Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games and the characters. Only the plot line and some characters are mine. :) enjoy!
I was in the winter of my life, and the men I met along the road were my only summer.
At night I fell asleep with visions of myself, dancing and laughing and crying with them.
Three years down the line of being on an endless world tour, and my memories of them were the only things that sustained me, and my only real happy times. -Lana Del Rey
'Wanna keep your friendship with bread boy? Break it off with him, and I'll show
him these -X'
Clove put down the note and picked up the pictures. They were photos of her and Cato kissing from different angles of the camera. What was disturbing was that the photographer caught Clove actually leaning in. She wouldn't be able to explain this to Peeta.
"Hey Peeta, Katniss just texted me and announced that breakfast is ready!" she lied.
Peeta began to pack up the towels an umbrella and as soon as Clove noticed he wasn't looking, she walked on ahead with the box in her hands.
She got into the house which was bustling with different auras. For instance, Annie seemed to be avoiding Finnick, Jackie was bubbly, and Katniss and Gale were nowhere to be found. Everyone sat down to have a nice breakfast together. Clove observed the scene of the table. Everyone was awkwardly sitting quietly until Finnick cut the thick silence.
"Guys this ridiculous" he left the table and after a few minutes, brought back his phone and plugged it into his surround spoons speakers. To say that the Odair had a great amount money was an understatement, his parents designed this building to perfection. Back at the table, music blasted from the ceiling.
'Seems like everybody's got a price I wonder how try sleep at night when the sale comes first and the truth comes second just stop for a minute and smile'
"I love this song!" Jackie and Annie screamed together.
"Jinx"
"Double jinx bitch"
"Jesus Christ, call the record books!"
"Whoa" they said, still in sync.
"Guys can you shut up, that's creepy" said Thresh.
"Why don't you?" Annie and Jackie said together once again, and the table burst into laughter. From then on, the mood of the table lightened. Clove watched as Annie politely asked Finnick to pass her the syrup and he obliged. Jackie was seated next to Marvel, who which Clove thought she hated. Marvel had caught Jackie staring at him and winked at her. Clove raised her eyebrows at this exchange and continued to observe. Johanna was strangely quiet as well as Cato. Peeta was happily chatting with thresh and Madge was wiping Rue's chin because she had gotten syrup on it. Prim giggle at Rue and Clove smiled at the scene.
"Hey Clove, why aren't you eating?" asked Annie, always the gentle, motherly one.
"Oh, I'm not very hungry." Clove replied.
Everybody raised their eyebrows, dumped the remaining food from the breakfast platter onto her plate and forced her to eat until her stomach was about to burst. Afterwards, Clove slipped discretely into the bathroom and began to purge. As she lifted her head from the toilet, she swore she saw a light flash outside the small window of the restroom. She walked back towards the group and found them planning out how the rest of the evening would go.
While the group was planning how their day would go, Katniss and gale stumbled into the room laughing. The room suddenly got quiet as gale whispered something into her ear and she burst out laughing. The couple then walked into gales room.
"Sooo..." Finnick began. "Shall we head to the beach?"
As soon as everybody agreed, they packed their things and headed towards the sand. Clove noticed that Prim seemed a bit unhinged.
"Hey baby, are you okay?" she asked
"Yeah I'm fine," Cato replied with a wink.
Clove rolled her eyes, "not you dumbass, I was talking to little Primrose over here."
Prim pulled Clove away from the group and said, "It's Kat. I'm worried about her. She hasn't been around very much and she's usually with Gale."
Clove soothingly rubbed her back. "It's alright my dear, she'll come around. Maybe you should talk to her? I haven't spoken her after a while either. It's probably because she has gale now." Prim whimpered.
"It's going to be fine. She wouldn't forget about you, especially because your mom makes Katniss call her like every day."
"Now that you mention it, my mom's been calling me instead. She says that katniss hasn't been picking up her phone."
'What has she been doing lately?' Clove thought to herself, 'I never see her anymore.'
"That's strange, but it's okay! You don't need Kat, you have all of us other girls that will stick with you through thick and thin!"
Back with the rest of the group, Finnick and Ryan were speaking with each other.
"So… How's Cresta?"
"I honestly don't know man. I'm crazy about her. She's a fireball" Finnick laughed. Ryan noticed the spark in his companion's eyes while he spoke about Annie. "I mean, she's sometimes she's just so snarky but it's entertaining. She's hilarious and so beautiful. She doesn't even know it."
"Bro, you're scaring me. Stop trolling" teased Ryan. Finnick sighed and walked towards the water. As he walked along the shore, he thought about where he and Annie stood. After days of shameless flirting and hand-holding, he wasn't sure where the couple exactly stood. Were they dating? Was this just another one of his careless flings? No, absolutely not. There was something special about this girl. Not just her perfect looks, but her carless and playful personality caught his attention.
The sun began to set and the group sat together in a large huddle around the bonfire. Katniss and Gale finally joined the group and sat down after doing whatever the hell they were doing. Clove sat in between Peeta's legs on the sand with Primrose on her lap. Any passerby would assume they were a young family.
Katniss sat next to Prim and asked, "Hey kiddo, how are you doing today?" Prim stayed silent and merely leaned back against Clove's stomach.
"She's upset her sister doesn't spend much time with her" Clove explained. Katniss nodded to Clove thanking her and turned to Prim.
"How 'bout we have a girls day out tomorrow. Just you and me, we can stop by Greasy Sae's and then check out that southern elite pageant in the plaza a few miles away." Prim ignored Katniss. "C'mon kiddo, you've always loved watching the spoiled little girls prance around on the stage and throw tantrums after not winning high titles!" Prim thought about this for a second. She loved going to random pageants with Katniss and make fun of the young and cray cray girls on the stage. 'It would be like old times' she thought. After thinking it over, Prim eagerly agreed to hang out with Katniss the next day.
Clove noticed Cato continuously glancing at her. The next time he did look at her, he caught her staring dead ahead at him. He looked away but still felt her burning stare. As he became more uncomfortable, she smirked and looked away. These small moments were special to Cato. He thought of them as a connection between himself and Clove. She however, brushed any thought of flirting or showing compassion to Cato, afraid this ridiculous 'X' person would hurt him. 'You know what?' she thought to herself, 'I need to show 'X' that he or she doesn't scare me. They can't hurt me with all these people around me without getting caught, and I could probably take them on anyways.' Clove always had a knife with her. Strapped to her ankle, her thigh, in her purse, or when at home where nobody would care, an accessory, keeping her hair up.
She dragged Peeta away from the group. "Hey Peeta, I need to confess something". Peeta held Clove from behind her waist and kissed her cheek.
"Yes love?"
"No. Stop. This isn't helping me." Peeta spun her around and looked her in the eye.
"What is it?"
"Well, a few days ago, Cato and I kissed outside on the porch while you were sleeping." Clove confessed, waiting for an explosive reaction.
"That's it?" asked Peeta.
"What do you mean 'that's it'?"
"Well, you're only human. I mean, we all make mistakes you know?" Peeta replied in the most nonchalant way possible. Clove's mouth hung wide open. Peeta chuckled and pulled her in for a hug, then, they both sat down on the sand. After a while of silence, Clove finally spoke up.
"I think we should take a break from this relationship". Peeta gave her a puzzled look.
"Why do you think that's a good idea?"
"Long story short", Clove pulled her phone and the wooden box from 'X' out of her bag. "There's a creep running around spying on me," Peeta read through the messages "They keep on black mailing me and it's starting to get on my nerves". Clove opened the box so that Peeta could look through the note and pictures "If we break up, he or she won't be able to hurt any of us. But even if 'X' wasn't here, it still wouldn't work out. I love you Peeta, I really do. Just not in a boyfriend kind of way, you know?" Peeta nodded understandingly and held her close.
"I'm glad you told me this. You could've told me sooner you know. What kind of best friend would I be if I didn't understand your dilemma?" Clove smiled and snuggled into the crook of his neck.
The two walked back to the group and saw that everyone was starting to pack up. After they finished, they began to walk back to the house. Finnick was ahead of the entire group with Annie a few steps behind him. Prim was sleeping on Gale's shoulders and Rue half asleep piggybacking on Thresh's back. Clove, Peeta, Ryan, Cato, and Johanna all walked in a row talking amongst each other and Katniss walked behind Gale, afraid that Prim would fall off his shoulders. Marvel carried Jackie, who was fast asleep, bridal style. Madge, her usual unsocial self stood behind everybody surfing the internet on her smart phone. Suddenly, out of nowhere a car came out of the dark. The last thing Annie saw after laughing at one of Finnick's jokes was very bright headlights. Screams exploded everywhere amongst the group.
"OHMYGOSH!"
"ANNIE"
"SOMEBODY HELP!"
Ding! Ding! Ding!
'Scared now Clovely? You should be baby. Tell anyone else, and I'll rip your pretty little head off. Remember, I play with real body parts, not dolls.'
Hey Readers! Thank's for all your patience with this story. I'm really, really sorry that it's been nearly a month since I last updated. About my new story, It probably won't be posted until mid April. Sorry! I honestly never knew high school would be such a hustle. :( I have no time for anything. Like seriously, ANYTHING. But bear with me, and I'm sure you won't be disappointed by the outcome of these stories! If you have any suggestions for the story, let me know! So who do you think Gale should end up with, Madge, or Johanna? So far Johanna is in the lead so good job Johalers! Keep trying Gadgers! Who do you think 'X' is? So, I'm trying to get to at least 50 reviews before the next chapter so please help! Love ya'll! If you have any questions, I honestly don't care. JK. I'd be completely happy to answer them! Remember, don't forget to R&R!
P.s. If you don't like the chapter or the story anymore, help me understand what I should do to change it! Really! I would love you hear all of your opinions!