Chapter 20 – Thrilling

"Goodeveningladiesandgentlemenboysandgirls!" Jesse boomed on the Report Stage when the cameras were on. "My name is Jesse Flynn and I'm here tonight with our favorite Royals! I'd like to invite the four royal kids to the stage!" He extended his arm to the side door where Willow, Zeke, Lolly, and Matty filed out and joined Jesse in the sitting area. "Thank you so much for joining me this evening!" he said. "Prince Matty, how are you feeling? The Selection has been going on for more than three weeks…"

"I'm great!" Matty said. "Most of these guys are really cool and I've already made lots of friends!"

"That's great!" Jesse said. "Wait, you said most…" Jesse trailed off. "Who's not being nice to you?"

Matty laughed. "I'm not a snitch, Jesse," Matty said. "I don't give out names like that."

"Unless you have gummy bears," Willow said, elbowing her little brother. "Right?"

Matty made a face to her. "That's partly true, but it won't work today."

Jesse laughed. "Princess Lorelei," he continued his string of questions. "What about you? Did you make any friends? Or–" he looked around and leaned over, whispering loudly, "closer friends?"

Lolly became as red as a tomato but quickly shook her head.

"Come on, Jesse," Zeke said, taking his little sister's defense. "Why don't you keep the juicy questions for Willow?"

"Oh, I will," Jesse said, nodding. "I was just teasing. And you, Prince Zeke? What are your thoughts on all of this?"

Zeke smiled amiably. "I think these guys are all perfectly nice," he said. "I know Willow will find the love of her life."

But Jesse was not fooled: he knew the prince, and he also knew his stage persona. He usually said the opposite of what he thought and kept his true natures for behind closed walls. Jesse had seen it firsthand more than once. "Well, I'm really happy to see you're so supportive of your sister!" Jesse said, playing along. "Any one of them you three favor before I pepper princess Willow with questions?"

"For us? Or for Willow?" Matty asked. "I mean– for us as friends?"

Jesse smiled. "Both!"

Matty tapped his finger on his chin, thinking. "Hmm… for Willow, the ones I could see the best with her are Aidyn and Cal. And for a friend for me, I'd say Fred!"

"Aw, that's sweet!" Jesse said. "Princess Lolly? What do you think?"

Lolly didn't reply right away. "I think Willow be happy with Xander or Callan," she said.

"And for you? Do you have a favorite? Or a friend?"

"Mikey, of course," she replied. "He's always been our friend."

Jesse nodded, not wanting to pry more. "Prince Zeke? Your thoughts?"

Zeke smirked and Jesse knew he was about to mess up a lot of things, but he couldn't stop him now. He'll decide later if he would keep that part or not for the final editing. "For Willow, I know she'd go perfectly well with either he ex-boyfriend, or her best friend. And as for a new friend for me, I'm gonna have to go with Haakon."

Jesse knew it was his own fault from bringing up the questions, but he just wanted to strangle Zeke so much. And no, Zeke was not his favorite royal kid, right now. "All right! Thanks for your thoughts, you three," he said, "now I'm going to have a little tête-à-tête chat with the princess." In other words, they were dismissed.

"So, princess Willow," Jesse said once they were alone. "Since last time, you've been quite busy, right? How many dates did you go on?"

"There were two more group dates to do and I finished them on Monday. Then right after that, I had two one-on-one dates."

"Wow, you have been busy!" Jesse said. "Okay, let's start with the group dates. "What did you do and with whom?"

Just as Willow started to speak, a picture showed up behind them on the big screen: it was a group on the beach. "On Sunday afternoon, I went to the beach with a group of people, namely Jaylen, Weston, Leonardo, and Ricardo."

"Ooh! And how was it?"

"It was great!" Willow replied. "We spent the whole day there, talking, swimming, playing UNO, and so on. It was really fun." Just then, the four young people came in, and of course, the Latin Lover – as Charlie had dubbed him and that always made Jesse laugh – sat right next to the princess, making himself comfortable with his arm on the backrest around her shoulders.

"Ricardo," Jesse said, addressing said young man. "How did you like that group date?"

"Ah, Jesse," Ricardo said with a slight Spanish accent, rubbing his dark short beard. "It was glorious. The princess is as beautiful in a bathing suit as she is in a gown, and I just wished I could have been alone with her the whole time, instead of having to share her."

Jesse could see that Willow was trying not to facepalm or roll her eyes on national TV. "I see," he said. "Leonardo? Do you agree with Ricardo?"

Leo chuckled and smiled, making his clear blue eyes fill with tiny stars. "I agree with him on the first point," he said. "The Princess is a delight to be with and a real beauty." He looked at the princess and offered her a small smile. "But wanting to have the princess only for myself would have been really selfish, especially since we all had to go through group dates first."

