Alright, so here's this chapter! It'll be the second Report, but not all the girls are going to get interviews.
Most people have stopped, but what the f*ck did you not get about the it's MY STORY a few chapters back, except the parts belonging to Kiera Cass?!
Thanks to Alia Sharma, HestiaAbengation11, Dolphinsplash12, and 4Love4Love for being amazing reviewers! You guys are amazing!
I hit over 100 reviews! YAY!
Anastasia's POV
Anastasia walked into her room, earlier than usual. Today her maids would prepare her for dinner, and not only an appearance on the Report, but an interview. She was a bit nervous-she didn't want to have to reveal the number of dates she'd been on, as only she and Grace had been on two.
Lacey came over to her and covered her eyes with her hands. She heard rustling as Ivory and Lucy pulled something out-presumably her dress, and heard an unzipping sound. A moment later, Lacey withdrew her hands to reveal the sight of Ivory and Lucy holding up a simple but beautiful strapless emerald green dress. She gasped, and they looked crestfallen.
"I love it!" She said. She didn't usually go for cool colors, but it was a beautiful dress, and it was a special occasion. Her maids got her into it and chatted about the other girls dresses.
"What do their dresses look like?" She asked, eager to know. They looked at each other. Ivory took the lead.
"Well, since you and Lady Grace are the only ones to have gotten two dates, all the girls except Lady Summer went with warmer colors, because that's what you two often wear, especially coral and pink, with bits of silver. We wanted to make you stand out." She said. Anna nodded.
"What's Summer's dress like?" She asked them.
"Ice blue, one shouldered chiffon. Her maids made it to go with her eyes." She said. Anna nodded. Summer did have really pretty blue eyes that blue dresses she often, though not always wore, tended to highlight.
"What about Grace's?" She asked. They shrugged.
"We didn't see it." Ivory replied.
Her maids sat her down at the vanity and started applying makeup and doing her hair.
Almost two hours later, Anna was standing down on the set of the Report. She hadn't eaten much at dinner because she was nervous for the Report, even though what she had eaten, like everything so far at the palace, had been delicious. She milled around as girls started to arrive, seeing what her maids had said about warm colors, particularly coral and pink, from now and at dinner. It was easy to pick Summer out because of her ice blue dress, which looked great.
People ran around the sets, trying to finish things off. She found Riley in a pale pink dress with a sweetheart neckline and a mesh one-shoulder, but couldn't find Grace, which was unusual.
Finally, she saw Grace run in, out of breath, and unusually late. Usually she was one of the first ones here, but here she was arriving breathless with little time to spare. When she saw the dress, she understood why.
At dinner, she'd been wearing a pink dress, nice and simple. Now she was wearing a beautiful dark blue dress with silver sparkles at the top that gradually faded down into the dark blue, looking like the night sky. It was beautiful. She hurried over to the rest of the girls, breathless.
"You look great!" She exclaimed to Grace.
"Thanks! Running in heels is terrible!" She replied. Anna nodded, laughing. It was, and there was plenty of stairs.
"How'd you get here so fast in them?" She asked her.
"I carried them most of the way, and put them on just outside the studio." Grace admitted. Sylvia walked over, shooing the girls to their seats. People continued bustling over the Report, making the last few preparations.
Summer's POV
"Five, four, three, two, one, we're live!" A voice called out.
"Welcome to the Illea Capitol Report. This week, we'll be interviewing the lovely ladies of the Selection, but before that, we have a few announcements." Said Gavril. King Maxon stepped up.
"Our ongoing negotiations for a trade deal are drawing to a close, a deal is almost worked out, and is expected to boost our economy and create more jobs, though the exact number isn't known yet." He said. This was followed by applause. He continued, talking about the lunch program in schools and how there was going to be a reclassification of those eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch, as well as the progress on the elimination of caste 6. Finally, they were up. She knew she was second-the girls were in a random order, which they'd been informed of by Sylvia.
