Chapter 6: Hatred Towards Katniss Everdeen

Clove

Our second training session has ended already and peacekeepers have been making their way towards us to escort us back to our respective dormitories. I stopped training minutes later and met up with Cato and two peacekeepers. Suddenly, I saw Marvel making his way towards us.

"Clove, let's talk," he said to me. I saw Cato eyeing us suspiciously.

"You should join your district partner boy. Training has ended already. You should be on your way to your dormitory right now," one of the peacekeepers said.

"I just want to have a quick word with Clove. Just give us a few minutes," Marvel said pleadingly. "Besides, I told the peacekeepers in charge of me to wait outside until I came out. So, why don't you just do the same for Clove. I promise it will not take long."

"Ok, suit yourselves," the other peacekeeper said. The two of them led Cato outside the training center and left me and Marvel inside. Cato is still looking at us suspiciously. As they closed the door, Marvel grabbed my hand and dragged me to the end of the room. He grabbed my other hand and looked me in the eye.

"Clove, what I've said earlier was true. I'm not lying to you. I really like you," he said sincerely.

"Marvel, just snap out of it," I said as I retrieved my hands from him and walked away from him, but he grabbed my hands and made me face him once again.

"I'm not asking you to like me back, because I know that you won't, because we're in The Hunger Games, and Cato is the one you like, but I just want you to know that I really like you, that I'm sincere, and it will really be a shame to kill you in the end. I don't even know if I can."

"Marvel…," I began but he interrupted.

"I will prove it to you Clove, right now, for you to know that I'm telling the truth," he said.

"Marvel…," I began but he let go of my hands and grabbed my face instead. He leaned closer and closer to me. I don't know what to do. I was rooted to the spot. We're almost nose to nose now and he was about to kiss me when someone dragged him away from me forcefully he was lucky he was not on the floor right now. He still managed to stand firmly. I saw Cato eyeing him angrily.

"What do you think you were doing, huh?" he shouted angrily, as he grabbed Marvel by the scruff of the neck.

"Cato…," I managed to say, and Cato let go of him and punched him on the face. "Cato, just let him go!" I shouted at him as I grabbed his arm. He looked me in the eye as I let go of him. Marvel then gave me one last look and walked away. I glared at Cato before walking away from him as well.

I saw Marvel making his way towards the door but I could not catch up with him. The door then suddenly opened and in came Glimmer, smiling cheerfully at the two of us. She made her way towards us as we continue walking towards the door.

"I decided to follow you in here, curious about what was taking you so long," she said cheerfully. We just ignored her. "Marvel, what happened to your face?" She asked, not as cheerful as before, as she got a better view of us. Marvel just walked past her. She stopped walking and watched Marvel's back. She looked around at me. "What happened Clove? What did I miss? And where is Cato? He went inside minutes before I did." I just ignored her and walked past her. "I'm also a part of the career pack, you know? And I also have the right to know what's going on. "She sighed. "Am I really a career tribute here?" I heard her say as I made my way towards the door.

Cato

I walked away minutes after Marvel and Clove did. I met up with Glimmer, who looks confused.

"Cato, what exactly happened?" she asked me eagerly. I just ignored her and walked past her, hearing her mutter angrily under her breath.

I met up with the others outside. The peacekeepers looked as confused as Glimmer. Marvel and Clove were just staring at the floor. I made my way towards Clove.

"Where is the pretty girl?" one of the peacekeepers asked me. I just ignored him.

"She'll be along," another peacekeeper said, the first one muttering under his breath. Seconds later and Glimmer joined us outside. We were led in our respective dormitories by the peacekeepers. No words came out from Clove's mouth and mine as we made our way back to our dormitory. Finally, we have reached our destination. We made our way towards the dining room. For sure, Archie, Brutus, Enobaria, Cassandra and Lance were already there. It's dinner time.

"You shouldn't have hit him," Clove shouted at me fiercely as soon as we stepped inside the dining room. Archie and the others looked at the two of us questioningly.

"Clove, let's just talk to each other and clear things up a bit, ok?" I said to her, keeping myself as calm as possible.

"I don't want to talk to you," she shouted at me, fiercely once again.

"Oh, so you'll talk to Marvel but you won't talk to me," I said, sounding fiercer and fiercer every second. I can't keep myself calm anymore. She gave me one last look before making her way upstairs abruptly.

