealous of you or intimidated by you or something and leave."

"So you were afraid I was going to screw everything up?"

"Gale, stop being so difficult." He says nothing. "Gale."

The screen comes to life and shows the announcers. They smile and express how happy they are for the Games. After their peppy speech is over, they show the tributes. I cross my arms defiantly over my chest and try not to look as scared as I am.

I'll have to explain everything to Gale later. You can always count on him to be angry about something. If I sneeze, he'll say I'm being dramatic about the coal dust. I'll have to test that theory out soon.

The clock is already ticking away. It's ticking away the final moments of someone's life. Who will it be? Katniss? Peeta? Rue? Time holds the answer.

Ten more seconds before the killing begins. I look at Gale. "I'm sorry," I whisper. He looks at me with a confused expression. Five more seconds left. Peeta and Katniss exchange a look. "I'm sorry for everything." No matter what happens, I want him to know. I want a clean slate.

The gong sounds and his eyes are glued back to the screen. Maybe it's because he's so frightened. Maybe it's because he understands I didn't mean to ignore him. Maybe I'm just imagining things. I am almost positive he whispered, "I'm sorry, too."

The tributes immediately begin slaughtering each other. The younger children close their eyes while their mothers clutch their ears. Screams fill the town square. I want to look away, but I can't.

I try to find Katniss and Peeta in the brawl. Katniss managed to grab a backpack. Another boy grabs the backpack, too. They tug at it and the boy falls over suddenly. I try to find the cause, but I don't see one. Oh, now I do. The girl from District 2, Clove I believe, killed the boy with a knife. Crap. She's going after Katniss next.

"She shouldn't have gone," Gale murmurs. I totally agree.

Katniss holds the backpack up to protect herself while she sprints toward the forest. I sigh in relief. She made it. Katniss can make it in the forest. She has an advantage.

Peeta is the next person I spot. He has a knife in his hand. "Does he have a death wish," I mutter under my breath angrily. Peeta knows better. I told him to fight. I told him to.

Peeta spots a small girl. She looks maybe fourteen. The girl tries to escape from the battle. No one sees her but Peeta. She's lucky. If the Careers saw her she'd be dead by now.

Peeta does something odd. He runs after her. What is he doing? He chucks the knife in her direction. It plants itself into her back. She falls over, dead. Peeta stands there, expressionless. He stares at the small girl.

Cato casually saunters next to him and observes the girl, too. Information begins to click inside my head. "Not bad," he admits to Peeta.

Peeta nods. He dislodges the knife from the girl's back and puts himself back into the midst of the fight.

I know two things.

Peeta has joined the Careers. That is the worst thing you can possibly do. The Careers are your enemies, not your allies. He knows that.

There is one more thing I know for sure.

That boy on the screen is not my Peeta.

A/N-SO SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE! School has been demanding. Eight more reviews and I'll update tomorrow! REVIEW, PLEASE SO I HAVE AN EXCUSE TO WRITE!