Distractions (Hunger Games/Clove)

Last Training Day Part 3

I rushed through dinner, anxious to see Clove again. One thing would not leave my mind though, how on earth had that girl from 12 manage to outshine us again. Now I'm not a particularly jealous person but this girl is really starting to get on my nerves with her innocent quirky act and clothes that reflect fire. The mentors tried to be very positive and complimentary about our scores because after all a 10 and an 8 aren't something to turn your nose up at but I could tell that they were thinking about that 11 as well. I mean, come on, there are 6 trained careers in the games this year and some girl from an outlier district gets an 11, I could pay to know what she did to get that score. After we finished dinner, I downed the rest of my drink, which was citrus flavoured sparkling water and it was delicious, and excused myself. I went back into my room quickly to get a flashlight because the sun was setting rather quickly today and headed back up to the roof.

This time when I got up there, I found Clove already sitting in the same spot that we did the first night we were here, twirling her hair around her finger as she watched the people on the street below. I walked up to her as quietly as I could, giving her a kiss on the cheek before sitting beside her. She turned to me and smiled, I could tell something was on her mind though and I was determined to find out what. "what are you thinking about?" I asked, swinging my legs around so I was sitting straight. "I'm just wondering how the people in the capitol will react when they find out there are 2 gay tributes this year, and even worse, how my family will react. We never talk about this kind of stuff back in 2, and I didn't even know until recently. I just feel bad that this is how they're gonna find out." she wants to continue like this in the games? I mean I wanted to as well I just didn't know she thought this deep into it, I know I haven't.

"we never talked about it in 4 either. Hell, I went my whole life just thinking I hadn't found 'the one', which I mean I didn't until I came here but I didn't even know that was a thing until Finnick told me." I chuckled humorlessly and she turned to me with her eyes wide. "what?" I asked and her eyes softened. "you called me the one." she said, the blush in her cheeks prominent. "well I never said it was you to be fair." I said and she shoved me while we both laughed. As the laughter died down I felt a shift in the air, we just looked into each other's eyes for a while and before I knew it we were both leaning in. Our lips connected and my heart began to race. We pulled away after a few seconds but for the first time in my life I felt fully alive, like that kiss ignited something in me. I leaned in for another, this time with more passion and before I knew it I'd lost my cardigan and she was on her back.

"maybe we shouldn't do this here." I chuckled, looking down at her beautiful face, hair splayed out under here. She agreed and we say up, adjusting ourselves before returning back to our original position. "do you want to tell everyone in the interviews about us or let them see in the games because now that I know, I don't think I'll be able to hold back." she looked up at me through her eyelashes and placed a hand on my thigh. I put my hand over here and interlocked our fingers. "I mean, we could hint at it, keep them guessing. I wouldn't not want to be with you in the games either and on top of that, it would be a Greta way to get sponsors." I wiggled my shoulders, making her laugh. "you make a good point Miss. Orwell." she laughed and I suddenly remembered why we came up here in the first place. "speaking of points..." I tapered off.

"oh yeah, I'm really glad it went well, I knew that Cato and Thresh would get 10s but good on us, showing them that the girls could take it this year." she said and I nodded enthusiastically. "that's exactly what I was thinking, I'm proud of us! Or I was until they flashed Katniss' score." I said and her face faltered. "I would love to know what she did in there, I've never seen an 11." she said, sounding surprisingly unbothered by her score. I know Clove well enough now to expect an explosion but she seems to be calming down which I like much more. After a few moments of silence, I turned to her and grabbed both her hands. "I just realized that we haven't talked much about ourselves, other than our training. Tell me about yourself." I said and she smiled softly, the vivid orange sunset reflecting off her perfect face. "well, what do you want to know?" she sat up straighter, her grip on my hands tightening.

