When I walked into the hall outside of the hall to the interviews, the first thing that I saw was Cato. He looked so handsome in the dark tuxedo he had on.
He glanced up at me once I entered the hall, and he smirked. I love it when he does that.
"Hey there Clover." He said, moving over on the bench he was sitting on so that I had room to sit.
"You look absolutely beautiful." He murmured into my ear, then kissed me on the cheek.
"'Don't look too bad yourself." I laughed in a whisper.
"Welcome Panem!" I heard Ceasar Flickerman shout out to the crowd, and I heard them roar.
Despite what you might think, I was pretty relaxed, since i had Cato sitting right beside me.
"Let's meet our tributes; come on everyone, let's give a warm round of applause, for Glimmer!" He calls.
Glimmer rises, wearing a provocative gold see-through gown. I think that that's just going over the top. I mean she's not THAT attractive, right?
Anyways, she walks out onto the stage, and the roar of the crowd actually rises in volume. I can barely hear what she's saying, not that I care anyways.
After Glimmer returns, Marvel's name is announced, and he walks confidently onto the stage. I'm still not at all nervous. That is, until Ceasar calls my name, and my stomach knots in anxiety.
"Go on Clove, they'll love you, I promise." Cato whispers.
I stand, slowly making my way towards the stage, holding onto Cato's hand until the distance parts our fingers, and I step into the bright lights of the stage.
"Welcome, Clove!" Ceasar says, smiling kindly, and shaking my hand. We then, both sit down in the two cushy red chairs placed on the stage.
"Thanks Ceasar." I say, my voice sounding confident. God, I was lucky when I spoke to important people. I was so glad my voice didn't reveal how scared I really was.
"So, Clove. You got a score of 10 in training. How does that feel?" He asks.
I give him a warm smile. It was so easy to be comfortable around him. He tried so hard to make all the tributes shine.
"Well Ceasar, I'd be nothing without my mentor Enobaria, my escort Klestania, and my fellow tribute Cato. They helped me through every inch of this experience." I say warmly.
"Really? I'm very glad you appreciate the others from your team, a lot of people overlook the things that they have." he says, his face serious as he looks into the crowd.
"Mhm. So how close exactly are you and Cato? You seem to be very ready to help each other." He asks, and some of the people in the crowd cheer.
"Mhm, we could all see the way that you two were looking at each other in the reaping." He says, pressing the question further.
I had really hoped he wouldn't ask this. It would make me seem weak.
"Well, we're very close, I can tell you that much." Is all that I can think to say.
"How did you feel when you were picked from the reaping and no one volunteered?" He asks, I'm extremely thankful that he pulled away from the relationship topic.
"I knew that I was ready, I may only be 15, Ceasar, but I'm still ranked highest in my training class back home." I say, a hint of pride in my voice. It was true.
"Oh really? And how did you feel when Cato volunteered?" He asks. Oh great, more of a feelings question.
"Shocked, and a little angry I suppose. We were best friends when we were younger, and since only one tribute comes out of these games, it means one of us would have to die." I say, my eyes wanting so badly to look only at my hands. However, I forced them to look up, to make me look strong, unafraid
The timer buzzed.
"Oh, well, that's it for Clove from District 2, goodbye! And may the odds be ever in your favor!" He says cheerily to me, taking my hand and kissing my wrist. I turn and walk back into the hall again. I let out a sigh of relief.
