Strangely enough, things aren't awkward between anybody. Like, at all. In fact, Cato and Glimmer seem to be in better shape than ever, seemingly back in their honeymoon phase.
It's safe to say that Clove is confused.
She catches Marvel's eye at lunch on Monday and he's already frowning—clearly as confused as she is—while Cato steals a strawberry from Glimmer and she squeals before kissing him on the cheek.
Worse, Cato has barely even spoken to her since the incident. They had all eaten breakfast together in Marvel's living room, and the two of them sat as far away from each other as possible until it was time to leave, in which case Glimmer was Clove's ride home. And then this morning, he only graced her with a mumbled Hey and that was the end of it. In all honesty, Clove's a bit peeved. It isn't her fault that he can't seem to make up his mind.
Honestly, she thinks they both just feel guilty. She got a full confession from Cato and an almost-confession from Glimmer, and it's probably on both of their minds. So they're trying to compensate for that by being all gross and over-the-top lovey-dovey with each other. It's vomit-inducing, truly.
Once again she finds herself stabbing aggressively into her salad, but today, nobody is stupid enough to disturb her.
The only good thing in her life right now is gymnastics, but even that seems to be testing her today after she fails to stick the landing of her floor routine—for the second time in a row.
"Again, Clove," Enobaria snaps. Clove may be one of her favorites, but that's also because she rarely ever fails, unlike today. She isn't exactly living up to her star student reputation right now.
She slaps her palm against the mat in frustration before standing up and preparing to try again. She can't believe she's letting this whole situation get to her like this. Usually when she's at practice, she's able to clear her mind of everything that's wrong. But the Cato Dilemma, as she has endearingly coined it, just seems to be shaking her completely. And she's upset.
Clear your mind, Clove. Screw that stupid boy. He's stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Once she's in position Delly starts the music again. Clove takes a deep breath, bringing her arms up elegantly as the music fades in, then letting them fall sharply as the beat drops. And then she's running, running, running as the tempo kicks up, inhaling before throwing herself into the front handspring that begins her routine.
This time she flies through the choreography with no struggle at all, twisting and turning and soaring through the air in complicated maneuvers that fall into sync with the music coming from the old CD player that Enobaria's had since the '90s. By the time she's nearing the end she feels great, no doubt in her mind that she'll stick her landing as she finishes a dance move and then flings herself into a roundoff-back handspring combo. And, just like she predicted, she lands it perfectly.
She plasters her best, competition-winning smile on her face and brings her arms up, finally exhaling as the girls around her burst into applause and cheers.
"Atta girl, Clove," calls Enobaria. "That's more like it!"
Clove's grin widens, and she trots off the mat toward where the bags are laid out. She's absolutely parched, and has an entire 34-ounce water bottle with her name on it. As per usual, she's joined by Delly, who sinks to the ground beside her. "You okay?"
Clove takes a swig from her water before turning to the other girl, frowning slightly. "Yeah, fine. Why do you ask?"
Delly narrows her eyes slightly. "You haven't missed a combo like that in months. I feel like it's pretty telling that you did today."
Clove sighs and shrugs. "I don't know. It's just some pointless high school drama. Nothing I can't handle."
Delly nods, not seeming quite convinced, but decides to move on. "Well, it can't be as bad as Peeta. He told me that he's got a crush on this girl, and he thinks she might like him too, but she also seems to have a thing for some senior guy."
"Katniss and Gale," supplies Clove. "Yeah, I've heard about that whole fiasco."
"Ugh, I can't imagine being in a love triangle. How cliché!"
Clove begins to laugh along with Delly, but it dies in her throat. She takes another sip of water to cover it up, and it suddenly hits her that oh, shit, she's totally in a love triangle too, isn't she? The one trope in books and media that she hates most in the world!
Oh, god.
"Yeah, must suck," she agrees with Delly, trying to play it off casually. Internally, she is screaming. "Come on, let's get back to it. Enobaria will be getting impatient soon."
Her father gets home about an hour after Clove's teammate, Marina, drops her off.
She's sitting on the worn leather couch when he hobbles through the door and into the living room, work clothes dirty from a day at the quarry a few towns away. "Hi," he grumbles, rubbing a hand over his stubble and his tired eyes.
"Hi," Clove replies, not looking up from her homework. In the background, a stupid MTV reality show plays on the television.
Her father sniffs and meanders into the kitchen. The telltale sound of the fridge opening causes Clove to roll her eyes, bottles rattling against each other and filling the house with their noise. Clove debates leaving her spot and retreating to her room, but something makes her stay. She's just comfortable right now, and she's afraid that if she breaks her momentum with her homework now, she'll never be able to regain her focus.
Moments later her father returns, sinking gracelessly into the reclining chair diagonal from the couch. "What's this shit?" he asks, taking a swig from his first beer and gesturing to the TV.
"Nothing," says Clove. "Just some stupid show that happened to be on."
"Put on the sports channel."
"Why?"
"Because I want to watch it."
Clove rolls her eyes, but obliges nonetheless. She's not in the mood for an argument tonight. She's almost done with her homework now, so if she can just block out the TV and her father for another fifteen or twenty minutes, she should be good.
