"Where exactly are you taking me?" Haymitch asks as we walk down the block past the square.
I look at him and say, "Bullsh*t!"
"Bullsh*t?" He asks me like I'm crazy. "Hey! Wait why are you cursing?"
"When you said bullsh*t a minute ago. It reminded me of something."
"You'll have to be a little more specific, sweetheart," he says.
"Okay, okay. So last month Mom and Dad forced me to go to this magic show at Pane's school, and after every single trick, Pane's friend would say 'Bullsh'-" Haymitch glares at me. "That word... I guess he just learned it and thought it made him sound cool or something. Anyways, Pane and him got into this argument and Pane thought the show was really great, so he said that one day he'd do magic and show his friend it was cool. He came to me after saying he couldn't find one and that he'd never show his friend now."
"I don't see how that fixes our problem," Haymitch says "and how did you get that all from one stupid word?".
"Shh, I'm getting there," I snap back. "So last week I'm talking to my friend, Dylan,"
"Whoah whoah whoah- you're talking to guys?!" Haymitch stops me. "I thought you said they were icky!"
"Yah, when I was seven. And besides, Dylan is just a friend."
Haymitch studies me for a moment but decides I'm telling the truth. "Good," he says, "Dylan better be just a friend."
"He is. But, Dylan's brother is kinda cute..." Haymitch loosens my hand and looks at me with wide eyes. "What? I'm a teenage girl Haymitch." He looks like he's about to argue with me, but I stop him "So Dylan tells me he was walking by this store the other day on 13 Street and May Avenue, and he saw a magic kit! It's expensive and fancy apparently, but I really think Pane will love it." I say, as we come up to the store front.
"Expensive, huh? Alright, let's get this over with," he says as we walk into the shop.
When we walk in, we see an odd variety of things. There's posters of some music bands, a bunch of black clothes with skulls and cross bones on them, a place with a bunch of silver and what looks like tooth jewelry, and strangest of all, wigs, bright ones like they wear sometimes in the Capitol. Haymitch looks at me as if questioning where he is and why, but I just shrug my shoulders. I feel out of place wearing the floral skirt my Mom got for me.
I see a guy walk out of what must be the back room. He's bald, wearing all black with a silver chain on his pants. Most noticeable however, is a striking black tattoo of a dragon down his neck. The guy sees us and walks over, and I immediately notice his baby blue eyes and warm smile, as out of place as my skirt.
"How may I help you guys?" He asks in a friendly tone.
"Uh," I look at Haymitch for a second " We're looking for a magic kit? I heard you guys have one."
He laughs as if I'm joking and says " No kidding, someone just came in here and almost bought the last one, but lucky for you we still have it. Let me go get it in the back, and you'll be on your way, unless you need anything else?"
Haymitch and I look at each other and shake our heads. "No, that's all, thanks" I say. With that, he goes out to the back and returns in a couple minutes with a large purple box embedded with the word MAGIC on it.
"Well, here you go," he says. Haymitch and I pay the man evenly, say thank you, and go out of the store. As soon as we leave, Haymitch turns to me.
"That was one of the weirdest things I've ever experienced. And I've gone to the Capitol many times."
"What was so strange about that?" I ask.
"He had a snake tattoo down his neck that looked like it was going to eat a skull, but he was nicer than your father. That is strange."
"Well, you can't judge someone that quickly. You don't know the story behind the tattoo, which I think was a dragon by the way, and you don't know his history or what he's thinking." I tell Haymitch. In response, he looks at me knowingly, and it dawns on me after a minute of confusion what that look really means. I sigh, "Oh, sure, big lesson learned, but I think the case of," I swallow hard before I saw his name "Gale, is different."
"You might want to follow your own advice, sweetheart. Think about it." He says.
The rest of the way home, we're both silent as I think about how I don't know a thing about what Gale thinks about all this.