The Prince or the Crown

chapter two

*explicit language (f-bombs)*

By the time I'd returned to my dorm from the evening Joshua had planned for me, it was already 9:00, which meant I was staying up until 2AM to do everything that needed to get done.

The painkiller had started to wear off and the bottle was empty, but at least Amelie was staying at her boyfriend's apartment again so I could work with some peace and quiet and the lights off.

I fumbled with the key in my hand to unlock my door, trying to think about anything but Joshua's words from our date and the sleep I so desperately needed.

As the lock finally clicked open, I stumbled into my dorm room and threw my backpack on the floor next to the table. I made my way to the cabinets and grabbed the jar of instant coffee from its spot on the shelf.

I paused, my eyes catching on a familiar figure in the corner of the room.

"Amelie?"

She turned from her computer and gave me a tight smile. "'Evening, Bella. Nice to see you finally got out of bed." Her eyes drifted to the jar in my hands. "Coffee? After sunset?"

"What are you doing here?" I demanded.

"You know, a nice 'hello' would be appreciated every once in a while," she said, turning back to her work. "I broke up with Emerson."

"Oh," I said, blinking in surprise. "I'm sorry. What happened?"

"Don't be. I caught him cheating," she said.

My mouth opened and closed in disbelief. "What? Oh, my god, that's terrible. I thought he was a nice guy."

"Yeah, well, so did I," she scoffed.

"I'm so sorry. Hopefully he gets what he deserves," I said, turning back to making my coffee.

See, that's a good reason to break up with someone.

"Did you see the news recently?" Amelie asked. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Sometimes, I really wished she would stop talking.

"That thing about the wildfires in California again? Yeah, I saw that."

"No, the thing about that country and its little matchmaking game," Amelie said.

I froze.

"It's completely absurd, not to mention unethical. But anyway, the submission deadline passed last night, and the lottery winners who fit the standards will be notified by Saturday morning. Ugh. That's so... ugh," she said distastefully. "They're streaming the whole thing worldwide, too."

Realization slowly crept up on me. I set the jar of instant coffee down on the counter.

Oh, my god. That's what I fucking did last night.

"Huh," I said, biting my lip to keep myself from laughing out loud.

Amelie sighed. "You could at least pretend to be interested in current events. I swear, we could be at war and you wouldn't even know it."

"I actually knew about the Matching," I said pointedly.

"Bravo, Bella. The one thing going on in the world you actually know about," she said, shaking her head.

"Yeah, well, I kind of also signed up for it," I said, turning to face her.

Amelie whirled around on her spinny chair and stared at me in disbelief, genuine concern written in her eyes. "Please tell me you're joking."

"Well, I was drunk, and-"

"OH, MY GOD, BELLA. WHAT IF YOU ACTUALLY GOT SELECTED?"

I chuckled. "Well, my life would certainly get more interesting than it is here."