Panem High School

Revenge

Marvel's POV
I sit on my front porch, waiting for Cato, my parents too busy with work to notice I slipped out. I can see the light on in Glimmer's bedroom across the street. I wonder what she's doing. I'm about to give into the temptation of throwing rocks at her window when Cato's car pulls up and I get into the passenger side. We quietly leave my neighborhood and drive to school.
"What did you bring?" Cato asks.
"Silly string and spray paint, just what the doctor ordered, you?" I reply.
"I got us a way in without tripping the alarms. My dad isn't a fan of Professor Coin, so he purposely left his ID on the kitchen table. With it, we can get inside the school without breaking and entering."
"How's Clove?"
"What do you mean?"
"Dude, the whole reason we're going through all this trouble is for Clove. We're getting revenge because Professor Coin was mean to her. You drove her to get her sister, then home, so how was she?"
"She's okay, Willow isn't making it easy on her. I think she just needs it to be over."
"She also needs to be able to go to school and not have to worry about being made an example by Professor Coin."
"That too." We arrive at the school and see Sagara already there.
"I have paint and brushes and some weird slime that Cress has. I'm not sure what it is, but he has two gallons of it and gave this one to me last week." She explains as she holds it all.
"Hey Hadley, you think you can handle taking something before my arms give out?" She asks. Cato takes the gallon of slime and we enter the building, the ID working. We silently enter Professor Coin's room and the finished product is a room full of phrases and drawings like "Snow Rules" and a few adjectives to describe Professor Coin, written by Sagara. We exit the school satisfied with our job.
"The bitch had it coming." Sagara states as she walks to her car. Cato and I drive back to Area 1. I slip into my house, my dad working in the office and my mom...
"Marvel Hermes James!! Where have you been?" My mom asks.
"Um... well... I..." I stutter.
"Were you out with Cato again doing who knows what? I swear, I'm gonna have a talk with Mrs. Hadley about what she lets Cato get away with. Do I even wanna know what happened?"
"It was something for Clove."
"You took part in an act of revenge?"
"Yes, Professor Coin was being a real-"
"Got it, go to bed. You have school tomorrow and it's late." I race up to my room and went to bed. The next day I'm waiting for Cato and Clove when Glimmer walks out of her house.
"Hey, you're actually on time today." She shouts.
"Very funny." I reply.
"How long did it take you to do your hair today?"
"Only 20 minutes."
"Only?" I roll my eyes as Cato and Clove arrive and Glimmer and I get in the back.
"Hey Clove, what would you do if I ever called shotgun?" I joke and see Clove glare at me through the mirror.
"I would still sit here." She replies.
"What if I sat on your lap?"
"I would push you off of me and into the middle of the road." Cato and Glimmer chuckle as Clove continues to glare.
"Now that's not very nice."
"Wasn't suppose to be."
"Okay... moving on. How was the prank with Sagara last night?" Glimmer asks as Cato tries to laugh and drive at the same time, Clove getting so concerned she almost grabs the wheel several times.
"It was fine until my mom found out I snuck out. Apparently she's going to have a talk with Cato's mom about it, should be interesting." I reply.
"Oh crap, my mom doesn't know." Cato says.
"Sorry." We arrive at school and are about to go our separate ways when Headmaster Snow walks outside with a bullhorn.
"What's going on?" Sagara asks as she walks up to us.
"No idea." Clove replies, but I feel my stomach drop as Professor Coin joins Headmaster Snow.
"Crap." Cato mutters.
"Attention all students, a crime was performed at this school last night. Professor Coin's classroom has been vandalized. We are looking into the security footage and the IDs that were used last night. Anyone who knows anything should come forward now. Whoever is guilty will suffer severe consequences. Thank you." Headmaster Snow announces.
"Please tell me you guys remembered the security cameras." Clove says, turning to Cato.
"Whoops." Sagara says and Clove groans.
"I. Told. You. Not. To. Do. Anything. Stupid." She manages to spit out as she repeatedly hits Cato.
"Ouch, I forgot one thing. Maybe there weren't any that picked us up. Her classroom is right near the entrance, maybe we got lucky." Cato says.
"What are you guys gonna do?" Glimmer asks.
"I don't know, but my dad is so screwed. I used his ID to get in, he practically gave it to me." Cato says.
"Maybe Snow won't punish us. I mean, if your dad supported this, maybe Snow will too. Professor Coin has always bashed Headmaster Snow, he probably won't even care." I say.
