Hi guys! So here's how this will work. Each chapter is a new character's story. There are four main characters that we all made. You will get to meet and look into the lives of all of these girls and hopefully relate to them in some way. Keep an open mind when you're reading these. All of these girls have real problems that we all face in everyday life and we should take that seriously.

This chapter was written by Property of Illea! We all hope that you love this story and that you keep reading!

Remember to review, follow, and favorite. If you want to PM us, feel free to do so by sending a message to either our personal accounts or to this one: bita1614. Thanks!

Chapter One- Alice

I always thought it was funny- how people could say one thing and have it mean another. There was just something so contradictory about it. But I guess that's where my story starts.

When I was young- maybe five or six years old, I learned something about myself. I guess you get told at a young age and eventually it just clicks, but when I was young I learned about my faith- Judaism. Something that became my everything- almost too consuming. (This is where the hatred of contradictions comes from, people)

I was in preschool and I hadn't learned about the Holocaust yet, so when kids asked me to play with them, I'd say "Only if you're Jewish." And I kept doing that. "Only if you're Jewish," to my old friend Ava. "Only if you're Jewish," to a great friend named Alana. Finally I got caught in the act and my teacher explained to me why it was wrong; why saying that was a slap in the face to all of my ancestors. I cried that day. At five years old I realized how terrible contradictions and discriminations were.

I've never left anyone out since. Maybe it's my fatal flaw, I don't know.

So when I got the letter in the mail- crisp, white, and printed to perfection, I felt like I was supposed to sign up. Even if I didn't really want to; even if I already had a boyfriend- or at least a guy who was interested in me. I had to do it. I couldn't let an opportunity slip away, and I made sure my friends knew I wanted them to sign up, one was going to be left out. No exclusions, no silly excuses. I wanted all of them to try.

I was met with hesitancy. Ava-who had since forgiven me, was in a long-term relationship with a great guy, and thought that he might propose to her soon. Sarah, my friend from soccer, had protective parents and a new baby niece to take care of. Grace was all for it. She said 'Hot Prince? Sign me up!' which made me laugh and high-five her. And finally, Kaylin. She had a secret, and if she went into the Selection, she would get imprisoned for it. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't go. All because of her virginity. If only they knew... her uncle wasn't a good man. He held her up one day. He was abusive. A monster.

With Kaylin, Ava, and Sarah out, that left Grace and me. We spent hours at each other's houses talking and writing drafts of our applications so they would be just right. No lies or embellishments, but the perfect descriptions of ourselves. Grace made sure to put down that she was an animal lover and was fluent in Spanish, and I made sure that they knew I played soccer for my university and that I loved science. We got ready together the next day, putting on a light amount of make-up-A.K.A a dash of mascara and lip balm for me and some eyeliner and blush for Grace- and cute sundresses and went on our way to Kent's province office.

I drove, since I was 18 and Grace was only 17, and we blasted this old band called The Spice Girls the whole 15 minutes there. Cars honked at us and we made sure to wave. It was a fun ride.

When we got to the office the line was surprisingly short, which suited me just fine- I was a bit impatient. I breathed out a sigh of relief when we got to the window and Grace laughed at me.

"Chill out. Be cool like a cucumber, girlie." she said, her usual words when I got a bit antsy.

"Sorry, Little G. Just nervous."

"You'll ace this. Just think of this as our team pictures for the soccer roster. Smile and act like you're on the field- It's when you're at your best."

I nodded, breathing a slow breath out. "Yeah. Right. I'm on the field. This is normal."

"And if you need a boost of confidence, think of Wren."

'Wren.' I thought, loosing my balance.

What was I doing? I had a great guy. We both played soccer, we loved the same things, we spent so much time together in the last few weeks...

'Should I be doing this? Will this hurt him? Would it hurt us even if I didn't get in?' I wondered, biting my lip.

"Alice! Alice. Hey, cool as a cucumber, remember?" Grace squeezed my arm and looked at me reassuringly.

"Right. I won't think of Wren. Not now. I can't. I just need to focus."

"Yes. Focus. You're on the field. You're running towards goal on the left wing. Sarah passes you the perfect ball. You take it. You run, and, you of course, shoot with your left foot aiming for the top right corner. The goalie blanches! She can't get to the ball on time and it goes in. Back of the net. You just got the winning goal of the game, Al! You got it!" She pushed me forward, "Now go get 'em, tiger!"

A woman guided me down a hallway and brought me to the room I assumed they would be taking my picture in.

"Stand on the dot and tell me when you are ready." she said, walking to the camera.

'You just got the winning goal. The crowd is cheering.' I thought, picturing it.

I beamed.

"Ready."

"Come on ladies! You can do better than this crap! Work hard or don't work at all!"

Sweat ran down my face as I sprinted up to the line for what felt like the fiftieth time.

"So," Sarah panted out as she caught up to me, "How was the big date?"

I sighed, wiping sweat from my forehead, "I wish it was good, because I really like him, but..."

"That bad?"

"That bad. And worse."

We dropped down and began doing push-ups.

"Did you at least get a kis-"

"No. No kiss." I picked up the pace, pushing myself harder on each set. "He told me it was boring. I agreed. He wants to go out again but I'm not sure..."

"Not sure you like him or not sure it will go any better?"

"Both."

"Oh. That's not good."

We finished our push-ups and continued on to the next line for squats.

"So then signing up for the Selection was a good thing after all."

"Yeah," I replied hesitantly, "I guess so. Wren is great, but..."

"No spark?"

I stayed quiet. To be honest, I didn't know. Was he a great guy? Yes. Was he funny and smart and fun to be with? Of course. Was there physical attraction? Hell if I knew. All we had done was hold hands. But this was my first boyfriend. Did I really know what to look for? How could I tell if there was a spark?

