I do not own Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games characters.

Chapter 7:

It has been nearly a week since Cato and I decided to start fake dating and it actually hasn't been going to horribly. Glimmer was appalled when she first found out that we were dating, but somehow she was a lot less so when I told her that it was all fake. Well, not all of it. After we kissed, we both decided that we were just wrapped up at the moment and we haven't talked about it since. I will admit, kissing him in private actually helped to make the relationship more believable. Now, when we have to say adieu or his father looks expectantly to use when I am walking in, giving him a brief but faux passionate kiss is quite easy.

Another big perk of Cato and I fake dating is that he now basically acts as my own personal chauffeur. He picks me up early in the morning before my mongrel bothers are awake, we pick up breakfast from one place or another, and then he drops me off at school. I go throughout the day, waiting for him, and then he picks me up after school. Usually, he has to go to football practice, so I just sit in the car and wait. Not because he hasn't asked me to sit in the stands, but I am not ready to meet his friends yet.

Today is an anomaly of warmth, and despite the fact that Cato has parked his car underneath a shady tree, it is already stifling hot. There is no way that I am going to be able to sit in here for the hour that Cato is at practice. And he knows it.

"You actually getting out today?" He asks in a joking tone.

"Yes," I huff out.

When we get out of the car, we have only made it a few paces before he slips his hand into mine. I look around, expecting to see people milling around the campus, but I don't see anyone. My immediate instinct is to pull my hand away from his however another little piece of my brain is screaming at me to just enjoy the feeling of his hand in mine. The second part of me wins out.

The campus of his high school is large and feels more like that of a small college. The pathway that we are walking on is perfectly paved and is framed with trees that are just beginning to change colors. I can see the football stadium growing closer and closer until we are walking through the entrance. He gently pulls me to the stands and finds me a spot that is perfectly in the shade. Until now, I didn't notice that there is a large cushioned chair under his arm. He positions it in the shade.

"You good sitting here until practice is done?" He asks me. I can't help but notice the caring tone in his voice.

"Yeah, of course." I watch as a bunch of boys pile onto the field, playfully tackling each other. Their laughter carries even from probably sixty feet away from where I sit. Though the boys aren't really looking in our direction, Cato gently grabs my chin and kisses me softly on the lips. The kiss is brief, and I pull away first.

"I got get down there," He says. I nod.

I spend basically all of his practice scrolling through different street art accounts. The law would call them accounts of vandalism, but I call them accounts of art. I would create my own, but I don't need another way for the law to track me. I hardly realize that Cato's practice is done until my chair is being lifted into the air by a boisterous group of boys.

"Ah!" I let out a small scream.

Four boys are surrounding me and the have placed the folded chair on their shoulders. Cato is standing a few feet away laughing.

"What is going on?" I ask as they begin to carry me down the stands and onto the field.

"We just thought we would show Cato's girlfriend around," one of the boys says. I laugh a little at the way he says, girlfriend.

"A football field?" I ask skeptically.

All five of the boys laugh, but one of the trips and I am catapulted forwards. As someone is not only small but has also been thrown around by my brothers all my life, I instinctively curl into a tight ball and roll when I hit the ground. My hip, which still hasn't fully healed yet, throbs as I get up to my feet, but I try my absolute hardest to not let the pain show on my face. From the looks on the boy's faces, they are nothing but impressed. However, when I look at Cato's face, I can tell that he is worried.

"That was awesome!" A boy says. I stare at him for a moment, the odd feeling of recognition running through me. He turns his head to Cato and flashes him a not so subtle thumbs up and a smile, and I realize where I know him from. He is the boy that was in the cell with me that day, the one that Cato picked up before he got me out.

One by one the boys introduce themselves. The boy from the prison cell is Marvel, Cato's cousin, and the other two boys are Gale and a boy named Peeta. I feel bad because when he first told me his name, all I thought of was Pita bread. He actually spelled his name a moment after, as if reading the thoughts in my head. He didn't seem to be at all bothered by doing it though, in fact, he seemed rather charming about the whole affair.

Marvel looks at me curiously for a moment and after a moment I see recognition dawn on his face. His jaw goes slack for a minute and he looks for a moment like he is going to say something but he doesn't. Cato walks over to me and takes my hand, telling the boys that we are going to leave. Gale and Peeta disperse, but as we are leaving, Marvel turns to me.

"What were you in for?" He asks me unabashed.

"I tell you if you tell me," I say back, giving him a hard stare.

Marvel cocks his head at me and then laughs.

"I like this one," He says to Cato, slapping him hard on the back before turning and leaving.

Cato wraps his arm around me as we walk back to his car. Each time we pass people, I feel him stand up a little straighter and pull me just a little bit closer to him. I feel a little smile play on my lips. I hear a bunch of whispering as we pass a group of girls that are all staring jealously at Cato. Smirking, I give them all a meanigful look before pulling Cato forcefully to my lips, kissing him as passionately as I can muster. I pull away after a few moments and we continue walking as if nothing happened. The girls jaws are on the floor.

This fake dating thing is really fun.

Hope you all liked this chapter and that wherever you are you are doing well. I'm sending love to you wherever you are. I saw this thing recently that said that since people can hate people that they don't even know for no reason, you can love people you don't even know. So, this is my carrying that out in my own little way.

Stay happy, healthy, and safe,

-Jewel.