Chosen: A Selection Fanfiction

The Selected

The day that I had to go to the castle, Mom, Juliet, and Harlow help me get ready. I dress in the uniform of the Selected: white shirt and black slacks. Mom, Juli, and Harlow fight over which shoes I wear. Mom wants me to wear high heels, Juliet insists on pink flats, and Harlow is determined to get me to wear simple black flats. I ignore all of them and put on my pair of worn grey Converse that I wear at the restaurant. Beckham wrote his name on them in fine-tip marker, right on the white rim, and Juliet drew hearts on the toe on my left shoe. I let my hair fall down my back in its natural curls, and tuck a lily into the crown braid that Juliet weaves, that looks like a hairband.

We leave for the town square soon after. We all go, including Harlow, but I'm happy she's there. When we arrive, girls and their families are giving me mixed emotions. There are girls glaring at me angrily and looking away. Girls clapping and blowing kisses. The scoffing girl from the restaurant is shooting daggers at me and has her arms tightly crossed. Seeing her reaction is the first time I'm happy I got Selected. Twos and Threes look unhappy, Fives and Sixes are cheering.

The mayor of Carolina stands on the stage, wearing a glossy suit and tapping the microphone. "Carolina will be cheering on the beautiful, talented daughter of Lara and Peter Starling, the new Lady Elliot Starling!"

The crowd shouts and cheers. I watch people throw flowers – mostly lilies – and blow kisses. I notice Juliet crying slightly. I bite my lip.

The mayor taps on my shoulder. "Would you like to say anything to your province?"

"Um. Well, I just wanted to say that if Prince Adrian was right, and I'm unlucky for being Selected, you'll see me back here soon enough." I grin quirkily. The mayor booms with laughter, and the crowd laughs along with him. The mayor talks me up a bit, making the scoffing girl roll her eyes, and soon the crowd is cheering again and it's time for me to say good-bye to my family.

Beckham is the first to hug me. He wraps his arms me tightly and almost lifts me off the ground. He's shaking slightly. He breaks apart and flicks my ear. "I'll miss you, Ell."

"I'll miss you too, Beck." Harlow comes next and squeezes my hand.

"We'll miss having you around, Elliot." I smile at her.

"I'll miss you too, Harlow. Don't go breaking Beckham's heart when I'm gone." We laugh.

Mom hugs me and strokes my hair and tells me how proud she is of me and how she's sorry she made me work at the restaurant. Dad kisses my cheek and tells me he knows I'm capable of this and everything else. Juliet comes last. She's crying slightly.

"Why do you need to go, Elli?" She asks, shaking. I hug her tightly.

"I'll see you soon." I turn to enter the limo, the lady Margot waiting patiently for me. Juliet darts after me and grabs my elbow just before I climb in. Her cheeks are streaked with tear stains.

 "I was wrong, Elliot!" She says quietly. "You do have a chance. You can do this."

oOo

I'm the fifth one at the airport. The other Selected are sitting in chairs, waiting for the rest of our group. There should be six of us. I feel guilty for being late.

There's a girl with short, cropped brown hair, pale skin with a smattering of freckles, and blue eyes, with a concentrated, determined look on her face. She's rolling her province flower in between two fingers. Sitting next to her is a girl with peachy skin, strawberry-blonde waves, and green eyes. Her flower is pinned to her shirt. She grins brightly when I enter, and hops up to greet me.

"Hi! I'm Rowan. It's nice to meet you!"

I smile weakly back. "Hi, I'm Elliot."

She nods enthusiastically. "I know. I remember when your name was called. You were the only one that Prince Adrian smiled at. Well, it wasn't really a smile. But he didn't look totally miserable."

I laugh at her. Rowan seems young and innocent.

"So who is everyone?" I ask Rowan. "It seems like you've already met everyone."

She nods, reminding me incredibly of Juliet. "Well. That girl with the short brown hair is Colby. She's really nice, but tough, I think. And that's Brinley." Rowan gestures to a very pretty girl sitting alone. She has pale auburn curls and bangs, with rosy cheeks and soft green-grey eyes. Rowan leans closer. "She's a Six."

My eyes widen. A Six? There hasn't been a Six...ever. Rowan points out another girl, with wild brown curls, and big brown eyes. Her skin is light brown. She's reading a book and bursting into laughter. "That's Sage. She's funny and sassy and already argued with me three times."

I laugh. "There's one more girl coming, right?"

Rowan nods. "I think that must be her."

A girl enters the airport. She has shiny, chestnut, pin-straight hair; wide, pale green eyes; and warm skin. She's stunning. I recognize her from movies. Addalise Westley. She's undone four buttons on her white top to show her breasts. Her face is emotionless, her chin tilted up high and her strut confident. Rowan falters slightly when she sees her.

"I don't think I can beat her. Any of you." She says quietly.

I laugh hesitantly. "Rowan, there's only six of us here. Wait until there's thirty-five."