Victory - Cato Hadley

chapter twelve

Training-week is almost over now. The reaping is tomorrow. I'm kind of nervous for Cato. I have the slight feeling that Brutus wants him to be a tribute. Me and Enobaria choose the female tribute, while Brutus gets to choose the male tribute. 
"Meeting, in five" Brutus says while walking past me. They arrived two days ago and have been watching the training non-stop. We're planning on having a meeting, to decide on who's going to get chosen for the games.
"I'm fucking nervous" I say.
"Me too" Cato says next to me.
"I will do everything I can to prevent you from going in there" I say, and look him deeply into the eyes.
"You don't need to. He'll probably not choose me" Cato says, and puts one hand on my cheeck. I gently lean onto it and close my eyes.
"I should get going" I say, and pull him in for a tight hug. I'm scared. Really. 
He lets go off me first and shoves me away. I walk into the conference room. We really have one. Only for these meetings. So fucked up if you ask me.

Brutus and Enobaria look at me with wide eyes.
"Okay, so I've been watching them a lot and I think there are a few contestants that would have the chance to really win this. Uhm, for the female tribute, I was thinking of Clove or Anna. Clove is very skilled and fast. She's probably going to win if her ego doesn't come into her way. For the male tribute I was thinking of Ander or Eldon"
"Well, I was thinking of Cato. He would be a great choice for these year's games" Brutus says. My body tenses.
"I think Ander or Eldon would be a much better choice, I mean I've been here for the whole week"
"Athena, we've been doing this job for a lot longer than you now and if I belive Cato is the best choice, then he is" Brutus says, giving me an annoyed look.
"So, then it comes down to me. Clove is definitely the best choice for the female tribute and for the male I think Cato. Sorry Athena" Enobaria says.
"Please, you only want to save your boyfriend right?" Brutus says and rolls his eyes.
"Of course I want to. We send them in there to die. They have such a low chance to come back. We all know that nothing's sure" I say getting angry.
"You're so pathetic Athena. A wonder how you won your games" Brutus says.
"You know what? I don't care. I won these games and that's all that matters," I slap my fist onto the table and get up from my seat. I walk over to the door and open it. 
"Oh, and you can fuck yourself Brutus" I say with an sarcastic smile. I walk out and see everyone looking at me shocked. They're all afraid of Brutus but not I. He can say everything he wants, I will never do what he wants.
I walk out of the training centre and start walking home. I'll definitely won't be here when they tell them. They weren't even around the last two weeks. They have no clue who would be the best. I wasn't lieing when I said that Ander or Eldon would be a great choice. They're almost as good as Cato and have some more skills than him. They're just not as massive as he is.

Cato POV

I'm practicing with my sword, when I hear the door to the conference room getting opened.
"Oh, and you can fuck yourself Brutus" Athena says, and storms out of the centre. I want to go after her but Brutus stops me.
"Wait. We need to tell you all who we picked for the games" he says with a weird smile on his face. I feel a little uncomfortable by the way he looks at me but stay calm. I wonder why Athena ran out like that though.
"Come here" he shouts. It doesn't take even ten seconds before all of the others are here too.
"We have chosen the tributes for this years game. Me, Enobaria and Athena have made our choices wisely and we think we did good" he says, and looks over at Enobaria. 
"Our female tribute, for the 74th hunger games is going to be Clove Kentwell" she says and everyone claps for Clove. A smile forms on her face, as she walks over to Enobaria to take her place next to her.
"Our male tribute, is Cato Hadley" Brutus says with that weird smile again. Now I know why Athena stormed out like that. She doesn't want me to die. Me neither if I'm going to be honest.
My friends pat me onto the back and start congratulating me. I kind of feel happy. I mean, it's an honour to get reaped for the games in our district. They're betting on me and I can finally show how good I really am. All this training wasn't for nothing.
"Congratulations" Enobaria says, and they let us go.