CHAPTER SIX

Clove was holding the note from Cato in her hand. She crumpled it and threw it on the floor. He just came in here while I was in the shower and left a note. Seriously? What ever happened to knocking? Still, Clove was curious as to what Cato wanted so she went over to his room.

Clove decided to just walk in like Cato did to her. "I'm not knocking because neither did you," she called out. Cato wasn't in sight.

Two seconds later he walked out of the bathroom. "Man, have you seen the toilet? I didn't know something so gross could look so classy." Cato laughed and walked over to Clove.

Ignoring his statement, Clove gave Cato an angry look. "You came in my room while I was showering to leave a note asking me to come over here? What the hell?"

"Yeah, I thought it would be cute."

"Cute? You freak!" Clove's voice raised two octaves.

Cato started laughing hysterically.

"What's so funny?" She was yelling at him so loud, she thought that the entire floor of the hotel could hear her.

"You're getting so worked up about this. That's your trademark, Clove. You always used to do this when we were together." Cato's tone softened by the end of his statements.

Clove looked at the ground. It was true, Cato always seemed to bring out Clove's crazy side. It wasn't always a bad thing, they would sometimes laugh about it later. But for some reason, the last fight her and Cato had, they didn't laugh about it later. Cato had cheated on Clove with some hussy in her grade. Clove had to find out about it from the girl because she felt guilty. Her own boyfriend couldn't even tell her the truth.

"Well, some things are worth getting worked up about," Clove snapped. She knew that Cato knew that she was talking about when he cheated on her. She knew that it would hurt him.

Cato's mood deflated. Since him and Clove broke up, she always brought up that one stupid mistake he made. "I'm sorry, Clove," he apologized for the hundredth time.

Clove sighed and sat down on one of the chairs in the living room area. "Whatever. The past is in the past, like I said before. I'm sorry that I brought it up."

Cato's face relaxed and he turned on the television. "So the reason I wanted you to come over was so that we could watch the tributes getting picked from the other districts. See our competition."

Clove felt a twinge of excitement. She loved watching this in previous games, and now she was a part of it. "Or lack thereof." They both laughed and waited as Caesar gave an introduction to the 74th Hunger Games. District 1 was first, obviously.

"Okay, these are our friends, so be nice," Cato said.

Clove fake scoffed. "Aren't I always nice?"

The first was a girl who volunteered. "Her name is Glimmer? Oh my God, her parents hate her."

Cato gave Clove a playful shove. "See? This is what I'm talking about. Besides, you two could become the closest of friends."

"And we could totally, like talk about shoes ALL DAY!" Clove did her best impression of a valley girl accent. She must have nailed it, because she had Cato doubled over laughing. Clove had almost forgotten how cute Cato was when he laughed. Then she realized she was thinking about Cato. Cato, the one who had broken her heart, and then didn't even bother to tell her about it. She turned the volume of the T.V. up and told Cato to shut up. "The next tribute's being picked."

Cato raised his eyebrows at her, but didn't say anything. The next person was an attractive male with sandy colored hair who volunteered.

"Wow. This guy looks like a douche," Cato said.

Clove gave Cato another angry look. "You guys could end up being best friends," she mimicked Cato's deep voice. He laughed at her unintentional joke and the tension dissipated. Clove just couldn't not feel easygoing around Cato.

"Hey, look at that foxy lady!" Clove said when her name was called. She was proud at herself for looking so confident while walking on stage.

"But how about that guy? He's pretty handsome," Cato remarked when he stepped on stage. Clove agreed with Cato, but of course she didn't say anything.

District 3 came and went and Clove didn't think anyone stood out. The girl from District 4 was picked. She had no make-up on and brown hair in a simple ponytail. She actually looked normal and down-to-earth. "We can be friends with her," Clove remarked. Cato nodded as they waited for the male. It was a scrawny 13-year-old who got picked. He had long and curly brown hair. "Ew, no," Clove said.

"Agreed, we can finish him off in the Bloodbath." Cato snickered.

