Clove

Sweat drips off my forehead as I take a gulp of water from my spot on the bleachers.

"2 more minutes!" I shout to the other girls, panting in the hot gymnasium.

"I really like Katniss as an outside and Johanna as a middle," Glimmer says scribbling notes on her clipboard.

Five days in and Glimmer and I are holding our last day of volleyball tryouts.

"Yeah, and I think Annie has been playing really well on rightside. Rue would be a good DS too, she's improved so much since last year. Then what if we had Madge play rightside as well, and kept Enobaria as a middle?" I reply, looking over her shoulder.

Glimmer nods and sketches a rough lineup.

"Then that leaves us looking for an outside and a setter."

I nod and take another sip of water before rounding up the girls in the gym.

"Okay ladies, we have 2 more spots on the team, we're going to have a quick scrimmage to determine the last remaining spots. The team roster will be up in the gym tomorrow morning!" I announce.

"So on this side I wanna see Johanna playing middle, Katniss on the outside, Annie as a rightside, Rue right back! On the other side I need Enobaria in the middle, Madge as the rightside, Prim setting, Finch play outside! Everyone else fill in!" Glimmer shouts.

The girls begin to play and we switch other girls in once in awhile so they don't feel bad.

"Damn, Prim has gotten good. Do you think it's a good idea to keep Katniss and Prim?" Glimmer asks me, gnawing at the tip of her eraser.

"I mean, Katniss played great last year, and she and her sister seem to get along very well, plus Prim is a great setter and she's only a sophomore," I say.

As if to illustrate my point, Prim sets a perfect 1 to Enobaria whose attack is blocked by Johanna and Katniss, but saved again by Prim who passes it up to Madge.

"Okay, I'm convinced," Glimmer says impressed.

We let the girls continue to play for a bit longer before dismissing them and taking a seat on the bleachers.

"Ok so we're keeping Katniss and Prim, Johanna and Enobaria, Annie and Madge, Rue and Finch, and us?" I say, confirming Glimmer's lineup.

"Looks good, so I'll print this out tonight then!"

"Boo!" Glimmer and I whip around to see Marvel grinning behind us on the bleachers.

"You can't do that to me Marvel!" Glimmer whines, giving her boyfriend a shove.

"It's not my fault! You two are taking forever!" Marvel complains, dropping down to sit next to his girlfriend.

Marvel and Glimmer have been dating since freshman year, and by now, senior year, they're basically the entire school's power couple.

"You two sound like an old married couple," I tease, giving the lineup one more look over.

Glimmer rolls her eyes at me and gives me a shove too.
"You're so dramatic Clover," she says grinning.

"Hey, you'd be dramatic too if you were your best friend's third wheel for four years," I tell her.

"Ha, third wheel my ass. I happen to know that you've done your fair share of rejecting Clover," Marvel says laughing, "I'm pretty sure half the boys at this school have asked you out at some point, but you always say no."

I shrug, guilty as charged.

"At least we're finally done with tryouts," I say switching the subject.

"Very true, I hate tryouts," Glimmer agrees.

"I got lucky in that department, Cato handles most of the tryouts for the football team," Marvel gloats.

"Shut up Marvel, it's not nice to gloat," I tell him, giving him a playful slap.

"Ya know, you and Cato would be a cute couple," Glimmer announces.

I roll my eyes. This again. Out of all the boys to ask me out over the years, he'd never been one of them, despite him being the only one who really mattered.

"Dear Gods!" I exclaim.

"Hey, if I didn't know any better, I'd say my bestfriend has a thing for you," Marvel adds.

Yeah right.

"Yeah, and I could've sworn I saw you watching him last time we hung out," Glimmer says.

"Guys, stop!" I demand, flustered.

"Oh yeah, they'll be together by the end of homecoming week," Glimmer snorts.

"Well if you two are gonna get going, since I know the lineup, I'm gonna get lockers and jerseys sorted out," I tell them, trying to escape my problems.

"Ya know there's a life outside of volleyball right?" Marvel asks me.

"Just remember I get jersey number 1," Glimmer reminds brushing off Marvel's comment.

