"What do want?" I ask as I open the door to see Cato in front of me.
"I'm here to walk with you to training, of course," He says, holding out an elbow for me to take. I roll my eyes at him and sneak under his arm and out of the door.
"I don't need to be escorted by you," I say, walking a few feet ahead of him.
"I know," Cato says, catching up with me.
We walk the rest of the way in silence. We don't stop until we reach the doors. I take a deep breath before reaching for the door handle, only to be beat to it by Cato, who holds the door for the both of us.
Literally everyone in the room stopped and looked at us as we walked in. I hold my head high, but I'm pretty sure everyone can see how I avoid their staring eyes. I keep my mouth shut until I we reach the corner.
"Why are they looking at us that way?" I ask.
"Because yesterday when you walked in you were a nobody until you revealed yourself. Now, they're scared. And they should be. Like I said, you're pretty good."
"Doesn't it get creepy? Them watching you all the time like that because they know you have the power to hurt them?"
"Eh. Not really. I never really minded the attention," he says. "And they aren't always this bad."
"Well look who it is, the little misfit, trying to seduce my training partner," an annoying voice says from behind me. I spin around to come face to face with a girl and her taped up nose.
"Ladderson, please! We all know I would never go for Cato, he is way out of league."
"Am not! You know you want me. They all do," Cato says, appearing lightly offended.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Cato." I turn back to Avery. "And as for being a misfit, we can't all suck at everything, someone has gotta stand out!" I spit out.
"Come on Cato!" Avery says, twirling her hair around her finger, "Let's go train together, partner!" She smirks in my direction, hoping I'll be jealous that she has Cato. One problem with that. She doesn't. I do.
"Actually," Cato starts, draping an arm over my shoulders, "I'm partners with Clove now. I don't train with the weak."
I laugh as I watch Avery's face fall in disappointment. She narrows her eyes at me and starts to scream in her high pitched, stupid voice.
"What? But Cato! We worked so well together! Come on!" Her eyes start to well up with tears as she glares at me. I laugh, leaning into Cato for support, and smirking as he slipped his arm around my waist to steady me, and he laughs with me. Avery's eyes fill with envy.
"Why do you even like that pathetic little girl anyways? How old even is she? Like 12?" Avery wines.
"On a scale from ten, yep!" I say, popping the p.
Cato tilts his head downwards, trying to hide his laughter, and his lips brush against the skin behind my ear, leaving a tingling feeling that causes me to shiver. I hope Cato doesn't notice, but when does what I want ever happen?
Needless to say, Cato did notice me shiver after the contact of his lips and my skin. His grip around my waist tightens and he wears a sexy sideways smile. He sneaks a wink at me and I feel the blood rushing to my cheeks. I quickly look away, at the knifes to be exact. I try to distract myself, but I can feel his defined muscles pressed against me and I bite down on my bottom lip to try to distract myself, but that doesn't work because Cato tightens his grip on me again, pressing us against each other.
Avery continues to wine and scream for a change. "But Cato, baby, come on! I can beat her! I know I can! Cato, don't you believe in me baby?"
Cato leans down and whispers in my ear, "Play along. I'm going to make her leave us alone, then we can train, okay? Just trust me."
Cato stands up straighter and makes a disgusted face. "Never ever call me baby again. We were never a thing, we never will be. I like my girls strong, and rough. Don't feel bad though, I've never really been a fan of bleached blondes. You're really not my type."
"Yes I am!" She says, more tears filling her eyes.
Play along. Trust me.
"No you're not," I say. Avery turns to me, about to speak, before I completely cut her off. "But I am."
I turn towards Cato and he wears a smirk. Despite the fact that I really want to slap the stupid smirk off his face, I allow him to connect our lips. He kisses me slowly, his lips tasting of mint. In order to make this look believable, I guess I'll have to kiss him back right? Shameee. I kiss him back, rough, but hey? Isn't that 'his type' anyways? If I'm gonna kiss this arrogant (hot, but mostly arrogant) teenager I might as well have some fun.
Cato bites my lower lip and I feel it start to bleed, but Cato licks the blood off. I feel a smile playing at the corner of my lips and I don't know why, really. It's fake, I remind myself.
I pull away from him to look at Avery, who looks to be somewhere between totally freaked out to having a heart attack.
I laugh and walk towards the knifes, throwing them one by one, hitting the target, which - by the way - I am pretending is Avery.
The bell rings and I walk into my first class of today. I've been trying to get this morning off my mind and being at school is already helping, even though I'd much rather not be here. I'm gonna win the hunger games, who cares if I don't know the square root of every fricken number. At least this is my best subject in school, language arts. I'm Miss Frendo's favorite.
Sadly, I have this class with my new overly hot pretend boyfriend. Oh, and just my luck, seating chart change! I go and look at the chart, and to my real luck (For the first time today!) Cato sits on the other side of the room. I take my seat next to Colby, my only real friend. Did I mention he is super cute and likes me? Ah, Colby.
Cato frowns when he sees this and I hear him talking to Miss Frendo.
"You see, I'm not doing well in this class and Clove agreed to tutor me. It would really help if I could sit next to her. Is that possible ma'am?"
Oh crap.
"Of course Cato! Anything to help you sweetie!" The peppy 23 year old says.
"Thanks!"
Cato walks over to Colby. Colby is a strong brunette, with chocolate brown eyes, and the second best body I've ever seen. What? He's below Cato of course. The difference is that Colby is sweet, and Cato, well, he thinks too much of himself.
"Move," Cato says to Colby.
Colby looks up at Cato, confused. "Why?"
"Miss Frendo said I could sit beside Clovely," Cato says, irked.
"But I want to sit here. Good view." Colby looks at me, and his cheeks turn slightly pink. AWH! HE MEANS ME!
"Yeah, my view," Cato growls.
I'm about to come to Colby's aid, when the teacher tells Colby to move, before leaving the room.
"I'll catch you later Clo," Colby says, picking up his binder.
"Clo?"Cato asks, laughing.
I glare at him.
Cato looks satisfied. I glare him and he smirks and does his signature wink.
"Why on Panem did you do that?" I ask, after Colby is out of range. I stand up, so I can look down at Cato. He remains seated.
"Fake dating, remember?" He asks.
"But do we really have to, I mean Avery is-"
"They fear us more together than apart."
I have to look strong. I have to be feared. I must be respected.
So I nod, and allow Cato to pull me into his lap.
Colby looks like a kicked puppy. I hurt him. I didn't mean too. I didn't want to.
I focus on Cato's humming of a familiar tune that I can't quite pinpoint. He wraps his arms around my waist, anchoring me down. He rests his chin on my shoulder and I can smell his gun, which, is mint, of course. I feel his breath against my ear as he inhales and exhales. I shiver and sink deeper into his inviting, muscular arms.
"Funny," Cato says, "It doesn't seem to be cold in here." I blush, looking at the floor. Cato checks my pulse. " And your heartbeat seems to be a little fast. Any idea why?" Cato chuckles as my face turns redder. "Its okay Clover, you can go ahead and admit that you have feelings towards me. All the girls do," he says.
I force a laugh. "What type of feelings? Do you mean disgust?"
"Whatever you say babe," Cato says, kissing the soft spot behind my ear.
I can almost hear my heart rate quickening.
Hey guys! This is still a flash back! It will be up until I explain the terms, ya know? I will post again soon! I have many ideas!
Love y'all,
Clover
~ P.S.- Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games! ~