Here's the first actual leading up to the actual Selection! Please enjoy!

I also plan to do this story in two chunks- the first half will focus more on Payton's Selection with the part about Sara's Selection and then the other half will focus on Sara's Selection more with Payton and his "One" struggle through unforeseen circumstances. Enjoy!

Please review! and sorry for the misleading chapter title, just didn't know what to call it.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Selection series, those rights belong to Kiera Cass!

Chapter 15- The Selection Starts

Payton POV

Payton sat at his desk running his hand through his blonde hair as he once again looked at the picture of his selected girls. For the most part, they were all pretty, but that wasn't what he cared about. He was concerned about why they had entered the Selection in the first place. Did they enter for him or for his crown? Did they enter because they wanted to find love or did they enter in the chance of becoming the next Queen of Illéa?

His eyes lingered on a few of the girls and he set some aside. These were the ones that he found the most interesting:

One was a pretty girl in a wheelchair, her name was Reese Notes. He wondered why she had entered in the first place. She must realize that this competition would be more difficult for her than the rest and that she may be shunned because of her condition. He didn't know if her decision to apply was either completely brave or foolish. Whatever the case, he wanted to try and know her too.

Another that took his attention was a three by the name of Everly Randolph. From the information that he had read, she had been a seven and in the foster system. Luckily enough for her, she had later been adopted by a pair of threes and from he could see of her picture, they treated her lovingly because from how healthy she looked, she didn't look like she was a seven in the past.

Just from her picture, Everly, entranced him because she looked like an angel with her light blonde hair and pale blue eyes. She genuinely looked excited and there was a glow to her eyes that he just couldn't place.

Another interesting candidate for his Princess was Rebecca Bennett. She completely confounded him. Her caste said that she was a six but her education and the way she even positioned herself for her picture said otherwise. She was a six, but all the information he could get his hands on pointed out that she was raised as a two instead. Her family must be extremely hard working if she could live somewhat like a two. Payton was genuinely excited to meet her. He wondered if the other girls might work as hard and she was pretty so that was a plus.

Another was a girl by the name of Dyllan Taylor from Bankston and while the information that he read about her from her packet wasn't really memorable, the girl herself was extremely striking. She had waves of thick sandy blonde hair and intense sea-green eyes; her eyes were so bright that even he felt like they were glowing.

Lastly, there was the one that interested him most, Eirelyn Leger. She was extremely pretty too. She had such nice dark red hair and bright green eyes. She had her Dad's green eyes he noticed, a slight frown on his face. He wanted to get to know this girl. The daughter of one of the bravest and smartest men he had ever met. He wanted to know the girl who had captured his friend, James' heart. He wanted to know why she had joined the Selection after she had taken so much lost. Did she not care that her Father and partner were dead? No, something told Payton that he was off.

General Leger's daughter, the girl who had captured James' heart would never move on so fast. She was a puzzle and Payton was determined to figure her out.

"Payton?" His head jerked up and he saw Sara standing at the door, wringing her hands nervously. "Are you okay?"

Payton nodded, pushing himself to his feet as he walked over to his sister, she had an uncertain look in her blue eyes. "I'm fine. Are you?"

Sara nodded, "Dad and Mom want to see us in Dad's office."

Payton groaned. Of course. Their Selections were two days away. The girls and boys would be arriving the day after tomorrow and then the next day, Payton and Sara were expected to meet their Selected. "Did he say about what?"

Sara shook her head, "I think it's about the Selection, but it could be something else."

Payton nodded again as he ran his hand through his hair. "Let's go then, we don't want to keep Mom and Dad waiting right?" He led the way out of his room and towards his Dad's office while trying to clear his mind. He needed to focus, on something other than the Selection, but his mind just wouldn't let him. He just knew that he'd find his future Princess among these girls. He just knew it and he couldn't wait.

Maxon POV

Maxon shuffled the papers on his desk for what felt like the hundredth time that day. He felt uneasy with the Selections of his eldest son and daughter coming up. The palace was going to be fuller than it had ever been and concerns were flashing through his mind:

What if neither Payton or Sara found the perfect partner? What if they chose wrong? What if all the selected were horrible? What if the one they chose didn't love them back? What if the rebels took advantage of the Selection and chose to attack them? What if his grandchildren didn't look appealing because of the genetic mix?

