Hey guys! Look at me, not making you wait three weeks in between chapters! How's two days sound? Because that's pretty impressive for me. Thanks to my lovely reviewers: DracoVeelaLover, XOStarbrightXO, Cookiedoodles168, and my new reviewer .assassin- in the spirit of this chapter, virtual cake to all of you!
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Vivian couldn't keep the smile off her face as she walked down the hallway on the way to her date. She hadn't told anyone when her maids had approached her with the note first thing in the morning. She'd gotten out of her morning lessons and got to spend the morning getting ready for her date. At breakfast Vivi had kept the date to herself, knowing the other girls would find out soon enough, and for the time being it was nice to be the only one who knew. She'd barely picked at her meal, too excited to eat much, and now she was glad because the swarm of butterflies in her stomach surely couldn't be good for her digestion.
She smiled brighter as she caught sight of herself in a mirror. Her maids had really gone all out for her date. Her dark hair was pulled back in a pretty, twisted side braid and her makeup was kept natural with just a bit to highlight her big, dark eyes. The teal dress she was wearing looked good on her and the pretty silk skirt along with the cutouts on the neckline gave it just a touch of elegance. Vivian truly looked like a princess.
Her maids had talked her into a pair of heels so that she wouldn't seem quite so tiny next to Brandon and as she hurried down the hallway they clicked happily behind her.
Brandon had told her to meet him in the gardens for a brunch and as she rounded the corner she caught sight of the flowering gardens but Brandon was nowhere to be seen. She was a bit early. She had been pretty excited. While she waited for Brandon she stared out the French doors, watching as the grass rippled in the slight breeze. Bonita was pretty, but there was something so alluring about Angeles.
She tore her gaze away from the gardens when she heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Brandon came around the corner and seemed a bit surprised to see her there but he smiled anyway.
Vivian, suddenly self conscious, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled shyly.
Brandon smiled back, just as shy, "Hi."
"Um, hi," Vivi laughed.
Without another word Brandon offered her his arm and started leading her outside into the gardens. Vivian was too nervous to say anything and Brandon's ears were red the whole time so they took their walk in silence. Vivi was hyper-aware of every sound in the gardens, the birds chirping, fountains bubbling, and leaves rustling in the breeze. After a few moments they came to a pretty gazebo. Inside of it was a small table set with a linen tablecloth and two wicker chairs around it. There was a pitcher of iced tea set in the middle of the table and two glasses at each chair. But no food.
Vivian gave a nervous laugh, "I thought we were having brunch."
"Well," Brandon started, a smile on his face, "I was looking over your form and saw that you liked baking. Natalie came up with the idea, but we're having a cake tasting."
It took a minute for her to process the words but then a smile broke out on her face, "No way!"
He smiled at her enthusiasm, "Yeah." He led her over and pulled out a chair for her. As soon as he was seated a maid filled their cups while another one brought each of them a slice of cake. It was marble with a rich buttercream frosting.
Vivian took one bite and practically moaned. "This is the best thing I've ever had."
Brandon chuckled and took a bite of his own cake and nodded at her statement.
They ate in silence with Vivian finishing off her whole piece and Brandon having a few more bites.
"That was so good," Vivian said while the maid cleared her plate.
"Yeah," Brandon agreed then asked, "do you ever bake things like that?"
"Well not exactly like that, I'm sure mine are not nearly as good but I bake cakes. My sister Melanie loves to bake too, we bake at least once a week, if not more."
Before Brandon had a chance to respond, the maids were back, this time bringing red velvet cake with decadent cream cheese frosting. Again, Vivian ate the entire slice while Brandon picked his over.
"You seem to really love your sister," he said when the plates were gone.
She nodded earnestly, "I do. I'd do anything for her, she's the reason I came to Illéa, so that she could have a better life."
"Wait, you're not from Illéa?" he asked.
The next cake arrived before Vivian answered. She devoted herself to the vanilla cake with raspberry filling and pink raspberry frosting, not meeting Brandon's eyes. It was only after their plates were cleared that he repeated his question.
"No, I'm not. I'm from Ireland. I was actually born in India but I don't remember that at all. My first memories are from the palace in Ireland."