She watched as Gavril introduced them, and as Anaya walked up to do her interview. She concentrated on her breathing and her practice earlier with her maids. As Anaya walked back to her seat, she stood up, walking out and sitting in the chair across from Gavril. She folded her hands across her lap, trying not to fidget with them.
"So Lady Summer, how have you been liking the palace?" Gavril asked, starting off easy.
"It's great, and I love it. Everyone is really nice, and the food is great." She said, smiling. Everyone chuckled at the last part.
"What have you done with the Prince?" He asked her.
"We did a round of bowling." She said.
"What's your favorite part of this?" He asked her. Oh boy. This was hard, and she hadn't practiced it. It was all her on this one.
"I love meeting all the girls and just making new friends, because at the end of the day, friends are like stars-they come and go, but the ones who stay glow." She said. The room fell silent, and people began clapping. As it started to die down, Gavril spoke again.
"Well thank you Lady Summer." He said. She stood, walking back to her seat in the tiered seats, knowing that what she said had been true. As nice as some of the materialistic things about the Selection were, the friends were the things that would stay with her no matter what happened.
Manvi's POV
Manvi stood up as Summer went back to her seat, smoothing our her orange-coral dress. It was similar to most of the other dresses , though more orange, making her stand out a bit more, though not much. She knew that she would probably pale in comparison to Summer. She sat down in the chair across from Gavril, nervous.
"So Lady Manvi, how have you been liking the palace?" He asked her.
"It's wonderful." She said, giving a short reply.
"What do you do in your free time here?" He asked her.
"The other girls and I all hang out in the Women's Room together." She said.
"And last question, what did you do for your date with the Prince?" He asked her.
"We watched a movie." She said.
"Well thank you Lady Manvi." He said. She nodded and stood, walking back to where she'd been sitting.
Riley wrung her hands, pretty sure nobody could see because she was near the back of the seats, along with Anastasia, Grace, and Summer. Among them she stood out for her pale pink dress, and pink hair, but among everybody else, the delicate pink silk and tulle dress blended right in.
She watched as girls went up, all of them asked three or four questions, and then sent back to their seats. Most of them were the same question with some variations-how are you liking the palace, what do you do, how many dates have you gone on, what did you do, et cetera. It was pretty repetitive, but the people didn't know that much about it, so to them it was new.
Finally, Jasey stood up from her interview, and Riley stood, walking out to the chair facing Gavril.
"So Lady Riley, what do you like about the palace?" He asked her.
"The food is really good, and the other girls are really nice." She said, thinking of Lucinda and Colette and their groupees.
"How many dates have you gone on?" Gavril asked her.
"Just one." She replied.
"And what did you do?" Gavril questioned.
"We went on a picnic in the gardens." She said.
"Well thank you Lady Riley." He said. She took her que, standing and walking back to her seat as the next girl walked up.
Jessamine's POV
Jessamine smoothed out her coral and silver dress as she stood up. It was very similar to many of the others-chiffon, coral and silver, though hers had little silver cap sleeves as well. She sat down in the chair that Riley had just vacated.
"So Lady Jessamine, how have you been liking the palace so far?" Gavril asked.
"It's great. Everyone is nice, and it's beautiful." She said. Well, with exceptions. But that's not exactly the thing she wanted to say on live TV.
"What did you do on your date?" He asked her.
"We just walked around some of the grounds." She replied.
"And what do you do in your free time?" He asked her.
"I hang out with the other girls." She said.
"Well thank you Lady Jessamine." He said. She stood, walking back to her seat.
Colette's POV
Colette looked around at the other girls annoyedly. Almost all of them were wearing dresses super similar to her, though not quite as daring. Hers was near backless, strapless, and had a slit going partway up her thigh. Lucinda was wearing almost the same dress, though redder, and more backless. She watched, waiting for her cue for her interview. Finally, she stood, walking out to the seat across from Gavril.
"So Lady Colette, how have you been liking the palace so far?" He asked her. She knew how to play a crowd, and amazement was the best way here.
