This is his last night. I'm not sure I can handle saying goodbye but it is Cato and he is my best friend so I grab my coat and head out the front door, locking it behind me. My mother is asleep so she should be okay. Tonight should have been hell for her, knowing what could happen tomorrow but her illness keeps her oblivious. That is the one and only perk of my mother being ill.
I head along the dirt path to the old hall that we call the centre. It used to be a training facility for Peacekeepers but now it is used to train only the best, potential tributes for the Games. It's a secret that everyone in District 2 knows but it is only ever talked about in whispers. Everyone wants their son or daughter to be selected to become a career but only 6 are trained at a time. I am one of them and so is he.
I climb over the chain link fence and run round the corner and under the shelter at the back door as the rain starts to fall lightly onto the grass. He isn't here yet but I guess I am a little early. As I see him run round the corner I get butterflies in my stomach like I always do whenever I see him. And as always I completely ignore them. Cato would never feel the same. He would never pick me out of his throngs of admirers from all over District 2.
As he reaches the shelter he shakes the water out of his soaking wet hair sending a shower of rain drops over me. I moan in protest but he just flashes his dazzling white smile at me and gives me a giant bear hug.
"Sorry Clover, managed to sneak out did we?" He laughs.
Clover is his nickname for me. He started calling me that just after we became friends. It was my first week at the centre and we were picked as partners for fight training. After I somehow managed to beat him he went in a mood with me and said that it was beginner's luck. Hence the name Clover.
"Yeah, she is in her bed, as usual so it wasn't that hard. Most parents would be freaking out tonight but she is fine." I sigh.
"You know she would be if she were… you know 'really here'. Believe me it's much better she is oblivious than worrying all the time, it would only make her worse." He reassures me.
He always knows how to make me feel better. That's how we get on so well.
"Thanks Cato." I pause. "Are you still absolutely sure about tomorrow?" I ask, hoping for an answer I know I won't get.
"One hundred per cent." He says with a smile "I thought we were sticking to the plan?" He says.
The plan was that since this was Cato's last year to go into the games, tomorrow at the reaping he would volunteer, win, come home and help out his family with the money he won and then give a small amount to me to get medical help for my mother. Then next year when my mother is well enough to not need around the clock care, I would volunteer, win, then come home and have my mother cured. Our plan was fool proof… well apart from the fact that we could both die while trying to execute it but we were skilled and we had each other.
"Yeah, we are but I just can't help worrying that you will get hurt." As I say it I feel my cheeks burn red.
"I will be fine." He says while awkwardly shuffling his feet on the gravel on the floor of the shelter.
I can tell there is something wrong.
"Are you sure you're ok? You seem a little off?" I ask.
"It's just- oh it doesn't matter. It's getting late you'd better get home to your mom. Early start remember?" He says with a laugh.
"Ok, well I guess I will see you tomorrow then…good luck. I will…um…miss you." I manage to choke out.
"Yeah, you too." He replies looking at his feet. He opens his mouth to say more but stops before any words can slip out.
We walk round the corner together and climb over the fence. We live at opposite sides of town; we look at each other one last time. We will see each other tomorrow but this feels like the last time just for us.
The rain is heavier now, pouring, thundering onto the tin roof of the centre, we turn away and start to walk our separate ways. I'm glad I have my hood up so he can't see the silent tears of goodbye trickling down my cheeks. But then I hear something. It's him.
"Clove! Wait!" He shouts.
I turn around to see him running towards me. Puddles leaping up to splash his legs and he comes closer and closer. He finally stops right in front of me, so close I feel his warm breath on my face. He has a look of longing in his eye as if he was about to do something he had wanted to for a long time.
He moves his hand up to caress my cheek and whispers:
"Just in case I don't come back."
He leans in and kisses me. Its everything I had dreamed it would be. The way his lips felt against mine, the warmth of him pulling me closer. I can't believe it. Out of all his admirers me? I didn't seem real. And then it is over. Just like that. So quick but so beautiful. I look into his deep, blue eyes and whisper.
"I know you will."