Author's Note: So I hadn't put an author's note on this stories prologue, so this is the first time I'm speaking to everyone! This is my first fanfic and I plan on taking it pretty far. Hope you guys like it!
Clove POV
It's three years after the day we first met. Me and Cato are now fifteen years old. In the past three years, he and I have become something like best friends. Not that I have any other friends anyway. I never needed them.
A lot has changed in the past three years. My father, my only family member, has become a drunk and has completely forgotten about me. He is rarely ever home, and if he is, it's to grab some more booze. Cato's family has welcomed me into their home various times, but I feel like I would always be intruding if I were to stay there.
Cato's family loves me. They are the family that I had never really had before. Cato's little sister, Chloe, adores me. His father, Clyde, wishes I was his second daughter. And his mother, Charlotte, is always the kindest to me. They know what I have been going through, and they already consider me family. They even have another bed for me to use there the nights my dad is home. I owe them a lot.
My dad had been home last night, so I had stayed at Cato's. I wake up and look at my clock. Shit! I think. It's 5:50. I only have ten minutes until training starts and if I'm late, my trainer, Xandra, is going to punish me. Luckily, the training center is only three quarters of a mile away from Cato's house. I quickly make my way out of bed and throw on my training clothes from yesterday. They aren't really dirty, so I can wear them again today. I sprint down the stairs and out the door without any breakfast and run all the way to the training center.
I make it with only a minute to spare. I've never been late before and I don't know how I didn't get up earlier this morning. I burst into my age group's training room, only to find no one there. What? Why is no one here? Not even Xandra is here yet!
I look around the room to make sure I'm not mistaken, when all of a sudden I feel someone behind me. I pull out my spare knife I always keep on me and turn around, ready to fight.
"What are you going to do? Kill me?" Cato says.
I drop my guard. "Oh my God, Cato! You can't sneak up on me like that! Why didn't you get me up earlier this morning! I was almost late! Speaking of which, why is no one here?"
"Whoa, calm down. It's Saturday, smart one. Training doesn't start for another three hours."
I mentally kick myself for not realizing this the moment I woke up. Why didn't I realize this the moment I woke up? I've been doing the same thing every Saturday for the past 9 years. Why was it so different today?
"Why are you here this early then?" I ask Cato.
"Extra training. I'm going to need all I can get in the next couple years." He responds.
"Why?" I ask.
"Why else would I need to train consistently? The games, of course."
"Wait, wait, wait. Hold on. Are you actually thinking about volunteering to go into the games?" I am completely taken aback by this. The Hunger Games. The most brutal, sick things in the entire world. They are the only reason that I began training. In case I was reaped and no one volunteered in my place, then I would be ready. But I had never wanted to go into the arena if I had a choice.
"It's crossed my mind." He says as he throws a spear through a dummy some twenty yards away.
"You can't be serious!" I practically scream at him. "Why would you want to go to the games, Cato?"
"Is all my hard work and training going to be for nothing?" He yells back at me.
"No! I thought you had gone into training as a precaution! In case you got reaped! I never actually thought you wanted to go into the games!" I'm almost on the edge of crying now, but I hold back my tears. I can't let him see me as weak, even if he is my best friend.
"Why don't you want me to go into the games, Clove? Why? You know I could win them!"
"Exactly! You could! It doesn't mean you will!" The tears I've tried so hard not to let loose start to pour down my face. "I don't want to see the only person in my life that actually matters to me die in front of my eyes! How would you feel if Chloe had told you she was thinking about going into the games?" I finally break down and sit up against the wall and bury my face in my knees.
After about a minute or so, I feel Cato sit down beside me and put his arms around me trying to comfort me.
"Calm down, Clove. I said it had crossed my mind. I hadn't made it up yet. Would it really worry you that much if I did go into the games?" He asks.
"Of course. You're the only person that actually matters to me, Cato. I don't want to lose that."
He tightens his grip on me. "You won't have to." He finally says after a minute.
"You have to promise me that you won't go into the games. No matter what. Unless you're name is drawn, I don't ever want to see you go in there. Promise?"
"Promise." He says and relief floods over me. I lift my head up and wipe my eyes, finally happy to know that I won't be losing him. He's my best friend. I don't know what I would do without him.
"Sorry you had to see all that." I say as I wipe the last of the tears from my face.
"It's alright. It's kinda nice seeing the big, tough Clove actually cry for once." He jokes. I elbow him in the ribs and he starts laughing. It's funny how he can turn such a serious conversation into a joke in an instant. I've never seen him do that with anyone else though. In fact, I don't think I've ever even seen him smile around anyone that wasn't me or his family. This makes me curious.
"Cato?" I ask.
"Hm?"
"I have question. But it might sound dumb."
"Like I've never heard a dumb question before. Shoot."
"Well, I was just wondering... why have you always been so nice to me?"
"What do you mean?" he asks.
"Well, it's just you're always so nice to me, and when you are around other people, you just...aren't. I mean even around you're other friends. And I was just wondering, why are you always so nice to me?"
He looks down for a minute and I can see his eyes debating something. But what could he be debating? It's a simple question.
Finally he speaks. "If I told you, I don't think you'd believe me."
"Try me." I challenge.
"Well, I guess it's easier to show you." He says, and before I realize what he's doing, his lips are on mine. I'm completely taken by surprise. I start to stiffen up and do the only thing that comes to mind, which is probably the wrong thing, and put my hand on his chest and gently push him away.
"What was that?" I ask.
"I'm sorry, Clove. I shouldn't have done that. I mean I know you don't feel that way about me and I completely get it, but I just couldn't stop myself. I'm sorry."
I mull things over for a minute, but it's hard with him sitting right there next to me.
"I think I need some air." I stand up and start to walk over to the door. I make my way out of the training center and sit down to think. What just happened?
Cato kissed you, that's what happened. I think to myself. Cato kissed you.
Surely, he implied that he likes me. But, why would he like me? I'm nothing like the other girls in our district. I'm not that pretty. I'm not that girly. So why would he like me?
I'm suddenly caught with another thought that I immediately wish hadn't popped into my mind. Do I like Cato, too?
No. I tell myself. I can't like Cato. I mean, he's my best friend. You can't fall for you're best friend. There must be some kind of rule against that.
I push that thought out of my mind for now. By the time training comes around, I go through the day in a bit of a haze. I kind of avoid Cato for the rest of the day, because really, I can't see him right now.
But as I throw my knives, and run my laps, and do everything else Xandra has planned for me today, there is that one thought that keeps circling in my brain.
Cato kissed me. And even if I pushed away, even if I'm not sure what it means, I think I liked it.
A/N: I thought that I would just get it right into the action instead of prolonging the whole "When will they end up together?" thing. REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! I'll read both the good and bad reviews because they'll help. Also, don't be shhy to give me some constructive criticism.