I don't own The Hunger Games.
It was a chilly night at the beach, but the huge fire that blazed in front of Marvel was keeping him warm. Any minute now, the burning would begin, and athletes would start to burn Miami State memorabilia. It was a tradition that had been running for as long as anyone could remember, and a few of the home comers from years before had turned out to see it. Marvel could see Lyme, drink in hand, laughing with a few seniors she had known. He was staying far away from his cousin's worst nightmare.
"Gather round everybody!"
Madge could be loud when she wanted to be. The music was turned down and everybody gathered around the bonfire in a circle. There had to be almost the whole of the upperclassman population of West Palms High at the beach, and Marvel was glad he had a spot near the front.
"The cheerleaders would like to thank you to coming to the West Palms High annual bonfire party!" It was always a bit of shock to Marvel when Annie yelled, but that was only because he was so used to her being quite compared to some of the other members of his group of friends- cough Johanna Mason cough.
"We're gonna pass over to the captain of the football team, Cato Stone now-" Madge was interrupted by a huge cheer, mainly coming from the girls in the crowd. Marvel rolled his eyes.
"-and he's going to start off the burning!" Annie finished off Madge's sentence with a laugh.
The football team whistled Cato as he stepped forward from his spot next to Clove, into the middle of the circle.
"How are you guys doing tonight?!" Cato asked the crowd, and they cheered back in response. Marvel had seen Cato do this at rallies before, and at last year's burning. He loved playing the character, getting the crowd all riled up. Sport was his whole life.
"I just want to take the opportunity to promise you that come Friday, we as a team are going to throw everything into the game and make sure that we arrive at the dance as champions of the Homecoming game!" Cato grinned at the crowd, who cheered and stamped their feet. He turned around and said something to Clove that Marvel couldn't hear. They'd grown closer again over the last few days. Marvel was glad of that- they seemed to bounce off of each other and both made the other one happy. Clove handed Cato what she had been holding, and he held it up to the crowd.
"I'm starting the bonfire off by burning this jersey!" The back of it read 'BILLINGS' in block letters. "It used to belong to Bryce Billings, Miami State's star linebacker. It's been lying under a bed just waiting to be burned for a while now, so…"
With a whoop, Cato threw the jersey onto the fire. It spluttered a shot a little higher in the air before dropping back down again. The crowd cheered again. One by one, the football team each threw something onto the fire. Jerseys, flags, banners- anything branded with the Hornets' logo went in. After the football players were done, Clove and Johanna stepped forward holding stuffed toy tigers. Marvel was actually pretty surprised that Clove was here, considering she was playing tomorrow in the biggest game of her high school soccer career.
"As you guys may or may not know, we're taking on the Tallahassee Tigers tomorrow evening in the state championship!" Clove announced. The crowd was so pumped by that point that it nearly deafened Marvel.
"We're gonna need as many of you there as possible to help carry us home!" She continued.
"We're going to kick ass, so you had better be there!" Johanna yelled, followed by a whoop. Together, they threw the tigers onto the fire and high-fived. A few of the other soccer girls threw some things onto the fire, and then it was the turn of anyone else that had something to burn. Marvel burnt his report cards from the last year. The cheerleaders all burnt pompoms that were in the Hornet's colours. Johanna threw somebody's wallet onto the fire.
Marvel was retreating from the hot flames when he caught sight of her. Her face glowed in the dim orange light, and her perfectly styled hair was flecked with ash.
"Melissa." He breathed as she stopped in front of him.
"Marvel. Hi." She smiled tightly. They hadn't spoken since Marvel had confessed his love for her- he was pretty sure that she had been avoiding him.
"I wanted to talk to you." Melissa said after a few awkward settings. She took his hand and led him a little way down the beach. She sat down in the sand, and Marvel sat down next to her. Small waves crashed on the shoreline only a few metres in front of them. Marvel was close enough to Melissa that he felt her take a deep breathe before turning to look at him.
"I'm sorry I've been avoiding you." She said, finally meeting his gaze with her own.
"It's cool. I probably would have done the same thing." Marvel shrugged like it was nothing. The truth was, he would never do something like that- but he understood entirely why she had.
"No, it's not cool." Missy sighed. "I'm sorry."
Marvel patted her shoulder awkwardly in an attempt to reassure her.
"I wouldn't have reacted in this way if I felt nothing for you."
Marvel's whole body froze. He didn't even dare to breathe. Missy looked up at him, her blue eyes full of confusion.
"What do you mean?" He tried to keep his heart from racing, but the anticipation was killing him.
