Break My Heart a Thousand Times (The Selection Series Story)

Chapter III: A Slight Change in Fate

Chapter Three

After a minute of just looking around at the paintings in the grand hallway, I became bored. With nothing else better to do, my curiosity took hold of my attention span. I wandered into a room and slowly opened the door. I was shocked.

There it was. A gorgeous white piano lay in the middle of the room, practically begging to be played.

I glanced around the hallway to make sure no one would see me and rat me out. Swiftly, I hurried in, and closed the door and sat at the piano, taking in my new discovery. I hesitated at first, only because I hadn't played for years. Music was supposed to be from the past, but I was heading to the future... I shook those thoughts away with a smile. This piano was begging to be played.

Lightly, I placed my hands in position and loosened my wrists, relaxed my shoulders, and took a deep breath. My fingers skipped along the keys, producing a sweet melody from the piano. The flow of the music filled the once quiet room and instantly lifted my mood.

Before I knew it, my whole body was under the spell of music. My fingers kept on playing and a smile appeared on my face.

I was so concentrated on the sound of my music, I didn't notice the door open. There stood a familiar face. A similar face I saw on the television. Only that face didn't stick long enough to let me get a good look at it.

I lifted my hands off of the piano and shifted my body in the direction of the door.

I heard something from in the hall. I stood up and headed slowly towards it, cautiously peering outside.
"You play well," A random voice commented. It was a female's voice, and she sounded quite friendly. I looked around quickly to see another lady, leaning on her back against the wall, her arms crossed, smiling at me. "Thank you..." I smiled and then hesitated. "Have I seen you before?" I asked. "You look familiar..." I mumbled.

"Like someone well-known, right?" She responded. It seemed like she got this remark often.

I gasped, finally realizing who she looked like.

"Gavril Fadaye!" I exclaimed, placing a hand over my mouth keeping myself from screaming. She chuckled softly, nodding. She looked sleepy.
"I'm his niece, Valleree Fadaye. Pleased to meet---" She stammered, stopping in mid-sentence.

My mouth was hanging open, and my eyes were probably as big as the moon. My mom used to gush over Gavril every week on the Report, and I was just happy enough to meet his niece, much less Gavril himself. Realizing I was being rude, I snapped my mouth shut, and lowered my hand. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me," I said sheepishly. "But I've never met anyone famous before."

Valleree shrugged, giving me small smile. "I'm used to it," she said nonchalantly. "And if you haven't met any other famous people, you probably will soon. You live in the Palace, after all..." She looked me up and down, inspecting my maid's outfit. "I assume you're new?"

I nodded, smiling, but trying to straighten myself. Valleree frowned, and for a minute I thought she was going to get upset or critique me.

Instead, her face turned concerned. "Why are you alone? Aren't you supposed to be getting the tour?"

"I saw most of it," I explained, pleasantly surprised that she cared. "But Chels-" I paused. Did Valleree know the Head Maid's name? "The Head Maid had to go help with something... a dress, I think."

Valleree winced. "Ooh, yeah, I heard about that dress. Red wine got on a white one, right?"

I shrugged. "I don't know the details, Miss." I assumed we were supposed to address everyone above us as Miss or Sir, but I wasn't sure.