OMG who else has seen the first episode of the new Shadowhunters series! Super excited! Sorry, back to the book!

CHAPTER 21

MAGGIE

There's a slight bump in my stomach that I'm sure nobody can see.

It's from the baby, I'm sure, either that or I'm growing in the wrong way. No, it's the baby. I've been eating right ever since I found out.

"Have you told them yet?" Alex asked me but I shook my head looking up at him. He doesn't understand, but he tries to. It's not that easy. Pierce just died, I don't think anyone wants to hear about my baby now. Maybe beforehand, but everything is spiraling out of control so quickly.

"Maybe we should just go home," he said quietly and I looked up at him. His face was unreadable, and he was facing forward. But he knew I was looking.

"We can't just leave. This is English's Selection. She needs me. She needs me more then ever," her father just died. Alex frowned, still not looking at me, "When did you last see her?" Why did he want to know that?

"I don't know, last week?" I said with a shrug. Alex turned towards me, "Are you really helping her any then. I think she would have needed you before that."

I glanced at the ground, tears threatening to break through. Alex noticed, and instantly took my hand, "Hey, I'm sorry, I just-"

"I lost him too!" I cut him off, looking up at his face. " I lost my brother that day and all you can think about is that they need to be comforted. Alex what about me? Pierce was always there for me. He was always there!"

"I know, I know," Alex pulled me to him, "We'll stay as long as you need us too."

I sniffed before holding him too.

MASON

None of the boys knew what to do. If English was sick, then who was going to spend time with us? We were all here for her. Or, at least, that was kind of the reason we were here. I was here for my sister, and to get her money. I bet other guys were here for some of the same reasons. Maybe for her, but looking at most of the boys, they don't look at her with any kind of love. This might all just be some kind of scam for money.

I've been wondering who would be the best for her. Looking around, I can't say that I've found a lot. Most of them look disinterested and unable to focus on the lessons on Illea. It's weird, because I find myself somewhat interested in the lessons our teacher Mr. Jackson teaches us.

"Does anybody know the name of the country that was here before Illea?" He asks and nobody raises their hand. I see some people tempted too. Keenan, Sewati, Sorren and Josiah. But none of them actually do it. A lot of them are writing stuff down, looking out windows. They probably aren't even thinking of things that would relate to our lesson.

"Mr. Mason, would you please answer for me?" He asks me, noticing that I was looking through a bunch of notes I took. I hesitantly nodded, "Um, yeah sure. Uh, it was called America right? One of the queens of Illea was named after it. I remember."

Mr. Jackson smiled kindly at me, "Yes! Correct! Good work Mason! I'm glad you could remember such an interesting fact," you can hear it in his own voice. He's tired of this stupid lesson. "Well, you all probably don't know a thing about America. Illea has pretty much gotten rid of all evidence after Gregory Illea was in charge. But we are made up of more then just America. Before, down where Paloma is, there used to be a place called Mexico, and up in the Hudson area, was a country called Ca-"

"Mr. Jackson!" I hear the princess's voice from the hallway calling Mr. Jackson. All of our heads perked up when English walked into the room. After breakfast this morning where she left after Harris, she had been sick in bed. But she looked a lot better now then she had before.

"Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Jackson, I didn't know you had a class going on," she smiled at us and a couple boys waved and smiled back. Most of us didn't though.

Her confidence kind of fell at that, and I felt bad. We weren't making things easy on her, and we weren't even the ones hosting the Selection.

"Um, well, I guess since you all are here, I'll just tell you guys all together," she said turning back to Mr. Jackson even though she said she's told us all, "I'm going to need your help setting up for a winter ball that my mother thought would be nice if we had. The boys will be coming too."

"Oh! Really?" Mr. Jackson sounded a lot happier then he had sounded minutes ago. English smiled. A ball? That actually sounded a lot like fun.

"Of course I'll help with the decorations and everything! I'm sure it'll be amazing!" Mr. Jackson said and English looked over at us. Though probably like every other boy in the whole room I felt like she was only talking to me, "Can't wait to see you guys there."

My heart skipped a beat without my permission.

English

I regretted not telling them about the elimination that would be happening after the ball. I felt like such a jerk to have to kick somebody out right after an amazing ball. What if I'd have to kick somebody out beforehand? That'd be terrible.

I make my way back to my bedroom. I've been feeling better, and I remember promising Ash a date when I felt better. I decided that after their lesson I'd talk to him.

I quickly opened the door to my bedroom, my mother was standing there, "I've already chosen your dress!"

I laughed, "You can't choose my dress Mom! That's my job!"

My mother rolled her eyes at me, "It's a gorgeous dress English, you're going to love it."

"You don't know that," I said and she rolled her eyes again.

"Just come see it before you start to criticise it!" She said as she pushed me into the closest and right in a beautiful dress.

