Yay! Chapter one! I tried to get a bunch of explanations that weren't too boring in. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter one
When the Selection was announced, the general population was surprised. No thought that Queen America would actually let her daughter have one. On the Report, she simply said that "I couldn't really think of a different way for her to find a husband. I'm honestly not worried about her, and it was her decision anyway. Of course we've made a few adjustments, no one is required to stay, and they can leave at any time if they wish so. Also, if anyone is caught with another girl, then they will be sent home."
After the interview, people were exited, especially boys between the ages of 16 and 25. Starlight was not freaking out, nor was she super exited. She carried on as usual, until the day the names were announced. "So did you guys pick candidates or is it completely random?" she asked her parents, right before the Report.
They looked at each other, hesitating. "Well, we did pick a few people, but for the most part it was random," Maxon admitted. "I we both picked one boy, I picked based on your personality, and your mother picked based on your interests. You don't have to pick either of them."
"Do I get to know who it was?" She asked, with a sly look on her face.
"No!"
"Fine, but you know I'll get it out of you eventually. Don'tworry; no hard feelings." She laughed. "Come on let's do this thing!" They walked on to the stage, Starlight's wig bouncing behind. Whenever there was a public event, she put on a dress, did her make up all pretty, and donned a beautiful curly long wig. It was the same color as her natural bright red hair, and usually contrasted nicely with her dress. She claimed that the reason she did this, was so that the public would be used to her with long hair, and looking all girly. Then at her wedding, not bothering to do any of that, the public would be shocked, but her husband would be in on the joke.
"So Starlight, ready to see the Selected?" asked Gravil.
"Absolutely!" she practically gushed; by with just the right amount of humor that the audience knew she was joking. "Bring it on!"
The first picture showed up, and the audience held their breath. Nathan Orion was amazingly attractive, and most of the ladies in the audience stared wistfully. "Dibs!" called Izzy, almost jumping from excitement.
"Mine! You can't call dibs! One, you're not old enough. Two, mine! And three… Dibs!" Starlight glanced at the cameras and flashed a brilliant smile. The watching males were now desperately hoping to get called. The second guy, Cody Ganter was, in Starlight's words, "Soooo cute!" She was enjoying herself and the audience loved her reactions. Johnathan Smith was, "Nice!" Damon Revin caught her attention with his mischievous smile. And Tyler Rain had a haunted look in his pale blue eyes.
After all the names had been announced, Gravil shot her a series of questions about her personal preferences when it came to boys. "As long as they tell me straight up what they're thinking, and don't try to give hints, then no one should have any problems," she said. "And if anyone feels the need to talk to someone, I'm always available, except when I'm not." With that piece of advice, Gravil said his closing lines and the cameras were shut off.
"That went well don't you think?" asked Starlight.
"You could have been more polite you know," reprimanded Maxon. "I thought you wanted a nice public image."
"I do, and I still have one. Now I'm known as a funny, bubbly girl as well as a serious, thoughtful, and optimistic one. They loved it!"
"Maybe so, but you shouldn't lead them on to believe you're someone that you're not. And I was wondering how you could look so laid back and interested. When it was my turn, I was practically petrified!" He took America's arm, and the royal family left the studio.
"Well, I was interested!" Starlight protested. "And I'm actually trying to let them see more of the "real" me, but slowly." She pulled off the wig, and hugged her parents. "May I please have dinner in my room tonight, I need to think about some things," she said softly.
"Of course, if you need someone to talk to, I'm just across the hall," her mother answered. "Go think."
Starlight headed to her room, yes, she intended to think, but it was more like scheme. She wanted to devise a way to meet the guys without them acting, or being nervous. She intended to put her short hair to work, but wasn't sure how to get a chance to talk to them. Deciding to take a detour to find Sylvia, her instructor, she ran into one of the guards. "Oh, hello Jack!"
"Hello Princess. Can I help you?" asked Jack.
"Um yeah. Do you know where Sylvia is? I want to talk to her."
"I believe she's in her room, is that it?"
"Yeah, thanks."
"No problem, if you need anything else, you know where to find me." He winked and headed off to presumably the kitchens to eat something.
Starlight walked to Sylvia's door and knocked. "Come in!"
"Hi, Lady Silvia? I wanted to know, since you'll be in charge of teaching the boys, do you know a time when I can talk to them all?"
"Starlight! Nice job on the Report!" the 60 something woman replied. "I think I know just the time."
