The camera sweeps across the straggly population of the impoverished District 12. Their drunken and unfortunately, only, mentor falls off the stage nearly taking down the escort's wig down with him. Clove is giggling uncontrollably. However, the hilarity stops when a young girl of 12 is reaped. The crowd becomes even more silent. I glance over at Clove.
"Do you want this one, too?" I ask
She is smoothing back her hair into a ponytail. "What?" She looks over at the screen. "Oh, her? You spoil me, Cato. I want the District 10 boy, too by the way."
I raise an eyebrow. "The one with the bad leg? Don't you want someone who will put up a fight at least?"
The cameras zoom in on a dark-haired girl running up to the stage. "I volunteer," she says. She stands arrow straight, her hands at her sides with her chin lifted.
Clove scoffs. "Drama queen much?"
But the drama only continues. The little girl, apparently the volunteer's little sister, is dragged off crying by a boy who looks to be my age. He mouth is set in a straight line and it's impossible to miss the intense way he looks at the girl who just volunteered.
"Now that's a competitor," says Clove a little regretfully. "That boy would be sooo much fun to break." She glances sideways at me; there is a sly gleam in her eye. "But I guess I'll just have to settle for you."
I look her straight in the eyes. "No games, Clove. Are we on the same side or not?"
She looks steadily back at me. "For now. But I don't want any mercy in the arena. No mercy. Not even for you, Cato." She turns to leave, but I grab her arm. She does not turn around.
"Alright Clove. No mercy. But no hard feelings either." I let go of her wrist and watch her leave the room. In the background, the Capitol's annoyingly upbeat theme music is blaring.
