Chapter 5
(Madge POV)
The train comes to a stop and I grab my suitcase, ready to be home. Being from District 12 it takes 2 days to get home from the Capitol and I've been antsy the past day. When the train stopped in District 4 yesterday morning just before breakfast, Drew had come by my room to say goodbye. Nothing felt friendly like it had started to feel at dinner. It felt like he was simply doing his standard courtship duties by saying goodbye and telling me to enjoy the rest of the trip. He is proving to be harder to figure out than I originally thought and that's leaving me with lots of questions. Had there really been a moment at dinner where he seemed more like me and less like a true Capitol person? Or had I imagined it? Not knowing is kind of driving me insane because without knowing how he really feels, I won't be able to know how I need to really act around him. If he's truly all about the Capitol, I need to do better at how I present myself or else I could be asking for a whole heap of trouble. But if he's more like me, merely someone who does what they're told but is deep down a free thinker with lots of opinions of his own, then I want to get to know him on that level and also let him see the real me. For now though, figuring him out will have to wait until later. Right now, I'm headed home.
Our house is huge and overly fancy. I've lived here my whole life yet it has never had that home like feel I imagine other people's houses have. Really though, why should it feel like a home? It isn't even really ours. It belongs to the Capitol, not us. And it's always full of Capitol guests. The annual Hunger Games will be coming up soon and that means having guests in our house pretty much non stop for the next several weeks. It starts with Reaping Day and ends whenever both of our tributes are killed. If our tributes won the games, there would be people here visiting for months on end. Our tributes never win the games though. In fact, in the entire history of the games, District 12 has only won one time. We usually are out in the first couple days of the games.
I climb the steps to my front porch and almost instantly know I should've taken the back entrance instead. I can hear voices inside and unfortunately it's to late for me to turn around and go the other way without them seeing me. I inhale deeply, plaster my best fake smile across my face and walk inside.
"Ah, there she is now! Welcome home dear!" My father says gleefully, giving me a hug and kissing my forehead. He would never normally greet me this way. This is how he acts when we have guests.
I step into the front parlor to see who he is speaking with and find myself face to face with several Capitol guests. "Hello everyone." I say, nodding and smiling to greet them.
"These are reporters from the Capitol. They'd like to interview you." My father explains.
"Interview me?" I repeat back, momentarily confused. But then, before they can even explain, I know it's about the matching. Because of the uniqueness of being in a trio, I'll be of some interest for a minute until something more exciting happens.
"Yes, yes! We are dying to hear all about what it's like to be a part of the very first dual matching!" A woman with lime green hair practically squeals.
"I would love to speak with you, however I've just arrived home from my trip. Perhaps I could have a moment to freshen up before we speak?" I ask, hoping that I can just escape to my room and collect my thoughts before I am asked all the questions I'm sure they have.
"Of course, you run on up and we will be right here chatting with your father and getting his thoughts on everything until you return." The lime green hair woman tells me with the wave of her hand.
"Be back in just a moment." I say as I head upstairs quickly. As I change clothes to a less wrinkled dress and brush my hair I try to think about what they will ask me and how exactly I am supposed to respond. I do not like being interviewed but I am good at them and always know what to say. However, I've never been the actual focus of an interview before so this is a bigger deal than normal for me.
As I head back downstairs, I wonder what my father thinks about all of this. About me being in a trio instead of a couple and the idea that I may have to go through the presentation process all over again next year. He's probably not happy about that at all but I doubt he'll say it.
They're all waiting patiently for me when I re-enter the room. I take a seat and place my hands in my lap, smiling as if there wasn't anywhere else I'd rather be.
"Let's get right to it, shall we? Tell me, how are you feeling about being a part of the very first dual matching?" A woman in an animal print dress asks without even so much as introducing herself.
"It's a unique situation of course but I have good faith in the committee's matching process and trust their process completely." I respond. In my head I think it's complete crap that I have to even go through the matching process much less share a match with someone. That's what I wish I could tell her.
"Do you think Mr. Whitney will select you at the end of the courtship?"
'Oh, well we will have to spend the year getting to know one another and he'll have to do the same with Ellison but I am sure Andrew will make a wise choice when it's time."
"But the two of you are already acquainted, are you not?"
"We've met before through our fathers but it was years ago when we were much younger. I haven't even seen him since them."
"You seemed very comfortable with him at the ball after the matching ceremony so I assumed there was a relationship already in existence to some extent. Are you sure there wasn't anything there prior to the ceremony?"
I pause, not fully knowing what to say to this. Mostly because I have no idea what she's talking about. Were there reporters at the ball that I don't remember? What does she mean comfortable? "I am very comfortable with Andrew because the committee has matched us together and they have my best interest at heart. They wouldn't have matched me with him if he wasn't someone I could be comfortable with. But no, there really never was any sort of friendship or relationship ahead of time. He was just someone I met as a child."
"And what about Ellison Crane, the other young woman? Do you know her at all?"
"We met for the first time at the ball."
"Is there any tension between the two of you? I mean you'll both be vying for the heart of the same boy after all."