Jesse nodded. "That's interesting," he said. "But now that you had your group date, are you looking forward to a one-on-one date with her?"

"Absolutely."

Jesse continued on his line of questions. "Weston Carter," he said. "Now, I believe that your presence in the Selection was somewhat of a surprise to everyone, considering that up to July first, you were Prince Zeke's Valet…"

Weston nodded. "Yes," he said. "I think it was a little awkward at first."

"How so?" Jesse asked.

"Well, I know the palace like the back of my hand, and I know my way around. But now that I've been 'promoted' to being a Selected," he air-quoted, "I can't go everywhere anymore. And I sometimes forget." He laughed softly. "Taking off my 'valet' hat is harder than I thought."

"I see," Jesse said. "Would you agree with that, Princess?"

Willow smiled and laughed softly. "He does still have reflexes, you know? Like doing things for people or fading in the background. But Weston, you're really an amazing young man and I hope you'll be able to be completely yourself."

Weston nodded and smiled, thanking her.

"Jaylen Jackson," Jesse said, finally turning to the only young woman in the Selection. Charlie should have dubbed her the Imposter, not the Girl. Oh, well. "My first question to you is Why on Earth did you apply to this male Selection?"

Jaylen smirked and tucked a huge brown curl behind her back. She was wearing a large grey pant-suit with a big black belt that had a golden buckle and a white shirt underneath with white matching heels and golden earrings. "As I've already told her Royal Highness," she started, "I'm not here to pursue her or any of her Selected. I just needed a break from my life, and I thought that was the perfect opportunity. To do something completely different and something that I would never be able to do again."

"So, like a paid vacation?" Jesse asked.

Jay snorted softly. "Something like that."

"And how's that going for you?"

"Pretty well, actually! I've made friends with some of the guys as well as with the Princess, and I'm all in for the food and the setting. The Palace is absolutely beautiful, and so are their horses."

"Ooh, are you into horses, then?" Jesse asked.

"Yes. I grew up around them and rode a lot when I was younger," she said. Then she looked at Willow and said, "and I think I have an idea for a 'date' with her Highness, when the time comes."

Willow beamed. "Ooh, I can't wait!"

"Oh, so you're still going to go on dates with Miss Jackson, then?" Jesse said.

"Of course!" Willow replied. "Can't I have a girl's outing?"

Jesse laughed. "You may, of course! I really hope you two will become great friends by the end of the Selection," he said. "But this is all the time we have with this group. But before you leave and we welcome the next group, Princess Willow: you've eliminated one person from each group date, so far. Are you going to do that, too, today?"

"Yes," Willow said, meeting no one's eyes but Jesse's. "You guys have all been amazing, but I'm sorry, Ricardo… It's time for you to go home."

"Me? But why, Princess, if I may?" He turned towards her, keeping his arm on the backrest, behind her shoulders.

The first thing Willow did before answering, was taking off his arm and giving it back to him. "You're always invading my personal space," she explained. "You think being flirty around me is going to win you points; it doesn't. And lastly, I didn't like what you did at the beach." She didn't elaborate any further, not wanting to expose him in front of everyone, but he seemed to know what he did, and so did the others.

"I see," he said. He took her hand in his, kissed it, and left. The others also followed him and were quickly replaced with the last group of the group dates: Aidyn, Elliot, Jeremiah and Xander. Aidyn was the one who sat next to Willow.

"Ah, the lucky ones who went to see the Rainha Fashion Show Premiere in Los Angeles!" Jesse said. "How was it?"

Aidyn looked at Willow with a grin and the princess nodded. "It was beyond anything I could have imagined," Aidyn said. "And trust me when I say that I've been to my fair share of fashion shows and catwalks."

"How different was it?" Jesse asked, genuinely curious. He hadn't been to many fashion shows in his life except for Rainha, so he had nothing compare it to.

"It was regal just because the Queen herself was there and because she had designed the clothes herself," Aidyn said. "Everything screamed grandeur and royalty, and it was absolutely magical."

"But not all the gowns were designed by the Queen, correct?"

Aidyn blushed and smiled, looking at the princess. "No, not all of them."

Behind them, on the big screen, a short footage of the Princess herself walking down the catwalk in a magnificent teal gown showed up. "I believe this dress was not designed by the Queen. Your Royal Highness," Jesse said, addressing Willow. "Who made it?"

"Aidyn Song!" she said. "This man had magical hands and he can make pretty much anything with silk." She put her hand on his shoulder and they exchanged a glance.

"Silk?" Jesse said, looking at the pictures on the screen. "I don't know much about fabrics, but I do have a wife who enjoys wearing gowns, and I know tulle when I see it…"

Aidyn shook his head. "You're write about the tulle skirt," he said. "But the flowers are embroidered in silk thread, and the lining is made of silk because that's the most comfortable fabric to have on your skin."

