Pleasant Nightmare

Chapter 6

Cato's POV
(A night before the interview.)

As I walk away from Katniss' door towards the elevator, I can feel guilt rushing out from my veins. Damn her. She looked like she had fun on our walk today, why does she act like this now? I feel really bad for her. She doesn't know that I have targeted her lover boy from day one. I was being selfish, and now I feel like crap.

I enter the elevator, but instead of pressing the number '2', I end up down in the basement. I'm thinking about having some exercise in the tribute training facility to help me to push down these unpleasant feelings. Tribute huh, I'm a victor, silly.

I don't bother to change first, I stick with my crewtop and pajama pants. I look around the training facility for a bit before settling down on a spear throwing station. Spear. Marvel. Crap. He wasn't much, but he was my only male friend. Even back in Two I don't have any friend. Well, there have always been groups of girls being nice to me and stick with me all the time, but that's because they love being near a hot guy-and I am really hot. They have no intention of befriending me.

I throw two spears at once, and both of them hit the dummies right in the bullseye. Katniss was really good with her aiming game, alike me. Bow and arrow suits her better than Glimmer-that pain in the ass. She had always been mocking Katniss back in the game. That vile chick should have known that Katniss was obviously way better than her. I kept listening to her bullshit though. I didn't want the Careers to know that I had-well, have-a thing for our most wanted person. They would think that I was weak.

I keep throwing spears and none of them miss the bullseye. To think about it, it has almost been three weeks I've been having a thing for Katniss. And when did I start noticing her? Back in the train to the Capitol when I was watching the reaping with Clove. She had this hard, stern, and determined face when she was called up the stage. Like she was sure she had the chance to win the game-even I was made to believe that she had the shot. Usually girls, even boys, will be made crying if their name was called during the reaping-not the Careers though. The fact that she volunteered herself was a plus.

After I get enough with the spear, I move to the archery station. I pick a black steel bow and grab two white-bone arrows. I aim my bow and arrow towards the bullseye 20ft in front of me. I let go my first arrow but it doesn't hit the bullseye, it hit the white area surrounding the red bullseye. I let go my second arrow and it hit the black circle which circling the red mark. Damn. Well, it's girls weapon anyway. A real man should stick with sword and do a hand-to-hand combat.

It's almost midnight, I notice. Brutus and Enobaria should have been back by now. I need to know their plan. And it seems that I need shower too.

I enter my apartment to find Brutus and Enobaria sitting in the living area. They don't say anything. They look somehow annoyed?

"So, what's the plan?" I sit next to Brutus.

"There's no plan." Brutus says to me, quite frankly.

"What do you mean there's no plan?" I try to remain calm. Come on guys, don't make me want to slit your throats open.

"Actually Cato it's clear, there's no plan. After all you got yourself into this situation." I want to slap that bitch's cheeks. "If you just killed the girl you would never have to go through this kind of trouble."

"Listen kid, this is no ordinary trouble you got into. It involves the whole nation, the president is concerned. You're 18, you're no longer a child, you can fix anything on your own." Brutus gives me some unnecessary advice. I know I'm in a big trouble. I'm not five.

I give them a fury look on my face, when inside I admit that I'm a little afraid about this whole situation on my shoulder. Damn them. Can't they be good mentors just for once?