Chapter Four—Before the Storm
They are crowded together and I try my best to ignore them but it is hard because he is a part of their group- my biggest competition. Cato: the career tribute with the blonde hair, thick muscles, and dark scowl that just shouts danger. For once I am able to study him without his scowling eyes on me. I turn my head so that I am able study the whole group better- I am full out staring at them now, there is no hiding it. I just can't understand it- what is he doing talking to President Snow? They are in a deep discussion, arguing about something very heated from the looks and sounds of it.
Loud proclamations of "it cannot be done" and "I've already promised too much already" can be heard from time from time coming from President Snow. Each time that happens, Cato shushes him impatiently. Cato shushes him! From the earnest look on Cato's face it looks like he is trying to plead his case—but what is trying to plead for?
I hear footsteps coming up behind me and I whip my head from the group that is huddled together. I smell him before I see him- the smell of earth and pine needles; it's Gale. He wraps his arm around me and puts his lips next to my ear.
"Whatcha staring at, Catnip?" his breath tickles my ear and I resist the urge to pull away from his embrace that feels so wrong. I plaster a smile on my face- always aware of the eyes of potential sponsors. I turn my head to look up into his eyes and lean forward so he can place a feather-light kiss on my forehead. He wraps his arms around me and I whisper my response to his chest, hiding my face from everyone.
"Oh, you know, just studying the competition. I'm trying to figure out the quickest way out of this whole mess."
Gale knows what mess I am talking about and lets out a hurt sigh, blowing my hair around and tickling my neck. I feel a pang of guilt for hurting him and pull back to study his face. He is handsome– with his olive skin, dark hair and eyes, thick muscles, and his serious and protective personality; there is no way that someone could not think he is attractive... I'll admit that, but while I think he is attractive, I'm not attracted to him. I try, once again, to be attracted to him but I just can't. He is a friend- my very best friend- and my brain just won't let me see him any other way no matter how hard I try.
Gale feels differently than me though. The truth had come out last night during tribute interviews, where he had announced to all of Panem that somewhere along the way, friendship had turned into love for him. My blood still boils just thinking about what Haymitch had done as soon as Gale had stepped off the stage. While I stood rooted to the spot, mouth hanging wide open, Haymitch was slapping Gale across the back congratulating him on his "stroke of brilliance".
"You, my boy, are a genius. This is just GREAT," Haymitch slurred loudly while thumping Gale roughly on his back. Gale stood, steadily staring at me, his face calm and unflinching. I slowly closed my mouth and dropped my head to stare at the floor. This couldn't be happen, could it? Could my best friend actually be in love with me? My fists clenched in anger and I bit the inside of my cheek trying to keep my temper in check.
"That is how we are going to play this," Haymitch declared and I looked up to see him staring at me impatiently. I glanced at Gale's unwavering gaze and dropped my eyes again.
"What are you talking about?" I muttered uncomfortably.
Haymitch let out an annoyed huff of breath from his mouth, the strong stench of alcohol burned in my nose.
"Come on, Katniss! Just picture it: The Star Crossed Lovers from district 12! "
My mouth once again dropped and my head shot up just in time to see that Gale's was hanging open also. His face was flushed but from the look on his face I could see that it was from anger and not embarrassment. His mouth shut with an audible snap of his teeth and he took a deep breath before motioning for us to get on the elevator. The ride up to the twelfth floor was a quiet, tense one. The silence was only broken with Haymitch's drunken heavy breathing that filled the elevator with the sharp smell of alcohol. I breathed a sigh of relief when the elevator pinged, signaling our arrival. The doors slid open filling the elevator with fresh air and the sound of the staccato clicks of Effie's heels as she rushed to us.
"Oh my!" she gushed at us as we unloaded. "What a big, big moment!" she looked at Gale and I pleasantly, totally unaware of the tension in the group. Gale didn't even respond to her. He turned and glared at Haymitch.
"Please do not tell me that we are going to use my feelings for Katniss as a ploy to get sponsors. There is no way that that is going to happen. What I feel for her means too much to be used as a front!"
