The Masonry Academy for Conditioning Intellectuals Guide to Becoming a Tribute

Assumptions are the termites of relationships-Henry Winkler

:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:District 2 of Panem:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:

Katniss's POV

Utter shock keeps me from doing anything at first, but shock quickly gives way to disgust and an almost panic, which doesn't really make a whole lot of sense but I do. My hand comes up to his chest and shoves him away, a look of confusion and horror in my eyes.

"What the hell?" I protest, resisting the urge to wipe off my mouth. That was way out of line and I most definitely did not see that coming. I mean Cato kissed me! I didn't even think he liked me much as a person, let alone like…like…that!

"I thought you wanted me to!" he explains, almost looking as confused as I am but it's not doing a good job of masking his hurt at my pushing him away and my reaction. But somehow I can't take this like a normal person would (or maybe I am, what do I know about this stuff?), so I continue.

"What the hell would make you think that?" I ask, bewildered. I really have no idea what I did to make him think I wanted that.

"Well you said you and Gale were just friends and you came over here and…" he tries to say, but it drifts off into nothing as he seems…embarrassed? I've never once in my life seen Cato Evans embarrassed, never thought he could be. It seems I was wrong.

"And that makes you think you can just kiss me?" I try to clarify, my eyes wide. I try not to have an angry tone and keep things calm even though my heart is racing, but the last part comes out almost squeaking.

"Well…yeah, I guess so." He shrugs, rubbing a hand through his hair and can't seem to look me in the eye. "You seemed so happy about having all that information."

I huff in frustration, but I'm beginning to see that we've just had a very huge misunderstanding. "I thought you were just trying to be nice. Like…I don't know, be a friend."

"I was, but…"

"Cato." I shake my head, taking a step back from him. "I…I didn't even know you felt that way. I thought we were just…well not friends exactly, but definitely not that."

"We could be." He offers, looking up and smiling as if he's not embarrassed anymore, just getting everything out in the open.

"I can't." I half whisper, barely shaking my head. He takes a gentle step forward and I take yet another one back.

"Sure you can. It's easy." He tries to tell me softly, but I can't do this. I don't want this. What is this with guys coming onto me all of a sudden, just out of the blue? At least Gale didn't have the nerve to just kiss me back at the Justice Building. He can certainly read me better than Cato can.

"No, I can't." I protest, louder this time. His mood darkens a little, and he's once again a sort of mean cocky attitude.

"You said you were just friends with Hawthorne, you cleared that up. What's the problem then?" he questions me.

"It's not that simple!" I object, suddenly wishing I never came over, curiosity or not. I should have just stuck with going home and watching that dumb television for answers, not came here with Cato and find out that he's some kind of illegal computer hacker.

"Sure it is." He shrugs, not getting the point.

"Just because I haven't done anything with Gale doesn't mean-" I begin, but he cuts me off.

"That you don't want to?" he tries to finish, and my mouth drops open in surprise. I was going to say that I want to do anything with you or anyone else, but I can't seem to find the words anymore. I can't believe he just went to that conclusion. I haven't and don't want to do anything with Gale. Right? That dang memory of Gale and I the last time I saw him comes flashing back to the front of my mind, asking me to kiss him for good luck. Or was it just something more? Does he feel something for me? No, that's ridiculous, and I certainly don't…right? Or do I? I don't know anymore, I just can't stop thinking about it. And I do get annoyed irrationally when other girls squeal and shriek at him and how cute he is and everything since then. Do I want to kiss him? No, I don't. Do I?

"Of course." He rolls his eyes at me and snorts. "You and everyone else."

"I didn't say I did!" I reply in astonishment, but it's too quick.

"You didn't have to. You went red as a tomato which in most cultures means that would be a yes to my assumption." He mutters bitterly. I did? I need to stop thinking about Gale and kissing or whatever when I'm around other people if that's the case.

"Whatever." I roll my eyes. It's a lame answer, but it's not one I'm going to clarify for him. Once again, it's none of his damn business.

