author's note: Thank you to everyone who read/reviewed/favourited/followed last chapter! I seriously feel like the happiest girl in the world. And a massive thank you to my beta, PhoenixGrace! Hope you all like this. :)

disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, plots, vaguely familiar song lyrics and settings belong to their respective owners: Suzanne Collins and Taylor Swift. I do not own the Hunger Games and Sparks Fly. No copyright infringement is intended.


drop everything now

By kelster07

Chapter 2: you've got me in reckless captivity


"Clo." Cato nudges her elbow. "What on earth are you looki-"

There's a slight pause and Clove immediately averts her gaze to the unappealing garden salad in front of her. Cato's eyes follow the trail her eyes led just a split second ago.

"Oh," he says. There's a growing smile on his face. Bloody wanker, she thinks darkly. "Since when did you even care about Marvel?"

"What?" A high-pitched shriek is heard and simultaneously a fork clashes against a lunch tray. Clove winces. Glimmer grins sheepishly and picks it back up.

"You know, that makes me sound so heartless," Clove says.

"Stop avoiding the question," Glimmer demands and she almost groans. Of course both of her closest friends just had to gang up on her.

"We met the other day," she says weakly. She doesn't even know what's going on herself. She wishes she does.

Glimmer snorts. "Met?"

She nods and takes another bite of the salad. She scrunches up her nose in distaste—Clove is proud to say she's got a strong stomach, but this—this just takes the goddamn cake.

"I don't believe you," Cato states. "There's something more. There has to be, he's been talking about you all week."

She resists the temptation to jump out of her seat and endlessly question him. He talks about me? There's a bright feeling inside of her, as much as she pushes it away. Clove relents—just a little. "We're kind of friends."

It's as close to the truth as she can get.

"Kind of friends. That's descriptive," Glimmer smirks.

Clove honestly doesn't know what else to say. On that rainy day by the bus stop, she admits that he was something different. There was something about him that had made her take a second glance. There was something about him made her let him in. But what kind of different, she doesn't know. At all.

"Friends? I don't believe you," Cato says, crossing his arms. "Clove Sevina does not mentally undress people with her eyes that are just friends."

"What? I was not 'mentally undressing' him, as you so elegantly put it," Clove shoots back, scowling at him. Inside, her stomach squirms. She knows better than to deny the fact that Marvel's bad looking—he's not—and for some reason she almost wishes he was. Then she wouldn't be forced into this conversation, and everything would be much, much easier. She knows that girls swoon over him—almost as much as they do over high school legend Gale Hawthorne, and of course, Cato Hadley—so she can't help feeling somewhat jealous. No, she quickly thinks, cutting her mindless thoughts off. Clove Sevina is definitely not jealous.

"I don't like him."

"Sure."

"I don't, trust me. I just…" she mentally curses at herself, "I don't even know anymore."

"Honey, that's liking someone," Glimmer says with her mock-sweet smile.

"No, it isn't," Clove argues, turning around.

Across from her Cato wears a strange look on his face. The edges of his lips tilt upwards until he's practically beaming. She hears sudden hushed whispers in the cafeteria and almost rolls her eyes. Girls. Seriously, what's wrong with them? She knows that her best friend is attractive—she really does—but she's never understood the school-wide female infatuation with him.

His grin is so wide, she takes another look. The image is engrained in her head. No, that can't be right, she thinks. That's not one of Cato's 'let's-make-girls-swoon-at-me' smile. That's his 'I-know-something-you-don't' smile.

She doesn't even want to know.


author's note: I have to admit, this chapter originally wasn't supposed to actually be published. But then I thought this would piece the previous and next chapter together better, kind of like peanut butter and jelly between two slices of plain bread. Which, let me tell you, I've never had before. Sad, I know.

Anyway, consider this as a sort of preamble for next chapter, which will be the final one. I would absolutely love it if you could leave a review, they're always highly appreciated. Give me your thoughts! Thumbs up or thumbs down? :)