Born to Die (Clato Fanfic)

Chapter 5

"Yes! You got this August!" I looked up just in time to see an older boy strike a target near the center. The room erupted into applause. I smiled to myself, noticing the small errors he made.

You're letting go too soon. I wanted to say.

Today was a big day, and I was about to burst with excitement. It was the day before the reaping, my first reaping, which only added to the excitement. The reaping was a big deal, but the day before was packed with celebration. In fact, this whole week was a celebration. Every year, the day before the reaping, the Academy hosts the best day of the year.

Earlier that day, all the eighteen year olds competed for the chance to be a tribute. They showed off their best skills, battled, and went through difficult scenarios as we cheered them on from the sidelines. The rule was, the top eighteen year old preforming male and female, would have the honors of volunteering at the reaping tomorrow. Of course, if an Academy student was reaped, the eighteen year old wouldn't get the chance to volunteer, but if a student at the regular schools was reaped then the winning male or female could volunteer. Usually, only the rich can afford the Academy, so normally an older student gets to volunteer. But, these rules are not always followed. Most of the time students wait until they're eighteen, but some younger ones just can't wait. So they volunteer. Nothing can be done, but if you come back home, you have an enemy waiting for you. After you're eighteen, you're done. And if you didn't get the chance to go into the Games, all your training was for nothing. Living in one of the biggest districts, makes this very likely.

The winning eighteen year olds this year were Janus and Khione, who were both exceptional archers. Twenty three of the remaining students probably went home crying, wiping their tears on their graduation certificates. It wouldn't surprise me. I glanced around nervously at my class. There were sixteen other twelve year olds, so I had a better chance for the future.

"Lena Niccol!" I snapped back into reality and watched Lena attempt knives. I had to admit, she had gotten better. I counted the heads in front of me as she took her seat again.

Twenty three, twenty four, twenty five...

Twenty five more kids until my turn, my turn to show them my best skills. All the kids who weren't graduating this year, got a chance to show off their best skills to the judges. They would then rank us based on our performance. And only the best received prizes.

Last year, I placed third in knives and received enough money to buy a colorful meal for that night. This year I was hoping to win first and buy a nice outfit for the reaping. I wanted it to be special. Maybe if I had leftover, I could buy my dad something special. I still didn't completely trust him, but we had been getting along well lately.

"Cato Hadley!"

I immediately flinched at the name, and whipped my head around to find the owner. I pretended to pick at the calluses on my hands as Cato stepped up with a large sword. I tried to make myself appear bored as everyone leaned closer to get a better look. He checked his reflection in the blades reflection and I rolled my eyes dramatically . Finally, after what seemed like a good twenty minutes, he proceeded to attack the dummy.

About half way through his demonstration, I remembered I wasn't supposed to be looking and quickly transferred my attention back to my hands.

Well I could have watched. The hard part was making sure he didn't catch me. I knew he'd want everyone watching and I couldn't give him that satisfaction.

I had been obsessed with being better than Cato. I couldn't help it. Everything he did made me want to do it ten times better. I kept my eyes glued to the ground as he finished and vowed I would do better than whatever score he got. Could I be better just once?

Yes of course.

My stomach began to twist into knots as I made my way closer to the front of the line. Thankfully, I hadn't noticed any exceptional knife throwers yet but, I would still have to wait to see how I did. What if it slipped out of my hand, or hit the judges? I shook my head trying to get rid of the cluttered thoughts.

"Clove Sevina!" I jumped at the sound of my name, interrupting my self esteem booster. I smiled kindly, at the judges as I headed over to the knife throwing station. It was just like the Hunger Games. You've got to make people like you.

I held my chin up high and tried to look calm as I reached for a few knives. My hands were shaking and I could feel the damp sweat on the back of my neck. I didn't know why I was nervous. This was easy stuff. I guess I was just so caught up in being better than Cato, that I was stressing myself. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

Easy.

Carefully, I stepped in front of the target and got ready to throw. I could feel all eyes on me. I imagined Cato's face on the target, and with a smirk flung my knife. The blade plunged into the board with a thud. A few students clapped, but I wasn't impressed. Two inches from the center wasn't good enough. I threw another, resulting in a similar place. I frowned trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. I closed my eyes, trying to relax. Easy. Remember?

I picked up the last knife, rubbing my thumb against the handle. With a mental count to three, I released the knife from my sweaty hands and watched it soar through the air. I felt a wide grin spread across my face, as I saw the weapon, deep into the center of the board.

A few hours later, after watching the rest of the students present their desired skill, I was handed a glorious award. I happily skipped down the road with a heavy pocket of first place money. A shimmering gold dress caught my eye and it barely made a dent in my stash. I had to look decent for my first reaping, maybe even pretty. This is the moment everyone remembers, and I couldn't look like how I usually did. I added a pair of shoes to match, and headed home with a spring in my step.

Later that night, my father and I headed back out to buy a special dinner with the leftover money. Once we got started, we couldn't stop, and we ended up spending almost all the money. The bags were extremely heavy but telling my father of all the stories at the Academy, helped the trip back home move along.

The next morning was centuries long. I woke up when the first cracks of sunlight peaked through the window, and threw on my reaping outfit. The dress hugged my small frame nicely and the shoes gave me some much needed height. I managed to brush through all my hair without going bald, and even fixed it into a nice braid. I refused to eat any of the expensive foods until later that night, for our after party.

I practically sprinted to the reaping, my father trying to keep up. It was hard to run in the heels but nothing was stopping me. I was shocked by how many people were there, but of course who would miss this? I got signed in and stood next to the other twelve year olds, barely able to stand still. The square silenced as the escort began her speech. In the end, Janus and Khione volunteered, which was expected. We stayed a little longer through some of the celebration, but headed home when the sun started to disappear behind the mountains.

My father and I did have our own celebration. We ate until late into the night, and I could barely stand up after only my second plate. He told me stories of his experience at the Academy and his own reaping's, which surprisingly lasted for hours. I went to bed stuffed, and mentally counting the days until next year.