𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙎𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙉
—𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴—

     "𝘾𝘼𝙏𝙊," 𝙄 𝘽𝙍𝙀𝘼𝙏𝙃𝙀, shoving away from him slightly. I look away, not meeting his gaze. "Sorry, I thought you were River."

"You need to move quicker," He says, completely ignoring my comment. "Try again."

I clench my jaw. "The last time I checked, I didn't want your opinion. You hate me, remember?"

I push past him, and make my way over to River. But before I can even move three steps forward, Cato's hand braces my arm.

"I said try again." Cato moves me back to my place forcefully. I grit my teeth, and yank my arm away from his grasp. I sigh, and turn around, facing the ropes. River doesn't even glance in my direction, making my nerves flare.

I reach up, and latch my hands to the rope, before moving forward.

"Swing yourself forward," Cato instructs, his hands on my waist again as I jump up. "When I let go, grab hold of the next rope as quick as you can. Move stealthily."

I don't make a move to remark. Instead, I do as he says, as move forward as soon as he lets go of me. I pace myself as fast as I can, and find my arms aching when I reach the seventh rope.

"Keep moving," Cato says loudly.

I huff, but comply, finally reaching the end of the course. Cato meets me at the end, watching as I jump down from the ropes.

"Nice job," He compliments, a smirk growing on his lips.

"Yeah, whatever," I murmer. "Thanks for the help, but I have to go find River."

"Fine." He says lowly, leaning close to my ear. "Meet me on the roof after dinner."

But before I can reply, he walks away, taking some of my confusion along with him. I curse River under my breath, glancing around me.

And as soon as I find him, a scowl sets on my face.

"I'd like to have a word," I seethe, looking to River. "Can we talk? Privately?"

"Yeah," He dismisses his District partner, following me to a corner of the training center. "What's up?"

"Really? What's up? What's up!" He looks confused as I flare with anger. "Cato was just torturing me at the ropes, and you were nowhere to be seen!"

"I'm sorry, okay?" He sighs. "I thought you could handle it without flipping out, or without running into a career. What did he do?"

"Nothing," I mumble, fiddling with my fingers as I turn my attention to the floor.

"Oh, don't give me that crap," River scoffs. "Case, what did he do?"

"He tried to help me," I say incredily, meeting his gaze. "But ticked me off in the process, adding onto my confusion. These careers are on my toes, and are confusing me big time."

"I'll say," River mutters, glancing around us. "They stare at you constantly. I guess Finnick was right about that."

"Yeah, well, it's not exactly a good thing," I chuckle coldly. "They breathe down my neck, and watch my every move. Like they have something planned."

"Knowing them, I have no doubts," He shakes his head. "But just stick with me, okay? I'm sorry about earlier, I just got caught up in some... drama. I'll keep a closer eye on you."

"That's reassuring," I smile, patting him on the shoulder. "Now, what's next for training?"

"How about weapons?" He suggests, gesturing to the empty station. "No careers there. And it wouldn't hurt try them out."

"Umm..." I hesitate, looking over the axes, tridents, bows and arrows, knives, and many other weapons. "Sure. Why not?"

He grabs ahold of my hand and pulls me over with him, his eyes not once leaving the tridents. I heard from Finnick that he was good with them- good enough to spend all of his time in District four practicing with them.

"What's your weapon of choice?" River asks.

"I don't have one," I rub the back of my neck in embarrassment. "I've never really used anything other than an axe."

"An axe, huh?" He raises an eyebrow. "Try it out."

He moves to the rack of weapons, proceeds to grab an axe, and hands it back to me. Being familiar with the weapon, I take it easily, and glance up to River, then to the targets that are placed not too far from us.

"Are you sure?" I ask. "Maybe I should stick to the other stations."

"No, go on," He encourages. "Do the best you can."

I nod, my gaze locking with Glimmer's as I look around us. "She's watching me," I murmer. "Glimmer. She's watching me again."

"Don't worry about her," River turns me around so that I'm facing the targets. "Focus on the task at hand."

I weigh the axe down on my right hand, sizing it up as I eye the targets. I suck in a sharp breath, closing my eyes for a moment, then exhale. When opening my eyes again, I throw the axe forward with all of my strength.

I watch in awe as the axe impaled the human-shaped target in the heart.

"Woah," River breathes, a small chuckle rising within his throat. "You really know your stuff."

"I didn't know I could do that," I turn to him with wide eyes. "I've never thrown a weapon in my life."

"Lucky shot," A voice says with amusement from behind me. "Really good, Casey. Honestly, I think everyone here is shocked."

"Oh, suck it up, Glimmer," River narrows his eyes. "Go talk to someone who cares."

"I think that Casey cares," Glimmer grins wickedly. "She cares a lot. Especially on what I say. She believes every word that comes out of my mouth."

"Glimmer, stop," Marvel orders from behind her, his gaze catching mine. "That's enough."

"Since when did you become my boss?" She scoffs, still looking at me. "Go away, Marvel. I have some business to attend to."

"C'mon, Casey," River says, grasping my hand in his. "They're not worth our time."

I try to ignore Glimmer's anger as she watches me turn away. But when her hand touches my shoulder, - her long nails digging into my bare skin- I let out a yelp of pain, resulting in River, Cato, Marvel, Aspen, and Clove taking action.

River let's go with me, before throwing a punch in Glimmer's direction. She dodges his hit, but lets out a growl as she's held back by Marvel. Cato gets a tight grip on River, whom doesn't seem to like it too much. Clove is also held back, glaring at me from Aspen's hold.

"We're done here," River scowls, jerking away from Cato. "Casey, let's go."

I frown deeply as Cato sends me a small sympathetic smile. Glimmer is yanked away by Marvel, and Clove by Aspen.

"Now," River sighs, "Where were we?"

___♕___

"I'm so proud of you!" Johanna cheers, tossing her arm around my shoulders. "I knew you had it in you, Case."

"I didn't," I chuckle. "Especially with the situation at hand. I was shaken."

"Over what?" She stops cheering, turning to me with a confused expression. "It was just a weapon, Casey."

My eyes grow wide as I look to River for help.

"Casey had a run-in with Cato today, while I was having a conversation with Ocean." River sighs. "It was a mess afterwards. Glimmer, Clove- all the careers flocked us."

"What did they do?" Finnick demands, his expression growing stone-cold.

"The tried to start a fight," I murmer. "Everyone was watching."

"Who got in a fight?"

"Glimmer was tainting Casey," River glares. "I had to do something."

"You didn't hit anyone, did you?" Johanna frets.

"I tried to," He shrugs. "Until Cato got me under control. Marvel and Aspen had to hold onto Glimmer and Clove."

"From now on, you walk away." Finnick states. "I told you to not get involved with them."

"They started it," River seethes, clenching his jaw. "I wasn't going to let them get away with hurting her. Someone has to stop them. And I'll be damned if it isn't me."

"No, no, you did the right thing," Johanna says, shoving Finnick's comment aside. "But next time you need to ignore them. Casey, you are strong, and you shouldn't let anything they say get to your head. They're here to manipulate."

I nod, staring at the floor with a hard scowl.

I make my way to the elevator, making my mind up immediately. Johanna gives me a nod, knowing exactly what I'm doing.

"Make this right," She grins.

And as the elevator doors close, I can't help but feel more confused than ever.

Johanna wants me to go see Cato?

And yet she tells me to stay away from the careers.

_______