Chapter 1 – Cato
Shit happens
"I volunteer!" Clove called out. She promised she wouldn't, but she did. Of course she did. She's Clove. Shit. Just what I needed. Clove enters the stage. She say's her name, we shake hands. She promised she wouldn't volunteer, but she did because she's Clove, and I really don't get why I ever trusted she wouldn't. We're taken into the building behind the stage, and put in each our room, so our closest can visit.
My parents come to see me. Mom cries, and dad is proud. He was one of my trainers. "Why did you have to train him?!" mom yells at dad, but he dosen't even bother to answer. It's been like this for years, ever since dad started training me. Mom was against it, but she knew dad did it because he's a former winner of the games and wanted "a son to be proud of ". I always thought the whole thing was bullshit, but I did it because I enjoyed the rush. I've always had this strange, uncontrollable anger, that only the training arena could help me unleash.
"Calm down, mom, I'll be alright," I say, just to relax her a bit. She sits down next to me, and hugs me. I return the hug hug and stroke her back. I'm 18 now, so I really didn't think I was ever gonna be in the Games, and neither did she. Not that I really want to. Or, in a way I do, but at the same time I don't. I am smart enough to know that there is a very small chance I'll get killed, and that sometimes even the smalles chances can make a difference.
Suddenly the door opens, and my parents have to leave. "Make me proud, son." dad says right before he takes my mom – who is still weeping – out of the room, and away from me. A peacekeeper escorts me out of the room just a minute later. I see Clove and another peacekeeper walking right in front of us.
You are probably wondering why I care so much about Clove? Well, she's my girlfriend. We have been together for two years now. I love her. Shit, I wish I didn't. But I do. I have told her, she have told me. We love each other. And that's bad when you're gonna be put in an arena where you are forced to kill each other. We're put in a car that takes us to the train station, where we're put on a train for the short trip to the Capitol.
Well inside the train, I walk straight into the dining-compartment. Clove is already there. I silently check that we're alone, before I sit down right in front of her, across the table. She looks away from me.
"What the hell were you thinking, Clove?" I shout at her.
She looks straight down for a moment, befor she looks into my eyes. "I had to, Cato." she says calmly. She's trying to calm me down.
"Why?" I say, gritting my teeth, glaring at her.
"The girl that was actually suppose to go… she's my best friend. And if you didn't notice it, she's missing an arm," she says still careful, not to make me angrier.
"So you wanna die for her?!" I scream. Mabye I forgot to mention that her attempt to keep me calm, well, it failed.
"I didn't think about it! We've been best friends since we were 4! I don't want her to get killed!" she screams as she gets up and runs to one of the bedroom-compartments. I let out a sigh, and walk after her. I open the door, and see her sitting on the edge of the bed.
I sit down next to her and put my arm around her waist. "Sorry." I mumble. She's still crying, but tries to calm down. She leans her head on my shoulder.
"It's okay," she says after an eternity of silence.
I turn against her, put my fingers under her chin and force her to look at me, before I press my lips against hers. She kisses me back at once. She puts her hand on my cheek and i put my hand on hers. When she puts her head back on my shoulder she's smiling, and has calmed down. We sit like that until we reach the tunnel before the Capitol.
"Cato?"
"Mhm?"
"Promise me not to be mad forever."
"I promise." But of course, I can't start until we're in our own apartment. I don't want the Capitol to know about us.
When we walk of the train, I walk ahead of Clove, pretending not to know her. When we get to our apartment, Clove walks straight to her bedroom, and I can see she's upset. Great. Maybe I should have told her about my plan, or whatever you wanna call it. I decide to wait until the next morning to talk to her, because I'm tired. But of course they make that impossible here, by waking us up early for breakfast and training. After breakfast, when we get to the training center, we all stand in a half-circle in front of our trainers. They explain about the posts and tell us not to fight each other. After about ten minutes of talking, they let us of to the posts. And in the moment I pick up a sword, I feel it. It's on.