Her father somehow ends up passing out within the time it takes for her to finish, a now-empty bottle clutched loosely in the hand that dangles over the arm of the recliner. Clove scoffs, shaking her head and rolling her eyes as she gathers her belongings and makes her way upstairs, slipping into her room and gently closing the door behind her.
Scrolling through her phone, she searches her settings and connects it to the speaker that she keeps on her nightstand. She shuffles her most recent playlist before placing her phone face-down on the nightstand and searching for pajamas.
"Ain't never felt this way," she murmurs along with the music, rummaging through a drawer and producing an old t-shirt from a gymnastics meet last year. "Can't get enough, so stay with me…"
Once she's fully dressed in her comfortable clothes, she flops onto her bed and grabs her phone, scrolling through social media for a bit until her screen pauses and changes to a rather unflattering close-up photo of Marvel, who's apparently trying to video call her. Yawning, she presses the green answer button and waits for his real-time face to appear.
"Hello," she says, raising her eyebrows when he finally appears with a wave. He's brushing his teeth, his phone propped against the mirror in his bathroom. He holds up his finger for a moment before leaning over the sink, spitting and rinsing. Clove wrinkles her nose. "You seriously couldn't have waited to call me until after you did that?"
He pops back up with a frothy grin, wiping his mouth on the nearest monogrammed towel before reaching for his phone and making his way back into his own room. "Nah. Thought you might be interested to see what it's like for someone as awesome as me to get ready for bed."
"Yeah, okay."
She lets him get settled for a moment, and once he's comfortable he finally speaks. "So, uh, Glimmer and Cato are pissing me off."
Clove half-laughs at her friend's bluntness, covering her mouth with her hand before removing it to reply. "I mean, I guess. Why, specifically, would you say that?"
"They're a puke-fest, man!" Marvel exclaims, eyes wide as he brings the screen comically close to his face. "God. Here I was thinking they'd finally break up, and now they're back to all that nasty, mushy shit? Something is not adding up."
Clove shrugs. "Maybe they just had really awesome makeup sex?"
Marvel groans. "Ew, Clove. No. I would know if Cato got laid, and believe me, he didn't."
She's annoyed with herself for feeling almost-relieved at this.
"Well then I don't know," she says. "I was thinking earlier that they probably both just feel guilty about their own thoughts on the other and their relationship in general. And now they're just overcompensating for the guilt by acting all gross."
Marvel nods in agreement, but still wrinkles his nose. "You're probably right, but still. I was kinda hoping for a falling out."
"Why?" asks Clove, shaking her head. "Wouldn't that just be kinda terrible for everyone? Tension, and stuff."
"Yeah, but then everyone would get over it because we're all great friends, and you and Cato could start dating and everything will be fine."
Clove feels her face redden. "Marvel, that's awful! I couldn't date Cato if they broke up, even if I wanted to."
"Don't you want to?"
"No!"
"Are you sure?"
She hesitates. "Yes?"
Marvel shakes his head and tsks. "Oh, Clover. You really need to face the music."
Clove sighs. "Marvel, you know where I stand with the whole Cato thing. I wouldn't… mind being with him, but it would be super shitty for me to root for him and Glimmer to break up, and even shittier for me to get together with him if they do break up. Because then it's just the Girl Code and that whole mess. It'll never work out."
Marvel sighs. "Yeah, I know. Man, complications suck."
Clove laughs, a bit humorlessly. "Yeah, almost as bad as feelings do."
He shoots her a sympathetic look. "That's why you gotta be like me," he says. "Super cool, charming, suave. Get all the girls—or, I guess guys in your case, since I'm pretty sure you're straight—to love me, but never go for them. Break all of their hearts!"
Clove openly laughs at that. "You're delusional, Marv. Completely delusional. Besides," she says, tilting her head mischievously, "I've caught you staring at Jackie Finch. I think you might have a little crush, too."
Marvel scoffs. Twice. Nervously. "Pfft. No way. I don't get crushes. Regardless of how many cute redheads just happen to fall into my line of vision."
Clove raises her eyebrows and hums. "I'd be careful, Marvel," she sing-songs. "She's Cato's big rival for salutatorian. I think they actually have the same GPA and he's super stressed about it. You can't be fraternizing with the enemy."
"I will fraternize with whoever I so choose," says Marvel with fake haughtiness. "Not that I even want to fraternize with her, anyway," he adds quickly.
Clove rolls her eyes. "Okay, Marvel. I'm tired, so I'm hanging up on you and your nonexistent feelings. It's probably good that you don't like Jackie, anyway. I heard Thresh talking about asking her to homecoming at lunch earlier."
"Wait, what!"
"Goodnight!"
"Wait, Clo—"
She hangs up before his inevitable yelp of indignation, smiling to herself proudly. If messing with people was a profession, she'd be a millionaire already.
Aw, Marvel ships Clato.
Fun fact, I originally had a Big Thing happening in this chapter, that would kick off various other Big Things, but I'm gonna make you wait for that, I think. I want to build up some more plot and suspense first, you know? Don't hate me :)
Also, it's probably painfully obvious, but I know absolutely nothing about gymnastics.