Cato

Cursing under my breath I walk quickly through the halls toward the locker room. Making final cuts for this year's varsity team was proving much harder then past years. I continue to cross out names as I make my way through the empty corridors.

Definitely keeping the new kid Peeta, but that means I'd have to cut Gale or Gloss. I cross off Gloss and move on to the next name as I turn the corner.

"Hey!"

I look up to see a girl sprawled out on the ground infront of me with various uniforms scattered around her.

"Shit. My bad," I apologize, bending down to help pick up the jerseys now littering the floor.

"No worries, thanks," the girl says once we've gathered all the uniforms.

For the first time I get a good look at the girl in front of me.

"Oh, Clove! Hey! How did tryouts go?" I ask flustered.

Her long black hair is tied up in a high ponytail, but it still almost reaches her waist, her big brown eyes look up at me and her face flushes.

"They were okay, I guess. How did your tryouts go? Marvel said you took the lead this year," she asks.

I shrug.

"Well enough I guess, I have to cut a ton of people this year though," I tell her as we continue to walk down the hall.

She grimaces, nodding her head,
"We just cut 34 girls from the volleyball team."

"Wow that's rough," I reply.

"Mhmm, well, I gotta get this whole jersey situation figured out. Bye Cato," she says turning into the girls locker room.

I walk down the hall a little further and turn into the guys locker room.

"Hey Brutus, I think I got the new team down," I announce, setting my clipboard down on the coach's desk.

"Thanks Cato, how's it looking?" he asks.

"Think we got a good shot at state again," I reply with a grin.

"That's what I wanna hear," Brutus tells me grinning as well, "good work."

With that I walk back out of the locker rooms and into the parking lot.

Clove

"Gods I love homecoming week!" Glimmer sighs happily as we walk out of chemistry.

"Yeah, I gotta say, Merica' Monday is definitely one of the better dress up days we've had. I haven't seen this many people actually follow theme in years. And Friday's game is gonna be legendary," I say grinning.

"Speaking of Friday," Glimmer begins as we approach our lockers, "You're coming with me after school to find a dress for the homecoming dance."

"Glimmer, we have a game after school," I say, slamming my locker closed.

Glimmer rolls her eyes at me.

"I meant after the game smartass," Glimmer replies.

"What are you trying to get out of now miss Clover?" Marvel asks, swinging an arm around Glimmer's shoulders.

"Glim here wants to find a homecoming dress after school today, which is crazy because homecoming isn't until Friday!" I exclaim.

"Clove we have 4 more days before homecoming, I don't know how much later you want to go! You can't keep putting this off forever," Glimmer replies.

"I can if I simply don't go."

"You have to go."

"I don't even know why I have to go to the stupid dance! Everyone knows the football game is the only good part about homecoming," I say.

"Well as much as I appreciate your support, aren't you and Glimmer both nominees for homecoming queen? Don't you kinda have to be there?" Marvel asks.

"And that's another thing!" I rant, "Who on Earth was stupid enough to nominate me for homecoming queen? I don't want to be homecoming queen!"

Marvel laughs and Glimmer just groans.

"Whatever, you're coming shopping with me tonight, no buts," She tells me.

"Fine, then you have to buy me ice cream," I snap.

"Deal."

"Okay cool can we get food now? I'm starving," Marvel asks dragging Glimmer and I off to the cafeteria where we're greeted with a chorus of hellos.

"Sup Marvel, Hey Glimmer, Hi Clove."

I sit down next to Johanna who's engrossed in whatever's on her phone.

"Hey, you'll wear my jersey on Friday, right?" Gale asks Madge as they sit down.

"Well duh!" Madge replies laughing.

"Do you have a jersey yet Clove?" Annie asks me.

I scoff, "Yeah, it's number 2 and I worked my ass off to earn it during my tryouts."

"Very funny, we're serious though, you're the only one on the team who isn't wearing a jersey," Finch says.

"Mhmm. Well I came up with an awesome new lineup for tonight's game!" I announce, avoiding the topic, "I want to try having Finch play middle and Enobaria switch to outside."

"Good idea, but you're not getting out of this conversation," Glimmer says.

