" Clove how dare you!"
I did not have enough time to answer her. She slapped me so hard I fell to my knees.
"How long have you been seeing that-that- son of a bastard!"
I remained silent, not weeping, nor showing any fear to what they could do to me.
I didin't notice that my dad was now standing in front of me.
He kicked me hard in the gut sending pain all over the body.
"Answer me! How. Long?!" He raised his voice enough to wake Silver.
Why are they doing this to me? I stood facing him wearing a calm and serious face.
"He.Is.My.Friend."
He flushed more. He did not expect that I will answer back.
"Clove!" My mother interjected. "You will not see him again!"
"Why should I obey you?! All this time I followed your rules and regulations, do whatever you desire. Why can't I have a choice of my own?!"
"If you won't stay away from him-"
"What will you do? Lock me inside home? Cut off my allowance?"
"No. You have no idea to what we can do to him."
An evil grin flashed across his face. But I know how true his words are. The mayor. He's one of my father's closest friend. His powerful authority.
Horror swallowed me. Pictures of Cato being tortured, beaten, or worse killed, flooded my mind.
Once again, I fell to my knees, not by physical force, but by being emotionally tortured.
"Now, be good and obey us. Or else I'll dispatch your pathetic boyfriend. Forever."
Morning.
Problems began spinning around my head again as soon as I opened my eyes. There's no way I can escape.
I decided to go to school. Just for another distraction. At least I don't have to torment myself.
Absent mindedly, I walked towards the room staring at nothing.
Reality came back when I collided with someone. I looked up and regreted. Bella Levin. The oh-so-elegant bully in our school.
"Oh please. Don't you have eyes? Bitch!'
She walked away leaving me dumbfounded. Ughh. Now I remorse my decision to go to school. I can't comprehend straight.
"Clove!"
I stiffened as I recognized the voice behind me. I should run, right? But I can't do that now. He's too close.
Pretending not to hear a thing might not be the best idea. Running, or at least walking hastily might be better. But what choice do I have left. My legs were cemented to the ground. My mind was shrieking for me to run, walk away as fast as I could.
"Clove, are you alright?"
Too late.
"Cato, go away." My voice faltered but still containing the dullness I desired.
"Why? What happened?Did they hurt you?"
I did not answer. My eyes fought the temptation to look at his perfectly framed face.
"Clove," He lightly shook my arm, but I still manage to keep quiet.
"You won't answer me eh?"
I gasped when he abruptly scooped me and carried me like a sack of rice.
"Cato! Put me down!" I started whacking his back.
"We are going somewhere."
Is this some kind of sick joke? I did not argue with him. I'm not such a scandalous person. Besides, I won't win.
He started running to a place I have no idea.
There's so many questions pestering my mind right now. Where are we going?What is he planning to do? Am I getting killed? Yeah. I know, the last question's stupid.
He halt and I automatically lifted my face to wander the environment. More of a field. He put me down and I continued to wander. At the bottom I saw the Vvictors Village. Twenty-four luxurious houses standing side ny side.
"You see that?" He pointed towards a huge vacant house at the village.
I nodded as a reply.
"Soon, we'll be graciously living there with our children."
Our children? Meaning our own family? Maybe he's talking about Silver and Sapphire. But why me?
"Cato. What do you mean?"
His warm, soft hands cupped my face and looked me intently in the eyes. I felt blood rushing to my cheeks.
"I love you, Clove Eastwood"
Were my ears cheating me? My heart raced more and my face flushed redder. He loves me? He loves me! I wanted to jump out of joy. Here I am standing still, motionless, speechless, but inside my mind I'm jumping, shouting, celebrating. I'm so confused why I feel this way. I shouldn't feel this. He's my friend.
"This is the reason why I wanted to volunteer. I wanted to win. Not for honor or pride, ot even for my family. I wanted to win for us. For our future."
"Cato. What-what about. Cato our parents! Think of what they would say! Have you-"
His lips met mine. I don't know what to do. The sane part of me tells me to pull away. That this isn't right. I should be stopping this. I should run right now. Yeah. I should. But I can't. Because the lunatic side of me wins. Craving his lips, screaming for me to respond. It's like my body has its own mind. The next thing I knew was I was clinging to his neck, synchronized by every movement he make.
I was totally out of my senses. All I see now is a picture of me and him, watching two healthy children playing in our garden.
What I saw was our future. A good... No. The best future I would live with, and pay any price, no matter what it is.
Now I finally understand why it was impossible for me to let him go. Because I was positively, inevitably in love with him. Too.
We finally pulled away and gasped for air.
"I love you Clove. I don't care about what people would say. As long as we have each other, I'll be the happiest person ever to live"
"I love you, too."
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~Clove Cullen
