the girl who played with knives || clato ✔️

19

Cato

I ride in the elevator in silence. I pass the ground floor. I pass the first floor. I almost have a heart attack when I see Glimmer staring at me through the glass as I ascend. I don't know if I imagined it or not. Finally, I make it to the second floor and rush from the elevator. The Maggot, Mortar, Lav, Spencer, and Freya are in the sitting room. When they spot me they pelt me with questions.

"How did it go?!"

"What did you do?!"

"Did they seem impressed?!"

I assure everyone it went well, and that the Gamemakers seemed like they approved. Soon, Clove arrives wearing her signature defiant smirk. I wonder if she ran into Glimmer, or if that was a special treat for me. She's peppered with the same questions and answers as I did.

"I'm actually... Tired, so, I think I'll try and get some rest before dinner," I say, staring hard at Clove.

She takes the hint and agrees, "Oh, yeah. I feel like I could pass out."

This all certainly fools The Maggot and the stylists, who start blathering about proper sleep schedules and 'beauty rest'.

"Wait a minute," Mortar says. Clove and I freeze mid-step. "Lav and I would like to talk to you two."

"Okay," Clove says, giving me an apologetic look. Talking will have to wait.

Mortar and Lav lead us into the dining room where we can talk away from curious Capitol ears, and we all sit at the table.

"Listen up. The Games are in two days, and it's about time we put together a good strategy," Mortar says.

"Typically, the tributes from One, Two, and Four form an alliance. You said you did this?" Lav asks.

I nod. "Four we can trust; One I don't think so."

"This isn't all about trust. This is a game where trust no longer exists. Whatever friends you made will not last beyond the sound of the gong at the start of the Games," Mortar assures us. "So don't get too attached to Four, and don't worry about One."

"Now, with the help of One and Four, you should be able to secure the Cornucopia. You can stay there safely for a while. When the pool starts getting smaller though, you guys should clear out."

I nod again. "We were already planning on that."

"Good. There's a good chance when you leave the others, you'll be sacrificing the Cornucopia. When that happens, you should be prepared. Have food and supplies pre-packed for when you leave. Enough to last a while. When you're out of food, I'm sure you'll be able to hunt," Mortar continues. This talk goes on for a while, and soon The Maggot demands we clean up before supper, which is in an hour.

I debate skipping this ritual and talking to Clove, but I desperately need a shower, and there'll be plenty of time for that later. Maybe we could meet up with Marina again as well.

I shower and towel off, then pick a comfortable outfit and head to the dining room. Everyone but Mortar is there, so I sit beside Clove. When Mortar shows, we start the meal, Avoxes bringing us an endless amount of food. No one says anything relevant over dinner. The adults chitchat about the weather or some nonsense. Clove pokes my arm and gives me a questioning look. I just shake my head.

After dinner, we go back to the sitting room to watch the scores announced on television. First they show a photo of the tribute, then flash their score below it. Marvel is shown first, with a score of 9, them Glimmer with an 8. I hold my breath as they show my picture. Then they flash a 10 below it. Everyone congratulates me, especially The Maggot. Clove scores a 10 as well.

"Congratulations!" Everyone chirps. Clove and I mutter our thanks, full of awe and nerves.

Next is District 3, and I'm curious to see their scores. The boy manages a 6, and the girl only a 3. I wonder what they showed the Gamemakers.

Jonah somehow got an 8, and I can't imagine what he showed them. Then again, I hadn't payed any attention to what he was doing during training.

Marina scores a 10 and we all clap. Most of the other tributes average a 5, but Thresh scores a 10 like us, and Rue a 7. The boy from 12, whose name, according to the screen in front of us, is Peeta Mellark, scores an 8.

It's not these that really stand out though. What stands out is the final tribute shown. The girl from 12 who was so magnificent at the Tribute Parade, who, other than that, I didn't think much of. Until now. Katniss Everdeen, it says, with a score of 11.

-

I go to bed marveling at how this mediocre girl has managed to get the highest score of anyone, out-shining us all once again. After I process this, I remember that I need to tell Clove about Glimmer. I get out of bed and walk to her room. She's not there, but upon further inspection, she is found in the stairwell to the roof.

"Clove," I whisper.

"Hey. You looked like you needed to talk. What's up?" She says in a hushed voice.

"I need Marina here too."

"Okay," We walk up to the fourth floor and knock on the door until Marina's silhouette appears. She opens the door and joins us in the stairwell.

"Is something wrong?" She asks.

"Yes," I start. "Glimmer knows our plan."

"You told her?!" Clove whisper-shouts.

"No. She found out some other way. That's beside the point though. The point is we can't leave them now."

"Cato, she got an eight in training. How bad can she really be?" Marina asks.

"She's determined to kill us. That gives her strength." I say.

"Okay... Well, what? What should we do?"

"If she dies we're free to go. Did it sound like Marvel was in on this?" Marina points out.

"I don't know. But if he is, I'm not sure it'll matter. He doesn't seem like much of a threat."

"He got a nine," Marina says.

"Those scores don't matter. That's just generalization. Who knows, maybe when he's actually in the arena he'll be more like a four. Besides, people only pay attention to the highest scores for sponsoring," I say.

"Like Katniss," Clove mutters.

"How do you think she managed that?" Marina asks.

"I don't know, but it makes her a threat," I say.

"Right. So, we get rid of Glimmer... And Jonah. We ditch Marvel, then hunt down Twelve?" Marina asks.

"Yeah, I guess," Clove says. She seems a little bothered by our quickly growing kill list but doesn't voice it.

"Okay. Let's do it," I say lightly.

"Okay. See you tomorrow," Marina says. Once she's gone, Clove says, "Cato. I think there's something else we need to talk about."

"The kiss."

"Yes."

We stay silent.

"Was it the wrong thing to do?" Clove asks.

"It's fine," I answer. "It was about time."

"But now? When we're going to the Games in, what, a day?"

I sigh.

"It's fine," I repeat.

We stand in silence again, until we decide to just go to bed.

Glimmer haunts my dreams, killing everyone I know. Marina and Clove. Jonah. Marvel. My parents. Kimber. Everything screams in my dreams tonight.