The SelecTXTion

Chapter 27

"We're going somewhere with a much better view, just trust me."

maddie

written by: j

Being on TV was probably Maddie's least favorite part of the Selection. Speaking in front of the entire country made her nervous and it usually took all of dinner for her to slow her heart rate. Tonight was no different. It was only after dessert that she finally felt comfortable talking with Amy and the other girls around her. Maddie had had a long day and was ready for bed. Most of the girls, including Amy, headed to the parlor after dinner to hang out, but Maddie decided to head in early. On her walk back she heard someone calling her name. When she turned around, she saw Prince Beomgyu running down the hall in his plaid pajamas.

"Hey Maddie! Wait up!" he yelled. When he finally caught up to her, he put his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

"Do you eat dinner then immediately put on pajamas? It's only like 8:30," Maddie asked jokingly.

"Of course, don't you? Why would I wear my uncomfortable clothes any longer than I had to?"

"Fair. Did you need something?"

"Yes, actually. I didn't realize it was your birthday last week so I wanted to say happy belated birthday." With this, Beomgyu placed what appeared to be a wad of crumpled newspaper in Maddie's hand.

"Oh my gosh! Just what I wanted: trash. Thank you, I don't know what to say," Maddie said while pretending she was crying tears of joy.

"Ha ha ha. Open it!" Maddie gently uncrumpled the paper. Inside was a handmade leather thimble.

"How did you know?" Maddie asked, completely taken aback by the gift.

"Taehyun mentioned that you were a seamstress so I thought you could use a thimble."

"Where did you get this? It's beautiful," said Maddie, admiring the artistic blue thread woven to create a chevron pattern on the back.

"I made it," Beomgyu replied simply.

"What, really?!"

"Yeah. My mother enjoys cross stitching so when I got into leathercraft, she asked me to make her thimbles. I've been making them ever since."

"That's amazing. I love it, thank you." Maddie put the thimble on her finger and stared at it in amazement, still processing that Beomgyu had actually made it.

"Well, goodnight," Beomgyu said.

"Wait! I was hoping I could talk to you about something," Maddie said.

"Yeah, shoot."

"Well, the Selection is getting more intense and I just feel like I need to talk to someone. I can't write to my family and I can't talk to Amy or Taehyun, so I was hoping I could talk to you. You're disconnected from the Selection and seem to share a similar opinion about the process with me. So, what do you say?"

"I'm in," Beomgyu said enthusiastically. He wasn't exactly thrilled to talk about gossip, especially gossip that regarded his brother, but Beomgyu was excited to get to spend more time with Maddie. "Go put on your pajamas because you're making me uncomfortable just looking at you, and then meet me at the third floor sitting room in ten minutes."

Before Maddie could even respond, Beomgyu was running back down the hall barefoot. Maddie walked back to her room and changed into a pair of gray jogger sweatpants and a navy blue hooded sweatshirt. She took out the bobby pins in her hair, brushed it out, and pulled it into a messy bun at the nape of her neck.