Maxon winced at the last thought. It was completely random and out of the question. It was too soon to be thinking about Grandchildren. Neither Payton nor Sara had even met the selected yet. Though, Maxon had to admit to himself at least that he was more nervous for Sara than Payton. Sara was his baby girl and he didn't want her to grow up too soon, even if she was adamant that she do so now.

"Maxon?" He looked up at the soft voice and felt a smile tug at his lips when he saw Kriss enter his office, clad in a beautiful cream-colored dress. It didn't matter that more than twenty years had passed since they had met, she was still beautiful, even if there were some white strands in her hair now. Her kindness never faded and she had been his rock through these rough years. She would always soothe him on his worse nights and when he was feeling down on how his rule was going.

Yes, over the past twenty years Illéa had improved, the lower caste was getting more funding, the education system was becoming better for the lower caste, especially the sixes, sevens, and eights and he had somehow been able to come to halt the war with New Asia, but there was still tension. It was more a Cold War now than anything. However, his biggest disappointment was that he still wasn't able to take away the caste system. He was working on it and some of the ideas to take away the caste were slowly being implemented but he honestly thought he would have been able to completely take it away by now.

"Maxon, what's wrong?" Kriss asked, moving to his side and gently putting her hand on his back, concern dancing in her warm hazel brown eyes.

"I'm just worried about the Selections. We've never had two at once and there has never been one for a Princess. Payton can fend for himself, but these are boys we are talking about for Sara. What if they hurt her?" Maxon asked, deciding to tell Kriss about his concerns about the Selection, but not for the nation.

Kriss smiled, "Sara can take care of herself, Max," Maxon smiled at that, only Kriss ever called him Max and he loved it." She laughed a bit, "Besides, Princes or not, if one of those boys ever even thought of touching Sara, Liam and Payton would land him in the medical wing in seconds."

Maxon laughed at that, it was true. His two sons would do anything to defend their three sisters. "I-" He was interrupted when there was a knock on the door. "Come in," He said and not a moment later, Payton and Sara entered his office, looking at him and Kriss.

"What did you need us for Dad?" Payton asked, his light hazel eyes confused.

"We just wanted to talk about your Selections with you," Kriss answered calmly, a smile on her face. "Are you nervous?"

"Of course," Sara said immediately, causing Maxon to raise his brows in surprise, she had wanted the Selection so he hadn't been ready for her to admit that she was nervous readily. "We will be finding our future spouses. How can we not be?"

"Do you have any type of strategy?" Maxon asked, his eyes going between two of his eldest.

"What do you mean?" Payton asked, leaning forward on the chair Sara had decided to sit in, causing his younger Sister to give him a soft glare.

"On eliminations. How you realize you may like one girl or not. It's harder than you think, to decide on who stays and who goes. I remember eliminating eight on the very first day." Maxon explained.

At that, Sara gasped and Maxon furrowed his brows in confusion at her affronted look. "How could you?!" She demanded, crossing her arms.

"How could I what?" Maxon asked, feeling thoroughly confused, he glanced at Kriss and she just shook her head, not understanding either.

"You can't eliminate people on the first day!" She looked personally offended for the girls and continued on, "You just met them once! How could you have already decided you didn't like them?"

"I just thought that since they couldn't catch my interest in those first minutes we wouldn't hit it off." Maxon knew it wasn't very Kingly, but he shrugged his shoulders. "In the end, I married the right woman." He smiled at Kriss and took her hand, feeling a warmth spread through him when she squeezed his hand.

"Please," Payton cut in, "Don't do that in front of us," He made a face and Maxon laughed.

"I think it's sweet." Sara quickly reassured them, reaching back and hitting her brother in the chest.

Kriss laughed, "You don't have to do what your Father did, take all the time you need. Get to know all the boys if you want before eliminating any."

Sara immediately nodded but Maxon knew from the look on Payton's face that he would probably do what he did. His son was extremely similar to him; if he didn't feel an immediate interest, then that girl had a good chance of going home.

"Anything else?" Payton asked, looking at his Dad for advice.

"Try to give a good amount of attention to all your selected in the beginning," Kriss said answering for him. "Don't show a favorite immediately. I doubt either of you wants a group of jealous boys and girls so early on."

Maxon nodded eagerly, he remembered when he showed favor early on to a certain fiery-haired girl and even he could sense the bitterness and jealousy from some of the girls, but he chose to ignore it. But for his children's Selections? If there were more than thirty girls and boys in the palace that were jealous because a few were singled out... well, he was certain that the palace wouldn't last. More importantly, his sanity wouldn't last.

