Chapter Three

"Supper is ready." My father knocked on the door to my bedroom. Gale and I began gathering up the cards. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving." He said as we stood up. "I think everyone is." I replied. We walked into the kitcken and living room. The kids were sitting on the floor patiently waiting for their meals. Gale joined them. I went to help my mother. The Hawthornes had contributed greatly to the meal, having brought potatos, turnips, and onions. Mother has gone all out and added carrots and beans as well, along with the squirrel meat. I can see why she did, we rarely have people over to visit. Besides, it had been a long time since we had a hearty meal. We lived on bread, cheese, and berries most of the time.

I set five bowls of stew on a tray and carried it over to were the kids were sitting. "Looks great!" Gale grabbed two bowls and set them in front of Rory and Vick. "Yummy!" Prim clapped her hands and grabbed her bowl. "Careful little duck, you'll spill." I said as I reached for my bowl. "This is so good, thanks for making this Mrs. Everdeen." Gale called out to my mother. "You're welcome dear." She replied. "Do you like it Vick?" I looked at the little boy who was eating very slowly. Most people in Twelve gobbled down their food like they would never eat again. A fear that could very well come true here.

"Don't mind him, he likes to savor his food." Gale chuckled and ruffled his brother's hair. Vick smiled at me and nodded. "I like this stew a lot Katniss!" Rory was halfway done with his bowl, Prim not far behind. "Me too! I love potatos!" Prim giggled happily.

Soon enough everyone was finished. The Hawthornes were getting ready to leave. They needed to be home before dark. "My boy will be back here tomorrow to return your clothes Roan." Mr. Hawthorne shook my dad's hand. "Take care Salem." My father clapped him on the shoulder. "Bye Rory! Bye Vick!" Prim hugged the boys good bye. "Bye bye Gale!" She ran to get a hug from him as well. He laughed and picked her up. "Bye Primrose." He hugged her tightly. Prim could melt even the stupidest of boys heart.

He set her down and turned to me. "Don't you want a hug Katniss?" He smirked. "No!" I crossed my arms and looked away. Gale came up arms held out anyway. "Don't be rude Katniss." My mother frowned at me. I sighed deeply and turned to hug him. The second Gale put his arms around me, I knew I made a mistake. He began tickling me relentlessly. "YOU JERK!" I shoved him away. He stumbled back laughing. "Gale, what are we going to do with you?" His mother shook her head smiling. Gale dodged the half hearted chuff from his father. Mr. and Mrs. Hawthorne began herding the children out the door. "Bye all!" The Hawthornes trouped out the door.

"Wasn't that nice?" My mother began cleaning up the kitchen. "It most certainly was." My father stoked the fire. I gathered all the bowls from the floor back onto the tray."It was nice except for Gale." I grumbled as I set the dishes into the sink. My mother and father shared a look. "Can they come eat supper here everyday?" Prim asked as she began to sweep. "No Primrose, they cannot." My mother began washing the dishes. "Why not?" Prim huffed. "Because then it wouldn't be special." My father motioned for Prim so come sit on his lap. "Oh! Okay!" She scurried over to him. "Will you tell us a story Daddy?" Primrose asked. "I think I can manage one." He smiled. "Katniss come on, Daddy is telling a story!" Prim waved me over frantically. I glanced at mom. "I'll finish up dear." She smiled. I hurried over to my father and Prim. I rested my back against his legs. Life in District Twelve wasn't much, but was ours, and we lived it the best could.

"Hi Gale." I opened the door to find the tall boy smirking. "Hi Catnip." He thumped my nose. I sighed and stood aside. "C'mon in if you are." I closed the door behind him. "Here are your father's clothes." He held them out to me. "Just set them on the kitchen table." I sat down at the table and resumed sewing. "Whatcha' making?" Gale pulled out a chair next to me. "The door is that way." I replied.

"I've never heard of an articule of clothing called 'the door is that way'. What body part does that cover?" He smirked and leaned back in his chair. "Your brain. You don't have one though so this is unneccessary for you." I stuck my tongue out at him. "Hmmm, looks more like a skirt to me." His smug face annoyed me to no end. "Leave you jerk." My face was getting warm from him staring at me. "So soon? I thought you'd want me to stay, since I'm pretty and all." Gale snicked as he got up from the chair. "Where is everyone by the way?" He looked down at me, expecting me to get up as well.

"Primrose and my mother are out collecting herbs. I think my dad is at the Hob." I set down the skirt and followed him to the door. "Now get out." I swung open the door. "You should sit with me tomorrow at lunch Catnip." Gale said as he walked out the door and down the steps. "Like I'd wanna do that!" I crossed my arms. "C'mon, I'll introduce you to my friends Thom and Bristol." He jumped off the last step. "I don't want Madge to be lonely." I replied. "Bring her too." He started walking away. "Bye Gale." I called out. "Bye." He waved without turning around.

"Hey Madge," I came up next to her in the hallway, "Do you mind if we sit with Gale and his friends at lunch?" Madge raised her eyebrows at me. "Gale who pulls on your braid and calls you Catnip?" Madge looked at me like I was going crazy. "You know Prim is friends with his little brother. I thought I ought to be friends with him." I could tell she didn't believe me. "Do you like him Katniss?" Madge's suspicious tone made me uncomfortable. "Of course not! If you really must know my family has become a lot better friends with his family and now I'm stuck with the boy." I sighed. Madge rolled her eyes. "Would that have been so hard to say the first time?" We walked into the lunch room. "Yes, it's embarrassing."

