The Selection

Chapter 12

I HATED MEDICAL. I was chemically sedated, worst way to be high. My leg hurt like hell, never helping America again. "How are you feeling." A voice says next to me. Celeste was sitting in an armchair going through a magazine next to me. "Fucking awful." I said sitting up. "You look it." She said holding up a mirror. "You got a hairbrush?" I say and she hands me a brush and a makeup kit. "Let me." She says sitting on the bed and brushing my hair. "How's everyone." "Two girls wanted to leave, none of them left. They should be kicked for wanting to leave, they didn't have the balls to even own up to it. The attack was aired live, the king went ballistic. Silva made us write home." She says picking up the makeup kit. "Your the only injured one, that makes you weak. You need to show them that your not weak. Nobody will respect you if you keep getting hurt like this." She says finishing my makeup. "You didn't make a fuss though, you looked normal the whole attack." She says before quickly putting the makeup under her dress and sitting straight. "Prince Maxon!" She says, putting on her best smile. "Lady Celeste, may I speak to Florence?" He says smiling. "Yep! She says reaching out and rubbing my makeup in quickly before leaving, winking at me as she leaves. "How are you?" Maxon says sitting at the edge of the bed. "Better, I'm never coming to medical again, what time it is?" I say fluffing my hair out. "Dinner is about to start. Would you like an escort?" He says holding his arm out to me. "Yeah sure. I would love that, but one problem." I say and he looks at me. Confused. "Maxon I can't walk." I say motioning to my broken leg. "Oh. I thought they fixed that." He blinks. "Jesus." I say laughing. "Pass me that." I say pointing to a crutch. "What on earth is that?" He says passing it to me. "For a Prince who had amazing education, your a little bit dumb." I say and he laughs. "I could have you kicked out for that!" He says trying to sound offended. "Who else would tell you the truth?" I say taking his arm.

Everyone looked annoyed when I entered with Maxon. "Ah you arrived!" King Clarkson bellowed, the room wasn't that big, he didn't have to yell. I part ways with Maxon and sit in the only empty seat, the embarrassment I had to endure, the only seat was close to the front so I had to struggle my way up the room, maxon looked apologetic, nobody came to help. "You done that on purpose." I whisper to Celeste, who laughed quietly. "You can't have all of the wins." She says winking at me. "Bitch." I whisper back and she kicks my leg. "Ow!" I whisper a bit louder, getting people around us to look, Maxon who was directly above me laughed, he could definitely hear us even in whispers. "You shut up too." I whisper and he looks down and winks. I went back to my room with the help of Marlee and I saw all of time maids playing cards. "UNO!" Nicole yelled and the others groan. "You cheated again!" Poppy yelled and I laughed. "Oh!" Poppy said before they all go to my aid. "Your leg!" Grace said laying me on the bed.  "Oh please, it's fine. I hear that Nicole cheats on uno." I say motioning to her and she hangs her head low. "Yeah she cheats! She's a cheat!" Poppy says, looking proud of herself for getting her caught. "I'll keep watch and make sure she doesn't cheat." I say winking at Poppy and she runs over to the cards. "Wanna play?" She says and I smile. "Sure."I say.

The maids really told me all of the gossip. I learned that for every dozen people I saw in the palace, there were a hundred or more behind them. The cooks and laundresses I knew about, but there were also people whose sole job was to keep the windows clean. It took a solid week for the team to get them all done, by the end of which the dust would find its way past the palace walls and cling to the clean glass, and they'd have to be washed all over again. There were also jewelers hidden away, making pieces for the family and gifts for visitors, and teams of seamstresses and buyers keeping the royal family-and now us-immaculately clothed. I learned other things, too. The guards they thought were the cutest and the horrid new design of a dress the head maid was making the staff wear for the holiday parties. How some in the palace were taking bets on which Selected girl might win and that I was in the top five picks. A baby of one of the cooks was sick beyond hope, which made Nicole tear up a bit. This girl happened to be a close friend of hers, and the couple had been waiting so long for a child. Listening to them and joining in when I had something worth saying, I couldn't imagine anything more entertaining and was glad to have such company. The mood in my room was a quiet and happy one Anne made a comment about how this was all inappropriate-me sitting with them, playing games with the doors open-but let it drop almost immediately. She was quickly getting over trying to make me the lady it seemed I ought to be. We were in the middle of a game of cards when I noticed a figure out of the corner of my eye. It was Maxon, standing at the open door, looking amused. As our eyes met, I could see that his expression was clearly asking what in the world I was doing. I stood, smiling, and walked over to him.

