Disclaimer: All stories are individuals of themselves and are unrelated to each other.
"No," Posy swats Vick's hand from the mouse. "Not that one. He looks like a douchebag." Vick was just about to add a photo of Gale to his profile that was severely outdated. "This was before his haircut. He looks much better now. We need that one from his Instagram."
"You're nine," Vick says with a huff. "Don't say douchebag."
Posy says nothing in response but adds a few more photos of Gale, including some from their beach trip last summer. Ladies are sure to like that, she's positive.
Vick isn't as much into the physical part of the profile they're creating, but more into the personality part. He's 15 now so he understands Gale a little bit better than Posy, and if they're trying to find him a girlfriend they have to be as accurate as they possibly can in describing him.
Because that's what they're trying to do. Find him a girlfriend.
"Oooh, look!" Posy's bouncing in her seat, pointing at the screen. "We have a message!"
Looking over his shoulder to make sure Gale isn't going to burst into the room, Vick clicks the little bubble that's popped up in the corner. Suddenly there's a pretty blonde girl named Madge on the screen, and Vick thinks she looks familiar.
From Madge - 8:08 PM
And what in God's name is Gale Hawthorne doing on a dating website?
"They must know each other," Posy says thoughtfully after reading the message. "Here, click her questions." Vick's in control of the mouse now and starts going through the girl named Madge's profile, trying to figure out if she really is familiar.
"Same high school," Vick notes. But Posy's too busy reading about her personality to notice this. "What?"
"She's studying to be a nurse," Posy says. Also listed on her profile is that she gives piano lessons in her spare time, strawberry anything is her favorite flavor of anything, and she's a big fan of ABC shows. "I like her. Message her back!"
"Okay, but would Gale like her?" Vick wonders. He pulls up the message again and Posy taps her chin. "What do we say? Something Gale would say."
"It has to be kind of mean," Posy says. "Say something about Ma wanting him to get married!"
Vick laughs and nods his head, quickly typing out a response. After Posy approves they press the send button.
From Gale - 8:14 PM
Ma keeps bugging me to meet someone, this is easiest with work
"Looks good," Posy says with a nod. "Oh, she's already responding!"
From Madge - 8:14 PM
I'm mostly on here for fun, just never thought I'd see you. Where is it you work?
"She's definitely interested," Vick cheers. "This is easier than I thought!"
"What's easier than you thought?"
Vick and Posy both shriek before slamming the laptop shut, spinning around to find their brother in the doorway. He's moved back home for a few months while in between apartments. He's saving up for a nicer place and Ma certainly didn't mind hosting him.
But he's always home. And he's lonely. So that's why Vick and Posy have made it their mission to find him a girlfriend.
"Nothing," Posy finally answers. "This game that Vick found. I wanted to look up cheats but it's actually pretty easy." Gale gives them a look before eventually rolling his eyes and walking away. "We have to be more careful," Posy says to Vick. "If he finds out before we find him the perfect girl then we're in so much trouble."
"Agreed," Vick says as he reopens the laptop.
The amount of sexual messages that Gale's profile receives is out of control. Vick starts getting on when Posy isn't around to delete them. Because even though Vick's young, Posy'smuch younger, and she certainly doesn't need to be reading what some girls want to use their tongues for. Vick doesn't need to read it either, but Posy especially.
"This one seems nice," Posy says one evening, pointing at a girl with curly red hair. They scroll through the girl's profile for a bit before deciding if they should message her. But before they can hit send another message bubble pops up. "Oh! It's that Madge girl again!"
Vick and Posy have been sending the blonde a few messages every now and then and she's certainly the person that they've been talking to longest, but Vick's worried that because they went to high school together that it isn't going to work out.
From Madge - 7:34 PM
One of my kids from piano lessons today was talking about how he wants to join that outdoor club you were a part of in school. What was the name of it again? I can't remember.