"I highly doubt that, Pretty Boy. All I know is, the moment my family finds out, I'm sleeping outside." Sagara says and she leaves, I following since we're in the same class.
Valerie Hadley's POV
The sudden ring of the doorbell tears me away from my thoughts. I open the door and see Satin James looking very unhappy.
"Hello Satin, how may I help you?" I ask.
"Can I come in? I'm afraid there's an issue." She states.
"Sure, what's the matter?" She walks into my house and I shut the door, joining her at the kitchen table where she sits down.
"Lovely home, I love the colors. Anyway, it's about your son and his boundary issues."
"Boundary issues? You don't mean to say he's been... inappropriately touching other people, right?"
"Oh gosh no, I wasn't talking about those types of boundaries, I was talking disciplinary wise. I don't mean to step on your toes, but recently I've noticed that Marvel has been getting into trouble and the common thread in all of those incidents is your son, Cato."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that my son snuck out last night and thought he got away with it. He had cans of spray paint and silly spray and didn't come home until around 10 at night. Now, I would never assume it was some other kid's fault for why my son behaved the way he did, but I'm pretty sure Cato was the mastermind behind this certain plan."
"What makes you think that?"
"Well, I've noticed over the years that Cato and Clove have grown close and Cato always protects her, stuff like that. This particular plan was revenge on a teacher for saying something mean about Clove. I don't mean to assume, but that has Cato written all over it."
"Cato and Clove are friends?" Satin furrows her eyebrows at my question and I feel my face burn up.
"Valerie, they're best friends. Closest friendship in the group. How could you not notice?"
"I-I don't know, I mean, I haven't let Cato have them over here in a really long time, Invictus has been having a lot of work stuff going on ever since he was promoted, but that's no excuse for me not knowing my son's best friend. Wait, I distinctly remember when he was 8, his first year of training, that he hated her."
"He did, well, if you count 8 as old enough to really hate. Cato and Marvel hated the girls back then because they were, well, girls. They were always pulling pranks on each other, kinda like a gender war. Then at the end of their second year of training, they all realized cooties didn't exist and called a truce, thus beginning their friendship."
"Who else is in this group?"
"It's Cato, Clove, Marvel, Glimmer, and Sagara."
"Why don't I know this?"
"I don't know, not to sound rude, but have you talked to your son in the past 8 years?"
"Yeah, about training and his studies, but he doesn't really like talking to me. He likes his dad, which I guess is typical of a boy his age."
"I'm sorry Valerie, I didn't realize you were kept out of the loop for so long. Didn't you notice all the times Cato got in trouble?"
"When has Cato ever gotten in trouble?" Satin grows silent and looks down at the ground.
"Maybe you should talk to Invictus and I should go."
"No, obviously Invictus wasn't going to tell me the first time, why now? Tell me everything."
"Well, there have been many times they've gotten in trouble, but most recently was last night. Didn't you notice Cato snuck out?"
"He told me he was crashing early."
"He lied."
"What happened? Did they get caught?"
"I don't know, I didn't want to know the details, but I do know that they vandalized her classroom, judging by what Marvel brought home last night." My mouth goes dry as something clicks in my head.
"Satin, the IDs they would need to get into the school, who would have them?"
"Headmaster Snow, his secretary, the school nurse, the janitors, the teachers, the cafeteria workers, and any other school official."
"Would being the lawyer for the school call for having an ID?" Satin's eyes widen.
"Yes, but you don't think Cato stole his dad's ID, do you?"
"No, I don't think he stole it, I think he was given it." Satin excuses herself as she takes a phone call. How could I have missed it? Invictus always hated Alma Coin, even when we were classmates he despised her. When Cato came home fuming about her, Invictus must've helped him, indirectly. The one time Invictus does something besides work and it's something illegal. It's identity fraud, not to mention it led to vandalism.
"Valerie!! We have to go." Satin says as she begins to push me out the door.
"Why?" I ask.
"That call was the school, they figured out who vandalized the classroom. Apparently even your husband's ID can't turn off the security cameras." The two of us rush to the school and are met by Monique Garner at the door.
"You guys too? Should I be expecting Glimmer and Clove's moms as well?" Monique asks.
"I thought it was just Cato and Marvel." Satin states as we enter the office.
"Headmaster Snow will see you in his office." Effie Trinket says. We walk inside and see Sagara, Cato, and Marvel sitting in chairs in front of Headmaster Snow's desk, Alma Coin standing in the corner, and Headmaster Snow observing us all.