"The palace?!" Brandon asked, shocked.
Vivian nodded, "I was a maid there. My whole family was. When we left India we were so in debt, and at the palace we had steady jobs and were able to support ourselves better. We got out of debt but it still wasn't a great life. I wanted Melanie to achieve more and the only way to do that was to leave. I ran away the night before my sixteenth birthday. Some other girls came with us, they're the ones who picked Illéa. We stayed together for a while before most of us split up."
"Wow," Brandon said, ignoring the newest piece of cake in front of him (dark chocolate with caramel frosting and chocolate ganache) so that he could look at Vivian, "you came to a new country where you knew nobody and pretty much started over? That must have been really scary, you're pretty brave."
Her face flushed and she looked down, "Not really, I mean, it was hard at first, but whenever I think of Melanie it gives me courage. I knew that coming to Illéa was the best thing for her so that didn't make it as scary." She took a bite of the rich cake and started regretting eating the full slice of the previous flavors.
Brandon still looked impressed and Vivian's face stayed red. It wasn't that great what she'd done, anyone would have done it, at least Vivian thought so.
The maids interrupted her thoughts when they brought a lemon cake with meringue frosting. Vivian spent the next few minutes exclaiming over the cakes that were brought out, and Brandon had to agree they were great. She hoped he wouldn't mind that she was gushing over the cakes, but they were just so delicious.
They talked about other things as well though. While they ate a cherry cheesecake Vivian told him about opening the dress store. She shared how she liked both math and science and had always dreamed of attending college as they ate yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Brandon told her stories of growing up in the palace and some of his thoughts on the Selection and how it was going. But for the most part they talked about cake.
About and hour and a dozen cakes later, both of them were holding their stomachs and groaning.
"I don't think I'll be able to eat lunch," Vivian said.
Brandon snorted in a very un-princely way, "I don't think I'll be able to eat ever again."
Vivian giggled, "It was totally worth it though."
"Oh absolutely."
Brandon leaned back, tipping his chair onto two legs, "I was about to walk you back to the palace, but I don't think I can stand."
"I don't even want to try," Vivian laughed.
They stayed out in the gazebo for another ten minutes until Brandon finally forced himself to stand and reach down to help Vivian up. She took his hands and he pulled her up to standing. Instead of releasing her hands, he held them tighter for a minute before dropping one and entwining his fingers with her other one.
The walk back to the palace was just as quiet as the one there, but both of them were smiling. They kept sneaking glances at each other when they thought the other wasn't looking. When the reached the palace, Vivi held back a sigh. She hated to leave the fresh air and warm breeze behind but she followed Brandon anyway.
He walked her to the Women's Room, still holding her hand. Just as she was about to let go and enter the room, he tugged her back. She turned to face him, getting lost in his blue eyes. She could look at his eyes all day and not get bored.
Brandon pulled her a bit closer and cupped her cheek with one hand. Her heart sped up, trying to escape her chest. This was it. Vivian knew it. He was going to kiss her. She closed her eyes and waited, but instead of a kiss she heard the squeak of a door opening.
"Oh," Cosmina said, staring at the two of them and trying not to let her hurt show, "Um, excuse me," she edged around them and continued down the hallway and out of sight.
Cosmina had left the door open and by now all of the girls were staring at them. Brandon dropped his hand from her face and Vivian felt her cheeks blush scarlet.
His ears were red too as he looked at her, "Um, I had a nice time. Thanks for coming." Then he turned and walked away without looking back.
Maybe he hadn't been about to kiss her. Maybe Vivian had read the whole thing wrong, but a voice in her head kept telling her that she hadn't, and she couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if the door hadn't opened. But it was too late and there was nothing she could do about it now. Sighing, she entered the room and slowly shut the door behind her.
...
It was just an ordinary afternoon in the Women's Room. The girls had all filed in after lunch and Tristyn had disappeared, on a date with Brandon. They were currently down at the movie theatre. Unlike most girls she hadn't seemed too excited about it, but maybe that's because after taking Sage to a professional baseball game, giving Flara a personal tour of the palace, taking Ginger swimming, and going with Azura to a carnival where she showed him magic tricks and they got their palms read, a movie just wasn't as interesting.
