Chronicles of Panchali - The 100th Selection

Chapter 2; Ace Cakes

Aiden Acharya did not want to participate in the Selection.

Obviously, the princess was beautiful and all, but he was too conflicted to want to marry her.

But...he needed the money. Badly. You see, he had a girlfriend named Priya in the 7th caste whom he loved, and wanted to marry. You might think they were too young, but this love, this love was real. Aiden was almost sure of it.

You might also say, How do you know what true love is? He didn't know how. He just knew. Can you describe true love? Thought so. And he hated the princess, and the princess would hate him, for the commoner he was. Princesses were always stuck up like that, and he was sure that Princess Arundhati Shah was no different.

But... to be honest, Aiden liked a lot of things about the princess. The way she was humorous, yet strong. Her gracefulness. The way her makeup didn't cover her up, but enhanced her features. How natural she looked, unlike other princesses (even though he didn't know any). How she didn't care what others thought of her (A/N I wish, Aiden, I wish).

And from what he could tell, they both had one thing in common: Daddy problems.

Aiden knew that her dad had left her when she was young, just like for him.

Aiden thought that he loved his dad. He didn't remember much, but he remembered knowing - thinking - assuming that his dad had loved him. What a lie. He also remembered begging his dad not to leave, and the pain he felt for days after. Did he deserve the title 'Dad'? Probably Definitely not. His mother had married down because of what she thought was love. She had to suffer because of false promises, because of her husband. And Aiden wanted to make sure he didn't make the same mistake, for his sake, and for his mother's. He knew she would be heartbroken and would have nothing to live for, if he made the same mistake.

He was only five when his father left, but the pain? The pain was real. From then on he knew what real pain felt like. And he had felt lost, thinking no one else in the world could understand him.

And then he met Priya.

She was an orphan. She understood his pain. She understood how it felt to be alone, and hold herself up, survive by herself. And for some reason, for Aiden, knowing that someone else was in the same boat just made everything so much better. They fell for each other. Quick. Almost too quick to be true. But it was true

But it was a secret. No one wanted a girl of caste 7 to meet up with a boy from caste 5. They met every night in a treehouse; a treehouse she had made, her home. Every night, they snuck out and talked to each other about everything. No one understood him more than Priya. That's what he had assumed, anyway. Until he saw Aru.

The way that Aru had described her love of books...it was the way he had always felt, but never knew how to express. The way she smiled, the way she had such an attractive aura, like she could charm anyone without them even realizing it. Including Aiden.

Despite being a princess, Aiden could see that lost look in her dark and alluring eyes - WAIT, WHERE WAS HE GOING WITH THIS?! No. He loved Priya. And he wanted to marry her, and only her. This was what he told himself repeatedly, every time Aru crossed his mind.

That night, Malini was out late, so Aiden went out to Priya's house (A.K.A treehouse).

"Hi, Ace-Cakes!" Priya greeted him.

He cringed inwardly at the name his mom called him. He didn't mind when he and his mother were alone, but one time, Priya was there, and now the teasing would never stop. He wanted to tell her this, but didn't want to damage their relationship.

"Hey, Priya. Did you see the news?" Aiden asked her nervously. Priya was wearing a black dress that was ripped and stained at places, but that did nothing to lessen her beauty. She had silky caramel hair that hung until her shoulders, and large honey brown eyes that called him every time he was greeted with them. She was so unlike the princess who had dark, yet bright eyes, a defiant, yet comforting aura, and free, yet soft hair. Not that he knew how her hair felt. It just looked like that. Wait. Was he comparing them? Something was definitely wrong here...