CHAPTER 10! I have no clue why I'm so excited because of this. Well hope you like the chapter!

Chapter 10

Cali

I was not going to stay around talking to the prince while his younger brother kept trying to flirt with me from a distance. It was torture being in the same room as him! I needed to be excused.

"Hello ladies," Prince Xander came up from behind me and put his hand on the back of my chair. I tensed up, blinking once before turning around to see his eyes on me. He quickly glanced behind him to cover up his odd stare. I swallowed. This was going to be a long lunch.

The prince thrust himself into an empty chair next to me. I turned my head so that I wouldn't have to look at him, but I'd be able to hear him.

"I was just wondering if I could know everyone's names...not that I didn't remember them or anything but..." was the prince nervous? I snuck a peek at him as he tried to get the name out of the girl next to me, who I noticed was very shy and didn't talk much. I poked the prince's shoulder, confused by my own sudden confidence towards him. He turned his head and looked at me, raising an eyebrow.

"Her name is Hortense Callahan, she's very shy," I said and he nodded, looking away fro a minute before turning his attention completely on me.

"And you must be Cali Fredrick, you're an Eight, aren't you?" He asked and I didn't know if I should feel kind of offended or not. He was pointing out how poor I was, he was telling me I was pathetic...right?

"Yes, I'm Cali, the Eight, I guess your nickname is accurate, but not very polite for a prince," I crossed my arms and turned my head to the right, away from his now hurt face. I noticed the girl Lavender I had met the day before glaring at me, before she turned back to one of her friends, named Carla I think. I huffed and blew a strand of my dark hair out of my face.

I turned back to him, and his face lifted with hope.

"Your Highness I'm sorry for my behavior, I'm just a little offended by the way you said that," I muttered and he smiled, "No, I'm sorry Lady Cali, I shouldn't have said it that way, let me apologize by taking you out to the gardens tomorrow afternoon. My treat."

Wait what?

Did he just...?

No, he didn't...

He couldn't have...

But sadly, he did. The prince just asked me to be his first date. And he apologize. What did this guy think he was doing? Pretending to be kind to me. He couldn't fool me, I knew about his brother's poor behavior and he probably was the same behind the scenes. Just wait. I'll go on this date, and then during the date, he'll send me home. Should I except the invitation then? I need information, so I probably shouldn't. But that small part of me that actually wanted some romance during this Selection, was urging the idea of a date. My mind was just stupid enough to go with it.

"Um...yes of course Your Highness, okay," I stuttered and his smile widened. Was it possible he was actually a nice guy?

No.

No it wasn't.

I sighed as he went on to asking Amber what her name, and then another girl who went by Katie.

I glanced at Prince Laurent, who's face seemed serious now, as he stared down at his plate, moving his fork over the food he hadn't ate. I paused thinking.

What were these princes doing to me?

Lavender

Cali was talking to the prince, and something inside of me hated the fact that she was. I kept mentally slapping myself, telling me that it was stupid, the idea that I was angry because of Cali and the prince getting along so well.

I listened half heartedly to what Belle was talking about. Something that had to do with chickens and how evil they are. Which I really couldn't see.

"Sometimes they kill their children once their born! They are just nasty mothers!" Belle said, in her voice that sounded like a young child's. She told us that her uncle owned a farm, so she went to visit him sometimes.

"His hens are meaner then the roaster!" She said, throwing her hands up in the air as she said it. Just to be a little more dramatic.

I looked over at the prince and Cali. Lady Cali wasn't listening to the prince talk to the other girls anymore. Her face was slack as she fiddled with her necklace. I paused, staring at it a little more. Along with her outfit, it all seemed to be rushed on, like she was trying to hurry up because she was inpatient. Or maybe because she wanted to come and meet the prince so badly.

I almost laughed at that. Cali was an Eight, and didn't seem like the kind of person to like the royal family, much like me.

"Those animals are like little Velociraptors!" Belle said and Carla raised an eyebrow.

