“Clove!” so many thoughts were going through my head as I rushed to her side. The first being, “whoever did this is going to pay”, and the second being, “this isn’t what was supposed to happen”. We had promised to stay with each other as long as we could, but once it got down to the two of us, I had planned on killing myself so that she and the baby could survive, so Clove could go home, a victor, and live the rest of her life in peace. Now, she would never even get the chance. I watched from a distance as the Capitol scum lifted her body from the arena. Thrush was going to pay. Sure, Clove had gotten a little carried away with the whole, taunting that District 12 girl about the little one from 8, but that’s just the hormones that come with carrying a child and from the stress of constantly having to worry about dying. It should have been me; I should have insisted to be the one to get the backpack, but Clove always gets her way, she was always a little too much, but that’s why I loved her.
We met on a day like any other, all the recruits (everyone from ages 12-18in District 2) were assembled in the great hall for our first training session of the day. I was surveying the crowds of children and teens, when my eyes landed on her, her dark hair and cold, calculating stare catching my eye… she was beautiful, a true warrior. Throughout the day, I continuously tried to catch her eye, but her focus was only on one thing… training to be the best warrior she could be, if the chance ever arose for her to represent our district in the Hunger Games. I admired her for her focus, but as the day went on, I became more and more frustrated. Finally, as we were taking one of our infrequent breaks throughout the day, I was able to finally catch her alone. Before I even took a step toward her, she immediately turned and said, “One more step and I will kill you,” and judging by her tone of voice, I knew she wasn’t joking. I knew right then…she was the one for me.
As the weeks went on, the time until Reaping Day got closer and closer, and so did we. We spent almost all of our training time together, ate all our meals together, and I walked her home almost every night. Finally, it was the day of the reaping! We met up before (she looked stunning) and I walked with her until we had to separate into boys and girls, she went left, I went right. The procedures were followed, and then it was time for the Capitol official to draw the names for those who would be the lucky ones to represent our District in the Hunger Games. The girl’s names were drawn, and I breathed a sigh of relief as another girl’s name was drawn, a solemn hush went over the crowd as the girl walked up to the stage. Then it was the boys turn, I tensed and stood up straighter as I waited, but it wasn’t my name I heard. I was actually happy that neither her or I were picked, that way we would at least be guaranteed one more year together.
Time passed by, and we got even closer. One night, I promised to marry her… other things happened that night, but I’m not getting into that. We planned to be married the next month, and my parents, being them, scraped together as much extra money as they could in order to throw us a “proper celebration”. We decided that we couldn’t wait, so we went straight to the Head Peacekeeper’s office and requested the marriage papers be drawn up. The Peacekeeper, being a carefree man, didn’t even question our ages and handed over the paperwork without question. We both signed them in his presence, he signed them as the proctor as well, and it was done, we were officially a married couple. We decided not to tell anyone until the wedding, but we had forgotten one crucial factor… the Reaping. It was the Reaping Day when we finally realized what might happen. We walked together, as we had done the previous year, and went our separate ways.
We stood through the opening remarks, and when the head peacekeeper came out to address our district, I realized that it was a different one than we had seen the week before at the Peacekeeper’s Office. I didn’t have time to wonder about what had happened to him, before I heard my name called out. I had been selected for the Hunger Games; I was to be this year’s tribute. I should have felt a sense of pride, because, after all it was an honor to be chosen as a tribute, but that wasn’t how I felt. I had some comfort in knowing that at least, Clove was safe, until… she was called too! The odds were definitely not in our favor. We exchanged a longing look as she climbed the steps up to the stage to stand by my side. We were announced as that year’s tributes, then quickly ushered into the Great Hall. There, in the Great Hall, we were each taken to different rooms in order to say goodbye to our families. My father made me promise to come home, and my sister cried and had to be dragged out of the room, but I kept up a brave face for them all, telling them that this was what I had been training for my entire life, and I would be fine. But deep down, I knew that no matter what happened, I wouldn’t be coming home, I had already decided what I was going to do.
We spent the next few days being pampered by stylists, training at the state-of-art Capitol Training Center and making alliances with the other strong tributes. At one point, I was called to Clove’s room by one of the avoxes (well, summoned, not called). There, Clove, who wasn’t really one for emotion, cried and hugged me. I was so confused, until our mentors came in and told me… Clove was pregnant! She had confessed that I was the father, and I wasn’t going to deny it. They said that it would be in our best interest to keep this a secret from the Gamemakers, because they would have tried to use that as something they could exploit. I knew that I had to keep her safe now more than ever; she was carrying my child.
The next day, we were sent into the arena, and we were practically ruling the Arena, until someone blew up our supplies. At first, I blamed that idiot miner, but then , as the Games progressed, I realized (probably too late) what a threat the District 12 girl was. I watched as she took down several of the strongest in our pack. Until, finally, she was the cause (indirectly) of Clove’s death. Now, as I lay here, being torn apart by mutts, I know that we will soon be together again in the high places we were all told of as children, in the place where all great warriors go, and there, we will also be able to see our unborn child and raise them in a place of peace, with no fear of the Hunger Games.
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