"I see," Jesse said. "Are you going to make more gowns for the Princess?"

Aidyn and Willow shared a smile. "Maybe…" Aidyn said. "Who knows?"

Jesse laughed and went to the other fashion designer in the Selection. "What about you, Elliot, how did you like the fashion show?"

Elliot's cheeks turned red and he smiled from ear to ear. It was the most magical experience ever," he said. "I'm not sure I'll ever be able to attend such an event again."

"I'm sure you will," Jesse said. "Xander? What about you? I wonder why Princess Willow took you along for that…" he trailed off. "You're in the music industry, are you not?"

Xander nodded. "That's right," he replied. "But I had a conversation with the Princess earlier in the Selection about my mom being a huge fan of the Rainha clothes and of the Queen, and somehow I ended up there." He paused. "But Willo– I mean, Princess Willow had a huge surprise planned out."

"Ooooh," Jesse said. "What kind of surprise?"

"My mom was there! The queen herself invited her, and I think she's going to be recovering from that for a long time." He laughed. "But it was a really nice experience."

Jesse nodded. "Jeremiah?"

But Jeremiah just shrugged. "Honestly, it was stupid. Aidyn was clearly a favorite of the Princess during the group date, and I have no idea what I was doing there." He paused and crossed his arms over his chest. "I wish I could have gone to the laser tag date."

Willow kept the smile on her face and Jesse had to commend her for it. "Jeremiah," she said in a sweet voice, "I'm sorry you felt that way during the date, but don't worry, it won't happen again: you're going home, anyway."

"Wha– Fine. This was stupid anyway." He shook his head and huffed before storming out of the stage, to everyone's surprise.

"Welp," Jesse said. "That went well…" he took a deep breath and smiled to the three remaining guys. "Thank you for joining us on the stage for this chat! Now I'm going to chat with Willow a little."

Aidyn, Xander, and Elliot nodded and left in a single file, heading backstage.

"Wow, two more eliminated," Jesse said. "Is that all for this week, or did you want to send more home?"

"No, I think that's it." Willow smiled.

"Great! So, let's get down to your one-on-one dates of the week. How many did you go on?"

"Two," she said. "Domenico Montero and Mikhail Parker."

"Ooh, nice!" Jesse said. "How did you choose them?"

"Every time I want to go on a date, I draw a name from a box, and whoever is picked is my date for the afternoon or the evening."

"Huh, that's really interesting," Jesse said. "You're really keeping it spicy. What did you do with these two handsome men, then?"

"I had a very nice dinner with Dom, and I went to the ice cream museum in LA with Mikey," she said. "Though I'm not going to go into too many details…" she smirked. "But I did have some pictures to share." Behind them, some of the pictures from the dinner date showed up on the screen, followed by some pictures she had chosen from her ice cream date.

"Ooh, that's looks really fun!" Jesse said before turning to the camera. "Folks, if you're looking for a date idea or a family afternoon, the Ice Cream Museum is amazing!" He turned back to Willow. "Well, Princess, thank you for sharing with us all of this! I wish you a great week and I'll see you next Friday!" He turned to the camera again. "Ladiesandgentlemenboysandgirls, this is all for today! Don't forget to follow us on Instagram, and also don't forget your Illéa Weekly on Monday! Have a great weekend and see you next week!"

/ / /

On the way home, Willow found herself in a Limo with some of her Selected, and it was fun listening to them chat about something or another, though she couldn't have pipped in a single word. But for once, she was just happy to listen and just be there. Once or twice, she caught Mikey's glance her way and they shared a smile. Ever since their date, they hadn't talked once.

Once at the palace, all the guys in her limo offered her to step out first and she accepted. Because how could she refuse such a gentlemanly offer? Thought she would have wanted to have someone hold her hand so she wouldn't trip on her own two feet which were clad in fancy thin heels.

But her wish was their command, and Haakon – who had been in another car – ran to her to help her out. "Milady," he said, helping her.

"Thank you," she said, offering him a smile. She didn't trust him, but he wasn't all that bad. He kept her hand in his and tucked it in his elbow to escort her inside. Most of the others were already headed out into the gardens for lunch, and Haakon slowed down a little so they could talk.

"Highness," he said. "Would it be possible for us to spend the afternoon together? I've been dying to be alone with you– and I'd also like to introduce you to someone very special."

Willow was confused. "Who?"

"My pet!" he replied, laughing. "His name is Caduceus and he's been wanting to meet you."

"Hmm," she said. "What kind of animal is he?" she asked. "I haven't seen any other dog, or even any cat."

"Oh, no!" Haakon said. "He's a python."

