Pug1998: Same!
For her most recent birthday, Mr. Undersee had given his daughter a sketchbook. It had thick clean white pages and had a red leather binding and had a double black strap that held it together. It was large enough to take up her lap when she used it and Madge used it often and she took it everywhere.
She took it to class where she sketched her teacher. He was a funny looking man with a slight hunch. Madge sketched his scrunching nose, gaping mouth, flaring nostrils, his little circular glasses. She sketched his scowl when someone raised their hand with a question. She wanted to capture everything.
She took it to parties where she sketched the Capitol guests. It was as if they knew she was drawing them, their bodies posed naturally as if they were always getting their picture taken. She drew out their outrageous hair. She collected colored pencils to sketch out their outfits and caked on make-up. She enlarged their jewelry taking down every detail of the pieces. She wanted to capture everything.
She took it to practice piano. She sketched her slender fingers sliding over the white and black keys. She drew the shadows of her hands over the keys. She collected music sheets spreading them out and sketching the piano music. She sketched her bare feet pressing down on the pedals. She even drew her pencil marking down notes on her music. She wanted to capture everything.
She took it to the bakery to sketch Peeta's angry mother. She highlighted his mother's wrinkles. She drew out her burnt rough hands holding bread. She drew the pastries and the cakes that came out of the kitchen. She even captured a nasty scene of Peeta being hit upside the head and being dragged around by his ear. She wanted to capture it all.
The subject matter around her was great but when it came down to it Madge only liked drawing one person. Gale Hawthorne. Her hand twitched when he came into view. It got to the point where Madge had Gale's image so well known she could draw him without him being there. It started with his strong jaw, brooding grey eyes, messy dark hair, and crooked smile. She couldn't get enough. Then she turned to putting Gale into scenery. She wanted to see how his body reacted to the environment. She sketched him walking down the hall with his hands in his pockets first.
Madge convinced herself that it wasn't stalking. She just needed to see him. He had quit school so she had to find him elsewhere. Soon she had collected drawings of Gale coming out of the forest, the sun rising just beyond him. She had him walking through the Hob with his game bag on his back. Madge sketched his arm holding his helmet from the mines. She had him standing on his porch his younger siblings crowded around him. She even had a picture of Gale smiling over at Katniss. It just wasn't enough. She needed to get closer, to see the details.
She started answering the door when Katniss and Gale came around with Strawberries. Gale seemed surprised at first but Madge was trying to hold back the thrill in her face. As soon as they were gone Madge had her sketchbook open to a blank page. Slowly over the weeks she collected a well detailed full body image of Gale standing at her back door. She sat back when it was finished and her heart pounded painfully.
She realized it was too much. She had finally fallen for the boy from the Seam. Flipping the page she sketched out the strawberries in front of her and moved on. She sketched strawberries in chocolate; she made close details of the texture, of the color, of the shape. She thought that she had Gale off her mind.
That's when the reaping happened. Madge had to sketch the scene playing out in front of her, mentally. Her heart longed to have it in her sketchbook. She handed over her mockingjay pin to her friend. Madge kept the image in her head. In the hall she passed Gale and she tried hard not to take a deep breath of his scent. That night she pressed her pencil to the pages, aggressively drawing Prim's distraught face looking at Katniss from Gale's strong shoulder. She drew Peeta and Katniss shaking hands. Madge drew Katniss' hand taking the pin from her. She drew Gale glancing over at her as they walked by each other in the hallway. Her hands shook as she forced herself to flip to a blank page.
She couldn't help sketching while the games were on. It was distracting and a good way to spend the time instead of obsessing about Katniss and Peeta. She hardly sketched the games though. Instead she turned to the crowd and sketched their reactions and the heartbreak on their faces. She couldn't help focusing on Gale. He was her favorite subject. He looked isolated even though his family was around him. It was something about his expression or the way he held himself that Madge was worried about. She grew used to drawing his shoulders and his folded arms and that's when Madge flipped back to see her previous drawings.
That's when she realized that it was time to put the sketchbook down. Most of the notebook was filled with pictures of Gale. It was apparent that she was beginning to have a problem. Madge set the sketchbook down on her dresser and turned away from it. She forced herself to walk out of the room and down the stairs without returning to get it. Madge pulled on her dress unsure of what to do. She was forced to watch the games and try not to glance over at Gale.
Instead, she let out a huffy breath and gave up staring at the screen. She swiftly made a beeline and stood by him. "Hi," she said softly.