Clove was bored out of her mind until District 11 came along. "Aw, look. A little girl. She'll be easy to kill off in the Bloodbath, too." Then the male was picked.

"Oh my gosh, look at the size of that guy!" Cato looked slightly shaken.

"We could always make an alliance with him," Clove reassured Cato.

Cato looked a little better. "That's true. There's no way he'll say no. Getting in with us is the highest honor."

"Of course," Clove agreed. The last District shown was District 12.

"Oh, another little girl, what a pity. Oh wait! Someone's volunteering for her, aw it's her sister. Wow. Too easy," Cato was remarking throughout the scene.

"12 always gets picked off early. This'll be no different," Clove said with a yawn. She realized just how tired she was from the day's events. She felt her eyelids grow heavy, and before the boy from 12 got called, Clove fell asleep.

...

When Clove woke up, she was in her own bed. Or at least, her hotel room's bed. She was surprised that Cato had carried her all the way back to her own room. Although, she was pretty tiny. Clove looked at the clock on the nightstand. 10:24 a.m. Her eyes shot open. She would be meeting with her prep team in less than an hour! Clove quickly ordered room service and ate an orange while she was picking out today's outfit. She wouldn't be wearing it for long, but it was fun to look at all the different clothes in the dressers. She decided on a fitted black tee, pink skinny jeans, and silver flats. Guess I'm feeling preppy today. 'Glimmer' must have gotten to me.

Clove had just finished eating her oatmeal when there was a knock on the door. It was Candola, to escort her and Cato to their respective Remake Centers, where their prep teams were going to 'clean them up'.

Clove had been in the Remake Center for two hours and she was extremely bored. She was scrubbed down with gritty soap, got a mani-pedi, and got waxed. Her prep team were two very odd individuals. There was Dresetta, a very slim and young-looking female. She was tall and had bird-like features. Whether they were implanted in her or not, Clove would probably never know. Her hair was almost a perfect square and dyed green. Her skin was a normal shade, however she had tattoos all over her face. The other was a male named Jazz. He was almost as tall as Dresetta, except he wasn't wearing heels like her. He had very spiky, jet-black hair with red tips. He had a large, black mustache, that also had red tips. Clove thought they both looked super creepy and tried not to talk to them.

"Alright, dear. We're all done," Dresetta announced as her and Jazz stepped back to admire their work. The last thing they did was put Clove's hair up in a pile of braids, and her hands flitted up to it immediately.

"No, no, no. Don't touch it," Jazz scolded as he swatted Clove's hand away. Clove gave him a threatening look and he backed away.

"We did so great! You actually look okay now," Dresetta gushed. Clove found it hard to be offended by her comment, considering how terrifying her and Jazz looked.

Jazz gave Clove's hair one last probe. "We'll go and get your stylist now." Jazz and Dresetta left Clove alone. She studied her nails. They were so perfectly rounded and clean. She didn't think it would be possible for her nails to look this way, considering she had a slight habit of biting them. Then Clove realized that ever since she'd been hanging out with Cato again, the nail-biting stopped. She put a hand up to her hair to touch it again, just as the door swung open. Clove instinctively dropped her hand and waited to see what her stylist would look like.

A short female waltzed in and Clove noticed that she was wearing sandals, not high heels. She breathed a sigh of relief and took the rest of her in. She had long and sleek straight hair that almost reached her waist. It was platinum blonde with pink streaks and parted down the middle. She was wearing a white tunic dress that almost made her look like an angel. She had black eyeliner caked around her eyes and hot pink lipstick on, with a ring in her lip.

"Hi there! I'm Avril, your stylist." Clove gave a slight wave and waited for Avril to be done examining her body. "It looks like Dres and Jazz did a good job. The hairstyle is a favorite of Jazz's."

"Yeah. He almost cut my hand off for trying to touch it," Clove responded. Avril laughed a genuine, warm laugh. Something Clove rarely heard from members of the Capitol.

"That sounds like Jazz. You must be starving! Come, put on your robe and let's eat."

