Disclaimer: All stories are individuals of themselves and are unrelated to each other.

"Can you not–can you not smoke in my truck?"

Madge looked over at Gale who was driving and made a face of panic, quickly rolling down her window and tapping the cigarette a few times before tossing it out the window. "Shit, sorry," she said. "I thought you smoked too."

"No."

Gale wasn't sure how he got to be the one to drive Madge Undersee home. Katniss was friends with her (why? Gale had no fucking clue) and insisted it would be nice for Gale to drive her home because she was stuck at the school. He agreed because he felt like an ass abandoning her. He should've let her sit there.

"Sorry," she said again, rolling the window back up. "Thanks for the ride, Gale."

"Yeah." He had better shit to do.

Gale wasn't entirely sure what the appeal of Madge Undersee was, though everyone else seemed to love her. She was a crappy person. She skipped class to smoke behind the bleachers at the football field, she vandalized alleyways in town, and she absolutely never in her life got in trouble.

Perks of being the mayor's kid, Gale supposed.

She was pretty, he'd give her that. Tall with long flowing blonde hair and eyes so blue they rivaled the sky, but whatever. Good looks couldn't get you to college. Again, Gale figured, that would be the perks of being the mayor kid to do that. She had more money than Gale could even imagine.

Soon they stopped outside her house. It looked empty. She turned to him, batting her golden eyelashes. "I know you don't like me," Madge said, "but I do appreciate the ride."

"Sure."

With a sigh she climbed from his truck. She wasn't even inside before she pulled out the back of smokes from her jacket.

Gale was hunched over his dinner table when his phone started buzzing. He was working on an essay for another one of his stupid AP classes and couldn't seem to get this sentence right. He answered without looking, scratching off his words with a frown.

"Yeah?"

"Gale!" It was Thom, and he sounded a little more than drunk. "Gale, my boy! My best friend in the entire world!" Gale sighed, sinking backwards in his seat. "You know I love you, yeah?"

He rubbed at his forehead. "Where are you?" he muttered. "I can be there in ten."

Thom cheered. "You are absolutely the best person in the world, you know? God, I love you, man. I'm at Undersee's mansion." Gale tensed up. "Gale? You know where that is, right?"

"Who doesn't?" he muttered back. "What're you doing there?"

"It's Friday night and everyone is getting druu-unk," he sang. Gale sighed loudly. "I didn't invite you because you're a stiff even though everyone knows you've got it stiff for Madge–ouch! Delly!" In the background it sounded like someone smacked him. "Sorry, sorry!"

"I'll be there in ten," Gale said again. "Try not to puke in my truck this time, yeah?" Thom made no promises and quickly hung up. Gale shoved his phone into his pocket and pulled on his jacket. "Ma," he called into the living room where she and Gale's siblings were watching one of those movies on ABC Family. "I'm going out," he told them. "Be back soon."

"Drive safe, Sweetheart," she hummed, waving her hand at him without looking away from the screen.

Gale was pressed to find parking outside the Undersee mansion. Just earlier today it had been so empty Gale could see through the windows without bothering, but now it was packed with bodies. It was like the entire school had shown up. And to be fair, it wasn't a big school, but to have them all inside the house was a bit much.

Gale tried calling Thom five times before giving up, parking, and deciding to enter to find him. He was probably with Delly so he just had to keep his eye out for a blonde and he'd be set.

After entering Gale knew he needed to leave as soon as possible. Everyone was underage and there was a lot of alcohol and he couldn't afford to be caught at a stupid Undersee party. He'd get kicked off the baseball team, he'd get kicked off of National Honor Society, he'd lose any and all hope of getting out of this small town and going somewhere great.

Thankfully almost at once he spotted a blonde. Darting over he grabbed her shoulder. And when she turned, of course, it was Madge.

"Hawthorne!" She sounded as shocked as she looked. "What… what are you doing here? I didn't think this was your scene."

"It's not," he called back. The music was loud. Techno. He was squinting at her in the dark as though it would help him see better. "Have you seen Thom? He needs a ride."

