The Selection

🎈Party Planning🎈

Going to sleep that night, I realized something. The Selection was a little game, just to narrow down the real choices. The Elite was something that I was actively in, and would require more effort. I'd just have to rely on myself to not screw up.

At breakfast, there was a new seating arrangement as most of us were gone. The U-shape was kept, and I sat next to Mara and Mitchell, and Across from Blake and Selena. Breakfast was not dissapointing, as it was amazingly prepared smoked salmon served with bagels and cream cheese.

After that, the Elite gathered in the women's room, followed by Lexia. "Come here, girls." She instructed, sitting at a large, round table in one of the side rooms. We all obeyed and pulled out a plush chair to sit in.

"I'm delighted to share with you your first project as the Elite!" An excited murmuring cast over us, highly anticipating what Lexia was about to say. "You wil be put into three groups, one will have four members whilst the others have three. The one with four will have one less day to prepare, though. These groups will be planning a party, each hosting a different country. Lady Mara, Lady Blake, Lady Mitchell, and Lady Via will host the English Union. Lady Aria, Lady Winnie, and Lady Lindon will be hosting France. And, Lady Amelia, Lady Moxie, and Lady Selena will be hosting Spain. The first group will host their event in three days, the group hosting Spain will have four days, and the group hosting France will have five. I will provide you all some recources to help with planning."

"That's not fair!" Moxie wailed. "That group gets an extra day even though we have the same amount of people!"

"Moxie, we can't host to countries in one day." Lexia said in a sharp tone.

I was slightly overwhelmed. For starters, Mara, Selena and I were all split up and I'd have to work with girls I didn't know very well. And, we were in charge of hosting visitors. What if they didn't like us? What if it wasn't good enough?

I followed Winnie to a table with Lindon and we put down the binders that Lexia had given us. "Well," Said Winnie. "How about we each read one and share information?"

"Good idea." I said. "And maybe take notes on key things."

"Sounds great." Lindon said. Lindon had pale blonde hair and even paler skin. She seemed very petite and quiet, and tended to hang out with Via, who matched her personality.

Winnie had tan skin and light brown hair with blue eyes. She was pretty and outgoing, and was good friends with Blake and Amelia.

I opened a pink binder and retrieved a notebook and pen. It mainly talked about France's key traditions. They thought any sort of beer, whiskey, or liquor were extremely informal at parties. They also believed that appreance was everything, and that the party, and our attire should be nothing short of glamorous. They also thought that anything black or purple stood for bad luck, and should never be used.

With all the soaked in information, I turned to Winnie and Lindon. "What did your say?" Winnie asked.

"Everything needs to be glamorous, no black or purple, no whiskey, beer, or liquor, and we must put a lot of effort into our appearance." I reported.

Lindon nodded. "Mine talked about Ilea's traditions. We view black and gray as bad colors, and are infamous for grand parties. We also think that it is extremely impolite to not consider the other country's customs."

"Mine talked about mixing the customs," Winnie said. "We shouldn't use purple, gray, or black, must be glamorous and grand. It would also look good on our part to provide gifts to France."

"Now that we have that, let's organize everything. I'll work on decorations and gifts, Lindon can do food and drinks, and Winnie can do details and events."

"Sounds good." Winnie told me. 

"Should we ask Lexia about other recources?" Lindon piped up.

"Sure," I replied, calling Lexia over. She told us that we could use a computer, as well as the staff and any book.

I decided to start with the decoration. I thought a gold and periwinkle theme would work well. I opened a notebook and grabbed a pen and began jotting ideas down. Lexia reccomended floral decorations, so I had the idea of poppies. I also thought we could hang cloth on the walls with the color scheme. Then, I wrote down carpets, vases, balloons, and table cloths.

I then met with the head butler in the Great Lounge to discuss things. I'd also brought a camera with me to take pictures to add to the notebook. He held up three different shades of periwinkle. "Which one do you prefer?" 

I pointed to a pretty shade of periwinkle with with a soft material. "That one, it's very nice." I said. 

The butler nodded. "Excellent choice, miss. And for the gold?" I reached for a beautiful, glimmering cloth of gold that was both grand and glamorous. The butler smiled. "These will look lovely together. We also have a few vases for you to choose from, and I can fetch the head gardener to show you the poppies." 

"Wonderful," I smiled and studied the vases. One was a matte white with small ridges, one was a dark, glossy navy, and the other was a drab gray. "The white one." I told the butler.

He nodded and reached out again. He held a bundle of balloons with several hues. "Can we do the glittery gold ones and the medium colored periwinkle?"

"Yes, miss." The butler replied. "What would you like to do for the tablecloths?"

I thought about that. "Can you do a periwinkle shade then gold trimming on the border? And do the same for the napkins but vice-versa?"

"Lovely decision, miss." He said. "And would a normal white carpet through the center be good?"

"Of course."

"Very well then, there will be a gardener waiting by the garden door." The butler walked off. I examined the pictures that I took of the items, and realized that if everything went well, the party would be wonderful.

As the butler promised, there was a gardener waiting at the door. He wore a simple, green uniform that looked easy to work in. "Hello, miss." He said. "I'm Brenn, and will be helping you find the best flowers."

"Hello, Brenn." I smiled as he led me out into the garden. The scent of fresh air and blooming flowers washed over me and felt like a comforting hug. 

"So," Said Brenn. "What kind of flowers are you thinking about?"

"Well, I think poppies would look nice. I'm mainly looking for gold and periwinkle."

Brenn nodded. "I have some over here." He led me under a tunnel with grape vines growing all over it, then we arrived at countless flower beds with poppies. 

"I have some soft yellow shades as well as periwinkle." Brenn said, motioning with his hand to rows of beautiful flowers.

"Perfect!" I exclaimed.

"Great, I can put them in the greenhouse to properly organize them. Everything will be ready in the time for you party."

"Thank you." I walked back to the women's room and printed out my photos, then sticking into my notebook along with a few notes.

Winnie and Lindon were at our table. "Hi, Aria!" Winnie said, pushing out a chair for me. "Any updates with decoration?"

"Yes," I said, pulling out the notebook. I showed them my ideas and schemes and they both seemed to like it. "What about y'all?"

"I talked with the chef and drink specialist." Lindon told us. "We'll have plentiful finger foods out, and also have a full course meal."

"Ooh." I mused. "What will you be serving?"

"The appetizer will be gourmet taquitos, the soup will be tomato soup, the salad is a chef's salad with balsamic vinegar, the fish is ahi tuna, then a filet mignon with herb butter, and the dessert will be lava cake."

My mouth watered just thinking about it, even though I had no clue what some of what Lindon said meant. "That sounds great!" I exclaimed. Lindon smiled.