So glad that so many of you are enjoying the story so far and I love reading your reviews. Just wanted to remind you that there will be breaks in canon in this story...it will def. make it interesting ;)
Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or any of its characters.
Chapter 5
It's late when we finally leave the Hawthorne house. Our celebration lasted late into the night. After our feast, we sat around the living room, sharing stories from our past. Gale made sure to share some embarrassing stories about me, much to my chagrin. Our younger siblings seemed to enjoy hearing them as the rolled on the floor with laughter. I put him in his place by telling equally embarrassing stories about him that I have collected over the years.
As soon as we make our way into our house my mother goes straight to her bedroom with Prim following her. I walk into my room where the only light is the moon shining in through my window. I get ready to meet Merrick. I start by removing my Reaping dress. It's too formal for the occasion and I want to shed any reminders of this day. I yank on a pair of pants and a long sleeved shirt. Even though it is May, the nights have been cooler than usual. I then go to the mirror to find my hair still in the intricate braids that my mother wove in my hair earlier that day. I remove the pins holding them in place and unweave her handiwork. I move my hands to gather my hair when I notice the gentle wave now flowing down my locks. It looks rather nice, a change from the usual. I let me hands fall to my side as I decide not to disrupt them. I pull my boots from my closet tiptoe to my front porch where I slide them on. Next thing I know, I am running to our tree.
When it comes into view, I see Merrick waiting for me. He is sitting on a blanket that he spread on the ground. I sit beside him and rest my back against the trunk. I quickly avert my eyes when he catches me staring at the basket to his right.
"I wasn't sure if you had eaten yet." he says, with a hint of embarrassment. I let it go. I know he only brought it because he cares.
"I think reaping days are the only day of the year where we eat well." I tell him. He looks guilty once I say this. He's probably used to meals like this on a daily basis. It's not why I said it. I wasn't making a jab at his way of life. I quickly try to find something to say to lift his spirits. "I haven't had dessert yet. You don't happen to have anything in that basket to you." A grin returns to his face as he opens the lid and sifts through the basket. He pulls out a small box that has two cupcakes inside. They look like they are from the bakery. I had always seen them in the window, dreaming of how delicious they tasted. He lets me choose first, before taking the remaining cupcake. I take a bite and savor the taste in my mouth. It's better than I could have ever imagined. The combination of chocolate and the sweet, fluffy icing is amazing. I hear a stifled laugh come from my right and I look over to see what the fuss is about.
"What's so funny?" I ask him.
"I don't think I've ever seen anyone enjoy eating something so much in my life." he said as he lets out a hearty laugh.
"What, a girl isn't allowed to enjoy a little dessert." I joke with him.
"You don't have to be so vocal about it. It's only dessert." he says taking a bite on his own cupcake followed by a prolonged 'Mmm'. I must have not heard myself doing that.
"It didn't sound like that." I jeer at him.
"You're right. It was little higher than that." he says before letting out a much higher pitched 'Mmm'. I sit up on my knees to get closer to him as I brush some of the icing of my cupcake onto his cheek. I hoped for more of an impact but he moved to the side. He scrapes the icing off his cheek and then proceeds to smear it on mine.
"Thought you might want that back." he said smoothly. I use my sleeve to wipe it off before I consume the rest of my cupcake. "No braid tonight?" he says changing the subject.
"I don't always wear my hair like that." I reply. Except I do. Every day I fasten my hair into a braid that falls straight down my back. I don't tell him that though. As we sit in silence I can't help but notice how the temperature has dropped in so short a time. I rub my arms trying to generate a little heat to my frigid limbs.
"Are you cold?" he asks me. I nod. He scoots closer to me and wraps his arm around my shoulders. "Better?" he asks.
"Yes." It does feel warmer with his body touching mine. I'm not sure how he can feel so warm right now. Maybe it's all of that muscle. Or maybe this isn't that cold for him. His district is a lot cooler than ours.
"Merrick, why weren't you in District 2 for the Reaping?" I ask quietly, while bringing up my thoughts from earlier that day.
"Peacekeepers' children don't have their name submitted into the Reaping bowl."
"Why not?" I ask. That doesn't seem fair.
"One of the perks of the job I guess. Of course the Peacekeepers' children could always submit their names if they want to."