"It's great. All the girls are really nice." She said, smiling much more charmingly than she really was.
"And what did you do on your date?" He asked her.
"We watched a movie in the movie theater." She said, still smiling.
"And what's your favorite part about the palace?" He asked. Once again, she knew to play this one to the crowd, not honestly. Money and the crown wouldn't exactly endear her to them, nor the prince.
"All the girls. It's so nice getting to meet them." She said.
"Well thank you Lady Colette." He said. She stood, walking back to her seat, still smiling sweetly.
Lucinda's POV
Lucinda watched as Bethany finished her interview. She stood, striding out confidently. Her dress was extremely revealing, and a red-coral color, and it annoyed her to no end that almost all the girls were wearing dresses like hers and yet Grace still stood out. And she looked would have stolen Grace's dress if not for the fact that Grace had arrived with barely any time, and was about a foot shorter than her. She sat in the chair.
"So Lady Lucinda, how have you been liking the palace?" He asked her.
"Oh, it's wonderful." She said, smiling, but not elaborating.
"And what have you done with the Prince?" He asked her.
"We went to the movie theater and watched a movie together." She said, continuing with her smile.
"Well thank you Lady Lucinda." He said. She smiled, walking back to her seat.
Anastasia's POV
Anastasia idly fingered the material of her dress. She was second to last, which wasn't doing anything to help her nerves. Someone like Summer was lucky-near the beginning, so she got it out of the way, but not first. She watched as Imogen, the girl in front of her, walked back to her seat. She stood, walking out to the chair across from Gavril, trying to keep her hands from fidgeting with the green material of the dress.
"So Lady Anastasia, how have you been liking the palace?" He asked her, as he had every girl before her.
"It's wonderful. The people are nice, plus the food is really good." She replied, beaming, her earlier nervousness ebbing to some extent.
"And what have you done with the Prince?" He asked her.
"We watched a movie together, and we went horseback riding together." She said, still smiling.
"And how was that?" He asked her.
"It was great. The horses were really nice." She told him, and the rest of the country.
"What movie did you watch?" He asked her.
"The City of Ember. It's my favorite book, but not such a great movie." She said.
"Well thank you Lady Anastasia." He said. She nodded and stood, walking back to her seat, and watching Grace stand up to do the final interview.
Grace's POV
Grace stood up, watching Anastasia's dress catch the light. She took a breath, smoothed her dress, and walked out, brushing her hair from the waterfall braid out of her face. She thought she looked pretty good. Her maids had put her into the dress she was in now, which was beautiful-like someone had captured the night sky and put it on a dress. For all she knew, that's what her maids had done. They'd accompanied it with simple sapphire drop earrings and a sapphire bracelet, and a waterfall braid and light makeup. She continued walking mechanically, trying to keep her breathing even. She sat down in the chair across from Gavril.
"So Lady Grace, how have you been enjoying the palace?" He asked her.
"It's great. It's great getting to meet all the other girls and eat the food." She said, with a similar response to all of the other girls.
"And what have you done with the Prince?" He asked her.
"We went to the archery range, and we went horseback riding." She replied.
"And what's your favorite thing about being here?" He asked her.
"Just meeting everyone else and making new friends is definitely my favorite part about being here, but I also really like the dance studio." She said.
"You're a dancer?" He asked her.
"Yes. I do ballet." She said.
"Well thank you Lady Grace. This will conclude our interviews of the lovely Ladies of the Selection!" He announced as Grace rose, walking back to her seat.
Well, there's another chapter! Sorry it's been so long, I tried to make it longer to make up for it.
Alia Sharma-Thanks! Here she is!
HestiaAbnegation11-I'm a child of Athena there too
Dolphinsplash12-Thanks! I do like to keep a healthy spider-free radius around me.
4Love4Love-Thanks! I'm with you there-I actually enjoy snakes, but spiders-I'm a child of Athena
RQOTD-What's your favorite thing to do on the weekend?
Go to my trapeze and aerial classes. They're like some of my very favorite things in the whole world.