Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize in this story.

Rating: T {swearing}

Chapter One - Clove's POV

"Clove! Hurry up with those bags! We need to leave in 5 minutes if we're going to get to school on time!" a high-pitched voice yelled to me, the sound muted a bit by the walls of our house.

I roll my eyes and headed down the stairs. My descent was less than graceful, since I was kind of forced to stomp down the steps by the over-stuffed duffel bag weighing down my right arm and the white pack loaded with books that was giving me a mild hunchback. Not to mention the two suitcases I was wrestling with my left arm, and at least one of them managed to hit the railing at every step. I finally made it to the door, called out a very flustered, final "goodbye!" to my family, and I managed to get everything through the doorway and even close the front door behind me before letting all the luggage drop on the porch, myself following suit.

My sister, waiting for me by the hood of the minivan my parents gave her as a high school graduation gift, screeched and hurried up the driveway to rescue her belongings. After she dragged me to my feet, Jayla and I managed to get her duffel bag, her suitcase, and my suitcase into the trunk; my sister then proceeded to shove me and my backpack into the passenger's seat before hopping into the driver's side, starting up the 2-year-old car and pulling out of our dusty driveway onto the slightly less dusty road in a minute flat.

The early morning District Two sun was coming in through the windshield full-force, so I snapped my visor down and turned to my sister, "What's the rush, Jay?"

My sister sighed exhaustedly, tugging a lightly tanned hand through her blonde hair. "We're going to be late, that's the rush. I wanted to leave half an hour ago. I mean, if we can't get you to District Four by noon tomorrow, there's no way I can get up to Twelve by 8. And if I don't get there on time-" Jayla cut herself off with a shake of her head, mumbling 'don't get stressed, don't get stressed' softly under her breath.

I rolled my eyes and laughed lightly at her. I'm not much of a psychiatrist, but anyone could see that Jayla, quite simply, was an obsessive control freak. She liked things to go her way and to go smoothly, and was always bothered if she couldn't manage what was going on. "Jay, it's not the end of the world if either of us is a little late."

She took a deep breath in, closed her eyes, and then nodded exhaling. "You're right, nothing to worry about." she stated decidedly, but I still saw her drumming her fingers nervously on the steering wheel.

All attempts Jayla made to keep from worrying faded away in the morning, seeing that she woke me up at seven a.m. after we had only received about six hours of sleep at some rickety motel in District Eleven, convinced we'd never make it to my boarding school by the time she wanted, and dragged me out to the minivan.

That's how we ended up an hour from my new high school at just before 9 o'clock in the morning.

This was also when Jayla decided it was the optimal time to get mushy.

I tuned most of it out; I had heard the same things being repeated several times in the past few weeks. "Oh, I'll miss you so much Clove!" and "It's going to be so hard to be so far away from you!", but I doubted that most of my classmates that were saying this would even remember me a few weeks into the new year. I couldn't blame them though, because I would probably forget about most of them, too. Aside from Jayla, my parents and my older brother Eli were some of the few people who I would actually miss, as well as my closer friends. They were also the ones who tried to convince me not to transfer to Snow's Preparatory Academy, on the oceanside in Panem's fourth district, and instead stay in Two for my junior and senior years. I heard about the school's opening between semesters last year and was ready to apply and transfer then, but my parents agreed to let me finish out high school at the boarding school if I would finish sophomore year at home. They thought I would realize what a hassle moving would be when Jayla came back from her first semester at college. They thought she would've hated it and been complaining.

But she didn't hate it, I didn't change my mind about applying to the private school, and now we were 1,000 miles from home and I was anything but regretting my choices. Except for the choice to have the nervous wreck that is Jayla drive me to school, since her mushiness inexplicably manages to increase once we crossed District Four's borders.

She was my sister though, and so I did my best to listen and respond with "yes I will call you" and "I'll miss you too" and "I love you, Jayla", because a) she is my sister and I do love her and b) I was scared that she might have a panic attack from her anxiety, start sobbing, and drive me home and condemn me to a boring life in a boring house with almost-not-but-still-slightly boring people in Two. So, really, there was no option and so I had to keep her from crying for the better part of an hour.

Once we arrived at my school, I braced myself for a possible breakdown from Jayla, and got out of the van, slinging my backpack over my shoulder and retrieving my stuffed suitcase. I closed the back door, and went to the drivers side to see if Jayla was coming, only to find that the window was rolled down, her seatbelt was still in place, and the car was still on.

"You're not gonna help me unpack?" I asked, confused. Maybe I was expecting her to be more like mom and insist to carry something and triple check that I had everything and be reluctant to leave me alone at school.

