Chapter 9: Halloween Part I

Disclaimer: I don't own The hunger Games.

Clove:

Halloween should never, ever, be on a Monday. It shouldn't be on a school day, but for some reason, the universe deemed it appropriate to make Halloween on a Monday. Thank you, universe.

Clove would be spending Halloween alone this year. Her parents were out at a costume party. Gale and Katniss were hanging out with Posy. Thresh and Finch had piles of homework. And Johanna didn't want to do anything.

She was going to see if Finn wanted to come over to her place, but then she remembered Annie. The petite brunette was formally introduced to the group at lunch that day. Glimmer had probably gotten fed up with her and Finnick.

Annie was perfect for Finnick. Around her, he was himself. No flirting, just real conversations. He listened to every word Annie had to say. It was good to see that there's at least one stable relationship at Panem Academy.

She stopped at the Hob-the local super market-on her way home. She wanted to buy some candy to avoid getting eggs thrown at her house. Twenty minutes later, she was pulling up at her driveway. There he was, standing at her door. Waiting for her.

What was he doing there?

Clove made her way to her front door, fishing the keys out of her bag and getting in. The whole time, she ignored the blond waiting at the door. Almost immediately after she locked her door, she heard the doorbell ring. Over and over again.

"I'm not going away! There's gonna a be a lot of people out here soon and you're gonna have a great time explaining this to the neighbors!"

Hm...how would she explain a maniac at her door?

With a growl, she opened the door.

"What do you want, Cato?"

"I need to talk to you. Can I come in?"

"No." She said. He pushed his way in, using his size as an advantage.

"I said no. You. Can't. Come. In." She thought that if she repeated it slowly, he'd get it.

"I'm already here." He shrugged. "Effie got me a new tutor. "

"I know. She told me just in case I was concerned. I'm not. If that's all, you can go." Clove walked to the kitchen in search of a bowl for the candy. Cato trailed behind her, still refusing to leave.

"It's not working out. I'm here to ask if you'd tutor me again. You were Effie's first choice so you probably know what you're doing."

Clove put the bowl on a counter and faced Cato.

"You're serious? You're here asking me to help you?" He nodded. "No. I thought I could, since I'm a mature person, but honestly, I can't be around you for extended periods of time." She took the bowl and went to her living room.

"Very mature, Clove. Look, it didn't go so well the first time, but that was because you blew up on me. I have no idea what your problem is, but-"

"My problem? Okay, I'll tell you. My problem, is that you're here! You're only talking to me because you need my help. You should have thought about that when you and your buddies decided I wasn't good enough for your little clique!"

"Are you serious? That was forever ago! And you're the one that wanted to find new friends! You knew the Seam kids weren't Career material and you picked them over us! We let you do what you wanted." Cato's words brought a frown to her face.

That wasn't what she wanted. She wanted her friends to care about her thoughts and opinions, but they were too wrapped up in their elite group.

Clove wasn't bothered by their snobbish attitudes, not as much as she made it seem. That behavior was something she was exposed to from an early age; she behaved like that all the way up until high school. What really hurt was that her friends betrayed her. They chose status over her.

"I didn't want to have to chose between my friends! You all sided with Cashmere and you guys didn't even know her. You just sided with her because she offered you popularity." Clove ripped open a bag of candy and poured it into the bowl.

Cashmere Evans was a sophomore when she introduced them to the Careers. She was the one that made it clear that only those invited could join. Clove noticed she only asked the rich students to join and that made the Careers unpopular among the rest of the students. It was counter productive, so why not ask other people to join? Cashmere refused and the others did, too.

"You sided with the Seam kids! We don't know why, but you still picked them over us. Some friend you were!" Cato accused.

At that, she turned around and looked right at him.

"I know that!" She yelled. She had realized her mistake almost four years after it happened. They were blind to change and she was unwilling to explain anything. Her pride wouldn't allow her to admit she was wrong in hoping they'd just see everything her way. People don't change their beliefs overnight, but that's what she had expected from them.

"I know I should have tried to make you guys understand me, but would you have listened? No. If it hadn't been me on the other side, I wouldn't have cared. I would have thought it completely wrong because Seam kids are below us! I would have seen it as a betrayal and I would have immediately pushed that crazy person away. That's what happened with me and it was awful."

After she was shunned by the Careers, she was forced to be alone for weeks. It wasn't until Johanna finally took pity on her that Clove was officially friends with her and Katniss.

