Chapter Five
The moment I'm awake I groan and roll over. I don't want to go to school today. I don't want to face my classmates again. I hesitate before pulling myself out of bed to get dressed and send myself to torture.
Today the tributes will be reintroduced and I will get a better look at what Katniss is up against. I hope she doesn't get too intimidated by some of their excessive brawn. Katniss has more brain than a lot of the people out there, I'm sure of it.
I trudge out to my kitchen for breakfast.
"Gale, just in case you didn't know, the tributes are going to be on tonight." My mother says as I eat a quick breakfast.
"I know." I say.
My mother looks at me questioningly.
"We're going to have to watch." I say after swallowing my toast.
My mother nods and turns around. She was probably wondering if I would want to watch or if I'd want to stay as far away from the television as possible. I despise the Capitol and everything to do with it, especially the Hunger Games, but I'm going to have to watch for Katniss. I really don't ever want to see her in the arena, or in any kind of danger, but I need to watch to know if she's safe.
I put my dishes away and gather my school supplies together. Although homework isn't the most important thing in my life, I really wish I did well. Usually I get good grades, but with a distraction like this I better try to keep up the good work. It's going to be tough, but I'll just have to survive another month before summer. But of course, summer brings a whole new worry. The Hunger Games.
The air is cool and dreary as I walk to school with Rory and Vick. Finally, weather that fits my mood.
"Can I learn to hunt?" Rory blurts.
"Yeah, someday." I say. "I'll teach you."
We walk a few paces without speaking.
"What about me?" Vick asks.
"When you're older." I say. This is all making me nervous. I don't want to put any of my family at risk or make them work too hard.
We walk the rest of the way to school in silence. Silence is one of my talents. When I want to make an offensive comment that goes too far or something similar, I just lock my jaw and stare into the distance. It's not very satisfying, but it works.
"Gale!" I hear Cormack call. I say goodbye to my brothers and head over to join my friend.
"Did you finish your homework?" I ask.
"Yeah, how about you?" Cormack replies.
"Yeah." I say with a sigh. "But I don't think I did too well."
"No surprise there." Cormack says with a grin.
"Shut up." I snap, smiling for one of the first times in what feels like forever.
I look over to my left, where Katniss should be. The smile slowly fades from my face and I become, once more, impassive.
"Hey, Gale, Cormack." One of my friends, Nigel, says as he fills in the empty spot, bringing along Jareth, another of my friends.
"Nigel. Jareth." Cormack and I say in unison.
All four of us live in the Seam. Cormack looks the least like someone from the Seam with his light brown hair, but his mother was from the better part of District 12. Nigel has curly black hair and Jareth has short, straight dark hair.
We begin to make conversation before we depart for homeroom. I take my usual seat and look over my homework. I can't have possibly done this right. Disgruntled, I look up from my paper.
Ginger and her friend, Felicity, are whispering together, staring at me. The quickly look away and their low voices become more rapid. It's no mystery what they're talking about. I keep my gaze on them until my attention is transferred to the sixteen year old boy from my homeroom who I can't name.
"Why didn't you go out with her?" He asks me.
"'Cause I'm busy." I reply flatly, turning away. Katniss would be another reason, but the boy doesn't need to know that. Nobody needs to know that.
Homeroom ends and I head for English. Again, through the day, I'm lost completely in my classes. This time, the teachers don't notice as much. Or at least they don't show it. The school day drags on as the minutes feel like hours and the hours feel like days. Finally, after seven excruciating hours, I'm free.
I pack my things and head out the school door.
"Gale!" I hear a voice call.
I wheel around. It's my English teacher. Why does he have to stop me now?
"Yes?" I ask, not revealing my discontentment.
"I just wanted to make sure you're okay." He says.
This conversation feels really weird, I being taller than the teacher just adds to the awkwardness somehow.
"I'm alright." I say uncomfortably. I hate it when people try to read my emotions, I've become so good at closing them off.
"You just seem…different." My teacher says.
"That's weird." I remark lightly.
The teacher locks me in his gaze and I look away, exposing my vulnerability.
"Gale, is something wrong at home? You can tell me anything." The teacher says earnestly.
People say you can tell your teacher anything, but I don't trust my teachers. Sure, they're nice, but when I need someone to lean on, I tend to just look to Katniss. That's obviously not an option right now, since she's the source of my pain, so I'll just stay strong by myself.
"I'm honestly just fine." I lie, forcing a smile.
My teacher returns my smile and walks away. He knows there's something else, he can just ask another student and they'll tell him everything. He'll probably go to Cormack, Nigel, or Jereth since they are all my friends that are in my English class.
I watch Rory and Vick come from their school and head over to me.
"Are you going hun-…to work again?" Vick asks.
"Yes, I'll be going every day." I say, glad that Vick didn't accidently reveal my future whereabouts.
I hand my brothers my bag before heading off for the woods.
"Wait!" I call, running towards Rory.
"What?" he asks.
"I need something in there." I take my backpack and remove the plant identification book. I rub its well worn cover before heading off again. "Thanks."
Normally, hunting would be my very favorite part of the day. Now it's just lonely and stressful.
I crawl under the fence and head out into the woods. I retrieve my weapons and decide that I should fish today to give the snares more time to work. The fish bite best at around sunset, so I decide to gather some food first.
