Hello, I'm hoping everyone's feeling good today. The fun will soon begin, I swear. Also - personally I love reading these parallels at the same time so don't be afraid to do the same! The chapters are named the same but a #2 separates Clove's chapters from Glimmer's as you might have noticed. Enjoy <3
The warm sun rays tickled my nose and made me let out a high pitched sneeze. I had forgotten to pull the curtains last night and I would now suffer the consequences of it. There was nothing more I hated than mornings but despite that I had managed to wake up before five every single day this week. I switched position to my back and looked up at the ceiling. It reminded me somehow of all the sleepovers I used to have with Cato. He had always taken care of me when my parents weren't feeling like it.
I soon got restless and rolled out of the comfy bed. There was a pair of slippers in my closet that I debated on whether to use or not. I ended up leaving them and snuck out into the big hallway. Everyone was still asleep so no sounds were heard. I took a moment to just appreciate the quiet and then moved on through the hallway. The door didn't squeak like mine did back home when I opened in and sneaked up to Cato's bed. He was still asleep but I knew he wouldn't mind sharing. I pulled the covers and slid down in the warm bed. The bed was big enough to leave a huge gap between the two of us and I was grateful for it. I didn't want him to invalid my personal space but I still wanted the comfort of having him near. It felt safe..
After a few hours Cato finally woke up. He blinked a couple times and yawned loudly. "Damn it Cato you don't have to make me deaf" I snark at him. He jumps as he realises someone else is in the room with him. "Well I didn't know anyone was here did I?" he grunts back. I rolled around so I was now facing him. He suddenly gives me a grin. "What?" I ask him with a hint of irritation. I hated when he did that. "You missed me so much huh?" he answered as the grin grew bigger. I hit him with my pillow until he begs for forgiveness. We kept laughing a while but the silence soon came lingering. It had been almost six months since we last laughed like this. I missed him but it was really for the best, I had to kill him after all.
Without a word my face became stone cold and I started to crawl out of the bed. Cato reached for my wrist and held it in a tight grip. "Let me go or I'll kill you" I warned him. He knew I couldn't kill him without any weapons but it was still a clear message. "Why are you like this? You are clinging to me like a child to its mom one second and the next you tell me to fuck off. You disappear on me for SIX months Clove and now you're acting like it never happened?". I could tell he was really pissed at me but I found no words. "Is this about Glimmer? Are you jealous of her? You know I don't see you that way" he says. The last sentence makes my blood boil. He really thinks everyone wants him. "Why the fuck would I be jealous of Glim Glam!? She can't even shoot a fucking arrow straight. And just so you know, not everyone wants you believe it or not" I scream at him and try to get out of his grip. The grip around my wrist only tightens and I can almost feel the blood flow in it stopping. "Let. Me. Go" I tell him with a calmer voice. He realises how white my hand got and lets it go. I notice the shame on his face but I'm too upset to even care. Without looking back I slam the door and go to my seating by the table.
We eat in an uncomfortable silence. Not even Enobaria and Brutus talk with each other. I couldn't stand being in the same room as him anymore so I left without finishing my food. At least I wouldn't have to worry about killing him anymore, it would be all my pleasure. Killing that blondie from 1 was also on my to do list. No one thinks they're better than me and gets away with it.
I quickly get dressed in my workout clothes and head towards the elevator. Unfortunately Cato has the same idea and we have to share the tight space for a few seconds. One too many seconds for my taste.. I almost sprinted out of the elevator and headed towards the waiting room. Today is supposed to be our private sessions with the Gamemakers. We're going to show them our best skills and they'll rate us from one to twelve. It's almost the most important event before the arena. It will gain us the sponsors we're going to need in there.
There's only Marvel and Glimmer in the waiting room when I storm in. Glimmer was resting her head on Marvel's shoulder but quickly jolted away from him when she saw me. What game is she playing? How many do she think she can seduce without them finding out about it? I see how Glimmer waves at me and possibly Cato but I just pretend that I didn't see her. Instead I sat down on one of the benches and refused to look at any of the other tributes. I heard them calling out Glimmer's name after a while. Reluctantly I looked up and watched as Marvel held her hand and squeezed it. She smiled at him and I felt sick to my stomach. Hopefully Cato wasn't dumb enough to buy her act, but then again - what did I care if he did?
