sorry for taking so long! there's not a whole lot of gadge in this chapter, but i thought meeting madge's dad was important, so i couldn't leave it out. there will be quite a bit of gadge next chapter. enjoy!

Madge knew she had a problem when Katniss caught her staring.

"Are you okay?"

The blonde looked away from Gale, who was leaning on the counter, hardcover book in hand, eyebrows knit together in concentration. The sleeve had been removed and Madge was squinting, attempting to read the title of the book from across the diner. "Huh?"

"Do you have something to tell me?" Katniss asked.

"What would I have to tell you?"

"I heard Johanna telling Annie that Gale and Beau had a bidding war over your basket." She paused. "And now you're looking at him. I just thought I should ask."

"I'm not looking at him like that. I just want to see what book he's reading." Madge's face twisted as she recalled the fundraiser, taking another drink from her coffee cup. "But you should've seen Beau."

"I'm sure he was really upset."

"Upset is putting it nicely. He was absolutely livid. It doesn't help that he hates Gale. I've never seen him so worked up."

"So Gale just decided to bid on your basket for no reason?"

"Well, it's not as if I told him to do it! I think steam was just about to start pouring out of Beau's ears when he heard Gale start bidding on my basket."

"He sure was a sight for sore eyes!" Madge groaned, closing her eyes. Maybe he'd disappear if she willed him to.

"I'm sure he was," Katniss replied, a smirk in her voice.

"You know that vein in his forehead? It was throbbing."

"Don't you have a job you should be doing?" Madge asked, her eyes blinking open to meet his. He was staring down at her, the ever-present smirk on his lips.

He held up a pot of coffee. "I anticipated you needing a refill."

She said nothing, pushing her empty cup in his direction. She didn't like when he was right.

"Alright, carry on with your conversation about me. Make sure to tell her how much you love Ernest Hemingway because of me."

"The Old Man and the Sea put me to sleep last night."

Gale grinned, his grey eyes glimmering with mischief. "I'm going to let that one slide. It's almost too easy."

Katniss laughed at the frown on her best friend's mouth. "He's pretty funny, to be honest."

Madge narrowed her eyes at his back. "On a happier note, my dad's coming to see my debate today."

"I wish I could go. I'd love to see Delly rip those other kids heads off."

"If Delly had her way, the kids from the opposing school would leave the stage in body bags."

"She's intense."

"You can say that again. I've been practicing on getting my WPM up."

"WPM?"

"Words per minute. She claims I speak too slowly."

"You?"

"That's what I said. Not to mention, I'm an expert on doctor-assisted suicide now."

"Great for party conversation."

"I'll be a hit, the belle of the ball."

Katniss laughed as she tore off a piece of her muffin.

"How was the picnic with Peeta?"

The brunette flushed under her friend's gaze.

"What?"

"Nothing. We just talked. It was alright."

"Katniss Everdeen, are you hiding something from me?

"No! We talked, ate and then he walked me home."

"Do you still think he's a creep with a staring problem?"

"I stand by my previous statement."

"It's not his fault he can't help but stare because you're so pretty. The boy's only human."

"Well, look at the time. I should be getting to school."

"You've got a full hour before the bell rings."

"Well I forgot to do my trig homework."

"Fine. I should be heading out anyway."

"See you!"

Madge chuckled under her breath. Peeta had definitely found his way under Katniss's skin. It took him long enough.

xx

The debate went as Madge had expected. Delly had intimidated the competition before it even started. She was pretty sure the male on the other team was shaking when they shook hands before the debate. His partner looked just as shaken by Delly, but much better at holding herself together.

Madge had been too focused on the debate to look into the audience in search of her parents. Not to mention Delly would have had her head if she were a beat too slow in her delivery.

The other team was stuttering out their rebuttals. The Chilton win was inevitable. Madge was happy to see it end; the opposing side's shaking made her feel guilty.

When she looked out into the audience she noticed her mother and Cinna were standing toward the front of the room, proud grins lighting up their faces.

"You were great up there!" Her mother's arms enveloped her, her lips on her forehead. "Great job, Kid!"

"You were very eloquent and poised under pressure, Madge." Madge gave her thanks, hugging Cinna. He had been in her life for as long as she could remember. As one of her mother's best friends, she'd been to every piano recital, her short-lived days in ballet and everything in between. It was a comforting sight seeing his face in the crowd right beside her mother's.

"Your father brought a date," her mother leaned forward to whisper in case he was within ear's reach.

Madge furrowed her eyebrows. "To my debate?" It wasn't exactly the type of place where bringing a date was necessary.

