Royal 2 (Book two in my Selection series)

Chapter 33

We land at the edge of an island and I lean over Will to get a better look. I saw the "house" he spoke of and it was huge. It was made of large stones put together like a puzzle.

"Woah." I mutter and hear Will chuckle beside me. "I forgive you now." I say since I had to share the house with the other girls, but I didn't care this way because it was too big to matter that much.

"Good. The butlers will bring your bags into the house so you can go explore." Will tells me and I smile as I feel the plane land and jump out of the chair and I was the first off the plane with the other girls trailing behind me.

"He took us to an island." One girl smiles and laughs with joy as we all take the steps leading off the plane. We were right near the house so I make my way through the sand quickly and climb the gravel steps to the front door and push it open.

The floors were made of polished wood and the majority of the walls were windows, giving us a beautiful view of the ocean waves. I walk around the room in awe of the perfectly designed mansion and slipped through a few rooms.

I found one room that was a bit smaller than the rest and sit on the small window seat on the back wall. I could live here forever.

"You like it?" I hear s voice and turn to Will, the source.

"Yes very much." I say smiling as he moves towards me and sits beside of me. "How are the other girls enjoying it?"

"They are picking out the biggest rooms." Will says with a short, forced laugh.

"I pray that this isn't one of those rooms." I laugh. "It just has a very good view."

"No, the bigger rooms are on the second floor. This is honestly probably the smallest room." Will shrugs.

"I should always be surprised by all things Royal." I say laughing. "This entire room is nearly bigger than my house."

"Really?" He asks with a serious look in his eyes. I feel a bit self conscious at the moment because of all the attention that was directed at me.

"I live in a trailer." I mutter with a small shrug. "I mean I got it for a good price since I only have a part time job and I just got it paid off right before the Selection."

"Do you not get enough money for a house through your mom's disability checks and child support from your father?" He asks.

"I mean I probably could but then we'd be low on food, Ma's medicine and all that and it's easier to save money that way for Colton." I suddenly act very interested in the intricate designs of the cushion beneath me.

"I'm sorry." Will says after a while with lack of anything else to say and reaches to grab my hand that rests in my lap.

"I don't want you feeling bad about it. I was comfortable with my life at that point and it wasn't the worst hand of cards." I manage a smile and look up at him.

"Sometimes I wish I could've been there for your entire life. You know, so you didn't have to do all of that alone." He says quietly.

"Everything happens like it is supposed to, right?" I suggest and smile as he pulls me into a hug and rests his chin on my head.

"I sure hope so." I can feel him smile above me and squeeze me a bit tighter.

•••

That night Will held a small gathering where we simply stayed on the ocean and enjoyed drinks. Even though the other girls seemed to be trying way too hard for Will's attention I still enjoyed myself.

We were all supposed to be seated in a circle but since the girls were literally pushing themselves toward Will, I was sitting with two empty spots on either side of me across from Will with only the fire pit  between us.

"I have something to announce." Will says coughing a bit an sitting straighter. All the girls stop the chattering and sit back down. "At the end of this short trip I will be sending girls home. Only five will make the journey back to the palace."

Every girl seems to visibly tense and a few nod as if accepting an apology he didn't make.

"Because of this I'm going to be having as much one on one time with you all as possible." Will attempts a smile. "Finally, there's one person you all need to thank for this trip. Happy birthday Autumn."

In the luminous glow of the fire I can see a genuine smile on his face as he lifts his glass above him. I smile as he does so and ignore the expression of the few girls that were obviously not happy with it. The majority of the girls clapped and smiled and raised their glasses too.

"Thank you." I say quietly and enjoy the view of the dancing water.

"Happy birthday Autumn." Josie says and comes to sit beside of me.

"Thank you." I say with a smile. I liked to be quiet and to enjoy the little things around me, but sometimes people mistook that for lonely and tried to comfort me.

"So how old are you now?" She asks.

"I'm eighteen." I tell her.

"Great." She says happily. I nod and begin to stare back into the open waves. Everything here seemed like the perfect getaway and the perfect place to be. I wish I could just stay here all the time.

The darkening sky painted the sea with a field of stars and crops of constellations. Nobody here will ever know what galaxies revolve around those suns in those constellations and we will never know what others might be staring at our own sun and putting it in a constellation. We can only imagine.

A/N

Sorry about how boring this chapter was and how short like the last one but this weekend I have had to have this fake baby and keep alive and I don't have a lot of free time, but I'll try and update soon.