~Cato~
Going through preparations for the Tribute parade was absolutely horrible. I had been shaved, waxed, tweezed, and all sorts of things. I could hear girls screaming or moaning from the pain of their make-overs in other rooms. They wanted to shave a certain part of my body but I threatened to kill my prep team if they went near it. After they were done trying to make me prettier than I already am, they fitted me into a gold roman metal suit. They were putting the headdress on me when Clove came out in a similar outfit as me. She was mad, that much I could tell, but I didn't know how much.
"Still mad about Katniss Everdeen?" I asked, sneering her name.
"You still don't know who she is do you?" she asked me, her voice mixed with shock and anger. I rolled my eyes at her.
"If she's that much competition, then we'll just kill her first thing in the Bloodbath." I said to her as I got onto the chariot, saying it like it was nothing. Which really it was nothing.
"I can't believe you just said that." she said looking down, shaking her head in disappointment.
"What are you talking about?" I asked her as the chariot took off.
"You'll see soon enough." she told me, setting her face ready for the crowd as it came into view. The crowd roared when they saw us, we lifted our hands and waved to them, girls swooned when I smirked or winked at them. People were screaming our names, that is until another name floated into my ears.
"Katniss! Katniss!"
"She's on fire!" I heard someone shout.
"Girl on Fire! Girl on Fire!" was shouted from the seats. The jealousy boiled up in me until I saw the face that lit up the big screens. It was her. Her silver eyes stared at you, seeing your soul. Her hair was up in a maze of braids with a black headdress adorning her head. And she was on fire. Spitfire was literally on fire. But she looked amazing, like a goddess. Jealousy in me grew even more when I saw her holding hands with her Tribute Partner and everybody screamed louder. I wasn't jealous of the attention, I was jealous of the contact. I turned and glared at Clove.
"You knew!" I roared at her and she just shrugged.
"Who did you think I would refuse to kill? Why do you think I'm so mad about it? You know if you just stayed and watched the recaps then you would know and be just as angry as I am." she glowered at me.
"I can't believed she actually volunteered. She didn't have to." I said thinking out loud.
"Again you should've watched the recaps." she scolded me. We finally ended the parade and were standing there while President Snow makes his speech. As he talked I looked at Spitfire, I mean Katniss. She glanced at me and looked away quickly when she saw me staring at her. When the speech was over we were dragged off back into the Tribute Building to meet with our mentors, stylists, and escorts. I watched Katniss, man it'll take some getting used to calling her that, as she talked with everyone on her team, still holding hands with her tribute partner. Her Mentor, Haymitch, noticed my staring and pulled them off to the elevator. I started to go after them but Brutus stopped me putting a hand on my chest..
"Not now." he warned.
"Then when?" I said in a threatening voice.
"Tonight after dinner. I'll send an Avox up with a message telling them to expect you." he said looking between Clove and I. "And Clove too." he said, allowing her to have a smug grin on her face.
"Fine." I said before stalking off to the elevator.
I jammed the button for the doors to open and soon enough they did, before everybody could get in the elevator with me I pressed button #2 to go to my floor. As the elevator took off I slammed my hands on the wall and screamed. Why did she have to be here? This ruins everything. I was going to win. I was going to win for her. So I could find her and explain everything to her. And in hopes that everything would go right, she would return it all. But now that she's here I can't do any of that.
When the doors opened on my floor I stalked off to my bedroom, changing out of my stupid costume and stepping into the shower to clear my head. After some time I heard Brutus bang on my door telling me that dinner was ready. Had I been in here for that long? Sighing, I got out of the shower and changed into regular clothing so I could go eat and see Katniss, or Spitfire, or whoever the hell she is! I walked out of my room to the dining room to find everybody sitting at the table eating an assortment of foods.
"Did you send a message?" I asked out loud. There was a moment of silence before Brutus spoke up again.
"As soon as we got here." Brutus said. I nodded and continued eating my dinner. After we had eaten, the three of them suggested that I sit and watch the Recaps of the Reapings. I watched as a little girl was Reaped but then Spitfire volunteered. It was her sister, she got Reaped on her first year. It's unfair that she had to get Reaped, and her sister had to go into the Hunger Games to protect her. I could see the sisterly love they shared as the older of the two coaxed the younger one to go find their mom. It was a sad sight to see I will admit. Now I really needed to talk to her. Eventually when I was done watching I stood there and waited for Clove to finished talking to Enobaria but I was getting impatient so I grabbed her and dragged her to the elevator and pressed the button for the twelfth floor. This thing couldn't go fast enough.
