Clove sighed as she stared into the mirror. The door closed quietly and gentle footsteps fell across the hardwood floor, stopping right behind her.
"What is it now?" Clove's favorite voice said gently as he brushed her soft brown hair over her shoulder, not even an edge of frustration in his voice.
"I hate my body," she replied angrily. "It's gross. I hate it I hate it I hate it. I would take anyone else's. I'm so sick of mine." Cato sighed. He had listened to Clove complain about her body for as long as he could remember, and it was getting old. He had wished since they met that one day, she could love herself as much as he did, but no luck.
"What don't you like about it?" he asked, even though he knew what she would say to the point he could recite it. Clove looked at him in disbelief.
"Are you kidding me? Everything! It's so gross!" she exclaimed.
"I mean specifically," Cato clarified calmly.
Clove chewed on her lip for a moment. "Well," she started and Cato could tell this would escalate quickly. "I don't like my stomach at all. Considering how many sports I do, you would think I would have abs, but all I have is fat. My hands are ugly. My fingers are sausages. I hate my thighs. When I sit down, they expand to the size of Houston. I'm wayyyyyyy too short. I hate my face," she groaned loudly. "My freckles are stupid, my eyes are just boring old brown, I have awful eyebrows, my hairline is garbage, I don't know what you can even call these cheekbones, and I have blackheads on my nose looks weird. So many damn freckles! My personality is horrible, I mean-"
"Can I ask you a weird question?" Cato asked, cutting her off and slowly fabricating an idea.
"I guess," Clove shrugged.
"If there was a way to design your body using your friends' features, how would you build it?"
"Oh," Clove said, puzzled. She hesitated for a few minutes. "Okay," she started finally. "I would have Glimmer's height, I mean what is she, 5'9, I think? So I would be tall. Oh, and her hips. And I would have Katniss's flat stomach and shoulders, Annie's red hair. Umm... Johanna's curves and Madge... her blue eyes. Delly's curls and LACK OF FRECKLES. Foxface's nose and chin."
"What about personality?" Cato suggested.
"Bold like Johanna but nice like Annie, smart like Foxface, creative like Delly, musically talented like Katniss, popular like Glimmer, funny like Madge."
"Hmm. Now can I talk for a bit? Can you give me a few minutes to tell you what I like about you?"
Clove scoffed. "Good luck."
Cato rolled his eyes. "You added me on Snap first, and told me you liked me first. That's pretty bold. You're always able to make your friends feel better when they're upset, and were nice enough to talk to the weird, scary, macho new kid," he said, referencing to his own mishaps as the Teen Wolf-obsessed, looks scary, awkward freshman who had moved here a few years ago not knowing anyone. "You definitely had the top grades in Math and Science last year, and you always write the coolest stories in English and make the most original stuff during the Art Your Way Out workshops. You're easily the best saxophone player in grade ten band, and every time you sing my heart melts a little. You're always surrounded by tons of people who love being around you and, I'm sorry, you have how many Instagram followers again? Thirteen thousand?"
Clove shrugged. "Something like that."
"And who can make me laugh my ass off when no one else can get me to crack a smile?" Cato continued.
"I can," she smiled back, but her expression hardened. "My body is still disgusting," she added.
"Clove Ellory Kentwell," Cato scolded, then softened his voice. "I wouldn't change a thing about your body. I don't want you to be tall. You're the perfect height for me to hug. Your head tucks right under my chin. If you were 5'10, we couldn't have that. No one else's waist fits that perfectly in my hands, and your shoulders fit just right under my arm. A flat stomach doesn't define you, but if it means that much to you, think how much pizza and fries and ice cream you stuffed in there while we were out somewhere, or even just chilling at my place watching eighties and nineties movies. I love your brown hair and I couldn't play with it the way I do if it was curly. It's soft and wavy and just think about how many hours my hands have spent tangled in it. If you had Jo's curves, you couldn't fit behind my TV stand to plug in the Wii so we can play Mario Kart every time you come over. I think your nose and freckles are adorable. And no one's chin fits in my hand like this," he finished, taking her chin in his left hand, his right arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her closer. "And how do you not call this a six pack?" he laughed, his thumb tracing a wide circle over the abs protruding from her stomach.
She sighed, and he pulled her in hugging her tight and kissing to the top of her head.
"Everything about your body is beautiful. Learn to love it," he whispered against her hair.
Author's Note
I personally think this chapter is just so sweet and pure. I would say I definitely strayed from the characters, but with the little information we got about them in the books, who can write them accurately?
A second purpose of this chapter was to remind everyone out there with insecurities about their bodies that YOU ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL A FEW EXTRA POUNDS OR A FLAT CHEST DO NOT DDFINE YOU. LOVE YOURSELF FOR EVERYTHING THAT YOU ARE.
