CHAPTER 1
Cato is over at the sword station, cutting off the heads of numerous dummies. Michael is camouflaging himself as the Cornucopia, which actually looks pretty real, and Arkaia is practicing her wiring. I have no idea why. I headed over to the knife station, where I go everyday. It get's quite boring but oh well. I long to go over to the sword station and prove to Cato that I am as good as him. Cato is strong and scary, everyone is afraid of him. Except for me. I guess that's why we're best friends. "Hello Miss Clove." Marcus, the knife co-ordinator, whispered as he handed me a cutting edge, freshly sharpened gold-plated knife. It felt so cool and nice in my hands. I flung it at high speed towards the middle of the dummy. It landed smack bang in the middle. "Perfect." I muttered to myself. I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around. "Hey Clove." It was Cato. "Can you teach me how to throw a knife? That was awesome." "Sure" I replied. "But then I get to battle you. In a sword fight." Cato looked angry. "No Clove. You know we're not allowed to verse each other." "But Cato…" I trailed off. "Clove…" Cato said sadly. "Not today." "Fine. Wednesday, the day after the reaping. Meet me here, 3:50am sharp." "Thanks Clove." Cato smiled and took me over to practice my spearing. I threw the spear at dummy. I swear it was going to hit the middle, but it got pushed aside by another spear. It was Cashmere and Gloss's sister, Satin. Her sharp, piercing eyes were fixated on me. I started to back away, intimidated, unaware of Cato staring at Satin. Satin seemed threatened by Cato. She ran away, disappearing behind a knife rack and peering around the corner of it, staring at us. Cato pulled me back to the knife station. "Clove. Are you okay?" "Yeah, Fine. She's just so…" I couldn't find the right word, "Intimidating. She reminds me too much of Cashmere and Gloss. Why did Satin have to move to District 2" I slumped into Cato's shoulder. Cato laughed. "Just throw some knives, weakling." That made me angry but I knew he didn't mean it. It was just to psych me up. I angrily thrusted knives towards every dummy, hitting them all in the centre. It felt extremely good. "There, look at Satin." Cato pointed out. Satin looked like she'd just pooped her pants. Cato and I laughed. Eristine Nimbark's voice boomed blaringly over the loud speaker. "Hello District 2! Yet another day of training has come to an end and for two of you, it might all pay off. Tomorrow is the reaping!" Everyone cheered. "Go home, have a good sleep and be prepared for tomorrow." Cato hugged me. "Good luck, Clove. You'll need it." He joked. "See you tomorrow." "Bye." I replied. After that, Arkaia came to wish me good luck and Michael waved too. I said goodbye to Marcus, just like I do every year, in case I get sent to the arena. "Good luck tomorrow Miss Clove. Remember, you are ready to volunteer if you feel up to it. People fear you. I believe in you, Miss Clove." Marcus patted me on the back and walked away swiftly. As I wandered home, I started to think about tomorrow, Satin and Cato. What if Cato get's reaped? Or volunteers? I'll have a 1 in 24 chance of losing my best friend. What if Satin gets reaped? She'd kill Cato first for sure. Before I knew it I was hyperventilating. I can't lose Cato. It's impossible. I slowly blacked out… When I woke up everything was hazy, just a big blur. Cato carried me to the reaping and fed me until I felt better. I could eventually stand. "