Cause I like AU High School stories of about everything I read/watch.

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-What wasn't-

Title: What Wasn't

Category: Hunger Games

Pairings: Clove / Cato . Minor other pairings.

Rated: T

Summary: Rumors and lies are just as common as stars in the sky. Sometimes you can't see them, but no matter how much they are covered, they will always be there. You can't completely erase one. AU high school.

Warnings: Rated T. AU. May be OOC.

-What wasn't-

I rushed out of bed, through breakfast, and up the street to school when I realized my alarm clock had gone off late and I was desperately, desperately late for school. On the first day. How cliché is that?

Apparently, not enough. Because this has been happening to me for a while. I have a bunch of unexcused tardy slips large enough to get me expelled. But with the vice-principal being your Aunt, you get advantages.

As I rushed up the hill, I cursed myself. I have to get my driver's license as soon as I become eligible. It would solve the problem of my 10 minutes run to school every day.

Running up the creaking wooden stairs of the school, I pushed open the door. This year, I was a sophomore. I knew exactly where the office was- where I would need to retrieve my tardy slip.

"Tardy again, Ms. Silvers?" Mrs. Crane, the secretary asked me, obviously joking. Her sharp red hair pulled back into a stiff bun, bright red lipstick, and wrinkleless face suggested that she would be strict and much too formal. But instead, I've seen her so much I'd consider her my friend.

"You can just call me Clove," I corrected her, giving a small chuckle. While I waited for her to write out my slip- this was a daily ritual, which would be started up once again this school year- I saw a rather muscular guy sitting across the room. He watched me with cold eyes, snarling.

As I watched him, I didn't notice the secretary trying to push the slip into my hands. When I finally realized, she smirked at me. "New kid," she whispered, gently pushing the slip into my small hands, "Already got in trouble the first 10 minutes of school. I'd avoid him."

I nodded firmly. I bet it was almost 20 minutes into my first period.

"See you tomorrow," I said, throwing my book bag over my shoulder. As I walked out the office, the halls were bare- the floors scrubbed clean to a polished finish. Like every week. It was almost unnatural how shiny the floors were in relationship to the lockers. Most sported their usual musky blue.

Within minutes, I reached my first period class- History. As I opened the door, all eyes found me, including the teacher.

"And that is why- oh. Are you Clove Silvers?" she asked. I wasn't sure if she was annoyed that I was late or just glad I showed up.

"Yeah," I replied, sitting in the first open seat I found, which I was guessing was mine.

She nodded, probably letting me off easy since it was the first day. Last year, I had study hall first period, so it was never that big of a problem if I was late.

As I scanned the room, I saw various writing on the board. Inscribed in the middle, written in pink marker, formally crafted handwriting, said 'Ms. Trinket', circled twice around.

The girl next to me smiled, then yawned, secretly pointing to Ms. Trinket. I silently laughed, agreeing with what she had suggested. The teacher was going on about everything we were apparently going to learn this year.

Suddenly, I heard the door slam shut. My gaze followed to the same boy I saw in the office that morning. Ms. Trinket gulped, talking to him in private before she sighed and sent him to sit to another empty seat two tables behind me.

Who is that? I wrote, sending it over to the girl next to me.

*Cato Quill. Trouble maker. Big time, she wrote back.

Really? I've never seen him around last year.

*Seriously? I always hear some bad stuff about him.

Hmm…

I reread his name and sighed. Oh, yeah. I've heard of him once or twice. But just in fights. Isn't that normal at this school?

*He starts half the fights.

Oh, wow.

*I would avoid him…

That's the second time I've heard that today-

The paper was ripped out of my hands, turning the 'y' into a jagged mess of lines and curves. The ink ran off the paper, marking the shiny new desk I occupied.

"Girls! No notes in my class!" Ms. Trinket shrieked, holding the paper to her side. "This is the first day of school, so I'm letting you off. But I don't want to see this again!"

"Okay," we both muttered, trying to ignore the stares and looks on the other students faces.

"Ms. Silvers, Ms. Everdeen, I expect a lot out of both of you this year. Don't blow it," she said, ending the lecture with a wink.

That reminded me, I didn't even know the name of the girl that was beside me. When Ms. Trinket was called to the office to gather some papers, I took this time to ask the question.

"I'm Clove Silvers. You?"

She smiled. "Katniss Everdeen."

I was planning on saying something else, but Ms. Trinket ran back into the room. Is she wearing heels?

"Okay, these are your school picture day forms," she yawned, passing out each paper. "Picture Day is in two days on Friday. I expect all of these forms to be filled out and returned to me by Friday morning."

She's so strict… I thought, knowing that I wouldn't be able to be half as late as I was late year every day. I'd be sure to get a detention.

The bell rang as I tucked the form into a folder. Actually, more like stuffed. Ms. Trinket must have saw, for she grunted in my direction. I pulled out my schedule to make sure I knew where I was going next.

History. Trinket. 156.

Mathematics. Flickerman. 278.

STUDY HALL – Cafeteria

Gym. Heavensbee. 101.

LUNCH – Cafeteria

Science. Everdeen. 301.

