So this is not a continuation of After the One. I know. :( But I didn't want to leave you guys with nothing before I left for school. Soooo...this is the first chapter (or prologue I guess) of the AU I was considering doing. I decided to post it to hear what you guys think, whether or not I should post it. This is an AU where America is NOT selected and how that changes her fate. So please, let me know what y'all think!

"Miss Fiona Castley of Paloma, Three." A brunette with smoldering eyes this time. Maybe my age, but she seemed more…experienced.

I turned to Mom and May on the couch. "Doesn't she seem awfully – "

"Miss Celia Leger of Carolina, Six."

I didn't know what I was expecting but the disappointment I felt in my heart was completely unorthodox. Mom got up from the couch with a huff and walked to the kitchen. Dad quickly followed her as May patted my shoulder. "Celia could be a great princess too," she told me but judging from the tears in her eyes, she was more upset about this than the rest of us. Except for me, maybe.

I was torn. I wanted to be happy for Aspen's family but I knew my mom wanted this for me so badly. I doubted Celia would make it far but who was I to judge? I probably wouldn't have either. At least she would be able to send some money to her family. I felt more sorry for Kamber for having to watch her sister go into the Selection and be left behind. There was still something in me aching though at the thought that I wasn't in the Selection.

Since it was just me and Gavril still talking on the TV, I turned the set off and wandered down the hall to my room, shutting the door and collapsing on my bed. I imagined what it would be like to lay on the beds in the palace. They must feel like clouds. Maybe they were somehow made out of clouds. It was hard to think about the palace. I had nothing luxurious to really compare it to aside from a few houses I had been in that belonged to Twos.

A little while later I heard the familiar sounds of my family going to bed. I rolled over in bed as I heard my door open, hoping that whoever it was would just leave me alone. The heavy footfalls told me right away that it was my father. I squeezed my eyes shut tight as he leaned down to kiss my temple. "There are greater things to come America. Just wait."

I listened to his footsteps retreat and the soft thud of my door closing. I flopped on to my back, staring up at my ceiling. In my head, I replaced the white drywall above me with gold gilded marble, the ceilings I imagined were in the palace. I tried to wipe away the disappointment I felt. I mean, I didn't want to be in the Selection. Right? I only signed up for it because of Aspen.

Aspen, shoot. I had forgotten about Aspen. What would happen now that I was staying? What if Celia won? He would become a One. It seemed like Aspen Leger and One didn't belong together. I couldn't picture him in those fancy suits Prince Maxon and the king wore every year on the report. Even stranger, his sisters in those beautiful dresses Queen Amberly always wore. I may have been imagining it, but I was already half-asleep when I heard a tap on my window. If there was another tap, I was too deep in my dreams to notice.

The next morning was dull and rainy. The air outside was briny and humid with bugs chirping in the grass. I looked over at my clock and saw that the morning was almost over. Dad was already in the studio working and May was walking in and out carrying small trays of paint. There was a small bowl of cereal waiting for me on the kitchen table. I took it and walked into the studio.

Dad was humming to himself as he mixed a palet of paint, bouncing from one foot to another. I sat on one of the counters between paint bottles, picking at the corn flakes. "Morning, Dad," I greeted, getting his attention.

He smiled at me. "Closer to afternoon now, kitten. You may not have wanted to be princess but you've got the Sleeping Beauty part down."

"Dad, are you disappointed I wasn't chosen?" I asked, playing with one of the knobs of the cabinets beneath me with my toes.

"I think what you're really asking is if it's ridiculous that you're disappointed," he assumed. "Which, I will tell you, is not completely ridiculous. You may not know it, but despite your resistance there was a small bit of hope in you wishing to get chosen."

I took that in and then asked, "Did you know anyone that got chosen for the king's Selection?"

He shook his head. "The Champion Girl for Carolina then was from the other side of the province. I am happy for the Legers though. They're very deserving of this honor." He paused and looked at me carefully. I could tell he was weighing his words with the way he kept looking at the door to the dining room. "But I guess now you're free to marry the young man you want."

Every blood vessel in me froze, my muscles tensing up. There was no way he could know about Aspen. "What?"

He looked at me sympathetically. "America, I know you weren't asking me about marrying a Six or Seven for just any old reason. If you are sure you love him, and he loves you, consider this my blessing. Just know that he needs to talk to me first. I'm sure that whoever it is, he's a fine gentleman."

I nodded, relaxing a bit. There was still something telling me that he knew it was Aspen. After all, this was my father. He knew me better than anyone. How many times had he spent with Aspen and I in the same room? Maybe he had suspected something after all. It was a nonissue though anyway. Aspen and I were over. All I could do was go over to my dad and wrap my arms around him. "I'm not going anywhere Dad."

I'll answer all of your reviews after the next chapter of After the One! Just let me know what you think of this!