Long Live the Queen

|Take 007|

Jessie moved his face towards mine. I held my breathe as my eyes got bigger at the idea of kissing him. I didn't even like him, but he was right there and every other thought in my head was gone except one: I wanted to feel his lips against mine.

---FIVE DAYS EARLIER--

June 22

I was peacefully sleeping when a loud rustling woke me up. My head shot up to see Sadie blow drying her hair.

"I am so sorry for waking you up. Brooklynn has all the outlets in the bathroom occupied. Did I wake you up?" A look of complete guilt was written on her face.

"Yeah, but that's fine. What time is it?" My orientation was out of whack. I rubbed my eyes as they adjusted to the open blinds.

"Like eighty-thirty. Breakfast starts at nine o'clock. I wasn't sure if you wanted to be woken up or what exactly, so I just let you sleep."

I climbed out of bed and headed to the bathroom,"You're good, Sadie."

Brooklynn was in the bathroom only in a pair of black lacy lingerie. She was straightening her curly hair. "Morning, Sunshine."

I nodded in acknowledgment and turned to face the mirror. "Do you straighten your hair everyday?" I knew it a dumb question once it left my lips.

"No. Sometimes I leave it curly." she responded.

We stood there in awkward silence as she continued to straighten her hair, and I brushed my teeth.

"I'm really not a complete bitch all the time."

I almost choked on my toothbrush. "I know." I was just hoping what she said was true.

"Good. I just don't tolerate BS." The awkward silence continued.

After Brooklynn finished straightening her hair, I hopped into the shower. Once I had put on a shirt and khaki shorts, I combed my hair and headed downstairs for breakfast.

There was a single long table parallel to a wide glass window overlooking an area of grass and farther down a sandy beach with waves. Sitting in the far left seats were Jessie and Matthew. We said our 'good morning's,and I took a seat beside them with me sitting at the head.

While everyone else chatted, I gazed around the room: from how there were fingerprint stains on the glass window to Jessie's skinny jeans with a slightly frayed hem to Matthew's cherry Chapstick lips chewing mint gum and finally to Sadie's cute American Apparel strappy sandals. Brooklynn was talking to Matthew about something she felt passionate about. And sitting on the other end of the group was Carter. I didn't know when he had arrived, but I smiled at him when we made eye contact.

At 9:05, the head chef entered the room with a bright crooked smile and said,"Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Today's meal consists of made-to-order eggs, sausage biscuits, buttermilk pancakes, and a variety of cereals."

We all stood up with faces of pleasure awaiting to indulge ourselves with delicious food buffet style. I was the first one in line to order my scrambled eggs with peppers and spinach, a small stack of buttermilk pancakes, half of a sausage biscuit, and a tall glass of apple juice. I returned to my seat and began eating away as everyone returned with plates piled high with syrup and pancakes. No one talked once their forks were in their hands; we were too busy eating. The silence was comfortable apart from the occasional sound of clinking silverware or grunts of satisfaction.

Midway through the meal, Melissa showed up holding a steamy cup of coffee in one hand and a stack of papers in another. Her muddy brown hair with bleach blonde highlights was in a tight alligator clip and her face was in manager mode."Okay, breakfast ends in thirty minutes. Afterwards, ladies go to hair and makeup out back and men please meet with Ryan and Jeremy, the male leader, in the main living room for instructions on the shoot later today. Meet back in the upstairs lobby between the two wings at 1:30 to go over the last minute details for the segment."

Without even giving time for anyone to ask any questions, Melissa was out the door rattling off instructions and demands into her headset.

"What are the introductions anyway?" Sadie asked after pushing her empty plate away.

"I overheard Ryan talking about it with some guy. It's when all the participants actually meet each other. I also heard something about a game and a pairing or something like that." Jessie said matter-of-factly.

Brooklynn, Sadie and I walked outside after finishing breakfast. We talked about how we were going to go about the bathroom arrangements.

"I wake up pretty early, so I'll just make sure I'm done by eight am. Is that cool with you two? Brooklynn stated. We all agreed.

Outside in the back of the house, vanity mirrors and makeup stands and salon chairs were neatly littered on the concrete patch. Standing ready to work were seven makeup specialists and hair stylists, blow dryer and kabuki brush armed.

Already sitting in one of the chairs, having the finishing touches of her makeup done, was a mysterious girl. Most likely the last girl. Once her first layer of makeup was done, she stood up and straightened out her camera-ready hair and makeup. She still hadn't noticed the three of us standing there as she stared at herself in the mirror. Mystery Girl was younger, no doubt. She was petite with curly red hair and had the signature look of insecurity and nervousness that every underclassmen had. It wasn't until she was done analyzing her face that she noticed the three of us standing there.

"Oh, hi! I'm Leah." She looked at Brooklynn then Sadie, and when she laid eyes on me, I swear she turned three shades redder. "Do you know where the dining hall is? I just got here this morning because I had a ballet recital last night, so I haven't even eaten breakfast."

Sadie pointed in the general direction of the hall, "I guess we'll see you later."

"She seems. . nice." Brooklynn said dryly, taking a seat by a stylist.

"I can tell she's young. I guess the show needed someone to represent innocence. Every show has a girl who is the sweet young one and a feisty one. I looked it up." Sadie looked at Brooklyn.

She raised an eyebrow at Sadie, "Did you just call me feisty?"

I let out a small laugh as Sadie looked like she could've been swallowed right then and there. ". . .Yes."

"I prefer spunky." Brooklynn said winking and smiling at Sadie.

"Oh okay. I thought you were pissed off." she said.

"Why? It's like calling an orange orange. Don't be offended by people stating what you are. Rule number 51 of being bad ass."

"Noted. I also read some other stuff about how reality shows work. When they say the interviews were for picking who were the best, they actually had already picked people that they knew would be perfect for the roles--" Sadie continued talking.

I silently listened to Sadie as long fingernails guiding me to one of the sinks and began massaging my scalp with tingling shampoo.

*

*

Two hours later with a dolled up face and a curly ponytail, I snuck away from the set up and decided to take a walk on the trail entering the woods. I hated wearing so much unnecessary makeup. It reminded me of Melody every morning scolding me for not putting on enough mascara or some other nonsense. I rolled my eyes just thinking about it.

I had been walking for close to half an hour, totally in my own world, when someone grabbed my waist and whispered into my ear. "Hey there."

I screamed in fear. Quickly spinning around and allowing my self defense moves to take over, I punched him square in the nose. I didn't even have time to get a good look at his face as I jogged the two miles back to the woods opening.Thanks to the three years of running at Brentwood, I wasn't out of breath or panting.

All of my makeup was still intact, so no one noticed anything off when I returned to the concrete set up. I ripped my clothes off the rack and rushed inside to the girl's room.

My heart was pounding and the only thing I knew for sure was that I had no idea what I had gotten myself into.

I am so very sorry for the long wait, I have been so busy with the ACT, Midterms, and just general Christmas-y stuff. I hope this chapter makes up for it. And because it has been so long, I will update again tomorow, so stay tuned for that. Thank you so much for reading and feel free to comment and like. :)