"tell me about your family and your friends, what you like and what makes you tick." I said and she nodded, looking thoughtfully at our tightly grasped hands. "well, my dad is a peacekeeper so I don't get to see him much, he actually works in district 4 so you might've seen him around and not known it. My mom is a teacher at the training academy and taught me most of what I know about survival skills, a lot of people didn't like that, said it gave me an unfair advantage but my mom pushed me harder than anyone to get me where I am now. I have an older sister named Cassia, she's 20. She got married when she was 18 because her and my parents didn't get along so we don't see each other much but we didn't get along well when she lived at our house so it's not too bad. I didn't have many friends back in 2, I had a few, enough to get me along but my best friends name was Aurelia." the second she said the name, my chest tightened.

Aurelia was a spunky little blonde tribute from 2 that was in the games last year. They recruited an extremely tall and strong girl from 10 last year and about a week in when she was on watch, she killed them all in her sleep. Before she began to talk I could tell she was getting upset and I told her that she didn't need to talk about her because I already knew what happened. She thanked me, took a deep breath and continued. "when she died I went into a deep depression and buried myself in my training. Most Poole thought it was because we were just really good friends but what I never told anyone was we'd started going out a few months before the reaping. She was my first ever relationship and I loved her dearly, that's what made me want to volunteer this year, I figured if I died in the games I'd go down a hero and I'd get to be with her again... And then I met you." she said, looking down again at her hands as tears rolled down her cheeks.

I shushed here and dried her eyes before pulling her into a tight hug. After that she told me more about her schooling, her favourite colour which was the same as mine, blue, like the colour of the sky and some of her favourite traditions in 2, it was all very interesting to me. "you next, what's your family life like?" I thought for a second of what I should talk about. "well, my mom is a baker, she used to do it from home but now she owns store near the square in our district. My dad was a fisherman but he drowned when I was 12, by oldest brother Percy had just turned 20 at the time so he went into the fishing profession soon after. I have another brother names Ripley, he's 19 and gets on my nerves more than anyone but he's one of my best friends." I smiled at the thought of him, I really miss my brothers.

"They were actually both put in the Career program thanks to my aunt but they never were never chosen, my older brother is a gentile soul, and tends to be better at fighting with his mind not his hands. Ripley on the other had all the confidence of your typical careers, very strong and savvy with weapons but after my dad died, he closed himself off and that year the trainers suggested that he volunteer but he refused to leave us during such a hard time. Now he works with my mom at her bakery, putting all that muscle to good use rolling out dough." I laughed at the idea of seeing my tough big brother icing cookies. "I didn't have many friends either, I spent most of my time training, especially after my dad died; all I wanted to do was spend time with my trainer Ivy and make Aunt Lila proud, I don't know what will happen but whatever it is, I hope she's proud of how I turned out."

"it's getting pretty late, we should probably start heading inside." as I began to stand she put a hand over mine, drawing my attention back to hers. "do you maybe want to... Spend the night in my apartment, we have the day off to prepare for interviews tomorrow so we don't have to wake up early." she said and I could tell she was nervous when she asked because she looked away when she spoke. I placed my hand on her cheek and turned her face back to face mine. "I thought you'd never ask." I smiled shyly as I watched her face changer from nervous to determined. She brought her face up to mine and kissed me again before standing up and pulled me into the building and down the stairs. As we were about to pass the door to my apartment I stopped, "come in for a minute, I need to tell Finnick where I'm going." I said and unlocked the door, pulling her into the hall and letting her into my room.

"I'll be right back, just say here." I said before quietly closing the door and walking to the next closest room that held Finnick and Annie. I knocked quietly, hearing a soft 'come in' from the other side. I opened the door and walked in to see Finnick laying in bed while the shower in the bathroom was running, I'm assuming that's where Annie is. "what's wrong?" he asked and my eyebrows knit together in confusion. "why would something be wrong?" I asked, walking further into the room and his beckoning and sat beside him on the bed. "you just look nervous, what's up?" well he's right about me being nervous. "umm, I actually came here to ask if it was okay if I spent the night in district 2's apartment. Clove asked and I wanted to come ask first..." I tapered off as a smile formed on his face. "of course, but be back and ready by 9, not a minute later." he patted me on the shoulder before I pulled him into a hug and ran out of the room.