'You like Cato? Honestly, Marissa, Cato of all people..'
'Clove, you can't deny that he'd be - '
'Look, if you were in The Hunger Games together, he'd slit your throat while you slept.'
'You're the one who told me that he liked me!'
'Yes. Congratulations. You actually remember something for once.'
'You know I'm forgetful.'
' .. Right.'
'Hey, do you know who's not forgetful?'
'Who?'
'CATO!'
'Marissa, don't even get me started..'
Yes, this was my conversation with Marissa earlier. She likes Cato. Well, this is a problem. As I said, Cato would kill that girl in her sleep to win that title. Here comes problem number two; I like Cato. Yeah, that vicious, ruthless, cruel person.. He's just like me.
There are similarities between Cato and I.
He'd kill his best friend to get to the top. So would I.
He'd murder 23 people to get to the top. So would I.
He spends most of his time training for The Hunger Games. So do I.
He's volunteering. I'm volunteering.
Yeah, you heard me right. The small knife-throwing Clove is volunteering for The Hunger Games. And I'm going to win. And no one is here to stop me. Not today. I will bring honour and pride to my district. I will win, even if it means killing Cato. I have no problem killing anyone. Accept death and the fact that you are too weak to continue. Die at my mercy. Just how it should be.
As I walk now to the Reaping, these are the thoughts in my head. Maybe I'm brutal, maybe I'm malicious. I'm not afraid of slicing your face open. Maybe it's unhealthy. I'm grinning anyway. And so is everyone around me. Then there are the pathetic twelve-year-olds with their scared faces. They have no idea how vital it is for our district to win. We're the closest to the Capitol, we always win. Ignoring them, I keep walking and join the queue. 'Give me your hand.' says the woman behind the small desk in front of me. I harshly give her my hand. She has a cold look in her icy blue eyes. It's almost intimidating. But no one intimidates me. She pricks my finger and takes a blood sample from it. 'Next.'
I join the other fifteen-year-old girls. They look so excited. I.. 'overhear' them.
'Did you see Cato?'
'Of course I did! He's volunteering.'
'Oh. I was going to volunteer.'
'I was too.'
'Well, not anymore. Whoever gets reaped will be killed. Unless they think they can kill Cato.'
'Damn. I'm volunteering next year.'
It seems I wasn't the only one eavesdropping. Two girls beside me are talking now.
'Did you hear that?'
'What, about Cato?'
'Yeah. I'm definitely not volunteering.'
'Me neither.'
Less and less volunteers.. I like the sound of this. I don't care about Cato now. I'm winning this no matter what.