Cato's POV for the hunger games

Chapter three: the Opening Ceremonies

All rights go to Suzanne Collins, the author of the amazing hunger games trilogy.

Chapter three: the Opening Ceremonies

I lie naked on a cold, hard, metal table while my prep team attempts to make me "Flawless". They say they are just getting me ready for my stylist but at the same time they are practically torturing me! They say that they are almost done. They have already made my nails into uniform shape. They have washed my hair with a weird, smelly gel and a pair of abrasive gloves that practically pulled my scalp off. Now they are scrubbing down my entire body with a very abrasive sponge that is leaving my skin all red. "Can you stop!?!" I yell at one of the members of my prep team. "You are practically tearing my skin up!" "Sorry Cato! You are just so dirty!" replies a member of my prep team, Larna. This remark gets me annoyed but this time I don't act on it. Finally, after what seemed to be about five hours of scrubbing, Sonnu, another member of my prep team tells me that they are ready to bring in my stylist.

After about five minutes a woman in about her thirties, walks into the room. "Hello! I am Nila, your stylist." Nila looks like a capitol citizen through and through. She has died her skin a bright tint of pink that matches her hair, which is in tight ringlets all around her head. She wears way too much orange makeup around her eyes so it makes her look like she hasn't slept in days. "Stand up" she orders me in her heavy Capitol accent. I obey, but I cant help but feel a bit uncomfortable with her circling around my naked body taking in every inch of my skin with her eyes. "Ummm can you please stop!?!" I say rudely to Nila. "Oh....I am sorry. I didn't think you'd mind. I assumed you were used to girls staring at you. You are very handsome by the way." she says matter of factly. I blush a little at this comment. She was right, of course I am used to this. Almost all the girls back in district two flirt with me because they thought I was very handsome...and they are right I am handsome.

Nila starts telling me about what we will be wearing for the Opening Ceremonies. "It is a custom for the tributes to wear something that relates to your district." she explains. "So what? Are we going to wear peacekeeper outfits or something?" I ask. "Oh of course not! silly boy! No we were thinking of what being a peacekeeper represents. We came up with strength. So we thought of ways of how to make a costume that makes you look strong. Then we thought of Roman warriors. Who of course wear Roman armor." she says smiling at me. I finally catch on. We will wear Roman armor to show the crowd that we are warriors, we are strong we were made to fight. I think Nila can tell I like the idea because a wide grin spreads across her face. Then she walks over to the closet and pulls out what I guess to be our costumes. It is a solid gold costume made to look like real Roman warrior armor. It has a solid gold chest plate and skirt.....wait? a skirt! "I. WILL. NOT. WEAR. A. SKIRT." I say a bit rudely. At first Nila just stares at me blankly. Then she bursts out laughing. "Don't worry Cato! Its not a skirt. I promise you will still look like a man when we are through with you. Just trust me okay?" I nod and Nila waves goodbye before she tells the prep team to start all over again. They don't do much this time though. They just help me put on the armor and finish the finishing touches. Once I am ready, Millicent pulls me out of the room to meet Clove at the elevators. After five minutes Clove arrives at the elevators. She is wearing an almost identical costume to mine. One look at her and I know that district two will be the talk of the Opening Ceremonies. We will have taken all the sponsors the other tributes might have had and we will prove to the other tributes that we are better and stronger than they are!

We head down to where our chariots await us. We are now underneath the stadium in which the Opening Ceremonies usually take place. I look around the room just to see what the other tributes are wearing. Most of the other tributes look ridiculous, but there a few tributes who catch my eye. First I look at the pair from district one. They are both wearing pink and purple feathers and jewelry. Both Marvel and Glimmer look good...especially Glimmer, but they do not look as good as us. Then I notice the weakling from eleven...what's her name Rue? She is wearing a blue dress that makes her look as if she is a bird. Although she looks cute, me and Clove both look better. Then a small part of my brain tells me to look at district twelve. Once I find them I see that they are nothing special. They are both wearing a black kind of body suit, that goes from the neck down. I guess they want to look like coal. They don't look bad, but at the same time there is nothing very special about a black body suit. I turn away just as they call us to board our chariots. I hope on just as I see Brutus and Enobaria heading our way. "Okay, so what you are going to do is stare straight ahead, don't smile or wave or do anything. You have to make the impression that you are tough and strong." I nod. Our chariot starts to pull away from the station. At first we are riding through a dark tunnel, then suddenly I see thousands of Capitol citizens on either side of me, calling my name. People are waving at me and cheering. Some woman even said she wanted to kiss me! If this is what fame is like, then I love it!

Everyone is loving us! I can feel the sponsors coming to make bets on us already! Suddenly something changes. Everyone in the audience starts to scream district twelve's tributes names. Now their names are heard throughout the entire stadium. At first I am very confused. Why does everyone like them? Their costumes are nothing special ours is better than theirs! After a while curiosity gets the best of me and I guess it does for Clove too, because we both turn our heads in their direction. Now I see it! They are on fire! Well I guess not real fire or else they would be burning but they still look AMAZING! I see that they are holding hands above their heads and the crowd is loving it! I can see Katniss smiling and blowing kisses. The crowd is going crazy for her. They are throwing roses and hats towards her too! Then the anger sets in. «This isn't fair! They cant do this! I have been training all my life for this and they think they can just come in here and take it away from me!» Then my anger directs itself elsewhere, towards Nila and the prep team. «Why cant they do their job properly?!?!» And then I notice myself saying very bad things about my stylist and I stop myself. Nila did a great job....but obviously not as good as district twelve's stylists. and then my anger comes back and I find myself raging about everything that I am mad about. And I make a promise to myself. Katniss and Peeta will be my biggest threats in the arena, so they'd better watch their backs. I jump off the chariot as we reach the exit. Clove does the same. And in this moment I notice just how mad Clove is at Katniss and Peeta. She is now giving them the "Death glare" and I decide to join her. Peeta doesn't seem to notice us, but Katniss can just feel our eyes piercing the back of her head, and she turns to see us. At first she stares back at us blankly, but her eyes then narrow and she glares right back at us. For a few seconds we just stare back at each other, then Brutus comes and breaks it up. "Come on Cato, lets go up stairs." We walk up to the elevator of the the training center, which will be our permanent quarters until the games begin. Once we get in the elevator Clove immediately starts complaining. "How did that even happen? They are from district twelve! They are losers and they stole our spotlight and probably even all of our sponsors!" Even when we reach our quarters she is still raging. "I have worked and trained really hard for all of my life! They can't just come in and take it fro-" "Shut up Clove!" yells Enobaria who is probably as annoyed with Clove as I am. "the Opening Ceremonies aren't the only things that count! You still have your training scores and your interviews! those count more than anything!" I can tell Clove doesn't like being told that she is wrong, because as soon as Enobaria finishes Clove goes to room and slams the door behind her. "Better go to bed too Cato, you have your training tomorrow morning" Brutus reminds me with a sigh. "I know" I reply. And with that 8 go to my room and I fall asleep as soon as my head touches the pillow

Please vote and comment your feedback! <3