Vick grins. He's worried it won't work out, but he can't help the good feeling he has. "I like this girl," he says to Posy. "We should gauge Gale's reaction about her. I just don't know how."
Posy's eyes light up. "I do!"
Later that night while they're all sitting around on the couch Posy sits down beside Gale with a flyer in her hands. His eyes dart over to his sister and he frowns. "What's that?" Gale asks.
"Oh, I found this online," Posy says, handing it over to him. "I'm going to ask Ma."
PIANO LESSONS - CHEAP & DISCOUNTED PRICES. YEARS OF EXPERIENCE.
"You want to take piano lessons?" Gale murmurs, and she nods. He reads through the flyer before he frowns, crumpling the paper. "Not these," he says. Posy frowns too. "I went to high school with this girl," Gale clarifies.
"Is she not good?" Posy challenges.
"No, she's great," Gale admits. "She's just…" he trails off, shaking his head. Vick's lingering nearby trying to listen to the conversation. "We weren't friends," Gale settles with.
To him it just looks like Posy's interested, but both she and Vick know it's more than that. "Why not?"
"Jesus, Pose, I don't know." He throws the balled up flyer over his shoulder before dragging his hands through his hair. "I mean, we were both friends with Katniss." Vick makes a mental note to ask Madge about Katniss. "She just… I don't know," he says again.
"Did you like her?" Posy asks.
"Jesus," Gale says again. "No."
"Well why not? Is she ugly?"
"What the hell, Posy," Gale murmurs with a little laugh. "I–she was fine. Just not–" Gale stops himself, squinting at his sister. "Why're you so curious about her?"
But Posy's always been quick on her feet. "I just wanted to know why you don't want me to take piano lessons from her. Is she evil or something?"
"No," Gale grumbles. "Just… forget it." He stands from the couch abruptly and walks away from his sister, passing Vick in the doorway as he moves and thinking about how he really needs to find his own place soon.
Gale isn't going to give them what they want to hear, so they turn to the person who will. Vick reads the message they've typed a few times. "Maybe it's too far," he says, but Posy shakes her head.
"If she's bothered by it she can just stop responding," Posy says. "Let's risk it." So Vick hits send.
From Gale - 9:14 PM
Why weren't we friends in high school?
Madge isn't online so she doesn't respond right away, but her answer comes soon enough.
From Madge - 9:42 PM
…Why are you asking me that? You're the one who didn't like me.
Vick and Posy speed to the computer and read the message.
From Gale- 9:43 PM
That's not true
From Madge - 9:44 PM
You told me to my face that you didn't like me, Gale. What the hell are you talking about?
Vick and Posy exchange worried looks. Were they enemies in high school or something? Why didn't Gale like her? They aren't exactly sure what to say back, but thankfully they can see her typing again.
From Madge - 9:45 PM
You always said I had too much money or that I acted like I was better than you. Which was bullshit, by the way. I really respected you when you weren't being an asshole.
Posy grins. "I really like this girl."
"Okay, but obviously she and Gale aren't going to work," Vick says with a little huff. Not if they hated each other in school.
"No, Gale said she was great at the piano instead of lying and saying she sucked. He has to have respected her a little too!" Posy nudges Vick out of the way and starts typing, sending the message before Vick can even stop her.
From Gale - 9:47 PM
I was usually an asshole, wasn't I?
Vick nearly screams. "Why did you send that!" But Madge responds swiftly.
From Madge - 9:47 PM
Usually.
From Madge - 9:48 PM
Not all the time. But usually.
"Because I have a plan," Posy says. She takes control of the computer another time.
From Gale - 9:50 PM
I was in high school then. I'm different now. And I'm sorry.
"Jeez, Pose," Vick says, shaking his head. "Would Gale actually say that?" But Posy shrugs. In a way, Vick can see Gale responding like that. It's true he used to be an asshole, but he really has changed from when he was younger. Ever since college and getting his job with the architecture firm he's laughed a lot more. "So maybe she'll forgive him, but how do we get Gale to go for it?"