While I shifted uncomfortably, Haymitch took a determined step towards Gale. "That is exactly what we are going to do. You would be a fool not to! You saw how the crowd ate that up! You guys need all the help that you can get." Haymitch then stepped forward and slung his arm over Gale's shoulders, pulling him away from me and started to whisper to him. Unfortunately for him, his drunkenness caused him to speak loudly, allowing me to hear everything.
"Don't you want her to make it home safe?" Gale's shoulders stiffened, knowing that I could hear everything Haymitch was saying. "You know that this is the best chance she has of getting home. I can sell star crossed lovers easily."
Gale's shoulders sagged under the realization and he turned to lock eyes with me. "Of course I want her to be the one to go home." He paused and took a deep breath, still staring into my eyes. "Okay, let's do this."
I was pulled from my deep reverie by Gale gently shaking my shoulders and smiling.
"Katniss? Are you okay? You're staring at me."
I let out a big sigh and step back from his arms; I am still not comfortable with the whole star crossed lovers arrangement.
"Yeah I'm fine. Just got lost in thought."
Gale lets out a sigh and grabs my hand. "Well let's get this over with, alright?"
My stomach drops. I'm not ready for this. I will never be ready for this. This is the final meeting with President Snow. It's a brand new tradition: the night before the games, a dinner is held for the tributes, mentors, stylists, and sponsors. It's basically a time for the sponsors to be able to talk one-on-one with the tributes before they head out to the arena. It's also when the president goes around and wishes all the tributes good luck in the games.
Gale pulls on my arm and drags me towards the dining room. As we walk, my eyes seek out Cato. He is shaking hands with President Snow and thanking him. I feel my eyebrows furrow in confusion—what is going on here? His eyes flick over and lock with mine. A slow smile spreads across his face as he drops Snow's hand and steps away from him, heading towards the dining room.
I drop my head and stop walking, an uneasy feeling stealing over my whole body. What just happened cannot mean anything good—Cato looked far too pleased with himself.
"I can't do this," I whisper softly to Gale who has continued walking without me.
Gale stops walking and looks back at me, concern in his eyes. He comes up to me, his hands sliding up my arms and back down. I know he's trying to comfort me but it makes me feel worse, this new way of dealing with each other has really thrown me for a loop.
"What is it, Catnip?"
"I can't do this, Gale. I can't face President Snow. I just don't trust myself around him." I don't mention Cato to him because I know I won't be able to accurately explain the way Cato makes me feel.
Gale frowns slightly and bites his bottom lip; his tell that he is at a loss for words. I know he can relate to me— he hates the man more than any person I've ever known.
"Katniss, we have to do this. It really isn't an option. Plus, this is the perfect time for us to snag more sponsors. Haymitch really wants us to sell our star crossed lovers act tonight."
I glare at the floor. I really hate doing this especially since I'm planning to give Gale the slip once the games start. All this work is really pointless, not that Gale knows that. I sigh angrily. I honestly don't see any way around it—even if I did skip this dinner, Effie or Haymitch would track me down a drag me in kicking and screaming. I take a deep breath, wrap Gale's arm around my shoulders, lift my chin and lead us straight into the pack of wolves.
I stare up at the ceiling as the wind whistles by my window, thoughts racing through my head. Tomorrow. Tomorrow is the big day and anxiety- or was it the after-effects of the alcohol- twist in my stomach until tears blur in my eyes.
"I could die tomorrow," I think to myself and shiver. "Stop it," my mind scolds me. "You don't know that. Not to mention, the dinner went really well tonight," my brain logically explains to me. I'm not really buying it though.
Dinner did go really well though. Sponsors were falling over themselves to talk to Gale and me. At one point during the night, there had literally been a line of sponsors waiting to talk to us—much to Cato's ire. Gale and I had played our parts perfectly. We laughed secretly to each other, gave each other unexpected kisses, held hands, and even danced a couple of slow dances.
