Chapter 2

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The rest of the Report and dinner were a blur. The only words I could focus on were "generously compensated." I knew it was a long shot and that every girl in the country my age would be entering, but I just knew I had to try. If I could just get  to the palace, even if just for a few weeks, my dreams of  studying at university could come true. If I could stay for more than a few weeks, I may even have money to spare to help  my family. Mom could buy the house she had always dreamed of...

My thoughts were interrupted by the glow of 18 birthday candles suddenly shining on my face. The red velvet cake was covered in Mom's rich homemade buttercream icing with the words "Happy Birthday Zara" written carefully in pink icing placed in the center of the 18 candles. My family sang to me as I looked around to each of their faces. Mom's face glowed even without the candle light. Dad's green eyes, the eyes I had inherited, twinkled with happiness. My three little sisters looked delighted. Ilsa, who was 16, stood there singing quietly, her gentle and strong smile giving me so much hope and joy as it always. Gemma sang so giddily she nearly dropped the plates she was holding for the cake. Briony, just 7, stood closest to me and wrapped her arms around me in a big hug as she sang. Briony had just lost her second front tooth earlier that week, and she was adorably having trouble pronouncing the words of the song. I laughed as she sang "happy bufthday dew Zawa" squeezing her and returning her hug.

I had the best family in the world. I truly had been blessed with so much in life, and I sometimes questioned why I had such a desperation for more and to  see more. However, the more I thought, the more I realized it was because of my family, not in spite of them, that I wanted more, that I wanted to go to university. They brought me so much joy, and I wanted to bring joy to them in return. I wanted to prove to the world that the Collins family was so much more than the poor but content family that lived above the grocery store. I wanted to show my grandfather and the rest of Harrisburg what they were missing.

As soon as my family finished singing, Gemma and Briony shouted "MAKE A WISH" in unison. Gemma jumping up in down with the plates (while my mother stared in a hidden horror) and Briony jumping down from my lap, her long blonde braids bouncing. I closed my eyes for a few moments and made my deepest wish. I wished to get my family out of poverty,  to give them the life they deserved. I wished to have enough money to go to university. I wished, just like every other girl across Illéa to be chosen for Prince Osten's Selection. However, I was sure I was the only one wishing for it as an opportunity to go to school, not to become a Princess.

After we all ate the delicious homemade cake, my parents announced it was time to open presents. There were four brightly colored packages sitting on the table in the living room that connected to the kitchen. 

"You guys shouldn't have done all this for me," I said, thinking of how tight money was, especially with six mouths to feed.

"Sweetie, it's your eighteenth birthday," Dad said, "You only become an adult once, and you have been working so hard to help us in the store since you finished school. You have been so reliable lately. You deserve it." 

I didn't have the nerve in me to tell him that part of my motivation for helping in the store was trying to scrape together money to continue to go to school.

"Open mine first," Ilsa said quietly handing me a beautifully wrapped blue package.

I carefully opened the package and found a worn but beautiful old copy of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontē.

"The main character is just your age, and she is strong, brave, smart, and always speaks her mind," Ilsa said. She had a small smirk on her face when she said the last part that I think anyone else would have missed  but me. Ilsa and I were opposites in many ways. She was quiet, composed, kind to everyone,  and content with her life. I was more ambitious, rash, and while I was kind to most people, I stood up to people who put me and those I loved down. Yet, despite our differences, she was my best friend in the world.  I could tell her anything in the  world, and she understood me better than anyone. 

"Me next, pwease, me next!," Briony squealed handing me a very thin package wrapping in yellow paper. I carefully opened it and found a colorful drawing of Briony and me standing in a field or crayon-drawn flowers with bright crayon yellow hair. Briony was nearly the spitting image of me when I was younger. We both had the same long wavy  blonde hair, but where  my eyes  were green like my father's, Briony had inherited my Mom's warm chocolate brown eyes.

"It's beautiful, Bri! Thank you so much! I am going to hang it up by my bed as the newest addition to the gallery," I said giving her a big hug. 

Briony always drew colorful pictures as birthday and Christmas  gifts, and I treasured the ones she had created for me and had them all taped around my bed in my and Ilsa's bedroom.

"My turn!," Gemma said. She handed me a pink wrapped shoe box. I tore off the paper and opened the box to find at least 50 slips of paper inside.

"It's a compliment box!," Gemma said, beaming, "Whenever you need cheering up, you can reach inside and find a compliment! There are 78 in there, and they are all in there. I wrote an entire list and double checked it with Ilsa to make sure nothing was repeated."

I felt myself tear up a bit and motioned for Gemma to come over for a hug. I adored my sisters  for their  ability to give me the most meaningful presents  even with how  tight things  were  for our family. Gemma and Briony probably spent hours making sure their homemade gifts were perfect, and as Ilsa and I frequented the used book store together to borrow books, I knew she must have saved up a lot of her pay from working at our grocery store to actually buy me  the book.

"I love you all so much," I said, trying my best to fight back tears. 

"Don't forget about us," Mom said. 

Dad nodded as he handed me a small package wrapped in blue and floral paper. It was so pretty, I didn't want to unwrap it. I looked up and saw Mom looking to me with her warm eyes as she leaned into Dad's embrace. I gingerly tore back the wrapping to reveal a small package. I opened it and found a beautiful gold chain with a gold heart-shaped locket hanging on the end. It was engraved with my initials "ZAC" for Zara Amberly Collins. My mother had been a huge fan and admirer of the kind late queen and had given me her name as my middle name. Although I did not share my mother or sister's love of the royal family, she was a person I was secretly honored to be named for. 

It wasn't until I felt my mother reach out to wipe my cheek that I realized I had gone from watery-eyed to full on crying.

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

it was all I could muster at that moment. The necklace must've cost a fortune, and normally, I would object to such a luxury when money was so tight. However, the thought and sentiment behind it squashed any such thoughts. Mom's hand moved from my face as she embraced me, and soon, every member of our family had come over to join the embrace, with me right in the center.

"I don't know what I did to deserve you all," I said, "I love you so much!"

"You are the glue that keeps us together," Dad said.

"I don't know what we would do without you Zac," Gemma said, calling me by the nickname that came from my initials.

Mom kissed my cheek which was just as heart-warming as any spoken sentiment, and I closed my eyes feeling the warm embrace of my parents and three sisters on my last night as a seventeen-year-old. They were my world. It was especially so clear with them gathered around me in this moment. It was in that moment that I knew for certain I had to try by any means necessary to get them the life they deserved, and I took the announcement of The Selection on The Report as a sign of my first opportunity.

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