Welcome back romantics! I'm back with a longer chapter as promised and hope to keep posting long ones. There may be a few short for suspense but otherwise not. :D

Dawn -

The flight was five hours from Dakota to Angeles. Two other girls were on the plane with me. They didn't talk much besides a basic introduction and their province.

Genevieve is a Two, and before she came here she was an actress. I can see why. She's absolutely gorgeous. Her skin is a rich golden-brown, and her eyes are hazel. Her hair is curled in just the right way, and her figure is one a lot of people would want. It's probably what mine would look like if I wasn't always starving.

Danielle is a Three and she didn't have a profession before coming here. Her father's a quantum physics professor and her mother is a dentist, so she's been living well. Danielle has thin brown hair, skin a little lighter than Genevieve's, and blue eyes.

What am I doing? Am I sizing up the competition? I shake my head, trying to snap out of it.

When the plane lands, we're at the airport in Angeles. The duffel bag I've packed my few possessions in looks like shit next to Genvieve's branded suitcases. Danielle's suitcases aren't as expensive at Genevieve's but I'm sure even one could pay for enough food for my entire family for a month.

Once we've gathered all our luggage, we step outside the airport to where the car will be waiting. I'm slowly getting used to having to buckle my seatbelt, since I don't ride in cars often. What I'm not expecting is the huge horde of people waiting for us.

Genevieve has multiple supporters waving magazines and giant pictures of her. Most of them have pens somewhere on their person. Danielle's name is sprinkled in there too. I don't see Dusk's name anywhere.

We get in the car, which takes quite some time because Genevieve is busy giving autographs to her fans and posing for pictures, which I guess is understandable since she's a famous actress.

Finally, she breaks away from the masses and gets in the long black car she says is called a limo. The windows are tinted, but everyone outside knows we're the people sitting in it. We don't stop driving until we reach the palace, and by then the sun is starting to set.

The palace is ginormous. I can't stop looking around like I'm going to wake up from what is slowly evolving from a nightmare into the most lucid dream. The woman that took me to the airport is there too, and she takes us to a large parlor called the Women's Room. There are about eleven makeup stations there, if that's even what I can call them. The woman immediately starts yelling instructions, and I chance a glance at her clipboard and see that her name is Nadia.

"Station 8, you can take Dusk!" Nadia calls to the team of three people that have just finished up at eight.

With a pang of sadness, I realize they must be Sixes to be doing this kind of work.

A brunette woman who appears to be in her mid-twenties leads me to the station and sits me down in a fancy chair. A camera crew bustles in and takes a picture of me, then hustles out of the station. Jasmine draws the curtain around the station so no one outside can see what happens in it. It's made of the nicest material I've ever felt, and I briefly wonder how much it cost before turning my attention to the huge array of items on the vanity in front of me. I don't even know what half of them are.

To distract myself, I ask them what their names are. The brunette tells me her name is Jasmine. A blonde girl who's probably fifteen says her name is Lilac and she has an older sister named Violet. A man with well-kept hair says his name is James, and he speaks like he's been doing this a long time. He must be the head of the group.

James barks orders at Lilac and Jasmine and they effortlessly follow them. First, Jasmine practically waxes my body raw while Lilac watches, and I can still see the red patches where the wax has pulled away hair. Thankfully, when getting to the more intimate areas, James had the good sense to avert his gaze.

Next, Jasmine and Lilac give me what I can only call a dry shower, which I call that because they've basically cleaned me but without the use of an actual shower or bathtub. Once they've toweled me dry, they give me a bra, underwear, a soft T-shirt and a pair of elastic shorts. I've never owned clothes as nice as these, so they are a luxury.

James turns back around and picks up a heavy black thing that looks like a blanket with three holes in it. I quickly discover what they're for when he drops it over my head with no warning. I'm embarrassed to say it takes me a couple of seconds to realize the holes are for my arms and head.

Lilac pulls my hair out from under the covering and asks me whether I have any preferences for how I'd like to have my hair done. I tell her that she should do whatever she thinks looks best, and since my hair is naturally wavy, she wants to see how it would look if she straightened it. I say it's okay as long as it's not a regular activity and she practically glows.

I take a short nap while Lilac works on my hair, and she's really good at it. When I wake up, I can't see her anywhere, but I'm not longer covered by the black blanket. With a start, I see the way she's cut my hair makes it shorter in the front and longer in the back. I love it.

I run a hand through my silver locks, admiring how seamlessly the layers blend together. It's also much softer than usual. I guess she didn't end up straightening it, because my hair is perfectly wavy, so perfect that I know she's done something to enhance the natural curl.

The sound of footsteps distracts me, and Jasmine opens the curtain, clutching multiple bottles of scented lotions and perfumes. She lays them all out in front of me and I select the lotion that gives off a faint scent of lavender and a peppermint perfume. Jasmine smiles knowingly but won't give me any information when I ask her why. As she begins to rub it into my skin methodically, Lilac returns with a piece of paper with over a hundred colors swatched onto it. She asks me what I'd like on my nails, and I can see how hopeful she is, so I select a shade close to my natural nail colors and pick white for the detail work. I stay awake this time and watch as Lilac paints my nails with expert precision. When I ask her what kind of details she'll be adding, she says it's something called a French tip, which is supposed to be very popular right now. I see what she means when the tips of my nails look like they've been dipped in white.

Once Jasmine is finished rubbing lotion into my now smooth skin, she tells me to stand up and strip but leave the undergarments. James is nowhere to be seen, so I take off the shirt and shorts, at this point knowing Jasmine and Lilac are nothing but gentle. Jasmine pulls a beige dress over my head that ends at my knees and replaces my bra with slip. Lilac gives me a pair of skin-tight shorts to wear under the skirt for more privacy, and she puts matching flats on my feet which I consider a blessing because I'm sure I can't walk in heels.

When the whole process is finally over, Jasmine sits me down in the chair again and opens the curtains surrounding the station. A camera crew instantly comes over, takes a picture of me before I can realize what's happening, and leaves as quickly as they came. Dazed, I sit up and Lilac leads me up the stairs to the first floor, which is where all the rooms of the selected girls are. Mine is all the way at the end of the hallway, in a section called the Day Wing, which is fitting because Dusk and I are named after different times of the day. With a stabbing feeling in my chest, I wonder what she's doing right now. Leaving my other half is the hardest thing I've ever done, but I know she'll be happier this way. Besides, I'll be back before she knows it and we'll all be one big happy family again.

When I finally reach my room, I'm too tired to admire any of the decorations and just throw myself onto the most comfortable bed inside. I vaguely hope the dress won't get wrinkled, and the haze of sleep finds me.

Hope you enjoyed the long chapter! Be back tomorrow with some more insight into the other characters' lives and thoughts. ️