"Hello Mrs. Garner, Mrs. Hadley, and Mrs. James, I assume you know why I called you down here, but just in case, I'll refresh your memory. This morning we found Professor Coin's classroom severely vandalized. There was spray paint, silly spray, paint, and a weird slime concoction all over her walls. There were phrases and words that are inappropriate for a school environment and the ID that was used belongs to Mr. Invictus Hadley. When checking the security cameras near the entrance last night, there was a clear picture of these three students with bags of supplies." Headmaster Snow explains and handed me back the ID.
"Anything you three have to say about this?" Monique asks.
"We're sorry?" Sagara asks.
"Is that a question?"
"Well, I'm not sorry." Cato says.
"Cato!!" I exclaim.
"I'm not, she had it coming."
"Cato, you're not helping." Marvel says.
"What disciplinary actions will you be taking?" Alma Coin asks.
"All three of you will have detention for a week and are not allowed to use the training facilities for a month." Headmaster Snow orders.
"I meant the parents. I'd like to know what you three plan to do about this. It seems to me that parents from the areas you live in let their kids get away with everything. This is illegal and I want you to make sure it doesn't happen again, especially since Mr. Hadley doesn't appear to regret his actions at all." Alma spits at Monique, Satin, and I.
"Believe me, this matter will be dealt with. I wouldn't be so quick to make assumptions like that though, Ms. Coin. I know you didn't have the easiest childhood, but that's no reason to be stereotypical when it comes to teaching my child and her friends. In fact, I believe there's some backstory to this, knowing my kid, am I correct, Ms. Coin?" Monique challenges.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Oh I think you do, Cato, would you care to politely tell Headmaster Snow what happened? You were there."
"He'll say anything against me, he's mad at me because he got caught."
"Well, then we can always call in Glimmer Cantrell if you'd like, or maybe Clove Sevina, the victim?"
"Cato's fine, we can't have half the school in here." Headmaster Snow says.
"Of course. Cato." Cato explains and the meeting ends shortly after that, Headmaster Snow requesting to speak with Alma Coin alone. Monique and Satin go to speak with Sagara and Marvel and I with Cato.
"Cato, how did you get your dad's ID?" I ask.
"Doesn't matter." He replies, walking away from me. I chase after him.
"Yes, it most certainly does. Did your father give it to you?"
"So what if he did?"
"He shouldn't be supporting your actions, what were you thinking, Cato?"
"I was thinking that Clove has some issues going on and that I wasn't about to let Professor Coin get away with taunting her about it. Neither were Sagara or Marvel."
"Have you been doing this a lot? Breaking into schools, vandalizing, talking back to your teachers?"
"Shouldn't you know that by now?"
"You're right, I should, but I don't. You don't tell me anything and I guess you haven't done anything illegal until now because the school hasn't told me anything either."
"You can take that up with Dad then, but I have to go back to class."
"Cato, I'm not done talking to you."
"Well I'm done talking to you." I stop chasing him as the bell rings and students begin to fill the hallways. I watch as he joins a girl at her locker. Clove. I walk closer to them, trying to hear what they're saying.
"That's all he gave you?" Clove asks.
"Yup, told you, he hates Coin just as much as we do. He's talking to her right now about how she should be talking to her students." Cato replies.
"I still think what you guys did was stupid. I mean, I'm all about getting revenge, but next time can it be legal?"
"I guess, if you wanna take all the fun out of it. What period is it?"
"Lunch."
"Finally." The two of them walk away and disappear around the corner. So that's the girl my son trusts more than his mother. That's about to change.
Gale's POV
I sit at the lunch table with Katniss as she glares at the Careers table.
"What did they do now?" I ask.
"Sagara Garner, Marvel James, and Cato Hadley were the ones who vandalized Professor Coin's classroom last night." She replies.
"Really? How bad is their punishment?"
"On a scale from 1 to 10, 1 being slightly severe and 10 being incredibly over the top, -11."
"What?"
"Their punishment is a week of detention and no training for a month."
"Are you kidding? They committed like three different types of crimes. Breaking and entering, vandalism, and identity fraud because you know Cato stole that ID from his dad."
"I realize, Snow just gave them a slap on the wrist and sent them on their way. It's ridiculous, if it were me and you in that classroom, do you think we'd get off that easy? No. We'd probably be publicly whipped or something."
"Lapdogs. All of them."
Cato's POV
Sitting out during training is sucks.
"You know, this might not be such a bad thing. We can get to know other people's strengths and weaknesses." Marvel mentions to Sagara and I.
