The Princess (The Selection)

Chapter Seventeen

"Hello, Celia. Are you busy?" Kevin asks as he races up to me in the hallway. I shake my head as we approach the top of the stairs.

"I don't think so. Is there something you wish to do?" I ask. He nods with an eager look on his face.

"Do you ever play videogames?" he asks. I shake my head. Kevin takes my arm and loops mine through his.

"We haven't really had any in the palace until my brother was born and I'm not allowed to play his," I explain. Kevin stops walking and stares at me.

"You've seriously never played a videogame?" he asks. His face is coated with a mixture of excitement and surprise.

"I have never played a videogame," I say.

"Well, we have some in the cigar room and you should come try them out," he says. I laugh and nod. He launches into a run and pulls me behind him.

"I'm not allowed in there," I say when we reach the pair of double doors.

"I will look and see who is in there. I bet they won't care. And we don't smoke cigars in there, you know. None of us smoke," he says. He leaves me and opens up one of the dark, wooden doors. He peeks around and says a couple of things. A voice from the inside responds but I can't make out who it is or what they are saying.

"Okay. You're good," Kevin says when he pulls his head out of the slightly ajar door.

He opens the door up a bit more and allows me to walk in first. On the front wall, a television hangs on the wall. A few cabinets made out of dark wood also line the wall. In the middle of the room, four long couches weave around in a semi circle around the television. The floor rises in the back of the room a couple of inches so you have to take a step up. On the elevated floor, high tables and chairs scatter around.

Flynn sits at one of the tables with a couple of papers and a pencil. He glances up at us and then back down at his book. I stand in front of the couches and watch as Kevin sets up the videogames. I can feel Flynn's eyes staring into the back of my head. When Kevin finishes, he hands me a remote that looks like a white stick.

"We are playing a dancing game. You have to mirror what the people on the television are doing. This is the easiest thing to start you off with," Kevin states. I nod and he clicks a few buttons. Then, music starts playing a woman in wild clothes appears on the screen.

We both follow along to what she does. I start laughing immediately. Kevin dances like her and doesn't seem to care if it a sexual move for women. By the time the song is over, I'm on the floor laughing.

My eyes drift toward Flynn when I hear him start rustling papers. He stands up with a hurt expression on his face. He wipes it off in a few seconds, though, and walks to the door.

I ignore Flynn. Kevin and I stay in the cigar room for another two hours. We dance around and act silly. Tears stay in my eyes because I laughed so hard.

When we were through, Kevin stayed in the cigar room to play some war game. I left and headed to the stairs. As I walk through the hallway where the men's rooms are, I hear beautiful music again.

I follow the source of the sound. It leads me to the same hallway as the last time I heard. I creep down, being quiet so whoever is playing the music won't hear me and stop. Then, I reach the door.

Flynn's door.
Oh! Cliffhanger! Please comment and tell me what you think! I really want to know if you all think I should continue working in this direction or if you all would prefer if I changed the direction of the story.

I've been distracted by this book I've been reading. I finished it at six o'clock this morning and I was on the verge of crying. It is called Perfected. It is by Katie Jarvick Birch. She also wrote Deliver Me, I think. I loved it but I hated the way it ended. And the sequel doesn't come out for another year. If you loved The Selection you should read it.

Disclaimer: Kiera Cass owns The Selection, not me.