I head into the woods, searching for edible plants. I pick a few berries that I recognize and gather some herbs. I come across a bush I haven't made note of before with dark berries. Before I pluck one off and taste it, I look it up in the book first.
"Come on." I say, searching for the right photograph.
Finally, I find a picture perfect match to the bush.
"Nightlock." I read. "Extremely poisonous…will kill a grown man nearly the instant it hits the stomach…"
I close the book and step away from the plant. I'm giving those berries as wide a berth as possible.
I spend a few more minutes searching for food, and feeling satisfied with today's gatherings, I head down to the lake.
Fishing gets lonely and boring after a while, but I'm not going to let that stop me from feeding my family. I sit by the lake, waiting for fish to bite. I rest my head in my hands, watching the makeshift bobber intently. It falls a few times and then rises right back up as if nothing ever nibbled it. I stay patient until finally the bobber sinks below the water's surface and doesn't return.
"Ha!" I yell.
I yank the fishing pole back and the line comes flying out of the water, fish attached. I remove the good sized fish from the hook and quickly kill it. I add it to my new pile of meat. As evening arrives, my pile grows larger.
When I leave the woods, I have eight fish and some fruits and greens. I head to the Hob where I make a few trades and leave with a few fish, eggs, some fruits and vegetables, and a bit extra money.
It must be pretty late because the sun has almost sunken below the horizon, and it's almost summer so it usually doesn't set for a while. Oh well, a late dinner is better than none at all.
I reach the Everdeens' house and knock on the door. Prim answers.
"Hi, Gale." She says.
"Hi, I've got food for today…" I hand Prim half of my trades.
"Hold on one minute." Prim says, taking the food and storing it away.
I shift my weight uncomfortably. Why does Prim want me to wait here? Usually I just hand her the food and get going.
Prim returns with a jug of milk.
"Here, take this." She says.
"No, I can't." I reply. I'm supposed to keep her alive, not the other way around.
"You need it." Prim begs.
"So do you." I say.
"Look, I have some extra milk from Lady, take it." Prim insists.
"Like I said, I can't." I say.
"Yes, you can." Prim says. "Look, how am I supposed to just sit here while you feed us? This is the least I can do."
I look at the milk. We do need food and even though my family is bigger, I still give half of the haul to the Everdeens.
"Okay, thanks Prim." I say, taking the goat milk.
"No, no, thank you." Prim says.
With that, I leave for my house, feeling only slightly guilty.
"Gale, it's almost on!" Rory shouts when I get home.
The introduction of the tributes! I almost forgot!
I slide to the couch after I put away today's haul. The television is already on.
A smile twitches at my face when I think of what Katniss must've been through. The stylists in the Capitol will probably have "perfected" her by now. Katniss never had much concern for how she looked, unlike a lot of girls my age. Her stylists will probably have removed every hair on her body and will probably make her up beyond imagination. I can't picture my best friend like that.
I really do hope they don't mess Katniss up too much. I think of how the Capitol people look and shudder. Tattoos, piercings, weird hair dyes, crazy makeup, now I'm starting to get worried.
Every year, to introduce all of the tributes, each District pair goes around the Capitol in a horse drawn carriage, wearing outfits that represent their district. Usually the District 12 tributes have ugly coal miner outfits, once they were bare naked except covered in coal dust. I quickly pray that Katniss is fully clothed.
The District 1 tribute carriage rolls onto the screen, drawn by magnificent white horses. The tributes are dressed in white and look absolutely dazzling. The people of the Capitol scream. District 1 is always a crowd pleaser. District 1 makes luxury and beauty items for the Capitol.
I watch intently as the rest of the Districts parade by. I wait for District 12, wondering what kind of hideous outfit they'll have this year. Then, District 12 appears on the screen. It's not the coal black horses that catch my eye, it's the District 12 costumes. I try to look at the tributes, and am alarmed when I see blazing fire.
"What!" I yelp aloud. "Fire!"
Confused, I lean into the screen. Sure enough, Katniss and Peeta's capes are on fire. But they hold hands, smile and wave nonchalantly, as if their costumes weren't aflame. The crowd is going wild and I slowly realize that this is supposed to happen. I smile. This is definitely the best District 12 costume I've ever seen. Katniss waves and blows kisses to the crowd, looking pleased with the attention.
"Wow." I remark.
"That's very different." My mom says. "In a good way."
The more I look at the costume the more I love it, the same appears to happen with the Capitol audience. The fire really makes Katniss look good, that's for sure. The camera is in love with the District 12 tributes. Even as President Snow, the despicable man that rules Panem, gives the welcome, the camera spends more time on the District 12 tributes than any of the others.
"I wonder who's the main stylist." I say.
"Whoever it is sure is amazing." My mom replies.
The program ends and I know there will be a lot of talk about the District 12 outfits. Usually, we get the least attention of all of the Districts, being the laughing stock of Panem. Finally, we've put them all in their place. This is really good because sponsors get to help tributes in the games, send them items and such. If Katniss can get to be one of the favorites, then she'll probably pick up some sponsors. She's going to need as much help as she can get.
"I was really worried to see what they might be wearing this year." My mother admits. "I really think the crowd loved them, though."
She gives my arm a squeeze and smiles.
"Yeah, the camera couldn't stop cutting to them." I say.
We eat supper and I head to my room. I try to complete my homework, finding myself unable to concentrate. Finally, when I retire to bed, I know that tomorrow everybody's going to be talking about Katniss, the girl who was on fire.