How did I get stuck in this predicament? Simple, I fell in love with my male tribute from my district. Cato. He is tall, muscular, and hot as hell and every girl's dream. Being put in the Hunger Games didn't cause some sudden reaction for me to notice him, like the ones from twelve, but I've always loved him. The first time I saw Cato, I was nearly five and Cato seven. Two older boys, they had to be about ten or eleven, decided it would be funny to steal the doll I was playing with. They held it above my head and no matter how hard I tried to reach it; they would always pull it higher.
"Hey Short-stack, you want your doll? Jump for it." The next moment all I saw was blonde hair, and even for a kid Cato was muscular. He was far taller than the boys and plucks the toy away from them with grace. "Leave her alone," He said puffing his chest to convince them. Cato always had a reputation as being a bad boy, but seeing him this way…all heroic, it did something to me. My heart began to pound for the older brutal boy. Although it didn't get worse until after the tribute parade.
"You looked really pretty," He said when we were returning to our hotel. The rooms were nice and everything but it was often lonely. "You looked better," I said with just a side moment. "Clove," he said, I didn't listen I kept walking. I felt his hands on my waist and with that he pinned me on the wall behind me. "I remember Clove," He said simply, "I remember the doll." I tried to shrug him off, but it wasn't that easy. "I don't know what you're talking about Blondie."
You don't let anyone know about your feelings because feelings get you killed in the hunger games. You had to be focus and never slip. Still Cato's arms around me felt so nice, I turned into a bag of pudding. "You look so beautiful," He brushed a strand of hair away from my face, he leaned forward. He was going to kiss me, I realized as my heartbeat picked up. No, I wasn't ready for that. Aren't you? A teasing voice in my head asked, you've loved that boy since you were five. I ducked just in time and managed to get into my room and close the door before he could stop me. "Night Cato!" I called as I fell back on my bed. I am a giant mess.
I went to bed without dinner that night, I didn't want to see Cato's face, didn't want to hear me laughing for believing that he might actually like me. What does it matter, in two weeks we will both be in the arena…. we will be allies, the careers always stick together.
I heard the footsteps before the soft knock on the door, Cato must have known I was aware of him, my sense were always heightened like that. "Clove?" He said from the other side, "Clove c'mon open up…can we talk about earlier?" After a couple minutes of silent he says, "I have food." I sighed; he was not going to leave. I walked to the door and opened it, stepped aside so he could come in, and went back to my bed.
"Hey," Cato said placing the try of food next to me. "Cato…what the hell was that?" He sat down next to me, "I don't want to sound cheesy but Clove…I do like you." He paused looking around as if there was a camera filming him. "I've liked you for a while and the only reason I volunteered for tribute was so I could make sure you wouldn't die." He took a hold of my hand and it took all my powers not to pull back. "Clove feel this," He put his hand over his chest, his heart, "the only reason this beats is because of you." That was stupid, every human has a heartbeat, and I knew it registered on my face.
"Clove you are my heart, I always have this…hard exterior, but inside." He leaned closer like he was telling me a secret, "I'm a big softie like the boy from district twelve." I laughed, "Cato, I've known you since I was little, you are not soft." He raised an eyebrow, "oh yeah?" he challenged and leaned forward, pressing his lips against mine. It was a strange feeling, I never have been kissed before. "I love you Clove," He whispered as he caressed my cheek. The food on the night stand was all but forgotten.