Royal 3 (Book three in my Selection Series)

Chapter 40

The next morning every girl was on edge. They all knew that these next few days were crucial. Every girl wanted to spend more time with him, so I'd barely got to spend any time with him at all.

Now, I sat in the Women's room after breakfast with Emily watching the news. North hadn't even been at breakfast, and neither had Bailee. I understood he had to go on dates with other girls, but I didn't like to know about it.

The queen sat in the back with her daughter, Lilly and Rho. There weren't many other girls in there either, and they were all raving about the date that Bailee had been on and the one that Paige was on right now.

"He took me to the gardens to eat breakfast. We left really early so we could watch the sun rise, and it was absolutely beautiful." She smiles happily.

"Did he do anything sweet? How did he act?" Raven asks excitedly.

"I don't know." She says quietly. "Everything was well planned, and seemed perfect, but he didn't seem like he was there the whole night. He was so distracted by something."

"I wonder why." Raven responds and her posture slumps. "It was the same on our date last week."

"I mean, he's a prince. He has a lot of stuff going on, I'm sure that's it. Has it been like that for anyone else?" Kimberly asks and looks around at all of us. At first she didn't look at me since I was sitting on a separate couch away from them but then as they all nod, she looks at me. I'd never felt that way before but I wasn't about to tell them that.

"Umm, Yeah." I agree with them quietly and turn back to Emily.

"Are you sure? Because you don't seem so sure." Kimberly says.

"Give her a break, Kim." Bailee says quietly.

"No, because she's lying." Kim scoffs. "Maybe she wouldn't know when someone feels distant, since she's never actually been in a relationship before."

"Excuse me?" I say, trying not to become too upset.

"It's not like you have many friends or family. You couldn't possibly know when people are becoming distant. You're not mentally capable of it." Kimberly retorts and takes another sip of her tea.

"Kim, Stop it." Bailee snaps.

"Oh, I'm sorry Kimberly." I say sarcastically, forgetting my filter. "I'm sorry I forgot I couldn't read emotion, that's my bad. It's just with all the loneliness, my brain just forgets how to interpret things." I end with a sweet smile and stand up to leave.

Kimberly stands up beside of me with an angry expression on her face.

"You can't speak to me like that." She says in almost a whisper. Her posture was stiff and leaning toward me. She was acting as if she was ready to fight, but I guaranteed she didn't stand a chance.

"What are you going to do about it?" I ask her quietly.

"You wouldn't dare lay a finger on me." She says, suddenly acting defensive.

"Oh right, that wouldn't be fair." I begin to walk away. "Because of my mental state and all."

I roll my eyes as I push past the doors of the women's room, holding it open for Emily on my way out. Neither of us say anything as we walk toward the gardens.

I push past the door into the gardens, finally getting a breath of fresh air. I close my eyes and stand there for a good two minutes with Emily holding the door open for me.

"You good?" She asks when I turn back around. I nod.

"Yeah. Let's just stay out here for a minute." I tell her and keep walking on the walkway. I reach down to the bottom of my dress and pull my shoes off my feet. "You know, I'm used to it."

"I know." She mutters behind me. I sit down on one of the concrete benches and prop my elbows on my knees.

"You wouldn't think so many would be so opinionated but they really are." I say softly. "That's pretty stupid, don't you think?"

"The girls here don't know what this kind of life is like." She shrugs.

"You almost can't even blame them for it." I mutter. "And they aren't wrong, Em."

"What are you even talking about?" She asks, confused.

"You're the only person I've ever actually been friends with since I was young. I had the best relationships with my parents, but that kind of stuff didn't matter in prison. I forgot it, all of it. I can barely remember what it was like, Emily." I say quietly.

"Don't pretend like they are right." She tells me. "You know that's not true, but if you let yourself believe that, then it'll become true and you know it. Don't start doubting yourself because other people are jealous."

I sit there and just stare at the ground.

"I have to go in and get a physical from the doctor soon, do you want me to wait?" She asks me after a minute.

"Go on and go. I'm going to stay out here for a moment to clear me head. I'll see you in a few minutes." I smile, giving her permission to go.

As soon as she's gone I stand up, walking toward the edge of the gardens. It seemed so beautiful here and I didn't understand how it was fair that only a select few people in the world could see it.

I look around and make eye contact with familiar gray eyes. I immediately panic, realizing that I should've listened to the girls conversation to figure out North's current date was out in the gardens.

I turn and flee inside the castle. I don't look back at me until I'm up in my bedroom hallway. I go up to my door and push it open before turning when I hear me name.

"Rose, Wait." It was North. I didn't see Paige with him and I didn't know where she'd gone.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were in the garden." I say quietly.

"Can we talk in your room for a moment?" He asks me, taking one of my hands in his. I nod slightly and push my door open into my room. "I didn't want you to have to see that."

"What? You on a date? North— you're hosting a selection, you're supposed to date." I tell him, forcing a smile. "Speaking of, you need to go back to that date."

"Can we just stay in here for a moment?" He asks softly. His eyes seemed darker than usual and I watch him quietly.

"Yeah, lets go out on the balcony." I say and lead him out there, leaning against the rails. "Is everything okay?" I ask quietly.

"Let's just enjoy being here right now." He says softly and pulls me closer to him. I didn't complain, but I knew something wasn't right. I knew something was wrong—

Very wrong.