"That's actually kinda smart, Pretty Boy. I'll watch the freshman, Pretty Boy, you can watch the junior guys, and Cato, you can watch the junior girls." Sagara orders and we go silent, studying each person. Clove isn't on knives today, she's on swords, my expertise. To say the least, she's having issues. Swords are too big for her, too bulky. They're trying to round her out, but it's not working. I let out a laugh, which of course she hears. She whips her head around and glares.
"Stop watching me, Hadley, at least I'm allowed to train." She taunts and goes back to trying to wield the sword. I roll my eyes and turned my attention to Glimmer. She's at archery, with Hawthorne. I watch as Glimmer fails to hit 50% of her targets, where Hawthorne only misses 12%.
"Cato!! Hello?? Earth to Cato?" Marvel asks while waving a hand in front of my face.
"What?" I ask.
"You've been staring at Glimmer and Hawthorne for 10 minutes, you okay?"
"Yeah, just thinking strategy."
"Yeah, me too. You see those two small girls at the climbing station?" Sagara asks.
"Yes." I reply, Sagara pointing out a girl with tan skin and black hair and a girl with pale skin and blonde hair.
"They're freshmen, one of them is from area 11 and is competing this year, her family needs the food. She's very small, they both are, but she's an excellent climber. She's supposedly new to training and yet she's been beating everyone at the net. Her name is Rue. No one else from the freshmen are good enough yet, unless everyone is at their worst station." After training is finally over, Sagara, Marvel, and I join Clove and Glimmer and leave. We're about to go to our cars when I see my mother.
"You have got to be kidding me." I mutter as my mom notices us and walks over.
"What are you doing here?" I ask.
"Never left, I went and talked to your guidance counselor about you and he said that we should have a family meeting. So, I called your father and he's coming home from work so we can have a family dinner. You'll have to dress up, we're using the good silverware and eating in the dining room. Now come on, I'll drive you home. Your punishment is that you can only use the car for driving to and from school, that's it. I'm sure you all can get a ride with Sagara, right?" My mom explains.
"Mom, Sagara lives in the opposite direction as the rest of us."
"I'm sure her mom will understand, I'll give her a call when we get home. See you all soon." My mom begins to drag me away and I turn around and share a look with Clove and Marvel. Clove shrugs as Marvel holds in laughter as my mom practically shoves me into the car and drives away.
"What the hell was that?" I ask as we begin the ride back home.
"Don't talked to me like that, Cato. That was me being a mother to a son who apparently isn't punished enough." She replies. I don't say anything else, my anger growing as we got closer to my house. We pull into the driveway and I see my dad's car already there. The moment the car stops I go to my room and put on my formalwear. I turn to my body mirror and study my reflection.
"Cato!! Dinner!!" My mom yells. I slowly trudge downstairs and see my mom and dad sitting at opposite heads of the table. I sit down and begin to eat my food as my mom begins to talk.
"Invictus, Cato got in trouble today." My mom states.
"Really? They caught you? How?" My dad asks.
"Security cameras." I answer.
"Damn, I forgot about those." I hold back laughter when I see my mom's look of shock.
"You mean not only did you give him the ID, you openly supported his decision?" My mom asks.
"Well yeah, Alma Coin has always had it out for me and when Cato told me about his dilemma, I happily gave him my ID. She can't just get away with calling Clove's dad a rebel when he's not. We've known Jason since we were kids, no way would he ever support Alma Coin's beliefs. She deserved what Cato, Marvel, and Sagara did. End of story."
"Not end of story, you can't just give Cato your ID because you don't like that certain professor. That's not how it works. I know Alma Coin is a piece of work, but she doesn't deserve to have her classroom vandalized."
"Yes, and although Clove Sevina may be a little rough around the edges, it doesn't give Alma Coin the right to attack her in the middle of class with some of her conspiracy theories."
"It always leads back to Clove, doesn't it? You know, I just don't see how some girl is worth risking your education and your reputation."
"Clove is not just some girl, she's my best friend. What I don't see is how you haven't even had a real conversation with me in years and yet now that I'm suddenly in trouble you think it's okay to tell me who I should hang out with and to what lengths I should go to in order to protect them? Do you realize how ridiculous you're being?" I exclaim.
"I am not being ridiculous."
"It sounds a little ridiculous to me." My dad injects.
"Well nobody asked you, Invictus. It's not like you're dad of the year or anything."
"No one asked you either, Mom." I remind.
"No one has to ask me, I'm your mother. Look, I'm not saying I don't like Clove, just that maybe you should dial it down a bit. Her family is going through some things and you don't need to be in the crossfire."
