Love and War (A Clove and Cato FanFic)

Chapter 9: 8 Hours of Training and The Interviews

Today is the final day in the Capitol. Today, the tributes have their interviews with Caesar Flickerman and then tomorrow they will ship us off to the arena. Magna’s face is red and blotchy and her hands shake. Cato isn’t at the table and I’m starting to think it’s a good thing because I doubt that if Magna will throw her drink on Cato for something silly that she won’t have a second thought before throwing something else at him. Enobaria speaks first. “Magna usually trains the girl tribute for her interview, but given Magna’s condition, I will train you.” Magna groans.

                “No! I will teach you girl. Enobaria doesn’t know the difference between a high heel shoe and a flat shoe. Give me five minutes to tidy myself up and then we can start the training.”

                “Well, this works out good. Brutus and I will coach Cato first on how he’s going to portray himself and then after four hours we will switch and you will work with us on how you will portray yourself while Magna works with Cato on his performance.”

                “Cato should portray himself as a ruthless killer that doesn’t care about anything,” mutters Magna. I look over at Enobaria and see the devious smile on her face. She plans on making him evil.

Magna teaches me the art of walking in heels first. She gives me a pair of her five inch heel ones and tells me to put them on. I slip them on and stand up. She tells me to walk across the room and I do. I have walked in that line for an hour. I don’t even stumble anymore. She did an amazing job at making me walk like a graceful swan instead of a stumbling duck.

                Next she makes me walk in a full length dress with the five inch heels. I fall flat on my face three times and Magna claps her hands in a “chop, chop” matter.

                By the end of the fourth hour, I knew how to walk in heels, walk in a long dress with heels, twirl, sitting in a lady-like manner, and posture, lots and lots or posture. I changed quickly out of the dress and into something more comfortable. I ran down the hall and waited impatiently for their session to finish. Twenty minutes later Cato walks out and nods at me. “Good luck in there. They seem to be in a bad mood.” He turned and I saw the red welt on his face.

                “Did they hit you?” He nods. “Well, I don’t expect less from Magna. She’s still upset about last night.”

                “I figured.” He sighed.  “Well, if I’m not out ten minutes after the four hours are up, come in and get me.”

                “Of course.” He walks towards the room I just left. I walk in and see Brutus and Enobaria sitting on the couch, smiling at me. “Why are you smiling at me like that?”

                “We know what point of view you’ll be coming from.”

I sit patiently as they tell me how I will act. I will be a killer. Kind in some spots but ready to kill whenever I can. “But I’m already like that.”

                “We know. We just need you to kick it up a notch. Whether you act like a menacing maniac or a sweet girl from district two, you have to do it with such passion that they’ll love you. You need sponsors. Sponsors will send you stuff in parachutes, but they won’t come unless we give it the okay.” I nod. “So, we’ll ask you some questions and you answer with the over-powering mean girl from district two or the really sweet girl from district two.”

I did well, according to Enobaria. I answered all the questions with the right amount of aggression and niceness. I don’t really know what Brutus thinks because he never really talks when I’m around. When the four hours are done, I don’t even realize that I’m shaking. I’m so nervous about tonight. No, I’m more nervous about tomorrow. Enobaria lets me go and I walk down the hallway and enter the living room. I sit on the couch and watch the Panem news. Nothing interests me, so I pace back and forth. Before I know it Xanthe, Isys, and Shine are ushering me out the door and into the makeover room. They brush my hair and pin it up in a bun, but it hangs down like a pony tail. I try not to mess with it because it’s pretty, but I can’t help it. I touch it. It feels like silk ribbons. The swat my hands down. Shine comes to my front and puts some orange eye shadow on my eyes. He swipes a mascara brush across my eyelashes and puts blush on my cheeks. He takes a container of gloss and pulls out the brush. He wipes it onto my lips and they become sticky. “What is this?”