And I'm back! I'm so excited! I've had 45 new readers since yesterday! Blaaaahh! So excited!
…Sorry about that, I'm easily excited. Starting where we left off…
"-Let's get to the names! Prince Alexander, if you would…"
I pick up the first paper, "From Kent, Felicity Daisy De La Fuente." The picture that shows is of a younger Hispanic girl with wavy caramel brown hair and surprisingly blue eyes.
I toss the paper on the ground, eliciting a few chuckles from the camera crew.
"From Sota, Ellie Caster." She had shiny black hair with thickly cut bangs hanging over her dark skin.
"From Dominica, Jordan Cande Romanos."
Ryker winces, then leans closer to me to whisper, "Not Jor-dan, Hor-dan. The 'J' is like an almost silent 'H'."
My face going red, I correct myself, "My apologies, Hor-dan Cande Romanos." She isn't an especially remarkable girl, with her average looks and straight brown hair, brown eyes, and Hispanic skin tone. The only way I'll remember her is because I messed up her name.
"From Tammins, Penelope Hakkam." Deep, dark eyes that looked like holes stared creepily out from under dirty blonde hair. It didn't help that her head was tilted to the side like she thought the camera was lopsided. I shifted uncomfortably on my seat.
"From Hansport, Raine Angel Wilson." This girl looked like a porcelain doll came to life with her pale, clear skin, golden waves for hair, and eyes like sapphires.
"From Carolina, Mariah Polor." Her frizzy brown hair was pulled into two pigtails, and her hazel eyes looked tired. From the tiredness alone, I could tell she was either a six or a seven.
"From Allens, Sida . . . Polor . . ." I assumed they were related somehow, because their pictures were almost identical, but Sida's hair was in a braid and she had freckles. Makes sense too, because Allens and Carolina are right next to each other.
"From Bankston, Nellie Thomas." She was African-American, but had red hair. It was probably dyed, but in my opinion, didn't go very well with her complexion.
"From Ottaro, Lilliana Sandalwood." A younger girl with the reddest hair I have ever seen. It was in tight curly spirals, and made her blue eyes pop out even more, and showed off her freckles.
"From Labrador, Benson Rufus." She had stringy hay hair, and unremarkable eyes. Not to be superficial, but she was just kind of ugly.
"From Angeles, Fae Harrison." I gave a little start of surprise. The teenage singing superstar entered the Selection? Her big blue eyes seemed to taunt me like, 'yeah, I entered, what are you gonna do about it?'
"From Lakedon, Jane Zahar." I couldn't tell if it was a trick of the light or not, but her eyes seemed purple. I was so focused on that, I didn't even notice anything else until the picture disappeared.
"From Sonage, Kate Jasmin." Her tan was impeccable, and it looked like she had just arrived from the beach, her slightly frizzy hair was wavy blonde, and her deep blue eyes reflected the ocean. She had on glasses that didn't make her look any less beautiful. She seemed a bit older than me, or maybe just more mature.
"From Paloma, Nicole Jade Wilson." Another famous person?! She's volleyball player and comes from a long line of athletes, her dad a famous swimmer, and her mom a dancer. If I had any doubts about who it was, the brunette ponytail with gold highlights and the muscles I could see just in her photograph confirmed it.
"From Midston, Lila Winters." My only thought was 'you have got to be kidding me'. She was very obviously a farmer, if I couldn't tell by the worn flannel, it was the fact that she had mud smeared on her neck and grass in her hair. I was trying to keep a composed face and failing.
"From Saint George, Delilah Trains." Her face was turned to the side and her mouth was open like she was talking to someone. Her straight brown hair had highlights, but that's about all I could gather.
"From Likely, Annaliese Edina Montgomery." She had straight dark hair, coffee eyes, and freckles. Kind of pretty…
"From Hudson, Cara Plains." Her last name practically described her. Her sallow face and half closed eyes showed that she was a seven, no doubt about it. She made me feel sick just by looking at her.
