The Selection

💞Falling in Love💞

"What do y'all think of Prince Daniel's choice?" Sage asked, for the salt. It was after The Report and we were all eating dinner, which was amazingly grilled fish.

"I don't know." Via said. "It kind of makes me nervous, I'd hate to be the person who gets eliminated then."

"Same here," I said, taking another bite of my fish. It. Was. So. Good.

I glanced at Prince Daniel, who was chatting with Princess Brielle. He seemed animated, his green eyes beaming. I couldn't help but wonder what, or who, he was talking about.

Princess Quinn seemed to be in her permanently irritated mood. It was like someone put a thunderstorm cloud above her head. She was silently sneering at all of the Selected, her eyes squinted and lips in a slight pout. She leaned over and whispered something to Queen Delaney, who nodded and mirrored Quinn's sour expression.

I was giddy and excited about my meeting with Daniel later on. I wondered what he would say. Then the what ifs started to cloud my mind until I was a ball of stress. I shook them away and tried to focus on the small talk. "I love your dress, Aria." Amelia said. "The color looks great on you."

"Thanks!" I replied. Style was always something I could conversate on. "I like your's too," It was true, Amelia's dress was a lively, fresh green that poofed out and had an asymmetrical neckline. "So, how did y'all's talks with Prince Daniel go today?" I asked.

"Mine went well." Nellie said, figeting with a piece of her lavender dress. "We mainly talked about animals. Back home, we had a ton of pets, and Prince Daniel has always wanted a dog."

Interesting. Maybe the prince didn't have it all. "Huh." Selena replied. "That's neat."

After dinner, it took all of my will power not to race to my room. Instead, I walked like a lady. In the process, I nearly tripped over my dress.

Once inside my room, my maids freshened me up a bit, gushing about how I would win the Selection. "There's no way." I'd said.

"We'll see about that." Nia had replied with a smirk on her face.

Once they left, I tried to compose myself. I was meeting the prince! Alone! For the third time!

When I heard a knock at the door, my heart nearly jumped out of my chest. I focused on deep breathing and twisted the doorknob. Prince Daniel was there smiling. "So we meet again." He said with a wink.

I giggled and gestured for him to come in. "Would you like to stay here, or we could go somewhere else in the palace if you'd like. I was thinking maybe a parlor," Daniel told me.

"A parlor sounds nice," I thought out loud. "We can go to one."

"Of course," Daniel smiled. "Would you mind holding my hand for the sake of appearance? I'm positive that there will be photographers."

"Not at all." I said, trying my hardest not to explode with happiness.

"So, Lady Aria, what was it like back in Midston for you? I'm curious to know?" Daniel asked.

"Well, my brother Tuck works at a family of Four's farm, and I did yard work for some Twos. Every Friday, we would go to a local diner where the owner would spot us free milkshakes and burgers, and we would watch the report. We couldn't afford a TV. Anyway, I also had to drop out of school at fourteen so me and Tuck could afford necessities, so I'm not very well educated. But, I have a knack for catching on to things, so sometimes I would listen to the Two's private tutor giving lessons and absorb all of it, and some of the other workers spoke Spanish, which I caught on to from a certain degree."

I realized that I'd pretty much told Daniel everything. I didn't feel stressed though, but calm. We sat down in a lounge with pastel coloring and a soft-looking couch. "Interesting," Said Daniel. His expression changed to something more...thoughtful. "Lady Aria, I hate to beat around the bush, I really do." He began, which made me wonder what he was talking about. "When I first saw your picture, I thought you were the most beautiful girl in Illea. Then when I met you, well, I felt something I never felt before. And when we spoke again, the same feeling came back. And it made me wonder if we could be...an us."

I was the happiest girl on planet Earth. Ever since I was little, I'd dreamily watched the prince on TV, but never once actually thought there was even a slight chance.

"Of course we can be an us."

Daniel matched my happiness, a radiant smile on his gorgeous face.

"Want to know something?" I asked. Daniel nodded. "I think that I had the same feeling you did."

With that, my chocolatey brown eyes gazed into his fresh, gleaming green eyes. Our hands laced together and we slowly got closer until our lips touched. When he kissed me, it felt as sweet as sugar and electrifying at the same time.

When our lips parted, Daniel looked flustered. My expression must have been complex because he said, "I'm sorry! I should have asked you first."

"No, no!" I exclaimed. "That was great, I just think we could do better. He smiled and wrapped his arms around my waist and we kissed again, but this time it was even sweeter and more exhilarating. I wanted to stay like that forever.

When we stopped, we just smiled at each other. Finally, Daniel spoke up. "From now on, I'm just Daniel to you."

"And I'm only Aria for you." I responded.