Panem High School {COMPLETED}

Chapter 26 - Madge

(Madge's POV)

Friday night, the whole school shows up for the first football game of the season. The cheerleaders, led by Glimmer, are having a hard time tonight. Particularly Glimmer seems to be having a hard time.

"I wonder what that's about..." I wonder out loud.

"What what's about? Peeta asks.

"Glimmer's acting weird." I shrug. "Who knows with her, though."

"Her boyfriend broke up with her," Finnick says. "She was crying about it in drama earlier."

My mouth drops open. Cato and Glimmer are - were - the most popular couple in school.

"What happened?" Peeta asks.

Katniss frowns. "Johanna said that Cato got mad at her because of the way she'd been treating Clove. He just broke up with her in the middle of the hall." She shrugs. "I'm surprised he didn't do it earlier."

I stare at the field. The cheerleaders' confusion makes sense now. Glimmer is obviously in no shape to be a leader, though I can't say I pity her.

Johanna walks up just then. "Mind if I sit here, drama buddy?" she asks as she sits down on the bleachers in front of Katniss. She's followed by Clove, who looks distracted. She keeps glancing down at the game, though I don't know why. No one who comes to the games actually watches them.

Katniss catches my eye. She nods towards Johanna. What she wants couldn't be more obvious: apologize. I sigh. I mean, sure, I was going to at some point, but right here? Right now? Katniss frowns at me and nods.

I slide down to the empty spot next to Johanna, who gives me a weird look. "Hi, Madge..." she says slowly. Well, I've made the imperturbable Johanna uncomfortable. That's lovely.

I sigh. How do I say this? "I, um, I just want to...apologize...for, well, everything. I don't hate you, really-"

"I just annoy you?" she cuts me off. Does she look amused?

"Well, no-" I start.

She starts laughing. "Oh, come on, I know I do. You don't have to deny it."

"Yeah, well I'm sorry, still. I haven't given you a chance, really. I think I should."

"Sounds good." She smiles at me. I smile back, relieved. That went better than I expected.

Clove has been distractedly listening to this exchange, but I don't think she's been paying much attention. "Is she ok?" I motion towards Clove.

Johanna glance at her and frowns. "Honestly, I don't know. It's been a, um, an eventful day, I guess."

"So I heard."

For a few minutes, we don't say anything. I don't know what to say, and if Johanna does, she's choosing not to.

After a few minutes, I climb back up to my seat, in between Katniss and Peeta. Katniss is doing something on her phone, so I turn to Peeta. "So, any progress in the daring department?"

His face turns red. "I don't know what you mean."

"Come on, Peeta, it's obvious you like her. I can tell. Just admit it already."

He glares at me, though I can tell he's not really mad. "Fine. I like Katniss. Happy?"

"Very," I say with a smile.

"Now please don't tell her!" he pleads.

I act indignant. "Of course not. What kind of a friend do you think I am?"

He raises an eyebrow. "Don't even drop any hints. Please, Madge, don't tell anyone."

"Not even Gale? Come on, you can't expect me to keep a secret from him."

He sighs. "Fine, but if he starts doing anything..."

"He won't, don't worry, Peeta. We're your friends." I smile at him.

I shift in my seat and see Katniss frowning at us out of the corner of my eye. She looks confused. How on earth am I supposed to keep this secret?

~~~~

At halftime, Clove surprises me by asking to talk. She leads me about halfway to the concession stand, where there aren't many people.

She looks nervous, and I'm not sure what to do. She's acted so distant since the first week of school, I assumed she wanted nothing to do with me.

"I think I need to explain something," she says, looking at the ground. "I don't even know if you remember this, but it's been bugging me, and I need to set it straight." She takes a breath. "You remember the first day of school? When you were so nice, and then the next day I turned around and pushed you away? I'm sorry, about that... I didn't want to. Really. I just, I didn't want you to get hurt because of me. You're too nice for that." She looks like she might start crying, so I hug her.

"It's ok, I haven't held that against you," I say. "Katniss said that was probably your reasoning."

"I thought you would hate me...that's why I've been so, I don't know, cold since then." She smiles a bit.

"Hey, it's okay," I say with a smile. "We can pretend that never happened, if you want."

"Thank you." I loop my arm through hers and we walk back to the stands together.