Labeled (A The Selection Fanfiction)

Chapter Eight

I wake up to the feeling of Alexander's breath on my hair. In and out, in and out. My auburn hair blows back and forth, back and forth, across my face. His elbows are laid on the table with his head propped up to watch me, but he fell asleep.

I watch him sleep for a few minutes, all the stress gone from his face. His strong jaw is relaxed from the pressure that usually weighs heavily on him. "Hey, Alexander," I whisper quietly, "wake up, sleepy head." He jolts awake. As he realizes it's me, he sighs.

"Hey, Clarissa."

"So..." I need him to say something; the awkwardness of the memory of last night causing a blush to spread across my cheeks.

"So, how are you feeling?" He stretches and yawns running his hand over the back of his neck.

"Better. The doctors did a good job. How are you?" He reaches out and gently fingers the stitches. I don't even feel the pain, it's numbed by painkillers.

"Worried about you, what else?"

I smile and laugh, "You're too kind, too kind." He fans himself dramatically.

"Well, I never can help it."

"Neither can I, we just can't help being perfect, can we?" I say sarcastically, acting as if it is tiring to be so perfect, even though we all know I'm not.

"I agree completely." He's suddenly serious, and he leans in.

He kisses me, and the warmth from my lips spreads throughout my whole body. I feel a tingling sensation in my spine, and put my arms around his neck. I suppose I shouldn't feel this way, this quick, but it feels impossibly right. He gently rubs my cheek, as if I am a porcelain doll that might break if pushed to hard. When we break apart, I feel his breath on my neck, warm like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.

We stare into each other's eyes. The moment seems so electrified, we are scared to break it.

"W-was that all right?" He is nervous too. I wonder if this is also his first kiss.

"Yeah," I whisper, "that was perfect."

He sighs, blowing hair out of my face. Then, he grins. "I think that was a very good start to your stay here. And, by the way, I don't plan on sending you home anytime soon."

I smile too. "That works just fine with me."

§§§§§

For the whole day until dinner I can't stop thinking about the kiss. The kiss. That wasn't supposed to have happened because none of us have even officially met Alexander yet!

But still, every time I ponder it, the my vision gets brighter with hope. Hope that, maybe, being a selected isn't such a bad thing after all.

Even though Alexander says he will be keeping me here, I'm still nervous for our meeting. I've heard rumors that he will be asking pretty serious questions, and what if I answer incorrectly?

§§§§§

We have been eating dinner for a while in the Dining Room, and some of us have finished eating. When we first arrived, The Selected curtsied to the royals as Jacqueline, our mentor, instructed. Because of the rebel attack, she only had a brief amount of time to prep us, and me even less considering I had spent the whole day in the hospital yesterday.

Alexander seems to notice the 'falling action' atmosphere of the room, and stands up.

The room goes silent and everybody stops eating.  I finish chewing what's in my mouth, then politely put down my fork.  Alexander winks at me before he has everybody's full attention. I'm sitting on the end of the table, closest to the royal family.  Cece and Eleanor are to my left and right, and a girl named Willow Beverly is sitting across from me. She so quiet that I haven't learned anything about her.