"Well whatever, I can wait. It won't take too long." He smirks at me, and it's my turn to be frustrated and confused.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I question, eyes wide and quizzical.

"It means that there are twenty four tributes and one Victor. Hawthorne's gonna have a rough ride getting back here alive so I figure once he doesn't it won't take too long." He reveals with a devious, almost mean 'take that' look. But all it serves to do is shock me and enrage me to my very core.

"Fuck you!" I yell at him, throwing the file him that he gave me, suddenly not wanting all his dirty information. I throw open the door with one last glare at him and stomp my way downstairs, not caring that Mira could easily see or hear me as I slam the front door closed and angrily start my long walk home in the moonlight.

How dare he! The nerve! Where in his head did he think kissing me, accussing me of basically liking Gale and then telling me I'd run to him if (no…when according to him) Gale died? He's completely, utterly, out of his damn mind. That is, assuming he even has a brain.

I'm so busy brooding over how pissed I am at Cato and the fact that I was stupid enough to go over to his house in the first place that I practically miss that someone's coming my way. I glance up and find Marc with a look of surprise on his face, and I curse at myself internally. I really should stop trying to think when I'm angry because all my hunting skills apparently disappear. If I had noticed him before then I could have avoided that concerned look I'm getting now from him. Great.

"Katniss, hi. What are you doing out here so late?" he questions me, searching my face for an answer before I even give him one. Alright, calm down Katniss. Don't need him to know the truth. Or at least part of it.

"I thought I left my notebook in the auditorium, but I couldn't find it." I lie, my excuse for the night it seems. Oh well, at least I'm being consistent.

"And you're walking home by yourself?" he questions me, clearly not approving. Well I guess it is dark out and I am alone. It's probably not that safe but I really wasn't thinking about that. I don't even have my handy knife that I always have in my belt tonight. Well…that's probably a good thing actually. I might have been tempted to use it on Cato if I did, and that wouldn't have ended well.

I shrug. "I guess so." It's really not that far I guess. Twenty minutes or so at most, and I do know the route.

He looks at me, contemplating something before glancing at his watch. "It's too far to go by yourself alone, Katniss. There have been…kidnappings recently."

"What?" I reply, eyes wide and astonished. I hadn't heard of that. My parents would kill me if they knew I was walking alone in the dark for so long if they knew.

He sighs but nods, clearly a little uncomfortable. "Yes, the peacekeepers are trying to keep it on the down low to not worry people, but Ryder let it slip the other night."

"Oh." I answer, not knowing what to say.

"I'd walk you home myself but I have to go to work. Why don't I walk you to our house and you can spend the night there. You can call your parents from our phone." He offers, and I'm taken aback by the suggestion. It's not like the Hawthorne's aren't just like family, but I've never spent the night there before. Though I guess that had to do with Gale being a boy and all and they probably thought we'd date one day or something, and it's not like he's here now. And while I'm tempted to just say no and go on my way, I know he'll never let me. Just like a dad.

"Okay." I nod, and he turns on his heel and I fall into step next to him as he sets a fast pace home. The Hawthorne's live in the east side of the district, but pretty close to town. It's probably only a five minute walk from here, and we arrive in no time. Before he opens the door he looks to me.

"You okay Katniss? You seemed upset about something." He questions me with a sort of parental concern. I'm not surprised he's asking, but I don't feel comfortable telling him. Mostly because it has to do with Cato and his son and kissing.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I insist. He doesn't really seem to believe me, but doesn't push it. Instead, he opens the door and I go behind him, quickly explaining to Hazelle what I'm doing here before saying goodbye and leaving once again for work. Hazelle, of course, is just fine with me being here. She seems to be happy about it actually.

"You can go get ready for bed in the bathroom if you'd like while I call your mother. We have spare towels and a toothbrush in the cabinet. And if you want to talk I'm here." She informs me, and I give her a smile and for the moment all my anger from my situation is forgotten as I think wryly that it's funny how I wished before that I had a mother like Hazelle and now she's mothering me. I don't think Marc had to inform her I'm upset about something, she just knows.