The day before she was to officially meet the Selected, Starlight was out in the gardens with her sisters. They were playing a modified version of capture the flag combined with laser tag with some of the guards. There were 5 people on each team, and Jenny was The Bush, a job Starlight had created. In every game, one person was picked to be the bush, their goal being to get in the way of both teams, and generally make a nuisance of themselves. Jenny was often picked to be The Bush, because she wasn't very good at aiming a gun, but was amazing at popping out of nowhere completely unexpected.
The sun was going down, and Starlight had just located the other team's flag, and was bringing it back to her side, when she saw a glint from one of the windows. She looked up and saw a face being hastily drawn back behind the curtains. It was one of the rooms given to the Selected. Luckily she was totally unrecognizable, as she was wearing full out camouflage and face paint, not to mention her lack of hair. She crossed the open area between sides and spun around, narrowly dodging a laser. She dove and rolled onto her side, a gong sounded to signal the end of the game. Nice touch, she thought.
"Come on peoples! It's getting dark! And I have stuff to do tomorrow!" she called. "Let's go!"
The other members of her team came running, and soon after the rest of the players followed. "Come on Jenny, it's time for bed." Izzy pulled her little sister inside and they went to her room. Starlight stopped at the garden door, and thanked the guards for playing. "It really means a lot to Jenny and Izzy. Thanks for putting up with us."
"No problem," replied Jack. "But you'd better go wash the paint off your face." He laughed, pushing one of his buddies down the adjacent hallway.
"Have fun with your wife!" called Starlight after him. She grinned and headed to her room, wishing it was morning already. She had the best plan to meet all the guys, and it would be a real laugh. As she settled into bed, she sighed contentedly. No worries about the Selection, no worries about the Selected, and no worries about her sisters. Perfect.
The next morning dawned bright and early, and Starlight was up with the sun. She helped her maids do some chores, played a couple games, practiced the piano, brushed her inch long hair, and did anything and everything that could possibly pass the time. "What time is it?" she groaned, flopping onto her bed.
"Just past 8, breakfast is at 10 today. If you want to do you plan and still have time to put on a dress, you should start getting ready," commented Jo. Jo was 21 and had married a guard, lifting her caste up from a six to a two, but she still worked as a maid for Starlight, mainly because she had nothing better to do, and Starlight's room was always interesting.
Kiki was 13 and always wore a pair of kitty ears and purred when you pet her. She was the cutest thing, with her light brown hair, hazel eyes, and shy quietness. She almost never said anything, but laughed a lot. Anna, who was 18, took care of the clothes, hair, and makeup department. If Starlight ever needed help with something fashion related, she would go to Anna was helping Starlight to pick out a nice shirt and pair of pants.
"You sure this plan of yours is going to work?" she asked as she applied just the tiniest amount of concealer to Starlight's face.
"Yes! I bet you no one will have a clue that I'm actually a girl!" she giggled, a little nervously. "You sure I'll have time to change? Cause Mom and Dad are not going to be happy if I show up in this." She gestured to her outfit.
"If you don't get too into it, then yes. But keep an eye on the time just in case. There, all done." Anna looked at the clock, "And just on time too! You'd better head down there now."
"Right! See you later. Hopefully I won't be late!" Starlight dashed out the door and down the hall. "Rogue princess coming through!" she yelled, as the guards all pressed themselves against the wall.
Starlight slowed down when she got to the room the Selected were in. "What do you think?" she asked the guards outside the door. "Think I can blend in?"
"Absolutely," one replied. "Just don't act like a girl."
"Since when have I acted like a girl?" she asked and walked into the room. "Sorry I'm late!" she called, lowering her voice to a deeper tone. She sat down in the nearest open chair, and started up a conversation with the guys around her. Smiling inwardly, she answered questions, asked about what they thought the princess was like, offered her opinions and basically found out who was a jerk and who was acceptable. None of the boys even realized that she was a girl, let alone the princess.
When she was done with one group, she would wiggle her way over to the next group. So far everyone seemed alright except for two jerks who kept complaining that they were hungry, and when was the princess supposed to get here, isn't she supposed to show up and talk to us? They were also prettyrude to the other boys as well, and gave Starlight some dirty looks. "You just stay out of my way, and you won't have any problems." Jared warned her and Cody, the "Sooo cute" one.
It turned out that Cody was a know-it-all when it came to the princess. He had apparently been preparing for if the King and Queen did decide to have a Selection, and had taken notes on everything Starlight had said and facts that were mentioned about her. He was shuffling thought the notes currently and Starlight asked if she could borrow them.
