Glass Eyes || Gale Hawthorne

1.

~*~

Ever since that day, I had developed a habit of holding out my hand in front of me, hoping that either Madge or Gale would take it. I must look strange to people, because they had no idea what I was doing. But, truthfully, I didn't care. I didn't feel any reassured until one of them took my hand. If they don't take my hand, something is wrong and one of them were in trouble.

Someone takes my hand gently, and I sigh with relief as their arm connects  with  mine. Their hand is smooth to the touch and small. They smell of the meadow, which is just as soft. Madge. In a place that reaked of litter, meat, and firewood, the smell of flowers stands out. And I didn't know if it is actual flowers or perfume, with Madge being the  sunshine she is.

"It's reaping day," Madge whispers to me, as we leave the stench,  and I can smell the fresh grass in front  of us as we ducked under the barbed wire fence.

"Gale?"

"Already in the meadow,"  Madge says, her voice light as if she's smiling as she nudges me. "Waiting for  us."

The meadow somehow became our safe haven; a place of paradise away from the starving children, the awful smells of the district, and we'd forget that we were just as hungry. No one else knew about this place, or maybe they'd taken caution after seeing the no trespassing sign on the wired fence.

As long as we had each other, we could handle anything ... or so Gale often says. I'd like to think he's right. I rely on them far more often than I should.

"Gale! Katniss!" Madge greets them enthusiastically.

I tense beside her. Katniss. I haven't seen her in a long time. I imagine she's been avoiding me as much as I avoid her.

"Hey, Madge," she greets the girl next to me. They weren't close, but they talk to each other a lot, so I hear from Madge.

Katniss's voice is deep and raspy as  if she hasn't used her voice in a long time,  but she had such a lovely singing voice from what I remember about her. I remember being scared of her when we first met until she stood up on that stage and sung the anthem in front of everyone. I could never gather the right amount of courage to do what she did, and I admire her for it.

I wouldn't exactly call her a friend. She and I never talked properly, Madge and Gale did most of the talking.

"Hey, Maggie," she greets me hesitantly.
She doesn't sound all too pleased to see me.

Understandable. I think we only tolerate each other because of Madge and Gale. We had a similar friend group.

"Hello," I say softly, and as politely as I can. It's really not that often that  I can open up to strangers.  Or maybe it's because we were more similar than I think we are. Madge always used to tease us about how awkward we both are.

"Pretty dress," Gale says, and I can hear a bit of sarcasm in his tone.  I think he must have noticed the tension around us. I'm not sure who he's addressing. I don't have my Reaping dress on yet, just my usual long skirt, and cotton long sleeve shirt. Madge usually helps me out with dressing up.

"I want to look nice for the Capitol," Madge says.

I scoff. I really hope she's joking. It's hard to tell with Madge sometimes, and since she's the mayor's daughter, I'd assume that they both had Capitol privileges that none of us had.