Thank you thank you thank you to Clatoforeverinmyheart, OdairBear, ClovelyLittleReader, Guest (Hahahah well thank you so much!), Guest (I wouldn't have it any other way :P), and Flinx-Ikariluv10 (You are 100% correct!) for your awesome reviews! I wouldn't be taking the time to write this if it weren't for you cool people :D
Clove lit the last candle in the dimly lit room before setting down the lighter on the bedside table and collapsing onto the king sized bed of the master bedroom in the penthouse. She toyed with the lace edge of her lingerie anxiously, her heartbeat faster than usual. Tonight was the night. She was finally going to lose her virginity, to Marvel Rutherford none less.
Granted, she had done plenty of things with plenty of boys at boarding school, but she always stopped them at third base. It was what came after third base that scared her, but she needed to do this to secure her relationship with Marvel. If she were single in the beginning of the school year, her spot as queen bee would certainly be threatened. This needed to happen.
Grabbing a shot of tequila off the dresser, she downed one before grabbing another and drinking it too. Alcohol definitely took the edge off; she knew that for a fact.
She was about to take a third shot when she was interrupted by a knock on the door. Taking a deep breath, she stood up from the bed and glanced in the mirror on her way to the door. She looked great; Marvel was going to love her.
Opening the door wide, she smiled at her boyfriend before taking his hand and leading him into the bedroom. He was ogling at her very exposed body, and she laughed that perfect laugh of hers.
"Marvel," she whispered, pushing him down onto the bed. "I want you. I need you."
"Clove," he said reluctantly, but her lips cut him off. He moaned, and she smirked. "Clove," he said again, sitting upright on the bed.
"What's wrong?" she asked him, pouting. He was inhaling and exhaling slowly and deeply, and Clove felt relieved to know that he was scared too. "Marvel, babe, don't be nervous," she said, climbing on top of him once more.
She unbuttoned his shirt before discarding it on the ground, and her fragile fingers traced his jawline delicately. "Don't you want me?" she whispered, and she was almost positive that he did.
"Of course I do, Clove. But you don't want me."
Clove gave him a puzzled look. "Why would you say that?"
"Clove," he started, moving her off his lap and onto the bed. He sat there quietly for a while, picking at his fingernails.
"What's wrong, baby?" she asked him nervously.
"I didn't think it would be this hard," he mumbled more to himself than to her.
"Marvel, you're making me nervous. What's wrong?"
"Please don't hate me," his trembling voice said quietly.
"Why would I hate you?" she asked, her voice wobbly and unsure.
"I didn't mean for it to happen, Clove. It was a mistake, a drunken mistake."
"What are you talking about?" she said, her eyes filling up with tears because she was almost positive she knew what was coming next.
"Clove, I'm so sorry."
She wiped away a tear from the corner of her eye, mustering up all of the courage she had in her body. "No, say it out loud. Tell me what you did to make you feel so sorry."
"I slept with Glimmer," his voice was lighter than a whisper, his eyes fixed on the ground. Her silence spoke volumes, and he reached a hand out to her tentatively.
"Don't," she spat at him, swatting away his hand, "don't touch me."
She stood up from the bed, pacing back and forth, her initial shock replaced with fury. "Get out," she hissed, her words laced with venom. "Now."
"Clove," he took a step towards her, and she snarled.
"I said leave."
"Please," he begged, "please let me explain."
"I don't want an explanation!" she screamed, her voice cracking on the last word. She turned away from him, refusing to let him see her cry.
His footsteps echoed throughout the otherwise silent hotel room, followed by the opening and closing of the door. She screamed a terrifying scream, collapsing onto the ground in a heap of tears.
She hated him. She hated his stupid hair and his stupid eyes and his stupid hands that had surely trailed over every god damn inch of Glimmer's flawless skin.
Pulling on a silk robe from the hotel, she downed two more shorts before storming out of the room and taking the elevator down to the lobby hurriedly. She needed to get out of this place. Immediately.
She didn't call for her limo to come pick her up. No, she just walked right out of the front doors of the hotel and onto the street. Crying silently, she wiped away at her tears as she stumbled in an unknown direction.
She had no phone, no boyfriend, and no best friend. She was completely alone in the world.
After a while, her sadness was replaced with a strong thirst for revenge. It didn't take long for her to run out of tears and begin thinking only of ways she could ruin Marvel and Glimmer's reputations. The moon was high in the sky when Cato's limo slowed down beside her on the street.