They called my name a couple minutes after Marvel had gone in. I tried channelling my anger into something more useful. There's no way I would let any of them ruin this for me. I got up from the bench and walked into the room with the Gamemakers. They looked pretty pleased so I guess it went well for Glimmer and Marvel. Now it was my turn to show them. I walked up to the middle of the room so they could see me well. "Clove Kentwell, district 2" I said. They gave me a thumbs up and it was show time. I knew what I had to do to impress them.
I took a knife in both hands and attached a few others to my belt and blindfolded myself. It would be the first time I did this on moving targets but I would get a good score if I managed to pull it off. The simulation started and I took a deep breath. Footsteps were heard everywhere and it was confusing at first, but I let my instincts guide me through it. I heard running on my right but my instinct said left so I threw the knife to my left. A smashing sound was heard and I knew I had hit the target. Behind you it said and I spun around and threw the knife. An identical sound was heard. It continued like this for a couple minutes and I knew I had gotten every single one of them. To your right it said and I threw my last knife at it, but no sound was heard. No, I can't have missed it! Footsteps were running towards me but I had no knives left to defend myself with. I tore the blindfold off and was met by a big yellow simulation. It tried to attack me but I quickly rolled away from it and sprinted towards the knife I had missed with. I could hear it running behind me very clearly.
A thumping sound of blood pulsing through my ears got so strong it caused everything else to go quiet. Lub dub-dub. Only a few steps left. Lub dub-dub. The sound made me want to cover my ears. It felt like my eardrum would explode. Lub dub-dub. One step left. I wrapped my fingers around the knife's shaft. The ear splitting sound of pumping blood made it impossible to know how close the simulation was. I turned around just seconds before it was hovering over me. With one final motion I stabbed it with the knife. Yellow electric cubes fell to the ground, to stimulate the fall of a tribute. I looked up to where the gamemakers were sitting and they looked moderately impressed. They waved me off and I went back to the apartment exhausted. I was so mad at myself for missing that last simulation, but at least I got my revenge.
A knock on the door made me wake up from my slumber. I squinted my eyes as a sip of light hit me right in the eyes. "Clove. It's time for the scores" I heard Cato's voice say. The light was still blinding me but I could swear I heard a softness in his voice. Maybe he wasn't mad at me anymore? Was I still mad? It didn't matter, we could solve that later. I rolled out of the bed and walked into the living room. Enobaria and Brutus were already sitting on the couch. I decided to plop down in an armchair to illuminate the risk of anyone touching me.
Caesar Flickerman's annoying voice was heard as he appeared on the flatscreen. "As you know, tributes were rated from the scale 1 to 12 after three days of careful evaluation" he said. I hated this guy with every bone in my body. He thought he was so special just because he was the Hunger Games host. "From district 1... Marvel, with the score of nine" Caesar continued. A nine is pretty good, I'm glad Cato recruited him. "From district 1... Glimmer, also with a score of nine" he then said. Glimmer got a nine!? I couldn't believe what he said. Sure she was really good with close range weapons but I thought she was supposed to use the bow? Anyway, we will be a strong team this year.
Caesar then moved on to district 2, our district. "From district 2... Cato with a score of... ten" he announced. I saw how Cato grinned to himself. A ten was really good, the odds were in his favour. I pushed aside the anger and gave him a thumbs up. It was the very least I could do. I was nervous about my score - I knew I fucked up with the last one but how much would that cost me..? "From district 2.. Clove with a score of... ten" Caesar said with a clenched facial expression. I noticed how Brutus and Enobaria seemed very satisfied with our scores and it calmed me a little. Cato grinned again and gave me a thumbs up back. It was a good score, but it was just so annoying to know just how good my score would've been if I hadn't fucked it up.
Caesar continued to announce the fellow score and no one really surprised me until he announced the little girl from 11. I though she was completely fucked out there but she managed to received a score of 7. How did she do it? Maybe she was more dangerous than I had originally thought..? It kept getting worse as Thresh received a ten just like me and Cato. He would be our biggest threat, I thought. The boy from 12, Peeta, got an 8. I knew he was really strong but that's usually what the careers receives...? This was bad, really bad. When I thought it couldn't get any worse it did. "And finally, from district 12.. Katniss Everdeen.. With a score of... 11" Caesar said. It was completely unbelievable. Someone from district 12 of all places received an 11. She made every career district look bad. Katniss was malnourished and hadn't got any proper training in her district. She made us look really weak. We were probably the new joke in district 2. First ever careers to get a lower score by someone from district 12. I will fucking kill her for making me look so weak. She won't even remember her own name when I'm done with her.