A/N The song is for later in the chapter. This is also really cringy.
Clove's POV:
It has been 2 weeks since I went to Cato's house and I thought that our friendship was good, but it doesn't seem that way. Lately, Cato seemed to be distancing himself from me and spending more time with his other friends and sometimes even Joan. Of course, it's fine that he spends time with them, but he doesn't seem to be talking to me unless we are in training.
I sat in my seat and stared out the window. I didn't need to pay any attention to what the teacher was saying, since we were just learning the history of the hunger games like every other lesson. You pretty much only need to get notes from one lesson and you're all set for the yearly exams. As soon as I heard the bell, I scooped up my books and sped out of the classroom and to my locker.
"Hey Clove." Joan said happily as she came up to me.
"You seem awfully happy." I said as I looked at her.
"It's just a good day." She said with a mischievous smile.
"Okay, what's going on?" I asked as I slammed my locker shut.
I suddenly heard some music play from behind me. I turned around and saw Cato standing there, smiling at me. I raised an eyebrow as I looked at him and then at Joan who was smirking. My eyes widen when he started singing.
"Ooh girl you shining, like a 5th Avenue diamond, and they don't make them like they used to.
You're never going out of style." He handed me a small black box and when I opened it, I saw a sliver chain with a beautiful diamond.
"Ooh pretty baby, this world might've gone crazy.
The way you saved me who could blame me, when I just wanna make you smile." As he sang as he grabbed my hand and spun me around. A small smile crept into my face as he continued.
"I wanna thrill you like Michael.
I wanna kiss you like Prince.
Let's get it in like Marvin Gaye, like Hathaway. Write a song for you like this.
You're over my head, out of my mind.
Thinking I was born in the wrong time.
You're one of a kind, living in a world gone plastic.
Baby, you're so classic
Baby, you're so classic
Baby, you're so classic" By now, at least half of the school was surrounding us and listening to Cato singing.
"Four dozen roses, anything for you to notice.
All the way to serenade you, doing it Sinatra style.
I'mma pick you up in a Cadillac like a gentleman bringing glamour back.
Keep it real to real in the way I feel
I could walk you down the isle." He sang as some random people handed me four bunches of roses.
"I wanna thrill you like Michael
I wanna miss you like Prince
Let's get it on like Marvin Gaye, like Hathaway
Write a song for you like this
You're over my head, out of my mind
Thinking I was born in the wrong time
It's love on rewind, everything is so throwbackish
I kinda like it how you-
Out of my league, old school chic
Like a movie star from a silver screen
You're one of a kind, living in a world gone plastic
Baby, you're so classic
Baby, you're so classic
Baby, you're so classic" By the end, all of the girls were swooning over him and I stood there and stared at him with wide eyes. I never knew that he could sing and now that I've heard it, I'm wondering if he is bad at anything besides math and knives.
"Clove, will you go out with me?" He asked as he grabbed my hands. I stared at him for a second, shocked at what just happened. "Clove?" He said worriedly.
"Yes." I said as I hugged him. Some people started clapping, but I could tell that some of the girls were disappointed that Cato was off the market. I could almost feel Joan smiling at me from behind, but I ignored it and continued hugging Cato. When we finally separated, I could tell that a small blush had crept onto my cheeks and Cato smiled at me before speaking.
"I never thought that I could make Clove Kentwell blush." He said with a small chuckle.
"Shut up." I said as I punched his arm.
"Congratulations, Clove. You finally got a boyfriend." Joan said as she hugged me. When we seperate, she put her arm around my shoulder and pointed at Cato.
"You better treat her right or you'll have to deal with both of us. You'll probably be dead before I can even get to you." She threatened. "Anyways, I'll give you lovebirds some time alone." She said as she turned and left us alone in the hallway.
"So, when would you like to go on our date?" Cato asked me.
"Whenever." I said as he wrapped his arm around me.
"Okay, what about tonight?" He asked.
"Sure."
"I'll pick you up at 7:00." I smiled up at him before we started walking to training.
Training passed way too slowly for my liking, but it was finally over. I'm leaving early today, so that I could get ready for my date with Cato and Joan had volunteered to help me get ready. I walked to the change room and slipped on my jacket. I usually change, but I'm going straight home today, so there's no point. When I exited the change room, I saw that Joan was waiting for me with a large smile on her face.
"Let's go." She said as we walked to the exit. As I looked around the training room, I noticed that Cato wasn't there, meaning that he probably already left.
We walked to my house and when we arrived, Joan and I walked up the stairs and to my room. "Okay first, you need to shower and wash your hair. I'll get everything ready here." Joan said as she pushed me out the door. I took a quick shower and washed my hair. I wonder what this date is going to be like. I've never been on a date before. I thought. When I walked back into my room, Joan had makeup all over my desk.
