(A/N: This chapter is shorter than the first one, so please bear with it. Thank you for the continuous support. Please read and review!)

"Thanks." The girl sat opposite to me beside the boy.

"No problem," I said.

"Are you a trainee, too?" the boy asked while putting the plates down the table.

"No, I'm just staying here for a while."

"For how long?" the girl quickly countered as she sliced her bacon.

"Maybe about a week or two." I was starting to get a little irritated.

"Why?" the boy asked again.

"Well, it's a rather long story…"

"Please do tell!" they both said in unison.

"You two knock it out!" another girl, this time with brown, curly hair and bangs came walking in while holding a glass of orange juice. "Sorry if they bothered you a lot."

I laughed, "It's okay. I'm quite used to it."

"You are?" the black-haired girl said. "Oh, sorry, I completely forgot. I'm Jaydinalyn by the way, Jaydinalyn Jackson. You can call me Jaydyn."

"And I'm Marcus Jackson. We're twins."

"Twins? Really?" I asked. It was the first time I personally saw twins, especially a boy and a girl. No wonder they looked so alike when they first came

"And I'm Portia Addams; it's very nice to meet you." She sat beside me as I scooted to the next seat.

"I'm America, America Singer."

"Oh. My. Gosh," Jaydyn dropped her fork. "You're the awesome red-head that fought of the guards and kicked ass on that Report? I am a total fan."

"Aww, that's sweet. Thank you."

"My sister is really fond of you," Marcus said while chewing his toast. "She thinks you'd make a wonderful queen, especially when you decided to eliminate the caste systems. She is quite an activist."

"Just spit it out already brother dear, you want to stop the castes as much as she does." Jaydyn glared at her brother.

"Alright, maybe I want a fair rule in monarchy, so what?" Marcus continued eating. It was fun watching them argue.

"Pshh, your heart's made out of stone!" Jaydyn crossed her arms on the table and gave an angry pout. "I prefer a parliamentary government if you ask me."

"Everybody knows, presidential governments are better," he started cutting his eggs and still kept a straight face. I looked at Portia who smiled at me and mouthed 'I'm used to it.'

"Stop being dramatic Jay, it'll make you even uglier. Then all the guys will just continue hitting on Rooka Spice." Marcus snickered while Jaydyn sat upright again. "Don't talk about her right in front of my food," she said.

"Rooka Spice? Who's Rooka Spice?" I asked.

Jaydyn put her head close to mine, "See that blonde girl over there with the purple streaks?" I nodded. The blonde girl, Rooka, was seated next to a boy. Wait no, clinging on the boy for her dear life. He seemed to like it though. She instantly reminded me of Celeste.

"It was my first day here and I was talking to this BETA guy, asking for directions. Then suddenly this… this…" Jaydyn thought for a moment, finding the right words to describe Rooka.

She snapped her fingers, "This overconfident, croaking frog steps on my foot with her designer boots and pushes me aside. Do you even know what she wore that day? A full body suit which was so tight you could see her bones popping out. The v-neck was so low I could have sworn it almost reached her torso. And the worst part was, it was PINK! Hot, dark, luscious, lipstick PINK all over. My eyes were practically burning."

Marcus looked at her sister in disgrace, "That only happened two days ago. Stop acting like she was your enemy since kindergarten. Finish your bacon, or else."

"Sheesh, alright. What do have against bacon?"

"Lady America, why don't you join us three this evening? We're going horseback riding." Portia smiled at me. I only noticed that the color of her eyes was unusual. It was like a prism, changing time to time whenever light reflected it.

"Sounds great to me, since I don't really have plans later. And please, do call me America."

"Great!" Jaydyn said enthusiastically. "You can watch as I defeat Marcus on our races."

"Shut up Jay."

I laughed at the way they fought. It reminded me of when I was little. Kenna, Kota and I would fight non-stop, especially when there was only one last piece of bread left on the dining table.

"How about we give you a short tour outside the gardens while waiting America?" Portia suggested.

"It would be lovely!" Jaydyn said. "Marcus, you could come to if you like."

"Nah. I'm promised some dudes I'd play basketball with them. They seem to be running out of players."

"Fine then, go do your boy stuff." Jaydyn said.

I wondered if Maxon had an interest in boy sports like basketball. I didn't know if he had the skills, or the experience since he never left the walls of the castle. It was hard to imagine Maxon while wearing a jersey, shooting a three-pointer.

"Let's go," Portia said standing up with her half-empty glass.

"Yeah," I said. "Yeah, sure."

Portia and I walked side-by-side while Jaydyn kept on skipping and pointing to different flowers, giving me their scientific names or their origins.

"This one's a poppy flower!" She picked out a white flower with round petals and an orangish center. "It was used in the World Wars, to symbolize that they would never do it again. Well, you see how that worked out."

Jaydyn put the flower on her ear. She smiled at us and continued hopping her way through the bushes. I smiled on how energetic she was. She was like the smarter version of May. I tried to picture May being giddy while telling the family about properties and chemicals, stuff like that.

"Oh! Here's my favorite!" Jaydyn skipped towards a small tree and picked another flower, this time it had big, orange petals and a long stamen. She ran back to us and stuck the flower behind my ear.

"It fits you! That's a Hibiscus. It's called a perfect flower, scientifically because it has the combination of an ovule and a stamen; the female and male parts of a flower."

"You look pretty America," Portia said.

"Of course she's pretty! A future queen needs to be pretty!" Jaydyn said.

I sighed and sat down a nearby bench. For the first time in my life, I actually missed the palace. Not just Maxon or Marlee or my family, but the whole palace. I even missed Celeste rubbing all my faults on my face. I missed Sylvia giving us instructions and lessons no matter how boring it was. One thing was certain though, I didn't miss the King. Not one bit.

"America?" Jaydyn, suddenly concerned sat next to me followed by Portia.

"You must love him very much," Portia suddenly spoke. "What's his name? Maxon?" I nodded.

"Don't worry." Jaydyn stroked my hair, trying to bring back the joyful atmosphere we had. "You'll go back to the palace in a jiffy! Now, come on, We still haven't brought you to the butterfly house!" She pulls me up and starts hopping again. "Come on! Portia you lead the way for a change!"

All I could do was smile. I wish I had that kind of personality. I want to stay happy even though I face the toughest problems. I admired Jaydyn.

"America!" I heard a familiar voice call out to me. The three of us stop on our tracks.

Toni was running down the pathway we took. He had a saddened look on his face.

"You better see this, immediately."

We ran back to the building, rode an elevator to the fourth third floor and went inside a meeting room with long tables and a bunch of wheel chairs. General Ivy and other officers were sitting on the end, in front of a big flat screen television.

"General Ivy, what is it?" I asked. Toni, Portia and Jaydyn stayed behind me. Marcus suddenly appeared less than a second at the door. He must have seen us running.

"What happened?" he whispered at Jaydyn. She just shrugged.

General Ivy turns the television on and changes the channel. The first thing I saw was Maxon, who stood on a podium with various microphones sitting on top of it.

"We will be postponing the Selection for about two months because of a certain loss. It appears that after a week of searching, we see drops of blood and torn cloth of her gown near the river at the forest. It is believed to be that Lady America is dead."

No.

I wanted to scream at the television, at Maxon. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs that I'm still here, that I'm still alive. I'm just halfway across the country.

"The three remaining ladies will be sent back to their home provinces, until then, we'll settle things with the rebels. That is all I have to say now."

I watch as Maxon climbs down the podium in a stern face. I fell on my knees. I couldn't get myself to cry or to shout. I was just staring at the television, even when the screen turned black.

What am I going to do now?