Hoping for Love
Chapter 14
I do not own the Selection
Everly Calista Faze
I woke up to the sound of Sawyer's soft snores and the bright rays of sun pouring into our small bedroom. I stretched and smiled, which quickly turned into a frown when I realized what day it was.
Today was the day I was leaving. To the palace. To meet the royals. Even after four days, this hadn't quite registered yet. I couldn't say I was too sad to leave Nikolina, but I felt terrible for leaving my innocent little sister.
This is for Sawyer, I reminded myself. Just get the money and leave.
I picked up the small bag I had packed with all my possessions. I brought a few photos of Sawyer and I, and even one of us with Nikolina. I also brought a few records that my so called father produced. I brought the beaded necklace Sawyer gave me when she was 5 for my birthday. Also, I put in a few pairs of my torn jeans, a couple of tank tops, and hunting shoes for when I didn't feel like dresses (which would probably be a lot).
I put on the white, lacy, long sleeved shirt the representative had given me and the black pants. I tucked a purple hydrangea behind my right ear, Atlin's flower.
I tiptoed out of the room and to the kitchen, careful to not wake anyone up. I ate an almost expired yogurt cup and overripe banana.
Sawyer practically ran into the kitchen, causing Nikolina to wake up. I heard a groan come from the direction of her bedroom.
"Don't leave, don't leave!" Sawyer cried, tackling me into a bear hug.
I felt like I would cry too, but I blinked back the tears and hugged her back. "I'll be back soon, and then you can go to school." I tried to sound enthusiastic, but I didn't think I could survive without Sawyer.
Nikolina walked into the kitchen, barely even glancing in our direction, and grabbed a bottle of wine, drowning a fourth of it in one gulp.
Sawyer finally let go of me, but her eyes were still red. I smiled sadly at her and sat down at the table.
After I had given Sawyer breakfast, I heard a knock at our door.
"Hey Dallas," I said, opening the door so he could come in.
"Hi," he replied, walking into the kitchen and ruffling Sawyer's hair. "When are you leaving?"
"Pretty soon," I said, glancing at the clock on the kitchen wall.
"Be sure to write to me from the palace," he said. "I'd like to know how cute the prince is in real life." He grinned cockily as Sawyer broke out into laughter.
I gave him a death glare. "He's probably cuter than you."
Dallas raised a hand to his chest and looked at me with wide eyes, trying to look mock offended. "Wow Ever," he started. "That was rude."
"You deserved it," I smiled winningly at him and pulled on my worn out dress shoes. Unfortunately, they were too small, causing my toes to ache after two minutes.
The representative who had visited just days earlier, Jillian, walked through our open door.
"Are you ready to leave?" She asked.
"I guess," I said. I followed her out the door, with Sawyer, Dallas, and even Nikolina right behind me.
The whole street was covered in people chanting my name and holding up signs. Down the street, I saw a long, shiny, black limo waiting for me.
It seemed like all of Atlin was here to see me off. The atmosphere was friendly and happy.
I hugged Sawyer and Dallas one last time. Even Nikolina smiled at me.
"I'll write to you every day," I promised them.
I hugged everyone again and followed Jillian down the street.
"Goodbye!" Sawyer shouted at the top of her lungs. I looked back and smiled, making a heart shape with my fingers.
The limo was the coolest thing I had ever been in. There was a TV and several magazines to read.
I turned on the TV to some cartoon I had occasionally seen at the diner. I wasn't really paying attention, as I was thinking about the palace and Sawyer.
I slowly drifted off to sleep, already tired from my thoughts.
"Ever, wake up. We're at the airport," Jillian's voice cut into my sleep and I slowly sat up, my vision still blurry.
"What?" I asked, still half asleep.
"We're at the airport."
"Oh ok," I rubbed my eyes and stretched before getting out of the car and following Jillian into the airport.
