Hello lovely readers, here's a disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games but solely the plot to this story.
It had been about a week since I had accepted Cato's proposition grudgingly after his many lectures about how his method was the only foolproof way I could become tribute. Since then Cato had made me train relentlessly long after training sessions had finished. He was a lot less amusing when he made me practice every defense technique in existence, throw knives and daggers until each and every one of them struck their target and build up my stamina until every part of my body ached. Of course the District 2 trainers had taught me well but Cato was determined to train until I was up to his standards of prepared. My parents were of course pleased to see I was training with Cato in the hope that this year it would be me by Cato's side at the Games despite the twelve hours a day I spent at the training room. I just wasn't sure whether I could trust him because there was still a small part of me which regarded Cato with caution. I couldn't get rid of the suspicion that maybe Cato wanted to become the victor so desperately that he wouldn't be beneath playing dirty.
"Okay," Cato panted. He took off his boxing headgear and pads and shook the sweat out of his hair.
"We're done?" I asked gleefully and without waiting for his response I took off my headgear and gloves and threw them at the trainer who was helping us.
"What? I thought you wanted to do some weights today," Cato frowned.
"Well you thought wrong, the only thing I want to do right now is get some sleep."
Cato gave me a knowing look. He knew weights were my weakness but I couldn't bring myself to confront them after eleven hours of training. So after a quick irritable nod from Cato I rushed towards the showers and blissfully let the water mixed with some sort of Capitol herb do its work. I didn't want to head straight home today because I knew my parents would still be working until late at night and my brother Jules's annoying girlfriend was probably at my house parading up and down the stairs in her Capitol outfits. I finished packing up my kit and headed out onto the main street. It was a beautiful night, warm yet crisp. The kind of day where you should be sitting on a table outside a café drinking frozen grape and cherry beverages while thinking about the finer things in life, I mused and found myself walking to Geri's. On the nicer days like today they put out tables at the front and I could see an empty table already which I claimed by throwing my bag on a seat and pushing through a crowd to order my drink.
I returned to the table after a heated argument about skipping the line and noticed that the other seat was taken. Taken by a muscular blonde boy who looked awfully familiar. I looked at the table with disdain and cursed my luck.
"Hello Cato," I managed to force the words out of my mouth, "I believe this table is mine."
"I saw your bag and I thought we could share until another table cleared out," he said with a challenging tone.
Didn't he having anything better to do then to go to the same drinks bar as me? Cato was a great trainer but I didn't want to spend a whole evening with him. I threw my kit from a chair angrily at the floor and slumped down on my seat. Just what I needed for a relaxing evening, the boy who put me on edge. There was something about Cato that bothered me but I couldn't put my finger on it. He was always alone or with the other boys in training class but even then he didn't treat them like friends, more like amusing creatures beneath his superiority.
"Don't you have any…friends?" I snapped, mostly out of curiosity.
"Do you Clove?" He asked and bringing the ball back to my end looked around him mockingly, "because I can't see any."
"I..I do have friends," I argued stubbornly. This conversation was taking a turn for the worst. Then I thought about the last time I'd met up with Gabby or Rox. We used to go out to Geri's together and make fun of Jules but since I had replaced Librae I hardly found time to see them.
As if he'd read my mind Cato suddenly leaned forward so that I could see the gold flecks his clear blue eyes and said, "And when was the last time you saw them? Let me guess…before you moved up in training. Because tributes don't have friends. It holds them back. They have allies. Keep that in mind."
A/N: Thank you so much for reading/subscribing guys! As well as a thank you to: Gl33k , Caltoshipperftw, themusicfiend, Bronze Cat and Amanda Katniss Granger for reviewing!
I know this chapter's a bit crappy and rushed because I've had coursework deadlines etc etc but I really wanted to get another chapter out so I hope you enjoyed it!
I actually kind of got carried away writing the next chapter which I like a lot more so I watch this space? xD