Choices

Chapter One- The letter

I sat on my bed reading the words that would change my life.
Dear Watson Family:
Due to the recent census, we can confirm that you have a young women in the house that is between the ages of 17 and 19. We encourage her to enter into the pool of girls entered for a chance to become the next princess of Pangea. To enter, please fill out  the enclosed  form and return it to your local postal office. 25 girls will be chosen at random to participate in the competition, the chosen will reside in the palace along with the royal family. All of the participating families will be generously compensated for their service to our great nation.

I heard the creak of her father’s door shutting as he was finally going to sleep. I slipped out of my bed fully dressed. I was certain that everyone in the house was asleep. When I snuck down the stairs I made sure to stay close the wall because then the stairs would not creek. My brother, Adam, was a very light sleeper and he would wake up if he heard the noise. I made it down the steps and suck out of the door. The cool March air stung my face, but it was refreshing. All day I had to take care of her two sisters, teaching them how to be proper women because our mother was not present, she had died in childbirth. I sometimes wondered how my sisters would react if they saw me, the perfect example as our father would say, running through the woods in the dead of night. What was worse was I was not just trying to get out of the house, I was meeting someone. Someone so secret that I had to meet him in the dead of night. I hopped over a branch, careful not to rip my jeans, I reached a small cabin in the woods. I noticed that a fire was it inside and smiled, inside was the only one I could trust, Liam.

I opened the door to see my lovely secret waiting for me. When I entered Liam stood up and embraced me kissing me on the cheek.
“ Liam, any news from the capital? I asked
“ Must we always talk politics about when you show up.” he complained
“ I can’t ask that question at home, my father says that a woman has no place in politics. Which makes you the only source of news about the rebellion.”
“ Well, there is nothing really new, the rebels in Capital are not backing down, but the government still thinks they can stop them.”
“ Well at least there have been no recent casualties.” I said with a sigh of relief
We went on to talk about almost everything, school, family, and even marriage. This was not an awkward topic for us because we had talked about it a lot. Both of us were ready to get married but there was one problem, our social position .
In Pangea, the “wonderful” land I called my home, you are ranked based on how much money you had.  Ones were royalty so there were very few of them, Twos and Threes were the rich of all of us, Fours were the  at beginning of being poor along with Fives. Sixes and Sevens were the workers and Eights were...well no one.  When Pangea was formed 200 years ago, my great great great great grandfather was in the lower middle class so he made his whole family fives for the rest of our lives.

As a five, that meant my job involved anything that had to do with arts. My brother Adam was a singer and my father owned a music shop. I, like my mother and the twins, was an artist. Before she died she taught me everything about art. Now all the old books of artist is the only thing I had left of her.

Liam on the other hand was a six. Sixes were workers along with sevens. However sixes were more educated and they worked inside the homes of twos and threes. Liam was the brother of Luke, who was Adam’s best friend growing up. Liam was always around but I never really talked to him seeing as he was two years older.
Then all of that changed last year. A two in the area, Mrs. Bean was having her annual Christmas party. I was selling some of my paintings to her and Liam and Luke were cleaning. On the way out I saw Liam by the door. He smiled at me he handed me a sheet of paper with a map to the cabin.

If my father ever found out that I was in love in Liam he would be shocked. While my mother always stressed that I needed to marry for love, she was not around any more. My father was more concerned about what the boy could provide rather than if I truly loved him . After talking for about an hour we fell silent, I thought that this would be the most convenient time to tell Liam the horrible news.

“ Liam, I need to tell you something.” I started
“ What is it, babe?” he asked
“ I got the letter today...” I trailed off
King Paul had 4 sons, Louis, Zayn, Niall, and Harry. Louis and Zayn were already married, Louis to his sweetheart Eleanor, and Zayn to his, Perrie. They found their wives, by meeting them the competition. When one boy turned 19 every girl in the county who was 17, 18, or 19 was sent a letter asking them to fill out an application so they could be entered into the competition to win the boy’s heart. This time, it was Niall’s turn to find his wife.  I thought it was awful, the way that it was televised and how everyone in the school would say who they liked better and root them on. I believed that love was a special thing that should be shared between two people not to be plastered on the television for everyone to watch.
“ Sage, are you going to enter?” Liam asked nervously
“ I don’t think I have a choice, my father will want me to, and I can’t tell him about us because then we would both be in trouble.” she said “ But, I can make up some excuse about needing to look after the twins or something.”
“ No! You should enter.” Liam interrupted
“ What?!? I asked shocked. Why would Liam want me to enter?
“ You know all the extra money that you get if you get chosen, you can use that money to give the twins real education.” he stated
“ It’s not worth it, Liam, I love you.” I argued
“ Sage, we all know that only 25 girls get picked and about half the population applies so there is a big chance that will not even get picked.It will make you father happy if you just apply .”
“ Liam, there is still a chance that I WILL get picked.”
“ Sage, just trust me.” Liam said looking into my eyes making my heart race
“ Fine, if it was anyone else I would've said no but your puppy face always works.” I retorted
“ Yes my puppy face powers still work!” Liam cheered
“ Shut up!” I laughed pushing him. Liam dramatically fell pulling me on top of him, he then pulled me in for a kiss. When we broke apart I saw the first beams of sunlight peeking out from the trees.
“ Liam, I have to go” I said pushing myself off of him. I gave him one last kiss and rushed out the door.
Now back to the life I am supposed to live I thought as I came to my quiet house