A/N: I already got two amazing characters! Thank you to Lady Crystal Beach for Sera (It's really great that you've got an account now! ;)) and Jcuret98 for Camille. You guys rock! To everyone else reading this, don't be shy. Review away! I'm still accepting six more girls, so don't be afraid to create one. Next chapter will be about the makeovers- I'll include the twins, Camille, Sera and any new characters I get. Remember to review! ;)

-M

The whole Alverez family was up at 5 in the morning, thanks to Camille's mom, Carmen. She'd gotten up extra- early just so she could start packing. Camille groaned into her pillow. She really did not need any more reminders that 35 girls would be Selected today.

Usually, it would just be an inconvenience for her to have to pretend to care, but this time- this time was different. Because she had entered.

"Sweetie? What dress do you think you should wear when you get picked? We're going to have a party afterwards for you, and I want you to look your best!" Carmen yelled up at her.

The Selection hadn't even started yet, and it was already ruining her life. "What?!" she screeched, almost falling off her bed. "NO! No, no, no, no, absolutely not!" She rushed downstairs where her mother was no doubt looking through all the dresses she owned that might fit her daughter. "Mom," she said breathlessly, "no parties, and no dresses, or high heels, or anything else like that. Okay?"

Her mother looked horrified. "Then what do you want to wear?"

Camille shrugged, trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes. "The usual, I guess." She let out a yawn. "Besides, I probably won't get picked." No, she said mentally, I had better not get picked. If she did, she was sure she'd scream her head off.

Carmen glared at her. "You're 17 now, Camille. You need to grow up and start acting like a lady. The Selection will whip you into shape."

Camille rolled her eyes. "Right, of course it will." She put her right hand over her heart and made her eyes sparkle. "And I'll wear lovely pink dresses and these, like, super high high heels and-" she clasped her hands together and sighed for effect- "I'll meet the prince!"

Her mother assumed that shipping her daughter off to princess- land would make her the daughter she had always wanted. She was in for a surprise, because no amount of princes, palaces, dresses, or makeovers could really ever change Camille. And that was just if she got picked- which she was certain wouldn't happen.

Carmen frowned at her daughter's sarcasm but didn't bother to respond. Camille snorted and walked off, annoyed at her mother for treating her like some prize horse for the prince.

Later that day, her mom had packed five suitcases for her, which was just a horrific waste of time, and the family of four were all sitting in front of the TV. Camille zoned out until the announcer started listing off the Selected. They were all beautiful and looked happy to be having their picture taken, until they reached her. She had purposely pulled faces at the camera man until he gave up on her and chose the one of her scowling. The same caramel skin, the same forest- green eyes, the same long, thick curly black hair. There was no mistaking it for anyone else. Camille had been Selected.

Her mother frowned slightly at the picture, but Camille could tell that she was mainly just happy that her daughter had been Selected, though she wasn't surprised. Her father, however, looked as horrified as she felt. "My daughter? A princess?" he stuttered, disbelief plain on his face. Camille had always been a Daddy's girl; he had even trained her to be a pro-boxer. He had only gone along with her entering to appease her mother and because he obviously hadn't thought she'd get picked either- Camille wasn't sure how she felt about the second part. Christian just stood in shock, staring dumbly at the TV, as if he expected the announcer to yell, "Just kidding!" and pick someone else. Camille kind of wished he would. But there was no saving her from this. She had been Selected. What a nightmare.

"Yay," she mumbled. "I'm getting shipped off the princess- land."

Sera had been stress- baking for hours before Clara's curiosity got the better of her. "What's got you so stressed out?" she asked. Sera washed all the flour off her hands and tried to get her voice to work.

"I, uh…" She tried again. "Well, hopefully you'll see soon." She couldn't quite bring herself to admit to Clara that she'd entered for the Selection; she wasn't sure how her youngest sister would react to that. She still wasn't even sure why she had done it in the first place.

Sera loved her life as a Four. She had two lovely younger sisters, she had become head chef at her family's business 2 years ago, and she loved her job. Other than that, though, she had never been in love.

Maybe the Selection would be her chance to experience the love that she read about in books and had sometimes seen in movies. And, besides, it's not like it wouldn't be totally awesome to live in a palace. It probably wasn't even as big of a deal as she was making it; the chances of her being chosen were, like, one in a million.

"Where's Zizi?" Sera asked, stalling for time. Knowing Clara, the questions would be back before long, most of which Sera wouldn't know how to answer.

Clara shrugged. "Dunno." Brow creased in concern for her second sister, Sera quickly wiped her hands on a towel and stormed out of the family restaurant. Clara ran to keep up. "Wait! You can't just leave! There's no one there to take your place!" She was probably right, but that didn't stop Sera; she had always been one to act before she thought about the consequences of her actions. Oh, well. She'd worry about that when she really had to.

"Zizi's not with Brian again, is she?" Sera couldn't keep the anger and distrust out of her voice. Weeks ago, she had caught Brian with another girl. On a date. Even though he was dating Zizi. Sera hadn't had the heart to tell her what she had seen, but she had tried to warn Zizi to stay away from him. Unfortunately, she hadn't listened.

Clara finally caught up to her. "I already told you, I don't know!" Sera studied her surroundings, trying to think of where they would go. First she checked her house, then the nearby barn they sometimes liked to hang out in, then finally found them in an old restaurant that she had worked at years ago.

