I woke up the next morning wishing I hadn't. All I could think about all day was that the next time I saw Katniss, she would be in the Arena. And probably the time after that she would be rock still in a coffin. Now let's freeze it right there. I remember being so worked up about that last thought, but if I had known what was coming up later in the Games…well that would have been the absolute least of my worries. Okay, let's get back to that day. I finally came to the conclusion that worrying wouldn't help Katniss or her family, so I pulled myself out of bed. I quickly changed my clothes and headed for the woods. About halfway there I realized that my shirt was on backwards. Oh well.
On my way to the fence I ran into Delly Cartwright. I don't mean that I was walking and happened to see her. Oh, no. I could only be so lucky. I actually ran into her. Seriously, I ran smack right into that girl. It was really awkward. Not running into her, but just seeing her. I mean, I was rooting for Katniss to come home and she was rooting for blondy the baker. Apparently she could tell exactly what I was thinking because she came out saying, "You know Gale; I really don't want Katniss to die". Oh great, was all I thought. I didn't say anything to her, but someone else did. It was Callie Sheridan. I don't know her that well, but apparently she thought we were pretty close. She didn't just say something. Oh no. "Well only one of them can come out alive and I bet you your little baker boy is gonna be coming home. I bet he'll even get first class. Well, that is if you count a wooden box as first class". That girl came out swinging. Delly's motto was not 'when push comes to shove, don't shove back'. More like 'When push comes to shove, shove back'. "Oh yeah, well I'm sure your friend Katniss would think that a wooden box was pretty classy". Delly had just crossed the line. People could say things about Katniss' personality and her looks, but when someone brought up money and class my true dark side came out. I tackled Delly. I didn't push her. I didn't shove her. I tackled her. The definition of tackle being, I dropped my game bag and leaped through the air straight at Delly. I had her pinned down on the ground before she knew what hit her. And what hit her was an eight-teen year old boy, who probably weighed two times as much as her. But once I had her pinned down, I didn't really know what to do. "I'll take care of her, Gale", Callie offered up. "That's fine", I replied to Callie. I was upset, but Delly was a nice person most of the time and, after all, it was Katniss who was in the Games, not me. "Don't ever say anything like that again. You got it", I said this time talking to Delly. I got up and wiped the dirt of my pants. Somehow, by some miracle we hadn't attracted any watchful eyes. Then I ran off to my day in the woods.
I hunted for about two hours and then decided to take a rest. Katniss was all I could think about. How's the Capitol, Catnip, I thought. Suddenly a surge of anger raged into my heart. Not at myself, not at Delly, not at the Capitol, but at Katniss. "Why would you leave me", I yelled to the birds. "Is she really worth it to you. Your life. Your future. Our future", my voice lowered on the last sentence. I was certain that I was becoming insane. I obviously knew that Katniss couldn't hear me and I'm glad she didn't. Later that day, when I had left the woods I had felt so miserably guilty. How could have asked her to let Prim go to her death just so we, who had nothing romantic together, could be together? I was becoming a monster and I had to backtrack.