Maybe in another universe.

Wanna make you proud.

*Clove's POV* 

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My family sets me down with them along with breakfast. They are being extra careful with everything, since the 74th Hunger games will be coming around and how badly they want me to volunteer. I don't blame them for that, they spent so much for me to train in a special academy.

"and here you go.." my mother says as she carefully sets a plate of food on the table in front of me.  "clove dear, you know we want you to volunteer this year... are you prepared?" my mother says with a hope in her voice of me saying yes. 

"i dunno. I don't think im ready yet." I mutter out but as i say that my dad shouts 

"goddamn it clove! you are volunteering whether you like it or not! you wanna make us and district 2 proud correct?!" He shouts, giving me the stare he always gives me when it is clear i have no choice. 

"Of course i do! I was joking ...  I will." I say with a completely blank tone. "That's what I like to hear." He says with relief in his voice, I am so tired of this. 

I quickly finish my food and grab my training gear for the academy, I need as much practice as i can get. I am not dying out there. I pass my parents to the door and i yell out "Goodbye!" to them but no responses except for an "mhm." from both of them. I don't pay attention to that detail anymore. I hurry down and reach the Academy, it is quite fancy. white and black Quartz  and marble floors, famous paintings, professional weaponry, smooth tall white walls and sharp clean glass windows and not to mention the spoiled rich kids who go here for fun. This building reminds me of the Capitol building i always see on TV, looks a lot better than district 12. 

As i walk through the corridors searching for my friends i finally spot them from a distance. There is Cato Hadley, grown out blond buzz cut, muscular body, tall, he is so typical and low patience. Then there is Glimmer, Long-ish curly golden blonde hair, pretty eyes, always giggling at something, when you first look at her you would think she is another pretty dumb blonde girl but she is quite strong and usually clever. Lastly there is Marvel, sarcastic, dark hair, devious grin 24/7, lowkey questionable but we love him. I walk a little faster to get to them.

"hey Clove!" Cato says as he turns around to face me before placing out his fist in front of me signaling for a fist bump. I smile and roll my eyes "Hi Cato" i say as i  fist bump him back. Glimmer giggles at me and Cato's immature gesture. "Training begins soon so i guess we should get to our designated areas?" Glimmer says to break the silence after that. We all nod and talk on our way there.  

When we reach our spots the supervisor says we may begin, and sets a timer for our 3 hour training before a break. Throwing knifes are my specialty, along with precision. Marvel uses a spear, Glimmer uses a bow, and Cato uses a sword. Obviously we all can use other weapons too but these are our signature weapons that we are most skilled with. About an hour goes by and so far im hitting most of the red dots. I keep having trouble with the the last one where i spin around and swing my arm to the side as i throw the blade. "hey, lemme help you with that" i hear a familiar voice say to me, it is glimmer walking up to me. "what do you mean?" I say as if i don't look like im having trouble. She giggles and shakes her head and moves closer to me. "you know what i mean." She smiles and takes my knife out of my hand gently, she moves behind me and holds my hand as we both hold the knife, i'm assuming she wants me to follow her motion. 

I can't help but feel nervous with her body pressed up behind me, plus the touch of her soft hands. "take it slow and swing, follow your bodies own motion and just go at it naturally," She says to me as we turn and we do the same motion of a throw at the knife but she lets go of my hand + the knife as soon as i am about to throw it, and just like that I hit the mid center of the red dot on the dummy. I don't know what to say.. "thank you.. !" I say last minute and She smiles and pats my shoulder "No problem, keep practicing." She says as she walks off and smiles.

The problem is i was so nervous i think i'm even red, another problem is I can't tell if that was flirting or being friendly. I mean obviously she is friendly, she is a social butterfly and doesn't seem into girls.. if anything she likes Cato. I laugh that off to myself but for real i am genuinely glad she showed me her technique, it helps a lot. although i Can't get the words out of my head "...if anything she likes Cato." I sigh and turn back to the targets I throw a couple more knifes for about 45 minutes and as i go to retrieve the ones i just threw, I stop to look at what everyone is doing but my eyes only land at Glimmer's  training station. Right now she is practicing on the obstacle course, I watch as she swiftly moves from each jump and duck and turns. She is quick and reacts quite fast. I am completely stuck in admiration until I am quickly snapped back to reality by a couple taps on my shoulder from Cato. 

"Whatcha doing?" He asks, I think for a moment to think of what to say. "Just about to stretch" I say before the supervisor's alarm goes off, notifying everyone it is break time. Cato grins and just walks off, strange. Everyone starts packing up and so do I. Me and Glimmer go the girls locker rooms and Cato and Marvel go to the boys. The locker rooms are always so crowded. While me and Glimmer try to successfully get to our lockers without being stampeded over, a girl runs past and hits my shoulder causing glimmers hand and mine to drag across from each other. I'd be lying if i said I didn't love that.