promises • cato the hunger games

Nine

"And remember, you want to make a good impression to the game makers, show your skills," says Violetta again.

"Yeah, yeah," says Cato. "We get it. Can we walk by ourselves or do we still need a babysitter?" he asks bitterly. I think the nerves are really bringing out the worst in him.

She opens her mouth to say something but Cato cuts her off. "Right, bye," he says to her, and takes off down in the corridor. I sigh.

"Just do your best, Penelope," says Violetta, which doesn't exactly assure me. It's the kind of thing a teacher says to you before you're taking a test, and they know you're going to fail, but they can't really say it to your face.

"Cato, wait," I shout, and follow him. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," he says gruffly.

"Why are you so nervous? You know you'll be really good, and anyway, they probably already have a score made up for each of us."

"I'm not nervous," he lies.

"What should I do?" I ask.

"Throw some knives," he says vaguely.

"And what if I miss?"

"You won't."

"But what if I do?"

"You won't," he says again, pushing the door open. There's already lots of people there, most of them sitting nervously staring into space, or at the floor. No one's talking, or even looking at each other.

"Let's just sit down," says Cato quietly. I nod and follow him through all of the people now looking at us, and sit behind the tributes from One. Glimmer turns round and smiles at Cato, and I scowl at her. She throws a look back and spins back round. Bitch.

After about five minutes a voice calls for Glimmer to go to her evaluation. She stands up, swaying a little. I guess even Careers get nervous sometimes.

"Hey, Glimmer, break a leg," I say. "Or two."

I can't help myself. It wasn't really funny, but a few people around us snigger, and even Marvel smirks, and he's supposed to be her district partner. She glares at me before leaving.

Glimmer's evaluation is over all too soon and Marvel gets up shakily. The nerves really start to kick in now I know I'm next. The room suddenly feels ten times hotter and I can literally feel anxiety pulse through me.

"Are you okay?" whispers Cato.

"Nope," I murmur back.

He takes my hand and squeezes it. "You'll be fine."

But as soon as the words leave his mouth the capitol voice says, "Penelope Smith, District Two."

Oh God. I stand up, and the room suddenly rocks violently.

"Hey, don't worry," says Cato.

I nod weakly and walk out of the door that Marvel and Glimmer did. I walk down the corridor and through the big door into the training centre.

The game makers are sitting up on a balcony, and honestly I don't think they notice me come in. I walk over as close as I can and clear my throat loudly.

A few of them turn round and one with a funny beard (I'm guessing he's the one in charge) says, "In your own time, Miss Smith."

I nod and walk over to the weapons. I do as Cato says and select one of the small knives. I stare at the target for a few moments and then I throw it as hard as I can. I manage to hit it nearly right in the chest. I'm quite pleased with myself, but I notice only a few of the game makers heads turn. What?

They're hardly watching me at all. They're ordering drinks. I can hardly believe it.

I cough loudly again. The one with the beard turns around and I point to the target. He stares at me, and then nods slowly. He must think I'm crazy. I'm not that bothered.

I can see there's not much point in doing much else, so I just walk over to one of the fake trees and climb it.

And that's all I do for the rest of the evaluation.

~

I'm sitting at the table, nervously waiting for Cato. I'm sure he's taking longer than I did. He'll be fine though, I'm sure. He's a career, he's been training for this forever.

I pour myself another glass of water as he walks through the door. He looks perfectly fine, if a little out of breath. "How was it?" I ask him.

"It went really well actually," he says grinning. "In fact, if I don't get a least an eleven I'll be wanting to know why."

Okay, okay. No need to rub it in.

"But how did yours go? How many knives did you throw?"

"One," I say bluntly.

"What? Why? What happened?" he asks, staring at me.

"Nothing, I just realized there was no point - they weren't even watching me," I say.

"So what did you do?"

"Sat up a tree."

He sits down, and stares into space for a minute, as if he can hardly believe what I've just told him. "I can't believe you. This is bad, Penny. They're going to score you really low," he says quietly.

"So?"

"So, you won't get any good sponsors, and then what're you going to do?"

I shrug. "It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does! God, how could you be so stupid," he says quietly, half to himself, half to me.

"Excuse me?"

He takes a deep breath. "Sorry, that came out wrong."

"Look, I'm sorry, I should have tried harder, but honestly it wouldn't make much of a difference anyway. You know I can't-

"Shut it," he says abruptly. "You can."

I sigh. "I still don't know why you care so much."

"You know why. Look, just don't tell anyone what you actually did, especially Violetta, she'll flip. Just say you threw some knives, got most of them pretty accurate, and if you get a low score I'll think of something."

"Bu-

"No buts," he says, and walks off, leaving me sitting by myself, irritated. Why can't he just leave me alone? It's none of his business what I do in the Games. Why does he have to care?

Okay, I know I'd be much better off with him, a career, than by myself, unprotected, but I don't really know if I can trust him. My instincts are telling me I should, and that he's not really dangerous, but I can't be too careful.