Chapter two

"Hello Madge." I say causally, as I walk in her direction. I can see her blushing.

"Hi." She says back in her usual shy tone. I would stay and talk to her but the bell rings and I have to go. I get to my lesson just in time, sit down in my usual seat and just drown out everything that the teacher tells us about the Capitol and all its done for the districts. I really can't stand this shit.

I do nothing for the whole hour. How productive. I'm just aching to get back in the woods. I really can't stand it inside the fence, I feel like an animal cadged in.

And then I remember I was late twice this week which means I have two hours behind school so when the bell rings to signalize the end of the day for my year, I stay seated and brace myself for the lecture I'm about to receive of my teacher.

But instead she just hands me a piece of paper and tells me that I must write down the reason I was late. She knows why I was late. Everyone knows why I was late, but I can't write it down because leaving the district is strictly forbidden and punishable by death, so this is where I usually make up some bizarre story as to why I was late.

Once I said that I had got bitten by Prims goat and had to seek medical help. Another time I said Posy was ill and I had to get her to Mrs Everdeen. But today I don't feel like writing anything too wordy, so I just write 'I slept in longer than I should have' and call it a day.

After about an hour I'm told I can go home because its Friday and not even the teachers want to stay behind school today, so I get up and that's when the bell rings to tell the years bellow that its time to go.

By the time I get outside I see Katniss but she's quite far ahead and almost at her house, then I see Madge, walking slower just in front so I decide to walk with her.

"Hey." I say as I walk next to her, slowing to her pace.

"Oh, hello." Her tone of voice is surprised. "Thought you would have left by now?"

"Detention."

"Ohh." She giggles "I don't get detentions."

"I know, because you're always early." This is when she looks at me, and for the first time I actually notice how blue her eyes are. They're blue like the summer sky, not icy blue like most towns people. There warm and really beautiful.

"Are you heading home?" It's a stupid question. Of course she is, where else would she go?

"Yeah, why?" She looks at me quizzically.

"I was wondering if you maybe wanted to hang out, I could show you where I get the strawberries from?"

"Sure." I honestly didn't expect her to say yes seeing as we've never really spoken before.

"Come on, it's this way."

She smiles at me and we walk to the gap that's hidden from the view of the town, and after pausing to check the fence is not on, I climb under the fence. Madge does the same, I can't help but stare at the cleavage she has just unknowingly displayed to me as she climbs under.

Once were on the other side of the fence, we quickly disappear into the woods out of sight of the district, concealed by the trees. We talk idly for a few minutes until we reach the spot where the strawberry bushes grow and we sit down.

"Gale?" she says in a questioning tone. " Why did you ask me to come here?" she says while picking a strawberry from the bush.

"Well we've never really spoken before, and I wanted to get to know you." Lie. I just think she's really attractive. Although I wouldn't mind getting to know her.

"Oh." She pauses. "That's, erm… nice." I don't quite think she believed that. "But why though?" Girls don't usually question why I talk to them.

"Well, I thought if you were friends with Katniss then you must be nice. Seeing as she doesn't like very many people, I suppose I wanted to find out for myself." This answer seems to satisfy her because she stops questioning me about it and changes the subject.

"So you come here every day then, to the woods?" She takes a bite into the strawberry she's been looking at for a while, deciding on whether or not she should eat it.

"Pretty much, unless one of my brothers or my sister is sick. Then I look after them."

"Oh, I didn't know you looked after your family that much."

"What?"

"I just thought you got the food. I didn't realise you looked after your brothers and sister as well." She sounds genuinely shocked.

"Well since my dad died I suppose I became a father figure to them. Besides my mum always has to work so she can't always look after them." I wonder why she's asking these questions.

"Posy is just adorable, I saw her playing in the meadow the other day on my way to the bakery."

"Yeah? She loves the meadow. I don't know why though." I bite into a strawberry. "So is this the first time you've been outside the fence?"

"No, I've been out here once before." What? I didn't know Madge had been out here before.

"With Katniss." She adds on. Oh right that makes sense now. "She was trying to teach me how to use a bow and arrow, but I'm pretty useless."

"I'm sure your not." I actually don't doubt that she is useless with a bow, being the Mayors daughter, she doesn't really get much chance to go outside the fence to practice, so I can imagine her being incompetent with one. "It just takes a little practice."

"I don't really want to learn how to use a bow and arrow though, I don't suppose I would ever need to use it." Her voice is quiet.

"No. I don't suppose you would." She's the Mayors daughter. Of course she wouldn't need to learn how to use it. But I'm not going to say that to her, I want to get to know her and that's no way to make friends. We sit next to the strawberry bush for a while making idle chit chat and eating strawberries.

"These are really nice with cream you know." Madge says after a moment of silence.

"I wouldn't know. I can't really afford cream." This rubs me the wrong way. The fact that her farther is the mayor gives Madge a pretty sheltered life.

She may as well live in the Capitol. The things that her family can afford! Cream? Who has the money for that? We barely get by as it is! My family, without my hunting, would of probably dropped dead of starvation long ago, and there's her family, eating strawberries and fucking cream!

That stuff is an expensive luxury only two families in this District can afford. Hers and Haymitch Abernathy, the guy who won the Hunger Games years ago, although he only spends his money on alcohol. I bet the guy single handily keeps Ripper in business.

"No, neither can we really. Only had it once on my birthday." Huh?

"What? I thought you were loaded?"

"What? NO!" She's laughing. Why? "Just because my dad's the Mayor doesn't mean we're rich! Yeah, okay we have more money than most and we live in a big house, but we don't get special treatment from the Capitol!" Her tone is defensive, verging on angry. "I'm fed up of people thinking that my family is the Capitol's lap dog!" Okay now she's angry. Her voice is raised, but not to the point of shouting.

"Well you can't blame people for thinking that, surely?" She's staring at me, looking as if she wants to punch me. Not the first time I would have been punched by a girl, but that's not the point.

"Yes I can! Maybe people should get to know me before they judge me and make assumptions about my family!" She gets up onto her feet. "I'm going home.' She says before heading off in the general direction of the fence. Great now I've pissed her off. I had no idea that she was going to get so angry over that. I decide to follow her to try and calm her down.