"Come on! You guys aren't going to beat Whites college if you don't pick up the intensity!" Coach Lyons screamed before he blew on his whistle. "Just stop. Enough for today. I don't know why you guys are being so...so dull today, but it better stop soon. There's no point in me being here and coaching you guys if you're not going to put in the right amount of effort. I know half of you are trying and that's great. Thank you. But the others... well lets just say you need to work. We are a team and you are all acting like little wusses. We can't play if half of us are out of shape. We won't win. Practice tonight is cancelled. Hell, you know what? Tomorrow, too! Alice, Sarah, call me when you think they can work harder. When you guys are ready to put in two-hundred percent, I'll come back. Be ready when I do." he turned and left the practice field.

"Jack-ass." I muttered under my breath, sighing.

"Hey! No cuss-words, Missy!" Grace yelled, walking toward me and Sarah.

"Sorry. I meant to say he was a jack-donkey. Better?"

"Much." she replied as we walked to our bags. "So... since coach cancelled practice, we can watch the Illea Report tonight." she raised her eyebrows coyly.

I laughed, "Little G, the odds of one of us being a part of the Selection is slim to none."

"Yeah, well, miss negativity, we're going to watch it. And Sarah? Call the others. Tell them that they need to be at my house. Six o'clock sharp. I will have refreshments ready. We're all watching this."

I groaned. "But there's a great game on tonight. Zuni Fire vs. Carolina Suns." I looked at my friends and frowned. "You know I can't miss watching a good soccer game."

They looked at each other and laughed.

"She thinks she can get out of watching it, doesn't she?" Sarah asked, still giggling.

"Yep, but Al should know her own rule by now. We don't leave anyone out." Grace quipped, smiling at me mischievously.

I cried out, "No! You are not using my own rule against me! That's not fair!"

"Oh, I think it's plenty fair, girlie. We are all watching this."

I cringed, "But the game..."

"Oh give it a rest, Al. You know Zuni will win. Carolina is a new team with rookie players." Sarah crossed her arms over her chest and grinned down at me. "You know it's true."

"Uh...but...Yes, but...oh! I got it! Ava's boyfriend is on the Suns. We can't miss watching him play!" I countered.

Sarah and Grace grinned.

"He got traded. Yesterday. You didn't hear about it because you were training all day, even though coach wanted us to rest..." Grace said, grinning.

"But...What team is he on now? How did-"

"Sporting Midston. He wanted to be closer to home. They complied. Even got a big pay raise. Better team, too."

"Oh." I said, rubbing my eyes. "So are any of my excuses going to work?"

"No. Not really. But nice try, Al. Better than last time." Sarah smiled sand patted my shoulder.

"So, now that Alice'a objections are out of the way... Let's get some lunch. Coach worked us too hard today and I'm hungry." Grace started towards the gate and we followed. "Let's go to Jimmy's. It's close to Alice's house and since hers ia the biggest..."

"Oh shut up. My house is not that big."

"Not that big for a millionaire." Sarah said, grinning.

"Oh yeah. it's a tiny cottage to the royal family." Grace added in, smiling.

"Hey! I'll have you know that we Henleys do not just put our money on a pedestal For the world to see. Our house isn't extravagant, and you know it."

"Okay, I know it. But can I use your guest house's shower room when we get there? I feel disgusting, and you stored some of my clothes in there anyways." Grace asked, laughing.

i grinned, begrudgingly. "Yeah. Fine. Go for it. You can too, Sarah." I added.

"Thankya, Al. Now let's eat!"

"Now see? This isn't so bad, is it, Al?" Ava asked, sitting next to me on Grace's couch. "Eating popcorn, drinking cold beers-well, for you cold waters- and watching TV. Normal."

"Yeah. Normal." I sighed, sinking back into the cushions.

"Kaylin? Can you get her some juice? Her blood sugar must be low because usually she's the life of the party."

"Got it, Aves. Juice." she laughed.

I groaned. "Please don't force vodka on me. I like being sober and healthy."

"Whatever do you mean, Al? This is just juice." Kaylin came over and stuck the glass in my hand.

"You know I'll be able to tell if this is alcoholic as soon as I take a sip, right?" I asked cynically, smirking.

"We'll we won't tell you if it is, so you'd better just drink up."

Ava giggled and Kaylin fell back into a chair. I sighed And leaned forward to take a sip.

Suddenly the drink was all over my new outfit and I was freezing cold.

"Ha! She fell for it again!" Kaylin yelled, falling over in laughter.

I cursed.

"No cuss words!" Sarah scolded, grabbing my arm and pulling me down the hall to the bathroom. "You know how I feel about alcohol. Vile stuff. Just causes problems." She said, pointing to my shirt. "So clean yourself up. I'll deal with them. Just hurry. The Report is on in a few minutes."

I smiled and walked into the bathroom. "Thanks."

"Don't worry about it. Clean up, Al." She turned around and left.

I walked to the sink and sighed. "So, Alice, how has your night been?" I muttered to myself as I wetted a cloth and started dabbing the juice from my shirt.

"Just peachy."

I ran into the living room when I heard the screams. My first thought was 'Oh god, what did they do now?' and my second thought was even scarier.

Was it possible? Did one of us actually get in the Selection?

I got to the room and looked at the TV screen.

'Oh god.' I thought, 'Oh god...'

"No! This was just for fun! Laughs and giggles, you know? I didn't actually want to do this!" I cried out hysterically.

All of my friends ran up to hug me and a tear fell from my eye.

'Wren,' I thought sadly, 'I'm so sorry.'