Atlas (A Selection/Hat Films Fanfiction)

~ Twenty Three ~

The tension was palpable at our meeting, but we were all mature enough to know that this dinner had to go well if we wanted to stay here. Its success will influence the princes' opinions, and though it wasn't explicitly stated, we naturally assumed we were competing against the other team and only one event would be declared the winner.

Turns out I did enjoy flipping through flower catalogues, and Beckii oversaw color themes so all I had to do was match her ideas. Albany had scolded me when I said it was an easy job, telling me that I had to look up each flowers' meaning or else we could end up insulting the Italians. It was considerably more boring to have to pull out books and thumb through indexes to find out that white roses were reserved for weddings, and white poppies were used as a symbol of peace. I dog-eared that page.

I returned to the table in the library after collecting more books, trying to find a place to put them on the already cluttered work area that we were sharing. Albany threw a stack of printed papers at me. "You're in charge of seating arrangements," she ordered, "start reading."

I unceremoniously dumped my books onto the notebook she had been reading from and sat back down. "Um, no I'm not. . ." I said incredulously, pushing the papers back towards her and picking up my pen, "Magdalena was supposed to do that. Where is she, by the way?"

The other three girls looked up from their work and stared at me. I stopped chewing on the tip of my pen and straightened, suddenly nervous with all their eyes on me.

"You didn't hear?" Beckii asked, furrowing her eyebrows in disbelief.

"I must have missed the memo," I sneered, feeling left out and trying to save my wounded pride with a snarky remark. Ever since our fight, I've fallen out of the drama loop and had been tuning out any talk of the princes so I could focus on the assignment.

"Prince Alexandre sent two girls home this morning," Anouk filled in, "Magdalena and Kerrigan are gone."

"Luckily, it was one from each team," Beckii added casually with a shrug, returning to her work as if we hadn't been narrowed down to the final eight today. I tried to remember which prince had been interested in Magdalena and Kerrigan, but I was embarrassed to admit they hadn't stood out in my mind.

I felt my face flush red, remembering my visit to Alexandre's room last night. "Are you sure it was this morning?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. My eyes scanned the other girls, gauging their reactions, but Beckii and Anouk both had their head turned down towards their work; I knew they were listening intently though.

"I saw Alexandre talking to Magdalena myself," Albany butted in, suspiciously smug. She paused, giving me the devilish smile she always wore when she was bullying me. ". . .right before he came to invite me on a date tonight," she added, not breaking eye contact.

I broke under her gaze and looked down at the research Magdalena had already started, the neat, cursive words blurring together as my thoughts started to race. "Isn't that what he's supposed to do?" was all I could come up with, trying to mimic Beckii's casual attitude and failing miserably.

"Looks like he's moving on from you," she replied coolly, knitting her fingers together and putting her elbows on the table to rest her chin on her hands.

"Haven't you gone on, like, four dates with him, Albany?" I accused, trying to diffuse the situation so I could change the subject. I looked everywhere but at her, busying myself with organizing random piles of papers.

"This will be our sixth," she laughed, leaning against the back of her chair, "but I'll be sure to keep you informed."

"That's my point," I replied, rolling my eyes as I started to regain my composure, "he's never even asked me on a date, so why should I care what you do with him?" I shouldn't care, but Albany was starting to get under my skin. I was probably still emotionally raw from last night.