Hoping for Love
Chapter 7
I do not own the Selection
Sarafinn Dina Clark, 6, St. George
I fiddled with the old flip phone I had found in a Two's garbage bag. I took off as many pieces as I could, and put them back together after studying the parts. I threw on my converse, black leggings, and a t-shirt depicting a night sky.
I went downstairs, to find the kitchen alive with my 5 siblings and half siblings. My step mom had already left for work (thankfully) and my father was desperately trying to prepare breakfast for all the kids. Luckily it was a Saturday, so we didn't have school. I hated school, and I was constantly judged for being a six.
My step sisters, Callie and Abigail, as always, were standing there with a smirk on their face, being rude to Emily.
I quickly stepped in and smiled sweetly. "Don't you ever get tired of living with yourself?" I asked. Callie and Abigail scowled and walked away.
"You're the best, Finn," Emily smiled up at me. She and I were as close as we could possibly be, and we loved each other to death.
"You want to set up some pranks for them?" I asked, smiling devilishly. Emily nodded, following me up to what I call "the prank closet". Years ago, when Dad had married Jennifer, I found a small attic right above the room I shared with Emily. We used to hide up there all the time when our step family was mean to us. Only Emily, Toby, and Jacob knew about it. After a while, I started getting into pranking them when they were rude to me. I hid all of the materials I could use as prank stuff up there.
"I have just the idea," I said, holding up a finger signaling Emily to wait for me. I climbed up the ladder and stepped into the dusty attic. I grabbed an expired pineapple pie, (Abby's least favorite fruit) a bottle of vinegar, a can of floor wax, a carton of spoiled milk, and a string. I put the materials in a bag and hauled it back down the ladder.
I opened the bag and tilted it towards Emily so she could see what was inside. "What do you think?" I asked.
"Perfect," she grinned and we raced back to the kitchen. Dad had left the kitchen to prepare for work and Jacob and Toby were doing last minute homework at the table.
"Whatcha doing?" Jacob looked at us questioningly.
"Another prank," Emily responded. Jacob shrugged and went back to his homework.
I put the spoiled milk on top of the refrigerator and tied a string from the bottom of the carton to the handle. Next, I spread the wax on part of the floor and attached a pie to the wall with masking tape. I put the bottle of vinegar on top of the cabinet where the pie was attached. I grabbed an egg out of the refrigerator and handed it to Emily.
"You know what to do," I said to her.
Emily smiled, "Of course."
"Callie! Abigail! Breakfast's ready!" I screamed. I smiled, thinking of the reaction I would get from my prank.
"Finally," I heard from the other room. "That took forever." I rolled my eyes. Those brats couldn't wait three seconds without whining.
Callie walked in and headed straight for the refrigerator to get her special yogurt. As soon as she opened the door, the expired milk poured all over her designer dress and sparkly heels. Emily quietly walked up behind Callie and cracked the egg over her head. I tried (and failed) to suppress my laughter. Soon, my siblings and I were cracking up at Callie's horrified look as Abby stood there in shock.
It wasn't long before the next step of the prank was put into action. "Hey, what's that pie doing?" Abby asked. She started to walk over to the cabinet where the pie was taped up. Only four steps later, Abby hit the floor wax and was sent flying face first into the pie. The impact of Abby hitting the cabinet caused the vinegar bottle to tip over, drenching my step sister in the disgusting liquid. This time, I didn't even try to not laugh. I let out all my laughter. Jacob and Toby were almost rolling on the floor and Emily was practically howling.
Unfortunately, Dad heard the commotion and came down into the kitchen. He looked at me disapprovingly, but I noticed a hint of a smile on his lips. He quickly recovered, and got to the scolding part.
"Sara, clean this up right now! This is no way to treat your step sisters!"
I saluted, "Sir yes sir." I got out the cleaning equipment and quickly cleaned up the kitchen. Being a maid, it didn't take very long before the kitchen was spotless.
As I was putting away the mop, Callie and Abigail walked into the kitchen. "Hey Sara, do you want to sign up for the Selection?"
I thought about this for a moment. I knew the twin devil's only wanted me to sign up because they thought they would get in and I wouldn't, and it would embarrass me. But I decided to let them have their fun. Plus, I needed to do this for Mom. She would be so proud of me if I got in.
"Sure, why not," I pretended to be oblivious to their plan. "I think we just got the forms this morning."
They nodded and we went to the living room to fill out our forms. We finished quickly, and headed off to the post office. We waited in a two hour line, making Callie and Abby very annoyed.
When we got inside, my step sisters pasted on fake smiles and got their pictures taken. I placed my form on a large stack and sat down on the stool. I smiled, thinking of this morning's prank. The photographer snapped the picture and I walked out the door.
Outside, I spotted my friends Ethan, Tripp, and Cole outside the laser tag arena.
"I'll see you guys at home," I said and sprinted off towards my friends.
"Hey guys," I said.
"What's up Finn?" They said simultaneously. "What's with the twin devil's?" Ethan pointed at my step sisters, his eyebrows raised.
The sisters did look happier than normal. "The Selection," I replied.
"Of course," Tripp said. "Did you sign up?"
"Yeah, I just sent in my form. Laser tag?' I asked.
"Sure," the boys grinned.
