Iris

Chapter One

I looked around the ballroom, what was this? I couldn’t believe they were going to keep us here by force. Though none of the other girls here seemed to mind, they were being waited on hand and foot. What wasn’t to love? Hmm....maybe the fact that we were all taken from our homes, our families, for some stupid rich guy! I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. I’m a pretty good teenager, I’m nothing special but I don’t mind. Being 15 isn’t easy for anyone who doesn’t have parents. I live with my uncle and aunty, although they are like my parents anyway. Ok let me start from the beginning, if you want to call it that.

I was minding my own business one day as I cleaned the kitchen. That’s when this fancy looking ad came on TV. It was advertising a new competition to ‘win the heart of Blade’. Blade was this guy that I had never heard of, but it seemed to me (from the ad) he was very rich and looked kind of cute. Not that I go for that whole up-yourself-spoilt-prince thing. Blade wasn’t a prince anyway but by the way he dressed and stuff you would think he was a 21st century prince. Weird, I know. The ad continued on saying that all girls aged 15 were required to join. You heard right, required. What does that mean anyway? Were they going to take us away by force? How did they know if girls were 15 anyway? I discovered that they knew I was 15 because some men who looked like guards arrived at my house only moments later. Weird. My aunty and uncle refused at first to it but then the guards threatened to throw them in jail. I didn’t want to put my aunty and uncle through that, so I said I would go.

After a long and noisy ride in a large double-decker bus I arrived (with about 400 other 15 year old girls) at a massive mansion. Did I say it was massive? That was an understatement. This mansion was more like a palace. It had an enormous iron gate which was guarded by two men wearing black suits, like they were secret agents or something. Past the gates was a large gravel courtyard with a beautifully designed fountain in the centre. But the thing that actually took my breath away was the mansion itself. It was something out of a fairytale. Like the palace that Cinderella would live in or where Belle and the prince from Beauty & the Beast met. Whatever you are imagining think better and more amazing and then you have it.

Anyway back to the ballroom. The girls and I were all requested to assemble in the ballroom to meet our ‘prize’. I’m sure the tour guide didn’t say that but that’s what I think it is. Blade = our prize. What a thing to live for! Is there anything else I would rather be doing with my life other than fighting complete strangers to have a chance of love with a prince? Answer....YES! I couldn’t believe what my life was turning into, a game? A show? A hell? I was suddenly snapped back into reality when someone walked up to a microphone which was positioned high above my head on a different platform. I recognised the person from the ad, it was Blade. Nearly all the girls in the room squealed and giggled as one by one they noticed Blade. The 16 year old boy smiled at their excitement but silenced then with just a wave of his hand.

“Good afternoon ladies, thank-you for your presence. I hope the journey here was not too long or tiring.” Blade said into the microphone. I had a feeling that every girl in the room just sighed like he was talking only to them. Pathetic. Me? I wasn’t charmed by him one bit. He was smug and arrogant and had forced me to leave my aunty and uncle.

“I know you must all be ready to see your new quarters but before you go and see your room I have a few announcements to make” Blade paused.

“Everyone will be split into groups which will have tour guides. During the course of this competition you are all required to do many tasks and by the end of four weeks I will have chosen my girlfriend, who may be my future wife” Blade winked and some girl fainted.

Before I knew what was happening everyone was rushed towards the sides of the ballroom, towards many doors that all looked the same. I was guessing we were going to our rooms, the rooms we would be sleeping in for the next four weeks.