Aria was sitting with Flara, Azura, and Elody. She was talking with them because the girls she usually hung out with were talking with Zinnia, the only one in their group of friends not to have had a date yet. They were trying to cheer her up, which was not Aria's forte.
Aria had to admit that it was nice to get to know more of the girls. Flara was a firecracker and so much fun to hang out with. Most people thought Azura was mysterious but Aria had learned she was actually quite the diva and pretty sarcastic. Elody was just as stubborn and competitive as Aria herself so that made the two fast friends.
Just as Flara was getting ready to tell another joke, a brick came flying in through the window.
"What the heck?" Yorra screamed.
"Get down!" Kadence yelled as another brick came flying in.
Stuff continued rocketing in and something hit Ginger, sending her to her knees.
Aria dropped to the ground, crawling over to where Juliet was crouched.
"Ladies, hurry," Amelia ordered, making her way through the debris and projectiles to the door. She turned and waited for the Selected before continuing into the hallway.
"Come on, Juliet," Aria said, pulling on her friend's arm.
"Vivi," the redhead said, pointing to Vivian who appeared to be in the middle of a panic attack, curled up on the floor.
"On three?" Aria said.
Juliet nodded and together they grabbed Vivian by her arms and managed to get her into the hallway, where Amelia was directing girls into a secret passageway.
Aria led her group over and they descended down the narrow stairs, keeping Vivian in the middle. Juliet mumbled reassurances to her every few seconds, keeping her going.
They reached the bottom of the stairs and entered a large room. Most of the royal family was already there, along with the entire Italian family. Lorenzo and Brook were sitting on a cot, huddled together and whispering to each other. Ricardo was hovering over Princess Natalie but it appeared she hadn't offered to share her cot. Yorra, Colleen, and Taylor were the only other Selected down there so Aria led Vivian to a cot far away from them. They sat Vivian down and Juliet continued whispering to her.
Aria sat down next to Vivian, wrapping an arm around the shorter girl but keeping her eyes on the doorway. She watched as more girls trickled in. Ginger was being helped since her leg was hurt. Everly was in a similar state to Vivian and was already in tears as she crossed the threshold.
Matthew burst in next. He glanced at his family, taking stock of who was there. He looked at his parents and sisters then saw Ryan.
"Where's Serenity?" he asked.
Nobody answered him. Nobody was sure.
Finally, the Queen spoke, "I'm sure she's fine, Matthew. She knows where to go, she's lived here for years. Come sit down," what she didn't say out loud was that his behavior was scaring some of the more nervous Selected.
Slowly, Matthew crossed the room and sat down next to Natalie, his eyes trained on the door. Every time it opened Matthew would jump up, only to sit back down when it wasn't his wife coming in. The Selected girls continued coming until almost all of them were there.
After what felt like an eternity, but was really less than three minutes, Brandon came running into the safe room, Tristyn trailing behind him and clutching his hand in hers. Brandon took Tristyn over to a cot and set her down, placing a kiss on her forehead before he walked over to his family. He leaned down and said something to his mother. She whispered back then Brandon spoke to Ryan for a minute before exchanging words with Matthew, who still refused to look away from the entrance. He vaguely gestured at the Selected girls and Brandon stood up and started making his way to the girls.
Aria watched as he made his way around the room, giving comforting words and touches to all the Selected.
"Your Majesties," a guard said, "it's time to lock the safe room, we can't have the doors open any longer, it's too risky."
"No!" Matthew yelled, "You have to wait. Serenity's not here yet."
The King and Queen looked at each other, torn.
"Matthew," the King started, "we can't put everyone's lives in danger. There are too many people here right now, we have to shut the door."
Matthew looked like he wanted to argue more, but when his mother shook her head, he slumped down in defeat.
The guard left the room, on his way to secure the doors. Almost as soon as he left, everyone could hear a commotion from the stairway. A few girls shrieked and grabbed onto each other. Ryan stood up, looking ready to attack whatever came into the room; however, he sat right down again when the noise gave way and the door swung open.
