Another Selection

Chapter 12: Facing the Truth

When Angel and I got home my mom was lying in the living room, crying.
"What's wrong mom?" I asked her.
"Your father. H-he came and got his stuff."
"He's so stupid!"
"It's not all. He brought his new girlfriend."
"What?!?" I asked jumping up.
"Ariel. Calm down."
"No! You guys are still married!!! He's an idiot!" I said starting to cry.
"Ariel! Calm down! Angel go check on Tommy."
My breathing was staggered and I was sweating.
"Honey, calm down."
"Can't breath!" I gasped.
She picked up the phone and called soemone.
"Hello? Emaline Noel here."
"Yes, mother of Ariel Noel. I need to speak with the prince."
"It's an emergency. Tell him that Ariel is having a panic attack."
It was silent for a little bit.
"Your majesty. I don't know how to calm Ariel down!"
She nodded her head in agreement.
"Thank you. Bye."
She sat beside me.
"Ariel, breath with me. In. Out. In. Out. In. Out."
"Thanks." I said after a few minutes.
"Of course, sweetheart." She kissed my forehead.
"Why don't you go shopping or something?" I suggested.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'll make supper and take care of the house. Go have fun!"
"You are amazing. I don't know what I would do without you. I love you." She said walking to her room.
I walked upstairs to find Tommy's room. When I found it I walked in.
"Hey Tommy."
"Ariel! Look how big my room is!"
"Yeah."
"Where is daddy?"
"Umm. He went on a trip."
"Why is mommy sad?"
"She missed him."
"We should do something to make mommy happy!"
"That's a great idea!" I said.
"I'll go get Ariel."
My mom explained that Angel didn't remember anything and surprisingly he understood.
He walked out to Angel's room. We all met in the dining room coming up with ideas.
"We could sing her a song!" Angel suggested.
"Or write her a poem!" I said.
We talked for awhile coming up with ideas.
"We could make her one of those things with pictures in it!" Tommy suggested.
"A scrapbook?"
"Yeah, a rapbook!" Angel and I laughed at his pronunciation.
"Mom has pictures in a box somewhere!"
"Sweet!" Angel said jumping up.
"We can do it tomorrow. I have to make supper now." I said walking into the kitchen.
I was stirring the pasta on the stove when the phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Ariel! It's Olivia!" She said.
"Olivia!!!"
"How are you?"
"I have no idea."
"What do you mean?"
"My dad left my mom a couple days ago and when he came to get his stuff he brought his new girlfriend. Angel doesn't remember anything and Tommy doesn't understand at all what's really going on!"
"I'm so sorry, Ariel."
"It's not your fault. How are you?"
"Pretty good." She said, I could hear her smiling.
"What?"
"I'm engaged!"
"Really?" I squealed.
"Yes. He proposed this morning. It was so romantic."
"Oh my gosh! Who is he?"
"A guard."
"What?"
"Yeah, I bumped into him a couple years ago and we started talking. Then he was in charge of guarding my room at night. We fell in love. Of course we had to tell our parents, mostly mine."
"That's amazing, Olivia! What's his name?"
"Adam McCulvey!"
"What?" I laughed.
"What?"
"He's my best guy friend! We haven't spoken in a while, because he had to leave."
"No way. I knew he was from Carolina, but that's funny."
"Yeah. I'm sorry, but I have to go make supper now."
"Bye. Talk to you again sometime."
"Bye. Yeah I hope so."
I hung up the phone and went to continue to make supper.
I burnt the pasta. I have never burnt anything before. I walked to our freezer and looked in. Frozen pizza it is.
"Tommy! Angel! Supper! I called out setting the table. I made a salad to go with the pizza.
They ran down the stairs and sat down at the table.
"What we having?" Angel asked.
"Pizza!" I cheered.
I placed the pizza in the middle of the table.
We all ate our pizza in silence.
"Ariel? What you doing?" Tommy asked me.
"What do you mean?"
"You're cutting your pizza with a knife and eating it with a fork. Your napkin is in your lap!" Angel explained.
"Oh. Well, it must be all those lessons with Silvia."
"That's weird." Tommy said taking a giant bite of his pizza.
After supper I did the dishes and walked upstairs to put Tommy to bed.
"Do I have to go to sleep?" He begged for the millionth time.
"Yes, now change into some pjs." He quickly changed and jumped into bed.
"Night, Tommy. Love you." I said kissing the top of his head.
"Night!" He yawned.
I closed his door and walked to Angel's room. She was sleeping too.
I walked out the back door into our small garden. Everything was covered in snow.
I sat down on a bench that wasn't covered in snow. I shivered and wrapped my jacket around me tighter.
"Cold?" Someone asked me.
"Yes. Who's there?" I asked into the darkness.
"Wow. You don't recognize your old boyfriend?"
"Jeremiah?"
"The one and only." He said as he stepped into our yard light.
"How are you?" I asked.
"I've been better."
"I heard about your dad."
"Of course."
"I'm really sorry, Ariel."
"Thanks."
Jeremiah was always a kind person. He would help anyone. He was tall with black hair and tan skin. He had the most gorgeous green eyes. He was gorgeous.
"I missed you, Ari." He said using his old nickname for me.
"I missed you too, Jere." I laughed.
He always hated that nickname.
"Shut up." He lightly pushed me.
I pushed him back.
"I'm sorry of how I left you. It was completely immature of me."
"It's fine. I'm just glad your back. You looked so happy on the Report. When you went missing I didn't know what to do. What would I do without you?"
"Jer, I'm here now."
"I'm glad you are."
We sat there looking into each others eyes. He leaned in. I leaned in. What was I doing?
His lips pressed against mine.
At first I wrapped my arms around his neck. I quickly pulled away.
"No. I can't." I whispered.
"I understand. I'll be waiting. Night." He kissed my cheek and walked off.
What was I doing? I just got back! I'm so stupid! Oliver would never move on that quickly. Well there are still 9 girls left in the Selection. Of course he moved on. He needs to find a wife. Why did I feel guilty? I'm just moving on. I walked back inside and my mom was just walking in.
"Honey! It's freezing outside!" She said wrapping a blanket around me.
"I talked to Jeremiah."
"And?"
"I don't know."
"Go to bed." She said pushing me towards the stairs. I stumbled a little still stunned by what happened. I slowly walked up the stairs to my room. I changed into a nightgown and climbed into my soft bed. I fell asleep instantly.