Payton nodded, a nervous look on his face and Maxon bit back a smile, he was probably dreading that part. "Anything else?"

"Just remember what I said," Maxon looked into the eyes of his two children, "If you think you've found the one, do not let them go. You'll regret it for the rest of your life."

He watched Payton and Sara exchange a look before they both nodded. "You're dismissed." He said, watching them leave a moment later. When he was certain that they were gone, he leaned back in his chair.

"That's really good advise," Kriss said, a faraway look in her eyes.

"I hope so." Maxon sighed, he could already feel the headache that the two Selections were going to give him.

The silence seemed to stretch on before Kriss spoke up hesitantly, "Will you be okay?"

Maxon winced at the question, he knew exactly what Kriss was asking him. Will he be okay with America's daughter walking the halls of his home? He didn't know. The thought of America still stung and his heart broke every time he thought about her. His beautiful, fiery America. After all these years, he still loved her deeply. He missed her. He had always thought that she had been his. The past twenty years had proved him wrong about that too.

If he was honest with himself, he knew that he sometimes regretted his decision to chose Kriss because of what America had done on that day. Some days, he couldn't believe he let his anger get in the way of happiness with the first girl who had his heart and still had it. Other days, he was grateful that he chose Kriss because of her kindness and understanding and the goodness she brought; he couldn't imagine anyone else being the mother of his children, not even America.

"I'll be fine," Maxon said, meeting Kriss' eyes. He would be damn it. With her by his side, he knew he would be. "I'm actually more worried about Payton. If Eirelyn is anything like her mother, then our son has his work cut out for him."

"Agreed," Kriss said solemnly, but Maxon could tell that she was excited to see their eldest squirm a bit.

Sara POV

Sara parted ways with Payton once they left their Dad's office and headed back to her room. However, when she opened the door she completely froze in shock at the scene in front of her.

Her siblings were sitting on her bed as if it was their room instead, the files for her Selected men all over the place as they read through their short autobiographies. Her room was a mess, there were folders and pens all over the floor and even some toy dolls that belonged to the youngest, Julia. Where were her maids? Why had they allowed her siblings to intrude into her personal space?

"What are you doing?!" Sara finally demanded, storming into her room once she unfroze from her spot. She felt a thrill of satisfaction go through her when she saw all three of her siblings jump.

"Sara," Liam said nervously, looking at her with nervous eyes. "This isn't what you think it is."

"What are you doing then?" Sara snapped, her intense blue eyes roaming over her room and widening when she saw that her bed was all wrinkled under her siblings and that there seemed to be dirt on her curtains. "What did you guys do?" She asked in horror. She had honestly not been gone that long.

Julia looked at her with large puppy eyes and immediately, Sara felt her anger melt. There was no way she could stay angry at her baby sister. Especially when she really could still pull off the innocent look at six. "We're running security." She said innocently.

"What?" Sara asked flatly, her eyes going to Liam and Leandra, "Why are you looking at my Selected?"

"We're just choosing which ones we like and don't like," Leandra said as if it was no big deal.

Sara snatched the folder out of Leandra's hands, her eyes immediately going to the name on the page. Hayes Huntley. She looked at his picture and saw that it was a blonde with light green eyes and she couldn't help but notice how kind he looked.

"That's a favorite of mine," Leandra said a smile on her face as she pushed aside her blonde hair. "From what I've read he's a firefighter and cares especially for the lower caste."

"Here's my pick," Liam said, adding another folder to Sara's hands and she rose her brows at the face that smiled back at her. The man had blonde hair like the first but instead of green, his eyes were blue, pretty good looking. But that wasn't what caught her attention. What caught her attention was the fact that the face was extremely familiar to her, she saw him on TV every week. Ben Taylor; he was the most famous game show host in Illéa. He may also be one of the most recognizable faces in the country besides the royal family and Raquelle.

Sara laughed slightly, Raquelle was going to throw a fit when Ben was here. From what she understood, the hostess of the Report wasn't that fond of him because of a poll that had been sent out by Liam a few years back; the question being: who is your favorite TV host? Ben Taylor had beat Raquelle by twenty votes, upsetting the woman.

"Don't cause trouble, Liam," Sara said, looking up to meet her brother's eyes. He was the jokester of the family, who loved to pull pranks whenever he could. Whenever Prince Alexander of Britain visited, the two would always make more trouble and upset the way the palace functioned.

