Diamonds (Gale/Madge)

Chapter Two: I Made a Friend

Madge's POV:

"Truth.

You can twist it, resist it,

Or finally look it straight in the face..."

"Break Down the Walls" ~Ross Lynch~

At school, the rest of the day all anyone could talk about was Katniss and Peeta. Everything from,"She might make it to the final eight." to,"He definitely won't make it. Watch him be the first to die."

I just try to keep my head down. At lunch I don't talk to anyone. I sit alone. I don't tell anyone that I think she could win. I don't tell anyone that they both have fairly good chances. I don't tell anyone that if Katniss didn't volunteer for Primrose I was planning to.

When the bell rings, I'm the first one out of class. I get outside of the building and start to slowly walk home. I walk by the middle school and see Prim with some kids from the town.

She looks close to tears. I slowly walk closer to them until I can hear their conversation.

A taller boy says,"You're lucky your sister volunteered for you. You wouldn't have made it past the first day. Then again, she might not either."

Another girl about Prim's size says,"Yeah. Your sister was stupid to volunteer for you. Nobody cares around here. It must be bad for you. You are gonna have to watch your sister die soon. You'll have to tell me how that goes."

"She's not gonna die. She promised me she wouldn't die." Prim says in a small shaky voice. She's almost talking to herself. I run up to stop them.

"Hey! You should all just SHUT UP! How would you feel if it was you?" I say. "Her sister has been shipped off to fight to the death and all you can do is torment her?" I say, wrapping a protective arm around Prim.

A tall figure runs up next to me. "Yeah," he says,"at least be nice." Instantly I can tell it's Gale. Prim runs into his arms, and I can't help but feel a bit hurt. But I expected it. He's practically her brother.

  In my daze I don't notice Gale carry crying Prim in the other direction. I turn away from the girls and have to run to catch up to them. "Hey Prim,are you okay?" I ask nicely,  she just nods. We continue to walk until Gale says, "Hey, Madge,"

"Hmm?"

"Didn't we just pass your house." MY cheeks turn red as I say,"Um, yeah. I-I gotta go."

I rush off in the other direction to my house. I open the door and walk in. I make a mental mote to ask Gale about Prim tomorrow. I just want to make sure she's okay. I can't imagine how scared she must be. I go turn the TV on. Tonight is the tribute parade. The whole thing is sick. Treat them like royalty and then ship them into an arena to die. Horrible. It starts in an hour. Ten minutes until it starts, I hear a knock at the door. I'm all alone at home except for my mom, so I get it.

It's Gale and Prim. I see the rest of Gale's family and Katniss' mom farther back, waiting. "Prim wanted to thank you." Gale whispers in my ear. "Th-thanks." Prim says. "Oh Prim, you don't have to thank me." I say. She nods. "I wanted to." she says. This time it's me who nods.

"Hey, Madge, we were going to go to the town square to watch the tribute parade. Do you want to come?" Gale asks. I nod.  Gale leads me out the door and to his family. "My mom made me ask that." he mumbles into my ear.

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When we get there, we find an empty area. Most people part when they see Prim and Ms. Everdeen. Some pat them on the back comfortingly. By the time we get close enough to the front, we can see everything really good. Then, it starts.

District one rolls out in ridiculous pink feathery outfits. District two comes out looking like warriors. District three just looks stupid in their costumes. Everyone else does too. Until District Twelve comes out. For once, our district won't be the the laughingstock. Katniss and Peeta are in black jumpsuits, that even alone would make them look strong. But the costumes are on fire. Fire billows behind them like a cape. They look amazing.

"Looks like we got a new stylist." Gale says to me.