"If I'm there, there's no opportunity for a hot senior to come and help you carry your bags and find your room." she winked at me, smiling slightly, but I could still see she was forcing herself to seem cheerier than she actually was for my benefit. I couldn't stop the smile that tugged at the corner of my lips. She gestured for me to back up from the car, and she drove out of the parking lot in front of the administration building, sticking her arm out the window and waving as a final goodbye, shouting "make friends!" as the sun-faded, blue van pulled away.

I smiled widely at the retreating car, giving a small wave, and walked into the administration office.

Inside I had met a very calm and collected young secretary, who was only frazzled for a moment that a student was here a full two hours before the suggested time. Her name was Miss Paylor, she had informed me, and I watched quietly as she rifled through hundreds of papers, handing me a select few, before plopping a room key on top of the pile saying "Room 33." and giving me a smile. A bright smile, one that I bet won't last through the first day of students back on campus. I smiled back; might want to practice it so it doesn't seem forced when I start to 'make friends'.

I emerge from the building, letting the door slam behind me. I flip through my papers: schedule, handbook, forms; but no map of the campus. I curse under my breath and look around, trying to see if I can find the dorm building. Jayla seemed to forget that as a result of being early, there would be no hot senior to take me to my room, and even if there was there was probably a 2% chance one would actually approach me. They'd probably assume I was a freshman because of my height. And Jayla also seemed to forget that I was a small, pale, and easily unnoticable girl with a face that I constantly had to tell people was "just my face" since people seemed to think I was angry because my lips did this puckery thing and my eyebrows went down like I was constantly pissed off, and my nose, like the rest of my features, were sharp.

I roll my eyes at myself, because I knew I shouldn't think about the bad things about me and focus on the good things and yada yada. Everyone knows it's not actually that easy, but I still know that the yada yada is right. I sigh inaudibly, and thumb through the papers again, as if it would make a map appear.

"Need help?"

I jump slightly at the noise, looking back up and squinting against the too bright sun, seeing the figure of a girl walking towards me.

Once she got closer, I could make out her bright grey eyes and long brown hair pulled into a braid down her back. She had on a green tanktop, dark jeans, and leather boots, as well as a simple chain around her neck. And even though she had offered to help me, she wasn't smiling superficially.

I liked this girl already.

I suddenly realized she was still waiting for an answer, and mumbled a 'yeah' before clearing my throat and saying, "Do you know where the dorms are?" The girl only nodded, and started walking, and I followed her, adjusting my backpack on my shoulders and dragging my suitcase over the concrete pathway.

We ended up falling into step with each other, but conversation refused to start up. It seemed like I had met my match when it came to sucking at small talk.

"Um, what grade are you in?" 'Way to be awkward' I thought to myself, but the girl seemed relieved to not have to start the conversation herself.

"This is my junior year." She says, and I nod, saying that I'm in 11th grade too. She nods in return, before continuing on. "I transferred here in the middle of last year, and there were only about 60 students, in total, because you know, how it's a really long and tough application."

I did know. It had taken me two weeks to fill out mine with the pressure of knowing that only 10% of applicants actually got accepted.

She pauses as we enter a brick building labeled 'Blair', and the cool air that envelops me comes as a welcome relief to the hot weather outside. "My mom says that this year we'll have triple that."

"Your mom works here?" I ask as we step onto the elevator, Katniss' thumb trailing up past the L, 1, and 2 before she reaches the button marked 3, which glows a bright yellow as she presses down.

"Mmmhmm," she hums, "That's why I'm here so early; "perks" of being the daughter of the school nurse." The girl rolls her silver eyes, adorning the word perks with air quotes. I laugh softly, stopping abruptly when she turns to me quizzically. "Why are you here so early though?"

"The "perks" of being driven by your older sister who's obsessed with having a record of never being late for anything ever." I reply, mimicking her air quotes, which earns the first real smile I've seen from her, and I smile back, the gesture being much less forced than I anticipated.

The elevator dings, and we step out onto the carpeted floor. "This is the junior floor. Your room is right over…" she trails off as she leads me a few feet from the elevators, "here." She gestures to the door marked with the number 33. "I'm right down the hall, in 35. I got here yesterday afternoon with the rest of the teachers, but I'm kind of a procrastinator so I still need to unpack. So I guess I'll be seeing you around?"

"Yeah," I agree. "I'm Clove, by the way. Clove Flare."

"Katniss Everdeen." the girl -Katniss- says as she unlocks her room and steps inside, shutting it behind her with a soft click.

I grab the key off the top of my pile of papers, stick it in the keyhole, and push the door open.

I notice that the room is painted a crisp white, the color my backpack originally was, but the thing that really draws my attention is the sliding glass door that opens up onto a balcony. The second thing that I see is that from my room I have an amazing view of Panem's east ocean. I drop my bag onto the single bed that's nearest to the door, stand my luggage in the doorway, and run-walk over to the glass door and onto the balcony.

