Selected

Sixth

Halston dragged me all over the sector. Which I didn't mind as much because she pointed out the important buildings as we passed them.

The part I didn't like however, was the actual shopping. We went into multiple clothing stores. In each one she made me try on a dozen different outfits, with a dozen pairs of shoes all while saying they all looked stunning and I must buy them.

When I told her I didn't have any money she simply tilted her golden head back and let out a melody of laughter and handed the clerk a plastic card. I didn't really know what I should and shouldn't get, so whatever Hal threw into the pile, we bought. I felt more like a mannequin than an actual person.

After lunch, where I barely touched the blue dish that was served to me, we went décor shopping. This included another round of Hal gushing over items and insisting that I buy them. I just smiled and shrugged at everything, which she took to mean 'I love it too'.

We didn't carry anything out of any store, Hal said to just ship them to the house. I guess the clerks new which house she meant by that. On the way back I leaned my head against the tinted glass window of the car and closed my eyes. I was exhausted. And I should be. In that moment I realized I hadn't slept in two days, I had been attacked, I had been transported from my home to this foreign place, and I had to run all over the largest sector in the country. It had been a hectic two days.

As soon as I felt myself drift off to sleep, I was suddenly awakened by Hal. "Come on, Emmary, we must go look at your new room. Dorien should have it all set up by now. She's fabulous, and said she'd have a field day with the things we bought. You're room is going to look absolutely darling."

She hastily walked up the steps to the house through the door and up the stairs toward my room. She was all excitement and no brakes. She stopped in front of my door, "Do you want to open it, or should I?"

"If you really want to you can open it."

She shook her head, "No no. I couldn't. You open it, it's your room."

I smiled at Hal and turned the knob. As soon as I did, she rushed in. She gushed about how great the drapes matched the bedspread and how they both tied into the rug. "It's marvelous. We did an excellent job."

"You more than me."

She threw the pillow back on the bed and squealed, "I almost forgot about all the clothes!" She opened the closet door to unveil rows and rows of clothing. Most of which I would probably never wear. "You have to let me borrow your clothes."

I smiled, "Of course. They aren't really mine. You bought them."

Hal grinned, "and Father paid for them. Remember, you are now and forever more a Bly. What is ours is yours. Father's money is now your money." She gave me a tight hug, "You are now one of the most richest girls in the world. You are living in the lap of luxury until the day you die."

One of the richest girls in the world? How rich was the Bly family? "Um, Hal?"

She pulled a dress out of the closet and held it up to her in the mirror. "Yeah?"

"What does your father do for a living?"

She hung the dress back up and picked up another and nonchalantly answered me, "He's the Selector."

My eyes bugged out of my head, "Your father is Lincoln Bly?" I figured they were related, but distantly. I had just thought that Vox's father was a political figure or a judge, something important, but not Selector important.

Hal put the dress back and walked over, "Yeah, his great grandfather invented Selection. The position has just been handed down through the generations. Father's in charge of making sure the right people get matched up. He deals with a lot of alleles and DNA and whatever else. Addeck was supposed to take over, but well that didn't go the way Father planned."