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Our lips slowly part away. I stare at her thinking about how my life would be after I win the games. Maybe she's right; I can't predict what might happen in the arena. I can win right? I'm a career, I'm determined and competitive, and I have to win. Then again, I'm not the only one trained for the games. The girl tribute volunteer, Cass, from my district is just as good as me. She's specially trained with all sorts of weapons and she's feisty. Not as feisty as Clove though, especially when she is wielding a knife.

We both sit down on the bed; I let Clove rest her head on my chest. I can feel her hands wrap around me in a smooth motion and we just kind of sit there.

Minutes pass and the day starts to become brighter and brighter. Clove slowly lifts her head and looks at me. Her eyes start to water and tears start to form again. "I can't lose you, Cato. I just can't," she said in a delicate soft voice. I gaze into her eyes, feeling the pain she's feeling. It hurts to see her like this, but I can't change what's going to happen. I'm volunteering and it's official. I tenderly place my finger on her lips indicating her to be quiet, to not think about what the future has for us and to appreciate the time we have left with each other. She looks down and buries her face into my chest again. She suddenly snaps her head back up and glances at the time.

It's 8:30am and we haven't gotten ready yet or taken a shower. We're going to be late, but neither of us cares.

"Clove, you can go take a shower first," I say. Clove walks into the bathroom. She turns around and looks at me. "Why don't you join me?" Clove said in a seductive tone, smiling.

I walk to the bathroom towards her. I undress her in a flowing motion as she did to me. I turn on the water to a steaming temperature as like we were in a tropical rainforest; we both get in the shower. I can feel the steaming warm water running down my back as Clove feels me with her soft hands. Her hands flow through my body as I kiss her neck, giving her a pleasurable sensation. I wrap my hands around her curved body moving from her neck to her lips. Our lips compress in sync as we stand there for a significant amount of time. We soon part and I give her one quick small kiss. Clove stands on her toes and whispers in my ear in a soothing voice, "let's continue this later on." She finishes cleaning up and leaves the shower first. I stand in the shower, letting the water run down my body. In 2 days, I won't have this. Clove will be alone and I'll be in an arena. I shake my head to get rid of my thoughts. I get out of the shower and dry myself down with a towel. I stare at the mirror, my thoughts flooding back in my head. I try to snap out of it, but they won't go away. My life with Clove will be all gone in 2 days unless I win. I have to win.

I walk out the bathroom and see Clove all dressed in her training clothes already. I'm still in my towel, wrapped around my waist down. "You better hurry up before I throw a knife at you," she said with a smirk on her face. I smile back at her and walk into the bathroom. I quickly dress up and walk back out to the room. I see Clove sitting on the side of my bed messing with her bracelet looking flustered. "Are you ready?" I ask. She suddenly stops playing with her bracelet and stands up as if she were hiding something from me. "Let's go," She says in quiet tone as she walks pass me.

It's kind of unfortunate living far away from the training center; it's miles away from my house. I didn't mind at all because Clove lived near me so we would always walk together every morning and afternoon. We would have long talks, it was quite nice. This time it was silent. We just continue to walk without saying a word. We're half way there and Clove grabs and holds my hand, she looks up at me and smiles. Sometimes I wonder what she thinks about when we're not talking or when I'm not with her. It's so easy to tell if she's in a good or bad mood. I think she's trying just as hard as me to forget what is going to happen in 2 days with me leaving and trying to appreciate the time we have left with each other. We both know it's not working, it's always coming to our minds after the talk we had this morning. I wish she didn't bring it up, but we had to talk about it sometime. The training center is in my sight and I suddenly stop. I accidently jerk Clove back.

I stood still remembering how I first met Clove at the training center. It was almost about 3 years ago. I was 15 and she was 14. It was after hours and I decided to train on my own with my swords. I slashed every dummy I could find relieving my rage. I was angered by my trainer, Damon. He told me I was never going to be good enough for the games. I slacked off that day; I don't know I was tired and completely out of it. I know I was better than all the other guys and so does Damon. I know Damon was just trying to motivate me, but I guess it just made me furious. I don't take criticism lightly, I'm a competitive person. I feel like I don't need to be taught and that I can learn on my own. I always wanted to be the best and still do; it's what drives me to train and win. I wasn't the only competitive person at the training center after hours. That's when I saw Clove throwing her knives at the targets, piercing the targets dead center. You could tell she was full of rage, much more furious than I was. I realized that she was mine, just by the looks of it. I walked towards her. She must have heard my footsteps and threw a knife past my ear into a target behind me just how she threw a knife at me this morning. She had a grin on her face, and then smiled. "Want to show me how to throw knives someday?" I said in an intimidating tone. "Sure, if you teach me how to use a sword," she said in a more intimidating tone than mine. That one question led Clove to be in my life. All it took was a question. We easily bonded; we were both teenagers training to kill and to be the best.

I break down crying. I let go of Clove's hands as I fall to the dirt ground. My thoughts are killing me inside, I never realized that Clove would be this important to me till the conversation we had this morning. It's ruining me. I honestly don't know if I can win. Clove was right, I might not get out alive; anything could happen in the arena. I shut my eyes tight into darkness. I hear Clove sit down near me and wrapping my hands around me, I rest my head on her shoulder as I continue to cry. Clove has never seen me cry before or show so much emotion, never in my life. I sit there taking all the sadness and distress in. Now I know why Clove was so upset this morning.

I open my eyes and stare into Clove's eyes. "I'm sorry," I say. It's all my fault for dragging her into my life and feeling all this emotion. I couldn't control it, she was the one. The only way I can fix this is to win.

"Don't worry Cato, you'll win. I know it," Clove said in a sympathetic and tenacious voice. She knew the reason why I was crying, I can't help but tear up some more. We sit there on the street, not caring where we were at or who was looking at us. Our eyes shut, blocking reality. It felt like one of those perfect moments, but this time it lasted longer.

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