The Reign

Chapter 10

Hey Readers!!! Just wanted to remind you that if you love this story, and want to keep reading, remember to vote my chapters (Each and Every One!!). Hope you love how my story is turning out! I am going to reveal a lot about certain Selected this chapter so don't forget to comment on your favorite Selected soon, because next chapter... FIRST ELIMINATION!!! I am super excited and hope you are too. After that, we can begin getting to know the characters better!!!

Disclaimer: Even though I am writing this story as it takes place after the Heir and the Crown, I TOTALLY ship Maxerica and LOVE that generation way more than any other. 

Love you all, readers!!! And now, without further adieu... Chapter 10!

Jacen pulled himself out of bed on his second day of torture... AKA forced dating. The dates with the two ladies yesterday went well enough, but Kimberly tried to grab Jacen's hand during the movie and made him uncomfortable (less with the hand-holding, more with her forwardness on the first date), and Lacey was overly enthusiastic about taking pictures of weeds. OMG I just realized what I did! Eikko/Eadlyn says in The Crown, "Some see a weed, others see a flower. Perspective." Lacey had also tried to get pictures of them together, and had Jacen practically grab her butt. She then took a few minutes, in front of him, to adjust her boobs and smooth out her dress. She then proceeded to smooch his cheek all while trying to take a selfie with a camera.

Jacen looked at his list, then, without fully realizing what he was doing, crossed out both Kimberly's and Lacey's names. He thought about how one girl tried subtly to get him to touch her, and the other practically forced herself onto him. He hated being forced into a situation like that, with them touching him, but would rather that then the girls hating him. 

So when Jacen walked out of his bedroom and down the stairs leading into the Great Hall, he had to stop himself from groaning when an excited Josephine wrapped herself like an eel around Jacen's arm and said in a loud and obnoxious voice, "I got your message about a date! Where are we going? What are we doing? Is it a surprise? I'm so excited! See you later!!!"  She let out a squeal then went over to rejoin her friends, gushing about Jacen in her overly loud voice. 

After breakfast, Jacen took Josephine up to the roof, all enthusiastic and talkative, but when she asked Jacen what they were doing, and he said to look at the view, she plopped down on the roof, crossed her arms, and began to pout. Jacen mentally crossed her name off the list. 

After lunch, Jacen slipped Amberly a note, and when she read it, she looked at him, her blue eyes full of excitement, barely containing a smile on her face. She asked when and where, and when Jacen said in her room after dinner, she said thank you and walked away without so much as a trace of the smile on her face, containing it so her friends wouldn't know her secret. 

Jacen smiled. She was definitely staying. By her reaction alone, he had showed her everything he needed to know about her before the first elimination. 

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After Jacen walked Amberly to her room, he took the long way back to his room, pondering the date. It went well enough, but something felt off to Jacen. They danced and talked and ate desert, but Jacen felt as if Amberly was holding something back from him. He pushed the thought out of his head, and walked back to his room, leaving Amberly's name untouched. 

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The walk in the gardens with Carlee was very peaceful and Jacen found himself enjoying her company. His movie with Emmalina was rather odd, because she plopped herself down in the back row when she came in, but only moved when Jacen insisted that the front had better views. They picked out a movie and watched it, pausing briefly in the middle to put away their popcorn bowls and stretch their legs a bit. When the movie was over, Jacen walked Emmalina to her room, then said good night. Two names remained untouched on Jacen's list. 

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The dates with Nikki and Kelly were fun, and Jacen found himself enjoying them. The walk in the Garden with Nikki was peaceful, and dessert with Kelly tasted good. So, as Jacen saw fit, he left their names as is on his list, and counted how many dates were left. He had 8 dates left meaning 4 more days until the day of the elimination. He already had 3 crossed out and 5 not. Tomorrow Jacen had a walk in the garden with Jenna and dessert with Malia. Piece of cake. He put aside his paper, turned out the light, and fell asleep, peacefully thinking about things he liked, and putting distance between sleep and awake. 

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The dates with Jenna and Malia were not something Jacen would like to relive. Jenna was over-excited, and she threw herself at Jacen when he wasn't looking, which knocked him into a pillar, which caused a piece of stone the size of a baseball to come down and hit Jacen's leg, thus ending the date. Jacen was able to put weight on his leg by the time his date with Malia came around, and when he picked her up, he was surprised that she wasn't ready. She had on a bathrobe and was getting ready slowly. She pushed him into the hall and spent 10 minutes finishing getting ready. She then walked slowly behind him on the way to their date, rather than next to him, and when they entered the room, she plopped down in a seat, grabbed more than half of the desserts, ate them all, and then ate some of Jacen's plate even though he didn't offer any. Both girls were definite no's and two more names were crossed out.

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The roof visit with Janessa went similarly to how it went with Josephine. In other words, her name was crossed off before the date even ended. Taking Christine to the library was fun for her because she loved books, and for him because he liked watching her run around picking things up and flipping through them. After the date, her name stayed on the list. 

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The movie with Emily was not good because she made them sit through a cheesy romance movie and there were more times on the screen when the two main characters were attached at the hip than when they were not. Jacen knew her name would be crossed out because she cried for no reason and she wouldn't sit next to him as if his presence was revolting. On top of all that, she had on way to much perfume, and smelled as if she was smoking. Dessert with Jayla was uneventful with nothing of note, and Jacen felt like that was enough to keep her safe.

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"Final Day. Last two dates." Jacen repeated this to himself as he walked to Hayley's room to pick her up. Today's schedule was a bit different for him, as he and Hayley were going to a fashion show. They would drive 30 minutes to the show, watch the first half, have lunch, then see the second half. If all went well, they would be back by dinner, and then Jacen would take Celeste out for a visit on the roof. Jacen felt good about the final day, and felt strongly sure about the fact that both girls would be safe. He got to Hayley's door, repeated his mental encouragement to himself one more time, squared his soldiers, and knocked. 

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As Jacen had predicted, the day went wonderfully. He looked at the list as a whole, noting whose names had been crossed out, and whose hadn't. Names that have been crossed out are in bold.

Kimberly

Lacey

Josephine

Amberly

Carlee

Emmalina

Nicki

Kelly

Jenna

Malia

Janessa

Christine

Emily

Jayla

Hayley

Celeste

Jacen realized he had some work to do, things that needed to be changed on his list, so he made his finalizations, and then went to bed.