"…as in a snake?" she asked, already dreading the encounter. She hated snakes. She loathed them, really, and they terrified her. He could have said he had a tarentula, she would have gone on the spot: fluffy spiders were cute! But snakes were terrifying.

"Yes. He's completely white and the cutest thing ever," he said. "I promise he doesn't bite."

"Hmm, I see," she said. "But I want to keep things fair," she lied easily. "We'll spend some time together when I draw your name from the box."

Haakon sighed and nodded. "I understand." They arrived at the table with the others and sat down to eat the huge barbeque the cooks had prepared. They had even made vegan burgers for Henry.

The whole meal was going smoothly, Willow was trying to listen to all the conversations around her, and she was genuinely happy. In the past week, she had sent home the worst ones, had gone down Memory Lane with Julian and found him again, and she had realized that her best friend was… well, more than her best friend, probably.

After lunch, all the Selected gathered on the terrace and near the Men's Parlor to continue the tournaments. The table soccer one was more advanced, and the second round was already in play, the teams being stronger this time, so the scores were closer to each other. Willow was watching Henry and Charlie play against Jaylen and Aidyn, and it was intense. But in the end, Henry and Charlie won 10 to 8, and Charlie was trying not to be too happy about it, but Willow could tell he was.

Then the next game was played, Weston and Dom – who had already won against Lysander and Lolly – and Julian and Xander. At first, it was very well balanced: when one scored a goal, the other team scored one right after. They went on like that until they were 6 to 6 points. That was when Domenico pulled Weston to the side and they discussed a new strategy. At least that's what Willow thought it was, because she then came back, their game had changed and they won 10 to 7, bumping them to the semifinals.

"Highness?"

Willow looked to her left at who was talking to her, and it was none other than Connor Dominic Adventis.

"May I have a word with you?"

"Sure," she replied.

Connor looked around, but no one was paying them any mind because they were all following the next game which was Archer and Annie against Pierce and Mike. "What would you say about a little pajama party?" he suggested, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Meaning…?" she said, though she had a good idea of what he was suggesting.

"You, me, pajamas, Netflix and chill, snacks…" he trailed off and leaned in to whisper: "Just so you know, I don't wear any pajamas when I sleep."

"Oh!" she said. "I do."

"Good," he replied. "It'll make things spicier. So," he added. "Tonight?"

But Willow had a plan, and she needed more than just a few hours. "What about tomorrow night? Saturday?" she said. "I like to take Friday off for myself."

Connor smirked. "Yeah, tomorrow. You can come to my room around eight o'clock."

Willow nodded and was about to say something when her father called her from the council room French doors that also went onto the terrace. "Willow?"

She looked up and nodded. "Please, excuse me, Connor," she said, walking away. "Thanks for calling me, dad," she said. "This was a weird convo. What's up?"

He beckoned her inside with his chin, closed the French doors and drew the curtains closed for privacy. The seats around the table were already filled with the same advisors who had been there just the previous day.

"What's going on?" she asked, sitting next to her father.

"We've had some news from Europe," Ezra said, answering her question and opening the meeting at the same time. "Lots of things are happening at the same time. First, Russia has terminated whatever beginning of alliance they had with Swendway." He paused, looking at his notes. "Second, The Southern Alliance met this morning and they've decided to march on Germany. We've just got a message from King François de Sauveterre of France, announcing this to us. Since we're their allies, it was only fair that we knew what they were up to." He paused again and looked around the table. "We've also got an urgent message from King Magnus Skarsgård, begging us to take his wife as a refugee here in Illéa until the war is over."

"No," Silas said. "I will not have the Queen of Swendway in Illéa. We've already did enough damage to Europe."

"Honey," Xi said softly, putting her hand on his arm. "Put yourself in his shoes: wouldn't you also want to send your wife and kids to safety?"

"Yes, but not like this. I already told him we'd keep Fredrik here as long as needed." He paused. "Queen Ósa can find refuge in New England; Russia or Germany won't go there."

"How do you know that?" Willow asked.

"Because they're an island outside of the Mainland and Russia doesn't care about it since it doesn't touch his lands. Why do you think they're attacking Swendway?" He paused. "Because next to Ukraine, Swendway has the longest border with them."

"So, what do we do now?" Willow asked again. "What is there to do?"

"We reply to King Magnus with a suggestion for his queen to go to New England," King Silas replied. "As for the Southern Alliance, I need more information. What is their strategy? We need to have the Illéan Army General in our next meeting."

Felix Trevino nodded. "On it. The Southern Alliance will take a few days before making their first move towards Germany, but for now, no declaration of war has been made." He wrote something down on his papers. "I'll have the General come in in the beginning of the coming week."

