So here's chapter eleven! I hope you liked chapter ten! If you didn't agree with the outcome of the vote then I'm sorry. It wasn't my fault. It's the voters. Can't control opinions.

Once again, thank you to everyone who voted!

CHAPTER ELEVEN

"Ladies Elise, America, and Kriss." We entered the ballroom. Everyone stared at us. We were beautiful. We were extraordinary. We were rare.

And so I mingled. I took a glass of champagne and talked with royalty from France and Spain and England.

They way Princess Daphne (from France) talked about Maxon… UGH! How could he! He lied to me! He told me he's never dated anyone else!

"Have you two ever dated?" I asked nonchalantly.

"Oh, yes. But we had to break it off because of The Selection." She answered lightly then took a sip of her drink. I nodded.

"Well, I'm sorry for taking him away, then." I said jokingly. But I wasn't sorry. I had to find him. HE LIED TO ME! She laughed freely. "Excuse me." I set down my glass and left the ballroom. I just need air. Luckily, there was no one there. So I sat at a chair and put my head in my hands. He only chose me because he couldn't have who he really wanted. I was always his second choice, to someone he could never have. I sat there in silence, listening to the faint music coming from the ballroom.

"America? Are you okay?" Aspen approached me in full uniform.

"No," I snapped. "Leave me alone." I heard him sigh then walk over to me. I could feel him looking at me. My head was still in my hands.
"What's wrong?" he asked softly.

"Right now? YOU!"

"Well I am SORRY for worrying about my girl!"

"You don't get it, do you! I'm not your girl anymore! And in case you forgot, YOU'RE THE ONE WHO LET ME GO! Well you had your chance. And you left me. So I'm moving on. And so should you."

"America, please."

"America? Are you okay? I heard yelling." Maxon came into view. He looked at me then Aspen. "Officer Leger, is it?"

"Yes, your majesty." Aspen answered stiffly. Maxon just nodded and turned his attention to me.

"Mer, are you okay?" Aspen stiffened. He always called me Mer. Now it's Maxon calling me now.

"Yeah, I- Actually no. Maxon, can I tell you the truth about something?"

"Of course, but is now really a good time?"

"Yes." I said. If I didn't tell him now, I never would. "Do you remember how I told you about my last boyfriend?"

"Yeah, the one who broke your heart?"

"Yeah…. Well….. This is Aspen." I motioned to him.

"Aspen…" Maxon repeated. He walked towards him calmly. Then, when they were face to face, Maxon punched him in the jaw. Aspen's head whipped the to side. He stepped back from Maxon and held his jaw.

"You stay away from her." Maxon threatened. "Go. I'll deal with you later." And Aspen left. He turned to me. "Are you okay?" He asked tenderly. I just nodded.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

"Do you still have feelings left for him?"

"I suppose… ya know, first love never leaves you. But… Not how I feel about you."

"Do you still want to get married?" He asked, worried.

"Yes. I can get over him. But I don't think I'd ever get over you." And he kissed me.

"Let's go back. It's time to make us official." He grabbed my hand and I bit my lip. Was I excited? Yes. Was I nervous? More than ever. Did I feel like I was going to faint? Definately. Did I feel like I was going to puke? Probably. Was it all worth it? Without a doubt. We approached the ballroom. "Stay in the back of the room until I call you up. Okay?" I nodded. He let go of my hand. He went to the very back of the room, where the classical music was playing. The music stopped and so did the people dancing. Everyone turned to look at him and quieted down. He took a microphone.

"Hello. As you know, The Selection has been taking place. We are now down to three lovely women." Kriss and Elise joined me in the back of the room. I smiled at them. "Ladies Elise, Kriss, and America are all beautiful, smart, and charming women. But I must pick only one.

"Elise," He looked her in the eyes from across the room. She looked up at him, hopeful. What was he doing?! My breath caught in my throat. "You're beautiful, and smart. And I really enjoyed the time I spent with you… But there's just no connection. I'm sorry." Elise nodded and simply walked out of the room. No pain, no loss, but no gain.

"Kriss, you're simply lovely. You're funny and sweet. And you're always there for me to talk to whenever I need to. But you're just not the person I want to spend my entire life with.

"America? Darling, can you come up here?" He turned his attention to me, as did the entire ballroom, including the cameras. I smiled softly and lifted my dress just enough for me to walk. He took my hand the second I was in reach and helped me up the stairs. "I knew, from the moment I met you in the gardens that night, that you were something special. Even when you didn't love me back, I loved you. I'll always love you." He got down on one knee. I gasped softly. Even though this is what a proposal is, I didn't expect him to get on one knee in front of everyone- the entire nation. "I promise to love you with all my heart, for the rest of my life. Marry me?" I nodded, not trusting my voice. I was almost in tears, as was almost the entire nation. He stood up. And I threw my arms around him. He spun me around in his arms, then set me down and kissed me. In front of the entire nation. Then he slid the ring on my finger. I looked at him questioningly. It wasn't the ring I picked out in the jeweler. It was older, but more beautiful. He mouthed 'one second'. I nodded slightly. Then we turned to the crowd. They cheered and whistled. Then they started yelling "KISS! KISS! KISS!" We looked at each other. Then we kissed.

