The Boy Who Stares

LabRat3000

AN: So, I got a lot of reviews last chapter! Thanks! It motivated me to update as soon as possible.

Chapter 2: Deciding Who Decides

I somehow managed to get in my car. I was still processing everything that just happened in a day. First, Clove and the losers, who aren't actually that bad, sit with me at lunch. We somehow magically became friends in one day. Then, out of the blue, the freshman kid, who stares at me, kissed me. I guessed that explained why he stared at me so much.

As I was driving home, Clove called me. I was unaware that she had my number, but I wasn't too surprised. "Cato! What the hell did you do to Peeta!" I pulled up at some gas station. This was going to be a long conversation. Clove continued, "Why is he crying?"

"He's... crying?" I asked. I was kind of sad that he was sad.

"Aha! You do know something!" she concluded. "What did you do?"

"Nothing! I wasn't the- you know what, I'll come over to your house tomorrow. Don't worry, he's fine."

"He better be. He's like a brother to me." She hung up after that. I thought about everything while I drove the rest of the way home.

The next day, Clove called me. Unfortunately, she called me at eight. It was a Saturday! Who wake up at eight on a saturday? Anyways, I couldn't go back to sleep, so I got dressed and went over to her house. She gave me her address in a voicemail. She actually woke up at 7:30.

When I got over to her house, she was sitting outside. She was talking to someone, probably one of the sophomore goths that she seemed to talk to a lot. She was twirling her hair. "...so I asked her why she got hit with a baseball, and she told me that the elephant was dead- Oh! I'll call you back." She hung up when she saw me.

"Cato!" growled Clove. She jumped on me, pushing me against the grass of her neat garden. "What did you do to Peeta? I know it's you! He called me again today. Peeta was still crying, but I heard your name a lot."

I pushed her off of me. "I didn't do anything."

Her glare didn't ease a bit. "Then what happened?"

I sighed. "He... kissed... me. I-I didn't know what to do, so I kind of just stood there. He turned around and ran into his house without hearing what I was going say." Clove was wide-eyed.

"He kissed you! O-M-G! That is so cute!... Do you like him like that?"

I stopped. I just thought about a whole lot of stuff, but that was like the one thing I didn't ask myself. The kiss was nice, but Peeta was a dude. He was a funny, sweet, and hot dude, but he was a dude. I was so confused, but Clove wouldn't have that. Then, I remembered when he was sad, I felt sad. Why? Was it because... "Well?" She wasn't glaring at me again, but she looked a little impatient.

"I guess I do a little, but I don't think I'll be dating him." I answered shyly.

That made her go crazy with rage. "Well why not?" she screamed.

I gave her a hard look. "He's a boy."

She slapped my chest. "I'm wasn't going to force you to date him if you didn't like him, but you do, so I'm going to. You have to date him! You guys are such a cute couple."

"He's a guy, Clove. This isn't an easy thing to overlook. It's all just happening so fast. First, I'm a nerd, and now I'm gay. Do you know what would happen to me if I just start to date him?" I asked her.

She seemed to calm down a little. "Cato, no one cares. It's not like you're going to get any less popular. They won't bully you, or Peeta, because you two are strong enough to protect yourselves. If you say no, Peeta will cry forever. It'll hurt him more than any bully ever will. If you really did like him, even a little, you wouldn't want that. Besides, if you like him, then why does it even matter if he's a guy?"

I paused to think over what she said. I did like Peeta, but what would everyone else think? Then, I realized that, unlike Clove who seemed really happy, I just worried about everyone else. I never did anything I wanted to do. I was too scared to get bread from the bakery. I even called Jessie... well, Foxface. This answer right here decides if I'm going to be a social puppet, or a happy loser.

I looked at my cast, and saw all the names that signed it. The cool kids, my old friends, were all scribbled onto there. I had to chose between them and my new friends who don't care about my glasses and classes. I had to chose who decided my life.

I nodded slowly as I guided Clove to my car. I hugged her and we said our quick good-byes. I felt so close to her, but we've only been friends for a day and a half. I opened the car, and with my good hand, I drove all the way to Peeta's house. Clove, Peeta, and I lived really close together, so it didn't take me long.

I knocked on the door, and the man who was sweeping the shop yesterday opened it. He looked a lot like Peeta, nice and strong. Without asking me anything, he yelled, "Peeta! Cato's here to see you!" I wondered how he knew my name. He gave me a warm smile as he let me into the bakery. He told me where Peeta's room was, so I went myself.

I knocked at first, but Peeta didn't even make a sound on the other side. I started banging the door. A door opened from behind me. I guess I was too worried about Peeta to pay too much attention to his dad. "That's the bathroom." laughed Peeta with a small, sad chuckle.

I turned around and tried to look at him, but he had receded into his room. I followed him in there to see a bunch of tissues in the trash can. I looked at him, and I noticed that he had washed his face to hide his tears. I could see his red eyes, but if Clove didn't tell me he was crying, I would've thought he was just tired or something.

"So... are you here to, like, beat me up?" asked Peeta. His voice told me that he was scared. He genuinely thought I was going to beat him up. He laid down on his bed. The sheets under him were neatly made.

