A Previous Selection

Chapter One

"Wren."

I look up from the dirty dishes and find my mother with an excited look on her face. Not like it's a surprise. She always seems to be excited. I look back down and continue to scrub the dishes.

"What is it, Mom?" I ask.

"Guess what came in the mail today?!" 

"What?"

"It's a form! For the Selection!" she exclaims, and I roll my eyes. How can she get so excited over that?

"That's great, Mom. But why do we need it?"

"Well, we need it because without it, you wouldn't be able to enter the Selection."

"And why do I need to enter the Selection?" I ask.

"Now, Wren," she says, and the tone of her voice makes me look up. "You know that we don't have a lot of money. Sometimes it's hard to put food on the table. You know that this money could really help us."

It's true. Our family almost never has enough money to get everything we need. We're Fives, so of course we're artists and musicians. Yes, we do play at parties and sell paintings and earn a good amount of money from that, but when you're a family of nine, that money doesn't go very far.

"I know, Mom," I say, snapping myself out of my thoughts before they take me too far. "I just don't know about actually entering the Selection itself. I mean, there's more to it than the money and the food and the glam. It's a competition. There is no telling what a girl would do if she wanted to win."

"Well, honey," she replies and lightly touches my arm. "Can you at least take some time to think about it?"

"Of course," I reply.

"Now. Get out of the kitchen. I have a dinner to make."

I quickly grab the form from her outstretched hand and walk to my room. I sit down on my incredibly small bed, put my back to the wall, and look over the form. Just as I'm about to crumple it up, my bedroom door busts open. I quickly look up to see Airabella, my older sister, and Logynn, my younger sister, entering the room.

"Do you guys always have to enter like that? You know how jumpy I am," I tell them.

"Yes. We do," Logynn says. "You know how I love to make a big entrance."

"Yeah. Well, can you make a big entrance somewhere else? I'm kind of busy."

"What? Are you busy sulking in your own thoughts again?" she teases, and my face instantly falls. That's one of my biggest weak spots.

"That's enough, Logynn," Airabella says, ending the argument before it has even started. "Wren is obviously busy with something important. So what is it?" She points to the form that is still in my hand while sitting down on her own bed.

"This is a form for the Selection. Mom wants me to enter, so we can have a chance at getting the money."

"Oh my gosh!" Logynn squeals. "You should totally enter the Selection! You would get to meet the prince, and who knows? You could even fall in love!" She flops down on her bed, which is between mine and Airabella's, and sighs.

"Logynn. Can you butt out of my business? I don't want to have to deal with you too right now," I say. She huffs and stands up.

"Why do you always have to ruin my mood? You're such a buzz kill."

"Just go watch the twins until dinner and keep them outside. Mom doesn't need to deal with them while she's cooking," Airabella tells her.

"Fine." She grudgingly stalks out of the room, and Airabella turns to me.