The Choosing

Chapter 16//: Elimination

[E D I T E D]

♕✿~♕✿~Chapter 16//: Elimination♕✿~♕✿~

On Monday morning, my maids come into my room early in the morning, waking me up for breakfast. I feel tired, but still happy and on cloud nine after Friday. I still couldn't believe it. Did that kiss mean something? Or was I just making a big deal out of it for no reason?

With a small smile on my face, I walk down to the dining hall, wearing a plain white dress that ends below my knees paired with some white flats. Walking into the grand room, I see some of the seats filled, as more girls come behind me to sit down for breakfast.

Ahren and his family are there, and he catches my eye and winks at me, causing my face to heat up immediately in embarrassment. A wave from the corner of my eyes makes me turn away from Ahren, and I sigh in relief as I rush over to where Rose is sitting.

"Rose! You are officially my savior," I exclaim dramatically as Rose giggles.

"Yeah, I try," she says sheepishly.

Soon, all of the girls are seated at their usual seats, and we are all eating our breakfast: pecan waffles, with gooey maple syrup, a nice bowl of fruit, and refreshing orange juice. I wolf it all down; I have not seen so much food for breakfast in my lifetime.

Rose rolls her eyes at me playfully as I stare at her pointedly while eating more of the delicious waffles. Rose, drinking her orange juice, laughs into her cup, making her cough excessively as she chokes on the juice.

I laugh as I pat her back, encouraging her to just keep coughing. Some of the other girls are glaring at us, and I see Alexis rolling her eyes at us. What, is having fun not acceptable for a lady now?

Rose smacks me lightly on the shoulders. "What the hell! I was choking for real there!" She exclaims. A smile breaks my face. "Hey, what are best friends for? I just allowed you to laugh there," I tell her, smirking. She rolls her eyes at me as she leans in to whisper to me.

"You have high moods today. Did something happen on Friday with you and Ahren?" Rose asks me, playfully waggling her eyebrows. Although she tries to hide it, I can see the hurt flash in her eyes. I immediately felt guilty. It looked like Rose had a genuine liking towards Ahren, and I felt bad for allowing him to kiss me even if it was on the cheek.

"I guess?" I tell her vaguely, not wanting to hurt her further. Rose shoots me a questioning look, but doesn't push for more as she sits back in her chair, going back to politely eating her breakfast.

Once all of the girls are mostly done with their breakfast, we all get ready to leave for Lessons. I still have to wear a dress, which annoys me, but whatever. Ahren suddenly stands up, his chair scraping against the marbled tile of the hall. The girls immediately stop in their tracks, turning to look at Ahren with either respect or longing.

"Will Belle, Ingred, Kiera, Sierra, Erica, and Bianca stay here for a minute? The rest of you can proceed to your lessons," Ahren says. I look on curiously as Belle, with a confident smirk, leaves Rose and I to go to Ahren with the other girls whose names were called. I feel a presence come next to me, and I glance behind me to see Addaline. She has a frown on her face, pity in her eyes, as she stares after Belle.

"What is it?" I ask Addaline curiously. She snaps her eyes away from Belle to look at me. "Isn't the elimination today?" She asks me as we walk out of the dining hall. My eyes widened as I remembered Ahren telling us that today would be the first official elimination.

"You're right," I murmur. I look behind me to see Belle's bouncy brown hair before the dining hall closes, blocking her from me. "Do you think Belle will be eliminated?" I ask Addaline as Rose catches up to us.

"What's happening?" She asks.

"We think Belle and the others are being eliminated," Addaline explains our conversation to Rose. Rose's blue eyes widen as she hears this.

"Oh no!" She purses her lips. "I honestly feel bad for her...and the others."

Addaline and I nod in agreement. We round a corner that leads to the Lesson room, while the Silver girls turn another way to go to the training room. As I turn the corner, I spot familiar blond hair and green eyes, and I smile as I wave my hand at him.

"Nick!" I say in greeting as Nick looks to me and smiles. He walks over to us, and I notice Rose is frozen in her spot.

"Madi!" Nick greets as he hugs me, surprising me. I gasp as he squeezes me, taking away any air in my lungs. "Nick...You're freaking crushing me," I say with gritted teeth. Nick chuckles as he pulls away. He looks at Addaline and Rose, still flashing his bright smile.

"And I'm guessing you ladies must be Addaline and Rose," he says to them. They both nod and I notice them both staring at Nick curiously.

"So....Nick, right?" Rose asks, shyly smiling up at him. He nods. "Are you a palace guard?" She asks him, gesturing at his uniform. He smirks, nodding again.

"Yup. 2nd year actually. Since I turned 19 last year, I was able to start patrolling. Honestly gets boring a bit. I would much rather be a part of the King's personal guards." Nick shrugs as he looks around.

"Well, I'm guessing you all have to go to Lessons, so I will leave you guys to be." Nick starts to walk away, waving at me with finality. I smile as I wave back, walking towards the lessons room.

Besides me, Rose squeals. "Madison! How did you meet someone like that? He's so cute, and he has such a fun personality and--" Rose sighs dreamily as I roll my eyes at her.

"Rose, you just met him!" I exclaim as we walk into the Lessons room, finding Caroline waiting for us, an impatient look on her face as she waits for us to sit down at the desks set around her. We were practicing dinner talk today, and how we should converse like a lady while we ate.

"Time doesn't matter in love, silly Madi. Don't you believe in love at first sight?" Rose tells me in a teasing voice.

A certain person pops in my mind, but I push him away from my mind as I shake my head at Rose.

"Whatever you say, Rose."

♕✿~♕✿~♕✿~♕✿~♕✿~

Hope you enjoyed this chapter guys! Also, thank you for 700+ reads! <3 Luv you all

Please don't forget to vote, comment feedback, and/or recommend this chapter if you enjoyed it!

I also edited Chapter 4, so re-read that chapter because I added some things in! (Not too much change though, don't worry ;)

Until the next update!

Glass_Sword