The Elite

35 girls entered the castle, but only six remain in the fight for the crown.

Chapter Two: Wrong or Right?

Chapter Song: Like We Used To by Rocket to the Moon

A knock at my door woke me from my dreams. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes I walked to open the door. Maxon was standing there with a large smile on his face.

"My Dear," he greeted.

"How many times have I told you that I am not your 'dear'?" I can't help but smile a little bit too, his smile was too infectious.

"So you say, but I know you'll come around," he then walked by me to look around my room, "You still haven't changed anything."

"I don't plan to either," I reply as I push the door closed; I don't want any of the girls walking past to see Maxon in my room.

"Are you going to tell me the truth about what happened at breakfast, or are you just going to pretend like you're fine?" He asked as he plopped himself down on my bed. His usually well-kept blonde was slightly messy today, which was something I had never seen before. I hated to admit it, but he did look really good like that.

"I have no idea what you mean; I am perfectly fine," I answer, "Now, why'd you tug your ear at me?"

He laughed slightly at my answer, "I wanted to be sure you were alright."

I sat down next to him and didn't reply. We stayed like that for a few more minutes, until he spoke again, "It was him, wasn't it? You were thinking about your ex-boyfriend."

Slowly I nodded my head, "Yes."

Maxon sat up straighter and looked me right in my eyes. In less than a second his lips were on mine, it was as if he was asking, no begging, me to forget the guy who broke my heart, forget Aspen, forget the guard who stands in front of my door each night. Of course Maxon only knew him as the guy who broke my heart and I planned to keep it that way.

This was my first kiss with Maxon that I felt something like urgency. For what felt like the hundredth time I compared my kisses with Maxon and Aspen. Usually Maxon's kisses were soft and shy, but this time it was like he was desperately trying to convince me of something: maybe that I was the one he wanted to marry.

Finally we broke apart. A smile played on both of our lips before they met again. My fingers slowly moved up to run into Maxon's hair. This was one of the rare times where I could honestly imagine a future without Aspen; I could imagine a life where I was married to the Prince of Illea.

"Is this the only reason you tugged your ear?" I whispered as I leaned against his chest. Why he is so muscled, even though he does deskwork, still confuses me to no end.

"What? No! I had other reasons, but this is nice too," he kissed my forehead.

"Those reasons are?" I quirked an eyebrow.

Maxon sighed while running his fingers through his blonde hair. He flopped down on my bed and said, "I-I honestly don't know: I guess you're just way too easy to talk to."

A forced smile stretched across my lips as I sat down next to him. Despite myself my mind wandered back to Aspen and how bad of a person I must be for loving him. "What is it you need to talk about? Too much paperwork?"

He didn't laugh.

"There is a Report on tonight, and I just know that they're going to ask me why I haven't made a decision yet, but I don't have an answer!"

Because the answer was me: He being upset is my doing.

"I'm sorry," I whispered as I played with a strand of Maxon's hair. And I was sorry, sorry that I was causing him pain. I was sorry that he loved me, but just outside my door stood a guard who I was still, at least a little bit, in love with.

"It's not your fault, America," he said as if he knew exactly what I was thinking, which had to be completely impossible.

We stayed like that for what felt like a lifetime before he finally sat up.

"I should go and get ready," he announced as he got on his feet.

"Goodbye then," I replied.

Just as he was about to leave, he spun around on his heels and kissed me full force.

"For good luck," he smiled against my lips. With that he exited my room.

As the door was shutting my eyes caught Aspen's. I swallowed the lump that had grown in my throat.

Not much later my maids arrived and proceeded to start to prep me for the report.

Lucy, Mary, and Anne chatted about any bit of gossip that they could think of and I chimed in occasionally. My mind kept wandering back and forth between Maxon the prince and Aspen the guard. My heart must have been twisting in knots by that point and it took everything in me to not let my emotions show to my maids. I could never tell them about Aspen: it would tear them to bits. Even now it astounds me how much they want me to be queen.

"There, you look perfect, Lady America!" Anne cooed and the other girls nodded their heads in agreement.

I looked at myself in the mirror. She was right, I looked absolutely perfect. My hair fell in red ringlets that framed my face, which had light makeup on. My new blue dress ruffled all the way to the floor. I looked breathtaking... I looked like a princess.

"And now for the part of The Report you have all been waiting for!" Gavril smiled brightly at the crowd. It was amazing how well he was able to control an audience. How can anyone be that comfortable in front of a camera? "Tonight I will interview both Prince Maxon and the lovely Elite!"

