A Second Chance I DISCONTINUED

Moving On

Hey guys! Hope you like the story so far! Here's chapter 3! Everything belongs to Kiera Cass!

America POV

When I wake up I hear hushed voices from the hallway. I quickly realize that they are talking about me.

"I'm worried about America", Mom says, her voice filled with concern. "We all are Mom. Don't worry though, America's one of the strongest people I know. She'll get through this", Kenna replies soothingly. "You're right. She probably just needs time to recover", Mom says, but I can tell that she still isn't completely reassured. I strain to hear the rest of the conversation but their voices carry away, floating down the hall.

I feel guilty because I know that I am the cause of their concern. I wanted to get out of bed and help them do something, but I didn't know how. I was just so lost. I still loved Maxon but I hated him for breaking my heart. My mind was chaos,but my heart was even more confused.

The way he had looked when I was being carried away haunted my memories. His pained expression was so contrasting to the cold, distant one he had worn for the majority of the ceremony. Part of me still clung to the hope that he still loved me and was hurt that he was causing me this pain, but I knew that it was foolish to think that. He had made his decision, and whether he liked it or not, he was going to have to live with it. And so was I.

Suddenly I'm flooded with memories from The Selection- our first kiss, our second kiss, the Halloween ball, the safe room, the roof, the Convicting, the night before the Choosing. It all came back to me. The one that killed me the most was the night before.

I had told him I loved him that night. Throughout the whole Selection I had been afraid to confess my feelings, to put myself out in the open like that. But I had trusted him. And he had trusted me. We were going to get married and one move had ruined that. I want to cry but my eyes stay dry. So instead I lie back down on the bed, reliving my time with Maxon, the only piece of him I have left.

I must have drifted off because an hour later I wake up with a start to a knock on the door. The person doesn't even bother to let me respond before bursting through the door. When I see who it is I can't help but smile. It was Celeste. We may have had our rough patches but we were truly friends now. When Celeste sees my appearance she frowns.

"What in hell do you think you're doing America?" she questions me. "You're never going to get another guy looking like that!" Her utter confidence that I would find another man made me grin. No matter how sad you were, you could never stay that way with Celeste in the room. She walks toward me and studies my appearance, muttering under her breath. "Well you've looked better, but it's fixable."

Suddenly there is another knock on the door. Celeste calls for them to come in, and when I see the people walking through the door my grin grows even wider. It's my maids! "Anne, Lucy, Mary!" I cry, reaching out my hands toward them. "My lady!" they scream, running over to me. All of us, even proper Anne, fall on top of each other, laughing and crying. Celeste stands off to the side, watching us with an amused expression. I beckon for her to come and join us. She shakes her head slightly. "This little reunion is cute and all, but if we're going to get America ready by tonight we are going to have to start moving."

My maids quickly pull themselves away and rush into the bathroom getting things ready. "Tonight?" I ask suspiciously. "What's happening tonight?" "Your date of course!" she says, as if this was obvious. Celeste continues before I can object. "You're going. Maxon made his choice. And you can't sit here moping about it forever. Don't worry, I checked the guy's background, you guys would be perfect together!"

When she finishes she looks at me expectantly. I want to argue but I know Celeste will win anyway. Better not to waste my breath. Plus, Celeste is right. I can't live the rest of my life hiding in my room. This might also appease my family's worries.

"Ok", I say. "I'll do it." Celeste squeals excitedly. "I knew you'd do it!" she exclaims. I raise my eyebrows but don't object.

Suddenly I am surrounded by my maids and carted off into the bathroom. The pampering that follows is pleasant and reminds me of my days back at the palace. The thought makes me sad, but I shake it off. Maxon may have broken my heart but I wasn't going to let him ruin my life. All too soon my maids are done. When I look in the mirror, I'm shocked at the results. My maids truly did work miracles. They had somehow tamed my wild, unruly hair that hadn't been washed in days, concealed the circles under my eyes, and had restored my natural glow. I looked like myself again.

I threw my arms around them and thanked them over and over again. Abruptly I am pulled away by Celeste. "Time to go!" she announces. All of a sudden I am nervous. This was basically like a blind date. I didn't know the guy at all, only what Celeste had told me about him, which wasn't much. I take a deep breath to calm myself. America, you're worrying for no reason. I'm sure he'll be great. I nod brightly and manage to put what I hoped was a genuine smile on my face.

I walk into the hallway and am immediately greeted by my family. "America honey you look beautiful!" my mom compliments and I smile gratefully. "Are you ready for your date?" May asks eagerly. I pull back, shocked. "You knew about this!" I screeched. May looks sheepish. "Um..yes. We all did." I whip around to look at the rest of the family. They all wear expressions similar to May's.

"Then why did you keep it from me?" I ask. "Well you've always been extremely headstrong", Mom explains. 'We knew that if we told you, you would immediately reject the idea. So we thought it would be best to let someone we knew you couldn't refuse do the asking", she says, indicating Celeste. "We were worried about you America", Gerad pipes in. "We were just trying to help." Well there was no way I could argue to that. They were just helping me because they loved me, how could I be mad about that?

I nod, hoping they could see the understanding and gratefulness in my eyes. "Thank you very much", I say.

Celeste clears her throat and points to her watch, tapping her foot impatiently. "Oh!" I exclaim. "I'm going to be late." My family surrounds me and gives me a quick hug. They wish me good luck and I walk out the door. Maybe I could find someone who I loved as much as I loved Maxon. I just needed to look.

Maxon POV

I'm in my room staring at the pictures on my wall when my mother comes in. I smile and gesture for her to sit on the bed next to me. She perches on the edge of the bed daintily. "You weren't there to help with the wedding planning", she comments. "I know. I'm sorry, I just caught up with some work. God I hate lying.

"Mmm-hmm", my mother says, clearly seeing through my façade. "Well I learned something through my Selection. Anything is possible, as long as you want it hard enough. I'm sure if you had wanted to help with the wedding plans you could have certainly made time for it." I sighed, my mother knew me better than I know myself.

"Maxon", she says gently. "Love can be difficult. I can see that you like Kriss well enough, but you aren't in love with her." I swear, sometimes it's like my mother could read my mind. "That's true", I admit. "Then why do you continue on like this Maxon. I understand if you lie to me, but why do you lie to yourself. We both know who you truly love." She pauses, wanting me to say it. "America", I finally say, so quietly that she has to strain to hear it. And that one word lifts a huge burden off my shoulders. Ever since the Choosing Ceremony I had been hiding who I truly loved, and it was a relief to finally share it with someone else. And the fact that that someone else was my mother made it even better.

"Maxon if you truly love her, then you will fix this. Sometimes you have to be separated from someone to truly realize how much you love them." The way she puts my feelings into words is creepy, but I'm thankful that she's saying it instead of me.

I remember when America went back to Carolina for her father's funeral. Those three days were pure torture. I kept going to her room, wanting to talk to her, laugh with her, kiss her. And the situation now was infinitely worse. Because I knew that she wasn't coming back. At that moment I made a decision. I would make America my wife, no matter how hard it would be. "Thank you Mom. I know what I have to do now. But I need your help." She nods, looking intrigued. Then I begin to explain my plan.

So that's it for chapter 3! Hope you guys liked it! Next chapter will be the blind date! I'm super excited!