Chapter 43
(Gale POV)
We take our bowls of oatmeal and find a couple seats at an open table. It's plain and really bland but warm and filling. I scarf mine down but notice that she only eats some of hers. I'll bet she's not used to eating plain oatmeal. Any she's ever had probably had lots of spices or fruit added to it.
"Not a fan of oatmeal?" I ask, gesturing at her half full bowl.
"Just not very hungry." She says politely.
"You'll get used to boring food." I tell her with a wink.
Her cheeks pink up a little and she smiles at me. This is probably much more of an adjustment for her than it is for me. I'm used to just trying to survive day to day but she's had a life filled with all the best of everything. Hopefully she'll adjust quickly.
We take our dishes to the return window and then head over to the bulletin board to see what our day is going to be made of. There's several lists on the board and it takes a minute to find the one with our names on it. We're scheduled for an orientation and tour and then placement testing.
"Looks like we have a little while before we have to be at orientation. Wanna show me your new place?" I ask, glad to see that our day isn't too full.
"Not much to see, but sure." She takes my hand.
We head to the floor her unit is on and I see that it's several floors away from mine. I'd been hoping it would be closer but they house people here based on the size of your family and where I'm part of a family of 5, she's just an individual. I fully plan to spend most nights with her though if that's something she wants, which I think it is. I'm hoping my mother will still let me have mostly free reign here in 13 like she did back home.
We get to her door and she keys in a code and the door opens. When we step inside, I'm shocked at what I see. It's not just small, it's incredibly tiny. My family's place is much more spacious. I look all around and realize she doesn't even have a real bathroom, just a toilet and sink that are literally right next to her bed!
"Where's your shower?"
"Individuals don't get private showers. There's a communal shower down the hall. They said they could have more units if they made them really small. I wasn't kidding when I told you there wasn't much to see." She says.
"Still, this is tinier than I expected." I tell her. "Good thing you don't take up much space." I add, trying to lighten the mood because I can tell this is going to be an even bigger adjustment for her than the food will be. I pull her in for a kiss and try to make it a good one.
When the kiss breaks I pull her to the bed and point out one of the great things about her having her own place. "You know, with you having your own place, we finally have a place to go and be alone without worrying about anyone seeing us."
She smiles at that. "That part, I really like."
"Me too." I tell her, kissing her again.
"I don't suppose your mother will care if you stay out all night here?" She asks with a hopeful look on her face.
"Why? You inviting me to spend the night?" I tease, kissing her a little harder this time.
"Absolutely. I got a little spoiled having you sleeping next to me the past couple nights. I could hardly sleep at all last night in here by myself."
"I stay as often as you want me to." I assure her. I hate thinking about how she couldn't sleep being in here by herself last night. It's really hitting me how many changes she's experiencing by being here. She came here alone, without family. I have my entire family.
She kisses me this time and I can tell her mood is a little better which makes me happy.
"Alright, now take me and show me your place." She tells me as she starts to stand up.
I pull her back to the bed, kissing her once more. 'Let's stay here." The last thing I want to do is show her how much more spacious our place is than hers. Not right now.
"Actually, before we go to orientation, I need to tell you something anyway." She says, seeming to have just remembered something.
I sit up and look at her. "What?"
"About a conversation I had with Drew last night when we were the last 2 waiting to be checked in."
I stiffen at the mention of her speaking to him. She sees it and holds up her hand to calm me.
"Just listen. He told me we needed to talk, said he had questions. I felt that I owed him that considering I had a relationship with you that he knew nothing about. So I answered a couple questions. He asked if I could forgive him and still be his friend and I told him no, I was very clear about that. And then right as I was leaving, he told me that he knows you and I won't last and that he'll be waiting for me. I just wanted you to know the conversation occurred but I don't want you to do anything about it."
"Well he's gonna be waiting a really, really long time because I'm not going anywhere." I tell her. Anger boils and all I really want to do is go find him and finish smashing his face in. He's lucky as hell that I care enough about Madge not to piss her off by doing just that.
"And I'm not going anywhere either." She says with a smile.
"This place is big. Maybe he'll find someone new to be obsessed with." I say trying to be optimistic even though my gut tells me he's not gonna do that. I'm gonna have to really watch him, make sure he doesn't start trying to cause trouble.
"Exactly." Madge says, also sounding optimistic but something in her face tells me she knows better too.
"Well, come on, let's go see what this place really looks like and get oriented." I say, changing the subject and pulling us both to our feet. As I do, I notice she still has the bracelet I made her on her wrist. I smile as I touch it, glad it made it out of 12 with her.
"It's still my favorite thing I've ever gotten." She tells me as we head out of her room and to the elevators.
"I'm glad." I smile down at her and then give her one more quick kiss.
