I Knew I Could Have

Chapter Four

Interviews. Another thing to worry about. Ugh. Cato's got it in the bag, but I have to work on so many things. Cato's style is charming and likable, but Enobaria and I have been working for like a whole hour and we both don't know what I'll do. I'm thinking about what Capital citizens have liked before. Sassy! I'll do sassy and flirty. Enobaria says I'm really good at that. Aphrodite and I go over it and Enobaria just smiles. Once they think I'm ready, they call Ingrid. Ingrid is holding a beautiful reddish orange dress. I can tell by the dumb excitement on her face that it's for me. "Ingrid! It's perfect!" Aphrodite yells. "It reminds me of mine. Clove will be the star of the show! Forget that girl from 12!" Enobaria says. I'm confused. "What girl from 12?" I ask. Aphrodite glares at Enobaria. Enobaria hisses and then turns to me. "Some brat from 12 dressed up all fancy for the chariot parade and thinks she can steal your sponsors. Never mind her, though. You've got to get to your personal test thingy!" she tells me. Ingrid grabs the training uniform. "Go! Cato will take you." Aphrodite says. I quickly change and then run into the hallway where Cato is waiting. He hits the button and the elevator opens up. "Clove, I just want you to know that you can do this. I'm expecting at least an 8." Cato says, a smile lighting up his face. He opens his arms and I hug him. "Will do," I say, my voice muffled. He's so tall. The elevator opens and we quickly separate. Just outside the elevator, Glimmer and Marvel are waiting for us. Glimmer raises an eyebrow. "Your mentors left you guys alone?" she says, eyeing me. "Um, yeah. We're not toddlers." I say. I raise my head and walk out of the elevator quickly. I sit down on my designated seat. Marvel half-runs, half walks to follow me. "Hey, what's wrong?" he says, obviously confused. "I'm fine," I say through my teeth. I want Cato, not Marvel. When Cato finally comes to sit down, Glimmer is in front of him, telling him some dumb useless story. What an idiot. Glimmer, not Cato. Not a second after she's sat down, they call her name. "Oh, I've gotta go." she says excitedly. "Good luck!" I say with the most genuine-seeming fake smile I can muster. "Oh my word, I hate that dumb blonde so much. When we get in that arena, I'll kill her, and I'll make it look like a darn accident." Cato mumbles under his breath. I look at him. "I'll help you," I whisper back. Cato smirks. Glimmer walks back outside, and I hear Marvel's name called. He turns around and winks at me. "Wish me luck!" Marvel says. He stands on his chair, and front flips, landing on his feet in front of the door. He opens the door and walks into the training center. "Now Marvel, he's kind of my buddy. I like hanging out with him." Cato whispers. "Personally, I don't like him, he's overly friendly. But I'll try to be nice for you, Cato." I say under my breath. Only Cato can hear my words, and my words are only meant for Cato to hear. We sit in silence for a moment, and then Marvel walks out. "Clove Kentwell, District Two," I stand up, and Glimmer, Marvel, and Cato make supportive gestures. I glide to the door and close it loudly behind me. "I'm Clove." I say. A group of Capital citizens and the gamemakers stand before me on a platform. I nod and walk towards a metal shelf thing with a knife vest on it. I slip the vest on and pull a knife out. I throw it and it hits the target directly in the head. I go on to throw most of the knives perfectly. I laugh and start to flip around. I jump up and am ready to throw another when something strange happens. Instead of seeing a dummy, I see Cato standing there, weak and sad. It's not like him at all. I land, but I don't throw the knife. I collapse crying. The gamemakers are confused, you can tell this doesn't happen every year. "Miss, are you ok?" a man with a weird beard asks. "He's not ok! Look! He needs help! He's right-" When I look at Cato again, he's gone, and the dummy is there. Realizing it wasn't real, I stand up, brush myself up, and turn to the group on the platform. "I have to get at least an 8. I didn't even miss one! Thank you." I say as I walk to the door. My eyes are still red, and I'm tired. I open the door, half hiding my face. "I'm going back to the room." I say. Cato stands up. "I'm supposed to go with you. Remember? Brutus told me not to leave you alone, so I'm coming too." he says. He waves goodbye at the other tributes and we walk down the rows. When I pass Eleven, I see an adorable little girl. Right behind her is a strong looking girl with a braid. Her district partner is a tall blond boy, and he looks scared. She seems cold and distant, like she's living a nightmare. I feel bad for her. I'm surprised by myself, I usually don't feel sympathy that well. But I can relate to her. It's strange. For a single moment, she looks up at me and gives me a ghost of a smile. Who knows? That simple gesture could have just saved her life.

