I don't own The Hunger Games.
"So you're just going to ignore me then?"
Clove froze, her eyes automatically squeezing shut. Her gym bag hung from her shoulder- she was two minutes away from reaching the soccer pitch where she would be playing the in semi-finals against Jefferson High from Tampa. She had managed to avoid Cato for a day and half, but there was nothing she could to stop him from calling except turn her phone off and hope he took the hint.
"That's the way it's going to be?"
"It doesn't have to be that way." Clove said, turning around to look him in the eye. She was thankful that she could hold a stony glare even in the most heated of moments.
"Yeah, if you take my calls and don't ignore me." Cato didn't even look mad, he just looked confused.
"Or you could just leave me alone. If you don't speak to me, it's not like I'm ignoring you." She reasoned, smiling in a patronizing way. She turned on her heel and started to walk away.
"I don't understand why you're doing this, Clove. Did I, like, say something wrong or whatever?" Cato followed her, but Clove had been expecting that he would and was ready with a counter-argument.
"No, Cato. You're just the kind of person I don't want to associate myself with." It hurt her to push him away like this, but she had to do it. For her sister.
"What the hell do you mean by that?!" This time, Cato was mad. It sucked for Clove- she had genuinely liked him for a moment there. She imagined this situation wasn't too great for Cato either, mainly because he had no idea what was going on.
"It means that whatever this was…It's done." Clove knew how to be heartless, how to be cruel, and it was serving her well right now.
"I'm not going to fight for this if you're going to be that way." Cato threatened, still hot on her heels.
"So don't." Clove shrugged. Acting bored and uninterested in the conversation would surely kill him- slowly at first, but then all the way.
"Okay, I lied. You could shove me in front of a bus and I'd still want to fight for you. Don't you get it? I think you're pretty special." Cato overtook her and looked her in the eye. Clove tried to get around him, but he sidestepped to block her way.
"I have a game to get to." She said calmly.
"What's going on with you?" Cato asked, ignoring what she was saying in the hopes of hearing what she wasn't. He rested his hand on her shoulder and Clove sighed before slapping it away.
"Okay, Cato. You're going to have to not touch me." She spoke slowly, as if he were a small child. "Now move, or die."
Reluctantly, Cato stepped out of her path and watched as she walked away from him.
...
Johanna liked to think of herself as a detective sometimes. She noticed the little things- the way her last boyfriend would sigh and look away whenever she started talking about soccer. She noticed how Gale Hawthorne used to look at Katniss the way he now looks Madge. She noticed that when her brother handed her a stack of ten dollar bills and told her it was the hundred he owed her, it only felt like eighty.
However, it didn't take a detective to notice that Clove was pissed.
She could see it in her eyes- all the girls on the team could. Clove was well known for being short-tempered and angry, but this was a whole new level. Their goalie had only just made it through the warm-up with her.
"Clove." Johanna pulled her aside during the pre-game. "If you're going to cause problems, you should sit this one out."
"In the semis? No way." Clove scoffed.
"Sure?"
"I can do this." Clove assured her, steely defiance set on her face. Johanna nodded to her and jogged into position as the referee blew his whistle to tell the girls to get into place.
"83! 83!" Clove yelled. The soccer ball was wedged under her foot, awaiting kick-off as she called the play. The whistle sounded for a second time and Clove pushed the ball backwards to Cecelia. In turn, she passed to Katniss who made a run before passing to Johanna just outside of the box. Johanna was quick to set Clove up with a shot. She banged it at the goalkeeper with such force that the ball rebounded off of the girl's hands and shot halfway down the pitch.
"72!" Clove screamed. Johanna sighed- angry Clove was a hundred times more competitive than normal, passive aggressive Clove. Mackenzie, a midfielder, went up for the header and propelled the ball back towards the front three, consisting of Clove, Johanna and a senior named Kelly.
"Clove! Bike to ramp!" Johanna yelled, and Clove nodded her acknowledgement. Johanna jumped so that her legs were in the air almost above her head and went for a bicycle kick. Clove got her head on it and angled it into the gap in the goal. The ball landed in the back of the net, and the West Palm girls cheered along with the roaring crowd.
"Yes!" Clove high-fived Johanna excitedly. "That was such a great assist!"
"Damn right it was! I'm getting the next one though." Johanna grinned and slapped some of their teammates on their backs.
"Alright girls, great work! Let's get back on it!" Clove instructed. Johanna hadn't lied- she did get the next goal. And the one after that, and after two Jefferson goals, the one after that. Clove scored another, an absolute ripper of a goal that must have taken some of her anger out as it almost broke the goalie's hand before it flew in. They won the game five goals to two, and the girls had never screamed louder in their lives.
"We're going to finals!" Johanna cheered as the team jokingly bowed down to her. "Hat trick, baby!"
"What about me?" Clove laughed. "Your amazing, loyal captain?"
Johanna shoved her over and laughed before helping her to her feet again.
"Come on, dipshit. The party starts at nine."
Later that night, Clove found herself sat at the bar with Katniss, watching as Melissa cornered Cato. Finnick was off doing God knows what with Annie, Johanna was making out with a guy from the hockey team, Gale and Madge were no-shows, and the twins were laughing with Marvel and some of the their friends from the cheer squad.
"I didn't even want to come." Clove sighed, sipping her water.
"Seriously? This party's basically in your honor!" Katniss poked her in the shoulder. She was wearing a short black dress similar to Clove's own. "You need to lighten up- finals baby!"
"Fuck that. It's bedtime, baby!" Clove mocked, slamming her paper cup down on the bar.
"Look, Clove-"
"No, Katniss. I don't like that tone." Clove cut her friend off as soon as she softened her voice. It usually meant a confrontation, and she didn't handle those well.
"I don't know what happened between you and Cato but-"
"I'm not listening!" Clove covered her ears with her hands. "Lalala!"
"He keeps looking over here, and-"
"Lalala!"
"Do I even want to know?"
The two girls turned around and laughed when they saw Peeta, looking rather confused.
"No, you don't. Just take Katniss and go dance." Clove shoved Katniss towards Peeta, who smiled shyly and did as he was told.
It didn't take long before her seat was filled.
"Bryce."
"Clove." The dark haired boy nodded to her and took a swig of his beer. Clove noticed Cato glaring from the other side of the room as Melissa tried striking up a conversation with him.
"So here's the thing." Bryce started. "I'm sorry about Lorelai and-"
"Bryce. Stop talking." Clove instructed. He did so, and raised an eyebrow.
"Just trying to apologize. I don't want any bad blood between us. I'm not a bad guy." Bryce explained. The longer he stayed sat with Clove, the harder Cato's glare grew.
"You think I don't know that? I wouldn't have dated you otherwise." Clove rolled her eyes. "Anyway. I'm trying to shake this guy off of my tail and I need you to make out with me. No strings attached or whatever, it won't mean anything."
"You want to use me?" Bryce frowned.
"Yes." Clove replied in a no-nonsense tone. "Problem?"
"Nah. I'm down with that." Bryce shrugged. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her off the bar stool to stand in between his legs.
"Just like how we used to do it." He murmured, before roughly grabbing Clove's face and furiously kissing her. Clove tugged on his hair, kissing him back with all her might. It was passionate and heavy, and she could feel Cato's eyes burning holes into her skull.