"Cato, what happened?" Cassandra asked me. I just ignored her and made my way upstairs as well, hearing Archie muttering things like lovers' quarrel under his breath.

I made my way towards my room, still thinking about the events earlier. I hit Marvel because I got angry when I saw him leaning closer and closer to Clove. He was about to kiss her when I entered the scene. I don't know why I got angry. I think I just got jealous seeing the two of them that close. They've been close with each other ever since yesterday and I can't help but get jealous. I want to be with Clove but because of him, because of his presence, I can't. I was accompanied by Glimmer instead. But Clove seems to be enjoying her time with him. Is it possible that she likes him? She didn't even resist when he was about to kiss her. She even got mad at me for hitting him.

Clove, why are you doing this to me? Why am I feeling this way all because of you? But then I came to think of it, Clove hanging out with Marvel will just separate the two of us more and more, which will be good, I might forget about my strange feelings for her and I can focus more on my training. I'll just let her get close with Marvel more and more, because in that way, we'll be able to stay away from each other, so that little by little, the connection between the two of us will get weaker and weaker, and with that, I will not hesitate anymore to kill her in the games, because that's how things should really end up in the end.

Clove

The next day, I met up with Cato at breakfast. I was thinking of apologizing to him for my rudeness last night, but he didn't even say hello to me. He didn't even look at me. He just ignored me completely. We've been like this for the rest of the day. We didn't even say a single word to each other. Well, if that's what he wanted, fine. Ignoring him is as easy as killing an ant.

Our training days went faster than expected and the games is fast approaching. That's why I've been training harder and harder each day to enhance my skills more and more. But certain distractions can really affect me and my training. The closeness between Cato and Glimmer can't really go unnoticed. Cato seems to be talking more to Glimmer than to me. Yes, we have stopped ignoring each other for a while now, we got okay after I apologized to him, but things weren't exactly the same for us anymore. The bond between the two of us wasn't as close as before. I thought hanging out with Marvel will make Cato go after me or talk to me like he did before, but right now, I don't think he cares at all.

I woke up in the early hours of the morning only to find out that I was too excited to go back to sleep. Our private training sessions with the game makers will be held today. I will definitely do my best and impress everyone. I will definitely show them what I'm capable of and I will definitely receive a high training score from them, higher than anyone else. I made my way to the living room as soon as I got myself ready. The others were probably still asleep. I sat on the couch thinking about what might happen later when I heard somebody come inside. I looked around and saw Cato making his way towards me. I looked away from him immediately as if I didn't see him. He sat on the couch beside me smiling excitedly. He looked at me but I didn't.

"So, you're here as well," he said. "Let me guess, too excited to go back to sleep?" I nodded. "Hey, is there something wrong? Why aren't you even looking at me?" I just ignored him. "Clove." I laughed a little. He gave me a confused look. "Why are you laughing?"

"Oh. I'm just surprised you still know my name," I said to him, still laughing. "See you." I said as I stood up and made my way towards my room. I'd rather stay there than in the living room with Cato. I'm not in the mood to hang out with him today. I just don't feel like being one of his past times when Glimmer is not around. I miss him though. I wonder if he misses me too.

Cato

I still can't understand Clove's actions earlier. Two hours have passed and I'm in the dining room with her, Archie, Brutus, Enobaria, Cassandra and Lance. We are having our breakfast and as usual, we talked as we ate.

"This is the time to show them everything," Enobaria said.

"Make sure they'll remember you," Brutus added.

Moments later and Clove and I met up with the other tributes. I gave everyone else my usual cocky grin. We formed a line according to our district number and sat on a long bench accordingly. I saw Marvel giving Clove encouraging looks and Clove is doing the same to him. It's really hard for me to ignore it. Glimmer then started talking to me, which was a relief, for me to stop getting bothered by Clove and Marvel's interactions.

Minutes later and Marvel was called. He came inside the room and moments later he came outside looking proud of himself. He nodded at Clove, then at Glimmer, then at me. I just ignored him. He walked away as Glimmer was called and came inside the room. Moments later and she came outside with a smile on her face. She gave me an encouraging smile before walking away. My name was called and every head turned to me. I gave them a cocky grin before going inside.

As I stepped inside, excitement flooded me. I saw the game makers looking at me interestedly. I immediately made my way towards the swords and did everything that I could with it which made the game makers give me a loud round of applause. I showed them everything and I'm sure I did my best. I'm also sure that they'll give me a high training score, higher than anybody else. Nobody will be able to outshine me. I made my way outside as the game makers clapped and clapped. I saw Clove and the others looking at me. I turned to Clove.