"I thought that Cato was this god, you know? Like all the other girls, I got so caught up in my fantasies and who I thought he was that I became completely oblivious to the fact that… Well, I don't know him like I convinced myself I do. I don't know him like you do, or like Johanna does, or like Clove does. He's a great guy, I do really like him. I don't want to hurt anyone- but ever since you said you liked me, I've realized that I kind of have a thing for you too." Melissa admitted. Marvel wasn't one hundred percent sure he understood everything she was saying, but he had definitely understood the last sentence. His heart was out of control in his chest.
"What-" He had to clear his throat. "What are you going to do?"
Missy smiled weakly up at him. She looked beyond tired.
"I don't know, Marvel. I really don't know."
…
"No pressure, Clove. This is only the biggest game of your life so far."
Talking to herself really wasn't helping Clove has she pulled her knee high socks on over her shin pads. She wasn't usually one to let the pressure get to her, but then again, she had never played in a state championship before. At newly seventeen, she was the youngest captain West Palms had ever had. They never had junior captains. If she could lead them states and end their campaign in a win… Well, colleges would be practically throwing scholarships at her come senior year.
"You're white as a sheet."
Ah, Katniss Everdeen. Always observant in Clove's times of need.
"Wow, Kat. Thanks for your really helpful statement." Clove snapped at Katniss as she plaited her hair down her back. Katniss shrugged in response. From Clove's right side on the wooden bench, Johanna was laughing as she tied her cleats.
"She's always tightly wound on game days, Everdeen, you know that. Imagine what must be running through her head right now." Johanna never seemed to get nervous before games, ever. Clove hated that.
"Fuck you, Johanna." Clove fixed her dark hair into a bun. "This game is nothing for your future."
Johanna had already been offered a few scholarships based on her prowess in both sports and academics. Even if she turned them down, her family had enough money to put her through university one hundred times straight.
"Hey." She was rarely serious, and Clove knew enough to listen to the older girl in these moments. "We drilled these girls ourselves. Enobaria and the two of us have shaped them into a dream team. We can do this, Clove. And even if we don't, this game isn't the be-all end-all for your college career. You've taken us this far, and you have all of next season as a senior as well. We're unstoppable, you hear me?"
It was time to swallow any nerves she had. Game face on, Clove nodded her head.
"Loud and clear."
If she had spared a moment to think about the size of the crowd, Clove would have thought that they'd get the same half-filled bleachers turnout out that any girls' sports usually got, except for maybe a few extra stragglers. She would have been completely wrong. The bleachers were packed full of West Palms students, all screaming their heads off as the girls ran onto the field. Clove's friends were stood in the front row yelling for them, but she didn't notice. It was game time. The only thing on her mind was soccer.
The rain started ten minutes into the game. The soccer field had already faced the brunt of the season's bad weather a few weeks ago. The grass beneath their feet turned to mud, and the ball became hard to control. They had trained for situations like this of course, but it was still difficult to keep the ball firmly at their feet. Twenty minutes into the game, they found themselves down by one goal to nil. The Tigers' fans were growing rowdy, and West Palms had quietened down slightly. The miserable conditions and losing score was getting to them. Going into half time, they were down two goals to nil.
"You need to step up your game, girls." Enobaria gathered them around, covered in mud, once they were back in the locker room. "You're getting crushed out there. You're better than they are, you all know that. You just need to prove it now."
They all looked to Clove, who could be fairly motivational when she needed to be.
"Defence, you have got to stop their attempts. They've had way too many. You guys are fierce, and you're going to stop them in their tracks from now on. Just get the ball out from under their feet. I know the conditions are against us, but they're against them too. We can beat them on pace in the midfield, and it's all about the passing game when the ball's with us in their end. Run circles around them and keep passing the ball on. We have to get ahead, these guys have been the strongest penalty taking team in four years. We've trained for this. We've lived and breathed soccer for the last few months. It's all come down to this game, and we will crush this. Hands in!"
The team, caked in mud and already exhausted, put their hands in atop each other in the middle.
"Warriors on three. One…Two…Three, Warriors!"
The second half was brutal. Clove and Johanna got a few attempts in each, but they were either wide of the goal or blocked by the goalkeeper or a defender. They were struggling, and with half an hour left to go they were still goalless.
"We can do this, girls! Come on!" Clove yelled encouragingly.
And that was when it happened.
Johanna had gone in for a tackle on one of the Tigers' biggest defenders. The girl had smashed her elbow into Johanna's temple, and she had gone down hard.
