Hi guys! This is Jenny, starting up a new Clato fic with my friend Charlotte (sourpatchwatermelon)! So this is a collab fic, and we're going to be doing alternating chapters. Thanks for reading!
He stared at her. Her sleeping form only two feet from his. He would've reached his arm over and pulled her close, but Glimmer was in the way. Damn her.
Clove was the only person that mattered to him anymore. That much he knew, and he wasn't going to let her go anytime soon. He looked back up the tree where Katniss was. He hated her, and he would kill her. Cato sighed to himself and rested his head on his arm. Rest was what he needed. His eyes closed and he slept, dreaming of the first time he had met Clove.
And he was awoken by an immense buzz and a crash.
"Now today we're going to be working in groups of two. I'll choose two names out of this bowl over here, and each pair that I choose will be teamed together, alright?"
The class nodded in acknowledgement, and the teacher took her cue and plunged her hand into the bowl of paper slips. Her hand came out, two slips between her index finger and her thumb. She read the names out loud. "Clove Andromeda, and Cato Abrafo."
The two who beared the names stood in unison and moved to the front of the class, waiting for the rest of the class to be paired. Clove craned her head to look up at the tall boy beside her, and held out her hand to him. He looked down at her hand with bright eyes, with the twinkle of innocence in them. He slowly took it, looking into the other's eyes.
She smiled at him. "Nice to meet you."
Cato smiled back at her. "Nice to meet you too." and as he said that, the teacher started assigning the pairs to their tables. Apparently, their assignment was to create a map of Panem, labeling each district, and naming what they manage.
Cato soon learned that Clove was an exceptional artist, for an eight-year-old, anyway. And quite honestly, and guiltily, he let her do all the work. Besides, what was boy to do while he was watching a girl draw?
"There, how does that look?" she asked, pushing the large piece of paper over to Cato's side of the table after about thirty minutes. He looked at it and nodded his head. Clove smiled and threw her hand up, shouting that she, or they, were done. The teacher, Mrs. Leo, who Cato disliked greatly, with high eyebrows, a long and sharp nose, thing lips, and piercing eyes, walked over and stared down at what Clove had accomplished.
"Hmm. Very good. Let us hang it up on the wall, shall we?" she said in a low voice. Clove smiled, and took the hand that the teacher had offered. Cato watched as the two took the drawing and pinned it up behind Mrs. Leo's chair. She ushered Clove back to her seat, and sat down. No other students in the class had raised their hands yet.
"So where do you live?"
"By the mountains. My dad works at the training center. How about you?"
"I'm by the mountains too. My mom's really sick though. She has been for a long time."
Clove tilted her head, the sides of her mouth pointing down. Cato laughed. "It's alright though. It's like she getting better, really slowly though."
She leaned back on the bench they were sitting on and looked up toward the mountains. "I wish The Hunger Games didn't exist."
Cato looked at her with a look of confusion. "Are you kidding? I think they're great for showing your district honor. I want to be picked when I'm old enough." he said, pride dripping in his voice. Clove bit her lip and looked down at her feet.
"I think it's evil."
And then she left him sitting there, with only one wave of goodbye. Cato looked at her as Clove slowly walked away, her long braid trailing down her back. He sighed and picked up a rock, lazily throwing it into the bushes. And he headed back home.
Since this is the first chapter/prologue, I'm keeping it short. Charlotte will update next! Reviews are encouraged! :D
