The Necklaces

My head aches, what happened? The last thing I remember is a big wave crashing on the beach. I open my eyes and the world just seems fuzzy. I sit up and look around the room. Nina and Sammy are here with me, my two best friends, but are still knocked out. The room is big and open, windows line the outside to reveal a realistic ocean scene. I'm guessing it's a ballroom. A sharp pain goes through the inside of my forearm as something beeps. I look and rub my arm. As my fingers feel around my arm they pass over a bump. I watch a soft red light blink under my skin. My vision clears up as I shake Sam and Nina up. I check their arms for bumps and find some but theirs aren't blinking. I check mine but it stopped blinking. The door opens and I turn to face three boys maybe a year older than me. I stand up and stare at them. I stare at each of them, observing their features. The one on the right has red hair and freckles; he was about my height maybe an inch or two taller. The one in the center kept smiling at me. He was about six feet tall and had bright blue eyes that stood out to his black hair. As I kept looking I noticed freckles dotted his cheeks. The one that stood on the left was taller than me but shorter than his brother. He had chocolate brown hair and matching eyes. Something about him screamed proper. Maybe it was just the way he stood. I took a step forward, "Where are we?" I ask.

"I'm Gabriel, you can call me Gabe." The one in the middle said taking a step forward and holding his hand out with hopeful eyes.

I cross my arms and stare at his hand, "Not to be rude but that's not what I asked."

The other boys laugh and his drops his hand to his side, "You're under the ocean, in a castle."

I look around and realize that the scene on the wall is real. My jaw drops and I stare at the boys wanting to say something but nothing comes out. I eventually give up and smile, "I'm Jasmine." I shake all their hands and turn back to Nina and Sam who were just waking up, "Get up, we're under the sea." I laugh as I see Nina freak out. Sam stands up and kindly introduces herself to the boys. I take Nina's hand to calm her down. I guide her to the boys and she introduces herself to Charles (The brunette), Lucas (The redhead), and Gabe.  I watch everyone interact. I stand behind Nina and Sam with my arms crossed, judging everyone's actions carefully. I don't know these people. I'm not sure if I should trust them or not. I walk around the big room, my footstep loud in the room. Two large stair cases go up to a balcony that looks over the ballroom. The walls, floor, and every little detail was gold. As I glance back at the group Gabe makes eye contact with me and when I look in the reflection of the windows to see if he's staring, he is. I swing around and walk straight up to him, "What's your problem?" I ask.

He looks at me with shock in his eyes, "What are you talking about?"

"Why do you keep staring at me?"

The other boys laugh, "I don't think she likes you, Gabe."

Gabe turns around and glares at them.

"Hey, Dad told you it was going to be risky choosing that one." The red head said.

I put my hands on my hips and glare, "What does he mean by choosing?"

Gabe rubs his head and sighs, "Don't pay attention to Lucas, follow me."

We all follow Gabe up the stairs and into a room on the balcony. In the room were two beautiful thrones and a man with dark hair and wise face. We stand in front of the man and the boys stand beside the man, I'm guessing the king.

"Welcome ladies." He says in a cheerful voice.

"Hi..." Nina says quietly and I smile a bit at the king.

"I am the king and these are my sons, Lucas, Gabriel, and Charles." I look at the boys and Gabe smiles at me but I just glare. Charles elbows Gabe and snickers. Gabe shoves him back and the king turns around and glares at the boys causing us to laugh but we stand straight when the king turns back to us.

"Anyway, you three must marry my sons and-"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait" Nina, Sam, and I all say at once. "Marry? We don't know where we are, we don't know who you all are, and you expect us to marry and be fine with that? We have real lives to live. Plus we're only seventeen! We're still teenagers, we can't marry!" I start ranting on and on when I hear Nina, "What am I going to do? We have school tomorrow!" Then Sam, "My parents are probably freaking out."

The king clears his throat and we all stop and stare at him, "You will marry them if you like it or not!"

I take a few steps closer holding my finger in front of me, "That's not fair, we should have a choice or not." I can see the irritation in his eyes but I push on further, "How would you like it if I made you marry someone you didn't know, if I took you from your family just to force you to marry someone you didn't have feelings for?" I yell tears burning my eyes. One tear rolls down my face and I can see Nina start to break down too. Sam just stares at the ground, clenching her fists tightly. I focus my eyes on the king but from the corners I can see the boy's faces turn to worry. I can tell they want to comfort us but they can't.

I watch the king start to think when eventually he sighs, "You have to marry them, but I will let you contact your family. You don't have to marry them until your eighteenth birthday but then you must. Boys, show them to their room." Gabe rushes down and wipes the tears off my face; he pushes the hair from my face and stares into my eyes. I don't push him away; he takes my hand and guides us to a big room with a living room, kitchen, and three big doors that I'm guessing lead to our bedrooms. I walk in the living room and stand there with my hands at my sides. I was beautiful; everything in the castle was beautiful. I stand there and watch as Sam attacks the fridge and Nina claims one of the three cell phone lying on the counter. I snatch the black iPhone and shove it in my pocket. Nina dials her mom's number and runs into the room on the right. Maybe I can accept this life. "I call the middle room!" I yell and Sam nods as she sits on the couch and flips through the channels. Gabe taps my shoulder and I face him. He smiles, "I want to show you something." I shrug and follow, what have I got to lose?