I was so excited to ride a plane. I had never been on one before, and had only seen one once or twice. The only problem was that I had a fear of heights. I reassured myself that I would be okay.
Inside the airport, Jillian dropped me off with three other girls and whisked away to who knows where.
A girl with dark brown hair and tanned skin introduced herself first. "I'm Autumn, but just call me Fall. Everyone does." Fall seemed nice, but I could tell she wasn't one to mess with. I could tell we would get along already.
"I'm Everly, but I go by Ever," I tucked my pale blonde hair behind my ear and shook everyone's hand.
"I'm Silena, but call me Lena," the brown haired girl with warm brown eyes smiled.
The last girl was pretty short, and had light brown hair and brownish green eyes with hints of gold. "I'm Sarafinn, call me Finn," she said. "Or Sara if you want."
"So, are you guys excited?" Lena asked.
"I guess," I replied first. "But I'm mostly doing this to help out my sister. We're sixes."
"Oh," Lena nodded understandingly.
"Same with me," added Autumn. "I'm a seven." I instantly felt bad for her. It was bad enough being a six, I couldn't even imagine being a seven.
"Me too," added Sarafinn. "I'm also a six."
"I'm a four," Lena said. I could tell it was a little awkward for her, being in one of the higher castes when the rest of us were in low castes.
"I just entered because I thought it would be a good opportunity," Lena played with the chain on her necklace, which I realized had a horse.
"Do you like horses?" I asked.
"Yes, I LOVE them!" Silena gushed. "They are almost literally my life!" From the dreamy expression on her face, I could tell Lena could talk about horses all day.
"Ladies, it's time to board the plane," Jillian and the other representatives rushed us to the gate and onto the palace jet. It was so luxurious, with carts of desserts in one side, miniature TV's, and leather seats.
I sat down next to Autumn and we started talking.
"So, do you want to be the One?" I asked.
"I don't know yet. I don't really know how I feel about Logan yet. What about you?"
"Nah, I just want to get enough money to put my younger sister through school."
"Please buckle your seatbelts to prepare for takeoff." The pilot said over the intercom. I put on my seatbelt and looked out the window as the plane went down the runway. I suddenly felt a jerk and the plane tilted upwards. I clung to the seat for dear life as the plane raced into the air.
"You all right Ever?" Autumn looked concerned. "You look a little pale."
I managed a small nod and squeezed my eyes shut.
After what seemed like hours, the intercom turned on again. "You may now unbuckle your seatbelts and stand up."
I relaxed and let go of the seat to find my hands a deathly shade of white. I looked out the window to find a sea of clouds underneath us. I immediately slammed the cover over the window and leaned back in my seat.
Autumn and I started talking and we ate a lot of dessert with Lena and Finn.
"We will begin landing in five minutes. Please get back in your seats." We all went back and buckled our seatbelts.
The pilot announced we were landing and I felt the plane jerk downwards. It wasn't as bad as takeoff, but I still clung onto the seat. Autumn tried to comfort me, as we had become pretty close in the last few hours.
I finally felt the plane hit the ground. It slowed down and pulled into the gate.
The pilots told us we could leave and we got out of the plane and walked into the airport. I could feel the warm Angeles breeze, which was very different from the cold weather in Atlin.
The representatives led us outside, where a limo was waiting for us. Swarms of people were waiting for is outside, kept out of our path by red velvet ropes. They clapped and smiled, holding up signs for us. Most of the signs were for Lena, and Autumn. I was surprised by this since most people didn't like lower castes. But Finn and I had plenty of signs too.
Lena seemed over the moon. She bounced around the crowd excitedly, signing autographs, shaking hands, and hugging people. The ear to ear smile never left her face.
Finn seemed pretty happy too, and she was pretty willing to interact with the people.
Autumn and I were both a little awkward. I liked people, and I was happy people brought signs to support me, but I just wasn't sure what to do.
I took a deep breath and smiled as I walked down the path. I signed autographs, took pictures with people and shook their hands.
