Thank you for the positive feedback, it means a lot. And my laptop's fixed! Yay! :) I don't own The Hunger Games. :( Also, sorry if there's any issues with tense or point of view, because my other fic is 'I' and 'me' and stuff like that.
"Clove? Are you okay, dear? You look a little pale." Cashmere asked after detaching herself from Cato's mouth. Clove eyed her hand, it was griping his.
"I…I'm fine. I just remembered- I haven't seen Johanna yet. She'll kill me if I don't go now." Clove responded, before bolting down the path.
"Clove!" Cato called after her, but she didn't look back. She kept running, past District One's area, past her own, and past all of them until them until she reached District Seven. She knocked on the door of the cabin Johanna shared with three others.
"What's up, Clove?" She asked when she opened the door. Clove couldn't reply, she was panting to heavily.
"Come in, sit down, and get your words out, stupid girl." Johanna said. Clove stepped inside and sat down on a wooden chair.
"Okay." She said after she'd got her breath back. "Basically, I got here less than an hour ago. Cashmere asked me to go meet her at the gate, so Cato and I went. Then she arrived and…Well, they're dating I guess."
"How do you know they're dating?" Johanna asked calmly. Only a few people knew about my crush on Cato, and she was one of them. Clove had been close friends with Johanna, Katniss and Annie for years. She had been friends with Cashmere for a while, but their friendship wouldn't be the same for a while now.
"Well as soon as Cashmere saw Cato, she rammed her tongue down his mouth." Clove sighed, raking a hand through her hair. Johanna detached an axe from a plaque on the wall. Because their cabins were right next to the camp's woods, they had display axes on the walls. She started to march out of the cabin, but Clove caught her by the shoulder.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"I'm going to hit him." Johanna replied, deadly calm.
"With an axe?! You can't do that, Jo!" Clove pointed out. Johanna frowned and dropped the axe.
"Fine. But it's nearly lunch time. I'm so going to flick peas at him."
"Deal." Clove moved from the chair and threw herself down on Johanna's bed.
"You know, he could have told me. I wouldn't have been as upset because it wouldn't have been such a shock." Clove sighed.
"But two are, like, made for each other." Johanna said, sitting next to Clove with her legs crossed.
"I get why he wouldn't want to be with me, though. I'm a year younger than him. We text and Skype all the time, but we only ever see each other in person when we're here and the occasional weekend. Anyway, he's my best friend. I wouldn't want to lose our friendship." Clove continued.
"He's still a prat." Johanna pointed out.
"Well, yeah. Let's just go to lunch." Clove said. They exited the cabin and walked up to the cafeteria. When they got there, the girls both picked up sandwiches and went to join Katniss, Annie, Finnick, Jackie and Peeta at their usual table.
"Hey, guys!" Annie squealed. She was always excited to see everyone on the first day, and her friends eardrums suffered because of it.
"Hey." Clove smiled.
"We saved a seat for Cato." Jackie said, pointing at the empty seat next to Clove. Johanna reached over and grabbed a random boy's arm.
"What the-" He started, but Johanna had already pulled him into the seat.
"Just sit there and laugh at everything Clove says." Johanna said in an intimidating voice.
"Jo, that's not necessary." Clove frowned. The boy let out a loud, over the top laugh.
"Good, like that." Johanna smiled, ignoring Clove.
"What's your name anyway, kid?" Clove asked, earning another laugh.
"Seriously." She frowned. He looked about thirteen, maybe fourteen.
"Sam. I'm staying in District Three." He said quietly.
"Oh, I know you! You made something in electronics last year and I think I set fire to it or something." Katniss said. The boy frowned and nodded.
"Clove? You alright?" Clove turned her head at the sound of Cato's voice.
"She's fine." Johanna snapped. Cato frowned at her slightly before turning to Clove again.
"Why is there some scrawny kid sat in my seat?" He asked.
"Oh, this is my friend Sam. He likes electronics." Clove smiled. Sam laughed nervously.
"Um…Alright then. I'm gonna go sit with Cash and Gloss, then. But you're coming jet skiing with me later, okay?"
"Sorry, she's busy with me all day." Johanna said. Clove subtly elbowed her in the ribs and gave her a scary look. She didn't want Cato to think anything was up.
"Tomorrow then?" He asked hopefully.
"Sure." Clove smiled warmly at him and waved as he walked away.
"What was that? You're meant to be pissed off!" Johanna whispered so that the others couldn't hear her.
"No, I'm not! I'm not going to waste my time here being angry with him. He's my best friend, for God's sake!" Clove whispered.
"Not anymore. He chose her." Johanna pointed at the table where Cato was sat with his arm draped over the back of Cashmere's chair.
"Look Johanna, I appreciate you being there for me. I really do. But he's still my best friend, that hasn't changed. That will never change." Clove said. Sam laughed again and Johanna shot him a glare.
"Not now, Sam!" She hissed.
"I'll be on the tennis court if anyone needs me." Clove sighed, abandoning her half-eaten sandwich and exiting the cafeteria.
-Line Break-
"Hey, Clove! What are you doing out here on your own?" Cashmere asked, letting herself into the tennis court.
"Oh, just hitting a few around." Clove responded, not really wanting to speak to her.
"Fancy a game?" Cashmere asked, picking up a racket that a previous camper had abandoned. Right. Clove thought. She still thinks we're friends.
"Why not?" Clove forced a smile.
"But let's make it interesting. Winner gets fifty bucks?" Cashmere grinned.
"Okay." Clove picked up the ball to serve it. A small group of campers from District One and District Two had gathered outside the metal fence, watching to see who would win. Clove served the ball, and Cashmere hit it back. They went on for a few minutes until Cashmere scored the first point.
"Go Cashmere!" A boy from her District yelled.
"Fifteen-luff." Cashmere smiled. Clove frowned slightly. Cashmere served the ball and Clove hit it back with such a speed that Cashmere couldn't get anywhere near it.
"Woo, Clove!" Jackie yelled from the fence.
"Fifteen-fifteen." Clove said, imitating Cashmere's sickly sweet smile. The game eventually went to deuce, with Clove winning the first advantage point and then the game.
"Good game, Clove. I'll stop by Two with your money later." Cashmere said, shaking Clove's hand. She glanced at the watch Clove was wearing.
"I'm late for meeting Cato!" She yelled, desperately trying to zip her tennis racket back into its holder.
"Of course you are." Clove muttered.
"What was that?" Cashmere asked, trying to unjam the zip.
"Oh, nothing. I'm just going to hit a few more." Clove smiled. She picked up the tennis ball and thwacked it with her racket. It went sailing through the air and hit Cashmere on the nose.
"Ow!" She squealed, finally managing to zip up the holder.
"Oh, sorry Cash! I wasn't looking!" Clove lied.
"It's okay Clove, it happens." Cashmere scowled before running off to meet Cato. Clove dropped her tennis racket on the ground and let herself out of the court. Jackie linked her arm through Clove's.
"That, my friend, was a nice hit." Jackie grinned, The girls laughed before walking off to fine their other friends.