Chapter 8

Katniss Everdeen POV

I'm sitting outside in the front yard with Gale, we love to hang out outside together. It's nice to be able to get out of the house without having to worry about spending money, our siblings love to hang out outside together.

"Have you given any more thought to doing archery competitions?" Gale asks me. It's something I've considered, people say I'm good at it.

"I have a little," I say. "I wish I could, but it's just not feasible right now. I really just don't have the time."

He gives me a sympathetic smile. I know he can relate to not really having time to explore his own passions since we both have to take care of our families. I wish that wasn't the case, but our siblings are our first priority.

"How's baker boy?" Gale asks me. I'm confused.

"What does he have to do with anything?" I ask.

"You've been talking to him more," Gale says. "I didn't know if there was something there."

"There's not," I say. "I talked to him a couple times. Prim's the one that loves him, you should ask her."

"He seems to be much more interested in you," Gale says. "I know what guys like him think about, Katniss."

"You're reading too much into it," I say. "He's just a nice guy."

"You're so naive," Gale says. "It's cute." I wish he wouldn't talk to me like that. There isn't anything between me and Peeta, or between me and any guy for that matter.

I hear a car door shut, and when I look over I see a red-haired girl unloading some stuff from the car with her mom. I feel like I've seen her before at school.

"Do you know who that is?" I ask Gale, gesturing towards the car.

"Not really," he says. "She's new to our school, so I've seen her around. Why?"

"Just curious," I say. "I've seen her around school, and she always looks lonely. She reminds me of a little fox."

"Why do you care?"

"Why shouldn't I care?" I ask. "I'm not completely heartless, you know." I playfully shove him.

"You've just never been all that social," he says. "I didn't think you even noticed new people."

"Well, there were times when I was lonely," I say. "My friends really helped me during those times, especially you."

"Maybe she likes being alone."

"Maybe," I say, shrugging. "But sometimes people are just waiting for someone to talk to them and be their friend."

Maybe I'll try to talk to her next time I'm sitting alone, it's something worth considering. I thought I was fine having no friends before I met Gale, then I realized how lonely I actually was. No matter how antisocial someone may seem, it's good for everyone to have a least one person to talk to.

Peeta Mellark POV

I'm leaving wrestling practice when I see Katniss practicing her archery on the tennis courts. She really is good, she keeps nailing every target.

"Hey," I say, walking up to her. She turns around, looking startled. She calms down when she sees that it's me. "What are you doing?"

"Just practicing archery," she says. "Gale is picking me up after picking up Prim and Rory from school and taking them home."

"Why didn't you go with him?"

"I was going to," she says. "He said I should stay and practice. I've been thinking about doing competitive archery lately, so I really should practice more if I'm going to."

"You don't already compete?" I ask her.

"No," she says. "I barely have time to do anything besides school and take care of my mom and Prim."

"I'm sorry you have to deal with all that pressure," I say. "It must be rough."

"Sometimes it is, but they're the most important thing in the world to me. Maybe I can do competitive archery and get some money from that, that should help us out."

I hate that that's the first thing that comes to her mind. It seems like she can't do anything for fun, she always has to think of her family first. I admire that about her, but she still shouldn't have all of that on her plate.

"You are really good," I say. "How did you get into archery?"

"Gale and I would sometimes go hunting when we couldn't afford food," she says. "We don't as much now, but I still want to keep my skills up in case I need to go back to hunting regularly."

There's a pause as she keeps practicing. I hope I'm not creeping her out, she's just captivating to watch. She's beautiful, obviously. But she also looks really focused when doing archery, it's nice to see her in the zone like that.

"What are you doing out here?" She asks. "I thought you'd be busy."

"I just got through with wrestling practice," I say. "I just wanted to come and say hi, I hope I'm not bothering you."

"You're not," she says. "Sorry that Prim and Rue bothered you recently at the bakery, by the way. I've told her they can't be doing that."

"It was really no bother at all," I say. "They're sweet, and I love when they stop by."

"I just hope they didn't get you into too much trouble."

"It's honestly fine," I say. "My mom will find a way to get mad at me, regardless. I may as well make someone happy in the process."

Katniss keeps practicing, and eventually a car pulls up. Gale comes out of the car and waves at her to get in.

"I guess I should go," Katniss says to me as she packs up her stuff. "It was nice talking to you."

"You too," I say. "Bye."

She walks over to Gale and gets in the car after putting her stuff in the backseat. I wish I had the courage to flirt with her more, or even tell her how I feel about her. I just feel like she would kick my ass and if she didn't, Gale definitely would.

Gale Hawthorne POV

Katniss puts her stuff in the backseat and then gets into the passenger's seat. I'm trying to hide my uncomfortableness that she was talking to Peeta.

"What were you doing?" I ask her as we start to drive to her place.

"Practicing archery," she says. "Why?"

"Why was Peeta there?"

"He was leaving wrestling practice and came to say hi to me," she says. "Prim came to visit the bakery recently and I was apologizing for her bothering him."

"I bet he doesn't mind," I say, a little more resentfully than I planned.

"He thinks she's sweet," she says. "That's all."

"You know I don't think you should talk to guys like him."

"I know, Gale," she says, getting irritated. "We've been over this."

"I just want to look out for you," I say.

"Well you don't need to, you aren't my brother or my father. It's getting annoying."

I wish she wasn't so naive and defensive, she should be happy that I'm looking out for her. I've been looking out for her and Prim since we were 12, she should know I'm not just going to stop doing that now that we're older.

I hope I wasn't too short with Katniss on our drive back to her house, it just makes me uncomfortable seeing her with Peeta Mellark. He's popular, and I know how the popular guys are. They only have one thing on their minds, and I wish she could see that.

"Are you okay?" Rory asks me as we're sitting at the table and I'm helping him with his homework. I guess he can tell my interaction with Katniss rubbed me the wrong way since I wasn't in a great mood when I got home.

"Yeah," I say. "Why?"

"You just seemed upset," Rory says. "You're normally happy after you see Katniss."

"It's complicated," I say. "I'm fine."

"Do you love Katniss?" Posy chimes in from the kitchen.

"What?" I ask her.

"You seem like you love her," she says. "Otherwise you wouldn't be so upset when you guys have a disagreement."

"I love her like a friend," I say. "Just like I love you, Vick and Rory."

"It's okay if you love Katniss," Rory says. "I won't tell anyone."

"I might," Posy says, laughing.

"Well you don't need to, because I don't love her like that," I say. "I love her like I love you guys, she's family to us."

Sometimes I have wondered if I'm in love with Katniss, and I think I'll always have a soft spot for her. I do want to protect her, especially when I feel like she's associating with people who don't have the best intentions.

A/N: Sorry for the delay in updates! This story will continue, thank you to all of those who are reading. :)