"We'll figure it out," Posy says with a wave, mostly just waiting to see what Madge says back.
From Madge - 9:52 PM
Yeah, well. Whatever. Like you said, we were in high school.
"Perfect," Posy says. "We can work with this."
Gale notices that his siblings are acting weird very early on. He was a kid once too, even if that was years ago, he knows what it's like to have secrets. He just can't figure out what theirs is and he certainly isn't going to ask – they'll just lie. At least he would've if he had a secret when he was their age. But whatever it is…
He just has a weird feeling.
Gale's used to being harassed by his mother about what he wants in a relationship – she has a whole bunch of friends with single daughters that she tries to set him up on dates with. But being asked about girls from his two youngest siblings? If anything he would've expected it from Rory (who's way too into dating Primrose Everdeen to care about anything else at this point), bu from Posy and Vick?
It isn't until one day at work does he figure it out.
Leevy Westerfield sits in the seat across from Gale with a smile on her face, and it's one that unsettles him. "What?" Gale mutters.
"You're funny, you know," she says.
Gale frowns. "What?" he repeats sternly.
"Last night on Capitol Matches," Leevy says. "When you pretended like you had no idea who I was when I messaged you." Gale's frown deepens. "Don't play dumb, Hawthorne. I mean, we're not a match, but I didn't know you were online dating."
Gale shakes his head. "I'm not." Leevy rolls her eyes and goes to stand but Gale's quick. "No, I'm serious," he stops her. "What the hell are you talking about?"
So she pulls out her phone and opens the app, handing it over to Gale so he can browse. First he feels like he's going to throw up and that someone's stealing his identity, but when he realizes there are private pictures on there that only the Hawthorne's have access to he puts it together. Posy and Vick always being so secretive on the laptop, the two of them asking him questions that match the ones that're answered on the website.
"Those little shits," Gale mutters.
Gale very carefully approaches his two siblings that night, making sure to do it when Hazelle isn't around. "You know," he says to the two of them, "I've been thinking that I should start dating."
Posy perks up immediately but Vick's eyes bulge out of his head. "Oh yeah?" Posy asks. "Did you meet someone? Ma thinks you need a girlfriend, and so do we. You should definitely start dating!"
"Well I don't have too much time with work," Gale says. "I think I might sign up for online dating. Or is that weird?"
Posy gushes, "Not weird at all! Oh, you really should, Gale!"
Gale's trying to gauge his siblings reactions the best he can, so he slips it in. "I was thinking about joining Capitol Matches," Gale says slowly.
Vick leaps from his seat on the couch immediately and screams, "He knows!" He sprints down the hallway as it takes Posy a moment to figure out what Vick's said. "RUN, POSY!"
Soon her feet catch up with her brain and Posy sprints after her brother, and soon Gale's speeding after them. He reaches Vick's room right after the door's been shut and locked. "You little shits!" Gale fumbles with the handle before reaching up for the key that's on the ledge around the door. "I can't believe you two!" Quickly he finds the key and enters Vick's bedroom, but the two are ready and standing. The laptop is closed behind them. "Delete the account," Gale says. "NOW!"
"No," Vick says, "we can't!"
"There are girls on there that like you, Gale!" Posy adds.
"Delete it!
At once both of his siblings shout, "NO!" With a deep breath Gale stands a little taller, and then so do both of the kids.
"Give me the laptop."
"We've logged out," Vick says. "You don't have the password."
Gale sighs deeply, lifting his hand to his face and taking another deep breath. "I'm going to find the account," Gale says to them with his hand over his eyes, "and I'm going to delete it from the outside. I'll report it as identity fraud or something." Vick and Posy exchange a nervous glance as Gale lowers his hand. "This was too far, guys. I can find a date on my own, alright?"
"Well we found one for you," Posy says quickly. Gale scowls. "It's tomorrow night," she says. "And we–we were trying to find a way to tell you!"
"Wait you–you actually set something up?" Gale strides toward them. "Log on and cancel it!"
