Skinny Love

1. Celebration

Clove's POV

April 7, 2215

"Clove! Come on. Put on that dress and look amazing like you always do!" Fawn threw herself down onto my bed besides me and rested her chin on the palm of her hand. I shook my head slightly and sighed a little.

"No, we have to go to the Academy tomorrow. I don't want to take a day off of training. We have just over a  month left to train. I'm not wasting two days of that time at Cato Hadley's party." My voice was firm and I continued to pay more attention to the knife in my hand than I was to my best friend. She knew that I took training seriously. No one knew when your name was going to get pulled. All we really knew was that there was a chance that you would get pulled to the side and told that you were the sole volunteer for the year. That happens just days before the reaping.

"Come on! Don't be a drag! Everyone is going. Literally everyone is going to be there. This party is suppose to end up like one of those Capitol parties the Enobaria and Brutus talked about. Please, Clove. I don't want to go to a party without myself," she grabbed the knife out of my hand and put it on my bedside table. 

"Hey!" I looked over and saw the pouty look that she had on her face. I sighed and rolled my eyes a little. "Fawn, I want to be the volunteer this year. Everyone knows that these next few weeks are critical when it comes to the Mayor making the final decision. I mean... Honestly, there isn't even going to be anyone there that is going to look at me twice." I rested a hand behind my head and stared up at the ceiling of my small, plain bedroom.

"Clove," Fawn's voice turned into a whine. "There are plenty of people that are going to look at you if you wear that black dress and let me do your make up. Come on... Please? One last bit of fun before we have to get serious and find out who they picked for the volunteers?" She put on her best puppy dog eyes and I sighed softly.

"Fawn, I love you. Really. I do. I just don't think that even that little black dress and however you do my make up won't make people look at me. All they see is, and I quote, 'The Girl With The Knives.' That's all I am to them. They don't see me as a normal girl because of how hard I train. I'm pretty sure that they're scared of me to be honest. That includes Cato Hadley. He doesn't talk to me outside of training. You're the only one that talks to me outside of the Academy." I looked over at her and gave a small smile. That black dress actually looked really good on me. She had a matching red one, which she just happened to bring with her. I don't understand how she thinks that bringing it with is going to bring me to the decision of going with tempting me with it.

"Clove, come on! Do you really think that they're not going to tell you that you're the volunteer this year? You're at the head of the class for your age group. There isn't a single girl that would be upset if you got picked to be the volunteer this year. I'm sure they'll pick you! Take one day off of training like the rest of us and come to the party. Have a good time this year. It might be your last year after all..." Fawn rested her chin on her palm again and stared at me with wide eyes. I sighed and looked over at my best friend. How did I even manage to hold back this long with her? She never gives up.

"Fine... I'll go..." I stood up from my bed as she let out a squeal of happiness. I rolled my eyes a little and looked at my hair in the mirror. The long brown locks looked horrible at the moment. I looked over my shoulder at Fawn. "Start getting yourself ready. I need to let Mom know that I'm going with you after all," I gave a smile and started towards my door.

"She already knows you're going! I told her I wasn't leaving for the party without you by my side. She said fine and to just stay here with you for the night then. Your Mom actually has more faith in me than you do to be honest," Fawn smiled sweetly and stood up from my bed. She walked over to my closet and pulled it open. Her fingers roamed through the clothes that I had until she found my little black dress. I don't even know when the last time that I wore it was.