"No way!" I said, looking at Mom with large eyes, "Dad would kill you!"

"Dad wouldn't kill anyone," my mother argued.

The dress was red, and showed my skin more then I would have liked. It was gorgeous, don't get me wrong, but if I'm a true Father's daughter, I know that my dad would have killed my in this dress.

Thinking of my father made me smiled and I looked at my mother, "For the ball, right?"

"Right, what else would it be for?" My mother looked at me and I shrugged, "Harris and Austen's thirteen birthday?"

"Nope, you can choose that one, I'm sure Harris and Austen wont care if your dress matches your shoes on their big day," she smiled and I laughed, "That's so true."

After the boy's class I quickly scurried over to the Men's Parlor to talk to Ash. He had been talking to another boy, Julian it was, when I entered, and his head instantly turned towards the door, noticing that I was coming for him the moment he laid his eyes on me.

He stood when I got closer, "So you're feeling better?"

"Yes, I am, thank you for asking Ash," I smiled and he smiled back at me. I wondered how his smiled could look so kind.

"I was wondering if later today you'd want to have that date. You can decide what you want to do, anything, just tell me later and I'll set it up," I told him and he nodded, "Okay," he said rubbing his neck, "I'll think about the date a little and then let you know."

"That'd be great Ash, thanks," I said and turned to leave. It wasn't until I was in the hallway, about to turn the corner that I heard him behind me, rushing to catch up. I turned, "I think I already know what I want to do," he told me. I smiled, "Okay, what did you have in mind?"

"Could we go swimming? I saw a small pool when I was walking around outside in the gardens earlier and I was wondering if we could check it out. Does your family have somebody who likes to swim, or is it just for like, really hot Angeles summers where you need a dip in a pool?" He asked and my face paled.

"O-oh, swimming? T-the pool? Y-yeah, s-sure, why...um," I gulped, "uh, why not?"

"Are you okay?" He asked me, touching my cheek with his hand. It was warm and I felt heat rush to my face. I was blushing.

"Y-yeah, y-es, I'm fine Ash, thank you for your concern but I'm f-fine. Austen likes to s-swim, in the summer. Usually. I don't r-really go by there a-lot," I told him, trying, so hard, to not stutter too much, but it wasn't working.

"So, you're cool with swimming?" Ash asked and I nodded. He didn't look like he believed me.

"Later today, okay?" I said and he nodded with a frown before smiling at me and turning to leave. When he was gone, I almost screamed. Swimming? S-swimming? I couldn't even do a doggy-paddle swim! I couldn't swim! I had a fear of the ocean, of pools, of swimming itself. Why did he have to like swimming?

I sighed and banged my head against the wall of the castle. My head was red by the time I got back to my bedroom.

"Swimming," I muttered, sitting on the edge of my bed. Marigold was silent, biting her lip. "He had to love swimming. I had to be afraid of swimming. This is perfect."

Marigold nodded slightly, not saying anything but going into my closet to fetch a swimsuit. I groaned, "And swimsuits are disgusting." Marigold was still silent. "I don't like how showy they are." She nodded a little.

Sitting up, I looked at her, "Are you okay Marigold? You're never this silent."

"I-I'm fine," she whispered, either fear or worry creeping into her voice. Did this have to do with Max and his jerky ways again? I thought that Jana beat him up already? I saw him with a black eye in the hallway earlier today.

"Are you sure Marigold, you don't sound so good," I said, getting up and touching her shoulder. To my surprise, at that she cracked and fell onto me, crying and sobbing tears onto my shoulder, "I'm sorry-I'm sorry!"

"Sorry? For what?" I asked her, shocked. She looked at me, sniffing, but tears were still streaming down her face.

"There's something I need to tell you about Max," she said and sat down on my bed with me. She told me everything. From him being a jerky boyfriend at the beginning, to Austen and her finding out about him being a rebel. I couldn't breath.

"How did he get in? Even our own guards are traitors! I'll have to get all of my detective Selecteds on this job," I said, hoping that I could trust Hakuryuu and Nicholas to help me with this. I rubbed my hands together, "How long? How long has this been going on, I mean?"

"I don't know," she whispered, "I found out this morning, I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"It's fine, just give me the swimsuits and I'll deal with it after my date," I said pointing to the pretty black swimsuit laying on my pillow. Marigold nodded and grabbed it, giving to me. I smiled at her before heading into the bathroom to change.

Super sorry I haven't update in a while! I've been super busy with projects and everything! But tomorrow is our FIRST snow day of the year (I know right!) so I'm super happy. Well thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed! KEEP BEING AWESOME! :D

What do you think of Maggie's POV?

What about Mason's POV?

Are you excited for the ball and what do you think English will do about the rebels and Max?

FOREVER AND ALWAYS,

Bubbles! :D