"From Honduragua, Luciana Martinez." Her hair was cut haphazardly, like she didn't have time for anything better, and she looked distracted, like there was somewhere she'd rather be.
"From Denbeigh, Allison Marketer." An African-American girl with her hair pulled tightly back and had bright red lipstick that went surprisingly well with her coloration.
"From Zuni, June Orellis." Another plain girl. I sighed. This was getting tedious and boring. How many girls were left? Too many, that's how many.
"From Columbia, Willow Sanders." I almost fell out of my chair I was so surprised. She had a Mohawk! Her makeup made her look like a ghost, and she had almost too many piercings to count. Just why?
"From Whites, Rebecca Lean Counter." Thick reddish brown hair that she had tried to tame waved around her face. She looked like one of her relatives might be from New Asia. Her light blue eyes were bordering on grey. Her lips were pink without any lipstick. She looked slightly self-conscious but not unhappy.
"From Summer, Nohemi Sheena." She had what I suppose she thought was a sexy smirk, but it just pulled her face out of shape. I sighed again. The papers were piling up on the floor, but there were still more girls.
"From Yukon, Hope Jennings Eden." She could have blended in with snow, her skin was pale, her hair platinum blonde, her lips with almost no color, but her eyes were dark brown, almost black. I couldn't help shuddering. They were unearthly.
"From Atlin, Bridget Oakwell." The sight of her almost literally took my breath away. She had tan skin (kind of unusual for a region so far north), black hair in a long braid, and blue eyes.
"From Clermont, Natalie Roman." Her auburn hair was back in a headband, and she had hazel eyes that seemed to melt as you looked at them.
"From Calgary, Veronica James." A, well, a nerd showed up on the screen, with chunky glasses and pigtails. She had acne and crooked teeth, and in general, she just disgusted me.
"From Waverly, Shiloh Layla Newman." The first thing that popped out at me was the scar running along the right side of her face. Her messy light red hair was sort of covering it. Her hair was much shorter than any of the other girls, swept off the side of her face. Her eyes were absolutely fascinating, with orange, green, and gold. But before I could get another look, the picture disappeared.
"From Fennley, Annie Beaker." The stark purple hair took me by surprise. She must be a two or three to be able to afford something as materialistic as hair dye. Other than that, though, she was very average.
"From Bonita, Elise Gonera." A girl surprisingly pale for living so far south displayed, and her thick black braid seemed out of place with her skin tone.
"From Belcourt, Flower Eduarda Gaines." A beautiful girl appeared on the screen, with golden hair in a bob cut and green eyes, but her eyes were disdainful as if I should be so lucky to look at her.
"From Dakota . . . Dakota Farthing." Why on earth would her parents name her after their region? Now really. Her blonde hair was in a bun directly on top of her head. Maybe she was trying to be fashion forward, but it didn't work.
"From Panama, Mayda Herreda." She looked to be the common Panamanian girl, but one of her eyes was black, and the other light brown. I got excited when I realized I held the last piece of paper in my hands. I unfolded it greedily, ready for The Report to be over.
"From Baffin . . . Princess Úna Lillias Acheson?!" I whipped my head around, looking at my father for confirmation. His face wasn't giving away anything, so I decided to study her picture. I remembered her from many multi-country events by her dark wavy hair with two beaded braids and pale skin. It was her for sure. But why would the princess of Scotland enter the Selection?
Woooo! Cliff hanger (for real this time)! What did you think of the girls? Why is the princess of Scotland in the Selection? The world may never know (except for .just. and myself that is)! The next chapter will feature Prince Alexander and his best friend Miles (submitted by AsguardianGrizzly).
Mailbag:
.just. : Yes the new chapter is here! And I did the earthquake scene just for giggles. The sass is pretty much a façade, and you'll see more of that later.
Wolfofstark: Thank you so much! When the girls actually get to the palace, you'll be able to see his reaction to them better