Royal (A Selection Fan Fiction) (Book One in my Selection Series)

Chapter 24

And so we did. After breakfast the next morning (which I didn't attend) the girls rushed up to their rooms to get primped.

I looked horrible, but that's nothing my maids couldn't fix. They decided to just leave my hair straight and braid a few pieces back.

After they were done with my makeup, which only included simple eyeliner and red lipstick.

When they unzipped the dress bag I wasn't surprised. The top was a shiny black with the sleeves off my shoulders, holding tight to my arms all the way to my wrists. The bottom, which was unattached, was full of red flowers.

"It's beautiful." I sigh. "But you already knew I'd say that didn't you?" My maids chuckled and hurriedly rushed me into it.

The heels  they have me weren't tall but had a few straps across the top of my foot and buckled in the back. Rae met me outside our doors where we met the rest of the Selected at the front of the castle.

I hadn't noticed there were so many that were sent home until I looked at them all. There couldn't have been many more than fifteen?

"do you see her dress?" Rae hisses in my ear. She was wearing a beautiful ball gown that had different shades of blue silk streaming through the bottom.

I knew who she wasn't talking about immediately. I turned and I could see Catastrophe in front of a camera bending over, her breasts practically falling out of her dress. I roll my eyes and look around, noticing I barely have even talked to any of the girls here. I barely had any friends here.

"How soon until this starts?" I ask. Almost as if on cue Alex walks down the stairs in a neat black suit with a black tie.

"Sorry for the inconvenience, ladies." He tells us. "Let's go ahead and get this started."

He wasted no time. As he walked through the crowd of us gathered at the door and exchanged a few words with guards, he was walking out with two guards tight at his shoulders.

The king and queen walked out with their other children and soon after guards pulled each of us out one by one and we walked into a line outside.

When a guard motioned Rae- who was in front of me- out the door I held my breathe. What type of people would be here? Probably more cameras than I could imagine. But then I was out there. And it was so much more. People screamed at all of us and my eyes widened.

I exchange a glance with Rae who stands beside of me and she looks much more calm than I must.

All of the other girls look like this is just the usual for them. I mimic them and wave with a nervous smile.

A girl is pulled up beside of me who shares a look of fear. Is her name Melanie? She doesn't look at me so I just turn back to the flashes and screams from people.

"May I have everyone's attention?" Alex says. Of course everyone stops what they're doing. Immediately and look at Alex. "I knew how much you all wanted to meet these ladies and learn more about them so here is your chance."

I look around at the people who hold up signs with names. I see a few with Catastrophe but there are tons with Raelle printed across them. I could barely even find two with my own.

"I won't waste any time and announce them. If you could please stay quiet without any applause until the end." Alex says over a speaker.

"First is Lady Katherine." Katherine obviously wasn't prepared and just looked around cluelessly. "Just step up a little." Alex says.

Her face flushes pink as she steps forward. She curtsies and steps back swiftly. One by one a few more girls go then it's Catastrophes turn.

"Lady Catastrophe." Alex says. She steps forward and curtsies like she did for the camera letting anything the dress was keeping in spill out.

"Lady Melanie." The names weren't in any sort of order but at random. Maybe in alphabetical but I didn't know these girls last names.

"Lady Charlie." My eyes widen but I step forward. I curtsy but not very deep. I hurry backward to my spot and look away from where Alex stands.

He doesn't say anything afterward. He was standing behind the line of girls but looked up from his paper.

It was fast like lightning– no faster. Rae fell like in a movie but only a millisecond later did I here the gunshot.

"Rae!" Guards were faster then me. They grabbed every girl and dragged them backward but most girls didn't need help running away.

I was so close to her when I felt arms around me.

"Get off!" I scream.

"Let her go!" I didn't recognize the voice. "We need to get you back in."

I wasn't strong enough. My bones felt like air and I didn't even have any muscles.

"Rae!" She wasn't moving other than a small twitch in her leg. "Rae!"

Every time I screamed she just got farther. I realized it was Alex pulled me backward with a guard doing the same to him.

"Let me go!" I cry. I turn back to Rae and her eyes are open. She's looking at me and she isn't even dead. "Rae.."

"Charlie..." I think that's what she whispered over the noise but I'd never get to know. I was dragged into the castle.