Silas nodded and then he dismissed everyone. Willow, instead of going outside to join all the others, went to her room for a moment alone. This was all such a big mess and part of it was her fault. She had managed to put it off of her mind for half a day, but now it was crushing her all over again. She changed in some dark grey sweatpants and hoodie and balled up on her bed with headphone on and the music as loud as possible. If someone knocked, she wouldn't hear it.

She stayed there for the rest of the afternoon doing absolutely nothing, and she fell asleep at some point. She jerked awake when someone put their hand on her shoulder. She was face to face with her maid.

"Highness, are you sick?" she asked softly, putting her hand on Willow's forehead.

"No, I'm just having an existential crisis, that's all," she replied sarcastically. She rubbed her face, ruining her makeup. "What time is it?"

"Time to get ready for dinner, Highness," Nerissa said.

"Do I have to go?"

Nerissa nodded. "I'm afraid yes… Unless you want me to tell your mother that you're feeling sick. In which case you'll have some soup brought up here."

Willow rolled her eyes. "That won't work and you know it. Mom would come check up on me and she'll see right through the subterfuge."

Nerissa chuckled softly. "That's true. So are we going for extra-formal or comfy-formal, tonight?"

"Comfy," Willow said, forcing herself out of bed. So Nerissa gave her a simple black gown to pull on, nothing too fancy or too constricting, something in which she could easily move around, sit, and not feel like she had eaten too much after one or two mouthfuls. When she was ready, she headed downstairs, blessedly not meeting anyone on her way there, and entered the dining room. She sat among her family and they started eating.

After dinner, though, she excused herself and went directly back to her room instead of joining the Selected in the Men's Parlor for the usual games, drinks, and genuinely fun moments. She quickly changed back into her sweatpants ensemble and sat on her bed, checking her phone.

There was a message from Mikey:

Mikey: hey, u ok? [20:43]

Willow smiled and typed a response:

Mina: idk. come over? movie or smth? [20:45]

Mina: through the window ofc. [20:45]

Mikey: ofc. :heart_emoji: I'll be there in 5. [20:46]

Mina: ok. [20:46]

Willow went to open the French doors to her balcony before pressing the button on her nightstand to get the TV screen out. She put on fluffy socks as well and waited. A few minutes later, Mikey was hoisting himself over the balcony railing and walking into her room. She saw him come in and his mere presence brought a smile on her face and filled her with warmth.

"Hey," he said with a big smile. "I brought snacks, too!"

"Ooh, yes," she said, patting the bed beside her. "You wanna watch something?"

Mikey nodded and joined her after kicking off his shoes. They climbed on the bed and leaned against the soft headboard where Willow had organized lots of pillows and she turned the TV on with the remote control.

"Netflix?" she asked and Mikey nodded. "Movie or tv show?"

"Are there any episodes we still need to watch or are we all caught-up already?" he asked, making himself comfortable and opening a bag of gummy bears they had bought just the day before.

"I don't know, let me check." She went to the menu and clicked on the shows they had been watching. "We haven't finished La Casa de Papel," she said. "Wanna watch that?"

Mikey shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not sure I'm in the mood for that. Do we have something more light-hearted and funny?"

"Hmm… let me see…" But Willow didn't find anything so she suggested a good old Disney Movie, since one could never go wrong with that. Mikey accepted, but it took them another half hour to decide which one to watch, and they finally decided on The Lion King. She nestled her head against his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around hers, taking their usual position to watch something together.

Both knew the movie by heart forwards and backwards, and they could recite the whole thing at the same time, even sing the songs. But that night, none of them recited the movie or sang along, both far away in their own minds. They watched without seeing, they heard without listening, and they just sat there.

"Mina," Mikey said, breaking the silence around them. "Are we going to talk about what happened yesterday?"

"Hm? The Ice Cream Museum?"

"No, the beach," he said.

Willow didn't reply right away. Did she want to talk about it? Kinda? "What about it?"

"Am I the only one who didn't think it was weird?" he said softly.

"No," Willow replied just as quietly. "You're not the only one." She didn't look up at him, keeping her eyes on the screen, just as Timo and Pumba were finding Simba in the desert. She felt him sigh under her head and she sat up, looking at him. "Is it that bad?"

But Mikey shook his head and a small smile curled his lips. "No, I'm just glad it's not only me." He sighed and looked at her, too. Those clear blue eyes she knew so well… That galaxy of freckles on his cheeks and nose that she loved… She reached up with her hand and touched his freckles ever so lightly, afraid that he would evaporate from her side, that this was just all in her imagination. But Mikhail Parker leaned in and kissed her. It was soft at first, and then harder, more eager. Willow kissed him back and pulled him down as she lay on the pillows around her.

The movie was still going on, in the background, singing Hakuna Mattata, but they didn't pay any attention to it. When the song ended, Mikey broke off the kiss, grabbed the remote control and pressed the PAUSE button.