There was an awkward silence that formed after her outburst. It was the first time she was actually talking about it with one of them. She would have never expected it to be Cato, of all people. Maybe Glimmer or even Marvel. Glimmer who had been her shopping partner and best girl friend. Marvel, who told jokes that were so bad, she couldn't help but laugh.

Right now, it was Cato who was listening to her.

The seconds went by in silence.

Clove sighed. "I know you all hate them because they're not like us, no money or fancy houses. You make them targets for your bullying because they can't afford to pay their way out of trouble. If I hadn't bothered to at least talk to them, I would probably hate them, too. They are not dirt poor and they are not hobos. They're awesome people and you'd all know that if you gave them a chance."

She took a deep breath. Admitting your mistakes was hard work. Clove, however, was determined to set the example this time.

"I don't know why I thought you guys would get all of that. And I shouldn't just be upset about it. It was dumb." That was as close as apologizing as she was going to get.

Cato looked uncomfortable. As if he couldn't find anything to say. Clove was still hopeful that he'd at least say something She needed this whole thing to end and she'd done her part. She turned her attention back the candy bowl while she waited for a response.

He stuffed his hands into his pockets and then pretended to study something on her carpet, letting a whole two minutes tick by.

Fed up by the silence, Clove spoke. "You have nothing to say to that? I apologized for a being a bitch to you guys and you have nothing?" Perhaps she was right all along. They're terrible people through and through.

I give one of them a second chance and I get nothing! Unbelievable.

"Do you want an apology? Fine, okay, I'm sorry, Clove. I really am sorry that we couldn't be on the same page when we were fourteen, but I think that's because we were fourteen. I can't speak for Glimmer or Marvel, but if they heard you, they'd probably say the same thing. It was a long time ago and yeah, we were all pretty dumb."

"That's better than nothing, I guess. Apology accepted." She said that mostly to herself. She was tired of feeling guilty and angry when the Careers were around. Right now, she was full of relief. That grudge she had held vanished and she could see beyond it. She saw how pointless the whole thing really was.

"Cool. And I suppose I accept yours." He responded.

"Good." She gave a sharp nod.

That awkward cloud was looming over them again. It was threatening to invalidate the whole conversation, putting her back on square one. The 'I can't even look at you' square. Clove grabbed a piece of candy and twirled it in her hands. Cato was now pretending to kick up some imaginary dirt.

Someone had to say something. Luckily, Clove had something to say.

"You came to my house to ask if I would tutor you again. Knowing I'd say no, you still bothered to come and ask." She remembered why he was originally here. He couldn't have possibly expected her to agree.

"I figured I had to try. Sometimes you have to make an effort. And I wasn't going to prove you right, I actually plan on graduating on my own." Clove was astonished. When did Cato become the smart one?

"If you're really going to make that effort, I suppose I can give the tutoring thing another shot. You'll have to read on your own and finish your assignments. You can ask me questions and I can help you prepare for tests. Wednesday?"

It was his turn to look surprised. Clove assumed he thought she would ask him to leave and never speak of today again. She couldn't; she had promised herself that she'd give the Careers a chance to redeem themselves. She'd start with Cato. Clove would say they were acquaintances, now. Acquaintances who may or may not someday be friends. Besides, if she helped him she could prove to herself that she did give one of the Careers a chance. If he messed it up, it would be solely his fault this time.

"After school. Yeah." He finally replied.

"Okay. Is that it?" She asked carefully. It was still possible this was all a weird dream she was having.

"Yup. I'll go, then. See ya at school." He gave her a sort of half wave goodbye and then left the living room. There was no slamming front door this time.

Clove inhaled loudly. Weird, she hadn't realized she had stopped breathing. What a tiring and stressful day it had been! Productive, but still incredibly stressful. After this, she could look forward to a relatively easy senior year. Was no more drama, too much to ask?

This was really hard to write. Like, REALLY hard. I have no experience with this sort of thing. I just had to get Clove and Cato to talk again and I tried. In chapter 6, Clove realized she was being unfair with them. She gave up on their friendship just as fast as they shut her out of the group and both sides are to blame. So here is the opportunity to make up for it. If I have to rewrite this chapter, I will. Let me know what you think.

Moving on, part II will focus on the Johanna/Gale/Katniss/Peeta love square (is that a thing?), so look forward to it! Until next week, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!