The Beginning of the End (Clove Kentwell)

Chapter 18

     Iris heard boots hitting the ground as they stepped onto the hovercraft waking her up. "Oh surprised your here." Iris heard Boggs say to she guesses Clove. "Yeah I would rather be here early and ready to go rather than late and holding everyone up." Clove responded. She didn't hear Boggs say anything else but she heard multiple people sit down not saying anything. "Just refresh me..... Where's our first stop?" Clove asked and Iris smirked to herself knowing exactly what she was doing. She listened intently to what Boggs was going to say. "Clove we went over this already." "Well yeah but like I said it's like a refresher just to jog my memory." There was silence for a few seconds then, "District 12" she heard her innocent little Max say. Iris smiled hearing his voice again but she quickly listened back into the conversation. "Oh right, thank you Max." Clove said but then after there was silence and Iris heard the door close then the hovercraft started to lift gently off the ground.

   Iris got bored and started twiddling her thumbs, and she didn't know who it was but every time she even tried to go to sleep someone would snore so loud it sounded like a bomb was going off. Iris got irritated every time but learned to deal with it and just not go to sleep but to pass the time. Instead she played with her hands acting as if they were people out on a walk or fighting each other, and once she was tired of that she made up her own games in her mind. One game she came up with was thinking back to what good memories she did have with her, then she was close her eyes and try to live it again but she would eventually always be cut off by whoever was snoring. She tried other games like eye spy but then realized that she can't play the by herself , then she tried to play search and find with herself by naming a random object off then trying to find it in the hovercraft, she sometimes even almost got caught because she was trying to peek around the edge of the crate trying to see if a walkie talkie was there.

   As she was in the middle of a search and find game she heard someone get up and start walking her direction. Iris reacted and squeezed her eyes shut and curled into a ball trying to look as small as possible hoping they wouldn't see her. The footsteps stopped right beside her, she opened her eyes and saw warm brown eyes staring back into her own. Iris held back a smile then mouthed "What are you doing here?" Concerned. "Relax their all asleep." Clove said sitting down next to Iris and chuckling. Iris rolled her eyes, "Ok so what are you doing here?" "Well I have been wanting to ask why your here?" Iris didn't respond as she looked at Clove then quickly down at her hands in front of her. Iris could feel Cloves eyes on her making her nervous. She moved her legs around trying to cover up the uncomfortable silence between them. "So..." Clove asked once more. Iris's eyes flicked up to her then back down to her feet in front of her, she clasped her hands together. Clove reached over and rested her hand on top of Iris's hands. Iris looked at their hands then up to Clove seeing those soft brown eyes looking right back at her. Iris's heart started beating really fast again, she was sure Clove could hear it. Clove gave her a reassuring smile, so Iris decided to speak up, "Well..... I really came for Max...... I mean he is my little brother and I am not going to let someone like Coin take him away." "Understandable." Iris heard Clove say to the side of her nodding her head. They both went silent but Iris could still fell Cloves eyes on her. Iris looked up and saw those brown eyes staring right back at her. Iris's eyes lingered a little to long as she saw Clove have a small smile inch into her lips. Iris looked down, "You should get some rest." Iris said messing with her fingers. "I'm not going back until you fall asleep." Iris rolled her eyes looking at her, "Just go back to your seat so they don't find me." "No" Clove answered back plainly shrugging her shoulders. Iris looked back up at her and saw her making herself comfortable by leaning against the crate. Iris rolled her eyes once more looking away. "So.... I have another question." Iris heard Clove say almost afraid to speak. Iris nodded gesturing for her to go on. "Why do you hate me?" Iris froze not knowing what to say she tried coming up with sentences in her mind but as soon as she went to say them they fell apart and Iris forgot. "Iris?" Clove said making Iris snap out of it and regain focus. "I..." Iris paused for a moment trying to find the right words, "The capitol really messed me up...not only did it mess me up it also messed up my brain, as in my memories, thoughts, and feelings." Iris looked down at her hands. "What do you mean by memories?" Clove asked as she kept pushing to get and answer out of Iris. Iris turned and looked her in the eye, "Every memory I have if you.....is you trying to kill me, or being rude to me. I don't have a single good memory with you, and Snow pounded it into my head that I needed to get revenge." Iris sighed, "...and now I don't know what to think." Iris put her hands over her face and squeezed her eyes shut. She felt warmth come over her hand as Clove grabbed it softly. Iris looked over at Clove then quickly looked back down at their hands together. Iris heart rate started to speed up, and she felt like her palms were getting more sweaty by the second. Clove brought their hands to her mouth and kissed the top of Iris's hand. Iris felt her face turn red so she quickly looked down and softly pulled her hand away from Clove. "You should probably go sit back down before they wake up and find me." Iris said still looking down at her hand. Clove sat there for a second and Iris could feel her eyes on her but then Clove stood up without another word and disappeared behind the crate. The top of Iris's hand still felt warm from Cloves soft lips on it. She replayed the moment in her mind still blushing. Iris leaned her head back against the crate as she felt the hovercrafts vibrations under her smoothly soar through the air. Iris put her hands over her chest and smiled closing her eyes and falling asleep.

Iris woke up when she felt the hovercraft come to a jolting stop. Iris slipped her back pack on waiting for everyone to leave the hovercraft so she could exit. "Alright team check the crates if you need more supplies." She heard Boggs say as the rest of the team was getting their bags ready. Iris winced and hoped no one came to get more supplies, but of course someone had to walk over. She saw someone's foot come out from behind the crate then disappear. Iris sighed quietly, they must have changed their mind. Iris heard more footsteps coming her way so she squeezed her eyes shut...waiting. The footsteps got closer and she heard one of the crates next to her open. "Food is in that one." She heard Boggs say. The footsteps came up right behind the crate she was hiding behind. They popped the lip off then tried to slide it off almost hitting Iris. Iris dodged as it hit the ground beside her. "Aww man the food I want is on tue other side." She heard a quiet voice say. Iris clenched her jaw and kept her eyes squeezed shut. The footsteps came around the crate then stopped. "What Max?" Iris heard Boggs say walking over. "I-Iris." Max said as Iris opened her eyes and looked up at him. Boggs moved Max out of the way and looked at Iris in disbelief.
"Iris!" He shouted scolding her.

(I think I might just keep posting every weekend, if that is okay with y'all. I understand it is a longer wait but it helps me be able to work on a chapter or a few chapters all week then post them on the weekend. I apologize if there are any mistakes in this chapter because is did not read it over to check like I usually do, but nonetheless I really hope you enjoyed it. Clove and Iris are starting to rebuild their relationship. Anyways, stay safe out there and you guys are the best. :)