The Hunger Games: Adulation

Chapter 8: Katniss' POV

Woohoo! Go Cato! Ceaser just announced that he got a score of ten!

"Peeta Mellark!" I grabbed Peeta's hand for confort. "With a score of, ten!" Peeta got a ten! Oh no, that means I have no reason to not be a career. I bet when it comes down to it Glimmer, Marvel, Clove and Cato, won't actually protect me.

"Katniss Everdeen!" I squeezed Peeta's hand a little tighter. "With a score of..." Caesar looked shocked. "ELEVEN!" The whole room burst out cheering.

"I thought they hated us!" Peeta and I said at the same time.

"Riiigggghhhhttt!" Haymitch said, he was clearly drunk. "Remember Peeta your flight leaves an hour before Katniss'. I slowly looked over at Peeta, releasing his hand from my grip. He's training alone now?! I had a huge urge to hit him as hard as I possibly could.

"Your training alone now!" I yelled. I was mad earlier but I deffinatly more angry now. All Peeta did was nod. I stomped to the elevator and pressed the button. Thank god it was that quick or Peeta might have caught me! I stepped inside and pressed floor two.

"Wait, Katniss!" Peeta screamed at me as the door closed. When it opened, Cato was standing there.

"Hey! I was just coming to talk to you! I'm sorry I was a jerk earlier!" I nodded. Why did I come here?

"I scored higher than you!" I quietly bragged, looking down and smiling.

"Yeah! What did you do for evaluations?" He asked. He can't know I'm my best with a bow! SO instead I shrugged.

"Swords?" He asked. I shook my head.

"If I did swords Clove would have scored higher than me!" I said, still looking at the ground. I was too sad to look at him.

"Hey," He said, tilting my chin upward with his fingers. I stared into his eyes. "Katniss? Are you alright?" He asked me. I pulled away.

"Yeah I guess, I don't even know why I came down here, I just didn't feel welcome on twelve, bye Cato." I said. I walked back into the elevator and just as it was about to close, Cato stopped it.

"No Katniss, your not going to shut me out, if we go into that arena tomorrow and we aren't friends there's no way you'll let me protect you, and I can't control the other careers! Katniss listen to me, I really need to know what's going on." I looked back down.

"Peeta's training alone now, he's the only one that knows my true strength and now he's training alone. I'm scared Cato, that's whats wrong." I looked at him straight in the eyes, waiting for him to leave. But he never did, instead he wrapped me tight into his arms, and I felt safe. I slowly looked up at him, his blond hair flopped over his for head slightly, I slowly moved my eyes toward his, but not before noticing a small scar right by his eye. It was faint, you probably couldn't see it if you didn't know it was there, but we were so close that I could.

When I finally met his eyes I noticed how blue they really were. Like crystals they gleamed in the light, as he stared into my eyes. It was extremely hard not to laugh at how serious he looked. His jaw was slightly clenched, in a very sexy way. He was slowly leaning toward me. Was he trying to kiss me? His lips tickled my forehead and then my right temple followed by my cheek. I bit the right side of my lip, and I could just tell it drove him crazy even though I wasn't trying. Before I knew it, his lips pressed down on mine, hard. We stayed like that for what seemed like forever. When I finally had to pull away, to catch my breath a ding went off. I took a step backward as the elevator opened. Out walked Peeta.

"Leave." Growled Cato. Peeta's hands shot upward. 

"I come unarmed, idiot." He murmured. I laughed a little bit, because that was obviously a way of telling Cato that he scored higher. Cato looked over at me, oops, did he not hear Peeta? I looked away and toward Peeta. The blue light from the elevator was still gleaming behind him. He smiled at me, but I kept a straight face locked as my expression. Peeta walked over to me, picked me up and walked into the elevator. With my arms and legs flailing he pressed the button quickly so Cato couldn't get in. Once the door had closed and started moving upward again, he set me down. The first thing I did was register the fact that I just kissed Cato. Or he kissed me, but I let him do it this time! The second thing I realized was that Peeta was talking to me.

"I'm sorry what?" I asked.

"The capitol had a change of plans the games start tomorrow." He said as the elevator opened. Before I could ask him anything, he left, slamming his bedroom door behind himself.

*•*•*•*•*•*

I don't know why I was surprised to be woken up at six o' clock in the morning the next day.

"Rise and shine, Katniss!" Effie giggled while opening the curtains. Somehow she had already coated her face in make up like a little kid decorating a cupcake on their own without a parents help, and her face was the cupcake! I yawned and crawled out of my bed.

"Go meet up with Haymitch, you'll get your tracker, and you'll both ride to the arena in a flying jet with the rest of the tributes. He'll walk you to Cinna and you'll get dressed within ten minutes and off you go to the games!" She clapped twice and carefully strutted out of my room. I threw on a pair of shorts and a shirt that had a huge orange and red twelve on it, grabbed a coffee and walked downstairs to find Haymitch. Surprisingly he was sober and nicely dressed. 

"Hey sweetheart." He said touching my back in between my shoulder blades and pushing me out the door. Directly outside was a huge hovercraft. As the rest of the tributes boarded Haymitch pulled me off to the side.

"What?!" I asked. 

"Hey, while your in the arena there will be a bow." My face tensed and Haymitch was now using his hands to talk. "Don't go for it!" I shook my head at him, god, didn't he want me to at least try to win?! Guess not...

"Why? Why not?" I stuttered, keeping in mind Peeta might have told him to tell me this.

"It's in the middle of the cornucopia. It will be a blood bath!" He said sounding genuinely serious.

"I'm a career, I can handle it! Anything else?" I asked. Every other tribute was boarded except a little girl, I think she was from eleven.. Rue? 

There were two people I hadn't seen yet today. Cato and Peeta!

"Just..." He paused

"Just what Haymitch? I have to go!" I said turning around but he grabbed my wrist turning me around.

"Stay alive, sweetheart." I yanked my arm back from him and boarded the capitol hovercraft.

A/N Hey guys! Sorry, I haven't been able to write very much the past few days! I decided not to do a Haymitch POV sorry! 

XOXO -- 13Fire