They were both sat at a table for two, placed near a window, sitting across from each other. Brian seemed to be nervously telling Zizi something, then he saw Sera and he went stiff. Zizi turned around in her chair to see what had freaked him out and Sera walked over to their table. Clara wisely decided to stand back and watch from a safe distance.

Sera was about to start yelling at her Zizi for making her worry about her and then ditch work, when she saw the tears threatening to spill down Zizi's cheeks and stopped short. She turned to Brian, and judging by his face, she looked like a demon from hell. She was furious. Nobody made someone Sera cared about cry. Not without getting a hell of a fight from her. "What. Did. You. Do?"

Zizi didn't give him the chance to answer. "He broke up with me." Sera was impressed that her sister managed to keep her voice even and calm. She stared into Zizi's large blue eyes, a mirror image of her own, filled with heartbreak. And then something in her completely snapped.

Sera grabbed Brian by his shirt collar and dragged him to his feet as he cried out in shock, bringing his face close to her's and watched as every drop of blood drained from his face until he was chalk white. "If you ever come anywhere near or ever so much as glance at Zizi the wrong way again," she made sure to keep her voice dangerously low to avoid causing too much of a scene and to freak him out even more, "and I will skin you alive." She let go of his collar and he fell back into his seat.

"Come on, Zizi," Sera said, never looking away from Brian's now- terrified face. The guy didn't even try to apologize, just sat there, frozen. The coward. "Let's not waste our time here with this sorry excuse of a person." With that, she looped one arm through Zizi's, the other through Clara's, and left the restaurant with her head held high.

As soon as she was sure that Brian wouldn't be able to see from the restaurant, Sera stopped and pulled Zizi in for a hug and the dam burst, soaking her apron with tears. When Zizi's breathing was almost back to normal, she pulled away and sniffed, mopping up the tears with her sleeve. Not knowing what else to do to make poor Zizi feel better, Sera blurted out, "I think Brian pissed himself back there," and was rewarded with shaky laughter from Zizi and a huge grin from Clara.

"That was awesome," her youngest sister commented. "You totally freaked him out." The three of them laughed a little more before walking the rest of the way home.

Zizi stayed put when they reached their house, as if stepping through the door would mean walking away from something important forever, with no way to go back. Sera motioned for Clara to go on in and she just shrugged and left Sera and Zizi alone in the silence standing just outside their house. "Thank you," Zizi whispered. Sera smiled softly back at her, knowing that a 'thank you' from her proud peacock of a sister was difficult to come by.

She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her sister's ear and gently lifted her chin so she would have to look her in the eye. "He wasn't even nearly good enough for you, anyway." Zizi sniffed and, after a moment of silence Sera decided that now was probably the best chance she would get to tell Zizi what she had been stressing about so much lately. "Besides, I entered the Selection and if I get in, you'll have guys wanting to date the Selected girl's sister coming from all around the world," she joked.

Her sister's jaw dropped just as Clara announced that the Report was on. Zizi remained silent as they all settled down and Sera was beginning to get worried that she was mad at her- her parents certainly were, seeing as she had ditched work- when they started listing off the Selected and her attention was otherwise occupied. It showed a girl with almost white hair with a polite smile, a dark haired girl who managed to look gorgeous while scowling at the camera- which Clara giggled at- and a girl with caramel hair in two french braids on either side of her head, with a few strands left artfully around her face, fair skin and- wait.

Sera remembered asking Clara to braid her hair the day she had gotten her picture taken. She had put some brown eyeliner on that day to make her big, blue eyes pop. It was her. While she was stunned into silence, Zizi had busied herself with shrieking and congratulations. Her parents seemed to forgive her for running away from work, and Clara-

Sera's youngest sister was nowhere in sight. After thanking the rest of her family for being so optimistic about her being Selected, she hurried off to Clara's room and found her draped over her bed, shoulders trembling and cheeks wet with tears.

"Clara!" Sera rushed to her side, concern written all over her face. "What's wrong?"

Blotchy faces and shaking, Clara pushed Sera away and stood. "You idiot! How can you not have already guessed? I entered, too!" Sera froze. At 16 years old, Clara certainly could have entered. But she had never imagined she actually would… "I entered, too," Clara whispered. "You know what?" she asked, her anger back and directed at Sera. "I thought that this time you'd allow me to shine. You became head chef with ease while I worked all day every day in the hopes of at least being 2nd place, and now this?!" Her dainty hand balled up into fists. "You're the worst sister ever! I hate you!"

Those words were worse than any physical blow. Sera stumbled backwards, eyes full of tears, as Clara stormed out of the room. And it occurred to Sera that her youngest sister was right. How could she expect her sisters to shine if she always beat them to it?

Suddenly being Selected didn't feel so amazing any more. It felt like a curse. If wasn't worth losing her sister's love over. It wasn't worth it. Sera wrapped her arms around her middle and sat down on the floor, letting the tears fall.

For once, there was no one here to comfort her. And perhaps, she didn't deserve it. Because someone who hurt the people who loved her without even realizing it didn't deserve to be loved at all. Maybe Clara hating her was justified, Sera thought, because in that moment, she hated herself, too.

A/N: What did you think? Did I portray the characters well? Keep in mind that this is my first SYOC story, so I'm not really used to writing characters I didn't create myself. Also, please keep creating characters for me to write. I'm having a lot of fun with this ;).

-M