"I don't think Cato's given away his jersey yet," Peeta offers.

I glare at him pointedly.

"I'm not wearing some stupid jersey," I tell them.

"Not even Cato's?" Glimmer asks, batting her eyelashes at me innocently.

I flush.

"Shut up, blondie."

Glimmer

"You know we have to get those two together right?" I ask my boyfriend.

"Oh obviously. Cato is down so bad," he replies.

"Good. Make sure he's at the game tonight."

"Yes ma'am."

Clove

"Alright. Let's go Clove, you got it!" Glim shouts as I bounce the ball once before tossing it into the air.

The ball shoots over the net and the other team's Libero dives to get the ball up. I watch carefully as it gets set up to their outside and prepare to receive. Glim and Enobaria go up for a block, but the ball goes just over the top. I pass it up easily back to Glimmer, and with a quick flick of her wrist, Madge has a perfect opening for a hit down the line.

"Let's go!" I shout, as we huddle towards the middle.

I glance at the score board. 24-19.

"C'mon Clover! One more!"

"You got it Clove! C'mon!"

I focus in, bounce the ball once, twice. I toss it up, and the ball shoots over the net once more. This time their setter is forced to receive and their libero scrambles for second contact. They're out of position, this is good. I watch as their outside is forced to give us an easy push cross court. I pass the ball up to Glimmer once more, who sets Katniss up perfectly. She sends a beautiful hit cross court, passing the block and the ball hits the ground once again. The buzzer goes off and Glimmer runs up, giving me a tight squeeze.

"Let's go!" She screams as we all huddle up.

"Where's Marvel? Do you see him?" Glim asks as soon as we're cleared to go.

We scan the crowd of people moving around the bleachers.

"There!" I say, pointing up to where I see his brown hair zig zagging around.

"Oh look! Cato's with him too!" Glimmer says, elbowing me in the side.

I ignore the jab as we make our way up to the boys.

"Hey, good game ladies,"  Marvel says when he spots us.

"Aw, thanks babe," Glimmer says, giving him a peck on the lips.

"You guys look good out there, think you'll make it to State again?" Cato asks looking at me.

"I hope so. I feel like we have a really strong team again," I reply.

"Yeah, wasn't that team a pretty big rival for you guys last year too? It didn't seem as close as I would've expected," Cato remarks.

"Mhmm. If that was one of the more competitive teams, I think we'll have a pretty good season."

"Hey girl, remember we still have to go shopping. I gotta go run out to Marvel's car, I think I forgot my bag in there, but meet me by the locker rooms in like 15?" Glimmer says, cutting in.

"Yeah, sounds good," I reply.

"Whatcha guys shopping for?" Cato asks as Glimmer and Marvel make their way down the bleachers.

I sigh.

"Gotta get stuff for the homecoming dance on Friday I guess," I tell him.

He makes a face.

"Oh yeah. I'm not looking forward to that," he says.

"Mmm, Glim and I got nominated for homecoming court, so we have to be there apparently. Didn't you and Marvel get nominated too?"

"Yeah, but it's definitely not how I'd like to spend my night after a big game."

"Oh yeah, that's true. That's low key gotta suck."

"Mhmm. Speaking of the football game," Cato pauses, looking a bit nervous. "Uh, I still haven't asked anyone if they would wear my jersey on Friday, and was wondering if you maybe wanted it? It's totally cool if you don't, I just thought-"

"Yeah, I'll wear it," I respond, cutting him off with a smile.

Cato looks at me surprised.

"Really? Cool, I'll get it to you on Thursday if that's fine?"

"Yeah sounds good," I glance at the clock. "I better go meet up with Glimmer, or she might murder me, but I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, for sure."

I give him a small wave as I hurry down the bleachers and into the locker room to change quick before Glimmer got back.

"Hey girl, ready to go?" Glimmer asks, skipping up next to me.

"Only if I really have to."

"Well you really do. Let's go, princess."

________________________________

Briiiiiiiiiiiiiing

I groan and sit up, rolling off my bed. I reach for my phone to stop my alarm and see 13 unread texts from my teammates. I throw my phone back onto my bed and pull on a pair of ripped jeans and my beat up Air Force 1's. I'm about to grab my Panem High hoco t shirt when I remember Cato.

