The Selection (Where the King is Nice)

Chapter 6

I hope you liked the last chapter!! I stayed up really late for you guys:)

(America's POV)

We were ordered to stay in the Ladies' Room for the rest of the day for security reasons. Maxon had come to stay with us as well. He looked like he had wanted to tell me something but was asked to comfort the panicking girls by his mother. I still can't believe that I wasn't eliminated yet. Maybe I should give him a chance? It's not like Aspen loves me anymore. He completely dumped me that night in the treehouse and crushed my heart. I think I will give Maxon a chance-especially since he's giving me one. I start to look around. There were girls I wanted to talk to-girls who were the same caste as me. After surveying the room twice, I realize that I'm the only girl from five left. Before I even have a chance to process this, Marlee comes over, being her cheery self, and starts talking.
"What do you think the security measure is?" She asks, rather calmly.
"I don't know. It probably can't be too bad if they're not sending us down to the places they go when rebels come. Nobody in the palace looked panicked before I came here, so.. yeah." Marlee's normal calm expression is replaced with worry.
"What if they don't want us to know about it? Or anybody to know about it?" She asks. Now she's starting to panic like a few other girls in this room. I try to reassure her,
"Marlee, it's fine. They're probably just taking extra security measures to keep us safe because they don't want any of our families to press charges." She seems to be instantly relived.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. They wouldn't w-" She is interrupted mid-sentence by Maxon.
"Ladies, I would like you to know that it is ok to go back to your rooms or to roam around the palace if you'd like. We feel that it is now safe to go."
Is it just me, or is he feeling uneasy? It seems as if he is still worried over something. Whatever. I just want to get out of the Ladies' Room as it is starting to get a little stuffy. I walk to my room and see that my maids are not there. I glance at the clock. They should be here any minute now, as its almost time for dinner. Just as I am thinking this, they burst into my room.
"Hi, Lady America!" They chorus.
"Hello, girls." I give them a smile that seems to make them even happier, if that is possible.
"Ok.. Let's see.. your dinner dress is.. right here!!" Mary announces. Lucy offers to do my hair and Anne offers to do my makeup. Mary pulls out the dress for dinner and I gasp at how beautiful it is. It's rather simple, but very elegant. This time it's a darker blue that has sleeves. The sleeves go all the way down to my wrists, and then flair out a teeny bit. It fits tightly around my waist, and then drops to the floor from there. The skirt has lace all around it, but that's all. I sigh. Somehow my maids impress me more and more every time they make a dress.
"Do you like it?" Lucy asks.
"I don't like it. I LOVE it!!" Lucy beams and says,
"I made it myself.."
"It's beautiful, Lucy. Truly."
Satisfied, Lucy pulls the dress over my head and gasps.
"You look beautiful, America. And we aren't even done." I smile at her as Mary puts on my shoes. They are red with a one inch heel, but you can hardly see them as it's mostly covered by the gown. As Anne does my makeup, Lucy does my hair. She does an elegant French braid and then puts a bow on the end of it. Anne had only put on a splash of makeup, and I'm glad. I didn't want to look like Celeste with her pounds and pounds of makeup.
"It's beautiful. I really can't thank you guys enough." I tell them, sincerely.
"Thank you, America. Now go show it off to the prince!" I blush at that but make no comment. As I walk through the halls back to the dining room, I think about my family. May would cry if she was in these clothes. I walk into the dining room and Queen Amberly is already there with a few girls. She smiles when I walk in and I smile back. She really makes me feel comfortable here. So does the king, but the queen does more so. The rest of the girls slowly trickle in, and soon dinner is served. The king, queen, and Maxon are all sitting at a separate table. Marlee, of course, sits next to me. She flashes me a genuine smile. I smile back. The maids come and the food is served. Dinner is silent as everybody enjoys their food. The lamb chops are delicious, and the salad and spicy calamari are, too. Then dessert comes out. I have to hold in a gasp as I see it. Strawberry tarts, cupcakes, a cake that says welcome, and some rich chocolate ice cream. I took a little bit of everything. It was insanely delicious. When dinner is dismissed, I walk back to my room. I'll probably just play cards for the rest of the night. However, that plan is changed when Maxon comes to me about halfway to my room.
"Hi Lady America." He smiles at me.
"Hi." I say back. I think back to what I thought about earlier, about giving Maxon a chance. I say something else,
"How's it going?"
"You look beautiful today." He says, Before I even have a chance to respond, he looks at his shoes and blushes as he stumbles,
"I was, uh, wondering, if you, um, wanted to go on a, er.. d-date?" My jaw drops and I'm not sure how I feel.
"I can't today because I have a lot of meetings to go to and I'll have some to go to until around 11:45 tomorrow.. So um what about 12?" He asks.
"Um... sure!" Why not? It couldn't hurt anything!
"Where would we meet?" I ask.
"How about in the gardens?"
Yes, yes, yes! I think. I love the gardens. It gives me time to think and I can smell the beautiful smell of the Earth. "Sure! I'll see you in the gardens around 12 tomorrow!" I smile at him and he looks genuinely pleased with himself. He smiles and walks away,
"See ya, Lady America!" He says.
I'm actually quite proud of myself. It will give me something to do tomorrow. Maybe I can get to know Maxon a little better. When I get to my room, my maids ask all about dinner. I tell them, and then say,
"And guess what, I have a date tomorrow!" My maids squeal excitedly and then ask a thousand questions.
"When? Where? What shall you wear? Are you the first? When did he ask you?" On and on and on. I answer all their questions and Lucy says,
"Anne, Mary!! We have to make a stunning gown tonight!!" It was only around 7 pm, so I asked,
"Could we do cards for like an hour to pass the time?" Anne says she'll play cards with me while Mary and Lucy start to work on to the dress. We play for an hour, like I said, and it was actually fun. Then we gossiped about stuff in the palace until Mary and Lucy returned.
"It. Is. Amazing!!" Lucy squealed.
"Maybe you should go to bed early to prepare for your big day tomorrow?" Anne suggests. I agree. I shoo my maids out of the room, who excitedly go down to work on my dress. I get on my nightgown and climb into bed. I tried to think about other things, but all I could think of was, I think I have the first date with Maxon!!!!! I was so excited. It was definitely time to let go of Aspen and to open myself to Maxon. If he made my heart flutter just by asking me to a date, I was definitely going to give him a chance. I smiled to myself as I fell asleep. The thought swirled around in my head as I fell into a deep sleep.

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