Chosen

Chapter Eight

"Come on, Ara, you have to wake up. You're meeting the Prince today and we need to get you ready!" I hear Ariel's voice as I sleep. My eyes shoot open when she says I'm meeting the Prince.
"I'm meeting him today?! Oh gosh!" I groan, flopping onto my pillows. Ariel, Jackie, and Ariana laugh and pull me out of bed and into the bathroom. They put me in the bath and start to wash my hair and face. When they wash my face, they all gasp.
I look at them, confused, before I remember, there's a bruise on my cheek.
"Arabella, what happened to you?" Ariel asks in shock. I close my eyes and sigh. I really don't want to talk about it.
"I don't want to talk about it but you don't have to worry, it's all behind me now. Please don't tell anyone." I plead. They look at me and nod.
"Thank you." They smile and help me out of the bath, drying me and putting a fluffy, white robe around me. They dry my hair and Jackie and Ariana start my hair, while Ariel does my makeup. She doesn't do much, she covers the bruise with foundation, puts eyeliner and mascara on my eyes, and a light pink lipstick.
After she's done, I look at my hair and smile. They had put my hair into an intricate bun with some hair framing my face. I love it. They lead me out of the bathroom and to the closet, looking for a dress. They pick one out and help me put it on. I turn to the mirror as gasp. The dress is beautiful. It's floor length, strapless, and has silver designs that flow into black.

It's amazing. I turn to the three girls, staring at expectantly and smile.
"How old are you three?" The question surprises them.
"I'm 15." Ariel answers first.
"I'm 13." Jackie goes next.
"And I'm 11." Ariana says. So I was right when I thought they were young.
"Wow, you do amazing work for being so young. Why are you working at such a young age?" Ariel starts to speak, but is cut off by a knock on the door. I go to answer it and am greeted by my guards.
"We're here to take you to the Women's Room, miss." I take a deep breath. Time to meet the Prince. I smile at the guards. I really need to learn their names.
"Ok, let's go then." I wave to Ariel, Jackie, and Ariana and leave. "And you can just call me Ara, it's weird being called 'miss' all the time. What are your names, by the way?" The friendliest guard smiles.
"I'm Lukas, but you can call me Luke." I smile, nodding. The creepy guard smiles, creepily, as always.
"I'm Calum, but you can call me Cal." I smile, uncomfortable with the way he looks at me, and nod.
"Ok, well, nice to meet you both." I smile, looking at Luke. He nods, smiling as we come to upon the Women's Room.
"Good luck, Ara. I'm sure the Prince will love you." Luke says, encouragingly. I smile and walk to the doors, pushing them open and walking in. 15 pairs of eyes watch me as I look around. I'm not the last one here, thank goodness. Four other girls need to show up still. I find Marley at the table and walk over to her, smiling.
"You ready?" I ask, sitting down.
"Yes and no. I mean, I'm super excited to meet him, but I'm also super nervous. You know what I mean?" I chuckle, nodding.
"I know exactly what you mean. I feel the same." She laughs, nodding.
"I think that's how we all feel. Well, except Jessica, maybe." I roll my eyes, looking around for her.
She just walked in with a confident smile. She's wearing a very revealing dress. It's a blood red dress with a plunging neckline, low back, and goes to mid thigh. I roll my eyes again, I'm not surprised.
The rest of the girls show up a few minutes later and the lady that directs everyone stands up and speaks.
"Good morning, ladies. I'm Octavia, your advisor. I'll be teaching you everything you need to know if you are chosen to be out next Princess. Prince Adrian will be showing up shortly. He's going to talk to each of your personally and then we'll have breakfast. No need to be nervous, he's still just a normal boy." She tells us, smiling. We all laugh.
"Yeah, a normal boy that also happens to be royalty." Marley whispers, chuckling. I laugh. We all sit for a few minutes, talking quietly, when the doors open. We all fall silent as we watch the guards escort the Prince inside. No one can see him with the guards in front of him.
The guards move and leave, revealing the Prince. My eyes widen as I silently gasp.
It's the boy from the diner.

~Adrian's POV~
I walk lazily to the Women's Room. I really don't want to go. I have no idea who's going to be there and I don't want a wife. I have a plan, though. I'll pick the girl I tolerate the most and just live with it.
I sigh as we reach the room, my guards opening the door. The room is silent as soon as the doors open. I take the time I have with my guards blocking everyone and put a small, fake smile on my face.
The guards leave and I lazily scan the girls all staring at me. None of them impress me. Until I get to a familiar red head staring at me with a bewildered look on her face.
My smile widens and becomes genuine, my eyes lighting up as I see Ara, the funny, sweet, nice, and beautiful girl from the diner. Gosh, she's gorgeous.
She smiles at me, still confused, but happy, so beautiful. She looks amazing with that gown and hairstyle. She looks like a Princess. I want to walk over to her, but I have to follow protocol and go down the line. I wish she would've sat at the front of the table. So I walk over to the first girl and take her hand, leading her to a couch at the far end of the room.
She sits down and I sit next to her. We talk for about three minutes before I send her away and wait for the next girl. She freaked me out. She kept pushing her chest out and tried to seduce me, disgusting.
Some of the girls are like that, some are shy, some are quiet, some are kind, and all of them don't interest me.
I know Ara is next and I smile, getting excited to while waiting for her. She sits down next to me a few seconds later. I look up to see her smiling and smile back.
"So were you gonna tell me that you're actually a Prince or were you gonna wait for me to figure it out on my own?" She teases, narrowing her eyes playfully. I laugh, smiling. Already, she makes me so much happier. She's the last of the girls, so I can talk to her for as long as I want.
"I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't. I would've been rushed back to the castle if anyone found out. And I wanted to see if you'd treat me normally if you thought I was just a normal guy. And I wanted to spend more time with you." She blushes, prettily and I smile.
"Why go all the way to South Carolina? That's pretty far from Los Angeles. And it's not exactly a memorable place."
"I wanted to get away. I've always thought South Carolina is beautiful. Meeting you was definitely a bonus." I wink and she blushes, looking down.
"You're such a dork." She teases, laughing. I laugh, loudly, causing the other girls to look over at us. She's so going to make this so much better.
"Will you go out with me this week?" I suddenly ask. She looks up, surprised.
"Really? You want to go out with me?" I scoff, rolling my eyes playfully.
"No, I just asked you because I can't stand you." I say, sarcastically, smiling. She smiles and laughs.
"I would love to." I smile extremely happy. "Am I the first girl you've asked out?"
"Yes. You'll be my first date." And hopefully my last.
"Well, I'm honored then." She smiles. I look around and see that all the girls, except one, are glaring at Ara. My eyes narrow, I don't like the way they are looking at her.
"Well, we've probably got to get to breakfast." I say, and she nods, standing up. I take her hand in mine and press a light kiss on the back of her hand. Her smile widens and her cheeks redden. She's so adorable. I stand up as she walks back to her friend, the one that wasn't glaring at her.
"Ok, thank you for your time everyone. If I have asked you to stay, please stay seated. The rest of you can go on ahead to breakfast." Half the girls walk out, including Ara and her friend, while the rest stay seated. I stare at Ara as she goes, smiling, she is going to make my life so much better.
~End of Chapter~

Hope you like it! Sorry for the late update, but I've been super busy with school. I'll update as soon as I can, though. Hope you like it so far! Did you like Adrian's POV? Gives you a look into what he's thinking. You'll be seeing a lot more of that. Please don't forget to like and comment! I always love feedback! Love you all! Till next time!