I Needed You

Chapter 6

Cato's POV

Training drags on for another two days. I spar the trainers, stab dummies, and kick-ass at the obstacle courses. Finally, individual assessments arrive. Being the District 2 male, I go in after Glimmer, Marvel, and Clove. 
"Cato Hadley, District 2," I tell them. Picking up a sword, I cut off a dummies right arm just an inch below its shoulder blade, its right hand, and finally behead it. Swiftly, turning around to stab the one coming up behind me in the middle of its target, where the heart would be. Next, I enter the Sword Fighting Simulation, where I score a 20/20 in 3 minutes and 14 seconds. Not knowing what else to do, I go over to the spear section. Marvel's better at spears than me, but I have nothing else to do. I pick up a long spear, beige, about 7 feet long. I shut one eye, prepare my stance, and let it fly. Thump. It hits the target. 
"Thank you, Cato, you may go now." A gamemaker tells me. I nod in acknowledgment and leave the room. 

Clove's POV

After Marvel comes out, looking happy, I hear "Clove Kentwell, District 2" on the speakers. I stand up, glare at Cato, and walk before the closed door. It opens for me, and I step inside the room. I look around. It looks similar to the training center. I spot the knife section and don't hesitate to walk over to the knife area. Picking up a dozen knives, I start the simulation. 

The whole simulation only takes me 2 minutes or so. I'm not sure what else to do, and right before I'm about to start the simulation over again, a thought pops into my head. Although not very Career like I walk over to the fire building station. The other Careers probably won't do anything but show off their weaponry skills, maybe with the exception of the District 4 tributes, Marina, and the District 4 male, a twelve-year-old who hasn't spoken a word to anybody, even Marina. She claims she missed his name at the reaping, after celebrating winning the honor of representing her District. I gather all the things I would normally need to start a fire that were readily assessable right here. I find a little thing of wood with a small divot inside. I get a few more pieces of wood and a stick that looks to be about the width of the divot. I put the wood around the wood with the divot and place that one on top. I place the stick in the small indent and start rolling it back and forth in my hand while moving my hands down. Soon enough, I get smoke, and then fire. "Thank you, Clove, your individual assessment is now over." I walk out. Feeling okay with myself. 

We're all sitting on the couch waiting for our scores. Ceaser Flickerman starts reading off the names. 
"District 1. Marvel Sanford. With a score of 9. Glimmer Belcourt, a score of 8" Damn, didn't think she'd even score a 7. 
"District 2." I lean forward. "Cato Hadley. A score of 10." Our room claps for him and he smirks. "Clove Kentwell." he pauses. "A score of 10" I smile, Delia claps, Enobaria nods at us, and Brutus, just grunts and gives us each a pat on the back. 
"Well! Wonderful scores for everyone! Good job!" Delia says. District 3 gets mediocre scores, 3 and a 6. No danger there. Marina ended with a 9, and somehow the little boy, her district partner gets an 8. We all sit there, just watching the scores, laughing about how bad some of the tributes are. None of us expecting somebody to get past a ten. 
"District 12" 
"Wait, wait, wait, I want to see what that dimwit fire kids get," Cato says. 
"Peeta Mellark, 8" 
"huh, not bad, that one" Enobaria comments.
"Katniss Everdeen" I lean forward. Time to see what darling girl on fire Katniss Everdeen has been hiding. 
"With a score of..." Ceaser pauses.
"Eleven." We all gasp. 
"How the hell did she get an eleven?" Cato stands up and yells. 
"I knew that son of a bitch was hiding something!" I scream. I hurl a lamp across the room. Brutus and Enobaria stand up. Delia is trying to calm everybody down. 
"What the fuck?" Enobaria's teeth are out, nostrils flared. 
"She even stood me up!" Brutus growls. 
"CALM DOWN!" Delia screams in the midst of all this. We all pause. 
"Look, Katniss whatever her name is might have gotten a higher score. But I think you've all forgotten she's from twelve. There's almost no possible way that she's had any combat training. She probably got her eleven from starting a fire or doing something impressive that they would think a normal girl from 12 wouldn't be able to do." Brutus and Enobaria seem to calm down at this thought. 
"They're supposed to score everybody on an equal playing field, but it looks like this year twelve got scored on what their past tributes could do" Enobaria huffs. Cato's face is red. He's angry. He doesn't care that they probably got scored for how good they were compared to their past District reps. All he cares about is that he got upstaged. 
"Now,  go to your prep rooms and find your prep team, we have to get you ready for your interviews!"

Cato's POV

I don't know how that girl from twelve upstaged me. But all I know is that I'm furious. I'm growling at my prep team the whole time, or as they tell me I am. 
"Cato, we can't do a proper job at your make-up if you keep on making that angry face!" a lady on my prep team says. 
"Shut up, Squirrel lady." 
"For the last time, my name is Squirreldea!" 
"Yeah uh huh, like that's any better than Squirrel lady." I chuckle. They manage to put the makeup on, even though I hate it. 
"Cato, we know you're mad about that twelve girl getting a higher score than you, but it's in the past, that was like, an hour ago! Live in the now!" Robert says, 
"Robert, I don't remember asking for your fucking opinion." He gasps
"Such rudeness! No need to cuss, young man! Also, it's Robertica, not Robert, goodness, if my name was Robert I think I'd just melt!" I roll my eyes. 
"It's time to get dressed, Cato!" one of them says, they lead me to a suit, black pants, silver jacket and a black undershirt. They begin to take my clothes off and I yell 
"I can do it fine myself. Get your hands off me" And so they leave. the room and I put the goddamn suit on. I come out of the changing room and my prep team buttons and unbuttons for what seems like an eternity. Finally, they say that I'm all good. They guide me to the line and I take my place after Clove, who wearing an orange dress. 
"Nice dress, Clover" I whisper in her ear. She growls at me. 

Clove's POV

Pearl finishes my makeup fairly quickly thankfully. He takes me to an orange dress that's so bright I thought it was the sun's twin. He puts the dress on me and it brushes the floor when I walk.  He gives me matching orange heels and I try to walk. I fall over almost immediately. The next 30 minutes is spent trying to teach how to walk in heels, eventually, he gives up and just says to lift my dress slightly to walk. He leads me to the line of tributes which so far only has 6. Marvel is there in a blue tux and I stand behind him, per the producer's request. Not 10 minutes after I get into the line, Cato comes in a black and silver suit. 
"Nice dress, Clover" he whispers to me. I growl at him and he chuckles. 
"Son of a bitch shut the hell up" 

A/N-
Hey, y'all! If you guys have made it here you guys have probably read the prologue, chapter one, and chapter two. I have made some changes to them, I removed my original character as I didn't think she would play a significant role, and doing some research, found that Clove did not have the best relationship with her parents, I've also added another author's note in the beginning of the book, so if you're interested to go and check that out! (Also sorry this chapter took so long!! I promise Chapter 7 will be out sooner <3)