"Will you just calm down?" Clove begged of me sounding annoyed.
"Why should I? She lied to all of us!"
"She didn't lie. There is a difference between lying and not telling. And she told us straight out that she wasn't going to tell us." Clove said to me as the door dinged open. We walked out and saw Haymitch and the male Tribute sitting in the living room.
"Cato and Clove right?" the boy asked.
"Yeah, who are you?" Clove asked back.
"I'm Peeta, Katniss's best friend, or one of them." he said looking between me and Clove. I took off towards the bedroom to find her but Haymitch's voice stopped me.
"She's on the roof." he said and Clove bolted to the stairs as I followed her. It was faster than getting back in the elevator up to the roof.
~Katniss~
They know, they finally know and I can't do a thing to stop it. When we got the message that Cato and Clove wanted to talk to me after they ate dinner, I became nervous. Would Clove still be my friend now that she knows I'm from Twelve? What will Cato do? That's what worries me the most. I stood on the roof, looking out over the screaming people in the streets, when the door opened and I heard two pairs of feet walk in my direction.
"This is what you've been hiding?" a male voice said. Cato. I didn't have to turn to know it was him. I turned slowly to see him standing there with his arms at his sides and Clove next to him, her face twisting with sadness and anger.
"Yeah, it's what I've been hiding. You wanted to know everything." I said to them and they nodded. "My name is Katniss Everdeen, I'm from District 12, I volunteered for my sister so she didn't have to go into the Games. My best friend is in this with me, and he saved my life when I was about to die of starvation. And my dad died in a mine explosion. Anything else you'd like to know?" I questioned as they took it all in.
"Why didn't you tell anybody, why hide it?" Clove asked curiously. I sighed and turned back to the ledge, resting my hands on it and using them to support my weight.
"Because I didn't want anybody to use my weakness against me. Because I didn't want people to see me as weak or unworthy." I said not looking at either of them.
"What about your weapon?" Cato asked walking up next to me. I turned away from him and scoffed.
"I'm sure as hell never telling you that until you figure it out in the Games." I said.
"This ruins everything." I heard Cato mumble.
"What are you talking about?" I asked him. I noticed Clove slowly backing away, feeling like she was intruding on a private conversation.
"If I won, I was going to find you, like you said, in order for me to know who you are one of us would have to go into the Games and win, I was going to make that me. I don't care that you're from Twelve. I honestly don't! It just puts me in such awe of you that you had the skills to make it to the Academy."
"I've had enough life experience to allow me to qualify for the Academy."
"And I want to know what that is. I wasn't going to force it out of you anymore. I was going to win. I was going to win and find you so I could tell you why I was acting the way that I was back at the Academy."
"Explain what?" I asked him.
"It doesn't matter anymore." he said glumly. I sighed and nodded.
"I'm not going to force it out of you." I told him.
"Because I finally stopped trying to force it out of you?" he tried to joke.
"Yeah." I said quietly. It was quiet for a few moments. But it was comfortable so I didn't complain.
"Do I have to call you Katniss or can I still call you Spitfire?" he asked me out of the blue.
"I don't care what you call me." I told him.
"Well it seems people like the name Girl on Fire." he pointed out, I grimaced at the thought. "You don't like that name?" he inquired.
"No, it's okay I guess. Just every time I think of fire I think of my dad." I told him, tears brimming my eyes. I could feel his eyes on me then his hand run down my back and I shivered. He was about to say something, to prolong this conversation, but I didn't want to talk about it. So I interrupted him. "It's getting late, we should get to bed." I said quickly and he nodded, following me to the stairs so we could get back to my floor so he can go to his own. When the doors opened I went straight to sit next to Peeta in the living room. Even during these Games, Peeta and I were still best friends. He saw that I was almost in tears so he pulled me into a hug. I didn't even care if Cato was standing right there watching this exchange, I just want to ignore him at the moment.
~Cato~
I stood there, jealousy raging, as she walked into the arms of Lover Boy. I could tell that he was hiding something from her, it's easy to see but she seems oblivious to it. I was still staring, or well glaring, when Haymitch walked over to me and whispered.
"It's not polite to stare boy."
"Why him?" I whispered back and he shoved me into the elevator and followed me in.
