Another Selected (Book 1 of Selection fanfics)

Chapter 13

I woke up the next morning to light streaming in the windows. Beth was humming while she dusted the vanity, while Elisa and Cora scrubbed the already spotless bathroom. I must have woken up early, since they weren't rushing to get me out of the bed. Finally, after a few more minutes, I dragged myself out of the covers and let my maids bathe and dress me. It was still odd having these girls clean and dress me, but there really seemed to be no other option.

After they deemed me presentable, I headed downstairs to breakfast. The seats beside Liana were taken, so I was forced to sit across from Teegan and Audrey. They both sent me glares, but before they could say anything, they were interrupted by the king who was blessing our food.

After his blessing, I turned my attention to the food, ignoring the chatter of the girls around me. I was too focused on the food that I didn't notice I'd been asked a question.

"Huh?" I said, looking up from my pancakes after feeling a tap on my shoulder.

"Sorry. We were just asking each other about our families." Sage said from beside me.

"Oh. Well, um, what do you want to know?" I replied, not sure what exactly they wanted me to say.

She shrugged. "Where you live, what you all do, anything. I'm from Hansport, my parents are engineers, but I'm planning on going to school for science. I'm an only child. Stuff like that."

I swallowed my food, and looked around at the girls waiting for me to speak. "Well, my family owns a farm in Kent. I have two older brothers, and two sisters. And, well...that's pretty much it."

"How old are your siblings?" Cleo asked after a few minutes.

"Aidan and Kaleb are twenty-one, Annika is nineteen, and Amber is fourteen." I replied quickly.

Teegan's eyes lit up from across the table. "What're your older brothers like?"

I turned to look at her. "Well, they're like me I guess. Farm boys."

"Do they have girlfriends?" She asked eagerly.

I choked a little on my food. Wasn't she here to fight for the princes heart, not the selected's older brothers?

"Well, Aidan's been in love with some girl for as long as I can remember. And I don't think Kaleb is looking for a girlfriend at the moment." I said, trying not to glare at her.

She shrugged and grinned. "You never know. If you make it to the elite, your family should be able to visit you-maybe you could introduce us."

I snorted under my breath, before standing up quickly. "I think my maids needed me for something. Excuse me." I lied before curtsying to the royal family and leaving the room.

Lord, that girl was intolerable. We had only been here a few days and I already wished that she was gone. If I couldn't handle her for this long, I surely wouldn't be able to handle her for another week, if I was even still here.

"Erika! Wait up!" A voice wheezed from behind me.

I turned and saw Liana rushing up to me, panting for breath.

"Jeez, you're fast. Where are you going anyways? I look at something else for one second, and the next your walking out of the room." She asked as she walked over to me.

"To my room. I needed to get away from Teegan." I frowned.

She laughed. "What'd she do?"

"We were all talking about our families, and when I mentioned my brothers she said I should introduce her to them. Like she's not already competing for the princes heart." I rolled my eyes.

She looked at me for a moment before bursting into laughter. "You really haven't spent much time with other girls, have you?"

"No, not really." I blushed.

She chuckled. "That explains it. Well, girls are flirts. And girls like Teegan will try to sink their claws into any boy they find. No matter what."

I grimaced. "Really?"

"Really." She nodded. "They'll do whatever they want if it means having a boy on their arm."

"It sounds like you have a lot of experience with girls like her." I raised an eyebrow as I opened the door to my room.

"I went to a public school. Of course I have experience; how do you not?." She said quickly, flopping down on one of the seats.

I sat down in the seat beside her. "My parents homeschooled us. I spent all my time with my family, and if we ever went out, it was to visit extended family or family friends."

"So you're all hermits then?" She smirked at me as she slumped back in her chair.

I rolled my eyes. "We're not all hermits. We go into town. Sometimes."

She raised an eyebrow. "Sometimes?"

I groaned. "Fine. Only my brother and sister really ever leave often. There's just nothing to do in town, and you can only take a horse so far."

It was true; the town we lived by really was in the middle of nowhere. Besides the necessary grocery store, clothing stores, random convenience shops, and other necessities, there was nothing. A few bars, none of which I would go into anyways, were scattered around, which were the main places people my age liked to go to. Other than that, everything was surrounded by various farms and fields, and a few abandoned factories. If you really wanted to go somewhere far, you'd have to go by car, or a horse in my case.

Liana frowned. "That's awful. What the heck are you supposed to do for fun?"

I snorted. "If you're like me, and actually do all your chores, then there's no time for fun."

"Then how do your sister and brother go out if they have all that work?" She raised an eyebrow.

I shrugged. "Annika and I would always do our chores together. I'd end up covering Annika's work too if she went out."

Liana sat up. "Are you two, like, best friends or something? My sister and I hated each other before she got married."

"We used to be." I sighed. "Before I got picked for this competition."

"Ah. Let me guess. She got jealous since she thought she was the better sister, and didn't talk to you after your name was announced?" She looked at me.

"Bingo." I sighed. "I wanted a chance to come to the palace and meet the prince, but I didn't want to lose my sister in the process."

"Yeesh. Imagine if you marry Derek. She will hate you." Liana chuckled.

I glared at her. "Not helping."

She blushed. "Sorry. But she's an idiot for hating you because you were the one that got selected."

"Tell me about it." I sat up. "She's my sister though. She'll get over it eventually, right?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. My sisters married and still hates my guts."

I groaned. "Your really not helping."

"Sorry." She shrugged again. "I'm just being honest."

"I don't want honesty. I want you to tell me that it'll all be okay." I looked at her.

She grinned and stood up. "Sorry Er, but I can't do that. Now stop moping. We have a princess to go see."    __________________________
I am so so so sorry guys. It has been forever since I updated and I am sincerely sorry. I've had huge writers block, and I still have it. Updates are gonna be slow, and the chapters probably won't be very good for a while :(. I'm really sorry again guys, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter.