Yours [Prim/Cato]

Chapter 17 - Day One

This is my gift to you. A super early update in thanks to the many responses I received from you all in answer to my question. I got many answers that helped make my decision clear. So thank you all so much for answering me.

Prim's POV:

I'm afraid.

Last night was the worst night I've had since I got here, which is really saying something since the first night should always be the worst night.

Of course, everything was great, up until Peeta had to open his big mouth and tell the entire nation about our kiss a mere hour or so after Cato told everyone that we had a fling. It all went downhill from then.

First, Peeta gave me a hard silent treatment, which consisted of hard glares and an accusatory tone whenever the topic ended up being about me. Haymitch surprisingly did not say a word about everything that had happened between me and Cato, but he did comment on the Peeta situation, saying that I most definitely caused 'one helluva riot' back at home. Effie.. oh my god, Effie.. She went on, and on, and on about me keeping everything a secret. Then, she decided to scold me, saying that I caused some Capitol scandal that she would definitely get a bad reputation for. Then, she scolded me for 'breaking poor young Peeta's heart'. Seriously, I wanted to smack her.

And to top everything off on the beautiful mud cake that I had made with grass frosting, Cato most definitely is very upset with me for not telling him about kissing Peeta. His cold, hard glare burned up until the moment we were finally out of eyeshot. I felt like I had 'cheated' on him in some way, even though we never made things official. I tried to talk to him last night, but he pushed me away and walked off.

Also, I could only imagine the reactions at home for the decisions that I made. I couldn't help but feel like one of those girls that parents in the Seam warn us smaller girls never to become: the ones that pass themselves around to guys. My mother was probably disappointed in me for even thinking about a boy at my age, but I was more worried about the fact that I could have disappointed Katniss.

So, long story short, my life, the one I have before a couple hours from now, is over, and there's nothing that I can do to fix it because I'm not allowed to see anyone other than Cinna until the Games.

I said my goodbyes to Effie and Haymitch after Effie's scolding. Effie started talking about how she appreciated me and blah blah blah. I didn't really listen because most of it was about her. Haymitch... his last words were a bit peculiar. He told me, and I quote:

"He will come to you when you need him most."

I was so confused because I had no clue as to what he was talking about. I didn't know who 'he' was, seeing as Cato wanted nothing to do with me, and Peeta now hates me. I tried asking him some questions for a little clarity, but all he said was 'Trust me.' There's nothing more I can do, so trusting him is my best bet.

Cinna woke me up early today to take me into a small room and dress me in the attire that I would be wearing in the Games. He was silent the entire time, and it was so quiet that I was sure he could hear my heart beating. Cinna dressed me in thick black spandex pants, a matching spandex top and a thin green jacket with lots of pockets. The getup was paired with brown sturdy boots and my hair was down in loose waves.

After I got dressed, we were escorted to a large hovercraft, where to my surprise, all of the other tributes were already seated. When I walked in, all eyes were on me, and then they all turned to stare at Cato. He was quite obviously trying to avoid eye contact. I took the seat next to Peeta, who was also avoiding me. That's not even the best part. The best part about this was that I was seated directly across from Cato. It was so hard not to look at him, to apologize, to do anything without thinking of his lips planted on mine.