"Thanks, but I really don't want to talk about it right now." I explain, because there's no use hiding it from her. If Hazelle knows something's off, she won't take your crap that nothing's wrong. Gale told me a long time ago that it's just better to admit it from the start and she'll give you time to process instead of lying and she'll force it out of you then and there.

"Well alright." She nods as she dries the last plate she washed, and changes the subject. "Posy will be excited to have a sleepover with you I'm sure."

"I'm sure she will." I smile, finding it funny somehow. It's not like I've been to a ton of sleepovers, and now I have one with a five year old. Granted, Posy is the cutest five year old I know so it might be fun.

Well fun for as long as she's up, that is. When she goes to sleep I'll be left with my thoughts and the darkness, and then I can't escape thinking about what I wish was never something I needed to.

Gosh, boys make things complicated.

Gale's POV

The early sun shines brightly on my face from the window the morning after the scores come in, and while I didn't get much sleep last night from all the excitement, my eyes open right away. However, the light blinds me and suddenly my awful headache from my hangover dawns on me with full force, like it's pounding into me. After the scores of ten for both Clove and I came in last night, our entire floor was estatic. I really wanted an eleven, but a ten was nothing to scoff at and I didn't bother saying that I was slightly disappointed in myself. No one would understand anyway…or at least not here anyway. So I pushed that thought aside and before the scores for District 4 came on we were all drinking champagne that Marcellus called an avox to bring, and I downed my first glass. By the time the scores were done all of us had finished at least two glasses, and I was on my fourth. And then we drank after the scores too, long into the night with all of us getting drunk.

Turns out that Fangula is a hilarious drunk and I actually sort of like her that way. She got this crazy idea to do karaoke which is apparently singing, and while she was an awful singer her and Marcellus sang all these songs very drunkenly and bad, but being drunk myself it was just downright hilarious and entertaining despite the fact that I knew none of the songs. I drifted off to bed in the wee hours of the morning and now I'm paying for it.

I've never been drunk before, never really even had the opportunity to. I've only ever tried alcohol once actually before I volunteered at the Reaping, back on one of my nights gallivanting. One of the kids had bought a bottle at the black market and somehow snuck it out to our spot in the woods without anyone catching him, and the eight or so of us sat by a campfire all night and passed it around until it was gone. I certainly felt something, but I only had maybe three sips; It's nothing compared to last night. And considering how shitty I feel this morning, I don't plan on making it a regular thing. Being drunk is fun and all, but the hangover is not worth it.

Thank god that I don't have training or anything today. In fact, if I had to pick any day to be hungover today would be the right day. It's prep day for the interviews, which means I'll be spending most of today either with Jay or Marcellus, who as escort will be splitting his time between Clove and I on appearance and manners or whatever. No one but the people on our floor will see me today, so I'll be alright. Besides, it's a decent bet that all of us are hungover this morning so we're all in the same boat anyway.

I sit up and bed and immediately find that was a bad idea. God my head fucking hurts. Leaning against the headboard, I groan with my eyes closed and wishing the damn sun would go away. The door opens quietly I'd assume but it sounds so much louder and far more annoying than it should be. Apparently my senses are on high alert with this feeling too. Squinting at the door expecting an avox because Marcellus certainly wouldn't be up this early, I'm surprised to find my mentor who definitely doesn't appear as hungover as I am or what he should be. I didn't really count anyone else's drinks, but I know he had at least three glasses of champagne last night, probably more.

"Having a good morning kid?" he smiles wryly, seeming amused that I'm hungover.

