The Contest

Chapter 24

I walked to the hospital wing, walking straight to Evander's bed. When he saw me he smiled.
"I was wondering how long it would take you to visit me." He said, and I smiled.
"You literally died yesterday and that's what you were thinking about?" I asked.
"Of course. I'm always thinking about you." He said. I fought and blush, and took his hand in mine.
"Evander, I think we need to talk about things." I said.
"About what?" He asked.
"I told you I loved you, and that was the first time I realized that was true." I said.
"Y-you do?" He asked. I nodded.
"I don't know exactly how much. I just want to know." I said. He squeezed my hand, and looked around. He sat up, struggling to do so.
"Evander, don't hurt yourself!" I exclaimed, trying to help him back up.
"It's fine." He said. "I just want to do this." He leaned forward and kissed me gently. I felt my heart drop, but my stomach flutter. I knew this was wrong but it felt so right. I pulled away quickly.
"I-I'm sorry." He said.
"No, it wasn't you. I just don't want what happened to Harmonia to happen to us. You're hurt enough as it is. I don't think I could bare seeing you hurt again, especially if it was my fault." I said. He nodded.
"I understand. Also there's Archer." He said.
"Oh yeah. Archer." I said. He looked at me, confused and concerned.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"Archer's being tough. He wants me, but only under his rules. I don't have any say in what's going on." I said. "I asked him to stop something, and he wouldn't. It was just...frustrating I guess. He is back to not talking to me." I said.
"If any boy won't respect boundaries, and won't listen to you, they aren't worth it. They don't deserve you. Let some other girl with no respect have him." Evander said.
"You shouldn't talk like that. You don't know who could be listening." I said.
"As much as I like my job here, the people are insufferable. I would be just fine leaving. My mother already wants me to come home, and after she hears about what happened yesterday, she probably going to drag my butt home herself." He said. I giggled.
"Well the families of the contestants may be coming to the castle, so if anything you can go home with my parents." I said. He smiled, and squeezed my hand.
"Thanks Ber, you're always thinking for me." He said. I smiled.
"You'd forget your head if it wasn't on your body." I giggled. He chuckled, and looked around the room. He quickly leaned forward, kissing me. He held my cheek, his hand barely resting on my skin. I felt butterflies in every inch of my body. He didn't move his mouth, but I felt the amount of love coming from this one kiss. How long he had really loved me and how long he had waited to do this. I felt the warmth from his body radiating to mine.
"Amberlyn?" Someone called. I jerked away from Evander, and he dropped his hand. "Amberlyn!" The same person called again. I looked out from behind the curtain that hid Evander's bed. Tink was calling for me.
"Tink?" I asked, seeing her face.
"Emergency Powders meeting right now." She said, her face concerned.
"Is everyone okay?" I asked.
"Not really. Come on." She said, walking out of the room.
"I'll come back later." I said, and Evander nodded. I ran out and followed Tink. We walked out to the pavilion, and the group, besides Rylan and Harmonia, were sitting there. Shaeleigh was crying.
"Oh my gosh, Shae!" I exclaimed. She got up and ran to me, hugging me tightly. "What happened!?" I asked.
"She won't tell any of us. Tink is the only one who knows." Eve said.
"Tink you tell them." Shaeleigh said into my shoulder.
"Come on Shaeleigh, let's sit." I said, and we went to a seat.
"Apparently she was on a date with Archer in the garden, and they were about to kiss, or were in the middle of one, and Evangeline stumbled upon them, and mocked Archer for liking her, and called her a hyperactive baby child or something like that." Tink said.
"Hyperactive little cry baby." She said. My jaw dropped.
"How can one be a cry baby and hyperactive at the same time? Evangeline needs to stop with the insults." Jessica said. I shook my head, rubbing Shaeleigh's shoulder.
"Have you ever actually cried in front of her?" Kelsey asked.
"Just during the last attack, but almost everyone was crying." She said, continuing to cry.
"How did the rest of the date go?" Charlotte asked.
"There wasn't a rest of the date. I left after she called me that." She said.
"You should have stayed." Ember said.
"Ember's right." Joy said.
"You can't run from a battle." I said.
"I know." Shaeleigh admitted. "She's just a terrible person." She said.
"I don't know what has happened in her life to make her the way she is, but we can't continue to try and be her friend. Besides, there are ten of us, and only three of them." I said.
"I'm not even sure if Summer is actually part of her group." Kelsey said.
"Listen, Evangeline is a huge bitch, and just cause she is, doesn't mean we need to let her bitchiness get to us, okay?" Tink said.
"Tink!" I exclaimed.
"She's right." Eve said. I shrugged.
"Yeah I know she is." Shaeleigh said. She wiped her face to clear the tears. "I think I'm going to go talk to Archer and apologize for what happened." She said.
"Yes good!" Marlowe said, clapping her hands.
"Stop being so cute, gosh." Tink said. Marlowe put her hands down, her face confused.
"Thank you guys so much." Shaeleigh said, hugging me. She got up and left.

~~~

We all made our way back to our rooms eventually. Tink said she had to go somewhere to talk to someone, and so she was the first to leave. The rest of us filed out eventually. I went to my room. When I opened the door I found Emma scrambling to clean things up. My room had been trashed again.
"Lady Amberlyn!" Emma exclaimed. Amy came out of the bathroom. I sighed.
"You girls need a hand?" I asked.
"Oh no, you couldn't possibly-" Amy started.
"I came from a large family of fives. I like cleaning." I said. Emma handed me a trash bag. I went around picking up feathers, paper, and other trashed things. I realized something. I dropped the bag and ran to my desk. I found the drawer to be thrown next to the desk, all of its contents scattered on the floor. I found both the journals, the rose broche, and the bracelet, but the ring was gone. I frantically searched the floor, and under the desk. I sighed, feeling like I might cry.
"Is there a place where I could keep things locked up and safe?" I asked Emma and Amy. The girls nodded, and pulled a picture off the wall to reveal a safe. I shoved everything in, and locked it.
"If either of you see a ring with a small diamond stud on it, please let me know. I can't find it, and it's very important to me. There is a purple ribbon on it." I told my maids. They both nodded, and got back to cleaning.
"It's time for dinner miss." Emma said. I nodded and checked my hair. I left the room and made my way to the dining room. All the girls were seated and eating. I sat at the end of the table and grabbed a few strawberries. I wasn't very hungry. Archer stood.
"Now that everyone is here, I would like to make an announcement. Tomrrow afternoon, your families will be arriving here at the castle!" He said. The girls gasped and squealed. I smiled. I was excited to see my sisters and brother. I was excited to see my mother and father. This was going to be amazing.
"And, seeing as your families will be here over the holiday, we will be having a Halloween party! The maids will be hard at work creating costumes for your families, and you girls as well. Your task, of course, is to help with accommodating your family. There will most likely be an elimination after this, so do some amazing work!" He said, and sat back down. Time to plan for my family.