A Previous Selection

Chapter Sixteen

"Hey, Wren" 

I turn away from the window and see Addison walking up to me. I give her a smile as she sits down beside me on the little window seat in the Women's room. 

"Hey, Addison. How has your day been?" I ask, and she smiles back at me. 

"Pretty good. I just got back from a date with Cameron." 

"Oh. How did it go?" 

"Pretty good, I think. We just had lunch together. It was short and simple." 

"I'm happy it went well." 

I try to keep my disappointment from showing, but it feels like Addison is staring into my soul. I look back out the window and stare at the flowers once again. 

"What about you?" she asks. "How has your day been?" 

I shrug my shoulders. 

"Not very eventful. I've been in here pretty much all day, besides breakfast and lunch." 

"Have you gotten anything done? Like reading or studying the work Evelynn's been piling on us?" 

"Not really." 

There's silence between us for a minute or two before she sighs. 

"You've been staring out at the gardens all day, haven't you?" 

I nod my head. 

"Yeah. Kind of." 

"Okay, Wren. Spill. What's wrong?" 

"Nothing, Addi. I'm fine," I reply, and she scoffs. 

"Please. I might have just met you three weeks ago, but I can tell when something's bothering you." 

"I promise I'm fine." 

"Come on. I can tell something's off. You haven't been as energetic as usual. Look, whatever it is, you can trust me." 

I look down at my hands resting in my lap. 

"It's about Prince Cameron, isn't it?" she asks, and I sigh before nodding. 

"Yeah. But seriously, it's nothing." 

"It's obviously something. And it will make you feel better if you talk about it." 

I think about it for a minute before looking up at her. 

"It's probably stupid, but things have just felt. . . off between us this past week," I tell her. "I don't know. It just feels like he's trying to distance himself from me. We've barely seen each other, and it just makes me worry because he's been sending people home all week. Six more girls are gone, and what if I'm next? I may not understand my feelings yet, but I do know that I don't want to go home." 

"Do you know when this started?" 

"The day of the Report when we did our interviews. We had a dessert date after I called my family, and he started acting weird after I told him that I've actually been starving before. What if I scared him off? Made him realize who I am? Who I've been all along? Just some Five who doesn't belong here?" 

"Wren, that's not it at all." 

"Then what's happening?" I ask her. "Why is he being distant?" 

"I don't know, but I wouldn't worry that much. He hasn't been on a lot of dates this week. I'm pretty sure I'm the first one in a couple days. He's probably just really busy with work right now. I'm sure as soon as he's available, he's going to go to straight to you and want to catch up on everything," she says.