The Elite ✓

twenty one | this is the part where I choose you

*

"A true woman is to be known as courteous, spoken of as lady-like, and not beloved as unselfish and womanly."

illéan royal etiquette booklet

*

The pitch black sky had an unmistakable velvet quality to it as if a thicker consistency caused its' matte finish. The dark sky, seemingly beginning to turn to light was the epitome of a starry night sky speckled with white, gleaming sprinkles as stars. The moon, a full round circle, was so clear that if you'd looked closely enough, you'd see each and every crevice and the entirety of its three-dimensional beauty.

Wordlessly, I glanced at the slumped figure beside me only to realize that he had dozed off. I smiled quietly but continued to bask in the enjoyment of the sky breaking twilight. Admiring the constellations for one last moment before sunrise, I felt Lucas stir in my arms. In just a moment, we would've spent the night together, technically.

"Morning," I soothe. Ever since Callista had so effortlessly snatched the Prince in her arms, my attention to him had never experienced such a sharp refocus. What was I doing frolicking around with his brother, when I couldn't even watch him dancing with another girl without wincing?

Also, It didn't help that "winning" the competition, meant beating Callista, and that was simply an achievement that would slowly morph into a personal accomplishment. But, in retrospect, while my continually growing bond and blossoming friendship with the girls whom I consider as the genuine Elite had moved far past its' baby steps, it had left Callista all by herself. And in true winner mentality, it also meant her taking everything I had begun to genuinely like. 

The Prince.

So last night, when Lucas asked me to a date before the two of us fell asleep under the stars, a long time dream of mine, sharing a couple of well-deserved laughs, I was absolutely delighted. It's been a long time since Esteban and the rebels were so completely off our minds, they were barely given the time of day. And last night was one of my happiest nights here; no expectations, no worries, nothing. It was just us two. Two people under the moonlight.

"Shh," He groaned, placing an arm around my shoulder. Under us, was a tiny blanket made for a picnic. Though he seemed to have intended to invite me over for dinner under the stars, we had enough leftovers to last us for breakfast.

"I don't know," I say quietly, "I think some people are expecting you. Judgemental people who'll think we spent the night doing you know, and not just by chance." 

"Bully," he reiterates his words from a week ago, before the Halloween party.

I smile through my morning daze and give him a wink. Though the sun is shining directly into both our eyes, neither of us really make much of an effort movement-wise because it's simply too exhausting. I'm wearing the same dress from last night, while Lucas sports a new, and rather fitting suit for today. How did this work? He changed his attire before our date, a new strategy I will begin to live by. In result, it's a bit wrinkly but a small error in comparison to my reused dress. "You should go in first," I glance at him. He makes absolutely no effort to move, "I'm serious," I grin, nudging him off the blanket and onto the grass, "People will begin to notice!"

He laughs, "You're cute when perplexed."

I take the back door, just because I'm well aware of the prying eyes following my every move, dawn to dusk. Though it seems like just an inkling, my theory is proven correct when Callista's sickly sweet voice, a scratchy enunciation of thick phlegm on the verge of spewing, coos. "Spent the night, huh?" Her finger jars sparingly at my nape. One might be fooled into thinking it was a friendly gesture, but the recipient of the pointed fingertip, which was both sharp and manicured, would think otherwise.