Gavril stood up from his seat and waved Maxon over, "Come on down Your Majesty!"

Maxon gave a curt smile and walked over to the seat next to Gavril. They sat down next to each other and the interview began.

"Alright, I'll start with the obvious question: Why haven't you made a choice between these beautiful women yet?"

The blond prince laughed nervously, "Well, it is a very difficult and life changing decision, don't you think?"

Gavril nodded in agreement, "Yes, yes, I suppose it is. But at least tell me that you have a favorite so far!"

Maxon's eyes flicked towards me for the briefest of moments before he answered, "There is one, but I have to be sure. After all I'm not only picking a wife for myself, I am also choosing a queen for this country."

"Would you mind sharing with the lovely people watching who that one is?"

"Now, I don't be that would be appropriate just yet, Gavril."

"Yes, I suppose you're right," Gavril fake sighed in a pitiful way.

The interview ended after only a few more exchanges of words. It was now the Elites' turns to be interrogated.

Celeste went first. As usual she tried to show as much cleavage as possible , it was like she was trying to flash Maxon... and all of Illea. Her answers almost made it sound like she and Maxon had done much more than what is appropriate. It was obviously a lie. Right?

These interviews were much like our first, except longer and a bit more personal. One of the main differences was when the question "Have you and Maxon kissed yet?" was asked, the reply was always "Yes," followed by a blush and a shy look at the Prince.

All too soon Marlee sat back down next to me and I was called to the seat. Gulping I stood up and took shakily nervous steps towards Gavril. Carefully I sat down and took a deep breath. I smiled as best as I could, trying to make it believable that I wasn't screaming on the inside.

"So, Lady America, have you kissed our beloved prince?" Of course that just had to be his first question.

"A few times," I dared not sneak a glance at the boy in question.

"Ooh, care to elaborate?" he said, just as he had with the other five girls.

"I believe that would be much too awkward, because I know my father is watching . My first answer probably already made him choke while my mother and sister squeal," I smiled jokingly.

Gavril laughed, "Well, I don't want to give the poor man a heart attack! How different is it being an Elite?"

I immediately knew the answer, "Well, it's quieter, we sit at a smaller table to eat now, there's less of a chance that you'll have the same dress as another girl, and it all feels more... real now."

"The most important change is obviously the wardrobe issue. Am I right?" he joked.

"Yes, obviously!" I agreed.

"Well, how about you tell the audience a bit about your family? Do you have any siblings?"

"Yes, I'm the middle of five. There's Jenna, the oldest, who is pregnant with her first child. Kota comes next and he's the in demand sculptor now. Then there's me. May is my younger sister," I pause and look straight in the camera, "who I am very disappointed in at the moment for making me lose a bet. Gerard is the baby … he likes soccer and bugs."

Gavril put his hand up, "I was going to say something about how wonderful your siblings sound, but now I am I far more interested in your bet that you lost. Care to elaborate?"

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Maxon laughing and barely keeping his stony posture intact, "I made a bet with the dear Prince Maxon that the strawberry tarts that are served in the castle could make May cry," I explained before turning to the camera as if I was tlooking right at my sister, "Here's a life lesson May: When at the end of my letter I write something like 'May, couldn't you just cry because of how good these tarts are?' it means you need to stop what you're doing and cry! When the delivery boy is standing there, watching you eat what I sent and read my letter, that should be a red flag right there."

"So what did Prince Maxon get out of this?" Gavril asked with a large goofy grin on his face.

"We walked around the garden," that sounded pitiful.

"Well, I guess that was a win for both of you! "

"I suppose it was," I replied.

Gavril glanced off stage for a moment, "Looks like we will have to wrap this up now. It was a pleasure, Lady America."

A little too quickly I jumped up, "Thank you, Gavril."

Finally I was released to my place next to Marlee. The Report ended soon and we were allowed back to our rooms.

Aspen opened my door for me as usual.

"You were great out there, 'Mer" he half spoke and half whispered.

"I didn't look like a nervous wreck?" I asked.

"No," he paused, "You always look beautiful."

With one last look at him, I softly closed my door. I crawled into my bed and was asleep not much later.

A/N:

I am so sorry that it took me so long to get this chapter up! I was halfway done when I had to start pulling all nighters for school work, so it was put on the back burner. I was planning to work on it during Spring Break (which I've done), but my school has my laptop , which meant I had to start all over AND find a computer that I could type semi-properly on.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. If you did (or if you didn't) then please leave me a review! Also, each chapter will now have a song to go with it, incase you want to have a playlist that fits this story!