ELA. Undersea. 109.

Grunting, I realized that to go to math, I'd have to go upstairs. Then back down again for Study Hall.

Katniss looked over my schedule beside me. "Hey, we both have my mom for 6th period. And gym and lunch."

"Oh," I mumbled, still not pleased with how much running I'll have to do from class to class. I told Katniss a quick 'bye' and went out the door. There, I saw that boy, Cato, and a girl I haven't seen before next to him. Whatever they were talking about, the girl was laughing hysterically at it.

Rushing, I went up two steps up at a time. The hall was mostly cleared out- just a few stray kids here and there.

Sighing, I sat down at a random desk just as the bell rang. I wasn't late. But still, I hated this arrangement of classes I was going to have the rest of the year.

"Hello, I'm Caesar Flickerman and I will be your math teacher this year," he announced. There was some sort of joyous aura surrounding him that I really liked. "I guess I'll start by putting you in your seats."

Pulling out a manila folder, he motioned for everyone to stand up. "Cato Quill," he proposed, pointing to an empty seat. Huh. Cato was in this class with me? I had just saw him out in the hall though. I didn't see him walk in, so I had to guess that he got here before me somehow.

Mr. Flickerman continued putting kids in their assigned seats. "Clove Silvers." All the way in the back of the room, I made my way over to his pointing finger, flinging my bag on the floor next to me. Smiling, I realized one of my friends was in here.

"Cashmere!" I remarked, grinning at her. She had been out of Panem over the summer. This was the first time I've seen her in weeks.

"Clove, hey," she replied, observing her nails, which had appeared to have had a pedicure. I never really cared for such things. I think Cashmere had given up on talking to me about fashion, guys, makeup, and clothes.

"Glimmer Orly."

I turned my direction up just to see the girl Cato was laughing with in the hallway earlier. She wasn't at my table. Thank God. I don't think I would be able to stand someone like her. She seems completely fake.

This class period went by smoothly. When the bell rang, I began to gather my stuff. But before I was able to leave the room, Glimmer stalked over to me.

"I'm Glimmer, but you obviously know that."

I rose an eyebrow. Was this girl for real? "Cool, I'm-"

"I could care less who you are!" she snapped, glaring her green eyes at me. Wow. Bitch much?

After some awkward silence, she resumed. "Anyways, you know Cato?" Instead of waiting for my reply, she continued to talk in that silly voice of hers. It was high pitched and girly and UGHH. "Well, stay away from him." She had said it so sweetly that I had to look if she was joking. I hadn't said a word to Cato. Ever.

"Yeah, whatever," I grunted. Study Hall. In the cafeteria. Shouldn't be too hard to find. I only ate there every day last year.

Glimmer flipped her hair back, obviously dissatisfied with my response. She seemed like the kind of girl that would go to desperate measures in desperate times. Like, sleeping with some random guy for money. But by the looks of it, she came from a wealthy family.

Light blonde hair with streaks of a darker color. Terrifying green eyes. Porcelain skin without any kind of imperfection. Plump lips. 'Perfect figure' in today's world. Wait. Are those… breast implants? Um. Gross. But that didn't signify her wealth. The designer clothes, multi accessories, and way too much jewelry showed that either her mother or father had a good job. And she was making sure everyone knew it.

When I got to study hall, I was relieved to find that we could take our own seats. I was also relived to find that that bratty, annoying, fake little whore wasn't here. I wasn't sure if she was naturally trying to be a bitch to me or not, but by her first impression, I hated her.

Also, I made a mental note that Cato wasn't here either. Good. If Glimmer saw me in the same room as him then she'd think I was seducing him or some crap like that. Which, unlike Cashmere, who likes flirting, I don't do.

Sighing, I found an open table all by myself. For some reason, the study hall was portrayed in the cafeteria- which meant the cafeteria was in full use every class period. Periods 4-6 were lunches. 1-3 and 7 were the study halls.

When I looked around the room, I was surprised that I was one of the only people sitting at a table alone. Most others had a full table, which consisted of 6 chairs. Since there was no teacher in this class, you could bet that they were dragging chairs from other tables. One table I counted 11 people.

Scanning the sea of students, I sighed. I knew most of them, but wouldn't really consider any of them friends. My gaze stopped when I saw Annie Cresta. We talked a bit last year. She even came over to my house once. I was thinking about moving over there when I realized she wasn't alone.

Blonde hair and blue eyes. I was trying to put a name to this face. I know I knew who he was. I felt as if a light bulb flashed over my head. Peeta Mellark! His family owned the bakery downtown. I haven't been in any classes with him since middle school. It shocked me to see he looked the same, just more muscular… and… less chubby.

Since it was only the first day of school, I have no homework or projects to do. For a good ten minutes, I painted imaginary swirls on the table, watching the clock tick by with every second. Time just wouldn't go fast enough.

I finally gathered up the few things I had out and walked over to where Annie and Peeta were casually chatting. I guess the school gave us this time to either relax or do schoolwork. Either way, the latter usually didn't happen.

"Hi," I greeted them, trying to smile warmly. It was a hard gesture to accomplish since they weren't really my friends. More like acquaintances.