"Fantastic." I mutter sarcastically, rubbing my aching head. Well it should be fantastic; it is a Sunday after all. Actually that just makes it worse because I think it's the first one that I won't hunt on. Even when I had training on Sundays in the past six months or so I'd always sneak out early in the morning before dawn and meet Katniss for a few hours. Even if we didn't hunt we'd still be in the woods. God, this is only making me miss her more. I should probably stop thinking about her so damn much and focus on the looming arena, but I just can't seem to help myself. It only darkens my mood to accompany my hangover.

"Here, these will help." Jay insists as he holds out two red pills and a glass of water. I don't know what they are or what they'll do but I trust that it has to be worth a shot anyway; I really doubt it will make me feel worse than I already do. So I take them from Jay and toss the pills back and greedily suck down the entire glass of water, not realizing how dry my mouth was or how incredibly thirsty I was until now. In fact, I'm disappointed when the glass is empty because I really want more. Like an entire gallon more.

"Thanks." I murmur, putting the glass on the bedside table, regretting the fact that I'm too damn lazy to just get my ass up and fill it again. I will though…you know, eventually.

"So I see you're in great shape to work on interviews this morning." Jay comments with a smile, but I'm not amused by him. Finding the energy to roll my eyes at him somehow, I clutch the comforter in my hand.

"See you're not hung over like you should be." I say right back to him, annoyed for some reason.

He laughs at my comment before shaking his head like he's in on some big joke I don't get. "That's because I know my limits, and now you've made your own mistakes and can see that whatever that number was, it certainly wasn't yours."

Make my own mistakes? Well it's not like I was really caring how much I drank, but I guess he has a point. "Then why didn't you stop me?" I could have avoided this feeling at least a little had he. I would have grumbled at him, but today I would have appreciated it. Or maybe not. I wouldn't have known this hell to compare it to.

"Well you had to learn sometime, kid. Let's call it a lesson for your future." He smiles and snorts, but I'm past the annoyance at the moment.

"You're acting like I need to know when I'm going into the arena to fight for my life in a few days." I observe, astonished though I don't know why. It's just…well just because I have confidence in myself doesn't mean that Jay's ever flat out said something like that. Something like he knows I'm coming out of that arena a Victor. It's just not his style. He's more the 'get your ass up and work because you never know what can happen' kind of guy.

"Don't you think you can win?" he questions me with an eyebrow quirked, seeming to contemplate something. Like it's weird that I think his comment was weird.

"Of course I do." I insist, but continue to explain. "But you've never said something like that to me before."

He gives me a look and takes a moment before he answers. "I don't choose a kid to train unless they have two things in my book; I have to have confidence in them and I have to like them."

Wow well that's…flattering I guess. But in a way it does make sense. I mean why would you train someone for years to be a tribute if you didn't have any faith in them? Doesn't make much sense unless you just really want to mentor for some reason. But the second part gives me pause.

"Why did you like me? I hadn't really done anything particularly stellar when I was fourteen to make you commit to me." I ask, curiosity at once overtaking me. I don't know why I never asked or even thought about that before. Guess I never thought he necessarily had to like me to train me. In fact, I've been questioning his position of liking me ever since I met him. Jay is not exactly the most clear when it comes to feelings. Sort of like myself I suppose.

"Oh it wasn't when you were fourteen; that was just when it was appropriate to begin training you." He informs me, and I quirk an eyebrow at him. Oh? What is that supposed to mean?

"When then?" I ask, almost laughing. I don't know why I thought it was when I was fourteen when I think about it. After all, Jay does everything for a reason whether you know what it is or not. Which means if I couldn't think of an instance when he started training me, it had to be something else. But that's the thing; I can't think of much other than practicing with snares or a bow when I was younger than that. And while I was at the top of my class, it wouldn't necessarily get Jay's attention specifically.

"Well I happened to be walking around some of the younger classrooms a long time ago, I think you were nine. And you were talking to a group of boys after watching Enobaria's Hunger Games tape and claimed that she drank blood, called her Fangula." He explains, and suddenly I'm laughing hysterically.

"That? That is what got your attention?" I get out through my laughing. I don't know why it's so damn funny, but I guess it's just so…Jay to like me because of something that superfluous.