Madge scanned the room and then shrugged, and then she disappeared. Gale groaned, nudging his way between clumps of people until he landed in the kitchen. There he spotted Mellark and Delly.

"Gale!" Peeta cheered when he saw him. "What're you doing here?"

Again he repeated the story, hoping one of them would know where Thom was. "Last I saw," Delly told him, "he was puking in the upstairs bathroom. I came to get some water," she said, holding up a plastic cup.

Gale groaned again, said thanks, and shot his friend a text message. Instead of rushing right upstairs (considering Delly was on it anyway) Gale veered through the crowds another time and stepped outside on the back balcony.

The view the Undersees had across the pond was magnificent, and no one was taking advantage of it. Well, except for one girl. Gale crossed the balcony, thankful for the quiet, and came to a rest on the ledge.

Madge took a long drag of her cigarette before tapping it on the ledge. "Enjoying the party?" she asked.

"Not particularly," he murmured. Gale looked out across the pond. "Are you? I mean, you threw it, didn't you?"

"Sure." She took another drag. "Guess you haven't found Thom."

"He's puking upstairs. I'll drive him home once he's got it out of his system." Madge smiled at that before blowing out smoke. It seemed to rise up into the stars. "I don't get it," Gale finally said. "You could have this perfect life," he told her. "And you just–you throw it all away."

Madge turned to him, arching an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Gale extended his arms out. "Big fancy house. Rich parents. If you worked harder in school and didn't sneak out or waste your time you could be going places."

Madge took another drag. "Big empty house," she echoed in the same voice. "Because Mom's got cancer and is at a home about an hour away. Dad makes good money but he's never home, so what's the point?" Another drag. "He's too busy not making eye contact with his wife, with his daughter. Who knows why? Affairs? Just disgusted? Who can tell?" Another drag.

"That's not–"

"So you start fucking around," Madge continues a little sharper. "You smoke a cigarette, see if someone notices. Leave a pack on the dining room table. Then you smoke a pack a day. No one notices. And then you start breaking shit. The fancy dresses your mom used to make you wear. The expensive laptop you didn't ask for. Just to see if someone notices. No one notices." Madge takes another drag. "You sneak out. No one notices. You cut class. No one notices. You spray paint your name on a brick wall. It's covered up the next day so you don't get in trouble. But, Christ, I would kill to get in trouble."

"I hope not literally," Gale murmured.

Madge smirked. "Not literally, you asshole." She flicked her cigarette off the balcony and down below. "You just, you keep doing little shit that gets worse and worse because no one notices." Madge enunciated very clearly, "So what's the point?"

Gale shook his head. "I noticed," he muttered.

"Yeah, well you don't count." Madge shrugged her shoulders. "Sure, I could have the perfect life. But I don't. And it's not because I cut class, thank you very much."

Gale scoffed, shaking his head ever so slightly. "It's an excuse, Madge. You're making excuses."

"Who gives a shit?" she snapped back. "Throw a big party, get drunk off my ass–nothing changes anyway. So what if it's an excuse? Everyone's got excuses for how they live their life."

Madge pushed her way from the balcony and Gale reached out instinctively, grabbing her wrist and tugging her back. She stood to her full height to face him, and though she was tall she only came up to about his chin. Her eyes were unforgiving. And they were empty. Just like her big empty house.

"You can be great you know," Gale murmured. "Maybe that's something they'll notice."

Madge tipped her chin back slightly, as though she was considering it. "Maybe." Gale's eyes flickered to her lips, just out of curiosity if nothing else, and she smirked. "Don't even think about it, Hawthorne. I taste like a God damn ashtray." She yanked her wrist from his hand. "I'll call you if I ever need a tutor, or something, yeah?"

Gale leaned backwards on the balcony and sighed, shrugging slightly. "Yeah." She marched back inside without another word. She was only gone a few moments when his phone started to buzz. It was Thom, begging for a ride out of this place.

Gale was happy to oblige.