Peeta nodded. "Hey," Annie said. I feel like I just dampened their happy mood.

"Am I interrupting anything…?" I asked, biting my lower lip. Maybe they would tell me to go away, or say they were busy. No. They were both too nice for that.

Annie shook her head, patting the seat next to her. "No, no!" She pulled the seat out a little further. I guess that gesture was supposed to be nice, but I felt fat as I sat down. "So, how are you doing, Clove?"

I shrugged. "Better than last year. You?"

She clasped her hands together. Somehow, I felt like Peeta was being left out of the conversation. "Same."

Turning my attention to Peeta, I asked, "And you?"

He shrugged, similar to what I did. "Fine."

We made idle chit chat through the class period. Nothing eventful really happened, except for Annie trying to recall a story when she was forced to each a cockroach. Glad I don't have lunch next.

When the bell rung, I made a mad dash to my locker. Angrily, I was forced to take out my schedule to find my locker combination. It was only the first day. I didn't have it memorized.

But, why was I in such a rush? The answer was simple. Gym. Normally, I didn't mind gym that much. But last year, I met Plutarch Heavensbee, who liked to be referred to as Coach. He gave a detention if you were even a second tardy to his class.

"God dammit!" I roared, thrusting my fist at my locker. My gym clothes were in there. Coach didn't care if it the first day. We were expected to bring them.

By the time my locker had reluctantly opened and I nabbed my stuff, I realized the hallways were thinning out. Sprinting all the way to the gym, I figured I would probably have to carry my gym bag in the morning.

"Glad to see you. Get changed," Coach boomed, slapping me on the back. I grunted, honestly hated this man. Gym. Why'd I sign up for it again?

Slumping into the girls' locker rooms, I slid down onto the floor, noting only a few girls' stuff in the lockless lockers. By the time I had finished changing in one of the stalls, I noticed that I was most likely the last one to finish. Coach shook his head, tapping his foot impatiently.

Now, if you're wondering, we only have one gym teacher. Coach Heavensbee. Which means that he has to come into the girls locker room. Mind you, I've seen him peak.

Anyways, I took a seat beside Katniss. On her other side was Annie. Huh.

"Took you long enough!" Glimmer giggled, who sat on the other side of the room I did. I had a feeling it wasn't in a joking way. She was surrounded by her posse of friends. I was surprised to see Cashmere among them.

"Looks like everybody's here," Coach remarked, pointing out the door. "Now get out to the floor and give me 5 laps!"

Sighing, I trailed behind Katniss and Annie, giving them nervous smiles. What did I expect? Not to have as many laps around the gym?

"Why'd I sign up for gym again?" I asked Katniss and Annie, who both shrugged.

Katniss popped a smile. "Maybe him?" I followed my gaze towards where she was pointed, nearly gagging with the sight I saw.

Glimmer was wrapping her arms around Cato's neck, one leg lifted up in the air. She appeared to be whispering something in his ear, resulting in a gruff laugh. It made me sick. Plus, her shirt was so low-cut you could see her stomach. And her shorts were up so high they were underwear.

"Oh, oh no!" I shrieked, covering Annie's eyes. "Annie, don't look!"

Glimmer must've heard me, snapping around to give me a glare. Stomping on to me, she placed her hands on her hips, trying her best to make me intimidated. "Do you mind?"

"Oh, whatever do you mean?" I mocked, twirling a piece of hair around my finger innocently.

"Don't play dumb, Silvers!" she yelled, pointing an accusing finger at me. I grabbed it, threatening to bend it over and break it.

"Don't fucking play games with me," I taunted. "I could obviously beat you up. So shut the hell up."

"Ugg," she mumbled, scampering away. The nerve of this girl.

Annie looked at me with a puzzled expression, then her expression automatically brightened. Turning, I noticed someone coming our way. Tan skin, sea green eyes, and bronze hair. Was this her crush?

"Clove, meet Finnick," Annie proudly announced.

I nodded in a friendly gesture. Finnick did the same, then returned his attention back to Annie. "So, Annie-"

They were interrupted by a whistle. "5 laps around the gym!" It was the same instructions as earlier, except everyone were now motivated. If Coach gives you directions the second time around, you follow it. Or else face the sad, sad consequences.

By the middle of the 3rd lap, I was gasping for air, falling slower, as was everyone else. Our gym is huge. Really. In the middle of an 8th to a 4th of a mile.

When I finished, I realized I was one of the first done. Coach smiled at me with approval. Sometimes, it was hard to hate this guy.

As I waited, I noticed that it was taking a long time for somebody to finish the laps. About one person finished every two minutes. And guess who the last person done was.

"It took you half an hour to finish 5 laps," I said dryly to Glimmer, who shrugged in reply.

"I was walking," she retorted. "Besides, look how sweaty you are and how presentable I look."

Not when I give you a black eye. I was tempted to say it. But actions speak louder than words, right? I'll do just that after school.

-What Wasn't—

How was it? 5-10 reviews would be nice.

Anyways, critique is always appreciated. Thanks for reading!

-Ashe