The Next Selection

Chapter Ten: The Italians are Coming!

"I had a really fun time today," I thanked Jason as we stood in front of my closed bedroom door.

"Me too," he replied while smiling. "If you wouldn't mind, I would like to have another date on Wednesday." He looked a little nervous, even though he shouldn't.

"Sure!" I shrugged my shoulders. "It's not like I have anything better to do anyways." I shrugged off his nervousness, which made us both grin like idiots. He let out a relieved breath.

"I'll pick you up at eleven, then." He started to walk away when he called out, "See you at dinner!"

"Bye!" Once I opened my door, I walked over to my balcony. I took a huge breath of air, and I decided to finish my patterns from earlier. I turned on the radio and left the doors open. It was the perfect day so far.

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When I walked into dinner, a couple of the Selected in there already looked like they wanted to murder me. No joke. I'm guessing that news got around that I went on a date with Jason earlier.

"Hey," I greeted Carol and Cecilia as I sat down.

"Hi!" Cecilia smiled.

"Hey!" Carol exclaimed. "You'll never guess what happened today in the Women's Room!"

"What?" I asked. The only thing I would imagine is one of the princesses or the queen going in there for awhile.

"Illeine flipped out once she found out only you, Brazil, and Georgia have dates so far," Carol whispered across the table.

"No way!" I whispered back. I couldn't contain my grin.

"You should have se-" Cecilia started, but she was cut off by the Royal Family entering. After we sat, Queen America still stood.

"Ladies, I have an announcement to make," she said. Her posture was perfect, and I wonder how she went from an average poor life to being the queen with being able to get pretty much anything whenever you want it. "The Italian Royal Family is coming next week for a visit, so you have to be on your best behavior, especially for the party being thrown for them. That means only a couple of drinks, no matter how much they order you." She smirked a little bit as some of us giggled. Once she sat down, we all burst into murmurs.

"I hope they speak fluent English!" Cecilia giggled. "I suck at speaking Italian."

"I'll ask," I said. Before they could protest, I asked rather loudly, "Your Majesty, do the Italians speak fluent English?" That got everyone's attention, surprisingly.

"Yes, they do," Queen America assured with a smile. "But you will still get some lessons." You could hear some groans around the table, but I tried to drone them out by saying,

"Thank you, Your Majestly," a little louder than necessary.

"You're welcome, Lady Kealee," she replied. She then whispered something to Jason, which made him smile and nod. He whispered something in return, and she had a huge grin spread across her face.

"I'm surprised she knows your name," Susie scoffed, "considering you're so... average." She looked me over for emphasis.

"On the contrary," I started. "You tend to stick out when you have natural gray eyes that no one else here has." I smiled mockingly. "Along with some other things."

"You should quit being a smartass."

"Oh, honey, that's not possible," I laughed. Carol and Cecilia tried to hide their smiles and snickers, along with most of the others in earshot.

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"So, how did your date go?" Cecilia asked excitedly while grabbing my left arm. Carol sat on my other side just as excitedly, but thankfully, she wasn't death-gripping my right arm.

We were on a couch in the Women's Room an hour later, and most of the other Selected pulled up chairs to listen to my story. The emotions were mixed among them.

"Did you guys kiss?" Georgia asked nervously.

"Hell no!" I laughed. "I'm not kissing anybody on the first date, let alone a prince! I'd rather be sent home for not kissing him then. No offense, but I'm not that trashy." Thankfully, everyone laughed, even though I could tell some were forced.

"Get on with it!" Cecilia giggled.

"Fine," I sighed, rolling my eyes and giggling. "Jason said we were going on a picnic the other day. Fast forward until earlier: he picked me up at my room, and we walked through the gardens until we got to the pond. We sat on a blanket under an oak tree for shade, and we ate fruits. And no, we didn't feed each other anything. For the whole time, we just talked, and after an hour, he walked me back to my room. That's it!" I shrugged my shoulders. I purposefully left out the next date detail so no one would get jealous. I'm saving it for Cecilia's and Carol's ears only.

"Well, what did you talk about?" Olivia asked anxiously.

'I cannot wait for this to be over,' I thought to myself. My small smile never faltered, though.

"Just random stuff, honestly," I assured before continuing. "Books, family, food, likes, dislikes, places we visited, and other stuff. Nothing too personal." Everyone seemed satisfied with that answer, but Cecilia and Carol would press further. Most of the Selected moved to different spots in the room, interested in just my date details.

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Half an hour later, us three and my maids were scattered across my room. I was sandwiched between Grace and Cecilia, Nina pulled up my desk chair, Carol sat on my desk, and Leela leaned on my bare nightstand. They forced me to tell them the whole story, so I did.

"And he's taking me on another date Wednesday," I finished. Immediately, everyone squealed, except for Nina, but she still wore a huge grin.

"I knew you were hiding something!" Cecilia yelled, pointing a finger in my face.

"Wait, you're gonna be the first girl with two dates, let alone two in one week!" Carol realized. She looked so happy for me.

"Immediate favorite!" Leela exclaimed.

"I'm glad that Susie's and Serene's groups haven't got dates yet," Cecilia confessed. "They're b*tches." Everyone burst out laughing at her comment.

"You know," Nina said through her giggles, "their maids said that they're horrible!"

"Really?" I gasped. "Tell us more!"

"They don't have manners, for starters," Grace piped.

"They're asking for the most revealing and sexy dresses," Leela added.

"It takes two hours to do their makeup."

"They talk negatively about everyone except themselves and their friends."

"And here's the worst part," Nina complained. "Serene and Illeine flirt with the guards."

"NO WAY!" Carol yelled. "We should go tell Jason soon."

"Wait," I thought. "We can use it if we need to blackmail them." An evil smirk crept onto my face.

"Great thinking," Cecilia complimented. Soon, all of us shared a smile.

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Hey lovelies!! Thank you so much for reading this. Sorry I don't really update that often. I usually write slow, and I'm having a little writer's block on top of that. I'm trying to update two or three times a week, so be patient, please!

For the picture, it's of Queen Bey. It's supposed to be of Nicoletta, the Queen of Italy. So, there you go, lol!