Ever After . . .

Chapter 17

~America~

I pull a large box out of my closet. Flipping on the lamp as I do so.

I set the box between Marissa and Lucas, I sit behind both of them. Taking a deep breath I open the box. Sitting there is everything containing Maxon and the Selection.

"I'll start from the beginning. When I was seventeen Prince Maxon was holding a Selection. You both should know what it is. Thirty five girls are drawn and are taken to the palace where they complete for the Prince's heart. I was the one from Carolina," I start.

I empty the box. Pictures and papers fly out of it, and all over the bed. Shuffling through it, I find a few things from the beginning of the Selection. Some photos, and what not. "I didn't want to be apart of it. But near the end of it I was happy that I was. I was a five before then. It's where I get my musical abilities. As a five I was the lowest in the Selection. I wasn't really wanted there. It wasn't until I met Prince Maxon that I decided to stay." I found my name tag that I somehow still had.

I handed it to them and they looked at it. "I met Prince Maxon early. I went into the gardens because I felt like I was suffocating. He was the one who opened the doors to let me out. We weren't supposed to meet until the next day. From there it grew. I continued to get into trouble, but Maxon was there next to me. About halfway through the Selection my ex boyfriend shows up as a guard. The entire time he was there he tried to get me to drop out of the Selection. But I refused."

I pulled out more magazine clippings, and photos Maxon gave me. They both looked at them. "Maxon and I became friends, because I didn't want to win. But the farther we got into the Selection the more my feeling for him increased. We even had a secret code for when we wanted to talk without anybody finding out. It was our thing. Then as the Selection went on more photos of Maxon and I appeared, and the more the people wanted me to win. Finally at the end of the Selection Maxon had a decision. At that time my father had died. I had to leave the palace to come back home to say goodbye."

"Is that why you didn't win? Because grandpa died?" Lucas asked me.

"No. Maxon wanted me in the Selection. I left Carolina about a day early. But not before my family found out about my ex boyfriend. I left and went back to the palace. It was down to Kriss and me. Maxon came in private and told me that he had picked me. I was overjoyed. I was so happy. The next day everything went wrong. He saw me talking to my ex, and took it the wrong way. Right in front of me he proposed to Kriss. I was heartbroken. Then he really did pick Kriss. I hadn't talked to him since."

I finish my story, and Marissa looks at me. "Is that it?" She asks me.

"There is much I left out. Rebel attacks, sneaking out of the palace. Getting shot. There's much I won't tell you because it'll take too long to explain. But that's pretty much it."

"What does you being in the Selection do with the man?"

"That's where it gets complicated. Maxon and his family, as you know, came to Carolina for a few days. Maxon has been reaching out to me the last few days-"

"You were with Prince Maxon?" Marissa practically yelled.

"Shh. Don't yell."

"Wait you were?" Lucas asked.

I sigh. "Yes. You can't tell anyone about this. No one can know about this. Not one person. Not even our family can know about this."

"Our lips are sealed," Marissa said.

"Good. Now go back to bed. We'll talk more in the morning."

They stand and leave the room without fighting. I close the door behind them. Slowly making my way back to my bed I look at all of the photos and clippings of Maxon and I. Out of nowhere I begin to cry. All of this was too much for me to handle.

With tears running down my face I gather everything on the bed back into the box. Shoving the box back in the closet I turn off the lamp and go to bed. I hug my pillow, and silently cry until I fall asleep.