I closed the door quietly, and I walked over to Peeta's bed. His blue sheets brought out his amazingly blue eyes. I jumped on top of him and looked into his eyes. He was so scared. I didn't want to see him like this, so I thought of something to do to show him how I felt. I leaned down and kissed him. When we broke apart, his eyes were full of hopefulness and confusion. "Now why would I want to hurt someone as beautiful as you?"

His smile made my day that day. "I don't have to work on Saturdays." he told me. That meant that we could spend the whole day together.

I realized that I was still lying on top of him and blushed. I rolled off, and we sat up. "So, Peeta, tell me about you. We just shared two kisses, but I don't even know who you are."

He thought a little. "Well, I'm a freshman, so I'm only like, 2 years younger that you. I'm in almost every honors class like you. I play tennis, but you probably don't care. I know how football, basketball, and baseball are the only sports that you think make a person cool. I like to make bread, so work isn't that bad. When I'm not thinking about bread or school, I'm talking to Clove. Before I knew that I liked you, I had a little crush on her."

I blushed a deeper shade of red. "When did you know you liked me?" I asked quietly. I was surprising myself. I was just being bold, daring, and soulful, but now I'm being shy, quiet, and giggly.

He looked at me like it was obvious. "Last year, you were a junior and I was an eighth grader. This senior named Brutus and his friends were picking on me. Don't you remember?"

I shook my head, but I remembered that Brutus was a bully. Peeta continued, "You saved me! I was going to be stuck in a locker all day, but you saved me! You were so heroic. You told Brutus that I was cool, and you pulled me out of the locker. It was amazing. Brutus seemed to believe you, so he stopped picking on me all year."

I remembered now. He had hated Brutus, so he did everything he could to go against him. That included helping out people he bullied. "That... that was you? You were so small and weak. I would never have believed that you would be so sexy in just a year."

He pulled me in for another kiss. "I know this may seem a little rushed, but I've waited a year for this. I know a lot about you. I totally stalked you over that summer. I found out that you have a photographic memory, that you pretend to be like the people around you without knowing it, that you're a little self conscious, and that you are extra nice whenever other people aren't being nice. You always encourage people. Whenever they missed a pass, you would throw it to them until they made a touchdown."

I was caught a little off guard. This kid new more about me than I did. He knew I had photographic memory before I did. If I had known this when he was staring at me, I would've been creeped out, but now it's kind of cute. He said I was like the people around me. That explained a lot. I was so confused when no one sat around me because I was forced to be me for the first time.

He started to kiss me again, and this time it was more passionate. He licked my lips, asking for entrance. I opened my mouth a little too quickly and eagerly. He smiled into the kiss. I realized that my eyes were closed because I felt so blissful. I opened them to see him looking at me with lust. We broke the kiss to get some needed air. "You look beautiful when you're happy." he told me.

I took his hand in my own and we laid there, on Peeta's bed. I hugged him close to me so that I could burry my head in his golden hair. This was nice. It was only like ten in the morning, but I felt like lying with him there all day. I knew that was impossible. I wanted to spend time with him, but not in his house. I wanted to be in public, but I knew that we couldn't. At least, we couldn't be all flirty in public, but that's how I felt around Peeta.

"I want to take you out on a date." I told him.

He beamed up at me. I think he knew that I was going to try to keep us a secret because he replied, "Let's have a picnic in the park. No one ever goes there anymore, so it's perfect." It's true. No one ever went to the park. Two years ago, an old hobo moved into there. His name was Haymitch, I think. He used to scare us kids off. The only people who still went there were adults who jogged around the park. I remember finding a place near the lake that was secluded, so he wouldn't bother us on our date. Haymitch usually stayed near the fountain.

I got up, but I accidentally yanked Peeta's arm. I had forgotten that I was holding his hand. It kind of seemed, well, right. "I want to tell Clove about us... so can I, like, call you my, you know, boyfriend?" I asked. He smiled an nodded.

"I would be upset if you didn't." I looked at him again. His eyes weren't really that red anymore, and he looked so much better. His messy blond hair that fell to his face was almost as breathtaking as his eyes. I've probably said this before, but he had the most amazing and the most blue eyes.

He had to lead me to my car because I could stop staring at him for a change. He was a freshman, so he couldn't drive. Clove knew how to drive, but she didn't have a car. Even though I broke an arm, I was going to be driving them everywhere, I just knew it.

We drove over to Clove's house, and when she opened the door and saw us holding hands she freaked. She actually pulled us in, and forced us to tell her everything. She was pretty forceful but girlish. I wouldn't be surprised if she was a killer cheerleader in a past life.

"So when are you guys going on this date?" she asked.

"Tomorrow," answered Peeta and I simultaneously. We laughed as we held hands again.

Clove rolled her eyes, like she always did. "Guys, that wasn't even funny. If you two weren't so cute together..."

"We are cute together, aren't we?" Peeta whispered sweetly. I leaned down and we touched foreheads, never breaking eye contact. "Cato, do you want to come over and meet my family?"

I panicked. "What? No!" I realized how quickly I said that. "I mean, I don't think-"

Peeta silenced me with a kiss. "I was kidding." Peeta and Clove laughed, but I was flushed.

As we were leaving Clove's house she pulled over for a quick word. "I'm glad you finally decided that you were the one who got to decide your own life."

AN: So what do you think of this chapter?