Liam shrugged, "I won't, but there is a very good chance that Raquelle just might. Better keep her away from him."

Sara was about to give Liam a snippy response or maybe smack him when she felt Julia eagerly tug on her dress. "Yes, Julie?" Sara asked as kindly as possible. She wasn't mad at Julia. She knew that the reason her room was like this was because of Liam.

"This is my favorite. He has nice eyes." Julia said innocently and Sara had to refrain from laughing. She loved her sister, she really did but at the tender age of six, she doubted that Julia really knew what was happening.

"Thank you," She gently took the folder from Julia and was immediately mesmerized. Pretty eyes indeed. This third choice was also blonde, but he had the most intense, striking green eyes that she had ever seen, a perfect white-teethed smile and nicely tanned skin. Sara read the name on the folder and narrowed her eyes, "Brody Silver, profession... professional skier?" She blinked and looked up in confusion.

"What's wrong with that?" Sara jumped and turned to see Payton leaning against her doorframe, brows raised at the scene before him. "Skiing is a job for some people. It's like how music is the livelihood of others." He said as he entered into the room, a single folder in his hand.

Sara looked at the folder before looking up at him, "Is that your choice for me?" Even as she asked, she knew it was a stupid question. He had clearly just gotten there so it couldn't be one of her selected.

"No," Payton shook his head, but picked up a random folder from the floor and handed it to her. "Here's my choice."

Sara scoffed but looked at the portfolio nonetheless. Edward Collins, caste two. Another blonde with blue eyes. God, where all the guys in her Selection blonde? She read over his file quickly and noticed that he was an actor. A quite famous one at that. "Do you have any famous people in your Selection Payton?"

Payton shrugged his shoulders, "Some I think, but from what I gathered, you have a lot of famous ones."

"Who's folder is that?" Sara asked, looking at the folder in his hands, she took it from him before he could protest and quickly opened it up. "Eirelyn Leger." She muttered, taking in the girl's dark red hair and green eyes. She was extremely pretty. "Why does her last name sound familiar?"

"She's General Leger's daughter," Liam said, leaning over her shoulder to look and Leandra and Julia quickly following. "She's beautiful." He said, his brown eyes taking in every single feature.

"You have a fiancée," Payton said, taking the folder back from Sara, a defensive look in his eyes.

Liam let out a shocked laugh, "In love already?"

Payton shook his head, "Of course not." His eyes surveyed his siblings one more time before he walked out of Sara's room without another word.

"Let's go shrimps," Liam said, bouncing off his bed and quickly making his way to the door, scooping Julia up in his arms as he did so. "Now we have to look at Payton's girls."

"He'll kill you," Sara said plainly hands on her hips. She knew she wouldn't be leaving her room for a long time. "I can't believe you came in here just to look at my selected." She said angrily, "Who I chose, will be up to me, not because you like them or not."

Leandra gave her a look and shrugged, "You're a dreamer Sis, we're just looking out for you. There's a chance you misjudge one of these men because you're blinded by your idea of Prince Charming."

Sara glared at her younger sister, "I won't know until I meet them, now please leave so that I can look over their folders and my maids can clean up the mess you made."

"I didn't come in here to look," Liam said, suddenly looking serious. "I just wanted to tell you that there's been a change of plans. Victoire isn't coming anymore, but Evelyn will be here tomorrow and Colton won't come until it's just the Elite."

"Why?" Sara asked, her chest tightening at the mention of her ex-boyfriend. He was the one she thought she would have married and it hurt to know how wrong she was.

"There's a situation in France and Queen Daphne wants her daughter to stay there. And as for Colton, well it should be obvious as to why he isn't coming at the beginning of the Selection." Liam didn't say anything else as he led Leandra and Julia out of Sara's room, closing the door behind him.

Sara stood there stunned for a moment longer before collapsing down onto her bed, unsure if she should be pleased or not with the new development. All she knew was that she wanted the Selection to start as soon as possible so that she could finally meet the man of her dreams.

The Selection is almost here! The next chapter will be the trip to the palace and the make-over of the girls!

I just wanted to say that I have more of a plot for Payton's Selection and how I want it to go if you couldn't guess. Sara's Selection is a more free game for who can win her heart. Payton's the one who immediately goes with his gut while Sara likes to take her time with the Selection.

What do you guys think? Please review and let me know what you think!