𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞- 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨

☘︎4☘︎

When I get home from the centre, Poppy runs towards me. She looks angry, which I am not suprised about as I was supposed to be back an hour ago.

"Clove, where the fuck have you been? Shits gone down here and I neer your help." She says angrily, pulling me inside.
"What do you mean?" I ask confused. What the hell has happened?

She doesn't even need to respond as I see the problem as soon as I walk in. A girl and Ares are sitting on the couch, not looking at each other and sitting in an awkward silence. A pregnancy test is layed on the table. It's positive.

My anger level immidiately rises. How could he? We can barely afford to feed ourselves, let another crying baby.

I slap him straight across the face. He winces but doesn't speak. He knows he's fucked up.
"YOU DICKHEAD! OUR LIVES ARE ALREADY SHIT AND NOW YOU KNOCKED UP THIS GIRL. TELL ME, TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK YOU WERE THINKING!" I scream on his face, rage consumimg my body.

For the first time in my life, my brother looks terrified of me. Good. He needs to learn his actions have consequences.
"I'm sorry" he mutters quietly, looking down at his feet.

I'm sorry? That is all he can say? I am so fuming at this that I grab a plate and slam it into the wall. Felix starts crying as I continue to punch the walls of our house. I need to get out before I hurt someone.

I storm out of the house towards the river and sit down to think. The birds sing in the trees, a beautiful melody. The chorus all work together in harmony. Sometimes I wish I was a bird. I could just fly away.

Maybe I will go back soon. I really should do, I don't want to leave Poppy on her own, dealing with his mess. But something about the beauty of the forest, the slow trickle of the water, the trees whispering and swaying with the wind makes me stay.

Eventually it starts to get dark, the burning sun slowly descending and a blanket of stars replacing it. I still don't move.

When the moon is bright and full, I finally stand up. But I don't want to leave yet. I strip off to my underwear and dive into the cold water. Water is my happy place. Where I can forget about today and tommorow. Where I can just be.

I swim up the river for a bit of time, relaxing my body. Now, I can forget about Hadley, the pregnancy and the games.

When I finally get out, it is way past midnight and I decide to go back home. When I reach my house, I climb through my window, not wanting to disturb anyone and plan to sneak to my bed.

Instead, as I pull myself through, I see Poppy sitting on her bed, waiting for me.
"What are we going to do Clove?"
She says desperately, hanging her head in her hands.

She never asks me what to do. She always knows. That's when I realise that we are well and truly fucked. How will I afford training?

As I walk over to her, I see tears start to fall down her face. Soon, they are cascading and her eyes turn red and blotchy. I let her cry into my shoulder. Usually, I can't stand people crying but she needs her emotions released.

"It's gonna be fine, we only have to wait a couple of years before I win the games and then we will be drowning in money." I comfort her, before climbing into my own bed.
"Let's hope we can hold off for that long" she says before snuggling into her duvet and falling asleep.

I won't sleep, not yet. I have too much on my mind. The first is Hadley. How am I going to be chosen for the games if he is constantly annoying me and upsetting my training schedule? I told myself I wouldn't think about him anymore. He is not worth it.

The next is the pregnancy. I might have to start working to be able to afford it. Unless I kill the babt once it's born? No, I may be a trained killer but I won't murder a baby.

Finally, the games. Should I really wait two years to volunteer? In that time we could have all starved to death. Then it hits me. What if I go in this year? I mean, it's not like I'm not trained. Plus, I can easily beat all the 18 year olds, the trainers will choose me to volunteer. Hadley won't even go in the games, he has told everyone that he's gonna wait till he's 18.

Okay then, that's what I'll do. Ladies and Gentlemen, let the training for the 74th Hunger Games commence!