The Next Selection

Chapter Three: The Arrival

Once I got to my gate, I saw the other three girls I was riding with talking to each other.

"Hi!" I said, joining the conversation. "Sorry I'm late."

"Oh, you're not late!" Amber Violeta exclaimed. She has her amber-colored hair in a cute bun and stunning violet eyes. She was an inch or two shorter than me, about 19, and from Missouri.

"Our planes arrived here earlier than expected," Carol Phinn explained. She had jet-black hair with green eyes and light skin. I'm pretty sure she was my age and height and from Dakota.

"And by the way, is your eye color real?" Cecilia Williams asked. She was also my age and height, and she had beautiful light blonde hair with pale blue eyes. I know for certain she's from Oklahoma.

"Surprisingly, yes!" I exclaimed. "No idea where it came from though. None of my relatives have had it, or at least that I know of."

"Rea-"

"Sorry to interrupt," an older guard said, "but we're ready for you ladies to board. And I'll take your luggage, Lady Kealee."

"Thank you," I said politely as I handed him my suitcase. Then once we got to the plane, it was just wow! And calling it a "private jet" was an understatement. It was obviously smaller than a regular plane, but it had several larger windows, multiple tables with booths, and the rest of it had a huge couch on either side.

"Have you ever been on an airplane before?" I asked as we all sat down, trying to start a conversation. "I haven't."

"Me too!" Carol chimed in.

"Oh, let's play 'Never Have I Ever!'" Cecilia suggested. "It'll be a fun way to pass the time and get to know each other."

"Ok!" the rest of us said in unison while shrugging our shoulders in agreement.

"I'll go first," Amber volunteered, raising her hands up. We followed. "So, never have I ever had a boyfriend." Carol and I put down a finger.

"Spill the deets!" Cecilia demanded. We all giggled.

"I had my first one when I was 13," I started. "His name was Matt, we dated for 4 months, but all we did was hold hands. The other one I had was a jerk. We were both 14, his name was Jack, we never held hands or kissed, and I dumped him after a month since he called me some not-so-nice names."

"So glad you dumped his sorry ass!" Cecilia exclaimed. We all laughed at that. "Now you, Carol!"

"Ok," she started. "His name was Aaron, and we were both 7." We burst out laughing again. "We dated for a week and held hands."

"I'll go next," Cecilia volunteered. "Never have I ever had any siblings." Everyone except her put down a finger. "How many?"

"An older brother and 2 younger brothers," Carol sighed. "And yeah, it sucked sometimes!"

"I'll trade you a brother for my sister!" Amber laughed. "What about you, Kealee?"

"Well," I started. "I have 2 older brothers and 3 younger sisters. Please take one!" I giggled.

"Wow!" Cecilia gaped. "You must have a crowded house!"

"Yeah, and it's kinda crappy! At least we never had any bugs or anything like that."

"I live on a farm," Amber said, "so I have had a few not-so-pleasant rodents!" She shuddered. "So, who's next?"

The game went on for about 10 more minutes. It was really fun, even though I was the first one out while Cecilia won.

"So, what should we do next?" I asked. "We still have four hours left."

"Let's watch a movie!" Amber suggested. "Did anyone bring any?"

Luckily I brought some that my countless-number-of-great grandparents left. First we watched Pitch Perfect, then Pitch Perfect 2, and a whole Kevin Hart comedy. Luckily, we finished when we were landing. After we stopped, I looked through the airplane windows. I saw a mass of paparazzi crowded by the gate on the inside.

"Woah, look at all these people!" Cecilia marveled as we stepped out of the gate. We all immediately smiled at how many people showed up. And I mean that there was so many, I couldn't make out any words that they were saying.

"Let's take about 15 minutes," Carol giggled. "I don't know about you three, but I want to meet some fans!" She walked off, starting a conversation with a girl that was about 10. We all giggled and went our separate ways.

"Hey!" I said enthusiastically as I approached a little girl that was about 6. I kneeled down on the hard tile floor.

"Hi Lady Kealee!" she shouted, obviously excited. Her beautiful dark blue eyes were glittering with it. "I hope to be as pretty as you someday. You're one of my role models!"

"Aw," I cooed, tears welling up in my eyes. "To be honest, no one has ever called me that, except my family. And thank you very much! What's your name, beautiful?"

"Ashley Marie Clermont."

"Well, Ashley, I have a feeling you will be even prettier than me when you grow up." I gently grabbed her hands. "And don't let anyone tell you that you aren't, ok?"

"Ok!" she exclaimed, beaming, as I got up from my kneeling position. "Bye Lady Kealee!"

"Bye!" I waved at her. As I turned around, I saw that pretty much all of the cameras were on me. Also, the other girls were looking at me, but they were genuinely smiling at me. 'I know these are my best friends,' I thought.

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Once the palace was in view, I saw how humongous it was! It was five stories tall, and there were rows and rows of a gazillion windows.

As soon as Carol, Amber, Cecilia, and I walked through the doors, we were all whisked away into a room full of salon stations. Not including the three maids at each station, there were about a dozen other girls there, who I guess were some of the Selected.

"Hello," a woman about 25 said as she ushered me over to one of the vanities. "My name is Nina, and I'm one of your maids. So, what look are you thinking for your hair?"

"Um," I stuttered. "I love my look, so maybe enhancing it a bit or something."

"Oh, like layers?"

"Yeah! But nothing else." I especially loved my length; it went down to right above my boobs.

"I totally agree! So after that, we are going to wax you, paint your nails, and then pictures!"

"Oh, I HATE pictures! I never look good in them."

"Well, you looked stunning in your application picture!"

"I got lucky."

"You look fabulous in the pictures your mom sent, too."

"What."

"And the home video!" She giggled while I moaned.

I covered my eyes with my hand. "Really?"

"Yep! And now for the hair washing!" Nina plucked the goldenrod out of my hair and led me over to a sink with a leaned-back chair in front of it. At least it was soft leather.

While she washed my hair, we talked on and on about dresses. For example, she was running some ideas by me for dresses, like a midnight blue dress.

"Oh, I LOVE that kind of blue!" I exclaimed. "It's so pretty, and it really brings out my eyes."

"Then lucky for you," Nina started, "that none of the other maids are using that color!" She smiled with me.

"And make sure most of my dresses don't have a ton of sparkles, please."

"Will do!"

"Yes!"

After awhile, my hair was finally done. My bangs helped frame my face flatteringly, and my hair was still about the same length. Then after that, I was waxed in all of the places. Thankfully it wasn't that painful. And then, I picked out my nail color, which matched my dresses for tomorrow when we meet the Royal family and for the Report, which is the day after that. I'm going to need some aspirin for all of that.