Disclaimer: Gadge is canon. Eff da h8rs. Suzanne Collins ships them.
I walk into the cafeteria and suddenly my molars find the inside of my cheek. I don't even know where Gale sits during lunch, let alone who else he sits with, how does he expect me to walk up like I belong there? Like we've been friends forever? Of course I care about the boy who brings me strawberries, but this whole act he's been putting up just to hold my company is making it clear to me that I need to find a way out of this before I get hurt. I have a tendency of falling too far in, and with Gale, falling into things seems as though it'd be fairly easy.
Someone nudging their elbow into my shoulder snaps me back into reality. I turn to my left and find my place at the same table I always had.
I'm better off alone anyway, it's better for the both of us this way. . . No matter what Gale says.
A soft breeze hits me as I throw my backpack in the dirt surrounding the oak tree in the school yard. Prim and Rory are staying after school today and she asked me to wait for them. I'd never turn her down. I'm waiting right where I said I'd be.
I take out a notebook and pen as I try to pass the time. I draw piano keys and oddly shaped notes that I've never bothered to learn how to read. Piano's always been sort of a natural thing for me, playing it was just as hard as learning to walk.
My eyes shoot forward when I hear Prim's approaching laughter. She's been so giddy ever since Katniss' success during the opening ceremonies. It makes me ten times happier just to see that.
"It just doesn't make sense!" she yells through her laughter, "Why would they do that?"
"Who knows?" Rory says with a smile, "All I know is the Captiol is strange and they like things to be crazy."
"Madge," Prim breathes as they approach me "Rory thinks that people in the Capitol get paintings on their bodies that are permanent to make them look like animals. Is that true?"
Rory looks at me desparately as I stand up from the tree trunk and swing my backpack over my shoulder.
"Sure is," I say, "There was a victor a few years back who got her teeth done so she'd look like a snake."
Prim looks up at me with wide eyes that are begging for me to tell her more. "Crazy, right?"
"No kidding," she says, "I hope Katniss doesn't do stuff like that when she wins."
To hear Prim talking about her sister as a victor is so comfortably strange that I'm caught off guard for a second, leaving me to search my brain for an answer.
"I don't think she will," I say "I'm sure Katniss will come home same as she was before."
This satisfies her and the rest of the walk home is filled with small talk about grade seven. We reach the Hawthorne house first and we drop Rory at the door before heading back to the Everdeen's where we stand for a moment on the doorstep. I give Prim a quick hug and turn on my heel toward town. But once I take my first step onto the path that leads to the square, I hear the door open and shut again and suddenly, her short footsteps are frantically running toward me.
"Prim," I say, turning around to her and resting my hands on her shoulders. Her face is distraught with fear and she's tugging on the end of her ponytail.
"My Mom's healing someone from the Mines, and it's real bad. ." Her voice trails off as she regains her composure, she joins her hands in front of her and crosses her feet awkwardly. "Can I um. . Is it okay if I come over for a little?"
"Of course, Prim!" I smile, "I'll walk you home after the training scores."
Her face immediately lights up into a smile and she reaches for my hand. I accept it graciously and link my fingers with hers. Despite her evident fear of my house and town in general, she acts perfectly calm when we approach the square where just a short week ago her name was picked out of the Reaping bowl. She's never asked to come over my house before, and I knew that was the reason why. I'm glad she finally felt comfortable enough to come though. I'd never really thought I'd be the one she'd lean on.
I pull my hand away from Prim's and reach for the front door handle.
"Okay, so the scores shouldn't be on until seven-thirty," I say throwing my bag on the floor and slipping off my shoes. "So we have around two hours, what should we do?"
I look up from the floor and find that Prim is standing with her mouth agape looking from right to left. When she catches me looking at her, her cheeks flare up and she apologizes.
"I-I'm sorry. ." she looks down and smiles at the floor, "This is the nicest house I've ever been in." she says, playing with a string bracelet tied to her wrist.