I dig through my backpack and pull out Cato's jersey. I'm still surprised he even asked me to wear it in the first place. I was sure it'd end up with one of his many admirers. Maybe one of the cheerleaders. I slip it on over my head, drowning in the surplus of black and gold fabric. I tuck the jersey into my jeans as best I can and turn around to see "Hadley 02" written clearly across my back. I tie my hair up into a high pony tail so the back of the jersey is on display and make a headband out of a gold bandana, tying a knot at the front. I quickly swipe on a coat of mascara and lip balm, grab my phone and sling my backpack over my shoulder, heading out. As I pull into my usual parking space, Glimmer runs up to meet me.

"I'm not wearing some stupid jersey," Glimmer chirps in a high pitched voice.

"Dear Gods, I do not sound like that," I reply, ignoring her jab at me.

Glimmer just smirks, twisting her long blonde braid around her finger. Sanford 01 can be seen clearly across her back.

"Seems as if somebody will be getting a lot of jealous looks today, seeing that they're wearing the last single football player's jersey. Or is he officially off the market?" Glimmer asks me as she saunters after me.

I roll my eyes.

"We're just friends Glim," I reply, walking into the school.

"When did he even ask you to wear it? I hadn't heard about him giving it to anyone," Glimmer asks as we stop at my locker.

"Mmm, on Monday after the game," I reply, grabbing my calc book.

Glimmers mouth drops.

"And you didn't tell me? Girl. That's so dirty," she says.

I snort.

"It's really not a big deal Glim, he probably didn't have anyone else to ask."

"Mmm, riiight. He hasn't given his jersey out in the last 3 years, and it suddenly pops up on one of his best friends? Alright. Tell yourself whatever you want babes."

I roll my eyes pointedly at the blonde girl standing next to me.

"I'll see you after 2nd okay? I gotta get to calc." I tell her.

"Mmkay. Say hi to Cato for me," she teases before scurrying off.
________________________________
"Are you as excited for this pep rally as I am?" Glimmer asks me as we make our way down to the gymnasium.

The entire school got 3rd period off today so everyone could attend the pep rally.

"Probably not," I laugh, watching Glimmer's estatic grin.

The band is playing at full volume when we enter and make our way over to the senior section.

"Look! There's Marvel and Cato!" Glimmer shouts over the music.

We climb up to meet the boys, who grin when they see us.

"Nice jersey Clover, wonder who that belongs to," Marvel teases when he sees us.

I see Cato flush and I fell my own cheeks heat up.

Before I can shoot back a reply, the band begins to play the school song. The cheerleaders run out onto the gym floor and begin to cheer.

"Freshman, Freshman, what's your number?" They yell.

"Two one two one two two two two two one!" the freshman shout back.

"Boooooooooooooooooooo!"

"Sophomores, sophomores, what's your number?"

"two zero two zero two two two two two zero!"

"Boooooooooooo!"

"Juniors, juniors what's your number?"

"One nine one nine one one one one one nine!"

"Booooooo!"

"Seniors, seniors what's your number?" The cheerleaders shout.

"One eight one eight one one one one one eight!" we shout as loud as we can.

"Panem, Panem what's your number?"

"Number one, number one, number number number one!"

"Hello Panem High!" head cheerleader Effie Trinket squeals into her mic.

"To start off our pep rally, we're going to recognize our homecoming court! Seniors, when I read off your name, I would love to have you come on down to the floor with me! Our homecoming king nominees this year are Gale Hawthorne, Marvel Sanford, Peeta Mellark, Finnick Odair, and Cato Hadley!"

The boys make their way down to the floor, waving to the crowd.

"And our nominees for Homecoming queen are, Katniss Everdeen, Johanna Mason, Annie Cresta, Glimmer Belcourt, and Clove Kentwell!"

Glimmer and I carefully pick our way down the bleachers, joining the boys.

"Let's give it up for our homecoming court!" Effie yells.

The student body claps and cheers as we make our way back to our seats.