I followed Lena into another black limo and we drove off.
"That was exciting!" Lena said, still smiling.
"Yeah," I agreed with her.
"Just a bit overwhelming though," Finn said.
"It's nice to know people are supporting you though." Autumn added. We nodded in agreement and continued to talk about the palace and what we thought it would be like.
"It'll be amazing," Lena adopted an expression similar to the one that appeared when I asked her about horses.
"Definitely," Finn said.
"So much food," Autumn said dreamily.
"And no work," I thought of being able to sleep in every day.
"Plus they have stables," Lena said excitedly.
At the palace, we got out of the limo tiredly, hoping we could just go to sleep. Unfortunately, we were wrong.
We barely had any time to gawk at the wonders of the palace around us. As soon as we set foot inside, representatives whisked us off for makeovers. I sighed and hoped this would be over soon as I was led into a room with endless amounts of clothes racks, shoes, jewelry, and makeover booths.
"Send her to 11!" A woman ran around the room, writing on her clipboard looking stressed.
Three girls came running up to me, one of them practically bouncing with excitement. One of them looked about my age, the other a couple years younger, and the excited one looked about 13.
"Hi, we're your maids!" the excited girl with blonde hair and wide blue eyes exclaimed.
"I'm Kendra, you're head maid," said the oldest one, who looked my age. She had dark brown eyes and red hair.
"I'm Fiona," a quiet voice said. She had dark hair and green eyes. She was beautiful enough to be in the Selection.
"And I'm Iris!" The blonde haired girl said. She was smiling so brightly, she reminded me of Sawyer.
"Hi, I'm Ever," I greeted smiling at them.
"So what do you want for your makeover?" Kendra asked, leading me to station 11. It took me a while to think of an answer.
"Maybe a rocker chic kind of look," I decided.
"Sounds good," Kendra said. I took a seat in front of a mirror with a sign that read "11".
"First of all, what do you want to do with your hair?" Kendra asked again, picking up random strands and observing it from different angles.
"Whatever you think is best," I replied, unable to think of a better answer. Kendra and Fiona consulted for a minute before starting.
"Do you mind if we cut some of it off and put some highlights in?" Fiona asked quietly. I could barely hear her over the noise. I shook my head and she brought out the scissors. I saw the blonde locks fall to the floor, but I couldn't see what they were doing since Iris had turned my chair around. Fiona took out a highlighting kit. She put my hair under a cap with slits on top for the highlights. She pulled sections of my hair through the slits and used a brush to spread the solution over my hair. She then took off the blue cap and put a shower cap on my head. Kendra nodded her approval and all three of them left to go pick out some clothes.
After about 20 minutes, Iris rushed back and pulled the cap off of my head. She started to style it. It felt a little weird since Iris was a good 3-4 years younger than me.
"I can take care of it," I said. Iris shook her head violently.
"This is my job," she said. "And I love it!" Iris finished styling my hair and spun my chair back around.
"Ta-da!" She practically screamed, causing a few people to look over at us.
My hair looked great. The highlights were dark blonde, giving my pale hair dimension. It was cut in a sloping, long, shaggy bob. It looked much more voluminous.
"And now your clothes!" Iris squealed as Kendra and Fiona returned with jewelry, shoes, and a dress. They led me to a changing room in the back and handed me the clothes.
I put the dress on and looked in the mirror. It was sleek and black, reaching the floor, showing off my waist with cutouts on the side. There was a metallic gold band around my waist. It had two slits at the bottom, showing my legs a little bit. I pulled on the black strappy heels, which were covered by the dress.
I walked out of the room to find the curious expressions of my three maids.
"What do you think?" Iris asked first.
"We know it wasn't really what you asked for, but we thought it would look great on you," Kendra explained.