"It's okay!" I laugh as a smile creeps onto her lips. Prim is so innocent and defenseless, I don't think there's one person who dislikes her. The more time I spend with her, the easier it is to see why. "Here, how about I show you my room." I say, taking a step toward the stairs.
Prim nods and drops her bag to the floor as well. I throw myself on my bed and Prim sits infront of me facing the body length mirror in the cabinet of my dresser. I can tell she's still getting used to the dramatic difference of my house and hers, but she never says it.
"The Capitol gives us all this stuff," I say, "This whole bedroom, really."
Prim seems genuinely intrigued so I decide to continue, "Whenever a tribute of ours makes it to the Final Eight they interview the family, and usually it's filmed here so they like us to seem like we're in better shape than everyone else. I don't know. ."
I hold back what I really want to say when I remember that my house is bugged. I suffice for a nod and smile which Prim returns before getting off the bed to sit in front of the mirror. She takes out her ponytail and brushes through her blonde locks for a few minutes until I join her on the floor and start to braid her hair. We sit in comfortable silence as I braid and unbraid her hair that strangely resembles my own. She smiles at me in the mirror and I realize, she could really pass for my sister.
"So Prim, what's going on with you and Rory?" I smile, poking her playfully in her back.
"Rory Hawthorne?!" She says, pretending to gag. "Nothing!" she giggles, "We're just friends."
"Friends who have a crush on eachother?" I ask
"Madge!" Ferna melodically calls up the stairs, "Dinner!"
"You get away with it this time!" I say, tickling Prim lightly in her stomach before standing up.
Prim giggles and stands up next to me, instinctively reaching for the tips of her hair to pull at.
"It's okay, Prim, there's more than enough for you." I smile. "Come on," I extend my hand to her and lead her downstairs to the dining room.
"Oh, hello!" Ferna friendly says when she sees Prim coming down the stairs, "Let me fix another plate! I didn't know we had company!"
Prim's cheeks flare up again and I squeeze her hand in reassurance. She finally smiles as we sit down at the table and wait for our dinners to be served.
"I'm Primrose," She says nervously when Ferna sits directly across from us at the table.
"Primrose, Katniss' sister?" Prim nods. "Well, Well!" Ferna cheers, clapping her hands together. "So nice to have you here, then! I'm Ferna."
"Ferna is the sister of Katniss' stylist, Cinna." I smile, digging my fork into the meat Ferna has cooked. "She's very proud."
"Yes I am!" she says excitedly, "And I have reason to be! Katniss is all the talk in the Captiol." She sets her glass on the table and raises her hands as if she'srolling out a banner in thin air, "Katniss Everdeen, The Girl on Fire!"
Prim laughs so hard that she covers her face with her napkin. "Katniss, The Girl on Fire." she repeats, "It sounds so silly!"
Our meal carries on with Prim giggling over the Capitol's "sillyness" and Ferna giddly agreeing. It's the boom of the Capitol's anthem that snaps us out of our daze and Prim's eyes are the first to shoot up. She gets up from the table quickly heading in the direction of the living room. Ferna and I follow close behind and the three of us huddle together on the couch.
Ceaser Flickerman welcomes us as he had every night before, and continues to tell us about how the tributes had been in training for the past few days. They each had gotten one private session to impress the gamemakers and acquire a score from one to twelve- twelve being the highest.
The Careers go by as expected, District One with Nines and District Two with Tens. I can't help but wonder what they did to earn them. I wonder if Katniss and Peeta know, too.
The little girl from Eleven manages to get herself a Seven, which is higher than the majority of the other tributes. Prim mumbles something about wishing she could win too, but I'm sure she didn't mean for me to hear it.
