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Chapter 14
I'm woken up by sunlight streaming in through my window, and I sit up quickly, rubbing my eyes. I glance outside, and grin. The air is shimmering with heat, and the sky is a clear blue, with not one cloud in sight. I yawn and check the time – nine o'clock.
I decide to have a shower, and take my time, letting all my muscles relax, a calm feeling settling in. I felt a lot better, knowing that Gale and I had made up, and I didn't hate him anymore. I suppose it could go wrong again; Gale's mood did seem to change rather quickly, whether it was indifference, happiness, anger or annoyance.
I decide to wear some denim shorts, and a long sleeved t-shirt. I add some canvas shoes and ankle socks, and I decide I look successfully summery.
I go downstairs and Toby looks me up and down in one motion, a cocky smile spreading across his face.
"Going out today, Madge?" He says, "Out to see that Hawthorn boy?" he winks, and I smile, not bothering to deny it. I grab a bit of toast off the table and head over to the TV, where the Games are playing, but muted. I flop onto the sofa and turn up the volume, watching various tributes collect food or hunt their fellow tributes. Katniss and Peeta haven't moved from their cave, seemingly content with just lying there together, and kissing occasionally, which causes me to blush. I found it funny to see Katniss kissing someone; she just doesn't seem like the romantic type.
A sponsor seems to have sent them a broth, because every now and then, Katniss feeds Peeta a little bit. His condition doesn't seem to have become worse, but it's far from being any better. His forehead glistens with sweat, and his face has a light red sheen. I can see that Katniss is worried, especially so since she doesn't know what to do.
I comfort myself with the fact that no one has been killed, and begin to count the remaining tributes on my fingers. The huge boy, Cato, and the girl from his district, although I couldn't remember her name. There was the fox girl, who appeared to be looking for Katniss and Peeta. She was relatively close to the cave, but I didn't let that bother me, as the cave was well hidden, and Katniss had her bow and knife. The girl only had one knife. There was also the boy who was from the same district as Rue. I quickly move on to the next tributes, not wanting to think about the little girl's death. The other two tributes were Katniss and Peeta. That made six tributes, and I smiled slightly. Impressive – I didn't remember many tributes from Twelve who had made it to this stage of the Games, let alone both the male and female tributes.
I decide that I can afford to miss today's Games, considering the only two people I was interested in was Katniss and Peeta, who clearly weren't planning on moving anytime soon.
I get up and get handed a jacket by Toby, who's wearing a stern expression on his face. I open my mouth to complain, but he cuts me off quickly.
"I don't want you to get cold like what happened last time." I shut my mouth, and know that I can't argue against this. "Come on, Madge." He says, doing puppy dog eyes. I laugh and swat him away, and he laughs too. Everything seems so much happier now that Gale and I have made up.
I pull on the jacket, which is only a light cotton one, so I know I won't overheat outside. Hopefully.
I step out into the street after waving goodbye to Toby, wanting to escape his teasing about me meeting with 'that Hawthorn boy'. It isn't as warm as I thought it was as there is a small breeze, but it's warm enough that my jacket isn't necessary.
I walk slowly, enjoying the weather. It finally felt like summer, and I really hoped that it would last. I was sick of rain and the cold. The weather seemed to be pleasant enough in the Arena, but then again, the Gamemakers controlled all of that.
I reach the Town after ten minutes or so, and go and sit on a bench to wait for Gale, who's not here. I glance at the clock that sits in the centre of the square, which tells me that the time is nine fifty-five.
The clock is quite old, and rather beaten up. Although it's rather large and made of what I assume to be a strong metal, it has rusted, and the once white clock face has yellowed with age, and has a fine layer of coal dust on it. The black paint is flaked and chipped. I prefer it like this, though; District twelve might not be the best place in Panem, but it was still home. The clock reminded me that here was home, the coal dust, it being worn. It had been there all my life.
I snort to myself, and wonder why I'm getting sentimental about a clock. I was in a weird mood – I was very happy, elated, like I was floating. I guess I was just excited to find out what Gale's 'surprise' was.