Standing in front of them was Princess Serenity. Her hair was disheveled and her face was sweaty. She was bent over her stomach, trying to take in as much oxygen as possible.
Matthew flew across the room and was at her side in an instant, hands patting her back and trying to help her.
She coughed and gasped, "Matt, get off. I can't breathe."
Matthew backed up as though he'd been slapped, "Are you okay?" he asked softly.
She took another breath and nodded.
"Well then what took you so long?" He demanded, some of his worry and anger comine out in his tone.
Serenity turned an icy glare on him, "Matthew Schreave I'd like to see how fast you move when you're wearing a pair of heels while being four and a half months pregnant." Serenity turned and went over to Natalie and plopped down. Matthew followed and tried talking to her, but it appeared she wasn't in the mood to listen.
Aria saw that Brandon was talking with Seraphina, their heads huddled together as they whispered to each other.
She couldn't help but sigh as she watched them. Aria knew that when Brandon got to her they wouldn't be like that. She had ruined everything. Her face reddened as she replayed their date yesterday over in her head.
Brandon had needed a public date to get the people more involved, so he'd asked Aria, thinking she'd be most comfortable with it since she was an actress. He asked her out for a walk in the gardens and when he'd came to her door the first thing she'd seen was the camera. Or more accurately, the guy behind the camera. It was the same boy who'd ran into her after the Report, and he looked as thrilled to see her as she was to see him. Brandon had introduced them and Aria learned that his name was Logan.
The whole time her and Brandon were out Logan had done everything he could to distract Aria and make her look bad in front of Brandon and the camera. Whenever she saw the camera he would make faces at her, prompting her to scowl back. Sometimes when she talked with Brandon he would scoff and roll his eyes at her words, making her ball her fists in anger and resist the urge to throw something at him. She hadn't even been able to focus on Brandon because Logan was such a pain. Everything had felt forced and wrong, then when they watched the footage it was clear all of it was unusable. It was not the romantic story the public wanted to see, it was all horrible. Aria's face had burned with shame when she realized how bad the film was to watch. Some actress she was. She's been so embarrassed when she had to confess to Brandon that she couldn't do it, he'd have to publicize a date with a different girl. Brandon had been sweet to her, promising a do over date without the cameras, just the two of them, but Aria still felt like a disappointment and wasn't sure she was ready to face him yet. She wasn't sure she'd ever be ready.
She watched as he moved onto the next girl, Elody, talking quietly to her.
Aria looked at the girls around her and it was clear to see some of them weren't doing well. Vivian still hadn't fully recovered and Everly was crying in a corner. Ginger was petrified and Blaise, though still more collected than most girls, had lost her calm demeanor and was on the verge of panic. The attack still hadn't registered in Aria's brain yet, all she felt was numb.
Brandon made his way to the corner where Aria and Juliet were. Aria's face reddened but Brandon didn't notice. He all but passed over the two of them, giving them a few meaningless words of encouragement before his attention was on trying to calm Vivian. It seemed just his presence reassured her, and when he left she was much more calm than before.
After Brandon finished talking with the Selected there wasn't much left to do. All of the girls settled on cots, whispering to each other and huddling closer. Aria wasn't sure what was happening in the palace around them and she didn't want to find out. The only thing she did know was that this experience would be with all the girls forever. Regardless of who won and who left, everyone would remember this day. And that wasn't necessarily a good thing. Aria scooted closer to Vivian and closed her eyes, wishing for it to be over.
...
Alright so that's the first appearance of the rebels in this story. Let me know what you guys thought of them and of Vivian's date.
I know the date chapters are getting tedious, but bear with me. There should be only a few left and they'll be intermixed with other things (like the rebel attack this chapter) to help move the plot along. I pretty much have all the girls who are getting dates picked out, so if there's someone you want to see then LET ME KNOW. I'll also be having a fan favorite date pretty soon so if you haven't voted yet then go do it.
At this point the ball is tenuously scheduled for chapter thirty so if there's anything you want to see before or after that, let me know. I love hearing from you guys and hope you like this chapter.
~Jen