"Absolutely not! Ellison and I both are excited for what lies ahead and look forward to seeing where this goes."
"How will you feel if selects her over you in the end?"
"If that happens then I will feel nothing but happiness for the two of them and I will be then looking forward to who I will match with next year."
"Have you had any one on one time with your new beau yet?"
"Yes, we shared dinner together on the train ride home. It was wonderful and he was quite a gentleman."
"When will you be seeing him again? Any plans set yet?" The woman with the lime green hair asks me as the animal print dressed woman jots something down on her notepad.
"We haven't had time to sort all that out yet but I'm certain I will see him soon and I'm very much looking forward to it."
"Do you think you'll visit him or that he'll come here?"
"Again, we haven't sorted out any plans but I'm open to whatever is best suited to his schedule and I'm sure we will both have a great time no matter where we are."
"And tell us, is he a good kisser?" The lime green lady asks me as she leans in as if we're best friends sharing secrets.
"A lady would never comment on such things now, would she?" I respond. I haven't kissed him but even if I had, I wouldn't be giving it a review in the Capitol news.
"He certainly had nice things to say about you though." She teases.
She's trying to bait me and get me to share deeper but I'm not falling for it. They likely haven't even spoken to him yet.
She turns to the animal print woman and says to her 'What exactly was it he said? That kissing Madge was even better than he'd imagined it would be? He called it dreamlike didn't he?"
"That's exactly what he said. He seems quite smitten already!" She confirms for her. They both turn and smile at me.
My head rears back in a little and I feel my face redden but try to ignore it. I hadn't kissed Drew. Or had I at the ball when I was just to drunk to remember? Is that what they meant when they said earlier that I seemed very comfortable with him at the ball? I swallow and try to smile. "Well, all you are getting from me is that I'm very much looking forward to our courtship and to getting to know Andrew on a more personal level."
They laugh. "I think we have all we need. We've spoken to Ellison and Mr. Whitney as well and will be doing a complete story on the tree of you. The article will run tomorrow in the Capitol Gazette."
I see them out and lean against the door. Something tells me I will not want to read that article. Why did I have to get stuck in this crazy three person match up? Why couldn't they just give me a single match and let me blend in with everyone else like things were supposed to happen?
My father who had slipped out during the interview reappears in front of me. "You're going to be very much in the spotlight for awhile with the circumstances of your matching. I suggest you remember that, especially when you are attending events."
"Yes sir, I will."
"The Whitney boy is an excellent match. You will need to do everything possible to be sure he selects you at the end of the courtship. The other young woman comes from important lineage and therefore has a slight advantage over you. You will make yourself fully available to any requests the Whitney family has of you and you will be an impeccable example of what a Panem citizen should be. Am I understood?"
I nod. "Yes sir, I understand."
"Very well. If you'll excuse me, I have some business matters to attend to." He says as he steps passed me and out the front door.
I sigh and know that the next year will be miserable for me if my father even thinks I'm faltering in trying to win Drew's affections. And if he chooses Ellison over me, I may possibly never hear the end of it.
I need to head up to my room, get unpacked and start looking at my schedule to see when Drew and I could possibly see one another. For now though, I just want to disappear. I want to escape from this feeling of being suffocated. I slip out of the house through the back and walk down the hill towards the edge of town. There's a big meadow between town and the seam where I can escape all conversation for awhile and just breathe a little.
(Gale POV)
She's back. I'm walking towards town and I see her. She's sitting over in the meadow all by herself, just staring out across the fence. I've never seen her there before and I'm curious why she's there now. Her house has plenty of garden and yard to sit in if she just wants to relax. I stop walking and watch her for a minute. I'm debating approaching her when I change my mind. It's not like I'd have anything to actually talk to her about. So I shake my head to myself and walk on. Walk right past her and the meadow.
In town, I check with a couple of the merchants to see if they have any odd jobs they need help with. The games are coming up soon and that means the fence will be on way more often because of all the visitors coming through. And when the fence is on of course, i can't get out into the woods to hunt. Sometimes the merchants in town will need a little extra help with something and throw some work my way. It's never anything that pays really well or anything but every little thing really does help. The butcher tells me he can use me for a day or two next week. He'll pay me in scraps. I'm headed back to town when my friend Thom calls out.
"Hey Gale, wait up!"
I stop and let him catch up. "What's up?"
"They're looking for a couple more guys to build the stage for the reaping ceremony. $10 cash when we're done. I signed us both up. You in?"
"I'm in." Normally I wouldn't want anything to do with working on building the damn reaping stage but the scraps from the butcher won't do much in the grand scheme of things and this job will pay actual money. Money I can't afford to turn down.
"We start tomorrow morning. Probably take all day."
We walk back towards the seam and as we pass the meadow, I look to see if she's still there but she isn't. No sign of her. Probably back home, eating a nice big dinner in her nice big house. I don't know why I'm so hung up on her all the time. We have totally different lives, not a thing in common. Maybe I need to focus a little more on the other girls in 12. Stop ditching them after a date or two and actually see how things play out. See if an actual relationship happens. Problem is, no one else seems to hold my focus the way that she does.