The next morning, Clove gently aroused from her sleep. Her eyes slowly focusing on the decorated ceiling above. Her fingers scratching at the mattress. Almost expecting another body sound asleep beside her. The light was dim in the room, which suggested that it was early morning again. She lay still for a moment, allowing herself to fully wake up. Suddenly, her stomach lurched and the food from last night was soon to make reappearance. She dived out of bed and landed on her knees, the clatter and crashing of her stumbling around the room aroused attention on the floor. Cato gushed in to find Clove desperately trying to keep the rice from the night before in her stomach.
"Oh god Clove!" His face wrinkled at her poor, pale state and he carefully helped her to her feet and led her to the bathroom, where she finally opened her mouth into the toilet. Cato held her hair from her face whilst she constantly puked into the toilet. She sat with her arms folded under her chin on the rim of the seat, the color sucked from her face and her doe eyes heavy with exhaustion. When Brutus finally strode in, he'd missed the worse of it.
"How repulsive." He cringed, peering into the toilet to see the vomit.
"Nope, I'm fine don't you worry about me, Brutus!" Clove spluttered angrily. He shook his head at her sarcastic tone and soon vanished out of the bedroom again.
"You, my friend, are staying in bed today." Cato helped Clove to her feet, after she was sure it had finished.
"No, I need to train." She persisted, climbing into bed anyway. Cato tucked the cover around her so only her face showed. Brutus then reappeared with a doctor at his side, who abruptly ushered Cato out of his way and began examining Clove. After testing her temperature, her heart rate and pulse rate he found himself at a conclusion.
"It seems you have suffered very severe food poisoning, either that or you are highly allergic to the last meal you ate." He pushed his spectacles with a stubby finger back up his nose, nodding at Brutus and letting himself out.
"Looks like you're staying in bed today then Clovey." Cato patted her head and turned to leave.
"No, I need to practice." Clove coughed, buried in her duvet.
"See how you are at lunch" He replied with a wink, before vanishing himself to get changed for training." She sighed to herself, peering round to look out the window, and all she could see was the skyscrapers. I've got to stay here? Till Lunch? No way. She thought, scrambling out of bed and digging out a spare pair of clothes. As she slipped into them, Clove had to dip in and out of bed, fully clothed whilst Brutus, Cato and Bonnie peered in to check on her.
"I'm going down with Brutus now, Bonnie will be hanging about somewhere, don't leave here until I get back." Cato peered around the door, and she nodded as if it caused her great pain. He gently closed the door behind himself and Clove listened out for the gentle hum of the lift as Cato and Brutus disappeared to the training center. Clove immediately sprang from the bed, and waited at the door for Bonnie to pass with her orange scented tea to her own room. She sprinted for the lift as soon as Bonnie disappeared behind a door, diving in it and punching the 'DOWN' button with limitless force. She just managed to see Bonnie drop her mug and shuffle for the lift in her huge frilly shoes. Once the lift reached the floor and Clove hopped out, it flew straight back up again, that must be Bonnie. Clove better move fast otherwise she would be caught by her escort. She had vaguely remembered the route to the training center and only now peered up at the arrows whenever her memory blocked. She caught the arena in her sights and set out in a sprint across the corridor. Once I'm in they can't get me out! She was right, once in the center, you're not allowed out for four hours. Not even for the bathroom –they have one in there. Once she burst through the doors, every head turned her way, including her mentor Brutus and fellow tribute Cato. She avoided looking at them and with her head held high, she strode towards her knives.
"What are you doing?" Cato rushed to her side, but she only smiled into his furious blue eyes.
"I'm in now, can't get me out. Game's rules." She stated, stepping round him and slipping an unfamiliar knife into her hand.
"I haven't seen this one before." She throws it from hand to hand, measuring it up before lining her aim.
"I wouldn't throw that one." A quiet voice came from behind her. Clove spun around to see the tiny Rue stood with her arms behind her back. Her huge chocolate eyes staring into Clove's.
"Bugger off, kid. I'm not in the mood." Clove snapped, not giving the District 11 girl another glance after that. She lines her aim up once more, before dispatching the knife in the air for it to soar not only into a target, but destroy once completely. Her eyes widened and she spun round to face Rue, but she had vanished. She had a knack for that. Several knives later, Clove had long forgotten about the strange knife, only concentrating on hitting the moving targets with the less bulky ones.
"Hey! Who stole my knife?" A booming voice echoed through the center. Each tribute hung silent whilst Thresh, the huge coffee skinned killing machine dived under benches and raked through racks of weapons until his gaze fell on Clove. He takes a moment to look behind her, seeing the one destroyed dummy and racing to what seemed to be an accurate solution.
"You stole it." He sneered, his teeth bared as he crushed the floor with every step he took closer to Clove.
"You STOLE my knife!" He snarled, looming towards her.
"I didn't! I swear! I didn't know it was your knife! I didn't know!" She exclaimed backing out further every time Thresh drew closer. Clove was fierce, she never backed out from a fight usually in her home district, but with being 5'3, and Thresh standing at over six foot, and most of his body weight raw muscle, this fight seemed a little one sided. She knew he wasn't bothered if it was an accident or not, he just wanted an excuse to hurt somebody, to hurt Clove. Unaware of what she was backing into; Clove slipped and tumbled over a bench, which merely snapped in two when Thresh brought his foot down on it. She was desperately kicking herself backwards now, until she found there was nowhere else to back up into. She'd hit the wall.
"No more hiding now, two" He grimaced inches from her face. With the scruff of her collar in his grasp, he hauled her weak frame and launched it back to where the bench had broken. She didn't have time to prepare for him, he was onto her within seconds.
"Let's just see how clever you are now." Thresh growled, holding her up in suspense by his grip on her throat. She scratched and clawed at his knuckles but it was no use.
"Leave her!" Cato yelled, body-slamming into Thresh, who in reaction dropped Clove from the height, landing on her back. She cried out in pain, but the other tributes had gone to encourage the fight between Cato and Thresh. Except one. Marvel. He crouched down next to her, almost knowing she didn't have long left.
"Let's get you on your feet." He held out his hand for her but she rolled over to the other side, coughing and spluttering.
"I don't need your help." She choked. The sickness from not even an hour earlier had come back to haunt her. Dizzy and frail, she managed to get to her feet without him, but walking was another story.
"You are not going to make it over there like that" He stated matter of factly. She ignored him and carried on towards the door. Almost as if he knew it was going to happen, Marvel quickly lifted her off her feet and ran for the door. Clove could feel it coming, the unpleasant surge of vomit creeping up her throat. Marvel sat her down on the First Aid Bay and ran off to get a bucket. Her whole body lurched forward as she fought to keep the vile substance down. Before she could blink, Marvel was back at her side, a bright red bucket with the Seal imprinted into it lodged underneath his arm. He banged it on the floor below her head. She finally experienced the sloppy mush jump back up into her mouth, and down into the bucket. She could even see the stupid food that had declared the war on her stomach. Fucking carrots. She glared into the liquid, sipping at a glass of water that had sat beside her ever since Marvel returned. Silence devoured them both as they awkwardly twitched from either side of the bench, not wanting to be caught glancing at the other. Clove brought her knees up to her chin, closing her eyes and inhaling the clean, new scent of the training suit she was wearing.
"Clove?" A gentle murmur came from her left. Her brow creased and glared sideways at him. He was now sat closer to her, with either leg on each side of the bench, leaning close to lift a stray strand of her dark hair from her eyes. Instinctively, Clove whipped her hand up from her shins and harshly slapped his hand away. Marvel leant back and sighed, swinging one leg over the bench so he was sitting the other side to her. When Clove straightened her sight once again, she saw Glimmer watching her, narrowing her eyes at Clove. Before her words ran clear in her head, it's your loss. Glimmer was right. Even though clove had set her sights on wanting to hate this boy, her early feelings for him fought back. Somehow, she missed being the one who he held in those arms, and the one who, even after hurling abuse at him, still whisked her off her feet and carried her off. He took her breath away. Her scowl softened at the thought, Glimmer must have noticed – she flashed her a smile and raised her perfectly shaped eyebrows at Clove. Before striding off to shoo Katniss Everdeen from the shooting range. She let her knees fall back down and her boots clunked onto the floor.
"Marvel." She managed, even though her brain shrieked at her to silence. His head spun to face her, almost as if he were excited at the sound of her voice.
"Yes?" His voice was low, like he didn't want anyone to hear apart from Clove. His eyes stared pleadingly into her temple. But she didn't look his way.
"The mentors told you to like me." She stated, but her voice pricking at the end, because she wasn't done. Marvel's head hung low, and a solitary brown curl bounced in front of his face. Guilt was heavy on his shoulders as he hunched over his knees, propping his face up with his hands cupping his jaw. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught him nod shyly. She continued.
"But, did they tell you to love me?" She turned her head to face him, her eyes showering his facial features with the pure hope he wouldn't nod again. His brow creased in disbelief, and he shook his head slowly, his eyes on hers and his mouth slightly open.
"No, no of course they didn't." He whimpered.
"You did that yourself?" Clove nodded her head forwards, her eye brows raised and her expression what seemed to be, very, very faint amusement.
Marvel leaned back and frowned around the first aid bay, holding his hands up in front of his chest as if he was frustrated, yet shocked by what she was saying.
"No, I'm under on tracker jacker venom, the Capitol are messing with my mind." His familiar sarcastic tone rang in her ears, even making a smile play on her flushed face. Marvel smiled faintly back at her, relieved it was all over.
"Look, it wasn't meant to hurt you." His hand found its way to her shoulder, his thumb massaging it comfortingly.
"I know." Clove turned her head away from him. And after a few seconds of silence turned back to his aqua gaze.
"So I guess I'm going to have to put up with your antics for a bit longer am i?" She flashed him a smile, winking once as he beamed back.
"Not that you weren't enjoying it…" He trailed off, looking up to the ceiling with raised eyebrows.
"Ha, don't flatter yourself, Marvelous." She chortled and picked herself up off the bench, the water still in her hand.
"What did you just call me?" His voice drew her to spin on her heels, he had stood up and a wonky grin had materialized across his lips.
"Marvelous? You like?" She turned on her heels again, leaving him alone in the first aid bay as she returned to the center. The crowd, Cato and Thresh had disappeared. Until she caught sight of Cato getting yelled at by Brutus in one side of the center, and Thresh getting treated for a broken nose in the other. The crowd had divided in two and spread all around the boys, making it difficult for Peacekeeper's to maintain. Being the only one who was actually training, she strode, more powerful and determined than before, towards the knife rack. The destroyed dummy had been cleared and the strange knife placed back into the rack along with the others. Better not touch that one again… Clove thought to herself, choosing a much less heavy knife, nipping the blade between her thumb and index finger, pulling it back behind her head and lining her aim with her left arm straightened in front of her. But before she could even release it, a silver arrow tore through the air, and pierced the hard torso of the target.
"I see Marvel has perked up a bit over there." Glimmer positioned another arrow in the nocking point and firing straight through another dummy, before gesturing over to where Marvel bounced over to a spear, and slung it, without even lining his aim, in any old direction towards the targets. A goofy grin on his lips.
"I guess so." Clove mused, before Glimmer could interrupt her shot again, she released the knife and it soared through the air, plunging into the bull's eye over one hundred meters away.
"My words of wisdom come in useful then?" Glimmer broke Clove's concentration once again, Clove abruptly dropped her arm from its poised position behind her head and threw Glimmer a mucky look, wrinkling her nose up into a snarl as she spoke.
"You know, you'd think you were trying to put me off on purpose." She spat, waiting a second to glare into Glimmer's unbothered eyes before viciously setting the knife through another dummy's head.
"I'll take that as a yes then." Glimmer giggled in her oh so charming way, before returning to Cato's side, warding off any competition from the other girl tributes who threw themselves around him. Clove rolled her eyes. Glimmer had two sides to her; the giggly, loud, flirtatious (not that she wasn't flirtatious all the time) dreamy girl who pranced around for the cameras, reeling in as many sponsors as she could get her perfect nails into. And there was the determined fighter who never missed her aim and with a swish of her luscious blonde waves, has her victims begging for mercy. Clove watched her as Glimmer balanced herself with both her arms wrapped around Cato's neck on his knee as the camera crew zoomed in on the pair. Clove averted her eyes when Cato planted a strong kiss on her lips, and they stay there not even caring that the whole of Panem was watching.
"What are you staring at?" Marvel's voice startled her from behind, his chin centimeters from her shoulder as he crouched to her level.
"Don't, do that." She muttered, passing by him and scooping up a handful of knives. Launching them all at the same target, completely mutilating it. He chuckled and plopped down on the bench beside, her. His eyes fixated as she swiftly threw each knife with ease, catching her perfect aim easily.
"Impressive." He nodded his head at her, "But I could do better." He shrugged, leaning back onto a rack of weapons. Clove's head slowly turned, fighting to keep the smile back.
"What, did you just say?" She gave him a sly half-smile, before step by step she crept closer, playing with the blade between her fingers.
"I could do better." He repeated, flashing her a casual smile and shrugging. He began to stand up, but like light, Clove had the tip of the blade gently pressing on his throat, forcing him to sit down.
"Well then, be my guest." She lowered her face to his, not removing the knife from its place at his neck. Backing away eventually, she thrust the handle of the knife into his chest, stepping backwards to give him as much room as he needed. Unprepared for her newest proposal, he stayed quiet as he got up, examining the serrated edge close to the handle, and the sleek curve of the tip in his hands. Holding it still and weighing it in his hands for minutes, Clove grew impatient.
"I'm growing old here, Marvel! Are you going to throw it or just stand there touching it up?" She teased, folding her arms across her chest and smirking. He spaced his feet out and muttered to himself.
"Can't be much different than a spear…" He reassured himself, holding the knife like he'd seen Clove, bringing it back slowly before unexpectedly lashing it out in front of him. He staggered back into Clove, clutching his temple as fresh blood pulsed from the open gash.
"You tit." She muttered, her tiny fist clutched around his as she brought his palm down from his head. That second, the knife made a satisfying clunk against a metal wall, he'd missed by miles.
"Why do I always have to clean up after you?" She grinned, wriggling out of her own training top, revealing her skin tight under clothes as she pressed it without any remorse to his temple, no matter how many times he yelped.
"Stop being such a baby, and move." She snapped, dragging him back to the first aid bay, where they had both just appeared from not even half an hour ago. Clove gladly handed Marvel over to the first aider whilst she vanished to wash her own hands. She was no good when it came to first aid. In fact, she'd been trained to avoid it. It was no trouble inflicting the wounds, but when it was down to Clove to sort them out, she was clueless. When she strode back through, her hands still dripping from the taps, Marvel was sat alone with a bandage wrapped around his head. He grinned half-heartedly at the sight of her, feeling sorry for himself.
"What were you saying about knife throwing, Marvel? Your better than me are you?" She teased; her fists on her hips as she stood in front of him. He slapped his knee for her, and feeling slightly hypocritical, she lightly perched on his knee with one arm around his neck.
"Kiss it better?" He hoped, raising one eyebrow, seeking approval from the thoughtful dark eyes before him. She rolled her eyes exaggeratedly before pulling his head closer and laying a soft kiss on top of the white bandage wrapped continuously around his forehead.