"Oh my gosh, Clove. Are you alright?"
She rolled her eyes, sniffling a little. "I'm fine. I don't need your help."
Ignoring her remarks, he opened the car door, saying, "Get in."
"No," she refused, folding her arms across her chest.
"Stop acting like a bitch and get in the damn car before you get kidnapped."
"Well when you put it that way," she scoffed, sliding into the backseat of the limo to shut him up.
Cato whispered something to the driver before turning back to face her. "Do you want to talk about it?"
She shook her head in reply.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
She laughed an emotionless laugh. "No."
"What happened?"
"Marvel and Glimmer slept together," her voice was full of disgust, and Cato swallowed the lump in his throat.
"Are you okay?" he asked, even though he already knew the answer.
Clove turned to face him, giving him a sad smile. They locked eyes, and it would be impossible to tell which one of them moved towards the other first, for they exchanged a silent, mutual agreement in one glance. When their lips finally connected, Clove was filled with a feeling of anticipation mixed with guilt and a little bit of pleasure.
Cato deepened the kiss, pushing her down onto the seat before climbing on top of her. She peeled off his jacket before removing his shirt, never breaking the kiss. When they finally parted for air, he stared at her for a long time, studying every feature of her face. This time, she kissed him, removing her robe to expose her near-perfect body, which was clad in only a skimpy bra and underwear.
"Are you sure?" he whispered in her ear, and she nodded.
Everything about the situation was so, so wrong, but somehow things had never felt more right.
"Shit," Clove whispered. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit."
"What the hell?" Cato grumbled, rolling over in his bed to find a half-naked Clove pacing back and forth by the window. "Oh, fuck," he sat up in his bed as a dreadful realization came over him. "We didn't…?"
Clove turned to face him sharply, shooting him a grave look. "We did."
"What do we do about this then?" he asked, motioning back and forth between them.
"We forget it, Cato," she said without missing a beat. "No one can ever know about this other than the two of us."
"Okay," he nodded, and relief rushed through his veins. As long as this remained a secret, he still had a best friend, although he couldn't say the same for Clove. He could only imagine what kind of revenge she was surely planning for Glimmer and Marvel.
Sitting down in the window seat, Clove looked out to the mountains in the distance and sighed. She fought back tears, refusing to let Cato see her as an emotional wreck twice in less than 24 hours. Marvel could have had anyone else in the entire world, just not her best friend. The fact that two of the people she loved and trusted most in the world had betrayed her made it all the more painful. She felt angry, depressed, and vengeful all at the same time, and she was still trying to figure out how that could be.
"Clove," Cato said, sitting next to her on the window seat. "If it makes any difference, I think Marvel made a big mistake when he cheated on you."
Her heart felt another tinge of betrayal, and she stood up from the window seat abruptly. "I should really get going," she said with a strained voice. Pulling on her robe from the night before, she left hurriedly and without another word, not even realizing that Annie had been hiding behind a column by the staircase, listening to every word they said.
Fumbling for her keys, Clove tiptoed towards her front door hurriedly, praying that no one would see her in her current state. She was doing pretty well not getting spotted until she slipped inside to find her mother sitting on a bar stool in the kitchen sipping her morning coffee. Her mom turned around at the sound of the door opening and smiled when she saw Clove, purposely ignoring her scandalous apparel.
Clove stared at her mom for a few moments before a whole new wave of sadness came over her. "Mommy," she said, her fragile voice cracking. Tears filled her doe eyes, as she stood there in the doorway looking more weak and frail than ever before.
"Oh my goodness, Clove. What's wrong?" her mother rushed over to her, wrapping her into a hug. Clove didn't answer her, instead burying her face in her mother's shoulder as she cried loud, disturbing sobs.
Her mother, the angel she was, didn't ask any questions. She rubbed Clove's back comfortingly, hugging her tightly. They stood there in the foyer like that for quite some time, and by the time Clove loosened her grip on her mom, her face was blotchy and drained.
"Do you want to talk about it, sweetheart?" her mom's voice was so kind and considerate, and Clove felt guilty for the umpteenth time in the past day. She couldn't tell anyone about this, much less her own mother.
Shaking her head, she answered, "No, not really."
"Okay," her mother smiled at her sweetly. "Just know that you can come to me with anything, anytime. I love you, darling."
Taking a shaky breath, she said quietly, "I love you, too."
