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Chapter 1

Cali

The wind was running around furiously, like it was trying to win a race. I always paid a lot of attention to the weather, since it told me where I was going to sleep for the night. Usually the weather wasn't too bad in Angeles, it was actually quite nice, but today it seemed angry. Probably at the royal family, they always seemed to make people angry.

Centuries ago, probably like a thousand years or so, Queen America and her husband King Maxon destroyed the caste system and over the years everything settled down. But now, the caste system is up again, because of the oh-so-terrible King Cameron and Queen Hana from about a hundred years ago. So I'm an Eight, ever since my grandfather died from a leg injury working for a bunch of loser Twos. I was bumped down to the lowest caste since I was only a little girl and I didn't have anything or anyone to take care of me. Great, I thought, another thing that makes me hate the royal family.

I never really, truly, eat. Some people are kind enough to give me food, but I always find a way to help someone else with it. Once I gave a bag of beef jerky I found to a stray dog who was thinned to the bone, another time I gave an apple someone gave me to a little girl on the side of the road. I always feel good afterwards though, not starving, but well.

I watch the cars drive by me as I lean against a light. The light flickers on and off, creating a dark and gloomy glow around the area I'm standing and beyond. I never know what to do with myself. I usually know that I should be looking for food, or finding somewhere to stay, but I am always too... distracted you could say. Yeah distracted, that sounds about right.

Sometimes I just lay my head down for a rest on a bench in front of a store. Sometimes I find a decent alleyway to sleep in, or a small area that won't have bugs crawling in and out of my ear by morning. (Sorry for that visual image)

But benches usually sound the most appealing.

"Yeah, I'm sure it'll be slow tomorrow, with all of the girls gone to send in their forms for the Selection," I hear a man behind me say as the sound of clinking keys fills my ears. The Selection.

Though I hate the royal family to the moon and back, that thought never left my mind. The Selection. I always wondered what it would be like to be in one of those. I stand in the shadow of the palace everyday and I've never wanted to be inside, until now. Until I heard a teenage girl talking on the phone to her mother about the Selection.

Stop daydreaming Cali, it's stupid to even imagine something like that. The royal family is terrible, and there is no way you'd ever be lucky enough to get a form, I think to myself as I look back at the coffee shop the men just locked up. In front of it sat a small brown bench with metal legs. I stare at it, wondering if I'll get up early enough to dodge the owner's wrath.

It's worth a try, isn't it?

Yeah, I guess it is.

And I go to say goodnight to myself on a broken old bench. Luxury, real comfy.

Lavender

The only thing that was going through my friend's minds at the moment was the sound of a prince asking them to marry him. They were staring at the Selection form, both smiling, both glad to have something so beautiful in their hands.

They do realize that the prince probably doesn't even know their alive, right? Part of me whispers to another.

I'm not sure they do.

"Hey!" I wave my hand in front of both of their faces. Kelly's eyes pop up to mine and she shakes her head, golden brown hair flopping everywhere, "Sorry, I was just-wow, I can't believe Prince Xander is nineteen already!"

I roll my eyes and wave my hand in front of my other friend Veronica's face. She doesn't move, her eyes not traveling far from the paper as she reads over the whole letter. I clear my throat, hoping to gain some attention from her, but she's just having a grand old party wasting my time.

"Veronica! Veronica seriously I don't think the prince would like another fangirl, he's already got more than a million. I'm sure there are girls in France right now drooling over him!" I say crossing my arms. I never understood this. The prince was an idiot; the whole royal family was a stupid joke, so why did they get so much attention from stupid girls like my two best friends?

"Oh come on Lavender! Don't tell us that you aren't excited too!" Veronica yelps, jumping up and down. I roll my eyes once more, probably for the hundredth time today. Kelly groans, "Oh no Veronica! You've given her a reason to lecture us!"

I do lecture, and I must say, I do an amazing job at it. I always lecture Kelly and Veronica. Their always wrong about something and I, being the terrific historian I am, will always correct them. And whenever they drool over the prince, or say how amazing he is, I have to laugh because, he's not. I'm a Three, and even I know how terrible they are, the whole royal family! Veronica and Kelly don't understand because they live in their old little world, they've never had anyone be a caste under them that they loved. Not like me. I sighed and rubbed my forehead, Veronica was the one who got on my nerves the most. Every day, all she said was, Oh my goodness Prince Xander is just gorgeous! or maybe she'd say something stupid like, Lavender seriously, their just a bunch of Sixes, why would you care about them?

Sometimes I just want to throttle her. But I guess friends will be friends and there's nothing I can do about it.

"Lavender please sign up! We'll feel empty without you doing it too! Besides, you probably won't get chosen anyways I mean look at all of these amazing girls here!" Veronica says pointing to a bunch of girls getting ready to turn in their forms. They look like rag dolls dipped in sparkles. One girl's hair is probably higher than the light post, another girl's face has so much blush on that she looks like an apple with eyes. I'm surprised. I haven't even filled out the form yet and they're already rushing for a spot in the mailbox. Poor, poor mailman and cameraman, they have to spend time around a bunch of crazy girls all day.

"I don't think I'm going to sign up, it seems a little crowded," I say but Kelly jumps in, ruining everything.

"Oh don't worry! The crowd will die down, but seriously, there is probably a zero percent chance of you getting in, so just try it out!" Kelly's hands reach for my form, the one I'm holding in my hands. I quickly try to dodge, but she snatches it up and takes out a pen.

"If there's a zero percent chance of me getting in then why do you want me to sign up?" I ask putting my hand on my hips. Veronica rolls her eyes and gives me one of those, isn't-it-obvious looks. She takes my right hand and turns me around to look at the line of girls.

"Look at them, look at all of them, don't they look happy?" She asks.

"No," I answer.

"Wouldn't you like to be happy too?"

"Not really."

"Oh come on Lavender!" She wines and stares at her form. She's all dressed up for the cameraman to take her picture. Of course she doesn't look ridiculous like the other girls here in Hansport. She's wearing a dress that goes down to her knees, because she always wears dresses, even if some of them look like they should be in a second graders classroom rather than outside in the open. Of course she's wearing heels, even though she's five foot eight inches. I look over at Kelly, who is short, only five foot one inch tall, and she's wearing flats. I shake my head and turn my attention back to Veronica and her crazy wardrobe. She's fixing her black bun. She looks mature, but in reality, mature isn't even in her dictionary. She's more like a boy crazy teenage girl rather than mature. I'm the mature one in the group, and Kelly is the sweet one. I guess that's just how every friend group goes. But we don't have a rebel in the group, unless you call me hating the royal family, rebellious. Maybe when Veronica gets into the Selection, which Kelly and I both know will happen since she's strikingly gorgeous, rich, a Two and she has family in France, since she is part French, maybe once she gets into the Selection, she can bring back a rebel to be in our friend group. Because I really would rather have her bring back a rebel girl then a prince.

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