"Why would they do that?" I ask in shock. Who would be crazy enough to do that?
"You're name has to be in the bowl for you to be eligible to volunteer." he explains. This sounds even more absurd than his previous statement. It's one thing to get chosen for the Games. It's a whole different story to want to be thrown in the Arena to die.
"And the Peacekeepers' kids actually do this?"
"Yes, so you see it doesn't really matter if we're exempt. Most of them opt to do it anyway. You've seen how my district is. How eager they are to volunteer during the Reaping." And I have. There is usually quite a scuffle in District 2 on Reaping days. Sometimes fights even break out over who volunteered first. Last year it was so bad that they didn't even accept any volunteers from the District 2 as some sort of punishment for their behavior.
"When they showed the Reaping recaps, I always made sure to watch…to make sure it wasn't you that they called." I admit somewhat reluctantly. I had always worried about him on Reaping Day, that he would be thrown into the Games and that I'd forced to watch him die on screens in the square.
"So did I." he murmurs back.
"At least now I know I don't have to worry anymore." I say, relieved that he is safe from any future Reapings.
"I wish I could say the same." he says with a sigh.
"Only 3 more to go." I tell myself. I am more than halfway through my eligibility after today.
"But how many slips of paper will you have by your last year?" he asks with concern. I do the math in my head, making sure to add the mandatory slip and one tessera for each of my family members to my cumulative number.
"Twenty-eight." I say once I've figured it out.
"That's a lot." he says with a furrowed brow.
"It's really not. I know someone who had his name submitted 37 times today and he made out ok." I can tell this comment doesn't make him any less worried. I'm kind of surprised that he still cares so much about my safety after all those years of being away. I thought that he'd forget about the little girl from the Seam after he returned back to his friends and his district. I guess I was wrong. "Doesn't matter anyway. In District 12 you have to survive first to make it to the next Reaping." I finally say, trying to make a joke out of the whole situation. It was sort of true. After you were safe the Reaping, you had the rest of the year to worry about how to get enough food to keep you alive and hope that you wouldn't get sick.
"How bad is it, Katniss?" he asks me in a low tone as he look straight ahead.
"It can't be that bad. I'm still here after all." I tell him. The game and plants Gale and I bring from the woods are enough to get us by, to make sure we don't starve. It's not like we are exactly thriving though.
"Yes but you're way too thin for a girl your age." he replies. It is true. I am under what my proper weight should be. While the merchant girls are starting to develop their curves and womanly bodies, mine still looks like I'm 12.
"I know." is the only answer I can muster.
"What can I do?" he asks.
"You don't have to do anything." I say. When I was younger, I had no problem accepting things from him but now that I'm older, it seems like charity. It makes me feel like I'm insufficient. It doesn't help that some of Gale's stubbornness has brushed off on me over the years. Or maybe I always had it and it hadn't made an appearance until recently.
"Katniss, we both know I have much more than anyone could need." he says.
"I don't want to talk about this any more." I say as I avoid his gaze. I don't want his help. I just want him to be my friend. He doesn't say anything after that. We sit in silence for a while. I avoid even looking at him as I try to settle down.
When I am back to normal, I look over to him. I can tell there is something else on his mind. "Whatever it is you're thinking, you can just say it." I watch him hesitate before he finally gets the courage to do so.
"That guy you were with earlier. I was just wondering who he was." he says.
"You told me I should make friends." I tell him. It's not exactly what he told me. He told me to find someone to take care of me, but I don't want him getting the wrong idea about Gale. He looks almost relieved when I tell him this. "Why? Who did you think he was?" I asked with a twisted smile.
"Boyfriend, I guess." he admits. Now it's my turn to laugh.
"Gale, my boyfriend? No way." I say to him.
"It's not that far of an assumption. You're old enough to have a boyfriend now." he tells me. I suppose I am but I've never really thought about that. A boyfriend isn't something I'm looking for right now. There are more important things, like keeping my family fed. "Have you ever had a boyfriend?" he asks quietly.
"No." I say, slightly embarrassed though I'm not sure why. I'm only 15. It's not like I'm an old maid or something. Since he asked me, I decide to ask him too. "What about you? Have you ever had a girlfriend?"
"Yes." he admits. I'm not sure why but that kind of bothers me.