When District Twelve gets up, we hold our breath. Peeta's score will be revealed first and I'm scared because as far as I know, he doesn't have much of anything that will help him in the games. I squeeze my eyes shut as Ceaser Flickerman announces that Peeta scored an Eight. An Eight! That's a Career score! Nobody from District Twelve has ever scored that high! I let out a sigh of relief as his lips form Katniss' name. Prim squeezes my hand in both of hers and shuts her eyes tight just as I had moments before.
"Eleven." Ceaser says, and with that the television clicks off. The word bounces around the room as we all sit with our mouths wide open, deciding if we'd actually heard what we thought we did.
"Eleven," Prim says. "Nearly perfect, right? The higest score is Twelve."
I can't manage words so I nod and cover my mouth with my hand.
"Eleven!" Ferna exclaims, jumping off the couch and throwing her hands up, "She really must be on fire!"
Prim laughs and springs off the couch as well. She excitedly grabs Ferna's hands and starts to dance as she had a few days before. The feeling is almost unreal. Everyone's just so. . happy. I'm happy, too. And there's no place I'd rather be.
"Goodnight Prim," I say, pulling her into my arms for a hug.
"Thank you, Madge," she says, smiling up at me, "Ferna's really nice. I had a great time tonight."
"We should do that more often, I love hanging out with you!"
"Okay, we will." Prim says, turning toward her front door.
But just as she reaches for the doorknob, the door flies open and Gale Hawthorne is standing behind it. It's been three days since the night of the opening ceremonies and I guess he hasn't forgotten our conversation.
"Prim go inside," Gale says, his face hardening when his eyes meet mine.
Prim nods without questioning his reasons and with a silent wave she walks through her front door.
"Guess I wasn't as lucky as I thought," Gale says, digging his hands in the front pockets of his jeans.
Without a second thought I turn away from him as if he isn't there. I don't need Gale's pity anymore. I don't need his company. He just never understood what I meant when I said I'm better being alone.
"Madge!" He calls from behind me, "Madge," He grabs my arm and pulls me to face him.
"What's going on? Talk to me."
"There's nothing to talk about," I say, more confidently than I should have, pulling my arm from his grasp.
"Well then you should have a damn good reason for acting like this, then!"
I bite my lip and cross my arms. There's no reason I should have to explain myself to Gale Hawthorne. It's ridiculous.
"This is what I mean!" He says, throwing his hands in the air as if to let out a bit of anger. "Just a few days ago I thought we were over this whole thing, I thought we were friends, Madge. I thought we could depend on each other. And now all of the sudden you're avoiding me? What the hell happened Undersee?"
I turn away from him as a silent tear falls down my cheek. I can't deal with this. Just when I think he's done ranting he takes a step closer.
"What are you afraid of?" He tilts my chin up and looks directly into my eyes. Instinctively I swat his hand away and whisk away my tears.
"I'm not afraid of anything, I-"
Suddenly his lips crash into mine. The rest of the world goes hazy as I wrap my arms around his neck and his snake around my waist. The smell of smoke lingers as thoughts of being comfortably lonely fade away. I don't need anything more than I need this moment. With him. Right now.
Even when he pulls away I stand still with my eyes shut waiting for him to speak.
"You don't need to be alone, Madge." He whispers when my eyes finally flicker open, brushing a piece of hair behind my ear.
I smile up at the boy from the Seam who's eyes are glistening off of the moonlight. Maybe he's right. Maybe I do need someone like Gale. Someone who is so much unlike me yet strangely similar in all the right ways.
"God damnit Madge say something," Gale laughs, running his hand through his perfectly thick brown hair.
"Well, I still want to be alone," I say, smiling as I watch Gale's smile turn quickly into confusion.
"I just want to be alone with you."
A smile creeps back onto his face and he pulls me closer and presses a kiss to my forehead.
"I guess I am pretty lucky, then."
A/N: Madge is driving herself crazy because she cares for Gale deep down but has never shown it because of how he treats her. I hope that was easy enough to understand!
Too corny? Unrealistic? Concerns? Tell me! xo.