Laurel and the Selection (Laurel's Selection #1)

Chapter Two- Christian

        The forms were piling in by the hour. Every hour, more and more applications were delivered to us, sorted by province, then caste. All the forms from Angeles, the province where I live, were delivered first since it was the closet to the palace. My mother, Queen America, stood next to me, looking distressed. It made sense, because she and my father, King Maxon, were in the middle of getting rid of the caste system, and everything was in chaos. There were rebels, still, who strongly supported the caste system- mostly twos- and tried to break into the palace. The latest attack was just a week ago. 

        "Well, Christian, you'd better start looking through these forms and seeing which girl you want to select," my mother told me with a sigh. Then, in a lower voice, she added, "You know who for Angeles."

        It was all part of the plan to keep her safe, and reveal her power when she was needed the most. Afterall, that was the only reason there was a Selection this year. I didn't know much about her- just that she was born in secret and given to trusted people from the palace to raise in Angeles as a three- but I knew enough to know where to look. I looked in the threes pile and started looking through the forms. Once I found her, I stamped a big green sign that said: Selected.

        An hour later, the forms from Clermont and Belcourt came. There wasn't nearly as many from those two as there were from Angeles, but I was glad. I looked through the twos, threes, fours, and fives before deciding on an intelligent enough, and a pretty enough two from Clermont named Winter. Her name fit her body. Her eyes were a striking crystal blue and her hair was close to platinum blonde. Her teeth were perfectly straight and white, and her smile was dazzling. From Belcourt, I picked another two who could speak French, English, and Italian, and had deep chocolate brown hair, named Quinn.  Those two would be the crowd favorites for sure. 

        Over the course of the next few days, the forms from the rest of the provinces came. All the names of the selected were a blur. Before, I knew it, it was Friday already. I stood in front of the mirror, smoothing my suit and checking for any wrinkles. I combing my hair once more. It was time to start the show.

        I was nervous. I sat up as straight as I could in my stiff chair, making sure not to wrinkle my suit. Gavril Fadaye, the annoucer, started annoucing the names of the selected. I was sure to clap after each one and look impressed.