Panem High: Freshman Year

Chapter 24

"It could be fun," Clove admitted. "But how much would it cost? Half of my babysitting money goes to my college fund, and I'm saving up for the CAMINO concert in June."

"Come on. Stop making excuses, Clove!" Madge laughed. "Leo's places are usually sixty or seventy bucks a night, but when I talked to him about it, he said he would rent one to us for twenty a night. We'd each have to chip in only forty dollars to stay for four nights. We can bring our swimsuits and pig out and gossip and I can help you make that board for your room..."

"My vision board?" Clove asked excitedly.

"Yes! We could bring a bunch of magazines and photos and newspaper clippings and ribbon and everything down to the beach one afternoon and work outside!"

"Will you bring Red Bull?"

"Why can't you?"

"My mom doesn't let me buy it anymore," Clove said sheepishly.

"Definitely."

"Then I'm down."

The next morning, Madge woke up extra early packed her suitcase with two pairs of jeans shorts, a few tank tops, her flowery pink bikini, a towel, her toiletries and a connecting cable for her phone to blast Dan & Shay in the car on the drive.

She kissed her parents goodbye and followed Kim out the door and into Kim's bubblegum pink Jeep.

"Sweet ride," Madge grinned.

"Thanks," Kim replied. "My husband hates it, but Steph loves it."

"It sucks that Steph couldn't come with you," Madge said. Steph was Kim's seventeen-year-old daughter and one of Madge's favourite people.

"Yeah, but you know her. She's volunteering for a huge fundraiser at the animal hospital this week."

"Good for her," Madge smiled, and at eight o'clock precisely, they pulled up to Clove's house. Madge went up and knocked on the door.

"Holy shit, Madge!" Clove exclaimed when she opened it, her hair a mess and her pajamas disheveled. "It's eight in the morning!"

"Did you just get up?"

"Um."

"Please tell me you packed last night."

"Um."

"Showered?!"

"Cato and I were finishing our Geo assignment and it took us forever. He didn't leave until almost one and I was exhausted. I'm sorry. I thought I'd have more time."

Madge took a deep breath. She texted Kim. Give us fifteen minutes?

Sure thing, Kim wrote back.

"Okay, here's what we're gonna do. You're going to get your suitcase for me and then take a super quick shower, because you don't have time for a forty-five minute one like usual - " Clove laughed awkwardly - "and I am going to pack for you. Capisce?"

"Capisce."

They went upstairs and Clove handed Madge a navy blue suitcase from the hall, then grabbed a few things from her closet and went into the bathroom she shared with her sister. Madge spent the next ten minutes folding and packing shorts, tank tops, a hoodie, a pair of plaid pajamas, a plain white bikini she found stuffed in the bottom drawer of Clove's dresser, and the materials for the vision board that were sitting on her desk.

"Grab your toothbrush and toothpaste and cleanser and all that while you're in there!" Madge called through the bathroom door in Clove's room (there was another door on the other side of the bathroom which connected to Sierra's room, which Madge thought was cool).

A minute or so later, Clove opened the bathroom door, still in her towel. "Get me a scrunchie; far left, middle shelf."

Madge reached into one of the small storage containers. "What colour?"

"White."

Madge tossed a velvety white scrunchie through the doorway and watched Clove tie her damp hair in a sloppy ponytail. A minute later, Clove stepped out of the bathroom in a pair of running shorts and a long-sleeved white shirt with a shiny Under Armour logo on the front.

"Oh, shoot," Madge said uncomfortably. "I forgot, you prefer to wear long sleeves."

"No, um, it's fine if you packed t-shirts or whatever," Clove replied quietly. Madge looked at her uncertainly. "Really, it's okay," Clove said, rolling up her sleeve. "I haven't, um, done that in over two months. Cato and I talked about that a while back. He told me it was his birthday wish. Anyways, look, the scars are almost gone."

It was true. What had once been vibrant red scars were now faint pink lines that hardly stood out on her pale, freckled skin.

"Are you sure?" Madge asked. "I can pack long sleeves if you'd feel better that way."

"No, really. I mean, it'll be just you, and you already know, and I need to get over this. Honestly, they're hardly visible. At this point, my fear is completely irrational."

They finished what they needed to and Clove left a note for Sierra to say she was leaving, and they were off.

The moment Kim pulled her Jeep into the driveway of the house Madge and Clove were staying in, they scrambled out, grabbed their suitcases from the trunk and the key and the note Leo had left under the doormat, and went inside.

"What's the note say?" Clove asked.

"Madge: last time I saw you, you were a little tyke of nine years old, and now you're renting yourself a place! Crazy how time flies," Madge read out loud, somewhat embarrassed but she kept going. "I stocked up the fridge with all the things you asked for, but please don't tell your dad about the French vanilla coffee, because he specifically told me not to leave you any. Your friend's Red Bull is there too, and there are chips in the pantry, as well as a bunch of baking ingredients, in case you were planning on making cookies or something; I don't know what you kids are up to these days. It's been a while since I've had a fourteen year old. Laine is almost twenty, would you believe it?

"Anyways, sorry for rambling. Have a great time! Lots of love, Leo."

"He sounds dope," Clove said. Madge grinned.

"He is," she replied. "Anyways, there's three bedrooms, so we can each have one, and one of the rooms has two beds, so maybe we could invite Marvel and Gale up here for a night?"

"Sure."

"Let's go check it out!"

The kitchen was a soft yellow (as were most of the rooms in the house) and, like Leo had promised, stocked up with junk food. Clove immediately snatched a Red Bull from the fridge, and Madge took an iced tea. They grabbed their suitcases and carried in through the main floor, smiling at the hot pink sticky notes Leo had left all over the house with notes and reminders. "The TV has Netflix, but there's cable too if there's any programs you're used to watching before bed." "WiFi password is 'Leo's_Island', but make sure you make the most of the beach, too!" "There's extra toilet paper, towels and hand soap in the cupboard under the sink."

Upstairs, Clove and Madge each took a room for themselves, set it up the way they wanted and unpacked, and they changed into their swimsuits.

"I know we got Dunkin' earlier, but are you hungry?" Madge asked.

"When is that ever a question?"

They made some grilled cheese, cut up some apples and sprinkled them with cinnamon, then changed into their swimsuits, grabbed some towels and took their snacks and craft supplies down to the beach.