Chapter 2
Once we're on the train, I can see the stress poking through Cato's calm, confident demeanor. Whatever he projects to the cameras is a load of horseshit, and beneath the cocky mask he's put on, I can see right through to the fear that's eating him up inside. But our mentors and chaperone don't seem to notice anything's wrong, they're still treating him like their hero, like a victor, already. Maybe I just see his conflicted side because I know him so well.
We've made it back to my lavish train by the time he breaks down. I close the door and then lead him over to the bed and let him sob into my arms while tears inch down my own face. No matter what the commentators say in the Capitol, however much they project that he will be the winner, because of his clear training and fierce attitude, he'll never come home a winner. If President Snow places that victor's crown on his head after all the Games are over, and he comes home to a horde of reporters who swarm his new house in the Victor's Village to hear about how proud he is to win and how much it means to him, he will lose everything inside that arena.
Despite the lack of romance in our relationship, we are both the most important things in the world to each other. If he survives, that means I die, and a part of him will die with me. The other part of him that will die in those Games is his sanity. No matter how many quatrains he cuts in half, trainers he nicks, or other students he bruises, he will never be able to come to terms with killing other children, especially if he's expected to because of his status as a Career. Why? I want to scream at the fates. Why did he have to step forward to his own demise?
But even if he is tremendously hurt in there, even if he loses everything he has with him now, including myself, he is the one who will be able to build himself back up. He can do better than I can, he can bring glory to his district and gain it for himself. And that, ultimately, is the most important piece in their Hunger Games.