"It's distracting me," he said before looking at her again. "Mina, I–" he took a shaky breath. "I don't know what to think of this." He paused, and Willow frowned, not understanding. "My head says something but my heart says something else. And I don't know what to do about it." He tucked some of her hair behind her ear, and smiled. "I admit I'm a little bit lost."

"What does your head say?"

"That falling in love and kissing my best friend is a very bad idea."

"And your heart?" she asked, putting her hand on his chest to feel it beat loud and strong under his t-shirt.

Mikey smiled and placed a tiny kiss on her nose. "That I never want to stop kissing you."

"Then don't stop," she whispered. She needed to be close to him, to feel him against her. He had been there every single moment of her life, from her lowest to her highest and everywhere in the middle. He had picked up the pieces when she was broken, and he had always made her smile and feel loved. Even if it was only as her best friend. But now? She couldn't start to explain what was going on between them right now, but she knew deep down that this was the right thing. It had taken a stupid Selection and a promise seven years ago to finally realize that her best friend was actually the love of her life. How could she have been so blind? He had been just there, all the time. Both had watched each other date and fail miserably, they both had grown through that as well.

Both Willow and Mikey broke off the kiss at the same time, smiling, and gasping a little for air. Realizing they were getting away from themselves a little too much, they sat back up against the headboard and leaned against each other. Willow's skin was warm and tingly, but she tried to push the heat down. She pressed the PLAY button and the movie resumed, she lowered the volume, though, and they watched for a few minutes in silence.

"What now?" they both asked at the same time and then burst out laughing.

"I don't think I can end the Selection now," she said. "Several people would want to skin me alive if I did, namely Jesse."

Mikey laughed. "Yeah, Jesse's definitely going to kill you if you don't go through with it. And your dad?"

"I don't think he'd care either way," Willow shrugged. "He wasn't fond of the idea of me having a Selection, anyway, so I guess the shorter the better."

Mikey snorted. "Damn, if you stop the Selection right now, I also have some people who'll want to kill me." He grabbed a gummy bear and popped it into his mouth. "My mother would be the first one."

"Does she hate me that much?" Willow asked.

"No, of course, not," Mikey said. "She adores you. It's just– she was never fond of the idea of us growing up together in the first place, but don't ask me why…"

Willow laughed and rested her head on his shoulder. "Hey, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure. What?"

"Connor asked me if I wanted to have little 'pajama' party with him, suggesting other things and–"

"I'm sorry what?" Mikey said. "Is he stupid or is he stupid?"

"No, but wait. I have an idea to prank him!" she said, sitting up excitedly, ignoring the movie. "I told him I'd come tomorrow night at eight o'clock, but I want to surprise him with a real pajama party." She grinned.

"I'm not following."

The princess rolled her eyes. "I'll knock on his door with a bunch of other people and we'll bring games, DVDs, snacks, and face masks. And so when he's expecting only me to show up in a sexy outfit– because he did clarify that he didn't sleep in his pajamas, I'll show up in my Panda onesie with other guys!"

Mikey burst out laughing. "I'm in," he said. "I'm so in. I want to see his face when he sees you with five other dudes at his door."

"Excellent!" Willow said. "So who do you think we should invite on this pajama party?"

"Cal, of course," Mikey said. "Mike would be a good addition to the mix, as well as Aidyn. And– why don't you chose some others, too?"

"Hmm…" Willow said. "I totally agree with those you suggested. Oh! What about Easton and Lili? And Hayes!"

"Yes," Mikey said. "That sounds perfect."

Willow smirked. "Great. You're in charge of games and DVDs, and I'll be in charge of the snacks and the drinks, and to invite the others."

"Deal."

After that, they finished their movie and then Mikey bid her good night with a kiss – again – and climbed down the wall through the balcony and into the empty room right below, which used to be Northdon's but he had been eliminated early on…

/ / /

The next evening, Willow gathered all the snacks and drink she had ordered from the kitchen, donned on her Panda Onesie, and met with Mikey, Aidyn, Callan, Mike, Easton, Lili, and Hayes at the top of the stairs before heading to the end of the West Wing to Connor's room.

Everyone was dressed in their pajama, or at least in something that would have passed for a pajama. Liliana had a pink short and t-shirt ensemble and she was the cutest among them all. Mikey had chosen his hippo onesie – one that Willow had given him for his birthday a couple of years back – and the others were wearing combinations of boxers or flannel pants with funny t-shirts.

They giggled along the hall and everyone was carrying something: drinks, food, games, or DVDs, and Willow had entrusted Liliana with her face-mask bag.

"Are you guys ready?" she asked them. She had shared the prank on Connor with them so they could play along as well. Everyone nodded so she knocked on Connor's door. Not ten seconds later he opened the door with a sly grin– only to be replaced by a very confused look, and he held his bathrobe closed tightly against him.

