Chosen

Chapter Nine

     Hey guys! Sorry for the late update! School started and everything, you know...  Updates will vary, but I'll make sure to update, no worries. Hope you enjoy it!  Please make sure to vote and comment, I would love some feedback!

                                        Arabella's POV
     I walk to the dining room with Marley, still shocked that Prince Adrian is the boy from the diner.  It's amazing. He didn't act any different than before, which I'm happy about. He's exactly as I remember him.
     "What do you think he's saying to those girls that stayed behind?" Marley asks, looking worried.
     "I don't know.  Maybe they're being sent home." Marley smiles hopefully. 
     "I wouldn't be surprised, Jessica and her friends are in there."  I laugh. Jessica had been throwing herself at Adrian the whole time they were talking and he looked extremely uncomfortable. It makes sense.
     Marley laughs and we enter the dining room. Everyone falls silent when we see King John, Queen Hadley, and Princess Evalyn all smiling at us. 
     "Welcome ladies, please come and sit down, enjoy your breakfast."  King John says, kindly. I smile, he seems really nice.  Queen Hadley looks so much prettier in person.  I'd only seen her in pictures and occasionally on tv, whenever I'd be able to actually watch tv without my father yelling at me. And Princess Evalyn is so cute.  She's 13 and looks so sweet, smiling happily at us.
     "Good morning ladies, it's so nice to have you all here.  I'm so excited to get to know all of you.  It's so exciting to know that my future daughter is in this room." Some of the girls sigh dreamily when she says that. I smile, thinking about Adrian.
     "Hi! It's so nice to meet you! It'll be fun having a few girls to hang out with! Adrian is no fun! He never wants to hang out with me!" Princess Evalyn exclaims, making everyone laugh.
     "Now that's not true. I just don't want to play dolls or dress up with you." Adrian walks in and goes to the Royal table, patting his father on the back, kissing his mothers cheek, and ruffling his sisters hair, then sits down.  I chose the end seat of the table, which also happens to be right next to the table Adrian is at.
     Adrian looks over at me and smiles sweetly.  My heart skips a beat.  Am I starting to fall for Adrian? I know I like him as a friend, but is it starting to turn into something more? I smile back and turn to the food that was just placed in front of me.  My mouth waters at the sight of it.  Perfectly cooked, fluffy pancakes with whipped cream on top of it, with a red cherry, is the main meal. Next comes bacon, eggs, and a bowl of fruit.  It was amazing, I'd never had something so delicious.
     After the plates are cleared, I realize something, none of the girls that Adrian talked to came back. I was right, they were sent home.
     The King and Queen tell us that we are allowed to do whatever we want for the rest of the day. I walk back to my room, saying hello to the girls cleaning and go out to the balcony. I open the doors, breathing in the fresh air, and walk out. The view is amazing. I can see the gardens perfectly, the woods outside the gates, and I can faintly see a lake in the distance. It's beautiful.
     "Hey Ariel, am I allowed to go out to the gardens?" I call into the room. I want to go see it.
     "Um, I think so! You just can't be out for long. Be back here before lunch." She yells back. I smile, walking inside and going to the door. 
     "Ok! I'll be back by lunch. Bye!" I call, opening the door and walking out. 
     I get lost a couple times on my way to the front doors, but I finally get there and walk out. I breath in the fresh air and smile. I wander for a while before finding a beautiful pond with a bench. I sit down and take it all in. I can't believe I'm at the castle and that Adrian is the boy from the diner. It's so much to take in.
     "Arabella?" I'm jolted from my thoughts when Adrian comes into view.
     "Hey Adrian." I say, smiling.  He smiles back.
     "Hey, what are you doing out here?" He sits down next to me. 
     "I just thought it was so beautiful. And I wanted a place to think. So I came out here. What are you doing?" He smiles.
     "Same as you. I've always loved the gardens.  This is where I come to think. " Am I invading his space? I start to stand up. 
     "Am in invading your space? I can go, I don't want to bother you." He laughs, grabbing my hand and pulling me back to the bench. 
     "No, it's ok. I want you to stay. You can come here anytime you want. It can be our place." He smiles sweetly. My heart skips a beat and my breath catches in my throat. How can he be so sweet all the time?
     "Thank you." I smile back and look back at the pond. We sit in comfortable silence for a couple minutes.
     "So why did you enter the Selection? It seemed like you had a pretty good life at home." If only he knew the whole story...
     "You don't know the whole story.  I wanted to get away, start a new life, and I could have the chance at finding love." I blush, not wanting to say more, but it just came out of me. "You make it much more real."  I can't believe I actually said it. My cheeks flush red and I look down at my hands, away from Adrian. I feel his hand cup my chin, pulling my head up so that I look at him. He smiles sweetly, I smile back.
