Welcome to Panem Private (Clato, Katniss/Peeta)

Chapter Seventeen

Cato POV:

"Morning." Clove smiles at me as she wakes up.

"Good morning." I say, holding back a yawn.

I wish we could have went through our plans last night, but I'm not going to rush her. I understand when she says she wants it perfect. I don't blame her.

"Time to get up for school. I have to run home. See you at school." She pecks me on the lips and walks out of my room. She's the cutest.

I slowly get out of bed and throw on my uniform. I walk to the bathroom and mess up my hair a bit so it looks acceptable. I eat my breakfast and I'm ready to go.

When I get to school, I go to find Clove. After about five minutes of looking I find her sitting in front of a row of lockers concentrating really hard on a book that was assigned for our English class.

"Hey slacker." I joke with her.

"Shut up, I'm so behind on this book." says Clove, not looking up from her book.

"George kills Lenny." I tell her spoiling the end of the book.

She doesn't look up at me and keeps on flipping the pages frantically. While she's doing that, I play a game on my phone. I try to hold in my frustration with this game. Ugh, I fucking hate Flappy Bird.

"Finally." Clove sighs and she throws the book down on the floor. I see her staring at the wall intently. She's obviously thinking really hard about something.

"Clove, are you okay?" I ask. She doesn't move. Just keeps staring. "Clove?"

"Oh what sorry?" She says after breaking out of a sudden trance.

"I asked if you're okay. You're sure thinking."

"Yeah, it's just my mom told me some stuff about my dad that I can't get my mind off of. She said he got a new job, but it was none of my business. Maybe that's why we left. He said he had work in the capital." She spills to me.

"Hm, you don't hear about Peacekeepers getting higher jobs that often. Your dad must be good at his job." I tell her. It was rare how he gets to be able to keep moving like this. He must have something big to do with the Capital and President Snow.

"Yeah. I just need to get my mind off of it. Hey so are you excited for the big game?" She asks me.

Oh shit. I completely forgot about football. The game is in two days. This game decides whether or not we go to the championship, and I'm not sure if we'll be able to. Two of our guys are out on injury and we need them. We had to recruit some mediocre freshman boys. Speaking of the game, I really need to ask her to Homecoming. It's Saturday, so I better get it done. I assumed she was going to still be in District Two so I was just going to go solo.

"Yeah. I'm kind of nervous." I admit.

"Don't be. I have total faith in you. And if you don't go to the championship, you have basketball to focus on." She says smiling slightly.

"Yeah, basketball is my favorite." I tell her.

"Same here. I bet I'm better than you." She says teasing me.

"Nah, I'm way better. One on one game sometime." I declare.

"Oh you're so on." She smiles. Just then, the bell rings and we seperate for class.

When the end of the day comes, I have to go to practice so I can't hang out with Clove. Kind of a bummer, but we kind of need the practice.

Clove POV:

Since Cato has practice, I head right home to try and catch my dad. Luckily for me, when I get home he's there.

"Dad?" I call as I walk into my house.

"Yes?" He says as I find him putting on his shoes. He's not wearing his Peacekeeper uniform.

"Mom said you got a new job. Is that right?" I ask cautiously.

"Yes. Since the death of Seneca Crane, I stepped up and I'm the new Game Maker. You probably won't be seeing me for awhile." He says.

Are you kidding me? Game Maker? Usually the people who do that I hate. Hey, my dad fits perfectly. I can't believe I ever wanted to go into the Games. What was I thinking? I try to think positively, my dad was always nice to Jax and Lyla. He even loaned some money to both of their families. He might be a little easier on them in the games.

"How is that even possible? You're from District Two. Won't they think you'll favor them?" I ask. Shit, I shouldn't have said that. Maybe now he won't be nice to them in the arena.

"I signed a contract saying I would be fair. I'm going to go. I'll see you sometime later." He says while passing me and heading out the door. "I love you Clove." Psh, yeah right.

"Bye." I say blankly as I turn away from him and walk to my room. I need to get my mind off this. I've pretty much spent the whole day distracting myself.

I grab a basketball and head down to the park. Basketball always helps me get my mind off things. Well that and throwing knives, but I want to keep my mind off of the Games.

I start just shooting around and focus. I work on my free throws, three-pointers and ball handling. After about two hours, it starts getting darker. I decide to head home. When I'm half way home, I get a text.

Katniss: Wanna come over? Movie night w/ the group! 😀📺

Clove: Sure! Be over in 5. 👍

I turn around and head over to Katniss' house. Oh, shit. I'm super sweaty and Cato's going to be there. Too late now.

Once I arrive, I see everyone lounging around the living room. There's a spot right next to Johanna so I go and sit by her.

Hey's and hi's are murmured around to me.

"Hey." I return.

"Ew. You smell." Johanna jokes.

"Well sorry I couldn't go home and shower." I laugh.

"What were you doing?" Cato asks.

"Basketball. Getting ready to kick your ass." I smirk at him.

He chuckles. "You wish."

He kicks Peeta out of his spot and he walks over by Katniss. Cato smiles at me and pats the now open spot. I walk over to him and plop down. We cuddle into each other.

"Johanna was right. You really do smell!"

I play-smack him on the arm and try to hold in a laugh.

"So did you figure out about your dad?" He whispers.

"Yeah. Follow me." I say as I walk to Katniss' room. "You'll never guess." I say as we get to the room.

"What is it?"

"He's the new Game Maker." I tell him.

"What? That's crazy! How do you feel about it?" He asks me.

"I'm angry, upset. I don't know, it's just shocking. He's such a monster. I wish I could just kill him."

"He's your dad, you wouldn't kill him."

I shrug and he gives me a hug.

"I love you Clover. Don't worry." He smiles.

"I love you too."

We walk downstairs and I see the room full of balloons. I look back to see Cato and he's no longer behind me.

Suddenly Peeta, Katniss, Johanna, and Finnick hold up a 'HOMECOMING?' sign. I feel a tap on my shoulder and Cato is standing there with flowers.

"Oh my God, yes!" I smile and give him a huge hug. "That is seriously the cutest."

"You're the cutest." He flirts. I press my lips to his and kiss him.

No matter how bad I feel, he can always make me feel better. How did I get so lucky to have someone like him?