Her mother shrugged. Madge knew better than to ask if she was bothered by it. The answer to the question was obvious. Whether or not she wanted to admit it, her mother had always held a torch for her father. Madeline Donner and Noah Undersee had a long history with each other. And Madge was inclined to believe that they were still in love with each other, though timing was never in their favor. Friends since they were young, they'd gone to the same summer camps, and the same fancy prep schools and possibly if Madge hadn't come into the picture, the same Ivy League university. They hadn't dated since before she was born, but Madge had always held out hope, like most children whose parents were no longer together, that they'd find their way to each other in the end.

"Are we supposed to invite them out to eat or something?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well they didn't come all the way to Harford from Boston just to see my debate without expecting at least dinner."

"Well Miss Manners would disapprove if we didn't at least offer. Go get your stuff and meet us out in the hall."

Madge glanced back as she headed backstage. Her mother was leaning toward Cinna, their heads bent toward each other. They were probably talking about her father and his new girlfriend. Her father had had a lot of girlfriends over the years, some of which he had thought were "the one." They'd met her over Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner at her grandparent's house. Madge didn't understand why her mother was so bent out of shape about meeting his new girlfriend. She wasn't the first girlfriend they'd met and she probably wouldn't be the last. She'd probably be gone by Thanksgiving anyway, if history had anything to do with it.

She was wearing a grey shift dress with knee-length high-heeled boots. Her hair styled like the ladies in the shampoo commercials that perfect dark shade of red without being too brassy. She probably spent a hundred dollars just to get her hair blown out like that.

She had a big grin on her face, stepping away from her father's side to grab her hand. "You must be Madge. Your father has told me so much about you. You know, you look so much like him." Madge glanced at her mother out of the corner of her eye, other than the shape of her eyebrows, which were squared off and quite thick like her father's; she was the spitting image of her mother. Everyone had always told her so, though they didn't have to; she could see it with her own eyes. "The books! He told me all about the books! I cannot wait to see the books!"

Madge glanced behind the woman in front of her who had yet to introduce herself toward her father. He stepped forward with his arms wide open. "You did great, Kiddo! She gets talking that fast from you, but in this context it was a good thing."

"I have yet to have an experience when the fast-talking wasn't a good thing." Her mother added.

Her father gave her mother a playful look, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, this is Octavia."

It was just like her mother to step forward and attempt to take control of the situation. "I'm Madeline. It's nice to meet you."

"And you must be the famous Cinna I've heard so much about. I've heard tales of your legendary risotto." Her father added, a boyish grin on his lips. She had almost forgotten that her father had never met Cinna or anyone who lived in Star's Hollow.

Cinna laughed, a blush rising to his tawny skin. He was humble, but everyone liked to be complimented. "You'll have to come by the inn one day so I can make it for you." He glanced toward Octavia. "For both of you."

"Well speaking of going to the Hollow. We were wondering if you wanted to come back to our house to celebrate Madge's win."

"I would love to go," Octavia answered. "I'd love to see the books."

Madge nodded. She didn't know what could be so interesting about her books and couldn't help but wonder what her father had said to her about them. "Sure. Of course I can show you the books."

Her mother brought her arm around Madge, "Well then you can just follow us back to our place. We'll see you."

xx

"They weren't supposed to ambush us like that!"

"I don't know if it counts as ambushing. We knew he was coming to the debate. You were the one who told me to invite him."

"I didn't think they'd want to come over to our filthy house."

"It's not filthy. We're messy, not dirty."

"You might want to rethink that, daughter of mine. I'm pretty sure there's takeout from last month in the fridge."

"Mom! That's disgusting!"

"I kept forgetting to clean it out before garbage day. Now before we get out, we need to get a plan together," Madge watched her mother tap nervously on the steering wheel. "You focus on your room since she really wants to see the books! And I'll take the living room. Whoever finishes first gets the kitchen, okay? Got it?"

"Got it. But what are we going to feed them?"

"Oh rats. Right. Food."

"I'd assume they're expecting something, otherwise why would we invite them over."

"To see your books, duh."

"Was that weird, or was it just me?"

"It was a little weird."

"Alright, get ready to clean as fast as you've ever cleaned in your life? It doesn't have to be clean. It just has to look that way."

"I'm a Donner. I know how to clean for company."

"Good girl. Now let's go! Go! Go!"

It was a good thing Chilton had a uniform, or Madge was sure there'd be more clothing on the floor. She didn't wear much makeup on a daily basis, so all that was scattered across her desk/vanity was eyeliner, BB cream, mascara and tinted lip balm. She slipped what makeup she did back into the bag where it belonged and moved along to the notes she'd been taking for her test next week in English. She attempted to organize the notes back into the binder where they belonged, but ended up just shoving them into the drawers of her desk. Madge made sure to fix up her bed, an undone bed made a room look messy, so a made up one would have to help a room look cleaner.

The books were as organized as they could get without Madge doing an entire overhaul.

She wiped off her skirt. She didn't have the luxury to change, knowing their might be month-old takeout in their fridge.

