I Knew I Could Have

Chapter One

"Clove! Wake up! If you don't hurry, you'll be late for academy." Mom called loudly. I jumped out of bed and got into my uniform. Today was important, but tomorrow was importanter, which, yes, I know it's not a word, but I can use it when I'm excited. Today was finals at the District Two Careers Academy! I was sure to pass. Every day I practiced really hard. I'm way smarter and better that all of those other idiots. I walked to school, you know, as a warmup, and then headed into the school confidently. I heard footsteps behind me, and I knew instantly who it was. "Hey Cato," I said tauntingly. Cato is the top boys' student at the academy, and he and I are dating, I think. He walked me to class and then I had to go. Quia, my teacher for my 5th year at the Career school, gets so mad if any of us girls are late. I'm the youngest in my class because I'm so ahead, only 15, and her least favorite pupil. So anyway, back to good things, Cato gave me a hug and we wished each other good luck on our finals. Not that he needed it. I walked into the classroom feeling unstoppable. I sat in my seat as Quia passed out tests. One reason I wanted to go to the games was because, well honor, glory, you know, all that good stuff, but mostly no school. I mean, who really likes school? Anyway, Quia gave me the basic test. I flew through it, turning the pages loudly so everyone would know I was better than them. I walked to the front of the classroom and handed Quia my test with great ceremony. "Alright, Clove. Agmen is waiting for you in the other room. Be prepared. He'll be very particular today." I nodded soberly, but as I walked away grinning. Although I may not be Quia's favorite, I am Amgen's. I've known him since I was really little, because he's my parents' best friend. He's kinda like my big brother. Back to the story, I walked in to Agmen's classroom. The room is empty, and I walked over to the weapons cabinet. Agmen saw me and smiled. "Hi, little Clove! You ready to go?" he said energetically. I nodded happily and opened the weapons cabinet. I saw my favorite pack of knives and attached them to my belt. As soon as I saw the target, the smile fell off my face. I realized the importance of my doing well. I had to do good, no not good, amazing. I didn't want to beat everyone by a little bit, I wanted to beat them by a landslide. I backed up to the corner of the room and ran fast towards the target. Right before I hit the goal, I jumped up really high, and threw the knife from up in the air. It hit the target right in the head, and I landed on my feet. I just kept showing off my skills until Agmen blew his whistle and told me I could go to lunch. At first I had thought "Lunch? It's still morning." But then I looked at the clock. I had spent over 3 hours being tested. When I walked out, a line of impatient girls was waiting. "We've been waiting for a whole hour!" one girl screeched. I snickered. "Only one hour?" I said as I walked away.  Those girls must have taken longer on their tests than I thought. When I went into the cafeteria, Cato greeted me. "So, how do you think you did?" he asked me. I grinned. "Fantastic, if you must know. How about you?" I responded. He shrugged. "I'll probably be in the Hunger Games this year, if you must know." Cato said. I smiled and hugged him. "You probably will. I hope I'm there with you." I said. We walked to his table with all the popular people sitting around it. "Cato, my man, what's up?" one black-haired, short boy asked. Cato rolled his eyes. "Go away, Nine." Cato said. Nine looked disappointed, but he left our table. Good. I sit down next to Cato. We all chatter for a while, and then I wondered why lunch hadn't been served yet. Then I remembered. Each student was being given 10 minutes to demonstrate their skills, and there were like, 7 kids left, so we were waiting for those losers. Ugh. Now that I think about it, Agmen gave me a ton of extra time. Ha. He's so funny. We talked to pass the time, and after an hour and a half, we finally get food. For lunch, we all ate a steak. When the cooks served it to us, they labeled it as "Capital Steak." It didn't taste like a Capital steak though. I had a steak from the Capital on my 12th birthday, because we were celebrating that my name would finally be entered. Real Capital steak is fragrant and juicy, unlike the steak here. District Two is the 2nd richest district, right after, you guessed it, the bratty District One. Ugh. They win the games all the time. Back to lunch, we ate quickly and waited for the results to be posted. Who would be in the 74th Hunger Games? We awaited the arrival of the names in silence. Cato slid next to me and grabbed my hand. He held it gently. "Wish you luck," he said softly. I smiled and squeezed his hand. "Yeah. You too." I told him. Then Quia and Dominique, the teachers for the girls and boys, came up and tacked a paper to the wall. It read, "This year, we will be announcing District 2's Tributes after school." We were all shocked. We had already waited for what seemed like forever.

Later that afternoon, all the kids went outside and walked to the school hall. I was so excited I thought I would burst. Cato and I were holding hands again as we stepped in the school hall. All of the sudden, the school's principal, Grissom, who won the games a long time ago, popped up at the podium. He coughed, and the room went silent. "The tributes this year who will entering the Hunger Games are Marcus Porcius Cato, and Clove Kentwell." he declared. Cato looked at me with this huge smile, and then kissed me on the cheek. I giggled with excitement and squealed. I was so happy! For both the kiss and my entry into the games, I mean. We went up to the front and Grissom handed us each a certificate to prove that we had passed at the Career Academy. The rest of that day was pretty much a blur, but I remember running home to tell my family and then falling asleep on the couch. 

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