As Clove stood beside her mom in that moment, she saw the caring woman inside of her for the first time in ages. Lately she'd been so busy planning parties and founding charities that she seemed to have forgotten that she was also a mother. Smiling a genuine smile, Clove turned on her heel and ascended the stairs to her room to plan her revenge.
Four hours and two espresso shots later, Clove had finally come up with the perfect plan to get revenge on Glimmer and Marvel, but there was no way she could pull it off alone. She needed her partner in crime, and she needed him now.
"Eleanora," Clove yelled, summoning her maid.
"Yes, Miss Clove?" she replied, her British accent strong, as she came running into the room.
"Get Peeta on the phone and tell him I need to see him as soon as possible."
"Yes, Miss Clove," Eleanora nodded vigorously, hurrying into the hall.
Clove laid down against her pillow, smirking. Gosh, she couldn't wait to see the look on Glimmer's face when her intricate plan unfolded right before her eyes, and Clove intended to have a front row seat.
Her phone vibrated on her bedside table, and Clove picked it up to find Marvel's name on her screen. Smirking, she accepted the call, successfully beginning her plan to revenge.
"Marvel," Clove chirped, desperately hoping that her acting skills were up to par.
"Clove?" he asked, sounding confused. "Is that you?"
"Why of course it's me, silly! Who else would it be?"
"You're…why aren't you…I thought you hated me."
"Well," Clove sighed dramatically, "I thought a lot about it. And I've decided to leave the past in the past. So you slept with Glimmer, who cares? I don't care if she's your first, as long as I'm your last."
Marvel let out an audible sigh on the other side of the phone, and Clove rolled her eyes, practically scoffing. As if she would let him off the hook so easily. "I'm so glad we can get past this Clove. And you will definitely be my last, I promise."
"Thank goodness," she said cheerfully.
"Clove?" he asked, and Clove rolled her eyes again. She couldn't help it; every single word he said pissed her off.
"Yes, baby?" she answered sweetly.
"I love you."
Well, that was uncalled for. She pushed down the lump in her throat, reminding herself of the dangers of getting her emotions involved in revenge.
"I love you, too," her voice was so fake that it disgusted her, but Marvel was buying into it hook, line, and sinker. Peeta appeared in her doorway, smirking. "I've got to go, babe, but I'll talk to you later."
Hanging up the phone and throwing it onto her bed, Clove leapt up and ran towards Peeta, flinging her arms around his shoulders and squealing girlishly. "Peeta," she said into his neck, "I've missed you so much."
"I've missed you more. It's been, what, two years?"
Clove nodded. "Two years too long."
"Definitely," he started, his charisma stronger than ever. "So Eleanora said you needed to see me. What's going on?"
"Are you still in touch with your devious ways?" she asked.
Peeta smirked, folding his arms across his chest. "More than ever."
"Wonderful. Because I have a mission for us."
"Who are the targets?" he asked immediately, plopping down on her bed.
"Glimmer Davenport and Marvel Rutherford."
Peeta quirked an eyebrow at her suspiciously. "I thought they were two of your best friends?"
"Yeah," Clove swallowed hard, "I did too."
"What happe-"
"Nothing that concerns you, okay? I just need your help."
"Alright," he mumbled before motioning for her to continue.
"Well first of all, I'm going to need to host a party in two weeks exactly. And when I say party, I mean over the top, insanely exclusive party. Everyone who's anyone in Beverly Hills has to be there, which will also include Glimmer and Marvel. Now, I know Glimmer's deepest, darkest secret -she told me last month- and I'm planning on using it as blackmail on her, but it's going to take a lot of manipulation and lies for everything to work out the way I've planned it."
"And what might perfect little Glimmer Davenport's deepest, darkest secret be?"
The corners of her mouth twitched upward in a smirk, and the words she'd been dying to tell someone since the day she found out rolled right off her tongue. "She killed someone."
Payback was a bitch, but so was Clove Carlton.
AN:
Hello lovelies! I'm not entirely pleased with this chapter, but it's about as good as it's going to get. I keep coming up with all these amazing plot points that I want to include in this story, but I'm so busy nowadays that I can never get them written :(
Anyways, this chapter was a bit on the scandalous side, and if you couldn't tell, I am one of the most un-scandalous people you will ever meet (I've done a total of about three semi-scandalous things in my entire life). That being said, sorry if the beginning of the chapter was really awkward.
Please leave me a review and let me know what you think will happen, what you want to happen, etc. You have no idea how happy I get when I check my email and I see a new review or favorite or follow on this story :)
~xoxo~