We Could Have Been Great

Chapter 16

Clove and Cato walk on stage, dropping each others hand as soon as they step onto it. They see Katniss and Peeta enter the stage from the opposite side with obviously fake smiles on their faces.

Clove fights the urge to roll her eyes.

The audience stretches on for miles ahead of them, every brightly dressed person cheering and clapping and shouting.

There are two small sofas opposite Caesar and Katniss and Peeta sit down on one and Clove and Cato take the other.
The couple from 12 curl up next to each other, Katniss resting her head on Peeta's shoulder.

The audience somehow becomes wilder.

The word pathetic dances around Clove's head but she can't help but admit that they have a strong tactic.

Her and Cato sit down close on the sofa and Cato reaches over to link their hands together. Their joined hands rest on Cato's knee, visible to the whole audience.

They once again lose it.
The audience is like a huge pack of brightly coloured freaky monkeys, screaming and squawking and waving their hands.
Every single one of them looks like they belong in a zoo.

Clove inwardly laughs at the comparison. As she stares at the roaring mass of colours she can't help but picture them behind the bars of a cage, trapped in an enclosure with swings and trees. Stuck being stared at by everyone. Trapped there simply for entertainment.

Just like they were in the Games.

The Games were an honour to be a part of.

The Games are twisted.

Caesar's cheerful voice shatters Clove's dangerous thoughts as he calls for the audience to quieten down.

She can't be thinking like that. It's those kind of thoughts that get people executed.
What if she let one of those thoughts slip out? What if she spoke her mind on stage during the Victor's Tour when she was face to face with the families of the children she had killed?

Snow already wants her dead. She shouldn't be giving him another reason to want to kill her.

But Snow already wants her dead. What's one more reason going to change?

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen. We have with us here today a unique four. For the first time ever, may I present to you, the four victors of the 74th Hunger Games!"

As soon as Caesar's words leave the stage, the audience erupts in cheering once again.
This time, they quieten down fast.

"As usual, we will watch a recap of the highlights of the Games and then we will have a very special interview with the four who won them. Doesn't that sound exciting!"

Caesar's words sound so sarcastic that Clove tries not to roll her eyes. But she knows that he means every single one of them. Caesar is nothing if not a showman and he romanticises the Games in such a way that he could make anyone think that they are thrilling.

But having been in the arena herself, Clove knows that they are anything but that.

Caesar yells out, "Let's get started!" And a final cheer ripples through the audience.

Then, every single person falls silent as the big screens light up with the Capitol emblem.

Everyone is deathly quiet as images flick across the screen showing the tributes on their podiums. The gong sounds and the noise snakes around Clove's spine as images of the bloodbath flash on the screen.