"Good luck," I said to her before walking away. I heard her name being called as I walked away. I have spotted the girl from District 12, looking nervous and scared. I gave her a dirty look as I walked past her, making her look more nervous and scared than before.

Clove

I have managed to earn a loud round of applause from the game makers as I showed them what I'm capable of. I made my way outside with a proud expression on my face. The other tributes are all looking at me. I gave them my usual dangerous smile and walked away, knowing that I have done my best and I will probably get a high training score, higher than anybody else. Nobody will be able to outshine me. I saw the girl from District 12 and glared at her as I walked past her. You are not going to outshine me this time District 12.

A peacekeeper escorted me back to our dormitory. I saw Cato, Archie, Brutus, Enobaria, Cassandra and Lance sitting on couches in the living room. I made my way towards them with a proud and happy expression on my face. They all looked at me as I made my way towards Cato and sat on the couch beside him.

"You look so happy Clove," Archie said. "Did you kill someone on your way here?" The others laughed.

"I'm sure you have managed to impress the game makers Clove," Enobaria said.

"Of course, all of them," I said proudly.

"Very good then. You and Cato will get high ratings for sure," Brutus said.

"He was also like that when he entered the living room earlier," Cassandra said.

"All we have to do is wait for the results, which of course, won't be too surprising anymore knowing how good you performed earlier," Lance said. I smiled and saw Cato smiling as well. He looked at me and I quickly looked away from him.

We rested for the rest of the day and came back to the living room when it's already time to watch the results of our training. Now is the time for everyone to know how well I performed during training. Caesar Flickerman's face appeared in the screen. He began announcing the scores. Marvel and Glimmer got a score of nine, not bad, and then it was our turn.

"From District 2, Cato, with a score of ten," Caesar Flickerman announced. Archie and the others cheered as Cato gave us a cocky grin. They quickly quiet down to listen to my score. "And Clove, with a score of ten." They cheered once again and I smiled at them. "Bravo District 2." I can tell that Caesar Flickerman was impressed by our scores as well.

The other tributes have lower scores so I didn't pay much attention to them. The tributes from District 11 are the ones who caught my attention after watching the others. Thresh, the male tribute, got a score of 10, possibly for his strength, and Rue, the female tribute, got a score of seven, possibly for her ability in hiding and climbing trees.

"From District 12, Peeta Mellark, with a score of eight," Caesar Flickerman continued. Well, it is possibly because of his physical strength. "And finally, from District 12, Katniss Everdeen, with a score of… eleven."

"What?" I shouted angrily as I stood up. "An eleven? Impossible!"

"Clove, calm down, it's going to be fine," Archie said as he stood up, calming me down, but I can't.

"Fine? Yeah, maybe for you, but for me, no!" I shouted angrily. "How did she do that?" Now, the others stood up and tried to calm me down, but I really can't.

"Clove, calm down," Cato said.

"I hate her!" I shouted angrily as I stormed away from them and made my way towards my room. I slammed my room door as soon as I stepped inside. I sat on the floor and cried. I know I shouldn't but I can't help it. I did my best. I showed them everything. And it really hurts to know that I've been outshined by somebody else. And in my situation, I've been outshined by the same person, by the same girl. Why can't I be better than her in something? I've been in second place ever since The Parade because of her. I hate her. I really hate her. I am going to kill her in the games. I am going to kill everyone. I am going to be the victor. I'll show her. I'll show them.

The door then suddenly opened and in came Cato. He made his way towards me and sat on the floor beside me.

"Clove, don't worry, I'm going to kill her," he said. I looked at him.

"No! I'm going to kill her!" I said fiercely.

"Ok, fine. I'll just get her for you," he said. "Now, don't cry, it doesn't suit you." He said teasingly. I looked away from him and was about to wipe away my tears when he grabbed my face and made me look at him once again. "Let me." He said softly. He wiped away my tears and we stared at each other for a moment. Archie's voice suddenly broke us apart.

"Oh, there you are," he said. He looked at the two of us questioningly. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No, you're not," I said as I stood up. "Cato, get out of my room." Cato immediately stood up.

"Are you okay now?" he asked me.

"Yes," I answered as I pushed him outside. Finally, Archie and Cato were outside. "Bye!" I said to them as I closed the door.