Chosen

Chapter Seventeen

           ~Arabella's POV~
     It's been almost two weeks since Adrian and I have become friends. And it's killing me. I hate that I can't be with him like to used to be. That I can be with him, but I can't kiss him, I can't hug him, I can't do anything that I used to be able to do.   He seems like he's doing just fine, too, that I'm the only one having problems staying away from him. I don't understand how the roles changed, I'm the one chasing after Adrian, while Adrian is the one keeping his distance from me. I sigh, running a hand through my hair and shake my head. I need to get rid of those thoughts and get back to work.
        ~Adrian's POV~
     I watch as Arabella works, taking orders and delivering food, putting a fake smile on her face. That's weird, usually she's happy when she's working. Something must be wrong. Hopefully what I'm planning for tonight will make her happy again. I want her to be with me for the rest of my life. I want to start over, forget everything that happened and just be happy again. Tonight is the night I ask her out. I have everything planned out perfectly. I'm going to ask her if she wants to hang out again, and take her to the pond where we first became friends again. I'll have a picnic again, with everything she likes, and then, when we're done eating and just staring at the sky, I'll ask her out. I just hope that she'll say yes. I've been trying so hard to hide my true feelings from her, not wanting to scare her away again. But I just need to be with her. I can't be without her. I plan to marry her. It may take a while to get back to the way things were, but I think that we can get there, and that's when I'll propose. I already have the ring picked out, I got it long before the parents came. It's sitting in the drawer of my nightstand, before I came out here to find Ara, I'd stare at it every night, praying that I'll get the chance to give it to her. I sent all the girls home, telling them that we just wouldn't work out and that the selection was over, because I knew, in my heart, that no one would make me as happy as Arabella does. I take a deep breath and stand up from the bench I was sitting on, and start to walk over to the diner. Here we go.
            ~Anonymous POV~  (A/N didn't see that coming, did ya?)
     I watch as The Prince makes his way across the street, with a determined look on his face. What is he up to? He opens the door to a diner and walks in. I walk over to the window to see what he's doing and smirk as I watch. Lady Arabella is wearing an apron and taking a couples order. The Prince taps her shoulder and she turns, a smile lighting up her face as soon as she sees him. My smirk deepens as a plan forms in my mind as I watch them together. They obviously aren't a couple anymore, since they aren't touching each other. They're just making my job easier and easier for me. All I've got to do is make sure Adrian isn't around Arabella. They talk for a while before Arabella nods, smiling and Adrian nods back and turns, smiling. I turn away from the door to make sure he doesn't see me when he leaves. As soon as he's gone, I turn back to watch Arabella. She's still smiling, clearly happy. She's still in love with him. And he's clearly still in love with her. This is just too easy. I laugh quietly before making my way inside. I sit down in the booth closest to the window and wait for her to get to me. I hear footsteps walking towards my table and smirk. Here we go.
                ~Arabella's POV~
     The smile is still on my face from when I was talking to Adrian. We're hanging out again tonight. I think we has something special planned too. I give the order I had just taken to Em and Raymond, then look around for any new customers. Someone's sitting in the booth by the window. I walk over to them and start talking, but my smile drops almost instantly when I see who it is.
     "Hello, welcome to Em's Diner, what-" My eyes widen. He just smirks at me arrogantly. "Calum?" My voice is filled with fear as he just sits there, smirking that annoying smirk of his.
     "Hello, Lady Arabella, it's been a while." He says, mocking me. He knows I'm not a part of the selection any more.
     "W-what are you doing here? I thought you were in prison." He laughs then, a quiet, threatening laugh. It sends chills down my spine.
     "I was in prison, sweetheart. Obviously, I'm not anymore." I roll my eyes, shaking my head.
     "Don't be a smart-mouth." His eyes turn cold and he glares at me harshly. His hand moves to his jacket and he pushes it aside slightly, revealing a shiny, deadly, pistol. My eyes widen as fear replaces the annoyance I was once feeling.
     "Now, now, now, we wouldn't want to anger me now would we?" I shakily shake my head as his smirk returns. "That's what I thought. Now, go tell your boss that your going to take a walk and that you won't see them tomorrow. We're going on a little trip." I look at the clock and curse in my head. My shift just ended. But he doesn't know that.
