"You okay over there, slowpoke?" Katniss laughs as we finish the obstacle course. She beat me easily, but in my defense, she cheated.
"You aren't supposed to run after eating," I wheeze, trying to regain my breath and calm my stomach down. "It isn't healthy…and we all know you cheated."
She rolls her eyes at my defense.
"You're slower than me, just admit it, Cato," she challenges, pulling herself up to her full height, as if it was something impressive. The top of her head barely reaches my shoulder.
"Oh, really, Fire girl?" I object, straightening up so that I tower over her. She doesn't back down or flinch, but I can see her eyes harden. "How about a rematch after your sword lessons?"
"If you can handle losing again, then fine that works for me," she replies smugly.
Because I am ridiculously too mature for her games, I stick my tongue out at her in response.
"Let's get some water," I suggest. "And then we can play with some fucking swords!"
"Alright, hold on to your panties, Cato. We'll get to play with your precious weapons soon."
"That's right we will," I confirm as we make our way over to the water fountain located on the side of the gym.
We pass Bread Boy and his entourage of women, and I can't help but feel a little annoyed again. Why are Clove and Leyla so enthralled with this weird kid from District 12? He wasn't anything special, and after talking to him at lunch, he didn't seem very intelligent either. He probably only garnishes cakes because he didn't have the brains to do anything else. Besides, I am much better looking.
No one else in the gym seems to be paying that much attention to the party at the camouflage station, but I see some of them glance over occasionally, probably just as fucking confused as I am. Poor Marvel looked lost without his District partner at his side. I file this information away for later because it would be an easy weakness to exploit.
"You sure you don't want to get a fake tattoo, instead?" I ask Katniss bitterly as Bread Boy draws a flower on Clove's cheek. She giggles lightly, and even from this distance, I can see the blush rising on her skin. I feel my protective big brother side clawing to be released, and I clench my fists by my side, resisting the urge to go over there and pummel him to death.
"Jealous much?" she retorts before bending down to get a drink of water. I discreetly check her out from the corner of my eye, impressed with what I see. She's small and slim but clearly strong and healthy. She's the perfect size to cuddle with…not that I'd ever admit to liking to cuddle.
"What, me and Clove? Ew, never," I scoff when she finishes drinking. "She's like my sister."
"You can still be jealous that she isn't paying attention to you," Katniss points out as she moves out of the way so I can get a quick drink.
"I'm not jealous," I grumble when I finish drinking. I wipe the stray water off my lips with the back of my hand while I glower down at her.
"Of course not, Cato," she rolls her eyes before walking towards the net climbing wall.
"Swords are over there Kitty Kat," I taunt, putting my hand on her shoulder to turn her in the opposite direction. I easily evade the kick she sends to my shins, taking pride in my quick reflexes, before she punches me in the shoulder. For such a small girl, she has quite the arm, I note as I rub the spot on my arm that she hit.
"Don't call me that, Cato-Kitten," she purrs mockingly. "I have a challenge for you."
"Oh, really?" I reply excitedly, hoping it involved hand-to-hand combat with Bread Boy. It might be illegal to fight another tribute in the Training center, but I am always down for an illicit scuffle off school grounds. The rooftop, perhaps? Maybe I could throw him over and pretend as if it was an accident…
"Yeah, I think you'll like this one." I can sense the smirk in her voice without seeing her face.
I accidentally run into her when she stops walking because I'm so absorbed in my daydream of beating the shit out of Bread Boy. I grab the back of her outfit before she can fall forward and yank her back into standing position. I overestimate how much she weighs, though, and the force of the tug on her shirt sends her careening into my chest.
"Whoa, you okay?" I ask as I wrap my arms protectively around her.
"Yeah, I'm good," she answers, wiggling against my hold. "You can let me go now…"
"Oh, right, sorry," I say as I let her go, patting her on the head for good measure. She turns to face me, a small blush blossoming over her cheeks.
"What's the challenge?" I question, hoping to distract her from how klutzy and awkward I am.
"A climb-off," she responds, nodding over to the net climbing wall that reaches from the floor to the ceiling. My pulse starts to race, and I feel myself start to panic. There is no way I was going to make it even halfway up that net without having a panic attack.
