"So, Lady Corrine, tell us about your background." The man behind the camera questioned, looking only through the lens. Not once had he directly looked me in the eye. Strange.

"Well, I come from Angeles, I model at times, my father was an actor but is now a businessman and my mother was a singer and now stays at home. I love to dance and sing. Studying and reading is also a huge part of my life. I love horseback riding too." I state with a plastered smile, rambling off random facts about myself.

"Great! Well, Lady Corrine, what have you changed with your look?" He asks, face still in camera. His absolute refusal to look me in the eye is starting to worry me. Does my makeup look bad or is he shy?

"Not much has changed. I pride myself in my natural hair color, I love it's brown ringlets. I did however get it trimmed." My crossed legs and wide smile are wearing thin. Luckily, the cameraman is sensing my discomfort and wraps up the short interview.

As I rise out of my chair, Miss Jenkins glues herself to my side. To my dismay, I realize that we are about the same height; only about five foot three. I smile softer now at her ramblings, my wide smile from the interview still hurts and it takes everything within me not to make awkwardly stretching faces.

"Now Lady Jameston, I will personally show you and the other girls to your rooms. Now come this way." She waddles quickly to get to the door that leads us to a hallway. While her piercing voice rambles as to what we are to do next, step by step, I make my way over to London, Aurora, and Bianca. Luckily, we all seem to be getting along so far, and I haven't met anyone that could be completely mean. Erica sure is a candidate but I understand where she got upset.

We head in direction of the East Wing of the second floor and girls slowly leave the group to venture into their luxurious rooms. At this point, it's just London, myself, a girl named Paige, and a girl named Olive. To my joy, we all are left with the rooms at the end of the hallway. Far away from the commotion of the Palace.

I bid a short goodbye to the three girls and carefully open the white, heavy door. I chuckle in amazement at its beauty. Two large archway windows showing the gardens, a big chandelier hanging from the high ceilings, a four post bed with pure white sheets and a soft duvet, a desk near the window, and a matching white bureau too. A vanity lies in the corner and next to that are two large doors leading to a large bathroom and closet about the same size as mine back home.

As soon as I fling open the glass doors, three maids bustle in, chit-chatting to their hearts content. As the tallest one eyes me, she nudges the blonde next to her who gasps, grabbing the short brunet's attention. In graceful synchrony, they all curtesy together in my direction.

"Hello! It is lovely to meet you all. I'm Corrine Jameston." I announce loudly compared to the three girls who look as though they are about to be scolded.

"I apologize if we disturbed you Miss." The tall one replies quietly. I shake my head and laugh at their scared demeanor.

"I am not going to yell at you. You are free to talk as much as you'd like. Be yourselves, please. So many people are nervous and trust me, there is no need." I smile softly at them and I slowly see their rigid appearance fall.

"Thank you Miss. I'm Clover." The blonde who practically jumped out of her skin when she first saw me, said. She surprisingly oozes confidence and I know that we will quickly get along.

"Good afternoon Miss, I am Claire." The tall one with blonde hair introduces.

"Welcome Miss, I am Sarah." The smaller brunet practically whispers, obviously nervous, and I wonder as to who made her act so shy. Is the person in charge of maids cruel to them?

"Thank you all. I'm positive we will all get along great!" Claire and Clover smile brightly at my statement but Sarah stands quietly, as if she was expecting something else.

I almost build up the courage to ask her what's wrong when Clover spots the clock above the desk and shouts that it's time for me to get ready for dinner. Apparently since it's the first time I'm publicly presenting myself in front of all the Selected, I have to make a statement about myself.

Claire helps Clover pick out a lilac dress that has tulle straps. The first layer of the dress is a thin white fabric and the second layer is the same lilac tulle but has swirls of silver at the bottom near my feet.

"Ladies, this looks amazing! I absolutely love it!" I gush to the three very helpful and happy looking girls.

"Now let me do your hair! You'll look ravishing." Sarah insists and she's gets to work, pulling out the braids and elegantly twisting it into a half-up half-down hairstyle.

Claire fixes the makeup in which was already on while Clover picks out a pair of silver strapped heels.

I thank them repeatedly before heading down to the dining hall.

The room is filled with many girls I have yet to meet, each one already in closed groups. I awkwardly head over to my assigned seat when a feel a sharp tap on my shoulder.

I turn to see a girl with silky black hair and regal sharp eyes. Her lips are coated in a deep red color and she wears more jewels than I thought possible.

"Hello?" I say. My social ineptitude shining through.

"Corrine Jameston, right? It's lovely to meet you. I'm Megan Hu. I think our father's have worked together before. He's still in New Asia but my mother, sisters, and I moved here to have an opportunity to become Selected." Megan introduces herself in a rather lengthy manner.

"Lovely to finally meet you, Megan. My father loves doing business with your family." I lie with a smile. Father doesn't bring business into the house. It's too much of a serious topic for table discussions. I have never heard of any coworkers or customers of Father's which only makes this situation more weird.

She sits down with a smile that too closely resembles a smirk and I wonder as to why she looks so smug.

London, Aurora, and Bianca are all on the opposite side of the table, far away from the snobs. I am surrounded by them, each one, one-upping the last with their comments. I remain out of their conversations and I am overjoyed when diner is finally finished.

Instead of heading back to my room like the rest of the girls are, I head back up to Gracelyn's as I promised.

The guards nodded as I walked pass them and one opened the door for me when I reached her room. Gracelyn yelps in glee as I come over to sit with her on the sofa.

"Finally! I though we would never get to chat! Sal, tea please?" She gushes and throws down her book.

"I know! It's been too long!" I giggle and she smiles.

"So how has life treated you since I saw you at the ball?" She rambles, brushing back some of her golden curls.

"Well my mother has been treating me like crap when not in public. She cooped me up in the house every second unless I was modeling. It was amazing I got away when I could!" I rant, feeling good getting it all out. I am just grateful that those weeks are over, I felt like a puppet.

"Tell me about it. I can't leave the Palace, like, ever. Anyway, modeling! Is it fun?"

"It can be amazing, feeling so beautiful and being pampered. But it has a downside too. Some people are very degrading. The things they put me in aren't always the most appropriate." I frown remembering the lingerie shoot. The cameramen looked at me like I was a piece of meat. It was completely horrifying.

"That's terrible! Why did you go through with it?" She questions, brows furrowed in seriousness.

"My mother would have my head if I didn't." I explain.

Luckily, to break up the silence, Sal, Gracelyn's maid, comes back in with out tea. She mumbles a few words before heading back out.

"So how about you? It can't be all boring." I say, referencing her comment earlier about how she had been so bored these past few days.

"Well I guess it was fun helping my mom pick out decorations. It took hours to decide what colored drapes to put up in the dining hall."

"Wow. Drapes. Fun." We both double over in laughter. I clutch my stomach, hurting from the endless giggles.

Sobering up, Gracelyn smirks at me.

"What?" I inquire with a dubious brow.

"Just thinking about what you said earlier. To Hunter. Your little speech there left him in quite the tizzy." She mentions nonchalantly. My eyes flicker down to the cup of tea in my lap to hide the small joy bubbling up inside me.

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh."

Hello my lovelies!

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