I'm back from NY guys! With a brand new chapter ;)

I have to apologize though, because I didn't have as much time as I expected so I could not write as much as I promised. But don't be afraid, Chapter 9 will be there soon, in two or three days, max!

Thank you for all your reviews, it tickles my little heart everytime to see how much you love this story

To answer to all the reviews asking me if there will be Clove/Cato romance, I say I won't tell. Because that would spoil everything, plus there are some people who don't want to know. Suzanne Collins left us in an amazingly anbiguous situation about those two and that's what I like, so I'm not going to reveal everything now, right? Don't blame me!

Chapter 8

At the end of this first day, I'm quite statisfied with my knowledge of the others Tributes. Only a few are a mystery to me and all the others are totally unable to hurt me, or anyone else.

During the whole meal, Astra tries to know everything I learned. Does she really think I' stupid enough to reveal all my plans and observations in front of Cato ? Brutus seems to notice it as he proposes to leave for another room.

"Well well, how was this first day?"

"Good."

"I don't talk about the training itself, I mean you..."

"I know. I don't need it. You were talking about the other tributes, weren't you?" I search for confirmation.

He smiles widely. "I knew you were clever enough to act without me asking"

"That would have been stupid to miss this opportunity", I answer drily.

"Not everyone thinks about it" he answers with a shrug.

I know what he means. Cato. He thinks because of his muscles, he will win, like there couldn't be any other possibility, and he doesn't bother using the few brain he has. I know it and agree, but Brutus' tone reminds me a bit too much of Glimmer's and I drop

"Maybe he's smart enough not to talk about it in front of you" The suspicious look Brutus gives me, like I actually knew something pushes me to catch up "I mean, you're my mentor after all. And I didn't want to open up to Astra so..."

"Maybe"

I can see he is not convinced but what can I do about it?

"The Boy from Eleven refused to join" I say, trying to switch subjects.

It seems to work as he replies

"You'll have to kill him then. Tell the other Careers about it."

"Not the Boy from Four. He has to die soon" I inform. "He's worthless. He doesn't stand a chance without us, and we don't want to drag him around. I'm not babysitting anyone" I explain, seeing his interrogative look.

"And the Girl?"

"I think she might be useful. As much as I saw, she ties knots and snares really fast, and they seem to work well."

"I like your way of thinking" he grins. "You easily note who's useful and who's not. Then keep her, but don't get attached"

"I don't get attached to anyone" I insist on the last word.

He nods and leaves me to go back to my room. I lie in my bed and think about what just happened. Brutus thinks I'm getting attached to Cato. He thinks I actually like him and I bet he is also wondering if I will be able to kill him.

Of course I will

It's true that the idea of his head being chopped off is not as comforting as before, but it doesn't move either. If it comes to the two of us, I won't have remorse to kill him. Or, well, not much.

Listen to you Clove, you're getting all cheesy!

That is wrong. For example, the idea of District Four's Boy lying dead doesn't even touch me. Being the one to kill him would be satisfying, enjoyable and so will be every other kill in the Games.

I immediately recognize the knock on my door. It can only belong to the center of my problem now, and I growl at the idea of facing him. I get up though but I'm surprised to see he's not trying to come in.

"Thanks" he simply says. "For earlier."

And that's all. Words are blocked in my throat without any possibility for me to let them go.

Does he really think I did it for him? But I ...

Face it Clove, you defended him

I shake my head as it could make disappear all those thoughts in my mind...

And you did it more than once.

Without succeeding.

"That's fine" I mutter. I'm not sure he heard me through the door but anyway, I feel like I need to justify "I was not going to let that stinky mutt be that arrogant"

I hear a soft laugh.

"That would not look like you."

I smile. He's right.

I just stay there, sitting against the door, knowing he's on the other side.

"You don't let me in, Little Lamb?"

He suddenly uses again that tone I despise so much. Like he had power on me, like he was able to control me.

"No"

"Come on, open" he purrs

"No"

"Do you want me to open it myself?" He's joking, but it wakes up the familiar anger I have when he's talking to me in that way.