"Okay guys! Next we're gonna have a little crowd participation activity! This is a little game I like to call, P, D, A!" Effie announces.

Four more cheerleaders come out to the floor holding large sheets of plexiglass, both sides are covered in what seems to be, marshmallow fluff?

"Now one boy and one girl will be called down from each grade, and their goal is to lick the plexiglass clean! The first to clean off their plexiglass wins!" Effie exclaims. "Our freshman reps will be Ashton Hills and Angus LaValley! Sophmores, Prim Everdeen and Rory Hawthorn! From the junior class, Rue Barnette and Thresh Okeniyi! And our senior representatives are Clove Kentwell and Cato Hadley!"

Glimmer looks and me and grins.

"That's you!" she laughs.

I blink.

"Oh absolutely not," I say, shaking my head vehemently.

Cato stands up next to me and offers me a hand.

"It'll be funny, c'mon," he says with a grin.

I give a huff of protest before taking his hand.

"Let's get this over with," I respond.

When we get down to the floor, a cheerleader hands us our plexiglass sheet and Cato takes it, holding it up.

"I can't reach that high," I pout, giving him a glare.

Cato smirks, moving the sheet down an inch.

"Ready? Set? Go!" Effie cheers.

Cato and I start licking the marshmallow off the glass as the senior class cheers us on. About 2 minutes later we step away from the glass.

"And the seniors take the win!" Effie announces.

Cato grins, giving me a high five.

"You got something there," he laughs, reaching out his hand and swiping marshmallow off my nose before licking his finger clean.

"Check this cute pic I got of you two lovebirds," Glimmer teases me when I sit back down.

She shows me her phone, on the screen is a picture of me and Cato licking the glass. The picture is timed perfectly so Cato and I are at the same level and it looks like we're kissing. I flush for what seems like the millionth time today.

"I'm so sending this to yearbook," she taunts.

"You're an awful person," I tell her.
________________________________
"Cute signs guys!" Annie yells, waving us over to where she, and the rest of the team are standing in the first row of bleachers.

As Glimmer and I get situated, the football team runs out onto the field. The opponents the East high Jabber Jays run out after them.

"Let's go Mocking Jays!" Glimmer yells.

The first quarter begins with the Mocking Jays having possession of the ball. By the third down, Cato is tackled as he runs into the endzone. The Ref calls it and Panem High takes the first touch down.

"Yeah Cato!" I shout, the words slipping out of my mouth.

Glimmer smirks at me and I look away, pretending to not have noticed. A few hours later, Panem High officially won the game 32-14. Everyone runs out onto the field and Glimmer goes to hug Marvel. I stand back a bit to give them some space when a hand lands on my shoulder. I whip around to find myself face to chest with Cato.

"Hey," he says grinning.

"Hey. Good game," I reply with a smile.

"Thanks. I saw you cheering earlier. That jersey suits you. Excited for the dance?" he asks.

I groan.

"Don't remind me. It's been such a long day already," I reply.

"Yeah, I'm not too hyped about it either," Cato tells me, "We can stick together."

"Uh huh, us antisocials really got to stay together," I say jokingly.

"Please, you two are hardly antisocial," Marvel snorts, coming over to us.

"Mmm, yeah I hate to break up your little flirt fest over here, but Clove and I have to go get ready for the dance," Glimmer interrupts.

"But," I start.

"Nuh uh, none of that," Glimmer says, grabbing my arm and dragging me away from the boys.

I look back to see Cato grinning at me.
________________________________
Clove:

Glimmer:

"This is going to be horrible," I complain as Glimmer takes a curling wand to my hair. "I mean, I appreciate you, and all of- this. But really?"

"Yes really. You're going to thank me for this one day. You don't let loose enough!" She responds.

When we walked into her room, Glimmer promptly covered all of her mirrors and sat me down infront of her vanity. Half an hour later, I sit picking uncomfortably at my dress as Glimmer adds the final touches to my hair and her makeup.

"Ok," Glimmer says finally, walking me over to her full length mirror. "How do you look?" She asks, pulling the blanket off the mirror.