We find the room where we'll have orientation and take seats by my family who is already here. I scan the room but don't see Drew yet. As we wait to get started, it occurs to me that he is also here as an individual which means he's likely on Madge's floor. I'll have to find out what room he's in and make sure it's not too close to Madge. If it is, I'm gonna be there so often that he'll think I've moved in with her. He needs to see me with her as often as possible. When he finally comes in, he takes a seat towards the back and doesn't look in our direction.
A man comes in and calls the room to attention. "Welcome to Orientation. I'll go over a few basic things and then we'll take a tour together of your new home. We want you to start to think of 13 as just that, your new home. Here we have a strong and thriving community that we all work together to keep running at it's best. We welcome your talents and skills and look forward to helping you find the role that will serve both you and your new community best."
He babbles on about a lot of information that was in the handbook. Explains rules and whatnot. Since I already read most of the handbook, this part is fairly boring for me. Madge seems interested though. By the time we get to the tour, I'm tired of sitting and ready to get a look around and see what this place is like in person. From what he's just told us and what I've read in the handbook, they've built an entire underground agriculture system and I'm eager to see it. I'm hopeful I'll get to do some sort of work there, though I don't know enough about what it's really like yet in order to know what sort of role I'd do.
It's a pretty elaborate community they've built and the tour itself takes nearly 2 hours. The entire time I make sure that Drew is nowhere near us. The agriculture stuff is really amazing. They grow trees and produce down here and everything. There's a whole section just for housing and raising animals. Chickens, cows, goats. I have no idea how they managed to make all this happen but I'm in complete awe, that's for sure.
After the tour we break for lunch and are told to come back after that for our placement testing which is supposed to help them decide where to place us. I feel pretty confident that I'll get something in the agriculture department. I'd be shocked if Drew was put anywhere other than the technology center with all his computer hacking skills. I'm sure my mother will end up in the laundry facility. The kids will all just be in school. But with Madge, I have no idea where she'll end up. I hope whatever the testing is helps her find something she really enjoys doing. I know she's thankful to be here but I want her to really be able to be happy here and I feel like she's off to a little bit of a rocky start simply because of all the changes she's having to get used to.
In the dining hall there are small viewing screens on the far wall and this morning they were off but now they're playing Capitol news. I'm not sure Madge wants to see this so I turn and ask if she wants to leave but she shakes her head and stares at the screens. It's images of what's left of District 12. Totally gone, ruined. Fires still burning and not a living soul in sight. There's a shot of Madge's house, only half of it still standing and barely recognizable. I give her hand a squeeze. As the images play out on the screen, there's a ticker at the bottom of the screen telling us that all citizens of District 12 have been obliterated. The ticker mentions that this is what all districts should expect if they try and rival the Capitol in any way, including ruining the games. I think that's all they're going to say until they show a picture of Mayor Undersee and Madge on the screen. Madge lets out a quiet gasp at the sight of herself on the screen. The ticker now says that Mayor Undersee had been visiting the Capitol when this occurred but has since been punished with death. A warning to all district mayors follows on the screen next, urging them to abide by all rules and show no leniency. So they killed her father then. I imagine they did the same with the Everdeens and tears come to my eyes as I think about how awful that must have been for Prim. I glance at Madge and see her wipe a lone tear off her cheek. After that, another picture of Madge appears, this one is with Drew though. It comes with a warning of punishment for those who associate themselves with those who dare to go against the Capitol in any way, suggesting but not actually saying Drew was killed along with Madge. Next they show a picture of Senneca Crane, this year's head gamemaker and announce that he's been punished with death as well, followed by a warning to all those in leadership to uphold the standards set by the Capitol. After that, the screens go dark again.
"Well, I guess we know now what would've happened to me if I'd followed Drew's advice and gotten on the train with him." She says as she swallows.
"I'm sorry about your father." I tell her and squeeze her hand again.
"Par for the course when the Capitol owns you." She says and then goes and gets in the line for food.
I follow her and notice Drew eyeing her. Now is not the time for him to piss me off. I make eye contact with him and shake my head. He gets the point and looks away. I'm sure he was going to use all that information we just got as a way to try and talk to her.
As we make our way through the line, people begin to notice Madge and make a connection that she is the girl that was just shown on the screen with Mayor Undersee. Lots of whispering and some not so quiet talking is happening. Madge endures it for a moment but then turns to me and says she isn't hungry.
"C'mon, let's get out of here." I tell her, putting my arm around her and heading out of the dining hall with her. I hate that she is being noticed in this way. I'm not sure many people will understand that she's not who they think she is, that she was never a true supporter of anything Capitol related and I'm starting to worry they won't give her a fair chance.
My unit is closer so I take her there. It's empty. As soon as the door shuts behind us, she breaks down in tears. I hug her to my chest and let her cry. I don't know what else to do to make this better for her in this moment. This was supposed to be a totally new life, a fresh start and her old life is haunting her. I wasn't sure what to expect when we came here but one thing I wasn't prepared for at all is that she'd have such a hard time.