Her Majesty: A Selection Fanfiction (COMPLETE)

Thirteen

   I arrived at breakfast in a silvery-pink cashmere dress. Yvonne tapped the chair beside her. "What's going on?" she asked.

  I shrugged. "Not much. What are we doing in lessons today?"

Hayley tapped her chin from across the table. "I don't know, history?"

  Just as she said that Prince Charlie rushed into the room looking nervous. He hurried over to me. "Hey, Harlow, how's another date sound? Rollerskating in the ballroom."

  "Oh," I said, surprised. "Sounds good."

  He grinned hurriedly. "Great. Thanks," before jogging back out the dining hall doors.

  "Well, that was strange," mused Hayley.

  Yvonne raised her eyebrows. "Another date?" She chuckled. "I'm surprised he's over me already, we had a pretty memorable picnic together."

  I laughed. "Yeah, right."

  Hayley leaned over. "Over you? I should let you know that we played an excellent game of chess this Friday," she joked. We all laughed. My new friends were silly, and we all got along really well. It was good to have found people I could trust in this competition.

~~~~

  "As many of you know, Prince Charles's birthday is quickly approaching," Drew announced. It was a warm May day and we were standing in the gardens. "Queen Annette and I thought a party was in order; he's turning eighteen. We thought, as a fun little twist, that we would have you, the Selected girls, help plan it. This'll all be just for show, though, we don't actually want any of you planning the party. Why else would we have personal party planners? We're just going to have a segment of you 'planning' it. This'll look great on TV."

  Excited whispers tickled the crowd of girls. "This is so exciting!" grinned Hayley.

  "We will be dividing you into groups of three. Each of you will have an assigned job to aid with."

  "Maybe we'll be in a group together," I told Hayley. She smiled.

  "Groups will be chosen by me, on order of the Queen." Groans. "This isn't just a party, though. It's also a competition for a prize--temporary immunity." Gulps. "Yes, you've guessed correctly--the losing team will be eliminated from the competition."

  "For good?" a girl called out.

  "For good," answered Drew. "So I highly suggest that you take this competition seriously. But I do have a note from Prince Charles" -- she held up a small piece of paper-- "that requests the company of Lady Rose, Elodie, Genevieve, Lynne, Andromeda, Aria, Calliope, Virginia, and Ivy. Officer Miller, please escort these ladies to the palace." She nodded to the officer I had seen her dancing with during the first lessons. The girls looked nervous as they followed the guard. I noticed Lynne, the girl from the Women's Room, biting her pale nails anxiously.

  "Now, let me announce your groups," said Drew. She held up a second slip of paper. "In Group One, food, we will have the ladies Harlow, Leona, and Meadow." So much for being in the same group as Hayley or Yvonne. "You ladies will be assisting with the cooking."

   I glanced around for the other two girls. Leona would be a difficult partner, she was a Two who had probably never touched a microwave in her life. I didn't know much about Meadow, other than that she was famous for her wild, pastel pink hair. I caught the eye of Leona who raised her eyebrows at me. I gave a little nod.

  As soon as Drew finished listing off the groups, I found Leona. "Hey," I said. "You ever cooked?"

  She shook her head. "Not in my life." She winked. "But I can act like I have."

~~~~ 

  We were escorted to the kitchens by a young guard I didn't know. Meadow spent the walk staring dreamily around the palace. I noticed she was a little kooky. Sometimes she would drift away as she spoke without finishing her line of thought or would just ignore others entirely as if she was far, far away and couldn't hear them. She was memorable, however, with her vibrant light pink hair and sparkling, ice-blue eyes.

  Leona spent her walk chattering about the party and TV segment. "I'm telling you, this was a bad idea," she told the guard. "I'm a horrible cook, I'm going to ruin it for everyone!"

  I thought my time walking was best spent dreaming of delicacies. Just imagine the dishes I could make using the palace's food supply!

   We arrived at the kitchens. "Hello, 'ello," cheered a young man wearing a tall white chef's hat as we entered. He had an accent I couldn't quite place. "Mi name es Daniel Espinosa. I am the 'ead chef en the palace."

  "Is he Hispanic?" Leona wondered in my ear.

Either Chef Espinosa heard Leona or he was already prepared for what she was going to say. "No," he said cleanly, as if he had addressed this billions of times. "Yo soy de Deloñoso.* It's a little country off the eastern edge of Panama."

(*Deleñoso is not a real country, at least not that I know of. The accent and location of the country are made up. The language is basically Spanish. "Yo soy de Deleñoso" means "I am from/of Deleñoso.")

Leona smiled shyly. "Oh," she said. "I've never met anyone from Deleñoso before." She leaned over to me. "He's kind of cute," she whispered. I rolled my eyes.

  Daniel clapped his hands. "Now, ladies, let's begin. Has anyone 'ere cooked before?"

  I raised a hand. Daniel smiled. "Bien, bien!" he exclaimed. After a moment of hesitation Leona raised her hand, too. I looked at her and raised one eyebrow. She shrugged.

  "Now we will choose partners," Daniel said thickly. "My partner will help with the dessert, the other pair will help with the entrée. Clear?"

  We nodded.

  "Good," he said. "To choose partners we will draw, as you say, lots. The one who draws the smallest straw will be my partner." He held out a handful of plastic straws. "Now, who'd like to go first?"

  Silence. "I guess I will," I said, since no one else was volunteering. I reached out and drew a reasonably long strong.

  "Next," Daniel said swiftly.

  Meadow reached over next and got a slightly shorter straw. Leona took the final straw; it was by-far the shortest. She smiled anxiously.

  "Let's begin," said the chef.  "If your dish does go terribly wrong, kitchen staff will replace it. This cooking spree is for the entertainment. However, that doesn't mean that you're safe in your competition for the prince." He smirked evilly. "Begin!"

  I flew over to our station. The cookbook was open to the dish we were required to create. It was the Prince's favorite, green onion soup.

"Meadow!" I exclaimed excitedly. I scanned the recipe. "This is exactly like a wild onion soup that I make back home. I know how to make this!"

  Meadow stared dreamily at the wall. "That's nice."

  I slipped out a large metal pot and ladle. Scooted a fresh fish across the countertop. Grabbed seasonings from the cupboards. Finally, the green onion.

  I was prepared to win this challenge.

~~~~