"What–"

"Pajama party!" Willow said walking in with everyone on her heels. "We brought food and drinks, and games and movies!"

"And face masks!" Liliana added, proudly holding up the glittery bag.

Leaving Connor Dominic Adventis by the door, more confused than ever, Willow and the other plonked on the floor opening bags of chips, gummy bears, and bottles of soda.

"So, what do we do?" Mikey asked. "We have Monopoly, Settlers of Catan, Cards against Humanity–"

Connor walked past the group on the floor and headed towards the bathroom. "I'm just gonna–"

"Yeah, sure, do your thing," Easton said. "Don't forget to lock the door, there's a kid here."

Connor's face turned red, and everyone burst out in giggles when he locked the door.

"I have to admit that this was a brilliant idea," Hayes said. Then louder, he added: "I've never been to a pajama party before. Connor! What face mask do you want?"

"I don't care!" came his reply from the bathroom. "Whatever you're having!"

"Okay!" Hayes said. He looked into the glittery bag and pulled out the first one. "Olive!"

"Oooh, can I do Rose?" Liliana said, going through the contents.

"Yes, baby, you can," Easton said. One after the other, they chose their face masks and applied them to their faces. Willow helped Liliana with hers while Mikey and Aidyn helped Callan choose this – honey – and helped him out. That's when Connor came out of the bathroom wearing flannel pants and a hoodie.

"I hope you kept the olive one for me," he said, sitting next to the Princess.

"Of course! Here you go." Willow thought that he had accepted the joke easily enough and he seemed to be having fun. Or at least he was pretending to have fun. She was pretty sure that he had been very disappointed about his failed sexy night with the Princess.

"Can we play this?" Liliana said, holding out a game once everyone was done applying the face masks.

"Taboo?" Mikey said. "Yes, ma'am! If everyone's okay with it."

"I don't think I've ever played," Cal said. "Is there Braille on the cards?"

"Uhm, no," Mikey replied. "But I'll help you. If we're not on the same team, that is." He took off the lid of the box and started setting out the game. "So, here are the rules," he said before explaining the rules. After which, they made two teams and sat in alternating order. Willow played with Aidyn, Liliana, Hayes, and Cal, while Mikey was on the team with Mike, Connor, and Easton.

They started playing, and it was actually hilarious! Liliana kept using words she wasn't allowed to– maybe she was a little bit young for the game, so they gave her the words anyway. Cal needed to have Mikey whisper him the word and the taboo words at each card, and Mike kept doing gestures to explain the words even if that was not allowed. Hayes and Aidyn were surprisingly good at it, while Connor and Easton always seemed to blank out when seeing a new word and loosing precious playing seconds.

At the end, the score was very close but it was Mikey's team who won. To celebrate, they opened a box of chocolate, some Champagne, and snacks. But not before washing off the face masks. Willow was the first one out of the bathroom, her face glowing after the mask.

"Highness," Connor said, making sure the others wouldn't hear. "What– I thought we have a little evening just the two of us…"

"Oh, Connor," Willow said. "I'm not an easy girl. And I thought it was selfish not to invites others to a pajama party. But the idea was really nice!"

"Yeah– by Pajama party, I actually meant–"

"I know exactly what you meant," she snapped. "But don't ever assume again that I can be so easily used for your own pleasure. Ever. Do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said, a little sheepish.

"What do we do now?" Liliana said. "Do we watch a movie? Play another game?" she looked into the bag Willow had brought. "Ooh! Nail polish!"

The Princess noticed Easton hiding his hands in his pockets in preparation and she just burst out laughing. "Lil, do you want do my nails?" she asked, wiggling her fingers. She already had an acrylic manicure, but she could take off the normal nail polish quite easily later on.

"Yes! Oh, my God. I can?" Her jaw dropped to the floor and she looked at her dad for confirmation. He simply laughed and nodded.

So Willow grabbed one of the many pillows from the bed, laid out a small towel on top and sat cross-legged on the floor with the pillow on her lap and her hands spread out on it. "Knock yourself out, Lil," she said.

Liliana didn't have to be asked twice and took out all the polishes from her bag. "Which color?" she asked to the other guys.

"I'm afraid I can't help you with colors," Cal said.

Liliana pushed the small collection of colors his way. "Okay, just pick one and I'll use it on the Princess."

Cal chuckled. "Alright." He ran his hand on the small bottles in front of him and picked one. "This one," he said. "What color is it?"

"Teal!" Liliana said. "The same color of the dress Aidyn made!" she clapped her hands.

"What's teal like?" Cal asked to the little girl, and everyone froze to listen to what she was about to say. These two always had the best conversations.

"Hmm," Lil said, thinking. "It's like summer!" she said. "It's the color of the ocean on a sunny day."

