𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝑮𝒊𝒓𝒍.Cato Hadley

9.

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𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭.
~•~•~•~

President Snow wants me to marry Cato, at the age of seventeen? What the hell? It won't even be a real marriage, but a performance, like everything else we do. So will this be my whole life? I'm going to wonder if Cato really loves me or if he's just forced to be with me because the President said so. And that's it. I'll never be truly happy.

"Is that all that is asked of me?" I ask him like it's a small thing, but in reality, it's a whole marriage.

"Yes, but you have to do it now or things fail. The time is not infinite and you don't even have anymore," Snow says. All I want to do right now is to go home and start crying on my bed. I want to get out of here.

"Okay, I'll do it." I think for a moment before continuing my sentence. Am I allowed to ask him to do something for me? Probably not, but what choice do I have now? "The only thing I need is for you to say that Cato has something important to announce to all."

The President looks at me in a way that I can't tell if he's glad or annoyed that I have a condition for him. Then, I see a small smile cross his face.

"I like that you're serious, Miss Clark. You have my word that I will do it. Oh, and don't forget you'll need this too," Snow pulls a small box out of his drawer and I immediately realize what it is.

~•~

Of course, the first thing I do is call Cato and Haymitch to a place where no one can see or hear us. They both seem to sense that things are not good.

"What happened?" Cato asks.

"Yeah, you look like you've seen a ghost," Haymitch adds. I tell myself that it's better to tell them directly because we don't have much time anyway.

"He wants us to get married," I look at Cato, who looks like he's heard the worst news. Great, that's precisely the reaction I needed.

"What?" The blond boy asks shocked. It's clear he's not happy with what I said.

"You must propose to me, now, in front of everyone."

"Wait, wait. Am I hearing correctly that the President wants this boy, who until a few months ago couldn't wait to kill you, to propose to you now?" Haymitch asks. Yeah, I don't see how that's going either.

"Yes, exactly."

"And what is expected of me? To get down on my knee in front of you and propose just like that?" Cato growls.

"Look, I'm not dying to get married at seventeen either, but there's nothing else we can do," I get mad at him too.

"Yeah, great," Cato says sarcastically. "Fuck that shit," He walks away. Haymitch and I look at each other, trying to figure out what we're going to do now.