"Sure, but I'll need them back, so I can make revisions." He said, handing them over.
"You know, I don't think having these notes on the princess will help you. For all you know she could be nothing like that." Starlight said, handing them back. She stood up and walked to the door. "Well, I'm hungry! See you guys at breakfast!"
As she walked out she caught the eye of Silvia, and winked. Shouts of protest followed her exit. "How come he gets to go to breakfast and we don't!"
"No fair!"
"Gentlemen!" interrupted Silvia. "Remember your manners! I would have introduced the Princess to you, but apparently she just left to eat breakfast. You will be dismissed shortly."
"The- the princess? Where is she, I didn't see her!" said Jared.
Silvia sighed, "The girl who just left was Princess Starlight."
"That was a girl? Wait… that was the Princess?!" Jared gasped. "Shit!"
"Language young man!" scolded Silvia. She looked at the clock. "You are dismissed to go to breakfast. After that, you will go to the Common Room, unless instructed otherwise."
The Selected boys filed out and headed to the Dining room. As they entered, they found the royal family already sitting at the table. Unsure what to do, they hesitated. "Please have a seat," said King Maxon. The majority of the guys bowed and sat down, the rest following their example. There was an awkward silence that lasted for a couple of minutes until Starlight burst thought the doors.
"Sorry I'm late! It took longer than I expected." She was wearing a green dress, that matched her eyes, and the Shoes of Pain ad Maxon noticed. Her hair was the regular short length, and all of the boys were staring at her. She sat down next to her sisters and the food was being served. While the girls chatted, the silence from the Selected table was deafening. Starlight decided to break the tension.
"I know you all want to ask the question that's been wandering around," she said standing up. "Whoever asks it first gets brownie points."
They were silent until Cody stood up, bowed, and asked very nervously, "Why did you cut your hair?"
Starlight looked at Izzy. "You answer that one."
"She's had it that short for years!" she said. "She wears a wig whenever there's a public event."
The boys looked confused. "Why?" asked Cody.
"Because I like it this short, and I don't have to do anything to it!" explained Starlight. "There's also this idea I've had that the public would be used to seeing me with long hair, then on my wedding day, I don't put the wig on, and completely surprise everyone. Except for my husband, as he would be used to my hair by then."
"Oh." Cody looked around at his fellow competitors.
"You can sit down you know," laughed Starlight. "And sorry about the whole pretending to be a guy thing, I had to be able to talk to you guys without you acting or getting nervous." She sat down and smiled at the boys. "You guys are welcome to talk."
The rest of the meal was much less awkward than before. The room was buzzing with conversation. After she was done, Starlight interrupted the flow by saying, "When you are done, will Jared, Simon, Nathan and Cody please come talk to me in the hall?"
They looked nervously at each other, and followed her into the hall. "Jared, Simon, I'm sorry, but I'm sending you home."
Simon nodded, looking downcast, but Jared looked angry. "You don't even know me!" he protested.
"I know you enough to say that I don't like you," she responded, not liking his tone. She sighed, controlling her anger. "I'm sorry, but I wanted to tell you now, so that I wouldn't be leading you on. I'm sure you guys are great, but you're just not right for me. You can go back to your rooms and get your things."
"Nathan, I wanted to ask you to have dinner with me tonight." He nodded, looking exited. "Is seven alright with you?"
"Sure! Definitely your highness."
"First of all, get rid of the highnesses, if you have to call me something call me Princess Starlight, but I prefer just Starlight. I know that's technically a breech in protocol, but hardly anyone calls me by my title."
"Right," said Nathan. "Starlight… Princess Starlight."
She smiled, "Whatever, Cody, I wanted to tell you, ditch the notes. They are probably completely inaccurate. My public image is very different from my "real" self. If you really want to know me, you can meet me tomorrow for dinner. See you guys later!" Starlight walked in the direction of the Woman's room, leaving two stunned young men standing in the hall.
Starlight walked into the woman's room and over to Silvia. "So how did breakfast go?" the older woman asked.
"Fine, I cleared up the questions about my hair, and way of meeting them, as well as sent two people home and set myself up for two dates. Isn't that progress?"
"Well, you certainly have been busy," said Silvia. "Let's just hope the rest of the Selection can go this fast."
Ok! What did you guys think? Yes no? Maybe? More awesomeness on the way!