"No!"
"Guys," Gale places his heavy hands on their shoulders and tries to figure out how to word this. "If I don't show up to this date then this girl, whoever she is, will think that someone's rejecting her. Do you know how rude that is? To be stood up for a date?"
And finally, a smile graces Vick's face. "I guess you can't stand her up then, can you?"
Gale sits in his car gripping his steering wheel. This has gotten out of control. He would tell their mother but some part of him feels like Hazelle would be on his siblings side, and this is between the three of them. But Vick was right, Gale doesn't have it in him to let some poor girl be stood up just because his siblings are shitty. He'll explain everything to her and then head home and make the kids delete the profile, or he'll steal Vick's laptop and do it himself.
He'd been trying to get something out of them all night but they gave very minimum help. "She'll know who you are," Posy had said. "So you don't need to know who she is."
And now he's sitting in his car gripping the steering wheel, wondering how to break it to this girl that his siblings have ruined his life, and maybe this girl's as well. He doesn't know how invested she could be. She could also be a total psychopath.
Finally he enters the bar and scans around, trying to see if his date is here but realizing that he has no idea what to expect.
"Gale?" he hears. He turns his head and feels his heart leap into his throat, because Madge Undersee is standing in front of him. She smiles a little nervously. "Hey."
"You're my date," he says.
She blinks a few times, her smile widening. "I mean, I know we reconnected on a dating site, but I thought this was just drinks?"
"Drinks," Gale repeats, nodding. "Yeah. Drinks."
Their "date" is nearly over by the time Gale decides to broach the subject. "This is going to sound really weird," he starts before launching into the story. By the time he's finished Madge is laughing so hard that there are tears in her eyes. Gale wants to still be angry at his siblings but there's a smile on his face too.
"That's insane," she says with a laugh. "They absolutely know you pretty well though," she tells him, digging through her purse and pulling up her phone. "Here, look." She lets him read through the messages. "They've got that whole, I'm-still-kind-of-an-asshole-but-not-as-bad vibe going on." Gale rolls his eyes, but again he's still smiling.
He can't deny that the messages sound a lot like him. "I am sorry, though," he says.
She shrugs. "Kids'll be kids," Madge responds.
But Gale stops her. "About how I was in high school," he clarifies. Madge looks up at him with a soft smile. "I knew you worked hard. I was just mad that I…" he trails off with a smile of his own. "You were completely out of my league, Undersee," Gale tells her. Her smile grows and Gale laughs. "That frustrated me. Because I knew how great you were and couldn't do anything about it."
"Yes you could have," Madge says. "Because I had the stupidest crush on you. Even though you were an ass."
His eyes fall to her lips. "Yeah?" She nods, and Gale's eyes crawl back up to hers. "Hm." He drags his hands through his hair. "Well… I had a nice time tonight."
Madge bites her lip. "Me too."
Gale has to think quick on his feet. "I'm, uh, gonna have them delete that profile," he says. "So I should get your number."
"Oh should you?" she challenges.
"Or I can give you mine," Gale responds. Her smile is infinitely bright.
When Gale gets home that night his lips are swollen and his heart feels light. He tries not to make this obvious to his siblings who've waited up to hear how the date went.
"Delete the profile," Gale says, trying not to smile. "Or I'm telling Ma."
"Well how was it!" Posy presses. "She's really nice, isn't she?"
"And you obviously stayed later than just telling her it was us," Vick adds. "So…!"
"Delete the profile," Gale says again as his phone chimes with a message. He smiles but tries to morph it into a stern face, and he knows he's failing. "I have work in the morning. Just, please delete it."
With a groan Vick and Posy march off to Vick's room to pull up the account.
"After all our hard work," Vick says with a sigh, but Posy stops him before he can click the button. "What?"
"We have a message," she says. "Look!"
Both of them fall into a fit of giggles when they read it.
From Madge - 11:15 PM
Thanks guys ;)