"Yep. I never liked her either and when the name spread like wildfire her annoyance at it was enough to make me satisfied. Enough for me to know that I wanted you." He grins, and I shake my head as my laughter dies down, suddenly all thoughts of my massive headache forgotten. This is just too good. If I didn't like Jay before I certainly do now.

"So you never told her." I muse, grinning like a fool. "She still has no clue it was me who started that."

"Well I wouldn't go telling her now. She'd have your head for it, and trust me, she wouldn't hesitate to give Clove a direct order to kill you for it." He warns me, though he knows it's not necessary. I'm not sure she'd go quite that far as to tell Clove to kill me for it, but it is the arena. Clove is out for me anyway I'm sure because there's only one winner, and if Enobaria were to give her a reason to other than that then she'd take it.

"Do I know it." I assure him, and he nods in agreement. Feeling a lot better now though I expect it has more to do with these revelations than the medicine though I'm certain that's doing wonders on it's own, I push the covers aside and get up, stretching and going over to the giant menu thing to order more water. When I come back with it gulping it down, Jay is just watching me from the bed. It would be creepy if it was just about anyone else, but on him it just looks contemplating.

Okay, it's a little creepy. But it's my crazy mentor so it just comes off as normal, so I try to let it go.

"That name spreading like wildfire, it's also a reason I liked you. You clearly have some sort of power; popularity if you will." He begins with no preamble, and he could just be thinking aloud if he wasn't looking directly at me. But I don't bother commenting on it because I don't really know what to say. Would thank you even be an appropriate response for that? I really don't know.

"And I can see it now, as you can. You chose popularity as your strategy and with that can come great power if you use it correctly. Your looks can get you far, but you need to take it to new levels if it's going to do you any good in the arena." He continues, and it's at this point I decide to stop his muttering.

"And how do you propose I do that?" I ask him, perplexed. I have my own plans and he's already told me that he wants to be surprised by what I do (probably for his own entertainment), but I hadn't quite thought about it this way. I just have my own loose agenda that's still coming together.

"That we can talk about later." He waves it off before standing from his place on the corner of my bed and crossing his arms over his chest, gazing at me as if he's trying to decide what to do with me. It's sort of like how Plumagi and her band of idiots take me in, but far less disturbing. Though that could have everything to do with the fact that I'm not naked right now and Jay is not trying to have sex with me unlike they seem to want to. "Now we talk about how that will be used in your interview."

Well that is what today is for I guess. What a fantastic Sunday I think sarcastically. I wonder what Katniss will think of this. I don't think she's really paid attention or cared before about all the girls I fooled around with if she even knew, but I'd hope she'd be paying attention now. Well not today really since I'm not doing anything that she'll see, but at least that it's a Sunday and we won't see each other. Is she hunting without me? Probably. My normal Sunday is breakfast with my family where Posy always looks pathetically at my last pancake and I almost always give it to her because she's my adorable little sister who has us all wrapped around her fingers, and then I go to the woods sometimes with Dad and meet Katniss and her dad Nic. But not today; it will be different for both of us. It's silly that I hope she's thinking about me, but once again I just can't help myself. Geez Gale, focus on your strategy here. Think about that later.

"And what would that be?" I ask him, and a smirk graces his face that makes me think that I'm in for a ride on this one. No wonder he only wanted to know this; he's probably been thinking only of this crazy scheme to get me as many especially wealthy and generous sponsors as possible.

"Let me ask you something." He begins, looking me up and down. "How do you feel about public displays of affection?"

I'm sort of taken aback by his question, but I feel like I don't have a choice in my answer. If I'm going all out then there's only one answer to that. "I'm okay with them."

He smiles like he's just hatched a great plan, and it suddenly dawns on me that I'm the chick he's hatched. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that, especially when this chicken's goes by Jayant Tiber. Though I suppose it's better than being Fangula's victim like Clove.

"Good."