"You're not a monster. You will never be." I told him.
He looked down at me.
His piercing blue eyes shunned my simple brown eyes.
"Then why am I a Career, Clove? And why are you?"
I drummed my fingers together.
He knew the answer.
Both my parents won.
My sister did as well.
"You know why."
"I know what your family forced you to do. I want to hear Clove's side of the story."
He smiled.
"My side? I wanted everyone to get off my ass. I wanted them to leave me alone. Stop telling me that I'm not as good as them. They always had "Oh I did this in the Hunger Games" stories. And I hated it."
He looked down at me.
"Can you tell me something else?"
"Hmmm?"
"How did we first meet?"
I laughed.
"Now, do not make fun of because of her size and age. She is the youngest to come this far into the training center."
I walked into the training room.
For all the level 9 kids.
I was the only girl.
And the youngest one there.
I saw only one boy that was close to my age.
"This is Clove."
No one said anything.
So I just went and picked up a set of knifes.
And threw them all at the targets.
I never missed the bulls eye.
Everyone stared at me.
I didn't even blink.
I saw a little blonde boy standing in the corner.
"Stop staring at me, new girl."
I snarled at him.
"By the way, my name is Cato. You should remember that name, because one day. I will be the winner of The Hunger Games soon."
"Wow. You have an incredible memory."
I laughed.
I had to.
Me and my best friend were going into the Game together.
We were thumb wrestling when I first noticed the spark.
There was something different.
How his big thumb would delicately trying to defeat my small thumb.
He never let me win.
Until now.
On the train ride to the Capital.
I think he felt it, too.
Everyone labeled him as 'the monster of 2'.
But he is no monster.
He's sweet.
And gentle.
And kind.
Who cares what he can do with a sword?
Its self defense.
I have never been jealous in my whole life.
Until the Games.
In the Training room, I saw the way Glimmer looked at him.
He almost smiled when he saw the way I threw the knives after he hugged Glimmer.
I hated her.
That's the first time I realized that I had feelings for Cato.
He would talk to me every once in a while.
But he was so preoccupied with Glimmer, I was a ghost.
Marvel walked over to me.
"You know, being jealous is kinda hot."
I looked at him in disgust.
He was too busy staring at Glimmer.
How fucked up are things in the Games?
It was the night before the Games when we had a real conversation in a long time.
"Clove." he said.
I looked up.
We were in my room.
"What? Are you too busy trying to get into dumbassname's pants?"
He laughed.
"Are you seriously jealous?"
He sat down on my bed.
"Pffft. Me jealous? Do you not know me, Cato? I cannot get jealous."
He put his head on my chest.
"Whatever you say."
He did his cocky grin that made all the girls back home melt.
I started to push his hair out of his face.
"Clove?"
"Hmm?"
"I'm sorry."
"Why?"
"For making fun of you, all the time. Back home."
"But then we became best friends silly."
He grabbed my hand.
That damn spark was back.
He stared into my eyes.
"I know. But still."
"I love you." I breathed.
He got up and left.
I swore I heard him laugh on the way out.
We're in the Games now.
We just saw the Girl on Fire.
Cato fell off the tree.
He was so red.
From anger.
From embarrassment.
We stayed under the tree that night.
Half the night I was contemplating throwing a knife at Blondie's back.
The other wanting to shove my tongue down Cato's throat so pretty girl would stop giggling.
She was asleep and using Cato as a pillow when he spoke again.
"You're really adorable when you're jealous."
I blush.
"I am not jealous." I said through my teeth.
"Whatever you say."
He chuckled.
"Cato. I am not."
He raised his hand and motioned me over.
I obeyed.
"Listen to me."
I shook my head.
"You are jealous. And I'm jealous too. Jealous that you're jealous. Want to know why?"
I nodded.
"Because she is just a game piece. Nothing more."
I smiled.
"There's my Clovey."
He smiled.
I started to stand up, when he grabbed my hand.
"Don't go." he whispered.
I laid down next to him.
He laid up.
"Clove?"
I laid up as well.
He leaned in and kissed me.
Just a small peck.
He left me breathless.
After Glimmer and Marvel died and our supplies blown up, Cato and I became even closer.
"The Feast is tomorrow." I said.
Cato sighed.
"I'll get it."
"No. I will."
We argued for a while.
"Fine, Clove, you do it. Prove yourself to your family."
He yelled at me.
He's never yelled at me before.
I run away from him.
Crying.
"CATO. CATO. CATO!"
His name.
On my lips as I die.
"CLOVE!" I hear.
"CATO!"
I can feel blood coming from my head.
Thresh took Katniss away from here.
I hear his footsteps.
"Clove. No no no no no. Not my Clovey."
He sits next to me.
And he grabs my hand.
"Clove. Clove look at me."
It took all the strength I had to look up.
"C-cato." I whisper.
The pain is overloading my body.
"Shh. I'm here. Everything is going to be fine."
I see tears coming out of his eyes.
"Don't cry."
"I can't."
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
I start to fade out.
"Clove. Clove no. Please. Stay. With me.:
He's starting to sob.
The cannon booms and Cato is left with the love of his love, dead in his arms.
Everyone in the arena hears his screams after the boom.
And when Cato died, he wasn't upset.
When he spoke "I'm already dead."
He was saying that he was nothing without Clove.
In the end, he wasn't the monster.
Fate and the twisted mind of the Capital were.