Chapter 1 ♔ A Very Gucci Welcome

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Lillian's P.O.V

"We're here. Please exit the car quickly!" The stern-faced driver, of the limousine, I was being taken to the palace in, ordered sharply. I shuffled around, reaching for the door handle, shaking with nerves. I pulled down the handle and carefully swung the door open, being careful not to let my luggage scratch the paintwork - not that I had many things with me anyway.

I slowly lifted my head to look at the palace. It was stunning! With its pearly white stone structure to its golden door handle, nothing had a scratch or a spec of dust anywhere. It was probably 1000 times bigger than the council flat I share with my mother. I suddenly felt really out of place. What if no one likes me? Oh god, I shouldn't have accepted the offer, what was I thinking?! But I have to do this for mum and myself. We deserve a better life and if it means that the only way to achieve that goal is by coming here, then I guess that is what I'm going to have to do.

I took a deep breath and prepared myself for entering the prestigious building. I stepped forward, dragging my luggage behind me, trying to look as confident as I could manage. I climbed the last step and smiled at the guard. He gave me a slight hint of a smile before opening the doors. "Welcome to Silversview Palace!" He announced, "Please go and wait in the lobby."
"Thank you," I replied and moved to enter the palace. But before I could lay one foot onto the grand marble floor, I was hit in the face with a bright pink Gucci bag and shoved to the side by a silver Chanel suitcase. "Move out of my way!" A sickly sweet voice rang out. After finally lifting myself off the ground and brushing the dust of my skirt, I was greeted with a face full of make-up and a scowl. "Who are you?" She questioned, with a mean hint to her voice, her shoulder length brown hair gently blowing in the wind. I opened my mouth to reply, "I'm Lillian Winters, I'm here for the tv show Li-"
She cut me off, "God, girl! I know why you're here," She said impatiently with a scowl, "I'm Amanda Collinson, and I'm here for pretty much the same reason as you, so please, out of my way! I want to be the first to enter the palace!"



I sat on a cream plush sofa, in the lobby, next to the snobby Amanda, waiting for the others to arrive. Amanda had just finished filing her nails with a Dior nail file, and was now applying an electric pink M.A.C lipstick to her full, round lips. I sighed. How could she afford all these things? My thoughts were interrupted by Amanda's piercing voice, "How long does it take for the stupid cars to drive the others here?!" The guards turned to look at her with a frown. They could probably tell that these next six months will be hard work, as could I. They just ignored her completely and went back to guarding the doors. I stifled a laugh, earning a nasty glare from Amanda.

I was taken out of my daydream by the sound of heels clicking on the floor. I jerked my head upwards to see who was creating the noise. A girl wearing a black cropped sweater and and short black pleated skirt was standing by the door, looking around. She had waist length dark brown hair that was tied up in a pony tail, and she displayed a deep red Gucci bag on her shoulder. I sighed, she's probably just like Amanda. She glided over to the sofa a dropped down next to me. "Ugh," She said, slipping her heels off, "My parents forced me to dress up in heels! Like how can you survive for more than 30 minutes?!"
I chuckled, maybe I shouldn't judge a book by its cover. "Which is why I wore my Vans," I replied jokingly.
"Lucky!" She exclaimed, "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Kara," She smiled warmly.
"Hi Kara," I answered brightly, "I'm Lillian, and that," I said, pointing to Amanda, "Is Amanda."
"Cool! Hey Amanda!" She greeted the girl. Amanda just scowled at her, ignoring her completely. "Well," Kara whispered to me, "I wouldn't like to get on the wrong side of that one."



Kara and I chatted for what felt like hours. I learnt that she had a crush on the prince since she was 12 so she was super excited when she got the letter saying she had been invited to go on the show. She also had two little sisters. Libby, who was 7, and Ella, who was 5.

I had built up my courage to tell her about my background and why I accepted the request to go on the show. Kara had comforted me and taken the information in extremely well.

We were in the middle of talking about which town we were from, when the doors opened once again, revealing the fourth and final contestant. A girl with shoulder length blonde hair stood in the doorway, gazing around at the beautiful structure of the palace, her blue trainers clicking together as she did so. One of the guards sneezed, making the girl snap out of her trance. She scurried to a chair, slightly smiling at Kara, Amanda and I. I returned the smile, apprehensive of being officially admitted into the palace.



A large oak door was swung open, startling all of the contestants. A man and a woman stood in the doorway, smiling warmly at us. I gave a small smile back, fiddling with my jumper. Then I realised - they were the King and Queen! I sat up straighter, unsure of whether to bow or not. The others were clearly unsure too, as they glanced around nervously.

"Oh don't worry, there's no need to bow or curtesy. We are not in public so you really don't have to." The Queen explained politely.
"We have just come to inform you of some things you might like to know," The King told us. "There will be no filming except at certain times each day, and we will be letting you know a fair time before it starts so you can get ready." He continued.
"You will all have separate rooms and your own bathrooms, and there will be no entering each other's rooms unless you have permission from the occupier." The Queen said.
"But now, we are going to take you through to the dining room so you can meet the prince!" The King informed us, smiling slightly. He beckoned for us to leave our bags, and we all followed the Royal Couple, ready to meet the prince.

A/N
Hey guys! So this was my first chapter & I spent days writing it so I really hoped you enjoyed it.
Get excited for the next chapter as the girls are going to be meeting the prince 😏😏.
Baiii! - Lia 💗

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⏰ Last updated: Mar 12, 2016 ⏰

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