"Oh, sweet Lord," Grace muttered as she realized the prince was at the door. She immediately swept the cards into a sewing basket and stood, Nicole and Poppy  following suit. "Ladies," Maxon said. "Your Majesty," she said with a curtsy. "Such an honor, sir." "For me as well," he answered with a smile. The maids looked back and forth to one another, flattered. We were all silent for a moment, not quite sure what to do. Nicole suddenly piped up. "We were just leaving." "Yes! That's right," Poppy added. "We were-uh-just..." She looked to Grace for help. "Going to finish Lady Florence's dress for Friday," Grace concluded. "That's right," Nicole said. "Only two days left." They slowly circled us to get out of the room, huge smiles plastered on their faces. "Wouldn't want to keep you from your work," Maxon said, following them with his eyes, completely fascinated with their behavior. Once in the hall, they gave awkwardly mistimed curtsies and walked away at a feverish pace. Immediately after they rounded the corner, Poppy's giggles echoed down the corridor, followed by Graces intense hushing. "Quite a group you have," Maxon said, walking into my room, surveying the space. "They keep me on my toes," I answered with a smile. "It's clear they have affection for you. That's hard to find." He stopped looking at my room and faced me. "No new alterations to the room I see?" He says sitting on the bed next to me. "No time, your painting has improved though." I say motioning for him to go over to the easel. "You put a lot of detail into it." He says looking at it intently. "Yeah well I can't make it ugly." I say trying to get up. "Oh I'm sure you would." He says making me sit back down. " I'm surprised you finally let me see it." "You deserved to have a sneak peek." I say winking and he laughs. "What does your room at home look like?" He says sitting next to me.

"I shared it with my little sister Amie, we had bunk beds, it was too small for two beds. It didn't have much, I had my easel and a little shelf for my paint supplies. It had a tiny keyboard with sheet music for my sister, it was boring, nothing compared to this. Amie used to cover the room in her drawings, they were pinned against the wall. I didn't have wallpaper, it was just brick. I was covered in sawdust most mornings. You had to be careful or the bricks would hurt you. My brothers uses the wall for his football and it pulls the bricks closer into the room." I say smiling, I hadn't really thought about my family in a while. I reach over to my bedside table and show him a picture of my family. "Your brothers looks the image of you." He says pointing to Jamie and Robb. "There the twins, they would kill you for saying that." I say laughing. "Feisty are they?" He says laughing. "Yeah, Jamie wants to be a basketball player, he hates that he has to paint, he's good at painting, he just hates it. Robb wants to be a footballer, he has a good chance, he's really good but nobody would let a five play for them. He knows that, he's a musician, not very good though, but I don't have the heart to tell him." I say and maxon looks at me intently, no intentions to stop me. "Amie is a musician, she plays Piano and she's amazing, she gives America a run for her money." I say laughing. "They sound lovely." Maxon says. "I miss them." I say smiling through the tears. "Oh Florence." Maxon says pulling me into a tight hug. Drunk me was right, he has amazing arms, I think he noticed that I was feeling them. "See what drunk you meant?" He says laughing. "Shut up, I wasn't that drunk." I say laughing too.

"How was your walk with America?" I say as he pulls away. "Yeah it was good." He says, sensing tension. "I'm free anytime tomorrow Prince maxon." I say fluttering my eyes playfully. "Hmm, I shall free up my schedule just for you Miss Florence." He says getting up and holding a hand out. "As a matter of fact, I'm free right now." He says and I grab it. "Well Prince Maxon you didn't give me alot of time notice." I say pretending to consider. "Now or never Miss Florence." He says kissing my hand. "I guess I can make time for you Prince Maxon." I say grabbing my crutch with my free hand. "Oh that will not be needed." He says before picking me up Bridal Style. "Ah put me down!" I giggle as he carried me out of the room. He carries me to the theatre. "Oh how romantic." I say as he puts me down on one of the chairs. "America said you like movies." He said handing me the remote. Why would America help me? "That's true." I say looking at the movies. "Oh my god Celeste is in this one!" I say giggling, it's called Mean girls. "We have to watch that one then." Maxon says laughing. Maxon gets up and grabs popcorn. Salted popcorn, my favourite. "How did you know?" I said as he hands it to me. "Lucky guess, I made one of both and had a wild guess." He says and I laugh. "Good guess." I say as we settle into the movie.

Celeste would never live this down, she played a character called Regina George, I couldn't keep a straight face knowing that she's sitting upstairs. "That was a good movie." I said as the credits start rolling. I turn to maxon and see him staring at me. "What?" I say and he smiles. "Just you." He says before reaching out to my face. "Prince maxon, are you admitting that you like me?" I say leaning in. "Oh I would never." He says smirking. "Oh really now?" I say leaning in. He grabs my chin and leans it forward. "Yes I'm admitting I like you." He says before leaning towards my lips. "Prince Maxon! Your presence is required!" A guard says, causing him to move away, I end up kissing the air. "I'm so sorry Florence, I must go." He says before looking at me apologetically and leaving.