"Undersee." He said curtly, not taking his eyes off the screen. Madge cleared her throat.
"How are you?" He let out an annoyed sigh and looked down at her.
"Really?" He snapped. She turned away quickly, trying to stop herself from crying. "I'm sorry," he groaned and pulled her back. She refused to look at him. Her palms sweated and she bit her lip. "It was just a dumb question."
"I know." She muttered. When the screen turned off Madge didn't hesitate to part ways with Gale. She hurried through town and shut her backdoor behind her. Her hand flew up to her chest and she was off again the next day without her sketchbook. She stayed away from Gale today and made an effort to not look over at him. So when he came up behind her, she was shocked.
"How are you?" He asked jokingly and stood by her side. She stepped away, surprised, and then returned to his side.
"That's a stupid question." She joked back and raised an eyebrow.
"Thank you." He snickered. Madge wished she had her sketchbook to sketch the bridge of his nose when he laughed. She turned away swiftly.
"You're welcome." She said quietly and watched the screen intently.
"It's weird seeing you without you hunched over that notebook." Gale murmured when they turned the screen off. Madge looked up alarmed.
"What?" She demanded.
"You take that thing everywhere." He said and shrugged. Madge huffed and walked back to her house. He couldn't know about the sketchbook, it was like he knew that most of the pictures were of him. He couldn't know. Yet, one thing she was sure of, Gale Hawthorne had been watching her. It was enough momentum to continue their short conversations.
Over the next two weeks Madge and Gale had become comfortable with each other and even started seeing each other away from the screen. Gale was having a hard time coming to terms with Katniss and Peeta's on screen relationship and Madge was always there hitting his arm and telling him to get over it. She slowly forgot about her sketchbook and just enjoyed being with him.
One evening Madge had been invited to the Hawthorne house. It was brief but Madge had been overwhelmed with his outgoing family. She loved them as soon as she had stepped into their home. It wasn't a long stay though before she could really finish a conversation with any of the residents; Gale was pulling her away.
"Come with me," he whispered and escorted her out of his house. Madge ran after him down the dark streets.
"Where are we going?" She laughed and pulled on his arm. He glanced back at her,
"Wouldn't you like to know" he winked and ducked into the thicket. They collapsed in the darkening meadow. Madge could sense that Gale was hesitating to move closer to her and when they were touching it seemed to trigger something in both of them.
"I want to kiss you," they said hastily at the same time. They blinked at each other before laughing nervously.
"Well, can we..?" Gale asked slowly. Madge nodded. She could feel his body heat and the roughness of his hands on her skin. It was so much to take in that she almost forgot the sensation of his lips on hers.
"Oh..." she breathed out as he moved away. Laughing, Gale pulled her to him and he sunk his lips into her hair. "Hmm Madge," he groaned. The butterflies were taking off in her stomach and she could feel the color flooding to her face.
"What are we doing, Gale?" She wondered angrily. "You and I- what are we?" she sighed and ran her hand down the inside of his leg.
"We're us." Gale chuckled and kissed down her jaw.
"You know what I mean," Madge said and looked over her shoulder at him. Gale took a deep breath and pushed her hair back from her face.
"Yeah, I know what you mean." He pulled out a few blades of grass and tied them together.
"We're... in love." He smiled slightly.
"Cut it out." She groaned, "I'm just her replacement." Gale shook his head.
"You know that's not-"
"Really?" She laughed sadly, "I see the way you watch her on screen, when they were reunited, and I saw the hurt on your face- don't lie." She wanted to show him the look in her sketchbook, proof of his emotions he was hiding from her.
"Madge, you have it all wrong." She got up and smoothed her skirt out and pushed her hair back behind her ear.
"Goodnight, Gale." She wandered off through town and ended up back in her room. She flopped down on the bed. It was a few minutes before she reached over and retrieved her sketchbook. Even if her face was hot with embarrassment and her heart was slowly breaking, Madge slowly sketched out the look he gave when he said they were in love. "No..." she groaned and covered her face with her sketchbook.
Click... click... click...
Madge took the book off her face. The sound was repeatedly coming from the side window. She set the book aside and crossed the room, looking down at the window sill. Little rocks were pounding into the wood. She made a face and peered out into the darkness. It was Gale. She opened the window and leaned out.
"What are you doing?" She cried softly.
"Getting your attention!" He cried back.
"Well... go away!"
"No, look out I'm coming up" Madge laughed.
"How?" He gestured to the lattice work that was against the side of the house.
"You'll fall" she called down. He walked up to it and shook it.
