The morning came and went in a flurry of people running around getting everything set for me to leave. Before I knew it, I was kissing my family goodbye and making my way to a big black car that would take me to the airport.
I sat in the backseat of the car, my hands shaking and my heart racing. I took deep breathes trying to calm myself as I watched my home disappear from the window. I watched the trees pass by, concentrating on the blur of colors trying to control my anxiety. We kept driving, further than I had ever been. I wasn't entirely sure where the airport was, as a six I never had money to leave my town let alone travel where I needed a plane.
It started to rain and watched the raindrops hit the window. I picked one, and raced it against another. I did this until we pulled up to a large gray building.
The driver came around to my door and opened it for me, I got out of the car and was immediately bombarded by cameras flashing and people yelling my name. I was stunned, caught like a deer in headlights. I stood there and watched the people with the cameras moving around me, taking shot after shot. I heard the screams and the cheers. I couldn't move.
"Welcome, Lady Silver. Your flight awaits you." A man dressed in suit and tie held out his arm for me. He lead me down the walkway into the building where more people waited. There was a small stage, which I was lead onto. The cheering continued even louder once I was on stage, I felt my anxiety taking over and I began to shake again.
"Lady Silver! I'm Barbara Peterson, spokesperson for Illea Daily. You're a six, you're the only six. Can you tell us what you're thinking about?" A very tall and intimidating woman asked me. No one told me there would be a Q and A before I got onto the plane, I wasn't prepared for this at all.
I looked at her, and then at the crowd, and then at her again. But nothing came out of my mouth. She repeated herself again.
"Can you tell us what's going through your head right now?"
"You're very tall." I said.
The crowd started laughing, Barbara started laughing, and my face caught fire.
My cheeks burned bright red, my hands were shaking behind my back, and my breathing became shallow. I felt my eyes begin to water and the man in the suit took me by the hand and lead me off the stage. I felt so embarrassed. I didn't realize I was a person with stage fright, but apparently I was. I was so thankful for the man in the suit, there was so much I wanted to say to him, to thank him for saving me but I had lost my voice.
I got onto the plane, and I was the only one on board. I sat by the window and went over what happened inside. I analyzed the few words I said, and the way people looked at me. I thought of all the things I should have said, that would have been so much better than stating the obvious about a woman I didn't even know. I could have simply said, "fine," but of course I didn't. Of course I was an idiot. I imagine the Prince will watch some video of what happened and send me home immediately for being an incompetent idiot. I was too weird, too awkward for this competition. What the hell was I thinking?
About half an hour later the man in the suit came back, sat several seats away from me, and then the plane took off. I watched the trees shrink in size, and appreciated the view and the silence. There was something about viewing the world from so far away that made me feel grounded.
The plane was only in air for 45 minutes before the pilot spoke over the intercom about landing in Zuni.
Once we landed, the man in the suit left and then returned a moment later with a girl of medium height, black hair, and dark brown eyes. Her skin was slightly sun kissed and she was simply breath taking. We made eye contact and she smiled and I couldn't help but smile back at her. I felt instantly at ease.
"Oh my god, You're Silver! You're so cute!" She sat down in front of me and spoke to me as if we have been friends for years, there was so much familiarity. "I'm Birdie, I'm a four. It's so nice to meet you, I am so excited for this competition. This is going to be amazing!"
"It's very nice to meet you, you're so gorgeous." I couldn't take my eyes off of her, she was infectious.
"I've done my research on all the girls, some of them look so terrifying, but you definitely look like one of the most down to earth. I think our next stop is Paloma. I think the girl from there is Rosie, she looks okay. And then it's Sonage and that's Rachel and she's a two so I feel like she's going to be horrible. So I kinda terrified for that, but thankfully it'll only be the four of us on this plane and then we can head the Angeles and the castle. Our provinces are all close to Angeles so we should get there around midday."
I let her continue talking, her voice was bubbly and distracting from the negative thoughts that swirled around my head. I found myself talking to her easily after a few minutes, I felt comfortable being myself around her.
"I was so afraid all the girls would be stuck up, and competitive since it's a competition. I'm glad to see that's not the case though." I started opening up to her and thoroughly feeling happy once again.
"Oh yeah, I'm glad you're not a monster."
"Well, you haven't seen me first thing in the morning yet.
Birdie looked at me for a second and then started laughing, and I joined in. Rosie got onto the plane and sat away from us. I smiled at her when she looked my way but she quickly turned her head and looked at the window. I kept talking to Birdie, letting time flow smoothly by. We made our last stop at Sonage and Rachel got onto the plane.
Immediately I could tell I wouldn't like her, perfect blonde hair that fell to her waist in waves. Slim and tall, mesmerizing hazel eyes, and very full lips. She looked nothing short of a super model. As she walked towards us I noticed she walked like a model also, her stance screaming confidence. She sat down right beside Birdie, and gave us the fakest smile I have ever seen.
"Hello, I'm Rachel. You may recognize me from several magazines, I'm a model and a two of course. I'm sorry, I don't know either of your names. I only memorized those who were actually competition so please forgive me."
Before I could say anything the man in the suit approached us with a tray of food for lunch. He sat it on the table and walked over to Rosie to let her know the food was for her also. I reached over and grabbed a sandwich and started eating.
"I'm Birdie, I'm a four. This is Silver she's a six." Bird also grabbed a sandwich, her bubbly attitude seemed to diminish in the presence of Rachel.
Rachel looked at me with complete disgust and confusion on her face.
"I'm sorry, Silver is it?" She asked me. "If you're a six how did you end up so fat? I thought the poor didn't have money for food?"
There's a thin line between ignorance and being a complete bitch and I could tell Rachel wasn't ignorant.
"I mean, I guess there's nothing wrong with being fat. I just don't think the Prince would ever find you attractive it's kind of gross."
"Silver's not fat, Rachel." Birdie stood up for me when she realized I was at a loss for words.
"My father always made sure our family had enough to eat, we are poor but we make sacrifices and food isn't something we have to worry about. "
"Clearly."
With that being said, Rachel got up and went over to talk to Rosie. I sat my sandwich down and pushed it away. I didn't have much of an appetite anymore and I was afraid after that conversation I never would again. I was so afraid that people would think I was fat. I definitely had more curves than the other woman on this plane and because I worked so much I was very muscular. My mother always told me it was because I was so short, I couldn't expect to be model thin and to embrace my ass but I couldn't help coming up with a plan to shed 20 lbs as fast as I could.
Birdie could tell I was upset by what Rachel said so she let me sit in silence for the rest of the trip which wasn't nearly as long as I wished it was. Before I knew it we were being ushered off the plane and onto a red carpet lined with 10 times as many people as the airport back home. Everyone was screaming all different names, but I definitely heard my name called a bit more than Rachel's which made me feel a bit happier. I took pictures with several people afraid of making anyone feel left our. I signed my name of shirts and notebook paper. After what felt like decades I finally reached the entrance to the castle where the other girls stood waiting for me. The gates opened, we walked up the paved driveway and into the Great Hall of the castle where the prince stood waiting, smiling.
