Chive- Neither me or Tyme owns the hunger games. It belongs to Suzanne Collins

Clove's POV

Sweat and metal, the smell always filled me with a strange sense of security. Even if it was the smell of the training room. The training room had always been home for me. A place to escape. It was the place where I saw my friends. Well more like friend. Most of the kids here would smile and wave if they saw me around the district. A couple would try to talk to me, like we had been friends for years. I've known everyone here since I started coming to the training academy when I was ten.

I had been sitting outside the training room for a while. I couldn't will myself to go in. It was the last day of training before the reaping. It was our end of the year evaluation and the eighteen year old who had the best score would be obligated to volunteer tomorrow.

Cato

Everyone knew he was the best in his age group. He was strong and tall and had a fierce passion for fighting. His competitive spirit made it almost impossible to beat him.

He was also my best friend.

I remember the first day I was in training. I was terrified of all the older kids. They all knew at least 200 ways to kill me. And I was a tiny 10 year old. Hardly any muscle. I hadn't received any of the included dietary supplements or training gear let alone the money. So I was wearing a baggy t-shirt I used to sleep in. It fit me like a nightgown, and went past my knees. The pants I was wearing were two small and stopped abruptly on my calves. I sat on a bench watching everyone because i was too scared to go up and join anyone. Training hadn't officially started yet so they we're all playing games.

District two where you can learn to kill for fun.

He had accidentally threw a rubber knife at me (Or so he claims.) It hit me in the gut and I had started crying. All of his friends laughed and made fun of him for making a little girl cry. He didn't care he ran over and picked up the knife. He was about to leave when he turned and asked if I was okay. I replied by standing up and kicking him in the leg before leaving to cry in the hallway. I'm amazed that I made it threw the first week of training.

But I'm stronger now. And faster. And braver. Even with my attacks.

I started getting them when I was twelve. They were worse then. My parents would have to hide me when they went to the mandatory viewings of the games.

The games made them worse. Ever since she died…

I'd lose all sense the world would disappear and fear would take over my mind. I used to scream and would punch anyone who tried to help me but I've learned to just freeze until it goes away. If it's really bad sometimes I've heard I sit down and tug my knees to my chest. I never remember what I do during my attacks. But usually someone will tell me.

Eventually my trainer, Rose, came out. And yelled at me. I wasn't really paying attention to what she was saying. I just nodded and stood up. When I got into the training room everyone was already lined up for evaluations. They started with the oldest. You went to different stations and had 3 minutes to do your best at that station. You got a score out of ten for each station and then they added up the scores. Your score determined whether or not you would be allowed to continue training, and when you we're 18. It determined whether you'd a tribute or a peace keeper. Some kids who got high scores but didn't get to volunteer, became head peacekeepers.

I had missed the instructions and the eighteen and seventeen age groups. Apparently when they came around to began the sixteen year old evaluation someone realized I was gone. I glanced over toward the eighteen year olds. They had received water bottle from the looks of it and we're throwing the empty water bottles at each other.

I saw Cato. His dark grey shirt stuck to his chest with either water or sweat. I raised my eyebrows and he nodded to answer the question I wasn't asking. He did well. He didn't purposely fail like most eighteen years olds.

We were technically fighting. Last night I had begged him to fail his test purposely. It was selfish but I knew if he tried he would be this years volunteer.

"I can't lose someone else to the games!" I had screamed. I remember the tension building up in chest and my head going fuzzy.

"Who says you'll lose me?" he yelled back. He hadn't realized where I was going yet.

"That's the way it works, 24 go in only one wins."

"Then I'll win."

I remember shaking my head. I don't remember anything after that. I lost it. I had the worst attack I've had since Autumn died. He must have eventually calmed me down. And then I felt the slight sway of being carried and my head against his chest. When I woke up the next morning I remember screaming and crying and had refused to go to training. But I'd be out of the program if I missed evaluation day. I'd get an automatic zero.

And I would never see Cato again besides when his name gets called at the reaping.

"Clove Fuhrman," the announcer called stepped up to the platform that took you up into the evaluation room. No one besides the trainers got to see your test. The platform slowly raised and I was in another room.