After all the sponsors had talked to us, I had found myself oddly alone. Gale was busy talking to President Snow on the other side of the room, Haymitch was raiding the bar, and Effie was off talking about the misfortunes of being in charge of tributes to the other tribute escorts. That left me at our table, knocking back drinks as though I didn't have to get up tomorrow and fight for my life. That's when Cato decided to join me—I guess he got sick of only staring at me as he had been doing all night long. He quickly made his way over to me before I could form a plan for escaping (my abuse of alcohol is to blame for that). Before I could even form a thought, he grabbed my hand and pulled me into the shadows at the back of the room.
"Hey there, Fire Girl," he sneered at me, blowing the smell of alcohol on his breath into my face. "Do you regret turning my offer down yet? I would really like for you to reconsider teaming up with me."
I rolled my eyes at him. When I realized that no one could see us hidden in the shadows I fought to keep my cool. Cato was really intimidating.
"Cato, I wouldn't team up with you even if you and I were the last tributes in the arena and there could be two winners," I declared icily. My little speech slurred together and at the end, I let out a little hiccup—effectively ruining the seriousness of it.
"Oh, my, my, my," Cato mused, Effie-style. "Why, what do we have here? Is Fire Girl drunk?!"Cato ran his hand across my cheek and I sucked in a deep breath at the unwelcome contact. My eyes looked around but no one was there to save me.
"Get off me, Cato, or I'll…"
"What are you going to do, Katniss?" He interrupted me, dragging the s in my name out into a hiss. "You can't do anything to me, Kat, not until we get to the arena."
My mind was sluggishly racing—not a very successful combination, believe me—trying to make sense through all of the alcohol that I had consumed. "Yeah, Cato," I slurred drunkenly at him, "you can't do anything to me until we get into the arena." Taunting him probably wasn't my best idea—it was tied with my decision to drink myself stupid.
Cato let out a humorless laugh that chilled my blood. "Oh, Katniss, I won't do anything to you—that will leave a mark, that is."
My stomach dropped and I felt heat rush to my face and something making its way up my throat. I was going to be sick. I closed my eyes and licked my dry lips, trying to think of something to prevent him from doing anything to me.
"Cato…" I murmured.
I felt a wave of air against my skin and I opened my eyes to find that Cato was no longer there. Instead, he stood off to the side with a very angry Gale grasping the front of his shirt. He had Cato pulled up so that their faces were only mere inches apart.
"I don't know what you are playing at, Cato, and I honestly find that I don't give a shit but if you don't get the fuck away from Katniss and me—and stay away—I promise you that I will personally beat the crap out of you."
Cato opened his mouth to say something but Gale read his mind and interrupted him before he could even get a sound out.
"Fuck the rule, Cato. I will demolish you and then tell everyone what exactly you were doing to Katniss in the dark little corner here."
Cato didn't respond— he simply stared at Gale. I could see in his eyes, his wheels were turning, trying to think of something to say. Gale didn't give him a chance. He roughly shoved him away and out of the dark corner. There were gasps as Cato fell on top of Effie, tackling her to the ground.
"I'm so sorry," he sputtered at her and quickly exited the dining hall.
Gale led me to the table to pump some liquid and food into my stomach.
"What the hell are you thinking, Katniss? Getting drunk the day before the games? You need to pull yourself together. You promised Prim that you would come home to her."
The mention of Prim instantly sobered me up and just in time too because President Snow took that time to interrupt.
"I do believe you are the only tribute I have left to talk to, my dear," said his cool and uncaring voice. I shuddered a little before clambering to my feet.
My stomach lurched from the stench of roses that was coming off of him. I stepped forward and held out my hand for him to shake. He merely glanced at it and narrowed his eyes at me.
"Well, my dear, I do believe that you are going to have a very- interesting road ahead of you. Good luck." And with that he was gone, his body guards following closely behind him. I sank back down onto my chair and closed my eyes, exhaustion washing over my weary body.
"Please take me up to the apartment, Gale, I just want to sleep. Hopefully I wake in the morning and find that this was all just a twisted nightmare."
Gale doesn't respond except to take my arm and lead me to the elevators.
Now here I lie, wide awake, thoughts racing, with daylight creeping closer and closer. In my mind, I picture death sliding up to rest at my feet like a snake, warning me to watch where I step because it would be waiting for me.
With that thought, I drift off into nightmares where Prim and Cato star.