Madge had finished wiping off the counter when her father knocked on the front door.

"We gave you guys a few extra minutes before knocking. I can't believe you didn't get pulled over. You guys must have been clocking in at ninety. If I didn't know my way around Hartford we would've been lost."

"We were trying to prepare the house for guests," Madge's mother had gotten to the door before she could. "We're not accustomed to entertaining."

"I don't mean to be pushy, but—"

"My room's this way," Madge peeked out from the kitchen.

It was weird watching someone stare at her bedroom with such interest. "There are the books," Madge added, gesturing toward the small bookcase over her dresser. "And there are some underneath my bed too." She kneeled on the floor, lifting her blankets. She'd skip showing her the ones in her drawers.

"How adorable. And you've read all of these books?"

"Most of them. There are a few I haven't gotten through since school started. The life of a book lover, the influx of books I buy just doesn't add up to how fast I can read them."

"I was never one for reading. The closest I got to books were fashion magazines," Octavia added, thumbing through her paperback copy of Nine Stories. "Are these your notes? "

Madge shook her head, "No. They're not. My friend, Gale, wrote some notes in it when he borrowed it."

"Now that's romantic."

"He's not my boyfriend," Madge sputtered out. "I mean I have a boyfriend, but his name is Beau. Gale is just a friend."

"Oh," Octavia smiled. "Then that's very nice of Gale."

"Yeah," Madge trailed off. "We should probably get back."

"Of course."

Her mother peeked her head into her bedroom. "Do either of you want anything to drink?"

"Sure."

Her mother tipped her head thoughtfully. "I think we have water and…"

"We have apple juice!" Madge added. She'd seen it when she was throwing out the old takeout. It probably wasn't what they were used to, but apple juice was better than nothing.

When she walked into the living room, she met her father's eyes. He looked happy, city in her living room, in his dark denim and plaid button up. "Thank you for showing Octavia your books. I know she can be a little eccentric."

"But you like her?"

He grinned. "Yeah Kiddo. I like her a lot, but enough about me. How's school? I can see you're kicking ass when it comes to debate, but what about the rest? Math and the like?"

"I'm taking Pre-Calc right now. It's good. I hear Calculus is better though."

"That sounds like a lie."

"I thought so too." Madge chuckled. What could her mother and Octavia be talking about for so long in the kitchen? She was starting to worry. Her mother wasn't one to start a fight, but Donners were known to finish them.

"How's the piano?"

"I played for the grade school's production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? They had some great numbers."

"Did I hear you say grade school?"

"It was great. Next year, they're planning on doing Fiddler on the Roo—."

The phone rang interrupting her. Octavia passed her, glasses of apple juice in both of her hands. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's me." Her mother replied, her voice in a low whisper. "Call me Gerald."

"Hello Gerald. It's nice to hear from you."

"So Octavia, by the way, what kind of name is that? Anyway, your father told her that I can get you out of Friday night dinners if there's an emergency. Now I wouldn't consider you hanging out with your possible future stepmother an emergency, but what do I know? I just thought I'd ask to make sure you're okay with it."

"Okay."

"So?"

"So are you okay with hanging out with her and sending me to the wolves by myself? If you are then say 'Gerald, right now I'm busy, but I'll call you tomorrow.'"

"Gerald, right now I'm busy, but I'll call you tomorrow."

"Alright."

Her mother stepped into the living room, running her hands through her hair. "Who was that?"

"Just Gerald."

"Who's Gerald?" Her father asked, a smirk pulling the left side of his mouth upwards.

"How can you explain Gerald?"

"Well you could start with how you met him."

Her mother turned to her, eyebrows furrowed. "Do you remember how we met Gerald?"

"I think it was at the Firelight Festival a few years back."

"Oh yes. That was it."

"You know, I would love to meet this Gerald." Her father sounded amused, a boyish grin on his lips.

"He's actually out of town this week, but maybe the next time you're in town. Gerald's a real treat. You'll love him."

"Everyone loves Gerald."

"So Madge, I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go to get dinner with me so we can get to know each other better."

Madge smiled, part of her was glad that her mother had warned her beforehand. "That sounds good to me."

"I can go with you to Friday night dinner if you'd like. Your parents have always loved me." No matter how many failed business ventures, her grandparents adored her father. Madge wasn't the only Donner holding out hope that her parents would end up together.

Her mother scoffed. "Yeah, they like you more than they like me."

Octavia smiled. "So we should get going. Maybe we can fit in a movie after dinner if there's enough time."

Madge smiled. "Just let me go get changed." It was okay for her to be in her uniform for a couple hours after school, but well into evening? Not so much.

She shut the door behind her, taking a deep breath. As long as she didn't have to talk about her books the entire time, she'd be fine.

reviews are always welcomed and appreciated :)

i hope you liked this chapter.