First station: Fire building

The first few we're the boring basic survival tools. Fire building didn't take very long. I was done early so I waited by the elevator. Until the buzzer went off and the elevator door slid open.

The next 3 we're more basic survival tools. What berries you could or couldn't eat, camouflage, and snares.

Then we got to the fun part.

The fifth station was sword work. Cato's specialty. You stood in the middle of a circle of dummies that we're hidden in the floorboards. And they popped up one after another and you had to make a clean cut for good points. I tried my best but sword work had never been my strong point.

It was followed by archery which is tested in the same way except the dummies are farther back. I've always been okay at archery. Not particularly good or bad.

Then my best. Knife throwing. I hardly missed hitting each dummy near the heart as it popped up.

After that I was finished. You got tested differently based off your age and such so some tests we're longer than others. When I stepped off the final platform, Cato was staring at me when he realized I had noticed he looked away. I sat down by myself along a wall. I stared at my shoes for what felt like hours until the final scores we're announced.

They only announce the top 5, 18 year olds. That's the only ones people care about anyway.

Girls:

5. Raymond Roseburg

4. Mya Hofstetter

3. Clary Fairwood

2. Cath Wren

1. Bea Whifner

Bea Whifner, was a very unexpected first place. She never really stood out to me in training. I think her and Cato dated when they were six or at least that's what the girls around me we're saying. But the girls in my age group probably didn't have a single working brain cell. Last year all they would talk about is how Rose was dating the doctor that works at the training academy. And when they found out she was going out with another trainer. They would not give poor Rose a break.

Once everyone quieted down they announced the boys.

5. Logan Jackson

4. Carter Lehman

3. Mitch Gardner

2. Morrie Albom

1. Cato….

I didn't hear the rest. I got up and scanned the crowd looking for him. Our eyes met. And then I ran. Out of the room. Out of the center. It was very hot out that day, but I didn't notice, I just kept running. Eventually the adrenaline faded and I fell down in the grass exhausted. I kept waiting for it, but I didn't black out. I laid with my face in the overgrown grass. I began to feel tears dripping down my cheeks. But I didn't move. Until I heard his voice.

"Was that really necessary?" Cato knew not to try and comfort me when I got like this. He knew to get answers out of me. He was tough on me. He knew I could handle it unlike most people who tip toed around me.

I sat up and wiped my face on my shirt. "How did you find me?"

He motioned for me to stand up. My leg stung. I looked down and there was blood coming out of my calf. He sighed "Sit down,"

I sat down. He pushed my pant leg up to my knee. I hadn't realized how much mud had gotten on my clothes while I was running. My t-shirt was wet from mud and sweat. And my pants we're muddy with a bit of blood.

"I would have brought a bandage if I knew you we're going to hurt yourself," Cato said staring at my leg.

"I didn't try to," I protested.

"It looked at if you cut it jumping over the academy's fence, you know they'd let you threw the gate if you asked nicely."

"Yeah, wouldn't that be a fun conversation," I snorted. "Excuse me would you please open the gate so I can go running threw the weeds because my best friends going to die in the games,"

Cato looked up at me. "Do you really have no faith in me?"

"I had faith in Autumn and look what happened to her."

Cato shook his head. "Autumn was a suicidal fool." he said. He poked at the cut on my leg.

"She practically saved my life." I countered.

"If she hadn't volunteered someone else would have." He stood up. "Come on, we should get a bandage on that, and it's going to take a while for us to get back to town. New record 3 miles. You should join the cross country class next year."

I stood up ignoring my legs throbbing. "Cross country's pointless you just run to nowhere and back."

"Oh well then you should be good at it."

We walked back to town in silence. When we reached our neighborhood I turned toward my house, trying to get away from him. But he grabs my arm.

"Come with me, if your mom sees the blood she'll flip." he says pulling me toward his house. I follow him reluctantly.

When we got inside his house we we're standing in the kitchen. His mom or aunt as he was told to refer to her was in the kitchen. I'm the one of the only people that knows the truth about his family.

"Cato what on earth took you so long…" she looked at me and then down at my clothes. My cheeks burned. "Oh, well I was going to have your family over anyway. I'll send Tyme over, she's been begging to have Chive over."