"You call that a kiss?" Some guy yelled. I looked around for the culprit. Then i saw him with my family, smiling mischievously. Kota! He's here! I looked at Maxon once more. And he kissed me like we were alone.

"People of Illea!" He said once we broke the kiss off like nothing happened. I gasped for air. "Your Princess! Princess America!" Then Queen Amberly glided in from a side door majestically. She was carrying a royal-red pillow with gold tassels. With a tiara on it. The tiara was all gold. The curves and swirls had gold-colored gems on it. 'Kneel' she mouthed to me. I obeyed, getting down on both knees with my head bowed. Maxon put his hand on my shoulder. Queen Amberly didn't say anything. No big speech or having me take a vow. She simply set the diadem on my head. Then she helped me stand. We faced the crowd. They cheered.

The three of us got off the stage to mingle again. But the Queen brought me off to the side.

"Go through that door. The maids will help you fix your hair and tiara and fix your makeup a tad." I nodded.

They fixed my hair so that the tiara fit around the mess of curls on top of my head then that the red curls cascaded around the tiara nicely. They fixed my makeup that was only slight and, thankfully, unnoticably, smudged from my crying session earlier.

I returned to the ball merely minutes later, almost totally unnoticed.

"Would you like to dance?" Maxon said, holding out his hand. I took it.

"I would love to." We walked to the middle of the ballroom, now surrounded by other dancers. And we danced. It brought me back to the time in his mother's study. Where we danced around the furniture and laughed when I tripped. But not tonight. Tonight I was graceful. I was royalty. We made conversation while we danced. We laughed and talked and danced.

Then my father tapped on his shoulder.

"May I cut in?" He asked Maxon.

"Of course." Maxon let go of me and my father started to dance. Really well, too!

"Since when did you dance?" I asked.

"Since you stopped being left footed." He joked in reference to my clumsiness. I laughed softly and there was a small silence. "I'm proud of you, you know." He stated. "You've really grown up a lot. And I'm sad that a lot of that growing up as here, where I couldn't be there with you. But I'm proud of you. You really stepped up to the plate. You're going to do great things for this country." I didn't know how to answer him, so there was another silence. "He love you, you know." He said softly.

"I know." I smiled.

"He came to me a few days ago. Asked me for my blessing to marry you."

"And what did you say?"

"Yes, of course. I've never seen a man love as much as he loves you…" I smiled again.

"I love you, daddy."

"I love you, too." Then Kota cut in.

Immediately there was an awkward silence between us.

"You look beautiful tonight." He finally said.

"Don't beat around the bush." I said, almost pleading.

"Okay… what are we beating around the bush to?" He asked.

"Are you okay with me marrying Maxon?" I asked in a small voice, scared for the answer. He may be a jerk, but he's still my brother. I still care about his opinion… kinda. He sighed.

"The moment I left the house, I knew I was wrong. You wouldn't stick up for someone like that if they didn't love you. You were never fooled easily by lies, America. But I couldn't come back.

"Then mom came and told me how heartbroken you were and how the Prin- Maxon spent the rest of his time comforting you and tell you how much he loves you. I had to make it up to you somehow. So I came here… I hope you're okay with me here?" He asked unsurely.

"Thank you, Kota. This really means a lot to me." We stopped dancing and walked back to where Amberly, Maxon, my parents, and Kenna were all talking.

"You're welcome, your majesty." He bowed playfully to me. I giggled.

My mom wore a simple dress. Like Elise and Kriss, simple always looked great on her. The dress was barely a ball gown. The skirt only flared out a little, but just enough to call it a ball gown. It was black, with black lace over it, giving it texture.

Kenna's dress was emerald green. It was simple too, but not in the same way my mom's is. I took two trays of champagne from a tray a butler was carrying around and handed one to Kota. Everyone else already had a drink. I took a sip of it.

"Since when did you drink champagne?" My dad asked teasingly.

"Since now." I answered. I took another sip while keeping eye contact with him, as if to make my point. He chuckled.

And so the group of us chatted. We laughed and chatted and small talked and debated and gossiped like we were old friends. We just stood and talked for about an hour.

Then I heard something I was not expecting.

From outside the ballroom, there was yelling. Then the alarms went off.

The rebels. They were attacking. There were too many people to fit in all the saferooms.

HAHA! I MADE A CLIFFIE! I've been cruel lately, I know. I'm sorry. It'll get better and better, I promise. I'm already planning on a good twist. But for now, you must wonder what's going to happen. REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!

Thank you!

~C.A.M.3

America's tiara:

Gold_