The Elite ✓

thirteen | the pleasure was all mine

"Politeness forbids any display of resentment. The polished surface throws back the arrow."

illéan royal etiquette booklet

*

Nothing had ever really struck me until the day I met Esteban. It was as if I saw the palace in a whole new light.

I had been thinking so needlessly about my present that there was really no time to think about the future. If I had to look back at the journey I've witnessed since entering the ever-grandé lifestyle I could say that there was nothing I'd done to be proud of.

This is what I had done: overreacted and flustered.

In palace terms, I had entered the competition to 'win' the Prince's heart and become the new Princess. What I had actually done was move around him, fooling around with his brother then proceeded to ultimately realize, after quite literally falling on top of him, that I did really like Lucas after all. Then, as if that wasn't enough, I had become the Palace outcast. I had separated myself from the girls, everyone. Simply because of what? Denise leaving? Denise wasn't gone forever. Leaving the palace didn't mean I'd never see her again.

And upon the realization of what I had managed to morph into, attitude mimicking an almost irate Two I found myself stumbling upon a hunt for the other girls. It was time to branch out from solitary confinement. Honestly, it really wasn't that hard. Mia was most likely around the artistic paintings in the palace corridor and Genevieve was probably wandering outside. Emmett and Sarah spent their days chattering in the theatre. Besides our very own prank day, we never really bonded like the girls in previous selections.

"Holly, hey." Genevieve's voice snaps me out of my trance. I was passing by when she waved me over.

We're at the pond, watching the newly added fishes plunge through the surface to have their meal, and it only occurs to me that Genevieve is the one feeding them. "Oh, hi." I laugh soundly at the tiny, but sneaky, fish. My eyes don't meet hers. "I haven't been outside in a while." I begin to look around watching something I thought I knew to turn into something I didn't.

"It's changed a lot, hasn't it. It feels like it only yesterday when they blocked off the entire garden." she smiles, twirling in oblivion. The fountain was retouched with a new coat of beige, and an entire flowerbed was planted with dandelions instead of marigolds. The beautiful petite tree ferns had also managed to grow an inch since I had last seen it.

We shared a giggle before it turned into fits of uncompromisable laughter as made our way into the palace. Genevieve still had with her, the tub of fish food, and it attracted some unneeded attention. "God, we've got to hide this," She laughed.

I purse my lips, "Yes. Hello, hello? This is Agent Fishfood reporting for duty." I pretend to look around placing my back against the wall and turning both ways, "All clear." We're still pretending to be in a James Bond movie, so she grabs my hand and pushes away from an 'explosion'. I roll on the carpet when I'm pushed out of the way and feel the adrenaline coursing through my bones. I'm smiling in satisfaction, and she joins me on the ground shortly thereafter. "Agent Fishfood with the fish food is still intact."

Mia pokes her head from the gallery at the despicable noise we've been making only to find us lying on the floor, "Oh, this is going to be good." She sits across us and tilts the container towards herself to peak at its contents only for her face to crumple at the stench.

Genevieve and I collapse in laughter when Mia's puzzled expression turns comical, the default awkward smile. We both collapse in laughter, but only she is able to make it back up. I'm glued to the ground in pain. My head doesn't just tip back to touch the ground, it smacks straight into it. The other girls don't notice because everything happens too quickly, even for me to register what's happened. But when I find myself unable to see, I know something is wrong.