I don't even recognize myself. Glimmer curled my waist length hair into long, glossy waves. The only makeup I wore was mascara and a dark shade of pink lipstick. I still think the dress is too flashy for me, but Glimmer insisted that the blue looked nice with my hair.

"Cato is going to actually die when he sees you," Glimmer squeals.

"Gods. I just can't with you," I tell her.
________________________________
When we finally arrive back at the school, Glimmer and I enter the gym to find it lit up by fairy lights and music blaring through the speakers.

"Glimmer! Clove! You guys look amazing!" Rue exclaims, running up to us. "Come on! We have a table over there!"

"Clove?" I turn around to once again find myself face to chest with Cato.

"Hi," I say looking up at him, suddenly feeling self conscious.

"Uh, you look, um." Cato stutters.

"Beautiful? Stunning? Gorgeous?" Glimmer fills in.

Cato just nods.

"Thanks," I say, a grin spreading across my face. "You don't look to bad either I guess."

"Hey, can we get a team photo before everyone wanders off?" Prim asks coming over to us.

"Oh yea, for sure!" Glimmer responds, grabbing my arm as we make our way over.

"Girl, you cannot tell me that Cato wasn't absolutely speechless when he saw you," Glimmer squeals into my ear.

I can feel my cheeks burn.

"Stop. He could literally have any girl in the school, we've known each other for years, if he liked me I'd know." I respond.

Glimmer scoffs and just shakes her head at me.

Cato

"Hey! There you are! It's picture time my dude!" Marvel says walking over.

I force myself to tear my eyes away from Clove and focus my attention on my best friend.

"Dude if you stare any more obviously at Clove, you might as well hold up a sign saying you're obsessed with her." He says with a giant grin.

I glare at my friend.

"Shut up. I don't want to scare her away," I respond.

"Pft. Clove? She may be just as emotionally constipated as you, but it's gonna take a lot more than a love confession to scare her off. Now let's go before Glimmer starts yelling at me," Marvel says with a shudder.

Clove

After what feels like hours of photos, we finally see Effie make her way onto the stage.

"Hello Panem High!" Effie exclaims into the mic. "Who's ready to find out who this year's homecoming king and queen will be?"

The crowd cheers.

"Hey," a voice whispers in my ear.

I jump and look up to see Cato staring down at me.

"We didn't get to take any pictures, promise to take one with me later?" He asks.

"Of course."

"If I could have the homecoming court join me on stage?" Effie asks.

I turn again to make my way to the stage when Cato's hand finds it's way to my waist guiding me up the stairs.

"Good luck," he says, before moving to stand on the opposite side of the podium.

I stand next to Glimmer on the stage, uncomfortable with all the lights on us and nervously playing with the skirt of my dress. Effie starts with the third place nominee.

"This year's homecoming duke is, Finnick Odair!"

The crowd cheers as Finnick goes to receive his sash.

"And his duchess will be, Katniss Everdeen!"

We clap loudly for Katniss.

"Our homecoming prince is, Cato Hadley!"

More applause follows as Cato receives his crown from Effie.

"And Cato's princess is, Clove Kentwell!" I stand for a moment in shock.

I did not expect to make the top three. Glimmer gives me a shove forward and Effie places a tiara on my head.

"Congratulations," Cato whispers, standing next to me.

"You too," I reply, smiling back.

"And this year's homecoming King and Queen are... Marvel Sanford and Glimmer Belcourt!"

"Yeah Glim!" I shout, excited for my friend's victory.

"Wanna dance?" Cato asks.

I nod my head, and he grabs my hand, dragging me down to the dance floor below. We step out onto the floor, joining Marvel, Glimmer, and the rest of our friends.

"So, um, I was wondering if we could talk," Cato starts.

"Cato, nothing good ever comes from someone saying they wanna talk," I say looking warily up at him.

"No! I was actually going to ask if, uh, you'd wanna go out sometime?" he says.

"Like with a group of people?" I ask.

"Uh, no, I was thinking more like just the two of us," Cato replies awkwardly.

I look at him suprised.

"Of course," I reply, grinning.

Cato smiles back as we sway back and forth slowly.

The moment would have been picture perfect if we hadn't been able to hear Glimmer squealing five feet away.