"Uh, nah I think I'm good, I'll just go play in the sword section by myself," I counter after glancing at the net again. So not happening, no matter how much of a pussy I looked like. I'd happily throw my spear at any tribute who tried to escape my attack by climbing a tree. Or just chop it down. Whatever worked, I wasn't picky.
"You're going to chicken out? Aw, is Big Scary Cato afraid of heights?" she teases, patting me awkwardly on the shoulder. "It's okay, we can go finger paint if it'll make you feel better."
"No, I just don't want to climb right now," I assert, hoping she lets it go. I really wasn't sure how I was going to get out of this one.
"Are you sure? Because I don't see any other reason for you to decline the challenge. It does lean towards your favor after all, since you're significantly taller than me and can reach higher."
She starts to stretch her arms out in preparation for the climb, and I am completely torn. On one hand, I can never turn down a challenge, and it gives me more time to spend with Katniss. On the other hand, I did, to an extent, have a fear of heights.
"Fine, I agree to your challenge, only if I get to practice first," I accept unhappily. "What does the winner get?"
"Alright, you can practice," she agrees, smirking. "If you win, which you won't, we can spend the rest of the day at the sword station with no complaints from me. If I win, which I will, you admit to the whole Training center that I beat you fair and square at the obstacle course, and that you beat Peeta up because you were jealous that he's better looking than you. "
"But you already said we could do swords next!" I pout, not caring that I sounded like a two year old. Or Clove when she didn't get her way. "And you get two things when I only get one."
"I changed my mind," she shrugs nonchalantly. "This is more fun. But fine, if you win I will tell everyone that you kicked my ass at net climbing and the obstacle course."
"Whatever, alright," I sigh, praying to any and all deities that I didn't die in my attempt to impress Katniss. "Give me an hour alone to practice and then we can duke it out. Don't be surprised when I just throw you off the net," I joke half-heartedly. "I'm very competitive."
If it were anyone but her, I'd probably kick him or her off and then take my time climbing up, not giving a single fuck that I wasn't playing "fair". Maybe, if I survived this, I could challenge Bread Boy to this more violent climb-off. What a fucking fantastic idea, I mentally congratulate myself, my spirits instantly lifting. I can do this.
"You need an hour-?"
"Yes," I interject firmly. I probably needed a month, at least, to get over this ingrained fear I have of heights, but unfortunately, my time was limited. An hour would have to suffice.
"Well, alright, I guess I'll just go work on my own tattoo skills," Katniss laughs before sauntering off towards the camouflage station, where Bread Boy was now working with Glimmer. I watch as Clove finishes a design on Leyla's cheek and waits patiently for the District 12 loser to observe her work. I sigh, wondering what was wrong with Clove. Maybe the Capitol poisoned her with a love potion to add to the drama of the Games? I wasn't even sure if those even exist, but at this point, I'd believe almost anything.
"I can help you if you want," a small voice from my left side chirps.
Surprised, I glance down to see the District 11 girl looking up at me expectantly.
"Why would you want to help me?" I ask suspiciously. I'm sure she's harmless, but most of the smaller District tributes were terrified of me. I can see it in their eyes every time they accidentally make eye contact with me. It's the same look the kids back at the Academy used to give me after I won my first Weapons Competition against one of the older students; it was like a deer caught in headlines (not that I'd ever seen a dear in real life, but whatever).
"My mentor said I should make friends," she answers honestly, twirling a piece of her curly hair around her fingers. "You seem nice. I don't know why everyone thinks you're scary."
"Oh, yeah? Who thinks I'm scary?" I smirk, glad I at least intimidated some people. I clearly needed the ego boost.
"I'm not good with names, but the kids from District 3 are petrified of you after you fought the Peeta kid," she giggles as she slides closer to the net, beckoning me to move with her. "Even Thresh 'respects your strength'" she says, using air quotes to cite what her District partner said.
"He told you this?" I question, surprised. Up until now, I wasn't sure if he could even talk. I was interested to see what angle his mentor would take during the interview.
"I overheard a few things," she whispers conspiringly, bringing her finger to her mouth to signal this was a secret I shouldn't tell anyone. Not that I would, because to be honest, that kid was terrifying. I was completely confident that I could take him down in battle, but I wasn't sure that I would come out completely unscathed. Plus, I always respected someone that physically intimidating, especially since I'm sure he didn't work out or even train for the Games. He was just that fucking huge after working in the fields, and it was inspiring. If he wasn't about to die in a few days, he would be someone I would look to be friends with.