For the rest of the day, we played laser tag against some poor random people. Of course, we dominated.
I crept into bed, staring at the stars through the window. I thought about the Selection. All of a sudden, I wasn't so sure if I wanted to get in.
Do it for Mom, I thought as I drifted into a peaceful sleep.
Mackenzie Mae Dawson, 4, Waverly
"Here are the recipes, sweetie." Mom smiled and handed me a large stack of laminated recipes. Our family worked in a bakery, and we created all of our own recipes. I thanked Mom and headed into the bathroom before going to work. I put on a white top and light blue skinny jeans for work. I pulled my light blonde hair into a ponytail and threw on my apron. I put a smile on my face and walked into the bakery kitchen. Normally, I would be the cashier, but today I was baking. I fingered the silver necklace my brother gave me years ago. It was just a simple eighth note, but I loved it.
I started singing a new song I had composed as I put the first batch of cupcakes into the oven. I prepared the mint frosting and started on the batter for the lemon cake. The oven beeped and I pulled them out with a pair of light pink oven mitts that I bought my mom for her birthday three years ago. I swirled the icing over the chocolate cupcakes, and started a batch of red velvet cupcakes. Soon, Kevin joined me and Mom came in to open the store. Dad took Evan to his therapy. Evan was my younger brother and was born mute. He would have been an Eight, but we loved him too much to let him go. I felt awful that we couldn't really do anything for him. We didn't have the money, so all we could do was take him to therapy.
After a long day of baking, I had made 2 batches of mint chocolate chip cupcakes, 4 batches of M&M cookies, 5 batches of red velvet cupcakes, 2 lemon cakes, 7 birthday cake batter cake pops, 3 batches of glazed donuts, 2 batches of banana bread, 4 batches of cookie dough cupcakes, and 2 chocolate cakes. I was exhausted and flour covered my face and clothes. I went home with Mom and Kevin, and started preparing dinner.
While waiting for Dad and Evan to come home, I took a quick shower. I threw on a nice top, jeans, and sandals. I walked back downstairs and turned on the TV for the Report.
"We're home!" Dad called out from the front door.
"Dinner's ready and the Report's almost on!" Mom replied. Dad came in and hugged Mom. He kissed me on top of my head and fist bumped Kevin.
"How'd it go, Evan?" I asked, smiling at my younger brother. He smiled back and we high fived. We filled our plates with tacos and sat down in the living room to watch the Report.
King Erik and Queen Eadlyn made some boring political announcements, and then Prince Logan stepped down and started talking. He looked so dreamy with his electric blue eyes and wavy brown hair. He was smiling brightly, but there was a tinge of reluctance on his face. I decided to start listening to what he was saying.
"The Selected will be picked at random and read on the Report. I'm hoping that through this Selection, I will find a great queen for this country and a great wife." I was shocked. I never expected Prince Logan to have a Selection. I thought all of that was over after Queen Eadlyn's Selection.
"You should enter Kenz," Mom's voice cut through my thoughts. "You're beautiful, he would definitely choose you."
"It would be a great opportunity," Dad said, smiling at me. Kevin smiled sympathetically while Evan was practically bouncing in his seat.
I thought about it for a moment. "I'll do it." I announced.
Everyone tackled me in a group hug. I could see Mom and Dad's proud smiles.
After dinner, I washed the dishes and swept the floor. I changed into my pajamas and went up to Evan's room to say goodnight.
"Hey Evan," I smiled at him. "You ready for bed?"
Evan frowned and I laughed. "Ok then." I got into Evan's bed and snuggled up against him. I started to sing lullabies to him and his favorite songs. After half an hour, my throat was getting hoarse and I could tell Evan was ready to sleep.
"Goodnight," I said to Evan. He put his hands up to his ear and closed his eyes, which was his way of saying goodnight. I smiled at him and turned off the light next to his bed. I snuggled deeper into the bed, with Evan only a few inches away.
I thought about the Selection. It seemed like it would be fun. I would meet the royal family, live in the castle, and I would get money. Hopefully, I could earn enough money to pay for Evan's surgery and for Kevin to go to college.
At 6:00 in the morning, I woke up. I got out of bed, stretched, and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. I was nervous about the Selection. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep anymore, so I changed and went downstairs to fill out the form. It didn't take me very long, and I left the house. I jogged all the way down to the post office. I was only the 7th person in line, so I only had to wait for about 5 minutes to get inside.
I placed my form on a small stack, and went to get my picture taken. I smiled brightly, thinking of finally having enough money to pay for Evan's surgery.
After my picture was taken, I thanked the photographer and went back home. Eli was already at my house, even at 7:30. He and Evan were playing with a LEGO set in the living room.
"Hey Kenz," Eli smiled up at me from the carpet.
"Hi, mind if I join?" I pointed at the structure Evan had started to build.
"Sure," Eli said as Evan nodded.
I plopped down onto the carpet and built a LEGO airplane. For the rest of the day, I had fun with my family and Eli. I hoped these times would never end.
Thank you to .just. , Thedaffodilqueen, XOStarbrightXO, and just-add-a-dash-of-savvy for reviewing, and thanks to .just. and The Drakonian Strider for submitting characters!
Also, thanks to everyone who favorited and/or followed this story! I really appreciate it.
~Demigod18
