As much as I loved making Gale uncomfortable with my menacing stare, I couldn't help seeing Pane and Dad hug when he came by. I didn't think much of Gale so far, but I think my comments about being 'good at war' were good. Who says that anyway? Some sadistic weirdo?
Dad turned to me after him and Pane were done and said "And Ivy, stand up, let me see!". I had been working up until the last minute to finish my dress for the festival, and I had. I thought it was pretty good, not nearly as fiery as Mom's old dress, but good for a 14 year old.
"Oh, just beautiful!" he said looking proud.
"You really think so?" I said. "Thanks Daddy!" I hugged him and kissed him on the cheek.
I felt so good in the dress that I almost forgot Gale was there until he said "It's very impressive." Did I ask for his input? Couldn't he take a hint?
"Thanks," I told him half heartedly. I really didn't care for his opinion.
Dad and I sat down and we started talking about Angela being engaged or whatever. I was busy staring at Gale, but soon, he started to stare back. No no no, he was NOT going to try to play this game. I didn't care who I interrupted but I burst out "Quit staring at me!".
I felt all eyes on me. Gale turned red and got a really stupid look on his face. He started to stutter, saying "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry".
I thought of something to say quickly. "So you'll apologize for that? Anything else you want to apologize for?". I looked at him and at my parents, hoping they knew what I was trying to do. I heard Haymitch stifle a laugh next to me.
"Ivy!" my parents burst out.
"Mom are we actually not going to talk about this? It'll take like 10 minutes and then we can decide which side Gale is actually on!" I told her.
"Hey, what did I say about your attitude? You promised you'd behave yourself today," Dad said sternly.
"Well I don't really care. I am not going to sit here under ridiculous rules and let Gale have a good time without some explanation!" I shouted back at him.
Suddenly I heard sniffling. I looked over and saw Pane obviously trying not to cry. I rolled my eyes, this wasn't my fault. Mom noticed to and took Panes hand and pulled him onto her lap.
"Ivy this day is not about you. This is about Pane, and Rory, and even Robert. Please, stop." Mom told me.
"I didn't make him cry! If we just talked about it calmly for 10 minutes we could've gotten through this but no. That's not what 'we' decided." I said.
Gale and the rest of the table was uncomfortably quiet. The tension was high now. Dad was about to say something, but Haymitch went first.
"She's right. Just talk about it, no avoiding it now," he said casually. I took a deep breath and waited for their response. But they didn't say anything, and Pane was still sniffling in Mom's lap.
"It's fine. I can say what I want to say now. I think it'll help," Gale said calmly. The table was still quiet.
"Uh, well we're just going to go say hi to a few people" Robert Quinn said. Him and his wife got up and left.
Then Angela got up and said "yah I'm just going to go to the bathroom."
"Uh-I'll go with you?" Rory said. Haymitch with no words got up and followed behind him, leaving us alone to talk. Finally.
"Um, I guess I'll just start. First of all, I want to apologize to Ivy, for scaring you in the woods last week. I thought- you just look so much like Katniss. And to you Katniss, I never should of kept you out of my life. You know you were my closest friend and how much I loved you. I was a stupid kid, and that clearly hasn't changed much in the last 20 years. But I want that to change. And Peeta, thank you for taking care of her and being way more understanding than I've ever been. I'm sorry for everything you guys had to see when you were 16, you didn't deserve it, but you did an amazing job." Gale took a breath and turned to face me now. "To you Ivy, and to Pane, I just want you to know, I never wanted to hurt your parents, not at all, I'm sorry if you think I did. But I swear, I- I would've even taken out more tesserae for Katniss if I could've. I would still do it today. And I understand you might blame me for taking your Aunt Prim- who of course, I never meant to hurt and I'm sorry I did- but I'd like to make that up to you by being in your lives. By being someone- like, like an uncle if you'd let me. Because I missed out on too much of Katniss' life. And, I think that's all I have to say," Gale said.
I thought about that. He would've taken out tesserae. I thought back to learning about the Hunger Games in school, and remembered tesserae was a food supply that put your name in more times for the Games. That's pretty serious. And Gale, he wanted to help my parents.
Ugh. I can't believe he said all the right things. I really wanted to hate him.
Mom was the first to speak. "Thank you so much Gale. And it will take a lot of getting used to, but I really appreciate that."
Dad nodded and looked at me and Pane. "Ivy? Pane? What do you think?"
Pane sat back in Mom's lap, no tears from his eyes. "That was a good apology. Thank you sir", he told Gale.
Everyone looked at me. "I mean, hey I don't want to like it," I took a deep breath and said "but okay, okay fine. If you really mean to help, then what can I say?"
Gale smiled and said "Okay, good. That's great."
But something was missing. I still needed to say something. "But I need to say something", I said what I was thinking. "I'm sorry for being a bitc-" I stopped myself when my parents eyes got wide and they looked at Pane. "I mean jerk. I'm sorry for being a jerk. And for messing up Pane's birthday for a little while. I should've given you more of a chance."
Gale nodded forgivingly. Dad sighed and said "Well you were aggressive but overall I think you were right, we should've talked about it. But still watch your attitude Ivy."
"Yah, sure," I told him.
"Can we party now?" Pane asked innocently, out of no where.
We all laughed and Mom said "Of course we can honey. Happy Birthday!"