Clove's POV
The trill school bell rang, I leaped off my chair, grabbed my backpack and rushed out the door. The teacher wouldn't notice at all, as long as I didn't fling the door open wide enough for the cool winter air to rush in. The classroom was about as stuffy as an African jungle, with all the heaters and the electric fire on, you could probably cook an egg on my red face. Bitter but refreshing winter chill hit my face, blasting back stray strands if hair that had escaped my hair clips. I only had about 5 minutes till my class would start moving off to their next subjects. I turned a corner in the school building, leading to one of the rarely-known-about Career Base entrances. On first glance, all it looked to be like was a row of lockers, owned by the school Jocks, but if you pushed the last section of lockers forward, there was a small hole, caused by an rat invasion, which led to the cafeteria of the district 2 Career training base. Where vicious tributes trained, day and night, just so they can have a shot at winning the annual Hunger Games. Granting them wealth and fame for the rest of their lives. Every District 2 kid's dream, including mine,
I used my shoulders to budge the set of lockers. Distantly I could hear the chorus of feet stomping on the tiled school hallway floor. They were coming, I had to get a move on. I pushed again, using all my weight, leaning on the lockers. Finally it moved and I quickly ducked behind. I crawled into the small hole, making as less noise as possible. The ever-familiar smell of disgusting cooking from the Career Base cafeteria wafted into my nose. Ugh, Mrs Pratchett was making onion soup with rye bread rolls again, that tasted like cardboard dripped in slop. The sound of her heavy knife chopping onions on her wooden board echoed through the room, along with pots hissing steam and pans being banged on the kitchen tops. I slowly shifted the set of lockers behind me, and stood up. I glanced up at the clock on top of the stove, I had only 3 minutes left to grab the knives and run. Stealthily, I tip toed across the stained carpet, out the kitchen door unnoticed and through the doors leading to the elevator. I jumped straight into the only available elevator, and punched the LEVEL 3 button. The elevator wooshed upwards, and jolted to a halt at the weapons room. Perfect. I dashed out, and ducked behind a kick dummy, so the group of training Careers wouldn't spot me. I darted in and out of the shelves of swords and spears till I reached the large shelves of knives at the right end of the room. This was the main shelve of knives made especially for defence purposes but at the drawer next to the shelf was where the spare knives were kept, stored away because no one used them. Well except me. I reached into my bag for a screwdriver, and unscrewed the first left bolts, and then one on the right. Quickly I reached my hand in, tugging on a case of knives, till it came free. My heart pounded, sweat rushing from my forehead. I shoved the leather case into my bag, replaced the screws and sprinted out the door, undetected. Well that's what I thought.
Cato's POV
The silver blade of the sword gleamed, reflecting back an image of a pair of blue eyes. My eyes.
I took the sword in my hand, feeling the intricate designs on the handle. It was one of my prize swords, given to me from my dead grandfather. Using all my body strength, I threw the sword at the target on the wall. "Aim for the heart" Coach Lamshere muttered, a second after my sword went flying. A soft thud rebounded across the training hall. My sword had struck the silhouette target right in the middle. Coach Lamshere nodded in approval.
Steadily everyday I had improved on my sword skills. I could now and hit the target board effortlessly from 5 metres back. I walked up to the target and pulled out my sword, I lifted my arm up, ready to throw when I heard a sudden noise. The sound came from behind me, just behind the shelves of weapons. I excused myself from my training session quickly and wandered off to the investigate. What was the noise? It couldn't be rats again. The rat traps were ready and set out this morning. I walked slowly and gently behind the many shelves, treading lightly on the floor. As I drew closer, I could see a small shadow, the size of a child perched just behind the shelf of knives. I walked closer to the figure, it was a small girl. She had brown hair, tied up in a messy ponytail, and was fumbling in her backpack for something. She pulled out what looked like a screwdriver or a tool of some kind, and started unscrewing the screws on a drawer next to the shelf of knives. Carefully, I walked closer to her, not making any noises to frighten the child away. She was wearing a burgundy sweater and jeans, with boots barely the size of my hand. What was she doing here in the weapons room? How could a child possibly enter without anyone noticing? The Base was strictly for careers and coaches only. She reached into the drawer and pulled out a leather case. A leather case containing several knives tucked in velvet pockets.
The girl, the knives, the tree, her smirk, it all came back to me. Clove. The girl in front of me was Clove, not some small child. What was she doing here? Before I could question some more, she picked up her bag and ran towards the back of the room, and our the door. I swiftly followed her, she picked up her pace, sensing that someone was here. She ran through corridors, turning ever so frequently so it was hard to keep up with her. Smart girl. She knew this place well, but so did I. I had lived here all my life and I knew this place like the back of my hand. Clove turned into the Theory hall, she took a sharp turn and into the library, ran behind the librarians desk and through to the garden. "Are we playing a game if hide and seek? Because we both know who would win" I shouted, ducking under a tree branch. "Get your facts right, you see, in a game of hide and seek the aim is to hide and none of us are clearly hiding at all" she called. With that, she leaped straight up onto a park bench and flung herself straight onto a branch of a nearby tree. She climbed and climbed until she was at the very top. I craned my neck higher to see her. "Who's the munchkin now?" She shouted down. "Stupid midget" I muttered under my breath, cursing her in some very rude words . "I heard that'" She yelled and then with that she flew off the tree, and landed on my back. She landed like a feather onto a bed of flowers. I could hardly feel her weight at all "You do realise you would hardly even bruise my shoulders let alone break them" I said, trying to shove her off. But somehow I couldn't. Usually I would be able to at least throw her off a good few metres and give her neck a good twist but not today. Although she barely weighed a thing, her weight on my shoulders was kind of...kind of ... Reassuring. From behind she pulled my hair with her fingers and before I could react she jumped straight off and landed lightly on the ground. "Owww!" I yelled in pain. Wow, she could pull hard. A smile appeared across her face, and in a way it made me wanted to smile back too. But I remembered that I had let this girl beat ME. A small midget girl like her had beat me, Cato. Cato, the one who has knocked out Geeky Graham's teeth last year, the one who "accidentally" broke the maths teacher's nose at 7, the one who everyone thought would have the most chance at winning the games. I pounced on top of her, toppling her over. If news spread around that this Clove girl had beat me, I would be done for. She went smack down on the grass, she grimaced and I stopped for a second. I raised my fist up ready to give her a good black eye, until I saw her eyes. A mixture of chocolate caramel brown and jade green, flecked with long dark eyelashes. I melted under them. My fist lowered, and slowly I got off her, still staring into her hazel eyes. They were beautiful. She glanced at me angrily, and then chucked the leather case of knives she had stole from the Career Base on the ground. "Return them, go tell everyone that I'm a filthy thief won't you?" She hissed, her words like flames devouring me, stinging and burning my skin. I was left speechless, and so I stood there watching her run off through the trees.