The sun is high up above my head, the sky and the water are both brilliant blue, and the ocean breeze reaches me even four stories up. I stretch lazily. "So much better than Two." I mumble to myself.

After a few minutes of just standing there taking it all in, I turn walk back inside, sliding the door closed behind me to keep the hot air out. I head back to my doorway to pick up my abandoned suitcase, leaving the door to my dorm slightly open. I remove the bedding jammed inside of it and toss it onto the bed I claimed, leaving the bunk-bed with a bed on top and a desk underneath for my roommate. I roll the suitcase to the closet, designate the left half of the space for me, and begin unpacking my clothes. Tanktops, t-shirts, a few long sleeve shirts and sweaters, two sweatshirts (one from my old school and one from Jayla's college), short-shorts, capris, leggings, jeans, athletic tops and shorts, two bathing suits, and the six pairs of shoes I brought to school manage to fit on the two hanging racks, three drawers, and the space underneath the drawers in my half of the closet. Hopefully my roommate isn't one of the preps that brings three suitcases for clothes alone.

I fill the bookcase on the wall my bed is against with plenty of books: John Green, J.K. Rowling, Suzanne Collins, Veronica Roth, and several other authors' books make home on the shelves. I go and make my bed, place an ample amount of pillows, and fling myself onto it. I sigh in content, close my eyes, and, due to only sleeping 6 hours last night, fall asleep.

A pounding sounds on my door, and my eyes flutter open to see Katniss standing in the doorway, one hand holding the door steady as the other hand knocks.

"Kat," I greet her, jumping off my bed and landing on my feet. "What's up?"

"It's quarter of 12, and I figured you'd want the grand tour of the place before all the douchedicks flood the place." she tells me. I let out a very loud laugh, and Katniss smirks at me, raising an eyebrow, "You think I'm kidding?"

"No, I believe you. I mean, the combination of being spoiled, athletic, smart, preppy, and or attractive must really make the ultimate douchedick." I laugh, Katniss joining me with her much softer, less horse-like laugh. She steps out of the doorway, and I follow her to the elevator.

After leaving the girls' dormitory, we walk a grand total of 25 yards to the boys' dormitory, labeled Maxwell. Katniss says something about how Maxwell and Blair were the names Principal Snow's grandson and granddaughter respectively, mumbling "I know too much about this school" at the end of her 'fun fact'.

The two dorms are next to one another, a road in the middle of them. The office with the much-too-smiley lady is two buildings down, at the front gate. In between are the theatre and the library, and Katniss points out the gym behind the boys' dorms and the cafeteria a little bit up the hill. The academic buildings are up behind the caf.

"It's too hot for the grand tour, so we can walk to the office and call it a day." Katniss laughs, and we head back towards the administration building. "I'll introduce you to my friends."

As I'm about to respond, we turn the corner and I collide with something hard. I stumble back, and two arms wrap around me to keep me falling, and my hands go to the person's chest.

"Sorry," I start, looking up and into two eyes that, I shit you not, were the same color as the water in the nearby ocean. I try to back up, but the boy keeps his grip. I see that his amazing eyes are on pale face with an angular jaw, and his blonde hair is spiked up to keep it from falling into his eyes. He flashes a smile, but, to put it bluntly, I'm too busy staring at his face. What was I gonna say?

"My bad." He tells me, still smiling, as he slowly takes away his arms, still keeping the slightest bit of pressure that is able to send chills up my spine. Stop it, Clove. You don't even know him. Stop reacting this way to this guy who's probably the king of all the douchedicks. I mean, look at how he carries himself, and his clothes, and his eyes…

The boy steps back, flashes a grin, and sends me a wink as he saunters off. Yeah, just like I thought.

Katniss hooks her arm around mine and drags me around the corner, and then stops walking and whispers, "Congratulations, you just survived your first conversation with him."

I don't even bother asking why she said "him" like that, because I want to decide whether he is a good person or not for myself. Instead I ask, "Who was that?"

"Think of him like this: he's the love child of God and Satan who was then put into human form because h-"

"No," I say, shaking my head and smiling amusedly, "I meant what's his name?"

"You just met Panem's own Cato King."

A/N: hiiii :) I think it's time for the long first chapter author's note, hbu :)

I know stopped writing a while ago, but I'm back I promise. so yaaaa I've been wanting to write a high school fanfic but I've just never really done it until now, so here it is and I hope you guys enjoy this

This story will mostly, if not always, in Clove's POV. If you guys want a POV switch I'd be up for that, but the first 5 chapters or so will be Clove. (and if I change POV I stay that way for the entire chapter)

T for a rating because of swearing and some alcohol and stuff and if I ever do like detailed smut I will make it 102% obvious that I am so you can skip over it if you feel uncomfortable reading that stuff, but I might not do scenes like that at all so don't worry. :)

please please please review :) I want to know what you guys think and all of that jazz

NU: Friday {3/28}