"Sit." She instructed. I sat in the chair and she immediately got to work on my makeup. It was a terribly long process, but after what felt like forever, she was finally done.
She smiled as she looked at me and handed me a small hand-held mirror and I looked at myself. She hadn't done much to my face, but you could see that there was makeup on it. My cheeks were slightly rosier and my lips were coated in a kind of pinkish red lipstick. I didn't actually look too bad.
"What should you wear?" She said as she looked at all of my clothes. She picked up a white dress and placed it on my bed.
"It's a bit plain." I stated.
"Let me think." She picked up my leather and placed it next to the outfit. "Perfect. Now go change." She said as she shoved the clothes into my hands.
I walked back to the bathroom and changed into the dress. The white dress clung to my torso and I honestly think that it made my chest look small. The skirt was loose and ended mid thigh. It looked quite similar to the dress I wore to the Reaping this year, but it was white. Right now, I absolutely hate this dress. It accentuates all of my nonexistent curves and makes me look extremely prepubescent. Now that I thought about it, I don't even remember buying this dress. I threw on my favourite leather jacket and walked out of the bathroom.
When I got back into the room, Joan was inspecting my collection of shoes. I sat down on my soft bed and waited for her to choose something. She ended up choosing some formal black boots. I remember her and Rowena getting them for me last year.
"Time for hair." She said happily as she walked back to the desk.
"Why didn't you do it before?" I whined as I walked back over to the table.
"Because you probably would've ruined it by now." She said as she got to work.
I sat in the chair forever while she curled my hair. By the end, it fell down my back in sark curls. "You look perfect." Joan said as she looked at me. "Cato's going to die when he sees at you."
"No, he's going to run away when he sees me." I say with a chuckle. I grabbed the necklace that he'd given my earlier today and placed it around my neck. In that moment, there's a knock at the door. I take a deep breath and realised that I'm really nervous. This is my first date.
Joan wanted to open the door, but I quickly stepped in front of her and opened it, afraid that she would be embarrassing. Cato stood on the porch with a large smirk on his face. He was wearing jeans, a black shirt and a bomber jacket and his hair spiked up, as per usual.
"You look nice." He said as he looked at me.
"You've looked better." I say as I step onto the porch.
"Don't come back too late." Joan called as we walked away from the house.
"So, where are we going?" I ask as we walk to his car.
"You'll see." He said mischievously. We sat in his car and drove. I wasn't sure where we were going, since we weren't heading in the direction of the restaurants. He stopped when we reached a kind of forest that was at edge of District 2. "Let's go." He said as he exited the car.
I suspiciously got out of the car and we were soon engulfed in trees. After a few minutes of walking, we reached an clearing. In the centre, there was a picnic mat with candles and a picnic basket. We sat down and I looked up at the stars. I've never seen them shine so brightly.
"Beautiful, aren't they?" Cato said when he realised that I was looking at them.
"Yeah." I said, clearly in awe.
"Well the girl in front of me is much more beautiful than those stars." A small blush crept onto my cheeks.
"I didn't know there was another girl here." I joked as we both laughed.
Sadly, the night passed quickly and I knew that we would probably leave soon. This was the first time that I had laughed so much in a long time and I honestly can't remember the last time I genuinely wanted to spend time with a guy. We both learnt a bit more about each other and I think that I like him even more than before.
"It's getting late. Should we be heading back now?" I ask as I continue to lay on the soft grass.
"Can't we stay for a few more minutes?" Cato whined. I chuckled slightly but continued laying next to him. I stared up at the stars and wondered if they always looked like this. Every time I look at the stars from home, they look dimmer.
I started to shiver slightly when the cold night air brushed against my bare legs. I should've worn pants.
"You okay, Clover?" Cato asked kindly.
"Just a bit cold." I responded as I sat up and wrapped my arms around my legs. Cato sat up as well and shuffled closer to me. He wrapped his warm arms around me and I instantly felt warmer than before. I rested my head against his chest and enjoyed the extra warmth.
"You want to go to the car?" Cato asked as the wind blew against us.
"Sure." We quickly packed up and walked to his large car. We both hopped into the car and started to drive to my house.
We stopped in front of my house and sat for a minute before we got out of the car. We stood on my porch in silence before I spoke.
"Good night, Cato."
"See you tomorrow." He said before leaning down and kissing my cheek.
"Bye." I said before entering my house. There was a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. I never would've thought that a guy would make me feel these things. I'm not sure if it was a good thing, but I knew that it was a good feeling.
A/N Hey everyone, sorry that this is late. I tried to write it faster, but I have a test coming up and needed to study. I reread the chapter and I realised that this was really cringy. I don't have any experience in writing these types of things or even dealing with it in real life so you may not get many "romantic" moments without it being cringy. Thank you all so much for reading my story.