I kept the kiss a secret. I didn't tell Liana, Genevieve, or even my maids. Even though I somewhat trusted them, I didn't want it spreading like wildfire throughout the palace. If the other selected found out, they'd attack me with questions. I wanted to keep the kiss between Derek and I. To me, keeping the kiss a secret made it all the more special.
After Derek had taken me to my room, I tried to get the dreamy look off of my face. I'd walked in with a simple, happy smile so that my maids wouldn't bombard me with their questions. I replied to their questions with simple answers so I didn't sound overly happy. It was a struggle to stop my smile from widening but, after they finished preparing me for bed, I was finally free to show my emotions.
I'd jumped on top of my bed, dancing to imaginary music. I was a god-awful dancer, but when there was no one watching, I was free to move however I wanted. My hair was flying back and forth, my legs and arms shook, and laughter flowed out of my mouth. The realization that the prince had actually wanted to kiss me had sunk in, and my emotions were showing themselves in every part of me.
Now, lying down alone in my bed, I felt my heart sink. Random dance parties were a regular occurrence with my sisters and I. If anything remotely exciting happened, or we were just in the dancing mood, we would jump on top of our beds and dance our hearts out. They lasted until Kaleb or Aidan told us to knock it off, or until we collapsed with sheer exhaustion.
Dancing alone in this bedroom had made me realize that those random dance parties may never happen again. If I went home, Annika would probably still be mad at me, and decide to move out. Her dream had always been to go to college and get a better education, but with our lack of money that had never been an option. Now that we had plenty of money from the selection, that could be her ticket out of our sleepy town.
If I went to the end of the selection, and ended up marrying Derek, dance parties would again be no more. Annika would hate me for marrying him, and I'd be the princess of Illéa. Dance parties were out of that equation.
Either way, Annika would hate me. We had been best friends from the minute I was born, and because of the damn selection, it was over. Years of friendship and sisterhood had been shattered all because of my sisters' jealousy. I hated it.
I liked Derek. A lot. I wasn't in love with him, not even close, but I didn't think that it was impossible for me to love him in the future. I didn't want my worries about Annika hanging over my head, but I couldn't help it. She was my sister, my best friend. I didn't want Derek to be the person that came between us.
I could only hope that Annika would forgive me, and move past her jealousy. It was a stupid thing to lose our friendship over, but I wasn't going to be the one to apologize. I hadn't planned on being chosen for the selection. Annika was a smart girl but she wasn't when it came to boys and relationships. Not that I was an expert, but still. If Annika hadn't been chosen, that was a clear sign that her and Derek weren't meant to be.
Either way, I wasn't going to apologize. I had entered, just like her, into a completely random drawing. It had been luck that I was chosen. And even though I'd dreamed of being with Derek as a little girl, seeing him in real life had changed my perspective. He was a real person, with a real personality and interests and dreams that I wanted to learn more about. I could only hope that he felt the same way about me.
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Crazy boring I know, I'm very sorry. I am now on summer break, but finding time to update will be harder than I had thought. Hopefully I will update at least once a week, but at times it will be less. Still, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Also, I now have a tumblr! I haven't really posted anything, but I hope to soon. It is called lovemultifandoms
Please comment and vote! I'd love to hear your thoughts (: