It's my story, too.
I'm Cato. But you obviously know this by now. I've decided to tell my own piece of the story.
I've been on the side nearest the Capitol of District 2 for nearly two years. I'm supposed to return to my own home, by myself, shortly after my sixteenth birthday. But I'm leaving now, three months before I turn sixteen, because of Elaine.
She's from the Capitol and has lived with me and my mother ever since it was obvious she's pregnant. I personally think she's a bitch, but, I got her knocked up and she had no where else to go, since her parents kicked her out until the child was born.
Let me just explain what happened.
After I dragged myself away from Clove - I really regretted taking away her virginity, by the way. I guess I felt like if she kept it she wouldn't get into any trouble, like I did - I locked myself in my bedroom on the train and stayed there the entire time.
I didn't cry. But I ended up finding myself in a sort of loneliness. It was dark and filled with depression...Clove had to have felt the same way.
Then I immediately was under the impression that since I'd had sex with her, she'd think that she had nothing to lose. Clove had loved me and gotten the most out of me.
The idea of this killed me.
Each night after school and training in the new city - where I was very popular, no big surprise - I'd take off my shirt and run my hands over the scars she'd given me, especially her signature.
If others knew, they'd think I was weird. Or something.
To cover Clove's name, I had to wear my boxers up a bit high, and underneath my swimming trunks. Apparently that's how boys my age wore them a few centuries ago, before the rebellion. And I'd just brought it back.
As a fourteen year old, I was as horny as fuck. And nearly half of the girls in the school wanted me, and I thought of most of them as pretty, too. Not nearly enough to compare to Clove...but I didn't know that at the time. She changed so much while I was away. Clove got so...beautiful over the years, and her body is amazing.
Like I said, as a horny little teenager, I let countless girls go down on me, and - out of pure stupidity - I had sex with more than enough, in just one year. At one point, I did catch an STD. But Capitol medicines are easy to come by when you're that close to the Capitol, and the problem was solved and infinitely prevented for myself in a matter of hours.
So, basically, I could do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. What an awesome set up for a fourteen year old.
It went on, into my fifteenth year, too. I was at the top of my game in training for the Games, making plans to move back to my old house when I turned sixteen, and having sex about twice or more times each day. I also kept in contact with Clove, and I made the dumbass choice to act as if she were honestly the only one for me.
But if we were anything alike, I assumed she was doing the same things I was.
Now, lets go to where I met Elaine.
She's the most popular girl in school, you see. Short, blonde hair, streaked with red and blue, walked about in crazy fashions and high heels, basically trademark Capitol girl. There was this one, huge combined high school between the richer District 1 & 2 kids, and about half of the Capitol teenagers. The other half of Capitol teens went to a private school. They went on to become gamemakers, or have roles in the government. The ones I was around turned into stylists or designers or Peace Keepers, you know the deal.
I had been invited to her 120 kid birthday party, as she was turning eighteen and it was her senior year. I only came for two reasons: alcohol and sex.
So halfway through the party, Elaine finds me, and drags me to her room and ties me to the bed. She's one kinky slut, I swear. I was pretty drunk, too. The next thing I remember is her getting me nude and her changing into black and red lingerie. I stood at attention within seconds, and well, you know what happened next.
We went for a few rounds, but she ended up falling asleep. Nothing compared to Clove.
After everyone else cleared out, she dragged me into her room again, and we started going at it. But then my best friend at the time, Rayne, came in and pulled me away because he was my ride home. Not after he watched us go for a round, though. He was a real dick, now that I think of it.
Elaine became my fuck buddy, too. We had to stop after a month, because her mother had her take a pregnancy test and it turned out positive. Obviously she lied and said it was negative. But after it became obvious Elaine was pregnant and her mother took her to the doctor, and the pregnancy was confirmed, she came to live with my mother and I.
Mom didn't give a fuck, and I was left to care for Elaine.
Mother of god, she was such a bitch.
I had to give her breakfast in bed each morning, sunny side up eggs with two slices of bacon, and the perfect amount of orange juice - without pulp, of course. And fresh squeezed. I had to do her laundry, rub her swollen ankles, dye her hair - the most recent color had been an ugly blonde with stupid black streaks - and then sleeping next to her was the worst.
She never slept next to me. She slept on top of me. I didn't mind when Clove did, because she was so small, but since Elaine had a huge belly and was pretty tall, it was very uncomfortable and pissed me off a good deal. If I tried to move, she'd yell "Quit it, you fucker!" and then dug her sharp nails into my bare shoulders or my abs, wherever her hands lay. You can imagine that from time to time it really, really did hurt. Not as much as Clove's knives or punches or kicks, but, that was a sweet kind of pain. One we both enjoyed. It was obvious we were sadistic, and perhaps a bit masochistic. I loved when I felt her knife hit me, especially the dagger I made her.
Days before she was due to give birth and return to the Capitol, she told me that she had cousins who lived where I used to in the District. You can't imagine how pissed I was. But she told me that if I came with her to the train station and on the train ride, she would leave to go with her cousins, then back to the Capitol. I agreed, and left simply by telling my mother I was going back home, and she was fine with it. More important things bothered her, I suppose, and she knew I'd keep up with training and appear at Reapings.
I wrote to Clove telling her I was on my way home. It was going to be about three days' time to travel home, because we couldn't afford a straight-forward, one train trip. I wasn't worried about how Elaine would do, personally. She said she'd give the baby up for adoption soon after it was born and that I should fuck off. I wasn't going to argue.
We arrived at my home, and as soon as I stepped off the train, I saw a short, athletic, brown haired girl. Her eyes stared at me and I knew it was Clove. I stepped forwards slowly, but she stood frozen, and I knew she'd seen Elaine.
"Cato.." Clove whispered. I stepped aside, and Elaine greeted her with a bitchy tone in her voice. I continued to Clove and pulled her against me, and she buried herself in my embrace. "Who is she?" she questioned.
I took her over to a bench and we sat down. "She is Elaine..." I found it hard to find the right words. "We're..we're friends, but uh, I accidentally... got her pregnant..."
Clove's eyes went wide and her mouth gaped. "You... you got... her.. I... Cato..." she seemed as if she was choking on tears. Then I heard Elaine's shrieky Capitol tone.
"Is it that hard to understand that he got me pregnant? We had sex. What would you expect from two people dating?" she spoke slowly, as if Clove was a dipshit, and I cringed slightly.
"Go away. I want to talk to him by myself." Clove demanded. As soon as Elaine was back on the other side of the train station, she spoke. "So... you were dating her... and decided to give her a fucking child?" Her voice shook with anger. Fuck! was all I could think at first.
"Clove, it was an accident." That was truthful. I placed hands on her shoulders to calm her down. "It was peer pressure." Bullshit. "Not what we had, Clove." I didn't know where I was trying to go with this.
"Not what we had." God dammit, Clove was smart. She avoided looking at me. "Why did you ever bring her here?"
"Her parents kicked her out when she told them." Close enough to the truth... "Elaine's due to have her baby in a few days, so she'll have it and then return to the Capitol."
"The Capitol? Huh. I thought she sounded like an asshole."
"Clove!" I snapped, and covered her mouth, even though I agreed with her. "She won't even be in our business. She's gooing to have her kid and go back. And she has relatives here, so we don't need to worry about her being on the streets."
"Our business? I'm not planning on having anything to do with her. Because apparently, we're back to square one." No.. No.. No! Clove, please, I love you so much! I can't lose you... No! is what I was thinking. What I should've said. She got up and walked off, but then turned around and said in a hilariously perfect Capitol accent, "See you later, friends!"
I didn't laugh, though. I ran to her and pulled her backwards. "Wait! ... Wait. All I need to do is make sure Elaine gets to a taxi. Then she'll be with her cousins, and out of the way. Then we need to talk things over."
She glared at me. I'd said something wrong. Then we both turned to see Elaine getting into a taxi and leaving. "Looks like you two are already split up." she muttered as I watched the cab drive away. I lead her back to sit down at the bench.
"Clove, I - "
"If I would've gotten knocked up when we had sex, would you have come back here?" Clove growled at me.
"Give me a reason why I wouldn't have come back."
"Because you were too busy fucking sluts like her!" That was true. God dammit, that was true! "You left me for two whole years only to come back when some bitch you gave a baby to got kicked out of her house! That's shit, Cato! Mother fucking bull SHIT!"
"Clove, I know, I left you here. I should've never, ever had sex with her..." Even though it's not as if my hand could've begin to substitute. I thought grimly. "She got the upper hand and - "
She cut me off in the middle of my lie. Today wasn't my day...fuck.
"Stop blaming it on that ass wipe! It's your fault, Cato. Your fault!" She screamed. She was so right about this kind of thing...
"What did you want to hear, Clove? It's like you loved me so much that you didn't hardly ever look at another guy! Like you thought I was the only one for you, and you for me! Well that's not how the worl works, and I know that's not how you work, Clove! I bet you werek banging five guys a month!" Which was nothing compared to my fifty girls...
"Cato!" I could tell I'd really hurt her. I didn't know what to do. "I... I thought it was only you, Cato. I haven't spoken to another guy since you left."
I didn't know what else to say, so I yelled what I'd been thinking:
"Yeah right. For all I know, you're a prostitute!"
Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shi-
"CATO!" Her fist hit my face and I was on the ground immediately after. "I used to think it was only you. But now, I never want to see you again. Go back to fucking your Capitol bitches." Her foot knocked the air out of my just after.
I stood up and saw her running away. I had to have her... I was nothing without her at least by my side, and I began to jog to her. That wasn't smart. She ripped off her jacket, which had the dagger I made her strapped on the inside, grabbing it as it fell to the ground, and I barely blinked before it went right into my shoulder. I grunted, and struggled to stand. She'd never hit me with one of her knives that hard before...
She walked over slowly and took her time pulling the knife out of me, then pushed me down onto the pavement. She straddled me, her back to me, and held my arms down. I knew she was using all her strength.
"I have half a mind to cut out the chunk of skin this is on, dear Cato."
Her signature. I'd forgotten about it. "Clove... please." I muttered through the pain in my shoulder.
"Please?" she replied, turning so I could see her profile.
"Please." I took a deep breath. "I love you, Clove." And I really did, for the first time in two years. I needed her. I loved her.
"Bull shit." Her knife slashed against my stomach and I winced. "No worries. It's not enough to kill you. Unless you want it to be." She wiped the blade on my khakis and then threw it into the only tree in the train station.
In a moment, I was filled with rage. I rolled from under her and slammed her against the pavement, my blood dripping onto her.
"You are her friend, right?" Referring to Elaine.
"So what?" I snarled.
"Friends don't get other friends pregnant. Let alone have sex with them!" She yelled, and I felt her trying to kick my crotch, but with no success.
She was mad about an accident.
"Is that what this is about?" I whispered in her ear so I didn't have to look her in the eyes.
"Friends don't kiss friends, either, Cato," she was holding back tears now, definitely.
"You think I don't know you had a replacement for me? That was a one time thing. I've changed." More shit. God, why did I lie? "I'll tell you this: When I had sex with Elaine, I was thinking of you."
That was true. It was so true. Every girl. I couldn't help it. I thought of Clove. I had felt as though I was betraying her. Every time.
"That's fucking sick, Cato. Sick." I shouldn't have said that either.
Dammit!
"I thought we were more than friends. That you were the only one. It was always you."
I spit my blood at her before getting up. "You're being weak, Sauer." I kicked her before beginning to walk off.
If anyone should've been angry, though, it was Clove.
I went over to the tree and wrestled with the knife. I don't know how long it took, but I finally got it out and went over to her. She was kneeling, sobbing, her body wracked with pain and loss.
I'd caused it all.
"Cato, I - " I held my finger up to my mouth and tossed her the knife.
"I'm sorry. But, please, stay away."
I didn't want to cause anymore. But she fell down, crying, wailing. She needed somebody. I remembered how she had cried when I left... her father... how I was one of her few friends. How I'd taken from her to give nothing at all in return.
I picked her up and walked her back to her house, where I cleaned the blood and scratches on her, put her in different shorts and a new shirt, and left her on her bed.
I went slowly to my own home, half limping the entire way.
Why did I act like that? Like I was done with her... Like Clove was some terrible slut who didn't need me. I needed her. And she was the one crying over me. I played such a big part in her life. As if she didn't, in mine. I needed her during training. She was my best friend.
I thought of her as more than a best friend. I lost that between us. Ruined it.
I was so happy when she knocked at my door the next morning. And I was glad she didn't get pregnant.
But regardless, I'm not going to lose her again.
At least... I swore I wouldn't. Not until the next Reaping did I realize the chance that we might be separated yet again.
A/N: Yay! Cato's POV! What a nice surprise. Maybe this will clear a few things up, and foreshadow something HUGE. But you already know what happens if you read the book. But... I'm going to mix the ending up. Expect the unexpected. Or. Well. Just. Wait for Chapter 7. xD