"What?" he asked after we took off down to the second floor.
"Why him? Why does she trust him?"
"They've been friends for as long as I can remember. She told you everything right?" he asked me and I nodded. "He saved her life when she and her family were dying. Where she lives in Twelve, food is very hard to come by but when he gave her some, they've been friends ever since. She was nine when that happened. He's given her reason to trust him. What have you done?" he questioned me, sounding angry.
"Nothing, because I can't do what I wanted to do. She's here now and it ruins every plan I had of winning and making things right." I said as the doors to my floor opened. I stalked out and left the usually drunk mentor standing there confused. As I walked to my room I saw Clove standing in her doorway. "What happened to you up there?" I asked stopping in front of her.
"You two seemed to be having a moment. So what happened after I left?" she asked for gossip.
"Nothing really. We just talked." I said not wanting to talk about her hugging her tribute partner.
"There's something you're not telling me." she said giving me an inquisitive look.
"No there isn't." I denied, but she knew me too well.
"Yes there is. What happened?" she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Okay so when we got back to her floor she went and hugged her tribute partner-"
"Oh yeah Peeta." Clove interrupted.
"What?" I asked her.
"I actually paid attention to the Reapings. Now continue." she commanded.
"I'll admit that I was jealous. Then Haymitch told me that Lover Boy-I mean Peeta, saved her life when they were younger. And they've been best friends ever since." I explained to her. She nodded and got this thinking look on her face. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking about why you didn't tell her how you feel." she said with a sarcastic tone in her voice.
"I didn't tell her because I can't now. One of us is going to die in a matter of days. What if she returns how I feel and either of us have to live without the other? I'm not about to put either of us through the heartbreak." I told her.
"Wow. Cato Hart actually has a heart." she observed.
"Don't sound so shocked. I really like her but I don't think she likes me."
"Okay, she must have you whipped because what the hell happened to you?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You! You are seriously second guessing yourself. What happened to your confidence in getting the girl?"
"Ever since I met her it's been declining." I said turning towards my door to my room.
"Wait!" she called.
"What?"
"Are we going to let her in the alliance?" she asked and I cocked an eyebrow at her. "I mean, she trained at the Academy, and the committee wanted her to volunteer this year. So she's gotta be good. Brutus sad we should let her in and to protect her. Are we going to have her join?"
"Only if she wants to. But we'll offer it to her and protect her even if she doesn't join." I said before finally going into my room and collapsing onto my bed, letting sleep take over me.
~Brutus~
I stood with my ear pressed against the door of my room, listening to Clove and Cato talk about Spitfire. I don't care if she's in the Hunger Games now, I'm still going to call her Spitfire. When I heard Cato admit that he was jealous of the District Twelve boy, Peeta, I nearly fell over. But then after I heard him say that he really likes her, I almost passed out. He likes her, but I know that's not true, I can tell that he loves her. But the problem is the Games. They are both in it. Does Haymitch know about the two of them? Does he know that Cato feels for Spitfire. I doubt that he does. And I need to be the one to tell him. Maybe he and I could get them out of the Games. Together. I walked to the elevator, not caring if anybody heard it, and pressed the 12 button. When I arrived I walked into the apartment and saw Haymitch on the couch asleep, or passed out. I grabbed a glass of cold water and dumped it on him.
"What the hell?" he shouted as he woke up.
"Shut up you drunk we gotta talk." I told him.
"Nice to see you too Brutus." he snapped. "Now what do you want."
"We have a situation with our Tributes." I told him vaguely.
"What kind of situation?" he asked suspiciously.
"It seems that one of our Tributes likes the other."
"You mean Cato likes Katniss?"
"How did you know?" I questioned.
"I could see the jealousy in his eyes a mile away when Sweetheart hugged Peeta." he explained.
"Sweetheart?" I chuckled.
"I've always called her that. Now what do you want me to do about the situation?"
"Help me figure out a way to get them out." I stated bluntly.
"What?"
"You heard me."
"How are we supposed to get them out? There's only ever one winner." he reminded.
"But these Capitol citizens are suckers for a good story. If we give them something good enough Snow will have no choice."
"Assuming they both make it to the finale alive."
"And I know they both will. I've trained them well." I said confidently and he rolled his eyes.
"Okay give me the day to think and I'll let you know tomorrow." he said and I nodded, bid him goodnight, and got back in the elevator to go down to the second floor to go to bed.