Cato takes me back to the room, and just before he opens the door with a golden 2 emblazed on it, I burst into tears. He opens the door and quickly gets us both inside. He picks me up gently, and Brutus starts to say something, but Cato's not gonna let him. "SHUT UP! CAN'T YOU TELL SHE'S NOT OK????!!!!" Cato yells. He carries me to my room and sits down on the couch, me still in his strong arms. "What's wrong, Clove?" he asks softly. "In my training session...you were there...you were hurt, wounded......I would have had to kill you...Cato, I can't hurt you. I won't kill you; I won't kill you. One of us is gonna have to die, Cato! And I can't lose you. I'm going to have to die, Cato! I don't want to die!" I sob. "Clove, we can both win, ok? I'll protect you, and you'll protect me. When it's just the two of us, we'll just tell them we can't make it out with out each other. They need their victor, and I need my Clove. We'll compromise, ok? You're not going to die." Cato says comfortingly. I nod and bury my head in his chest. "I love you, Cato." I whisper. "I love you too." he responds, hugging me tighter. We sit like this for a while, and then we have to find out our training scores. The screen flashes, and I learn that Glimmer got an 8, and Marvel got a 9. Cato gets a 10, and so do I! I'm so happy. We leave the screen on awhile longer, and the girl from 12 gets an 11! I've worked my entire life for these games, and she couldn't care less about them! It's not fair that she gets a better score that me! Enobaria calms me down and sends me to go get ready for my interview. I take a deep breath and return to my usual manner. I change into my pretty orange dress, and Cato changes in his room. Ingrid does my hair in a pretty bun again. When Enobaria, Aphrodite, and Ingrid think I'm ready, they bring me out of my room and into the living room. Brutus and Cato are already there. "WOW! You did good, guys!" Brutus exclaims. Cato smiles. "You look great, Clove." He's wearing a handsome blue suit and his hair is styled perfectly. He looks amazing, and I tell him that. "Ok, guys, we've gotta go now." Brutus announces. We all leave the building and are taken to the interview hall. Our final touches are added, and then Cato and I join the line. "Great dress, Clove," Marvel says, grinning. Glimmer's dress is almost see-through, and Cato comments on her hair. "Oh, thanks." Glimmer responds, seeming somewhat disappointed. A man comes and grabs Glimmer by the arm and leads her up a staircase. You know when she reaches the top, because the cheering is LOUD. She gives some stupid answers and then they come and get Marvel. When the man comes for me, I smile and walk like I'm a model. When I reach the top, I strike a pose. I laugh and walk forward. Every part of me wants to scream, to call for Cato. But I don't. "Clove! Oh, my you look lovely!" Caesar says. I've seen him a million times on tv, but here he is, and he's calling me lovely! "You're not looking so bad yourself!" I respond, smiling sweetly. He chuckles and shows me off to the crowd. "Aww, you guys are so sweet! I'm so happy to be here!" I say. We both sit down. "So, Ms. Kentwell, how did you feel at the reaping? We heard there was a bit of a situation with your volunteering." Caesar asked. "Oh, that? Some idiot tried to stop me from coming here, so I stopped her! If you tell me not to do something, I'll do it twice and take pictures! And I'm sure everyone's ecstatic I'm here, right?" I ask in a voice I can barely tell is my own. The crowd goes absolutely insane, screaming and cheering their heads off. "By the sound of that, I'm sure you can tell we're happy to have you. So how does your family feel about you being here tonight?" he asks. "Oh, they couldn't be prouder. And who wouldn't be? People who don't even know me are proud of me! And they're going to be even prouder once they see me in the games." I promise. Caesar flashes a grin, and then asks another question. "Have you enjoyed your time with us so far?" "Yes! I love this place and all of you guys!" I say. "So, in a regular day back home, what would you do?" Caesar asks. I respond quickly. "I do this thing called what I want." Caesar laughs. "Sassy! So, what do you think about your training score?" I giggle. "I wish I could say I was surprised, but I'm not." Caesar nods. "So, do you think you're ready for the games?" I smirk. "I was born ready. I can kill someone halfway across a huge room. I am so ready." Caesar stands up and whispers, "You did good, Clove. Very good. This was one of my favorite interviews." I smile. He calls my name again, and then I walk off stage. When I reach the end, I squeal. "I actually did it!" I actually survived a Caesar Flickerman interview! I just hope Cato has the same luck.