I open my eyes to blinding light, from the sun streaming through the window. Clove's awake and still sitting in the chair beside the bed, just like she was last night. I slowly sit up and stretch, and Clove looks over at me and smiles. I feel better rested than I have in 5 years. My head feels a bit funny, and there are bruises all over my body, but I'm still going to training. As if Clove read my thoughts, she starts speaking.
"You still have to go to training even though you're hurt." She says.
"I was intending on going anyway." I reply with a smile.
"Of course you were."
"Yes, I was."We sit in silence for a moment, then without a word we go downstairs for breakfast. We get a slice of bread each and cook them over the fire in the kitchen. When they're golden and crispy we spread them with cheese, pour a glass of milk each, and pick a piece of fruit from the fruit bowl and sit down at the table to eat. We sit in silence until my curiosity gets the better of me.
"Clove," I say quietly, "Why did you say it was you that hit Felix last night?"
She looks down at her milk like there's something in it. She stares at it so deeply that I have to speak again.
"Clove," I say, making her look up, "Why?"
She hesitates slightly before answering, but when she does, she sounds different.
"Because… because I love you, and I don't want to see you get hurt Sas." She says quietly.
I look at her, and she looks back at me. We sit like this for a few moments, then she breaks the silence.
"Lets go and get changed for training, we don't want to be late."
"OK" I say, and gulp down the last of my milk.
I take my plate and cup to the kitchen and wash them, then put them away in the cupboard. I slowly walk up the stairs until I reach the bathroom. I run a small bath and quickly wash myself. I get out quickly so Clove can use the bathroom. I wrap a towel around my body and open the door. I quickly go over to the rope and tug on it. The ladder drops down and I climb up and pull it up after myself. I trudge over to my makeshift shelves and grab some underclothes and my brand new uniform. I turn on the light so I can actually see properly. I take a careful look at the uniform before I put it on. There's a loose tracksuit, with both pants and a hooded jacket. The pants are made from nylon, and the jacket from polyester. They're white with red stripes up the sides of the sleeves and the legs and red stitching. The jacket has a red zip up the front, and the pants have a red tie on them. The District 2 seal is on the chest of the jacket in red, and my name is on the back in the same striking red. Then I look at the actual training uniform. It's a black racer-back singlet made from a stretchy, skin-tight material with yellow stitching, with the seal on the chest in the same yellow, and my name is on the back of it in yellow as well. The shorts are made from the same grippy material as the singlet and are also black, with yellow stitching, and they come halfway down my thighs.
I put on the underclothes, then the singlet and shorts. They feel comfortable and easy to move in. I put on the tracksuit, and that feels nice as well. I go and stand in front of the old mirror I managed to salvage from somewhere so I can see what I look like. The tracksuit looks and feels good, and I go and get the socks that came with the uniform and put them on. They're white with a yellow ring around the top and are skin tight, coming up a few inches higher than my ankles. I get the shoes and put them on. They're light, lace-up running shoes, and are black with red highlights on them. I go and find a band to tie up my hair, and I quickly find a black one and tie my hair up in a high ponytail. I go over to the mirror and assess myself. The tracksuit is loose but comfortable and looks good, but I don't know what I look like in the actual training uniform. I guess I'll just find out at the Academy. My hair looks neat, but still good, and I realise what the day is.
After Clove and I had our fight at training, the doctor at the Academy had to stitch up the wound on my face, and then put some kind of ointment on it. He put a bandage over it and said I could take the bandage off in two days. It's been two days, so I carefully take off the bandage and throw it in the bin. I look at my face, and it would seem that the ointment he put on accelerated the healing process. It's already just a scar. It appears a bright white on my cheek, but I can live with that. I grab the backpack that came with the uniform and go over to the trapdoor and push down the ladder and go downstairs. Clove is already down there, and is leaning against the table waiting for me. She's dressed in her new uniform too, and her hair is tied up in a high ponytail like mine. She turns around as she hears me enter the room. I look at her and it's uncanny how alike we look.
"You ready to go Sas?" She asks me.
"Yeah, let's go."
So we leave the house and walk to the Academy. On the way there, she notices my face. She stops me so she can look at it, and places one hand gently over the scar, using her thumb to stroke my face.
"I'm sorry Sas," She says, "I didn't mean to hurt you so much."
There is a look of sadness in her eyes that I've never seen before.
"It's OK Clove," I say, "Let's keep walking."
So she takes her hand off my face and we keep walking. We keep talking though.
"So Sas," She begins, Do you still want me to train you?"
"Yes," I say, "Please. Do you still want to?"
"Of course I will."
"Thanks."
"So what are you thinking of doing?" I ask her.
"Whatever I tell you to." She says with a smirk.
I can tell I'm not going to get anywhere with this, so I don't try and get any more out of her about it.
Soon enough we reach the huge doors, and we go inside. She takes me to the girls' prep room where we keep our backpacks and take off our tracksuits. We walk in, her in front of me, and there's already a small crowd of girls in there. They all start saying hi to Clove and asking her about her weekend, and then they see me. I don't think I know any of them, but Clove knows all of them.
"Girls," She says, "This is my sister Saskia."
They all look at me and smile.
'They must think I'm just an innocent little kid even though I fought Clove.'
I smile back at them and meet a few of them. I can't remember any of their names though. I'm too worried about making a good impression today. Clove pulls me over to a bench and throws her backpack down on it. She takes off her tracksuit revealing the training uniform underneath. She stuffs her tracksuit in her bag and goes back over to her friends. Everyone crowds around her, and they start talking about how much they like the new uniforms. They're saying things about how good she looks in it, and how comfortable they are. I'll agree that she does look good in it. The skin-tight material outlines all her muscles, but I still don't find that conversation very interesting, so I just throw my backpack down on the bench and take off my tracksuit.
I stuff it into my bag and go back over to Clove. I stand beside her, and everyone gasps.
"You two look exactly alike!" The girls say excitedly.
"Nice Sas." Clove says approvingly.
I look down at my own body, and I notice that the fabric outlines my few muscles as well.
"Let's go train girls!" Clove says loudly to everyone in the room.
They all give hoots of assent and go running out of the prep room. Clove quickly spins round and grabs my wrist.
"Come on!" She says, laughing.
And she drags me out of the prep room, ready to begin my real training.