I'm going to try and upload two more chapters today, hope you all enjoy! Keep reading and reviewing! And thank you to all the nice reviews I have gotten! :D
Chapter 7
"Clove, Clove what's wrong?" I hear Cato yell as he bursts into my room. The note is still in my hand. I hand it to him and he immediately turns 3 shades lighter until his face is ghostly pale and he asks me nervously, "Who wrote that?"
"I have no idea, the note was in the pocket of my reaping dress when I started changing clothes it fell out." I say with a shaky voice, I'm still shaken from reading the note. Who wants Cato dead and why do they want me to do it? I need to do something to keep busy, I don't want to think about the note. As if he can read my thoughts , Cato takes my hand and leads me to the sitting room on the train, the sitting room has a large flat screen television and several couches. We sit down and stare out the windows of the train until the clock on the wall hits 6 o'clock. We walk into the kitchen hand in hand. This is when Arisa notices the diamond ring that sits sparkling on my slender ring finger.
She studies the gem and then looks at me and smiles, "Is that your district token? It sure is expensive looking for a token being taken into an arena full of dirt and blood."
My cheeks turn bright red, "actually it's not my token, it's my engagement ring, you know as in engaged to be married." I make sure that my answer is simple enough for her to grasp. She lets out a gasp as she puts two and two together, "Oh my! It's you two… you two are, together, like REALLY together." Cato and I hold back laughs and just nod at Arisa who is walking around mumbling things to herself. For once we are happy to have the hyper, slightly insane Capitol woman with us. She was able to get our minds off the note… the note that sent chills down my spine every time I thought about it.
Five of us sat around the large round mahogany table, and eat until we are all so full that we are pretty sure our stomachs will burst. Arisa checks the time and then hurries us into the sitting room and turns on the television. The Capitol seal appears followed by videos of the reapings from all 12 districts. The first video is from District 1, and both tributes are volunteers. The boy is slightly shorter and muscular than Cato with light brown/ dirty blonde hair and pale blue eyes; he says his name is Marvel. His district partner is a tall, slender yet curvy blonde who acts like she has no brain in her head, she introduces herself as Glimmer. The next reaping video is Cato and I's. I watch as both Cato and I make our way to the stage, staying void of emotions the whole time we walk up. As I listen to the comments the announcers make, I smile glad that we pulled off our act, we couldn't have anyone thinking that we were weak. Next is District 3and we watch as a tall, lanky boy's name is called and he makes his way up to the stage with tears running down his face. When the girl's name Odessa Harper- Hade, is called, I hear a strangled sob come from someone in the room, I look over at Cato and see that he is staring wide-eyed at the screen, and the strangled sobs are coming from deep inside his chest. I look back at the screen and see the girl, she could be Cato's sister. She has the same bright blue eyes, and skin tone and her hair is light blonde, just like his and they have the same last name. I look back over at Cato who is still wide-eyed and frozen.
I pause the reapings and lean over to wrap my arms around Cato, "what's wrong? Why are you so upset over the girl from District 3?" Cato clears his throat, "She's my niece." I am immediately surprised because I know his brother is dead. "Cato, how can this girl be your niece when your brother died 13 years ago?"
"Like I told you before my brother was 18 when he was reaped into the part I didn't tell you was that he was married to a 19 year old girl named Rose Harper. They married when she turned 18, and my brother was 17. They had a child shortly after they got married, Odessa. She was almost a year old when the reaping happened. When my brother was killed Rose was devastated so she took Odessa and moved to District 3, where her parents were staying at the time. She raised Odessa on her own and never got remarried, now 13 years later, she is going to lose her daughter to the same games she lost her husband." Cato tells me, and as he tells me he stares at the picture of his niece on the screen, I now see why he is worried, Odessa is skinny and frail looking, she won't stand a chance even if she sticks with us. Since we both know this I try and comfort Cato, who has been once again gotten thrown under the bus. We continue watching the reapings and note the people who look like they might be a threat, and then we are at the last district, District 12. It's a sad place, they don't have much in the way of money or food. We don't bother to watch the pink- haired Capitol lady welcome everyone or watch as the name is picked, our heads only snap up when we hear a girl screaming, "I volunteer, I volunteer as tribute." The girl is thin and looks underfed, we immediately mark her as no threat. Then the boy from District 12 is called, and we can see the recognition in the girl's eyes, she knows the boy, there is something between them but the boy is obviously much more into the girl than the girl is into him. Cato and I laugh simultaneously and turn off the TV. We both remember then that tomorrow is a busy day but neither of us wants to sleep alone, because of our fears: his fear for his cousin and my fear for him. We decide to spend the night together in his room. As we fall asleep wrapped in each other's arms, I dream of our future, a future that will soon be shattered and forgotten.