BAD MEDICINE - ☆ᵖᵉᵗᵉʳ ᵖᵃʳᵏᵉʳ☆

the selection au (part 1)

summary: selection au!! if you haven't read the books, the firstborn son of the royal family must choose between (i think) 21 girls to be his bride.

warnings: none in this part, but there's angst and most likely swearing in future parts

word count: 1228

a/n: in the selection series, there are castes. the royal family is caste 1, wealthy families are twos, and it goes until seven, being peasants. your family is fives. also, let's say peter's parents (mary & richard) are still alive cause it works better with this.

Y/F/F= your favorite flower. mine is coast rhododendron hee hee

and i oop this might be like 25462814506109856 parts eek

i tried to use uncommon names in this so if i used your name i'm sorry

requests are open!

"Coral DeAmo from Blackheart, caste two." Your family is gathered around your television, watching the news. The current program is announcing the girls that got accepted into the selection to be Prince Peter Parker's future wife and queen. You entered because your mom and sister insisted you at least try to get in.

"Tris Lockhart from Martinez, caste four." Your younger sister, Aspen, is biting her nails and bouncing her leg up and down anxiously. You smile a bit, realizing that she's more nervous than you.

"Y/N L/N from Vilanzo, caste five." The reporter announces. You don't hear any names after that, the cheers and cries of your family are way louder than the television.

"Y/N, this is your chance to make us caste threes!" Aspen exclaims. "If you marry Prince Peter, it brings our caste up!"

"Y/N, pack your stuff. You need to go to the castle before five." Your mom orders as she checks her watch and pushes you upstairs to your room.

About two hours later, you walk out your front door and are surprised by a sleek black car waiting for you outside. A man in a black suit affirms that you're Y/N L/N and tells you to get in the car because he's taking you to the palace. You hug everyone goodbye and the driver starts to take off. You watch the townhouses go by in a blur. Your neighborhood consists of fives, sixes, and sevens, so the houses are really worn-down. As you get farther away, the houses begin to look nicer, which is shocking because you have never been out of your low-caste town.

-<>-<>-

You arrive at the palace at about five o'clock in the afternoon and get escorted to your room. The queen-sized bed had white sheets, there's a desk in the corner that's also white, the bookshelf and closet are the same color, making the whole room look really clean and aesthetically pleasing. The bathroom has marble counters, a large shower, and bathtub, and has accents of gold around. Back at home, your house was very small. You shared a bed with Aspen, and your whole family shared one bathroom. You peeled into the closet and saw a couple of gowns already hanging up.

"Miss L/N," You turn to your bedroom door and see a maid waiting for you there. "Please come with me so we can get you fitted." She smiles, and you drop your bag on your bed, for now, then follow her to a big room with deep red walls, red furniture, red curtains. "This is the red room. Most of the other girls are in here getting fitted too, so it might be a bit cramped." Your maid takes all of your measurements and also makes notes of your hair color, hair length, skin tone, and eye color. She tells you that she's taking all these notes so the seamstresses know what color they should make your dresses. Or, at least, the one you will be wearing tomorrow when you (and the rest of the girls) will be dining with the royal family.

Your maid, who's name you have learned to be named Tenleigh, shows you back to your room, where dinner will be brought to you, and you will get to bed.

-<>-<>-

You couldn't sleep.

No matter how hard you tried, your eyes wouldn't stay shut. You walk over to one of your windows and peer out at the garden surrounding the massive castle. You unlock the window and push it open, the cold breeze slightly flowing around your head, making you realize why you cannot sleep.

You're homesick.

This is the longest time you've been away from home, even if it's been less then a day. You longed for Aspen to be soundly asleep next to you, for your dad's snoring that you and your sister laughed about behind his back. You longed to be home.

In a panic, you rush down many flights of stairs, trying to find a door to outside. The only one you spot has two guards standing by it. You run towards it anyway, but the guards step in front of you.

"Excuse me, miss, but you can't go out there." One of them says.

"Would you like me to get you back to your room?" The other soothes. You're not in the mood to be soothed.

"No, I need to get outside-" You mumble, trying to push past the two tall, intimidating men.

"Miss, you can't go outside right now." The first guy repeats, this time more stern and forceful.

"Hey!" Someone calls from behind you. You hear them run up and tell the guards to let you through. They reluctantly move aside and you push the doors open and sit on a bench surrounded by Y/F/F. You take a few deep breaths and notice the person who told the guards to move was sitting next to you.

"Are you alright?" Prince Peter asks you, genuine concern on his face. Your mouth opens slightly in shock as you take in his features, which you've only seen on television. up close, you could see the way his mesmerizing brown eyes flickered between your two eyes, the way his eyebrow twitches downward when he's concerned.

"Yeah, I- I'm just homesick, I guess." You look at the ground, thankful that the darkness to cover up the blush that leaked onto your cheeks. "I've never been out of my hometown, and I haven't been away from my family for this long, either." You explain, twisting your hands together nervously.

"Hey, you're one of the fives, right?" Peter asks after a short silence. "I think I remember your face."

You smile. "Yeah. I think there are only three fives here." Normally, there would be less, because fives normally don't have the characteristics, charm, or looks to get into the selection. But then again, the last selection was when your parents were teenagers.

"What are you doing up right now?"

"I could ask you the same thing,"

"I couldn't sleep." Peter laughed nervously. "How about yourself?"

"Same." You mutter.

"Do you want me to walk you to your room?" Peter offers, his voice soft and sincere.

"No, thank you. I'll manage."

"Okay. Well, get some sleep. You're meeting me tomorrow." Peter stood up and offered you his hand, which you took and started to walk with him to the doors that you came out from.

"I'm looking forward to it." You smile and stand in the foyer across from the prince. "Sleep well."

"Until tomorrow, Y/N." Peter smiles and watches you walk back up the marble stairs with gold banisters.