     "My shift isn't over yet, she'd never let me leave." Just then, the other worker walks over to me, the one that has the shift after me.
     "Hey, Arabella! I'm here to tell you that your shift is over, I'm gonna start working. She holds her hands out for the apron and notepad and pen. I sigh in my head and hand over my stuff. She smiles at me. "Have a good rest of your day!" She walks away and I close my eyes. I feel Calum stand up next to me and feel something cold and hard pressing into my side.
     "I suggest we leave now, unless you want to say goodbye to your friends, I have no problem killing them right now, right here." Tears start to fill my eyes, but I force them back. I will not show weakness.
     "You don't have to kill them, I'll go." Thankfully my voice comes out even, not shaky.
     "Good. Now walk. If anyone that knows you asks who I am, you tell them that I'm your boyfriend and that we are on a date, or I kill them, understand?" I nod my head and we head towards the door. He puts his arm around my shoulders, keeping the gun pressed against my side, always ready. We leave the diner and start walking down the sidewalk. We aren't stopped until we are almost to the movie theater, on the other side of town.
     "Arabella!" We stop and look around for who called my name. It's Monica.
     "Monica?" I haven't seen her in a while, since she first came back home from the castle.
     "Hey, how's it going?" She looks over to Calum. "And who's this?" He presses the gun harder into my side, reminding me of what could happen if I lied. I have to force myself not to wince. Monica's eyes flicker with something, but I can't tell what it is.
     "It's good. This is Calum, my boyfriend, we're going out for the night." I say it through clenched teeth. He releases the pressure of the gun and I almost sigh in relief.
     "Oh, that's cool. It's good to see that you're getting over Adrian." I force a smile and nod.
     "Yeah, he wasn't good for me anyway. Cal is so much better." I force myself to snuggle against his side. I look up to see him flashing a smile to Monica.
     "Yeah, I'm a lucky man. We should probably get going, don't want to miss the movie." I nod and smile at Monica, silently pleading for her to help me.
     "Yeah, it's been nice talking to you, but we should get going. Goodbye, Monica." She smiles and nods. She doesn't realize the double meaning behind 'goodbye, Monica'. I'm going to die, I won't ever see her again.
     "Bye, Arabella. Talk to you later." I don't say anything, only smile as we start to walk away. Once we're out of hearing distance, he turns his head slightly towards me.
     "Good job." That's all he says, then we go back into deadly silence. I'm silently saying goodbye to everyone. I'm never going to get to see Adrian again, never going to tell him how I feel. I won't get to see Monica have children, never going to see Jake get married. I'm never going to get married and have children.
          ~Monica's POV~
     Something is wrong. Arabella looked terrified and the other guy looked deadly. I know he's deadly. I could see the gun, he may have thought I couldn't see it, but I did. I need to find Adrian. He's going to kill Arabella and I can't let that happen. Where would Adrian be? I think for a minute before it hits me. The park, of course, he's probably perfecting the date he has set up for Arabella. I start running as fast as I can. Arabella doesn't have much time.
           ~Adrian's POV~
     I've been at the park ever since I left the diner, perfecting the picnic. I'm about done when I hear someone yell my name. I look around to find Monica running towards me. My eyebrows furrow in confusion. Is she ok?
     "Monica, is everything ok?" I ask once she gets to me. She takes a minute to catch her breath. She must have been running for a while.
     "No, it's not ok. It's Arabella, she's in danger." My heart drops.
     "What happened?" I ask.
     "She was with someone. A man. She looked terrified and I could see him pressing a gun into her side." I feel sick. A man. What man could it be?
     "What did the guy look like?"
     "Um, he had dark brown hair, he was tall, brown eyes, he's always smirking from what I could see." I know who it is. "She said his name was Calum." My jaw clenches. Of course. How did he get out of jail?
     "I have to go. Where were they going? Do you know?" She shakes her head, worried.
     "No, I don't know where they're going. But the last time I saw them they were walking passed the movie theater. And that was about 10 minutes ago." I start to walk away, calling back to Monica.
     "I'll get her, don't worry." Then I start running. She doesn't have much time.

Oh boy. What do you think is going to happen? Comment what you think and please vote! I would love the support! Tell me what you think of Chosen so far! And it would mean the world to me if you would check out my other book The End is Near! Love you all!