Chapter 1:

"Okay." I thought. It's just school, why are you so nervous? It doesn't matter! Just because it's the first day back doesn't mean that you should be worried! Right..? For some unknown reason, today was different. It was my first day of my last year of high school. I had planned to make it the best yet.

As I leaved for school that morning in my tiny wee box car, with its rusting windscreen wipers and it's peeling orange paint, I observed the scenery on the road leading to my school. There were trees, trees, trees, then a house and a dairy and a small work shop of sorts. I pulled into the workshop to pick up my best friend Katniss. I gently eased into the driveway of the work shop and gave the horn a short toot. I saw a flick of brown hair fly past her bedroom window which could be seen above the workshop office. There was a few short seconds until Katniss burst out the door of the workshop. Her messenger bag, and her forest green coat trailing behind her thick plait which, right now, flew out the back of her head as she made an attempt to run to my car before her parents could yell at her to finish any chores she may have left off of her list of things to do this morning.

"Morning Clove!" Katniss yelled as she slammed the boot of my car, leaving her school bag and a chip packet rolling about in the back.

"Hey." I responded, my stomach churning again.
"What's up Chicky?" Katniss asked.
"You know the usual nerves of first day shit." I said blandly, before backing out of her driveway.

On the way to school, Katniss chatted away about her family vacation, and how her younger sister Prim, short for Primrose, nearly killed them all by making them try a roller coaster of sorts.

We soon arrived at school, and in a strange way I was glad. I went with Katniss to the boot of my car to quickly grab my school bag before reporting to the student office to receive my timetable for the year. I was hoping for the same classes as last year, chemistry, physics, English, biology, maths, and P.E. These were just the subjects I enjoyed... well except maths…

As it turned out me and Katniss had the same classes apart from chemistry and maths. As I searched the population of the school for any other classmates from last year with Katniss, in hopes of comparing timetables, I heard the bell ring. Me and Katniss both had Physics up first. We headed off in the direction of the familiar classroom. Me and Katniss were early and we took a pair of desks pushed together near the front of the room. Of course not too close to the front, we didn't want to be sitting on the teachers lap. We watched as the students, most of them very familiar, pile into the class room and occupy different seats. About 2 desks away from me and Katniss was an empty seat. After pulling out my cell phone for a quick text check, I glanced up. Katniss was doing the same. My eyes wandered to the classroom door where a boy with the most intense blue eyes, and ruffled blonde hair walked confidently in. He turned towards me and Katniss and began to advance towards the unoccupied seat near our desk. Neither me nor Katniss could look away. I had never seen the boy in my life. He can't have gone to this school before; surely I would have seen him! Katniss quickly turned to me as he sat down and whispered: "If I didn't love Peeta so much he would be my top priority right now!" I laughed at her! Katniss dated a boy named Peeta, they had been childhood friends for years, and they were absolutely perfect together. I could tell by the look in Katniss' eye that she was about to suggest something silly or erratic. She spun on me and proclaimed: "You should go for him!"
"What?" I said incredulously.
"Yeah! You don't have a boyfriend and… well look at him, he is gorgeous! Just like you!"
"I don't think he would ever go for me Katniss, I mean look at him!"

Just as I finished my sentence the boy chanced a glance in mine and Katniss's direction. His eyes were like diamonds, with the most intricate and delicate icicles spreading around his pupil. He realised we were staring and quickly looked away. But not before smiling at me in a nervous, yet somehow confident way. The class went and finished.

I wandered out of the classroom with Katniss and we went to our next class together. It was English. The boy was in this class too, but so were Peeta and Katniss. In an attempt to make me sit with the boy Katniss took a seat next to Peeta, leaving me alone at a 2 person desk. Lucky for Katniss her plan worked, the boy walked in and saw the remaining empty desks, one by me and one at the back of the classroom near a wall with a collection of apple stickers building up on it. He obviously decided on the one next to me.

As the boy walked over to me I couldn't help but feel nervous and well, ugly. He looked so model like. His hair was swept back and over his perfectly shaped face in a way that screamed make-up artist, but after seeing him run his fingers through it I could tell it was just its natural placement. Somehow it still looked incredible. He took his seat next to me and placed his bag on the ground. He turned to me and smiled a small, nervous smile that told me he didn't want to be awkward.

"Hey there." He said.
"Uh… Hi!" I managed to squeak out after forcing my gaze away from his eyes.
"My Name is Cato, and this is my first day." He told me.
"The name i-is Clove." I stuttered. "And it's technically my first day too… Well for this year anyway… he he…"
Cato laughed and smiled at me again. This time though it was a genuine smile, like I had actually made him laugh. It reached his eyes and it spread though the diamond cut shape of the iris. I almost wanted to touch them. Just reach out and feel them to make sure he really didn't have tiny icicles in there. But that probably wouldn't be a good first impression. Cato soon turned to face the front but he glanced in my direction one more time and said: "It's an incredible pleasure to meet you Clove."

This year may be better than I thought…