Love or Hate || Modern Clato Fanfiction

TWO

CATO HADLEY WAS THE GOLDEN BOY of Panem Academy. Not only was he the finest ice hockey player that had attended the school, but he was also one of the most popular guys. Most girls had fallen for his looks long before they had actually talked to him. This, of course, was not something that would go unnoticed by anyone, and many would flirt with him in order to try and gain his affection. Cato always knew their intentions and would simply keep up his flirtatious act, only to break their heart later on.

     Throughout his time at Panem, only a few girls managed to date him, but none lasted more than a three month. They always wanted more from Cato that he was willing to give, which they thought was unfair. Most started rumours about how far they had gone when they were together, and over the years, Cato had grown tired of having to correct people when they mentioned it, so he just left it and hoped that it would eventually stop. However, he was wrong, and the rumours only grew.

Cato sat at a white desk, books sprawled across the surface of it as he banged his head on one of his textbooks. His grades had never been that amazing and studying had never come easily no matter how hard he tried to focus. Taking a deep breath, he stared down at the math question once more, trying desperately to understand. None of his friends had been especially good at algebra, and their explanations had been even worse, so he needed to try to figure it out on his own.

How the hell does anyone do this stuff? Cato couldn't help but think this as he stared down at his math work before getting fed up with it and shoving his textbook back on the shelf next to his desk. Staring out of the large window to the left of him, he realised how much he missed being at home. His family decided to take a small vacation to New York for the summer holidays, but he wanted to be back home in Canada instead of the busy city.

He never understood why anyone would rather be in a big polluted city instead of a small town where everybody was familiar with one another, but did admit that the lights of New York were beautiful. Leaning back in his chair, he sighed loudly and stared at the phone sitting on the grey bed sheets. Without thinking, he walked over to his bed and turned on his phone.

As expected, Glimmer had texted him in the last hour that he had been studying, but he didn't feel like dealing with her crap at the moment, so he made a mental note to reply later. A few messages from Peeta had also come through and he was surprised to see that it was regarding a new girl.

Peeta: yo guys
Peeta: did you hear about the new girl?
Gale: no
Gale: who is she?
Gale: is she hot?
Peeta: how the hell am I supposed to know
Marvel: yo I just met her
Gale: what's she like??
Marvel: short lmao

Panem didn't usually get new students, so this news came as a shock to him. Not feeling like contributing to the conversation from an hour ago, he dumped the phone back onto the bed and let out a loud sigh. As he sat beside his phone, he realised how strange it was that Jack hadn't contributed to the conversation at all.

Jack — who he had known since freshman year — was always interested in new excuses to get away from work, and trying to find out who the new girl was seemed to be the perfect excuse for Jack to avoid doing the holiday project that he and Marvel had to complete. However, Jack had mentioned a cousin arriving today, so Cato didn't think anything of it.

As Cato closed his eyes, ready to have a short nap, his door burst open, making his bolt up and stare at the intruder standing at the door.

"Cato, I'm hungry." The small blonde girl standing in the doorway stared at her brother, her lower lips sticking out slightly.

"What do you want?" Cato sighed as he guided his sister out the door and towards the kitchen.

"I'm not sure..."