"Try and I'll cut all of your fingers one by one" I threat.

"Fine. But you'll let me in one day, I swear you will" He says in a cold voice.

I hear him getting up roughly but then, the footsteps seem to come back to me.

"Remember what I told you?" He shouts. "I will break you!" Each word gets along with a hurt on the door.

He is definitely furious at me. And the fact is; I am scared of it. For a second, it seemed like it was my skull and not the door he was knocking on.

Was I supposed to open the door because for one minute we were almost close?

This simple idea of it makes me sick. The Huger Games are no place to get attached. And with this thought I realize something. Cato is brutal, unstable and impulsive, which makes him even more dangerous. The idea he might be the one to kill me creeps me out.

I throw an angry fist at the wall. It's painful, but a relieving pain. So I do it, again and again until my hands are hurting and my arms are tired of punching. And then I just collapse on the bed and fall asleep.

On the next morning, Cato keeps ignoring me, at breakfast and at training too.

I decide to go to hand to hand combat, even if my fists are still aching from yesterday, at least I can romp.

I hit with all the nerve and force I've got each time the supervisor shakes his bell, giving us the signal we can attack. I easily defeat the girl from Nine and then the boy from Five. Then, unexpectedly, Marvel shows up, passing the scared boy from Six.

"Want some competition?"

"Two fights are enough" I decline and start to walk away.

"What happened between you and your district partner? Both of you seem angry today!"

I turn round and face him, looking him harshly in the eyes. I can feel the blood running in m veins faster as I close my fists.

"Did you guys argued? That's not good for Career pack"

He isn't even provoking me. He seems to joke about it. Well that's no joke to me.

"You better be ready" I growl.

When the bell rings, I attack by his right but he parries it easily and replies by targeting my left shoulder. I dodge and try punching him straight in his face. He grips my fist and twists it, forcing me to bend. I have ten seconds to get up; otherwise he would win, and that is not possible.

C'mon Clove, you're not going to give up this easily

By examining him I notice what seems to be his strength can be turned as a weakness. Tall people are easily unbalanced. Still kneeling, I use my opposite leg to hook his ankle and then pull both back to me. As expected he crashes on the ground and raise his hands in a sign of peace.

"Wowow, temper! We're not in the arena yet" he groans, massaging his painful ankle.

"Guess I just won." I declare

I nod and walk away.

I then realize something. I fight better when I'm angry. That, the knife throwing in front of Brutus, the fight with Cato. All of that makes sense.

Did someone else noticed it? Yes, at least one has. Brutus. With all the experience he has with tributes, he must have seen this. Why didn't he told me then? That could easily be turned as a weapon against me!

A thought then emerges in my mind. Is Cato doing all of that on purpose? Teasing me, making me angry so that I would fight better? Something tells me none of ours fights were prepared. That's not Cato style.

On the third day of training, I still haven't talked to him. He seems really angry, just because I didn't open that damn door. Coming from him that was even more childish, so I didn't feel like speaking to him yet. He almost broke my door, am I supposed to act like nothing happened and purr like a sweet little cat? That was so not happening.

Anyway, not talking to Cato anymore is not a problem as long as I prefer training on my own. Most of the time, I just scare other tributes by throwing knives across the room, Marvel beside me. He is a very good spear thrower; and when he doesn't make stupid jokes, he knows how to aim and to lead his weapon exactly where he wants. He could be a good ally and having him around doesn't disturb me.

We spend most of the training days together, but we are not close though. We barely even speak to each other, and we both know why. We are both determined to fight and having feeling to deal with that would be a total mess. This year is my year and no one will be able to stop that. I don't care if he thinks he'll go back home. I already imagined twenty different way to trap him, then kill him. Because in the Hunger Games there is a time for making alliance but most importantly, a time to break them.

Here it is! Sorry, it's not as long as I expected (writing on your cellphone is misleading)

I hope you won't kill me for writing this quarrel, tell me what you thought about this chapter instead (even if you didn't like it, I get better with critics)

Please please please, tell me, would you like another day of training for Chapter 9 or Private Session + Interview?

I love you all, I promise I'll update soon ;)