Truly Selected (Book One of The Next Selection Series)

Chapter 9

After taking a quick shower, I threw my hair in a towel wrap to let it dry. I ran out of the bathroom with my toothbrush in my mouth and accidentally bumped into Niko.

"Whoa there. Slow down speedster," Niko joked, and I rolled my eyes before I continued on to my room.

I hurried through the door and ran to my drawers. I left the toothbrush hanging in my mouth and pulled the selection uniform off the top of my drawers. It was a plain white shirt and black tight pants. There was a small pink tulip clip laying on top of the shirt, and that said flower was supposed to be pinned into my hair. Tulips are Kent's province flower, so I will wear it proudly.

In a rush, I dropped the towel wrapped tightly around my body to the floor and picked up the pants. I hopped on my feet to pull them up my legs; when I say the pants are tight, I mean it.

Once the pants were on, I tried to pull the white shirt over my head; with little success I might add. With the towel still wrapped around my head drying my hair, I stumbled backwards and landed ungracefully on my bottom.

"Ow," I mentally screamed and stood back up in pain, though it wasn't that bad.

I unwrapped the towel from my head and let my wet hair tumble down my back. The white shirt was tight fitting, and I have to admit that I liked the way it looked.

I ran over to a small vanity in my room and picked up my hairbrush that was laying on it. Running the brush through my hair, I tried to untangle the knots to the best of my ability. When I was satisfied, I pulled my hair to the side and began to braid it.

Finishing up, my hip length golden blonde hair, now a light brown due to the water, was draped over my right shoulder reaching the bottom of my stomach. I picked up the tiny pink tulip and clipped it to the elastic band holding my braid.

"Sol, come on! We need to leave." My mother called out from downstairs.

I was about to run out of my room, but then I remembered that I still needed shoes and anything I wanted from home in an extra bag. Pulling my toothbrush out of my mouth and placing it carefully on top of the towel, I yelled back.

"One minute mom."

I grabbed a pair of black sneakers. They were tight and the laces were white. I called them my fancy-pantsy sneakers sometimes, thats how nice they looked.

When I was all laced up, I ran to my drawer again, this time with a light blue pack in my hand. I grabbed the pictures of my family, friends, and any other people that were in these pictures and shoved them into the pack. Although I wanted to take the book of fairytales with me to the palace, I knew it would be better if I left it here, where it belonged.

When I reached my door, I looked back at my room one last time; I remembered Fabian's glass box with the bead sitting on my drawers. I didn't know what to do with it, but for some odd reason, I ran back to the glass box and grabbed it.

I placed it carefully into my bag and then I remembered I wanted a pair of clothes for when I left the palace, knowing that the probability of me making it to the end was a one in thirty-five chance.

I pulled out my favorite blue sweater, the one that I wore in my selection picture, and stuffed it inside, as well as a pair of jeans and a grey sweatshirt. When I knew I had all that I could think of, I closed the pack and saw that it was small, looking close to empty.

'Well, the palace is going to provide you with everything,' I reminded myself.

With that, I pulled the pack over my shoulder and walked out of my room, not looking back.