I grabbed a tray and walked into the lunch line. The meal they were required to provide us wasn't much. Usually cooked vegtables and eggs or soup with bread. But for a lot of kids from the Seam it was the only meal they got in a day. "I hope the eggs are still runny." Madge got in line behind me. "I hope they aren't rotten this time." I mumbled quietly so the two cooks wouldn't hear me. "Katniss, Gale is waving at you." She poked me in the back. I turned and saw him making a scene, his two friends laughing and waving as well. "Stupid boy." I waved back quickly and then turned away. "Oh Katniss." Madge giggled softly. Madge and I received our plates of food and made our way over to the smirking teenagers. "It's not too late to turn back." I whispered to Madge. "We'd just look silly then." She walked with her head held high. Madge was fearless. Sadly no one ever noticed since she was so quiet. "Hello." She set her tray on the table and sat down. "I'm Madge Undersee." She stuck out her hand. "We know who you are." The girl out of two boys regarded Madge coolly.

"Hey Madge. This is Thom, and that friendly lady right there is Bristol. I'm Gale, as you well know." Gale winked at Madge. I rolled my eyes at his theatics and sat down at the table next to Madge. "And this here is Catn-" I tossed my fork at Gale to shut him up. He dodged it and it clattered to the floor. "Katniss Everdeen." I didn't offer my hand to the two since they refused to shake Madge's hand. A lot of Seam people held contempt for people from town. Madge being the Mayor's daughter made it even worse for her. "So Katniss, why do you think Gale wants to be friends with a little kid like you?" Bristol obviously wasn't happy that we were here. She was probably mad she wasn't the only girl at the table anymore.

"Shut up Bristol." Gale glared at her. "I just think it's silly that you feel like you have to look after her just because your dad said so." Bristol smirked at me. "I think it's silly how ugly you are on the inside. It's starting to leak out through your mouth, hurry and shut it before you get ugly outside too." Madge began peeling her egg nonchantly, as if she had just said the weather was nice. Bristol gasped loudly and stared speechless at Madge Thom started laughing heartily. "You're okay Undersee." He grinned at Madge. "Remind me not to make you mad." Gale chuckled. Bristol let out a string of words my parents told me I was never allowed to say and stormed off. The rest of lunch went off without a hitch. Unlike Bristol, Thom was very nice. He liked to joke around a lot so I could see why he and Gale were friends.

Madge and I walked up to the big tire swing at recess. It was empty for a change. We hurried up to it. We hadn't been able to get on the big tire swing before. Only the little one on the other side of the school yard. "You get on first. I'll run and and jump on to get it swinging." I directed her to the left side of the tire. It was big enough to fit four or five kids so it was too heavy to push. Well, at least for me and Madge. One of the older kids could probably push it. "Don't hurt yourself." Madge got on the side of tire and held onto one of the three ropes keeping it tied to the tree. "Alright, one, two, three!" I ran full force and threw myself onto the swing.

Madge screamed in surprise as it swung high over the ground. I wrapped my arms and legs around the tire and held on for dear life, laughing loudly. "Whoa! Can I get on too when it stops?" Delly Cartwright called out as she walked closer. "DELLY GET BACK!" Madge yelled as the tire swung her way. Peeta Mellark grabbed her and pulled her back in time. I dragged my foot on the ground to make the swing stop faster. Once it had I jumped off. "Delly that was so stupid! You could've got hurt!" I scowled as I walked up to her. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was so close!" Delly's eyes filled up with tears. "Don't cry." I took her hand and pulled her over to the swing.

"Peeta are you getting on?" I turned and glanced over at the silent boy. He looked surprised I was talking to him. He probably wasn't used to talking to girls other than Delly. His other friends were boys. "Sure." He perked up and came over. "Do you want me to push you three?" He asked as he helped Delly climb on the tire. "It's too heavy." Madge replied. "I'm strong." Peeta replied. "But then you don't get to ride." I raised an eyebrow to him. "I don't really mind." He shrugged. "Can you run and jump like Katniss? You're bigger so you'd probably make it even higher!" Delly asked. "I can try." He backed up a few feet. I quickly got on the tire "Get on my side so I can grab you if you fall. I can hold on with my legs since I'm not wearing a dress like them." I called over to Peeta.

He nodded and then started running. He landed on the tire with a grunt. Delly was right, he did make the tire go higher. A lot higher. Delly screamed loudly. Madge stayed quiet since she knew what to expect this time. "This is great!" Peeta laughed loudly next to me. Once the swing stopped moving we only had a few more minutes left of recess so we got off and let some other kids who had lined up to get on. As we were walking away Madge leaned over and whispered in my ear. "We made a lot of friends today." I nodded in agreement. "And an enemy." I replied, thinking about Bristol. "Every good story has to have a villian." The corners of Madge's mouth turned up. "If that's the case, then you're my hero Madge."

A/N: I've decided that I want some of the minor characters to play a bigger part in this story, since it's focused on the day to day life in District Twelve. Hope that's okay for you all!

Also: I apologize for any grammar or spelling mistakes. I am editing this myself and no matter how many times I go over my stories, I always miss something.

-Beaky