fallen ~ 𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙤

Roses

          The cart's wheels turn round and round in circles. Two strong, black stallions pull Cato and I along the cleared street. Bright lights almost blind me but my eyes adjust quickly upon hundreds, if not thousands, of people sitting in rows of bleachers cheering and throwing roses at us. One rose lands right in front of Cato and he picks it up extends his arm over to me, the crowd goes wild and I can't really blame them. I take the rose and lean over the cart and kiss his cheek. The crowd completely loses it. My ears throb from all the screaming. I wonder if we are the only 'lovers' among the tributes. If so, we could get a huge amount of sponsors, but at the same time it could weaken our image and give the other tributes the impression of weakness. Cato and I are anything but weak.

         I hold up my rose in the air proudly, I keep a straight face but I can see Cato smiling out of the corner of my eye. Then I feel it, his hand closing around mine, it's rough but gentle. Suddenly he pulls away, but then I feel his hand on my waist pulling me in closer, and closer, and closer. I am now pulled up against his chest. I place my hand right under his collar bone and with the other I continue to hold up my rose. But wait, is he doing this for the sponsors or does he really like me? Either way, I just want to savor the moment. I turn my head up and look at him, he was already staring back. He smiles and I feel like the whole crowd has stopped and is staring at us.

      Then, he starts leaning, his lips just centimeters away from mine. He's getting closer. And just when I think it's going to happen, the cart stops and I stumble forward.

"Woah, you alright?" Cato asks and grabs my hand, helping me straighten up.

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks." I say and get back into my original position. Not in Cato's arms, but by myself.

"Citizens of Panem," President Snow's voice echoes through the street, demanding my attention. He stands at his podium dressed in white. As he begins his speech, I lose interest and start thinking about Cato. His soft touch, his blonde hair, his blue eyes, his lips and how badly I wanted to kiss him. But I'm glad in a way that we didn't kiss, I wouldn't want our first kiss publicized. Suddenly, the cart start moving again. The horses harnesses clink and clatter as they trot past Snow's podium. Then something falls onto the cart, right in front of us.

A white rose.

When we get backstage, the horses stop and we dismount. Two Avoxs take the horses and we are left standing with other tributes. District's 1 and 2 are automatically allies, so I guess it wouldn't hurt making friends. Cato and I walk up to Glimmer and Marvel, the tributes from District 1. They are wearing pink, feathery and fluffy casino costumes. At first, I get the impression that Glimmer doesn't like me from the snobby face she's making. But when Cato introduced himself she practically lit up. Marvel was more quiet than Glimmer, she was talking Cato's ear off while Marvel was just standing there, so I decided to do something about it.

"Hi, it's Marvel, right?" I ask. He shyly nods.

"I'm Clove." I say, remarkably he smiles. I smile back until I realize he was smiling right past me. I follow his gaze over to a red headed tribute girl. Her costume is a bit over the top but it makes her green eyes stand out.

"I'm sorry, excuse me." He says and walks up to the redhead, they must have already been friends I guess. I turn back to Cato and Glimmer. Cato looks like he's getting the slightest bit annoyed, I would too. She won't shut up! Finally, Paisley struts over with Brutus and Enobaria.

"You did great!" Paisley squeaks.

"Amazing." Says Enobaria.

"Nice job guys." Brutus adds.

"Thanks." Cato and I say in sync.

"Shall we go back to the apartment? It's lovely, you'll love it!" Paisley takes my wrist and leads us to an elevator. I still have the red rose Cato gave me. I grip it in my hand tightly, I don't want to ever lose it.