CHAPTER SEVEN

Yes, District 12 was wearing fire for the opening ceremony. They had on jet black fitted outfits with capes and headdresses that seemed to be on fire. It was obviously a synthetic flame, Clove deduced. Yet it looked so real. Clove had to admit that 12 was, probably for the first opening ceremony ever, stunning. And the crowd thought so, too. It seemed everyone in the Capitol was shouting, "District 12" over and over. It made Clove angry. She was terribly jealous.

Her and her stylist, Avril had thought for sure that Clove's outfit would be the envy of the Districts. And here were these… poor people stealing the show. The cameras were locked on the flaming teenagers. And what were they doing now? Holding hands? Clove was fuming. All of the other district members were supposed to appear as competition, not as a couple. With their hand holding and their beaming, Clove had half a mind to jump out of the chariot and strangle both of them. Of course, that would never happen because of Clove's fear of heights. Just wait until the Games, then you can do whatever you want to them. Clove had to tell herself repeatedly. She had stopped waving and she wasn't appearing very threatening to the cameras, just pouty.

Cato had to bump into Clove to get her back on track. Her hand went back up to wave at the people. At least some of them were still looking at her and Cato.

"Wanna hold hands?" Cato asked her with a sly smile.

Clove was about to give in and grab Cato's hand, then she remembered that she was taken, and Menelaus might not like the look of the two of them grabbing each other for all to see. "No, that's okay. We're almost done riding, anyway. It wouldn't make much sense." Clove was trying to speak over the roar of the crowd. Eventually Cato got the message and he went back to waving and looking straight ahead.

Clove and Cato entered the city circle. Their ride was nearly over. Clove glanced at the screen and saw the girl from 12 holding a rose. Some simpleton had thrown it to her. People were screaming their names.

"Are they saying, Katpiss?" Clove asked Cato. She almost screamed it, hoping the cameras would catch it, yet they were still locked on the hand-holding, widely grinning fools.

Cato tried to laugh at Clove's joke, but he was furious, too. He didn't let it show as much as Clove had, but it was still evident in the rigid way his hand moved. The only thing that would calm him down was thinking about how good it will feel to have his hands around this Peeta's throat.

All twelve chariots made their way in the city circle, and Clove felt theirs stop. They were right in front of President Snow's mansion. The cameras finally found their way to other districts. When Clove and Cato popped up, she noticed the wrinkles in her face from the anger. She relaxed her face and tried to be calm.

Snow was giving some boring speech but all Clove focused on was the screens. She would almost dare the cameras to pan back to 12, and when they did, Clove felt a seed of hate growing in her. It kept increasing every time she saw Katpiss' rose and Peeta's wide smile. By the end of the ceremony, all Clove could think about was different ways she would kill the pair in the arena.

The national anthem played and the chariots started moving again. The cameras stayed on each district for roughly two seconds, then stayed at 12 when they got to them.

They were soon led to the training center, but not soon enough for Clove's taste. She was helped out by Kinton, then Cato jumped down. Avril rushed up to her. "Clove that was so awesome! You two looked wonderful. I couldn't take my eyes off of you."

Clove momentarily smiled at the compliment. She looked down at her dress and hoped that she could keep it. Then a flash of Katniss appeared in her head, and she knew that she would rather be taking her outfit home. She was mad at Avril for not thinking of the idea first and her smile disappeared. "Yeah well, everyone else in the Capitol didn't seem to think so."

Avril's expression turned sullen. Clove glanced around at the other tributes. Her eyes landed on Katniss and Peeta. She gave them the dirtiest look she could, filled with all the hate and jealousy she had to go through while watching them. The girl looked back at her with fear. Then she quickly looked back at her prep team. Clove scoffed. She was not going to be upstaged by a district whose richest member was still poorer than 2's poorest member.

Clove and Cato were led by Avril and Kinton to their floor in the training center. It was the same setup as the hotel, so they'd be back on the second floor. Not only would Avril and Kinton be staying with Clove and Cato on the second floor, but so would both of their prep teams. Clove hoped that she wouldn't bump into the weird Dresetta and weirder Jazz. Scarlet, Pierse, and Candola would also be staying at the training center. Besides all of their living quarters, there was also a dining room on each floor.

Clove couldn't wait to begin training. She would get to show off to all the other tributes, especially Cato. And they would be able to form an alliance with the other careers, and any other strong-looking people. More than anything, her hands were itching to get on some knives.