As if on cue, Gale appears at the other side of the square, the side that leads to the Seam. He stops and his head turns from side to side, his eyes searching for me. When he sees me, he smiles slightly, and starts to walk over to my bench.
When he reaches me, he sits down next to me, and flashes me a grin. I return the grin, and we get up after a little bit of talking. As we begin to walk, Gale leading me towards where he came into the square, he takes my hand. This surprises me, as the square is relatively busy, unusually so for a Sunday morning. I shrug it off though, and satisfy myself with the fact that I'm holding his hand, and he doesn't seem to care what people say. Then again, I'm still not sure if this is a friendly thing or not. I decide to not get hopeful, and assume that it's a friendly gesture.
"Where are we going?" I ask as we twist and turn through the streets leading to the Seam, away from the Town. Gale shakes his head and presses his lips together in a smile.
"Please?" I say, tugging on his sleeve, trying to mimic Toby's earlier expression of puppy dog eyes. I think I did it wrong, because Gale laughs when he looks. I laugh too, too happy to feel insulted.
Gale refuses to say anything about where we're going, despite my pleading and begging. When we reach the Seam, I give up, knowing that it can't be long now till we reach wherever we're going.
Gale keeps making quick turns and changing direction in the streets we're walking on, but soon enough I realise we're travelling in a relatively straight line, which confuses me. Are we going somewhere we've been before, but he doesn't want me to figure it out?
We keep walking and walking, until finally I'm about to demand to know where we're going, until finally, we come out of the Seam. I realise where we are; it's the fence by the forest, the one that's meant to be electrocuted. I turn my head from side to side, and y eyes widen. Somehow, Gale has lead us through the Seam so that we've come out by the entrance to the forest, the bit of the fence that isn't connected to the ground.
We stop when we are a few metres from the fence, and I look at Gale questionably. He smiles back, and takes my other hand in his. I try and ignore the fluttering sensation that appears in my stomach when he does this.
"I wanted to come here… On purpose." He says softly, his eyes not moving from mine. "Every time we met here, we bumped into each other, or I found you in the forest. There's only bad memories of this place." His eyes are searching mine, seeing how I will react. "So I thought… I though I could bring you here, and show you the forest… And we could have some happy memories of us together? If you'd like…" He shifts his feet from side to side, looking a bit anxious. I smile a lot, a warm feeling spreading through me that had nothing to do with the weather. He planned this… For me?
I pull him into a tight hug, my cheek resting against his chest in such a way that I can hear his heartbeat, which is beating rather quickly. Gale lets out a sigh of relief and wraps his arms round me, returning the embrace. I guess he was worried I wouldn't like his idea, but how couldn't I?
He lifts up the fence for me, and I try to climb through with grace, but end up nearly falling over. Gale chuckles from behind me, and I blush. I march forwards, not wanting him to see the pink tinge of my cheeks.
"Hey, hey! Wait up!" Gale calls form behind me. He jogs after me, and catches my hand in his when he reaches me. I let our fingers lace together, enjoying the warmth.
We walk slowly, Gale's footsteps much quieter than mine. I try to mirror his silent tread, but I seem to step in all the wrong places, leaves rustling and twigs snapping with every step.
The sunlight filters through the leaves above us, and it's green everywhere. Green moss on the trees, green plants, green leaves, green grass. I take all of this in, glad that Gale brought me here. Every other time I've been here, I've been too upset to take in the surroundings.
The birds are calling to each other, and occasionally I hear the rustle of an animal moving near us. I feel like I should be scared, but I'm not. Gale's presence is helping that.
First, he takes me to a tree, a huge tree whose trunk I can't fit my arms round. When I try, Gale goes round the other side and manages to grasp my wrists. I laugh a bit, and so does he. To see the top of the tree, I have to crane my head back, so far that it almost hurts my neck. Gale takes my hand and looks up too.
"have you ever tried to climb it?" I ask suddenly, wondering what it's like up there. Surely the top of the tree is above the others, and you could probably see for miles.
Gale smiles and squeezes my hand.