"It seems sturdy." He glanced up at her briefly, "But...you could always let me in the back door." He disappeared behind the side of the house. Madge saw this as her cue to let him in; she hesitated before quietly creeping into the hall. The darkness gave her a clue that everyone was asleep.
The back porch was eerie and Madge wasn't sure if she saw Gale. Then he was there smiling through the haze. She unlocked the door and he slid in. He held up his shoes, "no tracks." She rolled her eyes,
"No noise." She took his hand and led him around the obstacles in the dark. At the top of the stairs, Madge made sure that Gale knew that the boards creaked through example. They moved around the dangerous floorboards and into her room.
Madge closed her blinds and turned on the light. "Can I take those?" She whispered and pointed to his shoes. He handed them over and gazed around the room. Madge laid out her towel and set Gale's shoes on it. "There!" She grinned and turned around.
Gale was holding her sketchbook. She opened her mouth as if to scream but nothing came out. He glanced up and took in her reaction. "What?" He asked and held up the sketchbook for her to see. It was a picture of her piano in the early morning light.
"Give me that." She snatched it out of his hand and pressed it against her chest. Her face was hot and if she glanced into her mirror she was sure that her face would be bright red.
"Sorry..." he murmured, "is it some sort of diary?" Madge was taken aback by the question, she had never thought of her sketchbook like that.
"...yes?" She whispered and glanced down at it herself, seeing it in new light.
"I just assumed, since you take it everywhere." Gale shook his head and then let out an airy laugh, "I told Katniss once that it was your only friend," Madge gasped, "but that's how I learned that you and Katniss were kind of close!" Gale said recovering his mistake.
"I had never heard anyone speak about my sketchbook... aside from my father and mother." Madge closed the book and tucked it under her arm.
"I'm just so curious." Gale announced, "I have been wondering what you were drawing, I've only seen you looking down- I swear." Madge suddenly wondered that if she hadn't been looking down all of those times, she would have made eye contact with him.
"You..." she couldn't bring herself to ask. The sketchbook suddenly felt very heavy in her hand, "I..." she searched her mind for the right words, "can you just sit down?" Gale raised an eyebrow and found an available seat on the edge of her bed. "I'm not sure what you want me to say." Gale opened his mouth but she cut him off by handing him the book. "Start at the beginning," she murmured and stepped back.
It was hard watching him go through her work but she was waiting until he got to page fifteen when he first shows up. The first picture she drew of him was the scowl he gave a townie in the halls of the school. Madge was disturbed at the look at first and it captivated her.
"Is that me?" He whispered and gave her an unbelieving look,
"You were in school then," Madge said and cleared her throat, "you gave that look to the oldest Leroy boy because he said something rude to you." Gale's eyebrows shot up with surprise.
"You remember that?" He said incredulously. Madge smiled slightly and nodded to the book,
"There's more than that." Gale hesitated but continued to flip through the pages. His expression stayed disbelieving but as more pictures of him unfolded, the less it vanished.
"I just don't believe it..." he said stalling of the picture of him walking away from the mines."How did you- when did you?" He looked up at her.
"I'm only a secret admirer, Gale." She whispered sadly, "you're not supposed to be with me." She came forward to turn the page. It was the quick sketch of Gale smiling over at Katniss by the hob. Gale hardly lingered on the sketch in front of him. He put the book aside and stood up completely consuming Madge in his looming shadow.
"I'm afraid you can no longer say secret," he murmured and brushed a curl back from her face. "It's clear what your feelings are towards me." He sighed, "But after all your sketches you still don't know." He moved away and picked up her book, turning it to her most recent picture. The picture of him saying "we're in love," he whispered.
"If you don't believe me, then believe this sketch." Madge's head was spinning. "The first drawing I saw when I opened this book was this." He grinned and closed the book. He pointed to the black band sticking from the bottom, "your bookmark showed me where you left off."
"I don't..." Madge searched his face for a hint of a lie but he looked so sincere. "I can't..." She shook her head.
"Just give me a chance to love you." Gale whispered and took her face in his hands. "Besides... if we're together just think of the opportunities you'll get for sketching me." The gleam in his eye was back and a gentle smirk had appeared at the corner of his lips. Madge laughed softly.
"Find me a pencil, Hawthorne."
I started a story about District 12 in the regency era but I don't know enough about the time period to write it accurately so I gave up and wrote this instead! I hope you like it as much as I do.
If you have any requests do not hesitate to send them my way! Send me a PM or comment with an idea (or several).
Erin