Chapter Four
My eyes flash open. The first night in the training centre was rough. I had constant nightmares and every time I slipped into sleep, they would instantly return. One of the dreams had something to do with Cato but I'm not that scared of him now. I get dressed and walk towards the door. I am wondering how Cato coped last night when I open the door and find out. A blond figure raped in a bathrobe walks out of the room in front of mine. Cato has his head down and he's rubbing his eyes. The sight is hilarious. My head moves with him as he stumbles along, not paying attention to where he is going. He heads towards the dining room, still with his head down and rubbing his eyes. There are three steps going down into the dining room. He doesn't seem to realise that. He approaches the stairs and puts he foot out, expecting flat ground. I am about to call out to him, but it's too late. Cato's foot plummets down. At the same time, his head is jerked back, he throughs his arms out and lets out a shrill shriek.
He's lying on the floor, face first. It's the funniest thing I've seen since I got here. I'm trying desperately to hold in the laughter. I decide I should probably go and help him. I think he's fallen asleep or something because he's not moving. I start to walk towards him, still trying not to laugh. I give in and drop to the floor, rolling around laughing my head off! I haven't had such a laugh for ages! For some reason, seeing Cato, half buried in the shagpile carpet cracks me up! He's starting to moan. I get over my laugh and go to help Cato up. Just as I approach him, he stands up, Looks at me angrily and takes a seat. I sit down opposite him, still chuckling slightly. I haven't recovered completely. Cato death stares me. I try to control myself but I'm still smiling when Cato gives in on his death stare. I not so sure why, but it seems like a good time to laugh again. I'm off again, cracking up in laughter! I start to get dizzy. I think I'm going Crazy and I fall of my chair. Penacia comes into the room. She looks very puzzled. "What is all the racket in here!" she says. I climb back onto my chair. "We were just kidding around." Says Cato, wearily. "You two can't afford to 'kid around' right now." Says Brutus. We all jump in surprise as he enters the room.
He makes his way to the table and takes a seat. "You're going to be in the Hunger Games for Christ's sake!" All of a sudden, Cato jumps up and bangs his fist on the table. "With all due respect, you have been in these games too and I think you should know how it feels!" Cato has leant over the table and is about three centimetres away from Brutus's face. "You should know how it feels to know that you could die in the next week!" I'm starting to think that Cato has anger issues. "And I'm sure that you would want to have some fun living before you force yourself into the Hunger Games." He all of a sudden seems calm. "Plus, you're the one that was giving us shit advice yesterday." He says quietly as he takes his seat again. Brutus surprisingly looks impressed. Cato's green eyes catch mine and he gives me a nod. "I'm not hungry." He says as he stands up and leaves the table. He walks away trying to look impressive. Again, when he approaches the stairs, I'm too late to warn him. He trips over the stairs and face plants again. He immediately jumps up, stands straight for a moment, and then proceeds walking with his head held high. He vanishes into his room. Brutus looks me in the eyes. "You might have some troubles with that boy in the arena." He grins freakishly. "He's a good fighter and He probably won't give up."
I was the only one kidding around. Is Cato trying to protect me now? People dressed in white uniforms come and prepare the table. "Aren't you supposed to serve before we take our seats?" Brutus snaps at them. They just look at him for a while and leave. "Cato will need his strength for training." says Penacia. Brutus glares at her. "And what do you know about training." He says coldly. Penacia glares back at him. "Well" she starts off. "I know that it isn't easy. Anyway, the boy shouldn't be missing meals." Brutus backs down. Penacia lets go of her death stare and turns her head to me. "You wouldn't mind fetching him dear?" she says in a sweet voice. Without a word, I stand up and head towards Cato's room. I knock on his door. No reply. I knock again. He's either having one of those moments, or he's just in the bathroom. "Cato?" I say. "Oh, it's you." I hear a voice say. The door opens. I think he may have collapsed on the bed again because His hair is all ruffled. "Penacia wants you to come out and eat before training." His eyes drift away and then back at me. "I'm not hungry." I stand still for a bit. "She says you need your strength for training." He sighs and slowly walks past me out the door. We take our eats. "Well!" says Penacia. "This food isn't waiting around for nothing!" She smiles her odd looking smile. "Dig in!"
After breakfast, Penacia escorts us down to the training centre gym. When we arrive, a few of the other districts are there. They are circling a large podium. There is a woman standing on the podium. She invites us come join the circle. "Come on! Don't be shy! I'm sure you'll like theses training sessions!" In the next five minutes, the other tributes come. Once everyone is crowded around the podium, the woman starts a lecture about training. I can tell that no one in the gym is listening. My eyes glance around at the other tributes. District Twelve, District Eleven, District Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three and One. My eyes stay on One. She has light blond hair and she looks like she's struggling with the unfashionable training suits. I almost laugh as she tries desperately to put her hair up after she took it out to see if it looked better. I inspect each one of my fellow tributes. The training lady steps off the podium and the tributes start breaking off. I tell Cato that I'm going over to the knot tying station. The instructor teaches my how to tie some basic knots and snares. I'm struggling on tying a noose when my eyes drift out into the rest of the gym. I see Cato. He's just standing there deciding on where to go next. The blondie from One comes over to him. I can see an odd smirk on her face. As soon as she reaches him, she immediately starts talking to him. I watch for a while. She pulls her ponytail over her shoulders and starts stroking it like a dog or something. She's flirting with him! This makes me mad. I'm not so sure why though. I feel a twinge of jealousy. I hear her give a girly giggle as she runs her hand down his arm. I actually feel jealous of her! Who does she think she is? She's all over him. I decide that there is only one way to make this fun. Stroll over and ruin her moment. I march over to them. I completely cut blondie off and stand directly between them facing Cato. "Cato, I need help with the archery station!" he looks a bit stunned. "Oh. Yes." He says looking confused. "Glimmer was just telling me about the amazing amount of training they do on archery in District One." I can tell that Glimmer probably sucks at archery. I could kick her around a bit. "Well, then." I say enthusiastically. "Why doesn't Glimmer come and give us a hand!" glimmer looks around worried. "Ahh, I think I should probably catch up with my partner now." She says, obviously trying to cover up not wanting to come and shoot a few arrows. Score one for me! We arrive at the archery station, Cato finally opens his mouth. "We should get her in an alliance." Darn it! He hasn't forgotten her. "Are you kidding?" I say in shock. "She was full on checking you out before! And she's as blond and thick as a bloody bale of hay!" I almost yell. "Yeah, but we could still use…" he stops half way through his sentence. He cocks his head to the side a slight bit. "Why would you care." He says quietly. "Well, I personally don't want a bale of hay in the alliance. I could probably think of a list way too." I glare across to him. "No." he says. "The first thing." He finishes. I think. She was checking him out. Why do I care? Then it hits me. So hard that I fall over. Well actually it hit Cato and he knocked me over. Someone has thrown a ball at him and we are both on the ground. Then something meaningful hits me. Cato has actually been looking out for me. and I'm falling for him.