Hey ya'll! Ok, I'm so so so so so so sorry this took so long! I got completely overwhelmed with homework but I finally got this chapter done! It's a lot longer than the others. Hope you enjoy it! Please review!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own The Hunger Games
Once we've said all of our goodbyes, Kish ushers us onto the train that will take us to the capitol. We step inside and I'm immediately in awe. Everywhere I look, there's finery. From the solid, wood flooring, to the silver colored wallpaper, to the white ceiling with crown molding. "Isn't it beautiful?!" squeals Kish. "Wow, it really is" whispers Cato. I'm still too much in shock to say anything.
While we're still admiring the sitting room, the train lurches forward and sends me straight into Cato. He catches me and holds me until we're at a constant speed, which doesn't take very long considering we're on a Capitol train.
I notice that Cato hasn't seemed to notice that it's steady enough to move around now. He's still holding me safely in his arms and I can't help the blush that rises up to my cheeks.
"Um, Cato?" I say "What?" he replies innocently. "You can let go now." I try to say it clearly but my voice is muffled because he's pressed me up tight to his chest. "Oh! Sorry" he mumbles and quickly releases me.
"Well, don't you two want to see your rooms?" Kish asks eagerly. "Sure!" I reply excitedly. He leads us down a narrow hallway and stops about halfway down. There are two doors on either side of the hall. "Clove, this is your room." He says while pointing to the door on the right. "And yours is this one, Cato." He states, gesturing to the door on the left.
I open my door and am in complete shock again. My room is absolutely gorgeous. The floor is a plush white carpet. The walls are painted a chocolate brown. There is a fireplace between two huge windows that overlook the capitol. My bed is a king size and has an aqua bedspread. I walk over to the nightstand and pick up a device that looks like a remote control to something. I push the power button and the picture above the fire place folds open and a flat screen TV comes out from behind it.
I look through the drawers to my dresser and see at least 15 different outfits that I could wear if I wanted to. I open a door that is next to the dresser and walk into the bathroom.
I gasp at the size of the shower. I could fit my whole bathroom back home into it! There are jets all along the walls joined by what looks to be, a thousand different colored buttons. "This could get complicated" I mumble to myself.
I walk over to the sink and mirror to look at my reflection. I look the same I did when I woke up. I haven't cried at all so my makeup is still the same. My hair is a little bit frizzier though. "Just one of the disadvantages of having thick hair." I say to myself. "Clove! Fifteen minutes until dinner!" yells Kish.
I quickly comb through my hair and put it into a simple braid over my shoulder. I wash the makeup off of my face and look into the mirror. "This is the real Clove" I say to no one but myself again. I exit the bathroom and walk back into by bedroom. I shut the door and go over to my dresser to pick out something to wear.
I decide on black sweatpants and a loose, oversized white shirt. I hastily change and head out to the dining room. When I get there I notice that so far only I, Kish, and Cato are here. "Where are our mentors?" I ask Kish as I enter the room. "Probably at the bar." He sighs "I'll go get them."
When he leaves it's just Cato and I. Well the avoxes are here as well but they don't say anything. An Avox is someone who has committed a crime against the Capitol and as punishment; their tongues are cut out and are forced to serve the tributes and gamemakers at The Hunger Games.
I sit in the seat across from Cato and notice that he changed his clothes as well. He's now in a pair of dark jeans and a simple grey t-shirt. I have to say he looks a lot better in that to me than he would in a suit and tie. I mentally slap myself for thinking that.
These are The Hunger Games. There's no room for romance. Twenty three of us will die. One will come out. It's that simple. Alliances are typically formed but are usually broken off once it gets down to single digit tributes. They know that only one can win.
"Uh, Clove? Clove? Clove!" Cato shouts. I'm immediately snapped out of my thoughts. "What?" I answer back. "You were staring at me, why? He asks. I immediately blush. I had no clue I was staring at him the whole time. "Sorry" I mutter under my breath."Wait, if he noticed I was staring, he had to have been staring at me. Right?" I think to myself. Just then Kish walks back into the room followed by our two mentors, Brutus and Enorbia.
I've seen them before around District 2 and at the reapings. They've also been on TV a few times. I've never seen them up close though. They're mush bigger in person. Brutus looks to be about six feet tall. I can tell he's all muscle. He could probably snap me in half like a toothpick. Enorbia is a little bit taller than me. She has long blonde hair and vicious looking green eyes.
"Well, well, well. It looks like we have a good pair this year. Don't we Enorbia?" Brutus says to Enorbia. "Yes, we do. You two look like you're a pair of fighters. Am I correct?" she asks us.
"We've been training at the academy since we were six years old. So yeah, we know what we're doing. " Cato replies. "I'm Cato, and this is Clove" he adds gesturing to me.
"Well, now that we all know each other, let's eat. Shall we?" Kish asks. Our mentors and Kish walk over to the table and sit down. The Avoxes take that as their cue to begin serving.
The first course is a plate of steamed vegetables. The second course is pork tenderloin with a cherry glaze and mashed potatoes. The third course is a chocolate raspberry mouse with whipped cream.
"Wow, I don't think I've ever had anything this good before." I comment. "Isn't it great? The Capitol has the best food around!" Kish replies. "So, how are you two going to play it in the games?" Enorbia asks us with a creepy smile. It's then that I notice her signature smile
That's how Enorbia won her games. She would pin her victims down and rip out their throats with her teeth. After she won, she became so famous for the way that she killed, so she had all her teeth pointed and plated in gold with a ruby imbedded in each one. "So? Have either of you ever killed anyone before?" Brutus asks us. "Yep, a bunch" Cato replies. "Me too" I add. "Well that's a good start " Brutus states back. "Ok, you two should get to bed. We arrive in the Capitol at seven o'clock in the morning. Be ready to go at six." Enorbia tells us. Then, she and Brutus leave to their own rooms.
As I watch them leave, I'm trapped in my thoughts.
Just how many people have I killed? In District 2, all the criminals sentenced with the death penalty are taken to the training center where the older tributes get to practice their killing skills. Gruesome, I know. But how else are we going to learn effectively?
We're scored on technique and effectiveness. The highest scores usually mean you have a pretty good chance of being a volunteer that year.
Cato and I were both on the volunteer list. He was at the top of the boys, and I was third on the girls list. I wonder why the top two girls didn't volunteer for Sage?
Probably to get back at me for all the times that I've beaten them in training, and for having Cato as my best friend. He's always been popular with the girls. I can see why. He's tall, blonde, blue-eyed, and pure muscle.
Whenever I'm with him in training, all the girls glare daggers at me. I don't know why though. It's not like we're dating or anything. We're just friends.
"Clove!" Cato shouts. I'm snapped out of my thoughts again. "What?" I ask. "You were staring again." He replies. Crap, that's twice today. Once again, I feel the blush rise to my cheeks. "Sorry, I was just thinking." I mutter. "About what?" he asks. "Nothing, I'm going to bed. Goodnight Cato" I say. "Goodnight" he replies with a smirk.
I quickly stand up and walk to my room. I shut my door behind me and head to the bathroom. I take off my clothes and step inside the shower. "Ok, let's see if we can work this thing' I tell myself.
I press a blue button, and icy cold water comes sputtering out of the jets. I get sprayed and shriek from the coldness. I quickly push the button again and turn off the water.
Next I try the red one. This time I'm greeted by close to boiling water. "Ow, ow!" I yell while trying to avoid the water. Once again I press the button to shut off the water. "Well, this is getting me nowhere" I mumble.
After many failed attempts of pushing random buttons, covering myself with all different scents of shampoo and soap, I sigh and push a purple button in on the center of the panel.
To my surprise, I'm showered with nice hot water. Not as hot as the red button though. "Finally!" I shout with happiness. I spend about 5 minutes in the water, trying to rinse off all the soap from my hair and body.
Once I'm satisfied that it's all gone, I push the purple button again and step out of the shower onto the mat. When I step out I'm almost blown over by a spurt of warm air. I guess it's to dry me off. It's very effective, not leaving a single drop of water on my body or in my hair.
I wrap myself in a towel and walk back into my room. I'm just about to get dressed when I hear a knock on my door. I rush over to answer it and gasp when I see Cato standing in front of me. "Cato!" I yell. "What?" He replies innocently. "Can't you see I'm a little busy?" I answer irritably. "Yep, I can tell." He says with a glance down my body.
His glance makes me suddenly self conscious about the fact that I'm naked under the towel. "What do you need?" I sigh. "I just wanted to talk. I can't sleep. Care to join me in the dining car?" He asks. "Like this?" I ask appalled. "If you want" He replies with a smirk.
"You had better be joking. Otherwise I might have to kill you" I say. "Whoa, whoa. Easy girl, I was kidding" He says with his hands up in surrender. "And besides, it's against the rules to fight before the games." He replies confidently. "Whatever, I'll get dressed and meet you there in 5 minutes." I answer
I shut my door before he can respond. I walk over to my dresser and pull out a pair of fluffy, blue, sleep shorts and a white tank top. I get dressed and head to the dining car.
When I walk into the room, I see Cato sitting at the window of the train. I walk over to join him. "Hey" I say softly. "Hey" He replies without even looking up. I sit down across from him and pull my legs up to my chest.
"So, what do you want to talk about?" I ask him. "I'm not sure, really. Honestly I just wanted company. This train gets a little lonely once everyone's gone to bed." He replies. "Oh ok, fine by me." I say back. We just sit, looking out the window without saying a word for a few minutes before Cato breaks the silence.
"Are you scared?" he asks. "Yeah, a little bit. You?" I reply. "I know I shouldn't be, but yeah." He answers. "Why shouldn't you be scared?" I ask confused. "Because I'm a career. Careers are supposed to be brave and fearless killers. Not homesick, scared little boys." He replies with a scowl. "Well, I'm a brave and fearless killer," I say sarcastically, "but I'm still afraid." I answer. Cato just grunts.
"Honestly, I don't think anyone has gone into the arena without being at least a little bit afraid. I mean, they know that twenty-three kids have to die, and they could be one of them if they're not careful." I say.
"And at least we're well prepared for this. We've had at least ten years of training. How do you think the tributes from the outer districts feel? They probably don't even know how to hold a weapon. But we can kill in 27 different ways. We have a much better chance of winning." I add breathlessly.
"Yeah, I suppose you're right. It still doesn't change the fact that one, if either of us won't be coming home. That's what scares me the most" He trails off "Losing you." He finishes.
Well, that caught me off guard. Seeing the fear in his eyes about having to see me die is almost unbearable. Before I know what I'm doing, I throw myself into his arms and hug him as tight as I can.
I can tell that he didn't expect me to do that. But after he gets over the shock, he wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me into him. We stay like this for a few seconds until I break the embrace. "We should probably get to bed" I say. "Yeah, I suppose." He replies as he stands up and walks with me back to our rooms.
Just as I'm about to open my door he suddenly grabs me and pulls me into another tight embrace. "Goodnight Clove" He mumbles into my neck. "Goodnight" I reply as he pulls away. I open my door and head towards by bed. I'm asleep before my head hits the pillow.
Well, there it is. Hope ya'll liked it! Please review! It would make me so happy to have at least thirty reviews before the fifth chapter! Please feel free to comment on any issues that you see. I want to make this the best that I possibly can but i'll need ya'll's help! I'm also open to any ideas you may have. Thanks!