"Do you have one now?" I ask, prying for more information.
"No." he answers.
"What else has changed since we last saw each other?" I ask him, curious about all the things I've missed the past 4 years.
"Well I go to a new school now, the upper school. It's different from my last school."
"How?" I ask. Even though I'm also in the upper school in District 12, it seems the same to me.
"Less time in classrooms, more time practicing athletics and training."
"How long to do you do that…the athletics and training."
"3 hours a day, sometimes 4." he tells me. It explains why his body looks the way it does.
"Oh so you're a Career now." I say nonchalantly.
"Don't call me that." he says with annoyance in his voice. I don't know why he's so offended. District 2 tributes always pride themselves on that title. Of course, me being me, I cannot just let this go.
"What's so wrong with it. You're the ones that call yourselves that."
"You have no idea what it means." he says as he stands up and paces a few times. I stand up a block his way.
"Then tell me." I demand.
"The people in my district, as well as 1 and 4, use it in a boastful way. They use it to throw it in everyone's faces, that they're so rich and doing so well that they can make a job out of training for The Hunger Games. That they enjoy the fact that they'll get to go in an Arena, if they are lucky enough, and kill other children to win some stupid prize."
"I see you don't include yourself in that description."
"Because I want none of that. I have nothing to prove." he tells me. He doesn't stop there. "You should see it Katniss, the way most of my friends talk and behave now. It's enough to make me sick. And that isn't the worst part. I tell my father this and he tells me that they have a good head on their shoulders and that I should start thinking more like them." he says, shouting by the end of it. I can't help but think that he's been keeping that jarred up in his chest for a long time. Now it's mine turn to talk.
"They are wrong to say that to you. There's nothing wrong with you. You're perfect." I then wrap my arms around him hoping this will be enough to calm him down. He returns the hug and take a few calming breaths.
"I'm not sure why I think this way Katniss. Why I don't think like them. I should think like them, given where I'm from." It's funny, he says it like it's almost a bad thing.
"Because you are not like them. You traveled around to other districts. You've seen what it's like there. You saw a girl that was starving so bad that she was almost knocking on death's door."
"You know what the ironic part of it is Katniss? If I did ever get thrown into the Games, I'd probably end winning it."
"What makes you say that?"
"They rank us, at school, based on everything. Guess who's at the top?"
"But you're only 16." I say.
"At least my father has something to be proud about. He even suggested I submit my name this year."
"What did you tell him?"
"I told him maybe next year."
"Will you?"
"Never." he tells me as he draws me closer to him. When we part, I look up to the sky and find it beginning to grow lighter.
"I should go. It's getting late."
"I'll walk you home." he offers.
"No, you don't have to. It's out of the way."
"Katniss I don't think you should be walking by yourself this late at night."
"I've done it before. I'll be fine." I tell him. I really don't want to inconvenience him by having him spend an extra half hour walking me home.
"What kind of friend would I be if I didn't make sure you got home safe?" he asks. Gale never walks me home but he is a good friend.
"If it means that much to you, I'll let you walk me home."
"It does." he says as he goes to fold the blanket. When he has the blanket and basket in his hands, we start down the path, traveling further into the Seam. The path is quite dark without the light of the surrounding houses. It would be pitch black if not for the light of the almost full moon. We walk in silence as to not wake up any of the residence. It isn't long before we are standing on my front porch.
"Do you want any of this?" he asks as he raises the basket. I shake my head.
"Not even for Prim?"
"No we're good." I tell him. Luckily, he doesn't persist any longer.
"What are you doing tomorrow?" he asks me.
"I'm busy." I reply. Tomorrow is Sunday, which means that it will be spent in the woods with Gale. I don't offer him this detail. I'm not ready to tell him about the illegal practices that I commit. I still don't know how he feels about breaking laws enforced by Peacekeepers.
"What about Monday?" he then asks.
"Monday is good. Meet me by our tree around noon." I instruct him before slipping inside my house. I quickly find my way to my bed through the darkness to get some much needed rest for the long day of hunting tomorrow.
Looks like Merrick isn't your average Career. Also, I really am enjoying writing scenes with Katniss and Merrick :)
BTW, I have a ridiculous amount of schoolwork to get done this week so reviews would really brighten my day(s). Let me know what you're thinking ;)