2 Over 12 Any Day | Clato

Prologue 🔪 . .❞

Clove Kentwell (Age 11)

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     "You're such a disappointment."

     Clove winced at the harsh words her father sneered but didn't look up from the floor. She once again pulled up short at the academy, taking a measly eighth place in the yearly assessment. When she arrived home, her parents immediately asked her what she placed, and knowing there was no point delaying the inevitable, she shamefully told them the truth.

     While she knew her score wasn't anywhere near bad, her parents placed high expectations on her, and coming home with nothing but the best was crucial. However, she failed, and their anger at her was nothing less than fury. Snapping Clove out of her thoughts, her father gripped her chin and roughly forced her to look in his direction.

     "Look at me when I'm talking to you bitch." He growled, making her finally stare into his resentful eyes. Hazel orbs filled with years of age and bitterness studied her as if trying to figure out how this disappointment was his child.

     Her father abruptly stopped gripping her chin before brutally slapping her against her cheek. Clove cried out in pain and dropped to the floor, clutching her now throbbing face. Tears pricked her eyes, making trails of water and snot stream down her freckled face. Pain like this wasn't new to Clove, but this was the first time her own family member hit her.

     Suddenly, she felt a hard kick to her stomach, and Clove gasped in agony, clutching her legs against her small frame. She slowly glanced up, surprised to see that her mother was the one who afflicted her this time.

     "Victors don't cry, get up." Her mother spat, waiting for Clove to get up from the ground.

     Forcing her pain aside, she achingly tried to push herself off the ground but felt immerse strain on her body. Knowing she couldn't get up, she sorrowfully choked out, "I-I can't, it hurts too much mother."

     Unknowingly to Clove, her mother narrowed her eyes, bringing herself down to her child's crippled body. She placed her finger under Clove's chin, making her look into her eyes.

     Silence reigned between them before she coldly hissed, "No child of mine is a failure, don't call me your mother no longer."

    She watched as Clove shut her eyes, letting more streams of tears fall before she began to sob pitifully. Clove's body racked terribly, letting herself be consumed with despair at her mother's words. She heard her mother walk away before dreadfully glancing up to see that she was finally alone.

     Only the sounds of Clove's erratic breathing were heard as she let herself cry until she finally ran out of tears. She eventually glanced up to see that night had arrived since the sun from the window dwindled, leaving her in eternal darkness. She painfully brought herself to rest against the wall behind her, leaving Clove with nothing but her thoughts. The past events rushed through her head, and desperate to feel anything else, she grasped another emotion rather than misery, anger.

     She was angry with her parent's abuse, angry at the training academy, but even more furious with herself. How could she let herself succumb to tears like a child? Her mother was right, after all.

     Victors don't cry, they win.

     And that was exactly what Clove was going to be, she was going to win the Hunger Games no matter at what cost. She would finally prove to her family that she wasn't a disappointment, but a champion they could be proud of.

     Determined with her newfound goal, she vowed to herself not to show weaknesses like tears, and beat everyone until she became the best.

     Because if she wasn't the best, what was she?

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DAWSEFIJOQWEGFFEQWFEQWF OK I KNOW IT TOOK ME AWHILE TO POST, BUT IT TOOK ME FOREVER TO PICK A GOOD INTRODUCTION. At first I was gonna begin at the training academy but I thought that was too basic. Plus, I feel like the story needs an origin to why Clove is the way she is. I hope you like it and the new cover!💖💖 (708 words yuh)