Chapter 4

Cali

I felt the pressure of a large, strong object in front of me and I fell down. It was somebody's chest.

But when I looked up, I kind of wished that the mustache man would come back to take me to jail.

I bumped into Laurent.

Prince Laurent was the younger brother of Prince Xander, who was having the Selection. His brown hair was neatly brushed to the side and his bright blue eyes searched my face, my body, to see if he had hurt me. I got up, rushing away from him and through the crowd. I could feel his eye burn into the back of my head as I ran through the crowd, bumping people and pushing them out of the way, not even caring that I was being rude and disrespectful. I wondered if that mustache man wanted me back, because I'd be glad to go to jail rather than think about me, and him, the prince, bumping into each other.

I stepped behind a tall and buff man who didn't even notice me because he was trying to look above the head of everyone else to get a glimpse of the prince. The man peered above the others, probably realizing that the prince was speeding right towards where he was standing... or more truly, where I was standing.

Why is he following me? Why does he care and why does he want to see me again? I thought as I slipped past the tall man again, trying to get out of the crowd. I heard the prince's voice like a small echo among the loud crowd. I think he was telling them to please calm down and leave him alone. Fat chance that'll ever happen, I thought again and sprinted back towards the way I came from, then thought, I think I'll have a ton of fangirls crowding around me like him if I go back that way. So I paused, turned around and started going the other way.

It wasn't a few blocks later that I really thought that I was alone and safe from the prince and his people. I sighed, running my hand across my face and trying to calm down.

"Just think Cali, all you have to do is think," I whispered to myself before raising my hand to start moving again. But something caught my hand while it was about to reach the sky. What the...? I whirled around, facing the person who dared to lay a hand on me. The person who dared to touch me.

But I didn't get to say anything to them, because my throat slid shut as if it were closed and going on break for a while. The prince was standing in front of me, gripping my wrist. I don't know why, but I had the urge to fix my hair, even if that was impossible with all of the knots and tangles embedded into my dark locks. I stared at him for a second longer. I realized that he didn't look at lot like his brother or parents. Why would his parents adopt him if he looked nothing like anyone in their family, because I was positive he was five times more handsome then his brother.

Wait what did I just say? I questioned and my eyes widened. I tried to pull out of his grasp but his hand wasn't becoming less gentle. He knew I'd run away. Typical, I guess. It was really typical to stereotype an Eight.

"So you were just going to run away from me? You weren't even going to say sorry? Or at least bow before crawling your way back into an alley?" His voice cut me like a knife. Only then did I realize the reason he was so good looking. He was jerk. He was cold hearted jerk who was bratty and didn't care about anything but getting the respect he believed he needed, even though he didn't deserve it.

I growled under my breath and I paused before saying something.

"You don't deserve a sorry, much less a bow," I said and he scoffed, pushing me onto the ground. I peered up at him from under my eyelashes (Just saying, I have no clue how the heck someone can look at someone else through their eyelashes, but whatever) He studied me, I guess realizing my ratty hair and my dirty clothing and marking me as an Eight.

Why did I even fill out that stupid form? These royals are obviously just stupid pawns. Their just figureheads, things to make our country look more in line even though it's falling apart at the seams, I thought, getting up and dusting my jeans off, even though they were like a year old, ripped and a little too tight on me. But that was all I had to wear. It's not like I had a bunch of maids to make me a new outfit everyday like him.

"I don't even know why I waste my time on you people. You don't even respect me like I should be respected," he said and waited a few seconds before laughing, "You truly are a rat that scurries throughout the province of Angeles looking for food and shelter."

I gulped.

"It's pathetic to even look at you," he rambled on and on and I finally had enough of this stupid boy.

"At least I don't fake a royal. The only reason you have a prince's crown on your head is because the queen and king needed comfort after the princess went missing seventeen years ago," I spat at him and pushed past him, leaving Laurent standing in an alley way, feeling hurt and empty.

I'm sure of it.

Because every word was true.

And I wanted him to be hurt; I guess that's why I used such harsh words. Maybe I wanted him to be hurt because he made me feel like nothing, maybe because he deserved it, maybe because I just thought he deserved it. Wait what? I questioned myself; you didn't think he deserved it! He did deserve it!

Right, yeah, he did deserve what I said to him.

And that sealed it. I was going to get my way into the Selection and do something about these royals.

Lavender

I managed to slip past my mother so that I wouldn't have to go through her questions. It was terrible having to have her around to annoy me. I already had Vincent, why did I need her too?

The streets of Hansport seemed pressured and sticky somehow. Like a humid day, except Hansport rarely became humid.

I hadn't grabbed breakfast in the morning so I was heading to my favorite café a few blocks away from my house. Every restaurant or shop I past I could smell the food bellowing out the windows and doors, trying to wind me in like a fish on a hook. But I wasn't about to walk into any of them. I promised Veronica and Kelly I'd meet them at Cammy's Café.

I turned a corner and saw the bright pink sign hanging above a small building with a man smoking outside even though there was a no smoking sign right on the door. I rolled my eyes, of course someone is smoking, nobody follows rules these days. I mean, seriously, last week Veronica told me that someone had cheated on a very important test at one of the universities in Hansport and nobody cared!

I stepped into the café, noticing Kelly and Veronica in the back, at our usual table. Kelly looked up and smiled, motioning for me to come sit down. I did, glad to get away from the world outside the walls of Cammy's Café.

"Veronica that's stupid. You aren't going to get anything because of some dumb diet you're on?" Kelly asked and Veronica shrugged, "I need to stay skinny if I'm ever going to make it as a model."

I rolled my eyes playfully and sat down across of Kelly.

"So, is she going on about that diet again?" I asked and Veronica made a face.

"It's not just any diet, it's the diet I need to be a model, and I'm not going to give up on my dream just because I was a chocolate milkshake with you guys! Okay?" Veronica sounded serious, but she was never truly that serious so it was kind of funny. When I snuck a glance at Kelly next to me, she was already trying to put her hand over her mouth so that she wouldn't smile or laugh, but we both failed, erupting into laughter that echoed throughout the whole café.

Cammy raised an eyebrow at us from where she was standing, putting a hairnet over her orange curls.

Sorry, I mouthed and turned back to where Veronica was angrily telling Kelly about the diet.

Thanks for reading that chapter and I hope you liked it! Tell me what you think of the story so far!