The Next Selection

Chapter Four: The First Night

That night, after I dismissed Nina and my other maids, aka my new friends, I realized how quickly the day went by. First I was meeting my maids and took a tour at 3pm, and now it was 10pm and I was about to jump into bed. And that was exactly what I was going to do! Thankfully, Nina, Leela, and Grace let me sleep in my gray sweatpants, black tank, and bra. I was not going to sleep in a short and light nightgown in my first night at the palace.

As I was about to fall asleep, I jerked awake since I felt like I was falling.

"You know what, screw this," I muttered to myself. I was going to go do my comfort activities: cooking and eating. As soon as I slipped into my slippers and sweatshirt, I wandered around the humongous palace. I occasionally passed a guard and, after being lost for half an hour, I finally decided to ask the next person I saw.

"Excuse me, but do you know where the kitchen is?" I asked.

"The fourth door on the left, Lady Kealee," he replied politely. Thankfully, he didn't ask why.

"Thanks officer!" I power-walked down there, and fortunately, nobody was in there. I immediately stated wondering around and opening cabinets, curious as to what was in stock. They had, literally, every single ingredient to any food. There was star fruit to ice cream to candy. They also had suck a variety of cooking supplies! I smiled in triumph as I pulled out mixing bowls and ingredients for delicious peanut butter cookies with a Hershey Kiss on top. They are my only comfort food.

"Let's see..." I thought aloud. "Flour, eggs, sugar, peanut butter, vanilla extract,..." I checked off everything else mentally. "Now music time!" Luckily I grabbed my very old-schooled iPod before I left; it wasn't a touchscreen. Like the klutz I am, I forgot to grab my headphones. Fortunately, Collin altered it so it could still play music without any headphones or speaker systems.

For the next hour or so, I prepped the dough, put it in the oven, and jammed out.

"Since you been gone!" I sang into a spatula and slid around in my socks. "I can breathe for the first time! I'm so moving on, yeah, yeah!" Little did I know someone was watching me.

"Nice moves," I heard a person remark. "And voice, too."

I whipped around, and Prince Jason was leaning against a door frame, a smirk on his face. "Not now, I'm jamming!" I continued singing and dancing. I didn't even bother to curtsy or even address him properly!

"Really?

"...What I want, since you been gone."

He started chuckling. "Turn the music off so I can talk to you."

"Fine..." I had a playful smirk on my face as I paused the song. It become much quieter.

"So, what are you doing down here so late?" He walked towards me until he was a few feet away. I crossed my arms casually.

"Cooking. So what are you doing down here?"

"Getting a snack. By the way, what are you cooking?"

"Peanut butter cookies with a Hershey Kiss on top. They are my favorite comfort food."

"I have never heard of them." He put a confused look on his face. "They sound good though!"

"They're not good, they're flawless." I emphasized that last word. Luckily the ding started from the oven, signaling all of my batches were done. I grabbed the oven mitts and pulled them out one by one. "And you are trying one now."

He warily took a bite out of a cookie he picked out, and his face started to soften a little. "These are awesome!" He clapped. "I'm taking a dozen of these with me!"

"Knock yourself out! I made, like, 10 dozen." I giggled. "I've been down here for three hours." I glanced at the clock to make sure I was right. It was now two in the morning.
Jason walked over to a cabinet and grabbed two containers: one small and a larger one. We both filled them in silence for a few seconds.

"So, are you going to tell this to the other girls?" he asked. I could hear that he didn't want me too, so I wouldn't.

"I won't," I promised. A little relief flooded into his face. Luckily for him that I wasn't the bragging and snotty type.

He secured a lid on the top, and before he walked away, he grabbed my hand gently and kissed it. "Goodnight, Lady Kealee!"

"Goodnight, Prince Jason!" I turned my music back on and continued to jam out while I cleaned the dishes. I was out like a lift once my head hit that pillow and hour later.