Galaxies | Cato Hadley

Chapter One

Her hazel eyes met her reflections.

"Today is like any other day, Wren. Deep breaths."

And so she got ready for training as if it was any other day. But she would soon find out that it wasn't.

...

CATO

...

Cato's stomach clenched with nerves as he walked up to Marvel. His hands grew clammy, and the closer he got the more he wanted to vomit. "Is everything ready for tonight?"

Marcel grinned. "Clove, Glim, and I finished up the final touches this morning. It's going to be great."

The blond boy exhaled, still nervous.

"Cato, you need to calm down. You're going to do a great job. She's going to love it."

"What if she says no?" Cato asked, bile nearly rising to the back of his throat at the thought.

"If she says no then I'll shave my head; she won't say no," Marvel ran his fingers through his hair.

Cato shifted his weight back and forth from one foot to the other. Marvel eyed him wondering why he was so nervous to propose to Wren, she was going to say yes. Regardless, Marvel decided to change the subject to get it off of Cato's mind. "Have you talked to Clove lately?"

"No," Cato shook his head, "why?"

"She's just been distant," Marvel said. "You know her better being from Two. Has she been like this before?"

"I didn't really know her in Two. There were a lot of people in the academy. I spoke to her a few times before the Games, but never really got to know her until the train ride," he chuckled remembering how intimidating Clove tried to be. "She tried to intimidate me by telling me she'd throw a knife between my eyes."

Marvel's eyebrows shot up. "And you weren't intimidated?"

"No, her height made it funny." Cato shrugged his shoulders. "But the first night before training, we stayed up on the couch before I went to the rooftop, and we talked. She opened up to me a bit. I guess something about knowing you might die makes people vulnerable."

"Did you open up?" The brunette pried.

"Some, yeah. About my brother Cole and his Games."

Marvel and Cato grew quiet until Marvel steered the conversation back to his initial point. "Uh, anyway, I think somethings going on with Clove. I can't pinpoint it but she's upset about something. Maybe you or Wren should talk to her."

"Me?" Cato asked, his hand on his chest, "Why me?"

"Because you guys are from the same District, similar lives."

"Our lives were very different in Two, Marvel you should know that. Your life was different from Glimmer's." Cato told him. Marvel nodded in partial agreement.

"Well, maybe give it a shot," he said before patting Cato's shoulder, "and good luck tonight."

Marvel headed toward the hospital wing, Cato wondered why he went down that way, but shook it off. He had other things to worry about.