She pretends not to notice him when he pulls her golden hair on the playground. Why should she? Maysilee is smart and well-behaved, everything he isn't. She always sits in the front row and raises her hand when the teacher asks a question and has perfect penmanship. He tries to escape attention by claiming the spot furthest from Ms. Laderny and spends class carving jagged-looking curses into the desk. Ms. Laderney notices their differences and treats them accordingly: Maysilee is the student she praises; Haymitch is the child she makes an example of.

He supposes her indifference is to be expected. She's a beautiful Town girl and he's a dirty Seam boy. At the ripe old age of seven, he knows she's too good for him. He'll never convince her otherwise.

But Haymitch never claimed to be a wise man, and even the certainty of failure isn't enough to stop him from trying. He chases after her at recess and pulls her hair in line, but she doesn't even allow him the satisfaction of seeing her run away or become angry. Instead, she ignores him. Ever the brilliant tactician, he changes strategies. He picks flowers in the Meadow each morning and gives them to her. Maysilee smiles and thanks him, but he always sees them in the trash by noon. The other boys tease him, and he despairs. Haymitch will never be anything more to her than an obnoxious boy covered in gray coal dust.

Eventually, he comes to accept it. He's eight now, and a crush from last year doesn't matter, at least that's what he tells himself. Maybe it still hurts a little, but he'll outgrow it.

And he does. By the time he's sixteen, he barely thinks of her. He has a girl now, a pretty gray-eyed girl who he'd give the world for. But standing next to Maysilee in front of his entire district, he can't tear his thoughts away from the little blonde girl with beautiful twin braids that wouldn't chase after him. He can't show that weakness now, though. There was never any real chance for them, but now he has to accept that it's impossible. Haymitch stares straight ahead, pretending not to notice Maysilee Donner.