"So why don't you befriend Thresh?" I question in my attempt to stall the inevitable death I was about to face.
"He's boring…but nice!" she clarifies when she sees my cocked eyebrow.
"And why do you think I'm nice and not scary?" I add, sensing she was easily distractible.
"I saw what you did for your Avox," she grins. "Now, do you want my help or not?"
"You girls are killing my reputation," I groan as I slink over to the net.
"All of them are going to be dead within a week's time, who cares what they think?" Rue says bluntly.
To say her statement shocks me would be the understatement of the year. Of course, I didn't think I would be dead within a week, but I knew it was a possibility. It truly sickened me though to hear such a young, innocent girl say something like this. And the worst part is I know that I know she's right.
"I suppose you're right," I agree, not knowing what else to say. Is there even anything to say to that? I'm starting to realize she was one of those people who would say what everyone else was thinking, no matter how politically "incorrect" it was.
"Let's make a deal," I continue. "If you can whip me into net-climbing shape, we can form a secret co-op alliance. If I lose, then you'll have to deal with just Thresh for company."
"Do you really think the others will let me in?" she answers skeptically, eyeing Glimmer who looks like she is bitching Clove out about spilling paint on her outfit and Marvel who was still lost, this time at the archery section.
"I may or may not have a deceitful plan in the works where their opinions won't matter," I smirk, knowing she was someone I could trust. Granted, no one probably thought I could even come up with a clandestine operation, so they wouldn't believe her anyways.
"I'm going to be quite the drill instructor," she warns ominously. "Your mentors will have nothing on me."
"I need to win, I'm prepared for anything," I accept, not really believing she could be worse than my instructors at the Academy were. "But… uh yeah, I'm mildly afraid of heights."
"I'm sure you'll be fine," she replies optimistically. "It isn't that high."
"Are you serious?" I ask incredulously. "It's like…sixty feet up!"
"You're being dramatic, Cato," she sighs. "Now be honest, what exactly are you scared of? Falling? Because you're definitely strong enough to carry your own weight, so as long as you're careful, you won't have any problems."
"I'm not sure," I answer candidly. "Okay, I do know. I climbed a tree once back at the Academy because Clove bet me she could climb higher than I could… and I fell from like ten feet up when a branch broke. It was traumatizing."
"I see." Rue observes the net, before turning to face me. She jumps back a little so she doesn't have to crane her neck completely back to look at me. "Okay, here's what I can offer you. First, don't look down. Seriously, worst idea ever. Secondly, net climbing is way easier than trees. You don't have to worry about one of the little squares breaking as you would a tree branch. You'll do fine, Cato, trust me, I'm an expert!"
"I'm going to die before the Games even start," I sigh dramatically before beginning the climb up the death trap.
We spend the next forty-five minutes practicing my climbing techniques, which fortunately, isn't as frightening as I thought (as long as I don't look down. I made that mistake once and refused to move from my current spot on the net for another five minutes until Rue talked me down…actually she shook the net until I was all but forced to move to survive... she giggled the whole time, and I still have no idea how someone so tiny managed to shake my weight. Another brat to add to my collection). Climbing down was actually fun, once I got the hang of scaling down the net. I would totally get splinters if I tried to do it on a tree, but on the net, I could easily drop down a couple of "squares" as I called them, with only minor rope burn.
When our hour of training is up, Katniss approaches us with a blazing fire design going up and down her left arm. I'm not a fan of the creepy tattoos the Capitol freaks frequently get adorned over their bodies, but this one definitely looks good on Katniss.
"I really don't know what kind of camouflage style you're going for," I remark when she gets close enough. "If you're trying to blend into a fire pit, I think you'll fit in nicely."
"I'm trying to blend into the Capitol, obviously," she grins, giving Rue a small wave and a bigger smile which the younger girl happily returns. "I see you found your own personal trainer."
"Yeah, the stationmaster just wasn't good enough," I tease, rubbing Rue's hair jokingly. I ignore her indignant screech and laugh at the glare she gives me. It's so unfitting for her innocent face, that it's comical.
"Alright, let's go then. The winner is whoever gets to the top first."