"Little what?"

"Velociraptors," I said and both Belle and Carla looked my way, "They're dinosaurs, they're about six feet and eight inches long, I think, and weigh up to about thirty three pounds. I researched dinosaurs so I know a lot about them. The scientific name for them is Velociraptor mongoliensis, I'm pretty sure."

"What?" Both girls said at the same time and laughed. I sighed. Would anyone here understand science like me? Or was a bound to be a weirdo for the rest of my life?

The girls started talking again, totally forgetting about my little school lesson. I looked at my food and pushed it away. I wasn't hungry anymore. I just wanted to think. Was I just too intelligent for this? I never wanted to be a queen, I wanted to be a scientist, but my mother would never let that happen. She wanted my brother Vincent to be a doctor like my father, and then she wanted me to marry up a caste to be a Two and be some kind of model. She always told me I was pretty, but when I looked in the mirror, all I saw was science goggles on my face with a lab coat wrapped around my shoulders.

But now, instead of my shoulder being wrapped up in a lab coat, they were sagging, sad to be left unnoticed.

Until I left a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Prince Xander standing over me. I almost fell out of my chair I was so surprised. I never imagined he'd come up to me, and only me.

"Hello Lady Lavender, you looked a little gloomy from over at that table and I wanted to know if everything was alright," he sounded concerned, but the part of my mind that knew better was biting me to say something like, "And it's your business because...?"

I played with my fingers for a few seconds more. Never in my life was considered the shy type, only quiet, because I was always doing something, getting something done. I wasn't shy, because if somebody came up to me, I'd talk to them. I was confident and brave. But there was something off today. Not only about the royal family, and how nice the prince was turning out to be, but there was something strange about me. I was being a coward. I was hiding away in a corner like I didn't want to talk about my feelings or whatnot.

I surveys the crowd before focusing my attention back onto the prince, who was still standing there. Concerned.

I made a fake smile, trying to hold it together for as long as I could.

"I'm fine Your Highness," I replied meekly, "Just thinking."

He nodded and left me sitting there. Once again alone.

Amber

I studied Cali, trying to see what was wrong with her. Shouldn't she have been happy? The prince had asked her out on a date. The first date. I shook her shoulder and she peered at me from the corner of her eye.

"What is it Amber?" She asked, her tone serious. Did she not want to go on a date with the prince? How could she not want to go on a date with the prince? He was the whole reason we were here! She should have felt honored.

"Why are you so upset? The prince asked you on a date! You should be excited! I'll help you pick out a dress! Don't worry it'll be amazingly fun!" I yelped but Cali shushed me. He sighed and turned in her chair, her dress cascading down the opposite side of the metal chair, "Amber it's not like that. I'm an Eight," she paused, as if this was an excuse and it wasn't the real reason, "the prince won't want an Eight in the Selection. I'm probably going to be thrown out.

"But this is his apology, remember?" I asked and her face hardened. She remembered, but that didn't seem to make things any better for some reason.

"I know," Cali answered sourly and I frowned. An apology was a bad thing? I never realized how strange Cali was until now. She was acting weird, so I turned around to talk to the woman next to me. Cali said silent until I heard Hortense speak up, which was odd for her.

Hortense's rough voice cut through the air as she spoke.

"What's wrong Cali?" She asked and I paused, almost telling Hortense that there was no way Cali would tell her if she didn't tell me. But what was shocking was Cali's voice that rung through the air just as rough and quiet.

"Everything."

Amber's POV was in this chapter! And just to tell you, I got the name Hortense from a book, Belle Epoque by Elizabeth Ross. It was a pretty good book that I saw so I decided to read. Anyways thanks for reading!

P.S. I love Lavender's little dinosaur discussion, I'm proud of it, even if I did have to search almost all of that information. I know nothing about dinosaurs.

P.P.S. I did NOT know that I was going to update again today but I'm am very happy that I did!