Before Clove could go in her room, Scarlet stopped her. "You are going to have so many sponsors! I was talking with some people during the opening ceremony, and a lot of them are willing to help you when you're in a bind."

"That's so great! Thanks, Scarlet. You're a great mentor," Clove replied back. Scarlet beamed at the compliment and left down the hall to go to either her room or Pierse's.

Clove entered her room and gasped. It was probably as big as her house. It had a giant bed and an even bigger window. She ran to the window and was surprised to see palm trees and a beach-like landscape. Then she saw the remote on her bed and was playing with all the different settings for the window. She decided on a dungeon scene. She had to prepare for the big day, and what better way than to think of torturing her victims? Clove sighed in anticipation for the Games. This is what she'd been training the entirety of her life for.

She entered the bathroom and saw that the toilet was the same from her previous hotel room, however this one was platinum instead of silver. The shower was even more elaborate than the hotel's. It had even more settings and dials. And the shower head was square, like the toilet. Clove decided to take a shower so she could play with all the settings. When Clove stepped out, she discovered that the bath mat activated heaters that dried her in seconds. There was also a box that dried and brushed her hair simultaneously. Clove had long hair and couldn't help but wish she had the box at home. She glanced in the mirror and saw how shiny and smooth her dark brown hair looked. Clove ran her fingers through it without difficulty.

The closet in the bedroom could be programmed to send any outfit in the Capitol to her. She decided on an elaborate looking crocheted white shirt, studded pants, and blue fringed sandals. Clove was enjoying dancing around her room when there was a knock on her door. It was Candola calling her to dinner.

Clove found her way down to the dining room. Cato, Scarlet, Pierse, and Candola were there. All of the food was served by Avoxes dressed in waiter's uniforms. Clove sat down and was offered wine by one of them. There was no way she'd be turning that down. She'd never had alcohol before, and how many more opportunities was she going to have to drink it before the Games? Then the food came. Everything looked so good, Clove didn't know where to start. She took a little of everything and started scarfing it all down while the adults made small talk. Cato and Clove were sitting next to each other. Cato was pounding back wine glass after glass. Clove could only take small sips at a time of hers because it tasted nasty to her. She gave Cato a disgusted look, but he only winked at her. Clove shuddered and returned to her food. For dessert, they had red velvet cake. Scarlet grinned when an Avox presented it. "I ordered it because of your opening ceremony outfits."

Clove stared at the cake. Red velvet was her favorite, but she could only have it for her birthdays, since her parents hated it. "I love red velvet cake! This is perfect Scarlet." Clove dug in and her trust and pride in her mentor only grew.

As soon as everyone was done eating cake, they all moved into a sitting room to watch the broadcast of the opening ceremony. Caesar Flickerman gave a small introduction and the first chariot was shown exiting the stables. Then the second. Clove loved how serious, yet humbled they looked. The sponsors were sure to love it. All the chariots went until the last, District 12. The camera definitely lingered on them for the rest of the ceremony. Clove could feel her fists clenching. She was getting so jealous about this one pair. Clove thought it was because they came from a poor district and didn't deserve all the attention. Whatever the reason, she finally knew how she was going to kill this 'girl on fire'. The program was over soon enough, with promises from Caesar that this was going to be, "The best Games yet!".

Clove and Cato were walking back to their rooms. Well, Clove was walking, Cato was stumbling from all the wine he consumed. She was just about to open her door when Cato caught her by the door frame. He was slurring his words so much that Clove could barely understand him. "Clove, you looked so beautiful today."

She backed up and gave a nervous laugh. "Thanks. Uh, I should probably get some rest before our first training session tomorrow. You should get some sleep, too." She was looking around for an out. She had nowhere else to go besides her room, but Cato was standing right in front of her door. He leaned close to Clove. She could smell the alcohol on his breath, it was so strong. Clove opened her mouth and tried not to breathe out of her nose.

"I've been thinking about kissing you since I saw you in that dress. No, before then. When you walked up on stage after your name was called in the Reaping." For a moment, Clove was mesmerized by Cato's green eyes, his dazzling smile.

She snapped out of it and started walking towards Cato's door, in hopes that he would follow her. He fell for it and thought Clove wanted to be alone in his room. When Cato was halfway to his door, Clove ran back to hers. She opened it and ran inside. Before she closed it, she said to Cato, "Seriously. Get some sleep. You're just wasted and have no idea what you're talking about. I'm with Menelaus. Good night." She shut the door exhaled.

Clove ran to her bed and fell asleep before her head even hit the pillow.

Thanks for reading! Please R, F, & F :D