His Choice (The Selection)

Chapter Six

I take a deep breath and inspect my reflection again. All of the girls are required to wear the same white shirt and black pants. We were allowed to accessorize however we liked, though, so I have a black an white cardigan on. I also have a necklace with an elephant pendent on and black heels. My usual emerald ring is on my finger. 

My mom knocks on the door. "Ember, honey, it's time to go to the airport," she says. She opens the door just a crack and peeks her head in. I smile at her and pick up my purse.

"Okay. I'm ready," I say. I walk over to the door but she steps inside, stopping me. She closes the door behind her and puts her hands on my shoulder.

"Ember, you need to keep everything we talked about in your mind. Don't forget it," she says in a stern voice, the one she only uses when she is giving me or my brothers instructions or when she is scolding us.

"I will, mom. I promise," I say. I try to walk past her but she keeps her arms on my shoulders. She shakes her head.

"I can almost guarantee that you won't. You'll get to the palace and do whatever it takes to get your father elected for governor. Become Illea's favorite, become the royal family's favorite. If you need to become Prince Charles's favorite," she says. I nod.

"I understand. I'll be a little angel that everyone loves," I tell her. She gives me a smile that says 'That's what I thought' instead of the motherly one that 34 other girls were most likely currently getting.

"Good. Now come on, they'll start suspecting something if we don't hurry," she says. I nod and we walk out the door and to the limo downstairs in silence. When I slide in, my father and brothers are already in it. I sit by myself across from my brothers and my parents sit together in the very back. Instead of talking, we all sit there staring out the windows.

When we pull up to the town square, the driver gets out of car and walks around one of the doors. While he is outside, my mom looks at us all and says, "Smile." My brothers and I nod. He opens the door and my parents motion for me to get out first.

I slide out the door with a fake smile on my face. The sounds of cheers hit me at once. There is a stage set up that I am instructed to climb on top of. I walk up to the current governor. He hugs me and kisses my cheek. "Ember, it is lovely to see you again," he says. I smile at him.

"It's wonderful to see you again as well," I tell him. The governor is one of my father's closest friends. They have worked together for a long time. The current governor believes that my father would be perfect to follow in his footsteps but a lot of the people believe otherwise.

"Would you like to say anything?" he asks as I smile at the crowd and wave at them. I observe the people. A lot of people from my school are here. The girls who are my friends are all smiling but the rest are all throwing scowls in my direction.

While I know many of the people in my town, I don't know anyone from the poorer parts of town. They are all smiling at me like it were there own daughter or sister. I look over at the governor and shake my head. "I'm fine," I tell him. He nods.

The national anthem plays and the governor gives a short speech then I am ushered off the stage and to where a different limo sits. My family, Karigan, and Lily are all standing there in a line. I walk over to my parents first and get them both in one hug.

"Remember what we talked about," they whisper at the same time. I give them a small nod as I pull away.

"I will, don't worry," I whisper. They nod and I move down the line to my brothers. I give them both a hug and smile at them.

"Don't do anything stupid," I tell them. They both laugh.

"I believe we should be telling you the same," Anson says. I smile and nod.

"You probably should, but I think I have been threatened by mom and dad enough times to know that I'm as good as dead if I do," I tell them. They laugh and nod. I move down to Karigan next. She wraps me in a tight hug.

"I'm gonna miss you, baby girl," she says. There is a slight pain to her voice that almost causes tears to prickle in my eye. If there is anyone I am going to miss it is Karigan, but what can I say? She practically raised me.

"I'm going to miss you, too," I tell her, refusing to let go. She leans back and smiles down at me.

"Don't pick up any new maids," she says. I laugh and nod.

"Never. You will always be my maid. They're just gonna be substitutes  because. . . you're on vacation," I joke. She smiles and nods. Her grip on me tightens a little and then she lets go.

"I gotcha. . . And I have a feeling living with your momma for the next few months will be anything but a vacation," she says. I smile at her one more time and then move down to Lily. She puts her hands up in the air and gives me a hip bump. I do the same. Then, she puts her hands on my shoulders and stares into my eyes.

"No new best friends. If any of those girls look in your direction or speak to you I will come and kill them," she says in a voice that sounds very serious. I laugh and give her a hug.

"Lily, you have nothing to worry about. We both know what type of girl most of them will be. None of them will be the new Lily Hillscott," I tell her. She laughs.

"Good. I don't know what I would do if I lost you," she says with a genuine smile. Tears almost flood my eyes again. I nod.

"I'll see you soon," I whisper to her. She nods.

"I would expect so," she says. I walk over to my escort and smile at her.

"Are you ready?" she asks. I nod. She leads me over to the new limo. I slide into it and look back at my family and friends. As the door shuts, I wave at them.

While I know I can live without my family, I will miss them. Karigan and Lily are what I will really miss, though. They're my second family. They're also the one that I could end up being replaced.

I'm sorry that it took me so long to update this . I planned on posting it Friday after my brother's baseball game because we would have been home by 9:30 but we were still at the field then and didn't get home until midnight which is later than I like to stay up. And yesterday I started watching Jane By Design and never got around to posting. Sorry. But, yeah, comment and vote. :)

Disclaimer: Kiera Cass owns The Selection, not me.