"I have, but trust me Madge, it takes some work to get up there. You need to be strong, not puny like you." He teases, squeezing my arm where there should be muscle. I had no need for muscle, and didn't particularly want any. Besides, I was awful when it came to exercise.
I poke his chest in return, and we keep walking. We cross over a small stream, which has a fallen tree trunk across it that acts as a bridge. Unfortunately, it's covered in moss which is wet from the spray of the water, and I nearly slip several times. Gale catches me each time, used to my clumsiness by now. I grumble every time his arms wrap around my waist and stop me from falling face-first into the water, but I'm thankful that he's there to catch me.
He takes me to a strawberry patch, one that he has put a wire mesh around so that animals can't get in. My mouth opens in surprise as I stare at the huge wild bushes, each one holding ripe strawberries. I turn and look at Gale, who's smiling at my reaction.
"How did you-" I begin, but he interrupts me.
"Well, I figured that if you liked strawberries, seeing as your dad does too. You buy quite a lot of them; I guessed that some were for you." My expression of surprise turns into a smile as he says this.
"Is this where you get them from? The ones you sell us?" I ask, gesturing vaguely to the bushes that surround us. Gale nods and I take a step towards him, my arms outstretched hesitantly. We had hugged a lot today – did friends hug this much?
Gale closes the distance between us quickly and embraces me tightly. I mumble a thank you against his chest, and his only answer is to hug me tighter. After a while, we sit down, and Gale motions for me to take a strawberry.
"Are you sure?" I ask. I knew strawberries would fetch a fair amount of money, and I didn't want Gale to waste them on me.
"Of course, Madge." A smile plays on his lips, and I reach out and take a medium sized one. I turn it over in my hands before I eat it. It's perfectly ripe, the whole of the skin a bright red, but not soft like an overripe berry. I put the whole thing in my mouth and Gale grins at me, taking one for himself. It's sweet and full of flavour, and I can't help but smile as I eat it. I take one more, and this one is just as ripe.
We sit there for a while, eating strawberries and talking. I'm happy he trusted me enough to bring me here, and touched that he remembered about selling me strawberries. Eventually we get up and start walking again, and Gale tells me he's taking me to the final place he wanted to show me.
Instead of holding my hand, Gale pulls me closer and wraps one arm round my waist tightly, holding me against him. I try to hide the fact that I blush slightly when he does this, but he notices and smiles. I wrap my arm round his waist as well, and we walk like this till we reach our destination. I like being this close to Gale, it makes me feel safe, protected.
The trees give way to a small clearing, which is on the edge of a hill. Beyond the hill are miles and miles of forest, stretching in every direction. It's beautiful.
I let out a little gasp when I see this, and Gale chuckles from beside me.
"It's pretty good, right?" He asks, smiling.
"It's… It's…" I can't quite seem to find the right words. It's not just beautiful, it's… It's open. It's free. There are no fences here, no Capitol, no laws. I realise a lot of the land that I'm looking at must be unexplored, since the Capitol arrived anyway, all those years ago. It's incredible.
"Gale…" I whisper, awestruck. He chuckles again and pulls me into a tight embrace, burying his face in my hair. I return the hug as tightly as I can.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you." I whisper over and over. It seems like I can't say it enough. I begin to pull away, but Gale holds me there, his eyes locking with mine. I smile at him and he smiles back, raising one hand to touch my cheek.
"Madge…" He whispers, playfulness gone. He's no longer smiling, but he doesn't look sad. His palm rests lightly against my cheek, then slides to the back of my head, his fingers tangled in my hair. He pushes my head slightly towards him, and I allow the movement, so that our foreheads are now touching. His grey eyes don't leave mine, watching for my reaction, to see if I will pull away. I don't pull away though, I couldn't if I tried. I'm captured by his stare, by his hand that is now on my neck, the fact that our bodies are so close together.
We stand there for a few moments, our breathing faster than normal. And suddenly, Gale closes the final distance between us, and his lips press firmly against mine.
I'm going to leave it like that on a cliffhanger and you're all gonna hate me. c:
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