     "I feel exactly the same way about it." He smiles more, but then frowns. "What do you mean I don't know the whole story? What story is there?" I take a deep breath. I can't relive those memories yet.
     "That's a story for another day. So what are we doing for our date this week?"  I change the subject quickly and I think he knows but goes along with it.
     "I was thinking we'd spend the day at the lake. I'd bring a picnic and we could just have fun, relax.  How does that sound?" I smile.
     "That sounds perfect. When are you going?" He thinks for a minute.
     "How about tomorrow?" I nod. 
     "Perfect. I can't wait." I turn to him and find closer than I thought he would be. Our faces are inches apart. His eyes travel my face, finally landing on my lips. He leans closer, our lips barely an inch apart. He's going to kiss me. I lean in closer.  He moves forward and our lips are about to touch--
     "Your majesty? Are you out here?" We spring apart, surprised at the new voice. Disappointment fills me, we were so close to kissing. Adrian clears his throat.
     "Yes, I'm back here." He looks at me, he looks as disappointed as I am.
     "It seems that Lady Arabella has gone miss-" He comes into view and looks at me, surprised. "Oh, she's with you. We've been looking everywhere for you.  Your maids reported that you'd gone missing. Almost the entire castle has been looking for you."  I furrow my eyebrows. 
     "I told my maids that I'd be in the garden and that I'd be back by lunch." The guard raises his eyebrow. 
     "Lunch was an hour ago, miss." My eyes widen. I've been out here for that long!  "I told your maids that I'd bring you back as soon as I found you. Come along, miss." He gently grabs my wrist and pulls me up. I look back at Adrian as I leave. He looks so sad, so disappointed. I smile, sadly.  I don't want to go. He smiles back and that's the last I see of him before I'm pulled back to the castle.
     I walk into my room and meet the worried eyes of my maids.
     "I'm so sorry! I lost track of time! I was with Adrian and we were in the gardens, talking. I'm so sorry!" They all get up  and run to me, encircling me in a hug.
     "It's ok. We're just happy that you're safe." I hug them back. Ariel pulls back and looks at me curiously. "Wait, did you say that you were with the Prince? And did you just call I'm Adrian?" My cheeks flush.  I was calling him Adrian.
     "Um, yeah. I was in the gardens and we ran into each other and just started talking.  That's how I lost track of time."  Ariel smiles knowingly at me.  My cheeks flush even more. But no says anything more about it, thankfully.
     "Let's get you ready for dinner now. You must be starving." As if on cue, my stomach rumbles loudly.  We all laugh and they start getting me ready. They put me in an elegant, floor length, royal blue dress and curl my hair so that it falls in gentle waves down my back. They freshen my makeup, fix the foundation on my cheek, reapply mascara and eyeliner, and add another layer of lipstick.
     "Thanks! See you after dinner!" I wave and walk out the door. I make my way down the stairs and to the dining room. I'm proud that I didn't get lost on the way down. 
     "Ara? Why aren't you still in your room? I was just on my way to come get you." I hear Luke's voice behind me and turn, smiling.
     "Hey Luke, I don't need an escort everywhere I go. I can get around just fine on my own." I keep my voice light and carefree, hiding the annoyance trying to leak out.
     "It's my job. Trust me, I know you can find your way around. But the King wants everyone to have two guards and one must always be with them, unless you are with the royal family or the prince." He explains. I nod my head in understanding. It makes sense. The rebel attacks have gotten more frequent in the last year. They'd definitely want to keep the Selected girls protected.
     "Ok, that makes sense. Well, you can escort me to the dining room if it'd make you feel better."  I say, laughing. Luke laughs.
     "It would make me feel better, at least it's something I've done somewhat right." He laughs, but I frown at that.
     "What do you mean? You're great at your job. Definitely better than that other guy. He creeps me out." I mumble at the end, but he seemed to hear me. 
     "Cal? Yeah, he creeps me out too. I don't like the way he looks at you. I could talk to the prince and get a different guard, if you would like." I nod, gratefully.
     "Yes, that would be great. Thank you so much" We come to a stop in front of the dining room doors.
     "I'll get right on that, then. If I'm lucky I'll catch him before he comes to dinner. Have a nice dinner.  See you later."  He smiles and walks away.
     I walk in and find a seat next to Marley.
     "Where were you? I was starting to think you'd died."  I laugh at her dramatics.
     "I was in the gardens, I lost track of time." I don't tell her that I was with Adrian, I want to keep that to myself, close to my heart.
     Dinner passes quickly, with Adrian and I sneaking glances at each other every once in a while, and before I know it, Luke is escorting me back to my room.
     "I talked to Adrian. He's gonna get you a new guard soon." He tells me as we get to my room.
     "Thank you so much, Luke. I really owe you." I smile and say goodnight, walking into my room and closing the door.  Ariel, Jackie, and Ariana get me ready for bed and I climb into my bed, closing my eyes, smiling at the fact that my date with Adrian is tomorrow.