"I love it! It's perfect," I replied crushing my maids into a hug. They led me back to the station for makeup. Kendra and Iris did most of my makeup. They eye makeup, lipstick, and contour around my cheekbones. Iris and Kendra smiled and took a few steps backward so I could see the mirror. My jaw dropped. I had on winged eyeliner, smokey eye makeup, nude lipstick, and contouring to enhance my cheekbones. I thanked my maids and hugged them again before they rushed me off to pick my signature scent. The cart was huge. I scanned the pile of perfumes, Jasmine, Vanilla, Cotton Candy. Finally, one caught my eye. Exotic Passion. Under the name it said Manufactured in Bonita. I sprayed it on my wrist, which I brought up to my nose to smell. I smiled immediately. It had strong notes of cinnamon, chocolate, and almond, but sweet undertones of vanilla, nutmeg, and spicy clove. It was perfect. I brought it back to Kendra, who sprayed it on me and took it.
I left the busy makeover room to get my picture taken. About half the girls were already there. I stood in line behind a girl with wavy black hair and blue eyes.
"Hey, I'm Ever," I introduced myself.
"I'm Riley," she said. "Ooh, I love your hair."
"Thanks," I replied. We started talking. I learned she was a seven, and a stripper, which surprised me. She said she hated her job though and only did it for the money. She reminded me a little of myself, we were both fireballs, and pretty stubborn. We became fast friends.
I went up to get my picture taken. I smiled for the photographer, and went to sit down next to Riley again. I met a few new people, Stella, Eris, and Ashley. They all seemed really nice so far.
After another hour, the royal planner, Krysten, came to show us our rooms. She had blonde hair similar to mine, and bright green eyes. She looked pretty young, only about five years older than us.
"Tomorrow will be the official tour of the palace after you meet the royal family. I will take you to your bedroom, where you'll eat dinner." Krysten said. She seemed pretty relaxed and nice.
Krysten led us up four flights of stairs, where there were forty guest bedrooms, thirty-five of which were occupied by the Selected. Luckily, my room was right next to Riley's.
I walked into the room and my jaw dropped. The room was blue and white. The walls were painted ocean blue, and the tile was white. A chandelier hung above two white sofas with blue pillows. A shaggy blue rug lay under a glass coffee table. A flat screen TV was mounted on the wall. I walked through a door on the left, which led to my bedroom. It was painted the same blue. The bed was a four poster canopy bed, with blue sheets and a blue canopy. Another chandelier hung in the middle of the room. The tile was the same, and the exact same rug lay at the foot of my bed, where my suitcase was placed. The bed was placed in the middle of the wall, so the sunlight streamed onto my bed. A white dresser with a mirror was in one corner, with a rolling chair. A bookshelf lay opposite the wall of the dresser. Next was the bathroom. It was also painted blue. A clawfoot bathtub was on one side, with a frosted glass shower next to it. The toilet was on the other side. The sink was in the middle, which was white and had plenty of storage space. Everything looked so clean, I was afraid to touch it.
I looked out the window in my bedroom, which had a view facing east. I had a nice view of flowers on the side, which made me wonder what the actual gardens looked like. I went back into the living room where Iris, Kendra, and Fiona were waiting for me, making dresses. They must have walked in when I was exploring the bedroom.
"Hey guys," I smiled. Iris jumped up and hugged me.
A waiter brought up a large cart of food, which I willingly shared with my maids. There was chicken, salad, and several side dishes. I was so full afterwards, I didn't even think I could stand up.
Fiona gave me a light blue nightgown, which I changed into. It was made out of silk, so it was really comfortable. Iris removed my makeup and I got into bed after saying goodnight. They left my room and turned off the light.
I slowly drifted off to bed, tired from my long day. I fell asleep with a smile on my face, thinking of Sawyer's reaction if she saw the palace.
Hey guys! Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and/or following! I really appreciate it.
Happy late birthday to just-add-a-dash-of-savvy! That's why this chapter was from Ever's point of view.
~Demigod18