𝔖𝔱𝔞𝔯 ℭ𝔯𝔬𝔰𝔰𝔢𝔡 - Clove and Cato/Clato

III

Three days until the reaping.

It was a Friday afternoon and my last day of training before the reaping, and quite possibly my last day of training ever. On Monday morning, at 9 am, a name will be called. Regardless of who the capitol escort calls, I know I will be up on that stage. I don't have a choice. My father says that if I do not volunteer this year, he is going to kill me, and no one will bat an eye. I believe him. I do not have any personal relations with anyone, and even if I did, no one would stand up to a peacekeeper, especially one of my father's ranks. 

My training partner grabs my shoulder before walking out. Malachai already left before us, as he usually does, so it was just him and I. "Not bad," he said. His tone was not mocking this time. Was it possible that he was showing kindness? Or was this all just a ploy to give me hope just so he could crush it and see it drain from my eyes? 

Regardless, I thank him, and he nods. "Come to the reaping party tonight," he invites. I shoot him a quizzical look. He laughs lightly, "no ill intentions, I swear!" He held his hands up in surrender. I do not budge. "Come on, Clove. What do I have to gain by inviting you to a party? I mean really? I mean, I know you're antisocial and all, but just give it a try." I punched his arm, causing him to rub it. "Ow, that stings," he whined. Reluctantly, I decided to accept his invitation. This might just be my last normal weekend; I might as well spend it being a normal teenager with a pretend social life. It would be nice seeing teenagers that I wouldn't be forced to kill before the games started. 

Cato seemed pleased and amazed when I nodded but tried to hide it. We walked out together, and I followed his lead. We walked in silence for a bit until he broke it. "To be honest, I didn't think you'd come."

"I didn't think you'd invite me," I replied, making it clear that I did not trust him. Throughout our training, we barely spoke. We just had a few stolen glances here and there, almost admiring ones, but other than that, we did not form any relations. I made sure of that. I was surprised at his sudden interest. Perhaps it was just because he knew he was likely going to kill me in the arena and felt some sort of pity for me.

"Why wouldn't I? We've gotten pretty close over these past few weeks, no?" He raised his eyebrows.

Though I wouldn't argue that we formed a relationship, in a way, he was correct. It seemed like I had spent more time with him within the past few weeks than I had spent with my father in my entire life. "It doesn't matter," I replied with a blasé tone. I had to constantly remind myself that nothing truly matters. 

"Maybe not," he sighed. "But we're in this together. Might as well go in there being united. We'll be stronger than all the other districts combined." I nodded in agreement, but I could tell he knew I wasn't fully interested. He spoke again. "My family has always pressured me to train and better myself so that I can volunteer and bring pride to the family and the district. My whole life has been leading up to this moment." He looked at me, but my eyes stared straight ahead, and he realized I didn't care, or at least, I was trying not to. Despite this, though, the kid kept talking. "My older brother won twelve years ago," he bragged. "It's amazing, but it's kind of hard living up to his expectations." I shrugged, continuing not to care. He sighed in defeat. "You know, for a girl so cunning and skilled, you would think she'd have more personality."

I scoffed at this. "I don't need a personality; I just need to fight."

He frustratedly ran his hands through his blond hair, the sunlight hitting it in a way that made it look gold. Almost godlike. I looked down at the rest of his body. The sunlight highlighted just how chiseled and toned he was. This was a big difference than what I remembered him looking like when we were kids. I found that my cheeks began to flush. Must have been the sun.