     I wake up, fully energized and excited for my date. Ariel helps me into a cute, black bikini with a bright blue bow on it and matching bottoms. She gives me a black day dress to wear over it. She puts my hair into a cute ponytail and covers my cheek with foundation.
     A knock on the door signals that Adrian is here. I smile and go to answer the door. He smiles brightly at when when I open it.
     "Ready to go?" I nod and turn to say goodbye and see Ariel handing me a bag with towels, sunscreen, lotion and all the things I need for the lake. I thank her and say goodbye, then turn and leave with Adrian.
     It takes about 10 minutes to get to the lake, and it's beautiful. The water is clear and warm, the beach is soft and warm as well. It's perfect.
     "Do you like it?"Adrian asks, watching my face as I look at the lake.
     "It's beautiful. Thank you for bring me here. It's perfect." He smiles, relieved that I like it. How could I not? It's absolutely perfect. I turn back to Adrian to see him setting a blanket down for us to sit on and setting a basket down on top of it.  I smile, he really did bring a picnic.
     I sit down and smile at him. He unloads the basket. He brought chicken sandwhiches, a container of fruit, rolls, a variety of sweet tarts, and sparkling water. It looks delicious.
     "This looks amazing. Thank you." I smile at him. He smiles back and hands me a plate filled with one of everything. He makes himself a plate and we start eating, talking about random things.
     "So by the time they caught me, I had already moved every tool they needed so that they couldn't find it." I laugh, loudly, unable to help myself. His childhood was hilarous.
     "You were such a funny kid, weren't you?" I say, still laughing. He laughs with me, nodding.
     "I'm sure they hated me until I was 16." We laugh again and then fall into a comfortable silence. We had talked about his childhood and our hobbies and what we like to do.  We've been here for about two hours and I'm having the best time. Adrian turns to me. 
     "Let's go swimming." I nod and he stands up, taking his shirt off. I'm sure my jaw dropped to the ground. He's perfect. His chiseled abs seem to glisten in the sun. I stop myself from staring and stand up as well, peeling off the dress, revealing my bikini. I had turned away from him when I did this, when I turned back to him, he stares at me, unabashedly, spending more time at my legs, then slowly making his way up. My face is flushed bright red by the time he meets my eyes. He smiles at me and I start to walk to the lake, but he stops me.
     "We aren't going in that way. We are going in from there." He points to a cliff that's at least 30 feet high.  My jaw drops.
     "What?" I say, staring at the cliff.
     "What, are you scared?" He taunts, smiling. My eyes narrow playfully and I scoff.
     "No, I'm not scared.  Let's go." I start walking towards the cliff. I look back to see him smiling at me, something in his eyes, but I don't know what it is. I wink at him, smiling, and he starts to walk after me. It takes about five minutes to get to the top. We go to the edge and look down, it's a lot scarier from up here. But I'm not backing out. I take a deep breath and step back.
     "Who's going first?" Adrian asks from behind me.  I turn to look at him.
     "I will." I say, smiling. He chuckles and I laugh. I back up a few steps to get a running start and go, I run and jump off the edge, laughing on my way down. I land in the water and push myself up. I catch my breath and wipe the water off my face, laughing. I look up to see Adrian standing at the edge of the cliff.
     "Are you coming?" I yell up to him. He laughs and backs out of view, only to come speeding back a few seconds later, canon balling off the edge. I laugh as he comes speeding down, landing in the water a few feet away from me. He surfaces and swims closer to me. He smiles, but frowns deeply when he gets closer to me. I frown, confused until he asks.
     "What happened to your cheek?"
                                  ~Adrian's POV~
Her eyes go wide at my question, fear filling them. It hurts me to see that, but I need to know what happened to her.
     "I-I-" she stutters, "I was walking back to my room and tripped, hitting my cheek against a table. It left a bruise, but I'm fine, it doesn't hurt anymore." She says quickly. She's lying, I can tell. Something happened, but she doesn't want to tell me. I swim closer to her, so close that our chests brush together when one of us breathes. I cup her cheek, running my thumb over the bruise. She shivers at the contact, I want to kiss her so bad. I lean closer, so that our lips are barely an inch apart, she looks up at me, breathing deeply. I can't tell if it's from the jump, or from how close we are to each other. I lean down and softly brush my lips against hers, then more firmly. It's like fireworks are going off in between us. Her lips are so soft as they move against mine. I pull back a few minutes later, panting. She's breathing heavily too and I can see her smiling. I smile, happy, she makes me so happy. I look at her, taking in all her beauty and my eyes land on the bruise. I need to know what happened. I'm going to find out what happened. 
                       ~End of Chapter~
Hope you like it! Please vote and comment! I would love some feedback! Again, sorry for the late update, I'll try to update as soon as possible. Love ya!