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

Chapter Five- Laurel

Three days passed before I knew it. I packed all the things I think I'll need, although I'm not exactly sure what will already be there. Will they provide a toothbrush? Pajamas? I just packed all of the essentials, just to be safe. In the end, I ended up with a medium sized suitcase. Then, there was a knock at the door which I was almost positive was Mr. Preston. I opened the door with my suitcase in hand, preparing to leave the house. Instead, Brooke and Sloane were at the door. They smiled as I opened it. "I wasn't expecting you guys!" I exclaimed.

"We couldn't let you leave without saying goodbye first," Brooke said.

"You didn't really think that we wouldn't come, did you?" Sloane asked.

"Of course not, guys! I just thought Mr. Preston was coming to pick me up, that's all," I said with a smile, and hugged them. "I'll miss you guys so much!"

So now Mr. Preston decided to show up. He coughed behind us and we broke apart. "Time to go," he told me. I went inside and hugged my mom, my dad, and Blair once last time before giving Brooke and Sloane a nervous smile and following Mr. Preston to the limo waiting for me in the driveway.

Inside the limo, there were already two girls. One had light brown wavy hair and was looking out the window, and the other one had platinum blonde hair- who I assumed was Winter Young, judging from the picture from the show last Friday- was checking her nails. I slowly sat down next to the one with brown hair.

"Hi," I said in a small voice.

She turned around and smiled at me. "Hi! I'm Alexandra, a four from Waverly."

"My name's Laurel, and I'm a three from Angeles," I replied nervously.

Winter glanced at up from across the aisle but otherwise paid us no attention. "And that's Winter," Alexandra explained, "She's a little picky in her taste for friends." Winter glared at Alexandra, but didn't say anything. I nodded slowly, not wanting to provoke her.

The limo started. "Boy am I nervous," I laughed, "I can't believe we're going to the palace."

"I know right! I never thought in a billion years that I would get Selected."

And that was the start of a new friendship.

We got there after about an hour of talking, and Winter re-applying makeup over and over again. I smoothed my black dress and adjusted the flower in my hair-the official flower of Angeles-before getting out of the limo and onto the runway.

I wasn't a model, unlike Winter, so I stood there for a few seconds before attempting to do a "cool" walk down the runway like I saw on TV. There were signs everywhere supporting Winter. I spotted a few supporting me and Alexandra. I high fived some people in the crowd and smiled. Alexandra does the same beside me. Winter, however, only blows kisses, smiles, and waves.

When the runway came to an end, I wasn't sure if I wanted more, or if I was glad to get off of it. Alexandra smiled next to me. We were now in a room where all the Selected girls were already getting their hair, makeup, and other things done. One girl was getting her red hair dyed blonde. It was a terrible color on her. I gulped, suddenly afraid of what they might do to me. When I found my seat, a young lady was already waiting for me there. "Laurel Hale, right?" I nodded.

She patted the seat and I sat down. "Let's start with some makeup," she said, and took out a blush brush and started applying the blush on my cheek. Then, she took out some rose-colored lipstick, mascara, and eye shadow. Next, she painted my nails an elegant gold. Lastly, she curled my hair just a little bit. "There we go," she took a deep breath, "That's much, much better." I wasn't sure whether to take that offensive or not.

She led me to a rack with dresses on it. I was allowed to pick three; one for the morning, one for the afternoon, and one for the evening. For the morning, I picked a light blue trumpet dress, a light purple tea dress for my afternoon one, and another light greenish-blue ball gown for my evening one. She pinned my name on two of them and handed me my evening one to go change into. I took it excitely and hurried to a dressing room.

In the mirror, I felt my curled hair and stared at my face. The light blue dress perfectly complimented my strawberry blonde hair. I smiled and I felt beautiful for the first time in a while. I stepped out of the dressing room and felt everyone's eyes on me. I blushed. "You look gorgeous!" My makeup person exclaimed.

When everyone was done with their makeup and clothes, we were shown our rooms. Mine was next to Alexandra's (yes!), Bliss's, Quinn's, and Hope's. The room was just about as big as my living room, kitchen, and dining room combined. There was a huge king-size plush bed in the middle of it, a desk off to the side, a huge closet, an empty shelf, and a couch. Three maids were busy cleaning the desk when I coughed to get their attention. They gasped in surprise.

"Oh hello! You must be Laurel," one said. I nodded.

"She's Rachel, I'm Annie, and the other one is Christine," Annie told me. She was a short woman with a brown ponytail somewhere in her 30s.

Rachel and Christine smiled and introduced themselves as well.

"The prince is expecting all of the Selected girls to meet him for dinner," Christine explained, "We'll let you know when."

I nodded and smiled, while the three maids hurried to help me unpack my stuff and prepare me for my first dinner with the royal family.