the girl who played with knives || clato ✔️

17

Cato

Training goes by quickly. In what seems like merely minutes, lunch time has arrived. Glimmer has stayed at the bow and arrow station the whole time, trying to gain more skill. Marvel and I have just switched from spears to swords, and Clove and Marina have been in the throwing-knife section all morning.

"Come on, let's go meet up with the others," Marvel says. Glimmer joins us on our way to get Clove and Marina, who have since been joined by a shaky Jonah.

"Oh, hello, Jonah. Decided to join us?" Glimmer says sweetly. He nods slowly, and we all head for the dining room off the gymnasium. It's a large room with high ceilings and dozens of tables full of food that reminds me of the caf back at school. You're meant to serve yourself, so Clove, Glimmer, Marvel, Jonah, Marina, and I skirt around the buffet in a pack. Once we're satisfied with the food on our plates, Glimmer directs us to the table next to where the tributes from 11 happen to be sitting. We all put our plates down, and Glimmer asks who wants to come to talk to the boy from 11. After a long argument, Glimmer, Marvel, Jonah, and I go over.

"Hey, can we sit here?" Glimmer asks. There's no answer from either tribute. "Okay, then." Glimmer sits and motions for us to follow. Jonah sits with the girl, Glimmer sits beside the boy, and Marvel and I stand across from them.

"We were wondering..." Glimmer starts. I don't listen though. My ears are tuned on another conversation.

"Are you nervous, Rue?" It's Jonah, talking to the girl from 11. It takes her a while to answer.

"I can't afford to be," she says. They sit in silence for a while longer, and I catch a familiar voice in my ear.

"-if we leave them behind." Clove says.

"Okay. Should we go for the Cornucopia first?" Marina asks. They're talking in hushed voices. We are not meant to hear this.

"Yes. I think we can chance it. We should be fine, just as long as Cato doesn't follow us." What? I had assumed they were planning on ditching 1 with me. Not leaving me behind as well.

"I think we can evade him," Marina says. "But I also think it might be better if he came with us." This is odd. Marina's fighting for me and Clove against. I wonder why. A pang of hurt wrenches in my chest.

"It'll be easier," Clove insists. Easier? Easier to what? Survive? Marina and Clove don't say anything more, so I tune back in to Glimmer and the boy's conversation.

"No," the boy from 11 says.

"Thresh," Glimmer demands. I guess she figured out his name. "You'll do better with us. Trust me."

"I don't," Thresh says. "And I'm not looking for allies."

Glimmer looks like she's about to blow a gasket as Thresh gets up and moves to another table.

"Fine then. Let's go," Glimmer says grimly, heading back to our table.

"Come on, Jonah," I say. He says goodbye to the girl from 11, who I guess is Rue, then trails behind me.

When we get back to the table, Clove and Marina both glance at me rather not-at-all-subtly. I look at them with a face of stone. I'm pretty upset with them for deciding to ditch me. We eat in silence. The food's good as usual, but I pay no attention to it. Boy, are Clove and I going to have a fun talk tonight.

Clove

Training goes by quickly. Probably because I'm dreading the moment it ends. That means I'll have to face Cato. Marina told me he'd invited her to ditch the others with him and me. That was news. Cato hadn't said a word about it to me. I told her we would be better off without him, though really I was afraid. If we're allies in the Games, it'll make it all worse. But leaving him behind as well? It'll be easier. That's what I tell Marina. That's what I tell myself too. I feel bad, but I believe it's what's best.