Going For the Win (A Selection Fanfiction)

Chapter 1

The crackling sound of my curling iron erupted in my ears as I sprayed the newly produced curl with hairspray. I usually stick with my natural straight hair with some waves in it, but my mother forced me to "step up my game". She sent a letter saying that I was being too "plain", and that Prince Aidan won't be looking for that. Wait... Let me start from the beginning. It all started when...

The Report flickered on my TV screen as I sat on my pure white couch in my living room. My little sister, Fiona, my twin brother, Scott, my older sister, Annabelle, my mom, and my dad were all gathered around watching intensely. Calvin Wood popped up on the screen as the Report began. "Hello everyone, I am Calvin Wood as you know." He winked. My mom laughed at the slight joke he made. He always tried to do that on the show, but it never got anyone to laugh, except for my mom who doesn't have the greatest sense of humor. My dad rolled his eyes at her snickering. I glanced back at the screen and soaked in all the latest news on what was happening in Illea. The thing was I wasn't interested in all the idiotic ideas he talks about. The report consists of really boring material that no teenager like me would focus on. That's when some interesting words came out of Calvin's mouth for once. "Ladies ages 16-20 are able to enter the Selection to win over our very own Prince Aidan's heart. You can sign up for the Selection by going to your City Hall to get a form. You also need to get a picture taken of you by the photographer there. 35 girls will be picked out of the thousands that sign up, 1 from each province and one of them will be chosen by Aidan to be his wife and Illea's next princess."

I dove into my own fantasy land and dreamed of marrying Prince Aidan. Ever since I was Fiona's age, I had the biggest crush on him. His deep, emerald green eyes light up my world with his dirty blonde hair that flops to the left. I've always adored how he never tries to look like a prince, and just an average teenager like every other kid out in Illea.

"Annabelle did u hear that?" My mother shrieked. I zoned back into reality and noticed that the TV was turned off. Annabelle jolted her head toward mom. Her auburn hair bounced as her curls fluttered in every direction. 

"What?" She questioned.

"You can be the next princess of Illea, then queen!" My mom smirked and was waving her arms around. Her giddiness made Fiona giggle.

"What about Cassidy?" Scott mentioned.

"What about her?" Mom answered. She faced me and looked disgusted and unpleased. All my life I was Annabelle's servant. I felt like a Seven even though I'm a Two.

Annabelle gets all the attention from mom since she is naturally pretty and Fiona is little and always in the spot light for being "daddy's little angel". In real life though, she's the devil. Scott is the only guy in the house most of the time since my dad is usually out finding an acting role. He learned to be independent. When I was only 8 years old, I bought everything for myself and walked everywhere I needed to go. Fiona is 12 and she doesn't do that yet. That's how much my mom was focused on everyone else. Scott does get attention since he is the only boy, but I'm just the middle girl, so no big whoop about me.

"She can also enter the Selection too, right?" Scott said. He smiled at me. I nodded, appreciating the respect I got from him. We became best friends over the years of not getting attention. We both were going to be professional athletes. I was going to go for basketball and him for soccer. Its not like my other siblings didn't give me respect, they always did. Fiona liked to play dolls with me because I always thought of good plots for them to do next since I am very imaginative. Annabelle likes to have another girl to talk to and get advice from. The thing is my mom makes me do everything for Annabelle. Sometimes Annabelle will say she can do it herself, but when she does and mom sees she says, "Cass! Why are you letting your sister do this? You know she can't be tired for her photo shoot tomorrow!" That's how my life is in my house.

"I guess she can." My mom replied. She pushed her brown hair back over her shoulder. Her hair looked amber at some angles and got blonde in the summer like mine. People think we look alike, but we both hate being compared to each other. We have the same hair and nose and that's all. I get most of my looks from my dad's mom, who I like to visit in Clermont.

"Yeah I think she'll do great." Annabelle said encouragingly. "Prince Aidan will love her." I started to feel positive about signing up, but once I had a grin on my face, my mom replied,

"Yeah if he likes pale skin and lots of freckles." I glared at her and I was so angry I could feel my stormy blue eyes bulging out of my head.

"Yeah, well, maybe he does mom! How would you know? Oh yeah, how can I forget! You were in your Selection when you were 17. Really, how can I forget? You only tell the story a million times! Well guess what mom? You were the first eliminated! And you don't know Prince Aidan! Maybe he'll like me, maybe he won't, we'll just have to see, won't we?" I was so frustrated with all the disrespect I got from her. I just couldn't take it any more. I saw Fiona cuddled up in my dad's arms. I forgot she hated when people screamed. I hated that also. I hated everything and everyone that second. Looking around the room, everyone was speechless. My mom just sat there on the edge of the couch. She looked like she was still processing everything I said. I didn't know what to do but to stampede off to my room. When I got inside, I locked the door and sat on my bed and cried and cried and blew my nose and cried.