"Jesus Christ." Clove heard Katniss mutter as they gathered around her. The vice-captain was out cold, which would probably haunt Johanna for years to come in terms of her reputation. Clove was outraged. The referee had done absolutely nothing, claiming that he had seen no foul play. The whole of the West Palms turnout was booing, and Clove was seeing red as Johanna was stretchered off. Johanna, who was one of the best striker sin the state. She was one of Clove's closest, most trusted friends. She had supported her all semester, through everything that Clove had faced both on the field and off of it. Foul play resulting in injury wasn't the end to the season that Johanna deserved, and Clove wasn't okay with that. Apparently, nobody had told the Tallahassee Tigers not to piss of Clove Ashlar.
Three minutes on the clock after Johanna's unfortunate exit from the game, and Clove had scored West Palms' first goal. The crowd went crazy, chanting her name and singing songs. Her team bundled on top of her, and Clove allowed herself a moment of joy before slipping back into steely determination.
"We're only halfway there, girls. There's a hell of a lot more work to do." She warned, before the game kicked-off again. They didn't have to wait long for the next goal. Ten minutes later, Clove fired a short ball to a senior named Mollie, Johanna's replacement. She scored, and the stands erupted once again. The next fifteen minutes after that were goalless.
"A total of four minutes of injury time has been allotted." The announcer's voice crackled over the speakers. The rain was still coming down hard, but the fans had cheered up.
"Come on! Let's get this done!" Katniss yelled, running out for the ball. Clove knew they needed a goal. She didn't want to face penalties against the strongest penalties team in the state without her second striker.
The minutes trickled by. There was no goal in the first. No goal in the second. Then in the third, disaster struck. A Tiger's girl, who was very clearly offside, kicked the ball for a long, looped goal. Clove waited for the referee to disallow the goal, but he did not. She wanted to scream and tear her hair out.
"Come on you lumps of lard! Don't tell me I got knocked out for nothing!" Johanna Mason, as conscious and annoying as ever, stood on the sidelines, aided by two crutches. Clove shook her head, grinning. She looked to the bleachers, and caught the eye of Cato Stone. He nodded at her. He had every faith that she could win the game. Everyone that loved her was there, watching. They all believed in her. A loan ray of sunshine broke through the dark clouds and the rain, lighting up a single strip of the pitch. Clove took it to mean than even her mother had turned out to watch her.
"There's no way I'm losing this game." She muttered. There was one minute on the clock, and they were a goal down. But Clove knew in her heart that this game was hers.
Twenty four seconds into the final minute, and her head found the ball in the opposition's half. Katniss fired the ball at her. It was a little wide- Clove dived forwards, the top of her forehead smashing the ball into the back of the net. She blocked out the cheers of the crowd, and ran to the middle to restart the game before her team could even celebrate.
Thirty seconds left. The Warriors regained possession in the midfield. Twenty seconds left. Katniss tore through the mud with the ball. Fifteen seconds remaining. The ball was passed to Mollie, who gained them precious yards as they edged closer towards the goal. Ten seconds. They lost possession. Seven seconds. She quickly got the ball back and passed to Clove. Five seconds to go. Clove was fast, but there were three defenders on her tail. The goal was still a way ahead of her, but it was now or never. She threw all the strength she had into the kicking the ball towards the back of the net, envisioning it crossing that white line to gain them victory. It soared through the air for a few terrifying seconds, before blistering past the goalkeeper and connecting with the back of the net. Two seconds remaining.
Her team were on Clove in a second. They piled on top of her, screaming and laughing. When Clove finally pulled her way to the surface, laughing herself, she could Johanna jumping like a madman at the sidelines. West Palms supporters were starting to make their way down the bleachers, ready to run out onto the field to congratulate their team as state champions.
They played out the last two seconds, and it was like the floodgates broke. The fans ran out onto the mud covered pitch, engulfing the celebrating team in seconds. Clove was thrown into the air, followed by the other girls on the team. Soaked through from the rain, she was passed from hand to hand as they celebrated together. She felt a large pair of hands grip her waist and pull her back down to the ground. A hand was around her wrist, pulling her towards the tunnel before she could even process that it was Cato that had yanked her down.
"Where are we going?" Clove laughed. She was a state champion- she had never been so happy in her life.
"Away from prying eyes." Cato answered without turning around to look at her. He pulled Clove into the tunnel that the teams ran out of at the start of each game. He spun her so that she was stood against the wall, and before she could understand what was going on, his lips were on hers.
Her bruised, exhausted body seemed to flare to life again. She ignored every part of her that told her to push away, that it was wrong, and wrapped her arms around Cato's neck. Her fingers slipped just below the neckline of his T-shirt and a shiver ran through his body as they kissed. Cato had one hand in her loosening hair and one hand around her waist, burning her skin with his touch. The feelings of wrongdoing faded the longer they kissed, and Clove allowed herself to be lost in everything that was her and Cato.