"And back down," I add, knowing my advantage lies here. Katniss would most likely beat me to the top, as Rue did every time, but I was confident that I could scale down better than she could. It also helped that I had at least eight inches of height on her and superior strength.
"Deal," she agrees, though somewhat suspiciously. "Since Rue is 'Team Cato' apparently, we'll need a judge who is impartial."
"I volunteer," the stationmaster interjects from his position to the side of the net. He smirks at her glare when she recognizes whom he's quoting.
"Fine, you can do the countdown, too," she directs, once again stretching her arm muscles out. I do the same, though mine are already loose from the past hour of climbing. "You ready, kitten?"
"If I win, can we also add that you don't call me that?" I grimace, ignoring the bark of laughter from the stationmaster. I was tempted to scale the net down and land right on his grotesque face.
"Nope, we already agreed to the terms!" she snickers along with Rue.
I needed more guy friends. Like now.
"Alright, keep it fair you two," the stationmaster instructs, though I sense he's hoping for some drama. I wasn't going to kick her off the net, but I did have a few tricks up my sleeve just in case I fell behind.
He counts down from three, and when he says, "go", we both fly up the net as if our lives' depend on it. However, in a sense, mine technically does, because I will fucking die if I have to tell everyone in the Training center that I lost a race to Katniss and fought Bread Douche because I was jealous of him. How embarrassing. Death, at that point, would be much more of a suitable solution.
As expected, she's ahead of me on the climb up, but I "accidentally" shake the net as I scramble higher, which causes her to slow down so she doesn't plummet to the ground. Regrettably, I didn't account for the fact that she would play dirty too, and her foot smashes the top of my head as she regains her foothold. Briefly stunned, she keeps climbing while I regain my bearings. I hear her laugh as she calls down a "sorry, kitten" from the top. From below, I can hear Clove, Rue, and Leyla cheering for me to go faster, while Bread Douche roots for Katniss.
Angry at the fact that I was losing, I take a deep breath and climb quicker. Unlike what Rue taught me, Katniss climbs down instead of scaling down. I soon reach the top and decide now was the time to take a risk if I wanted to win. Without looking down to see how far along she is, I inhale and then release the net, ignoring the screams of the girls below me. I force myself to look down to calculate when I need to re-grab onto the net and quell the feeling of panic rising up. "You got this, Cato," I whisper to myself.
Half way down the net, I grasp onto it again, thanking whoever decided to hammer in to the floor so it shakes less. If it had been only attached to the ceiling, my stunt definitely would have sent Katniss flying off. Before I can start to think too much and freak myself out, I drop the same way again two more times before finally landing on the ground. Looking around, I see that Katniss is about half way down and already glaring at me from her position.
"That's not how we practiced scaling, Cato! You could have died!" Rue shrieks before latching onto my leg. I can feel her take deep breaths, and I wonder just how much she's already attached to me. I know it's stupid considering we may all be dead soon, but I felt grateful for her concern.
"Well, I didn't die so that's what counts," I counter, wincing when she smacks my leg. Are all girls this violent, or just the ones I hang out with?
The other girls congratulate me, and I manage to avoid Glimmer's "congratulations" hug by picking Rue up and tossing her up and down in celebration. She squeals in excitement or fear…not really sure which, but I put her down when Katniss finishes her descent from the net.
"We all know you cheated," she states bitterly, clearing unhappy that she lost.
I smirk as I feel the déjà vu coming on.
"You're slower than me, admit it, Katniss," I taunt, elated in my victory. I really don't care that she has to admit I beat her in two challenges, but I was beyond relieved that I didn't have to say some shit about King Douche Baker being superior to me. I must not tell lies, as my father always taught me (unless they benefitted me in some way, which in this case, they wouldn't).
"Whatever, Cato," she frowns. "You win, I'll tell everyone tomorrow at lunch where it's easier to talk everyone at once."
"I have a better idea," I say, suddenly struck with an epiphany. "You give me a kiss, a proper one, and I'll forgive all of your debts."
The other girls gasp dramatically at my suggestion, and I gently smack Rue and Leyla who "ew" simultaneously. I nervously wait as Katniss silently mulls over my proposition.
A/N: Yay another chapter! I'm done with school, so I'm definitely getting back into the flow of writing. I love ALL of your suggestions/comments, so please keep them coming!
As always, your support means the most to me. Muah, love you all 3