"Do you hear yourself? You call yourself a real mother?"
"I am a real mother, I'm your mother. I love you. I'm just trying to protect you."
"Are you protecting me or my image?" With that, I stand up and begin to leave.
"CATO!! DON'T YOU DARE DRIVE THAT CAR!!"
"DON'T NEED TO!!" I storm off down the street, feeling some of the neighbor's eyes on me, but not caring. I keep walking, my anger not going away. The nerve... she doesn't even know me... or Clove. My anger makes it almost impossible to finish a thought, but I know how to get where I'm going. I reach Clove's house and take a moment to compose myself. The last thing I need is to explode on Willow and make her cry. Several deep breaths later I'm knocking on the front door. Willow opens it, but before I can even open my mouth there's yelling.
"You didn't have to be so brutal." I hear Mr. Sevina say.
"Brutal? I'm just telling her what she needs to improve. YOU GUYS THINK THAT WAS BRUTAL?! She needs to learn that it matters what she looks like. She can't keep going around with that casual hunter look or whatever it is she's wearing." I hear Mrs. Sevina reply.
"I'm just gonna close this." Willow states and shuts the door behind her.
"I'm here for Clove." I say.
"No duh, she's in the back, throwing knives. Just a warning, she's in a mood. Our mom was in a bad mood when she got home and was very quick to turn on Clove. Needless to say, it didn't end well. Good luck." I walk to the far edge of the huge Sevina property and see Clove throwing knives at a tree. Seeing Clove reminded me of how horrible my mother was being, and that's all it took for my bad feelings to show up again. I walk until I'm directly behind her. She raises her arm for another throw and I quickly grab her wrist. She spins around and looks as though she's about to kick me in a very bad place.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? I could've killed you." She exclaims, ripping her wrist out of my grip.
"My mom is a terrible person and so is yours." Her anger begins to drain away.
"What happened?"
"My mom is trying to control me, she wants my image to be pristine. Apparently she believes that you're ruining it and is trying everything to get me to desert you."
"She's not wrong."
"What?"
"Yeah, hasn't my mom told you? According to her I'm not worthy of the Sevina name and she wishes I would just change whatever she says is off putting about me."
"Mind if I join you?"
"My pleasure, just try not to accidentally kill anyone. I know knives aren't your thing." I mock her as I pick up a knife and begin to throw.
"So, they're really going at it in there." I say between throws.
"Still?" She asks.
"Yup."
"To be honest, I'm just counting down the days until the Hunger Games so I can leave this place, hopefully forever. And take Willow with me."
"I know what you mean." We keep throwing knife after knife until we're tired. Clove stops and takes a drink of water. She then takes a good look at me and laughs.
"Don't you look..." She begins, but starts laughing again.
"I think he looks handsome." Willow says as she joins us with water for me.
"You could say that."
"I hate these clothes." I mutter. The three of us fall silent, listening to the sounds coming from the nearby woods. It's peaceful. Was.
"CATO!! CATO HADLEY!!" I hear my mom scream.
"CLOVE!! WILLOW!!" Mrs. Sevina yells over my mom.
"Well, it was nice while it lasted." Clove mutters and we all walk back to where our mothers are standing.
"Clove, how could you hide Cato from his mother? She's been worried sick. It's despicable-" Mrs. Sevina begins.
"It's not that bad, Oreta." My mom says.
"Yes it is. Not to mention he's in his good clothes. For goodness' sake, Clove, use your common sense for once."
"Oreta, Clove isn't the problem, Cato is. He's the one who ran out without saying where he was going. Clove didn't force him to stay or leave in the first place."
"I find that hard to believe. At least Cato dresses nicely. Why can't you do that, Clove? What is so difficult about acting like a girl for once?" I can feel Clove tensing beside me and Willow cowering behind me.
"To be fair, I made him dress up."
"At least he listens to you, Clove just refuses. Then there's Willow who dresses nicely, but with a name like Willow she sounds like she belongs in the 1st or 11th area. It doesn't help her case when you think about how she doesn't have a talent yet. Honestly, why did my perfect child have to desert me?" I clench my fists, my face growing red as I try to hold in some choice words Willow should not be hearing.
"I, um, I think it's time to go." My mom says. I look back at Clove and Willow as my mom drags me out, Willow in tears. It takes most of my strength to not attack Mrs. Sevina right there. I sit next to my mom in the car and she begins to drive home, in complete silence. I go to my room once we get home and try to get ahold of Clove, but she never replies.