"Oh," Cal said. "Thanks." A smile curled on his lips and everyone nodded. Liliana was completely oblivious to all the adults around her and she just focused on painting the Princess' nails. Willow kept her eyes on what she was doing because she knew that if she looked at any one of the guys, she would either burst out laughing, or cry.

Around her, the guys opened up a new bottle of Coca-Cola and a bag of chips and chatted. When Lili was done, Willow offered her to do her nails and again, Liliana asked Cal to pick another color for her. This time he picked lavender. Without being asked, Liliana tried to explain what lavender was like.

"Purple is…" she started, thinking. "Bubbles! It's light and soft. It also smells good."

"Yeah, I know what lavenders smell like," Cal said. "I didn't know it was also a color."

"It is!" she giggled.

"Hold still, Missy," Willow said. So Liliana clammed her mouth shut and sat as still as a statue.

"She said hold still, not stop talking, bunny," Easton said with a fond smile. So Callan asker her about other colors and Lili tried to explain what they felt like. Yellow was like warmth and butter; red was like hot fire; Blue was clean; green was fresh!

Willow's heart went out to that little girl and she knew that she would come out of the Selection wiser and better for it. And all that thanks to Cal. And Cal… he was just such a sweetheart in his view of life, always taking things on the fun side, willing to learn and not afraid to be himself. And Aidyn. Aidyn was almost as much a sunshine as Mikey was. And Hayes? He always had an encouraging word for her and the people around him.

She couldn't even begin to imagine ending the Selection now. Even if her heart went out to Mikey every single time, she didn't want to say goodbye to the others just yet. Some of them she still barely knew, and she wanted to know them better.

Around eleven o'clock, Liliana started yawning so wide that she almost fell over. everyone chuckled at that and Easton said that it was time for her to go to bed.

"Thanks for this pleasant evening," he said, picking up his little girl and holding her close. "And Connor? The Pajama Party was a really good idea." He winked and was on his way. Willow wanted to burst out laughing at that.

After Easton and Lili left – their room was just next door while all the others were on the other wing – they started gathering everything around the room: foods, drinks, games, etc, and Willow thanked Connor for his gracious hospitality for the evening.

He nodded and forced a smiled as they all left. The rounded the corner to the main hall and giggled.

"That was honestly golden," Hayes said. "The look on his face– I wish we could have recorded that on video."

Cal chuckled. "I wish I could have seen it," he said in his deep, deep voice. "But his silence said it all, I think."

They all giggled and Willow stopped by the stairs. "Hey, thanks guys, for doing this."

"Of course," Aidyn said. "This guy is a jerk anyway, so it was fun pranking him like that."

"And it was a really nice evening," Hayes added. "And what I said was true: I had never done a Pajama party before, nor had I ever done a face-mask." He chuckled. "I think my sister Nev will be proud of me."

"Nev?" Mikey and Willow said at the same time. "What's her name?"

"Nevaeh…? Why?"

"No way!" Willow said. "That's the same name as Charlie's mom! Ha, the world is a small place, isn't it?"

Hayes nodded but didn't offer any other explanation.

"Thanks for letting me in on the prank, too," Mike said. He hugged Willow briefly and everyone headed back to the east wing. Everyone but Cal who just stood there.

"Cal, is everything okay?" Willow asked him.

"Yeah." He smiled. "I just wanted to thank you…" he trailed off. "I'm not usually invited to things– I don't really have many friends back home, so this was really nice." He held out his hand to her and Willow took it without hesitation. "Will you, uhm, point me into the direction of my room?" he asked. "I kind of lost my bearings."

"Of course," Willow said, guiding him to the last room in the main Hall. "Here you go," she said. "And thanks for being such a huge sport and sweet with Liliana."

Cal smiled softly. "This little girl– she just has so much to offer."

"And you teach her a lot, too," Willow said. "You're amazing with her." Then she stood on her toes as high as she could and placed a fleeting kiss on his cheek, her lips barely brushing his skin because he was way too tall.

"Oh!" Cal said. "Wait let me just–" he bent forward and Willow kissed him again, this time a real kiss, on the cheek.

"Good night," she said, squeezing his hand.

"Good night, Highness." His voice was a little strangled and he stood there, listening to her walk away. Willow went upstairs and quickly changed into a real pajama before going to bed.

Hey! I hope you enjoyed this long-ish chapter full of fluff and drama! keep in mind that even if Willow seems to have already chosen someone, we're not even halfway into the story yet :eyes:

also, you get this chapter a day early because I'll be busy decorating a wedding on Friday and the wedding itself is on Saturday, and I'll have to make the bouquet in the morning and then attend the ceremony in the afternoon... so yeah, busy weekend ;)

anyway, thanks for reading, reviewing, and sticking with me and this story! see next week! :D