Clove did as she was told and heard her stomach growl when she entered the dining room. The table had platters of steak and some green soup. There were also purple baby carrots and a delicious looking fruit salad. But what enticed Clove the most was little, four-leaf clover shaped rolls. "Wow. This looks amazing!"

Avril laughed warmly again. "It better. The chefs spent the whole morning preparing it." She sat down on a couch and Clove sat on the one across from her. Avril started to pile a plate with the fruit salad and the meat, while Clove took a little of everything, except taking a lot of the rolls. She bit into one and felt the flavors dancing on her tongue.

Avril had four bites of steak and started talking again. "So Clove. As you know, for the opening ceremonies, tributes are dressed to their districts."

"Right. And mine's masonry." Clove was waiting expectantly to see what crazy outfit she'd be wearing.

"Yes. And masonry includes bricks. And bricks are red. So you will be wearing a red dress."

Clove smiled. This was just the type of thing she'd been hoping for. Not some ridiculous old Greek or Roman get-up but actual fashion. "I can't wait."

A few hours later, Clove was in her dream dress. It was a deep red and went down to her ankles. Around the left side of the collar were poufy red roses, made of the same material as the dress. It had large, yet tasteful looking ruffles on the bottom of it and a slight slit on the back, so Clove could walk. She had red pumps on that were actually pretty easy to walk in, considering the heels were only one inch tall. She had shiny black lipstick on and minimal eye makeup. To top it all off was a mini black top hat on her head. It was shifted to the right side of her head, and it complemented her braided hairstyle. She met up with Cato before they went down to the stables. He was wearing a fancy red suit decorated with small, red roses. He also had a black top hat on, although his was full size.

When Cato met Clove's eyes, he was stunned. "Y-you're so beautiful, Clove."

Clove felt a little uncomfortable at his remark, yet she was flattered. "So are you, Cato."

She tried to smile to ease the tension, but they were both so worked up about the opening ceremony that it was hard to feel at ease.

Cato, Clove, Avril, and Cato's stylist, Kinton, went down to the stables. There were tributes, stylists, horses, and chariots everywhere. Avril led them to the District 2 chariot, almost to the front of the line. The chariot was completely black and the horses were dark brown. Cato climbed up first and he helped Clove get on. They were extremely high up in the air and she couldn't help but feel a little nauseous. Clove had always had a fear of heights but she didn't want to appear weak in front of Cato so she tried to hide it as best she could.

Avril gave Clove and Cato a thumbs up, then her and Kinton left the stables. Clove tried to keep her breathing even and didn't look down. All of the tributes were soon positioned in their chariots. Her and Cato were second in line. The horses were trained so well from all the years they'd been doing this that they didn't need anybody to keep them on track.

All too soon, Glimmer and Marvel's chariot took off down the course. The ride would last roughly 20 minutes. They were going to ride around the Capitol square, all videotaped. There were screens all over so they could watch themselves, and their competition.

District 2's chariot lurched forward and the horses started on the path that was forever engrained in their brains. Clove felt her knees start to shake. Cato steadied her by grabbing her hand. He gave her a reassuring squeeze. "Remember to look fierce out there."

She squeezed his hand back. "Remember to look vicious."

Just when the horses were about to step out of the stables and into the Capitol square, Cato dropped Clove's hand and they both put on their threatening faces. Although Clove found it hard to not smile, considering that she was wearing such a perfect dress, and the crowd around them was going crazy. Clove glanced at the screen next to them and gasped. Her and Cato looked so perfect. Then the screen went to Glimmer and Marvel from 1. They also looked divine. Glimmer was wearing a dress made entirely out of jewels and Marvel was wearing an identical suit. Then District 3 showed up on the screen. They were wearing outfits with wires hanging down. For hats, they had antique looking television antennas. 4 had blue shimmering outfits, 5 had outfits that lit up in a thousand distracting lights, 6 was wearing what looked like space suits, 7 had on white geometric shaped clothes, 8 was decked out in ridiculous looking fabrics, 9 had brown plaited outfits, 10 had cowboy clothes on, 11 was just in overalls with weird tinfoil hats, and 12 was wearing… fire?

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