I nodded then followed Cato who was on his way upstairs. Upstairs was a thin hallway with only three rooms a bedroom on each side and a bathroom in the middle. Cato's mom slept downstairs and him and his sister rooms we're up here. He went into the bathroom and grabbed a roll of bandages. We walked into his room. My cheeks we're burning, I always felt so ashamed when he had to save me.

He pointed to a spot on the edge of his bed and I sat down. He grabbed my bloody leg and kneeled in front of me. I watched his hands as he wrapped the bandage around my leg, his fingers tickled my leg every so often and made my breath catch in my throat. After all this time he still had this effect on me. And after all these years of him helping me when I blacked out. I still couldn't look him in the eye. He tried to make eye contact with me multiple times but I always looked away. I wasn't strong enough. I wasn't brave enough.

"You don't have to volunteer," I blurted out. The words had escaped me without me even seeing them coming.

"Yes, I do," he said briskly.

"Cato, please. I can't...I can't lose you too."

"You're not going to lose me. I can win this. My mom… and I've been training for this my whole life. I'm not gonna back out just because you…"

"Just because I'm begging you not to ruin or possibly end your life?"

He snorted, "I'm not going to ruin…"

"Nobody actually wins those games Cato! There are survivors but…" I pulled my leg away from his hands and jumped off the bed. Wincing. "Have you seen the people in the victors village? Half are drunks and the other half… They're not the same."

He didn't respond.

"The other half…" I felt like I was gonna choke, tears we're threatening to spill over. "Are crazy...crazy in the same way i am."

"Clove.."

"Cato, how am I going to live through this when you're gone. You've always been the best at...the best at waking me up."

"Clove it will only be for a little while,"

"No! Then you'll be crazy! Well not only be the weird boy and girl who may or not be dating but well be the crazy boy and girl who may or not be dating."

"You're not crazy Clove. You went through something no one should have to go…"

"So are you! No one should have to be in those games! I hate it! I hate my life and this world and those games! They ruin everything." I stumbled around the room my fists clenched so tight my nails we're digging into my palm.

"Clove stop." he grabbed my arm.

I made eye contact with him for the first time since he found me in the mud.

"Clove I will win. I love…" he stopped talking and looked me in the eye with a strange certainty that was different from his usual cocky look. "I love you too much to just die in that arena. I promise I'll win. For you."

My brain buzzed. He just said he loved me. He had never said that before.

"I..I love you too." i said softly. "Too much to let you risk it. Cato..If you volunteer I will too."

He let go of me and stood up. "Clove." he said his voice demanding. "You can't"

"Of course I can." I replied crossing my arms across my chest. "You die I die too."

"Clove, if you go in then we have no chance of both living, if you stay here…"

"Then I'd have anxiety attacks every day and would probably kill myself before the games are over."

"Clove when I'm in there. I need you to take care of Tyme. My mom will be with me and...I already talked to her about staying with you...permanently if I don't make it out."

"I can't take care of her when I can hardly take care of myself."

"You've done a pretty good job as far as I can tell."

"You've always been the one to save me, even my mom couldn't help me the way you do."

"Clove. You have to take care of yourself. For me there's plenty of doctors."

"Plenty of doctors my parents can't afford."

"My mom, she been dealing with depressed victors for years.."

"But I'm not depressed. Not technically."

"You have to.. you'll have to learn to live without me. I promise, I'll only be gone for a little while. You won't even miss me."

"Fat chance of that."

He walked over to me and wrapped me in his arms. I loved it when he did this, it seemed as if for a little while I could feel safe in a world where I could be sentenced to death at any moment.

"Promise me you'll take care of Tyme?" he murmured against my hair.

"I promise," I whispered against his chest.

He cupped my face in his hands before leaning down and kissing me gently on the lips.

"I had to that at least once before I left."

I looked sadly at my shoes. He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the door. Through out dinner I had a hard time socializing especially when Cato told them the news. They all seemed so happy. Even when he told them he was planning on volunteering.

"I'm sure you'll make us all very proud." his mom said. His sister just seemed excited that she got to stay with us for a while. And my parents smiled at him with pride.

Would they be proud if I died in the arena too?

This chapter was proudly written by me, Chive. I will be writing Cloves perspective and my lovely partner in crime, Tyme. Will be writing Cato's point of view.

Please review!

Chive~