The Mentor. (Cato Hadley)

Chapter Nine.

Rewritten 03.17.2023

The next morning, I hide my puffy eyes and the evidence of the last night I spent in tears with the array of Capitol makeup stocked in my bathroom. Still, I look like me, but with a little spice. "We have to go out to the dining room," I say to Cato, who is still laying on my bed with his gaze focused on the television.

"Why is that? We're not training today," he doesn't look at me as I get dressed in front of him, this time facing directly at him. Who would have thought, the crazily dysfunctional boy from District Two, is a gentleman with manners.

The Hunger Games start in two days. Just forty-eight hours left of Cato being able to sleep in my bed with me, as him and I have become inseparable. That thought itself scares me, for I have never once had this strong of feelings for everyone. According to the system, Cato has a 3-1 chance for survival, the highest of any of the tributes. I hold on to this tightly, the fear of losing someone I've grown so close with these past few days looming over me.

"You two have a schedule today," I roll my eyes, climbing back into bed now fully clothed. I brush off the butterflies in my stomach as Cato wraps his arms around me, burying his head into my chest. "Interview day, which means the weapons training is over, and now you have to focus on sponsorships."

"I thought sponsorships were your job," the blonde groans, his grip tightening on me. "Don't I just have to look pretty for the Capitol?"

I push him off, standing back up from the bed that has become ours. During our time in the Capitol, I'm pretty sure Cato has used his bedroom twice - and that's pushing it. "Let's go, we have to meet Brutus and Clove in the dining room."

With a scoff, Cato pulls on his clothes from yesterday, following me out of my bedroom. Brutus and Clove most definitely know what's going on, but they're both smart, and haven't said a word.

"Ah, Marblyn, nice of you to grace us with your presence," Brutus says as we enter the dining room, Clove already there. "And of course our male tribute arrives at the same time as you." I glare at him as we take our seats, warning him to drop the subject. "As I was telling Clove, you'll both have four hours with Vibiana for presentation, and four hours with your mentor for content. Clove, you can start with Vibiana for your presentation, then back to me for your content. Cato, you and Marblyn can go back to her room, just make sure you work on content. Then you can head to Vibiana for presentation."

Over Brutus' antics, I immediately head back to my room, Cato hot on my trail. "So, content," I start as soon as my bedroom door is closed.

"To hell with content," I look up at him, the boy being almost a foot taller than me. "You cried all last night, I gave you enough time. Where the hell were you yesterday?"

"I told you," I drop eye contact so he couldn't see through my lies. "I was getting sponsors. I need to figure out how to present you."

Cato keeps speaking, despite my desperate efforts to change the subject and get him to stop. "No, that's not good enough! Tell me where you were!"

"Cato, we really need to work on your content, your interview is tonight," I haven't been the best mentor this year, what with the lack of professionalism and all. But, with everything I have, I want to bring Cato home this year. "It really doesn't matter where I was."

I watch, unmoving, as Cato slams his fist into the wall. "No, it does matter. I heard about what you were actually doing," my jaw drops, wondering exactly how Cato found out. I don't even believe Brutus knows all of the details. "We're done here." He leaves, leaving me by myself.

I waited out the rest of my day without saying a word, hoping that these tribute interviews are done as quickly as possible. Brutus came to my room at some point during the day, to tell me he worked on Cato's content with him. Despite telling myself that I don't care, I'm glad Cato got some sort of coaching on the subject.