"I volunteer!" My hand shoots straight up.
"Well, look at that. Come up here," Tilly chirps. I make my way up as calm as I can. "What's your name," she asks me when I'm on stage.
"Cato," I stammer. "Hadley. Cato Hadley." Mental facepalm. I just made myself look like an idiot in front of all of Panem.
"Are you the brother of Jacob," Tilly questions.
"Yes, I am," I answer.
"Well, there you have it- the tributes of District 2, everybody!" Then, we rushed into the Justice Building. We are swarmed by reporters, trying to get pictures of us. Clove and I just keep our smiles big and keep on moving.
We are put into two different rooms, which I think is where we say good-bye. The first to come is Jacob.
"Cato, you have to win this for me, for us. You can do it," Jacob says to me, with as much confidence as he can muster.
"I will, little bro. I will." He sits on my lap and buries his face in my shirt and starts to cry.
"Please, Cato. Please win." The Peacekeeper comes, and I know it's time to go.
"Bye, Jacob. I love you." Then, he is gone.
"Cato, we have little time to talk, so listen up." My dad's stern voice makes me sit straight up. I nod.
"Train and make allies. When you are in the arena and the gong sounds, get your hands on a sword and supplies, if possible. Get with your allies and do whatever you have to do." I listen.
"I will, Dad." The Peacekeeper comes in again. "Bye, Dad." He gets up and leaves.
I was hoping my mom would come, but I guess she was too sad or something. I got up and braced myself for the swarm of reporters that I knew was to come. The Peacekeeper comes back in. I follow him out to Clove's room and off we go.
