Despite my rotten day, Marlee's manner was so vivacious that my smile grew wider. "I don't think so. I mean, I can have a bad temper at times, but my sister is a redhead, and she's as sweet as can be."
With that we settled into an easy conversation about what got us mad and what always fixed our moods. Marlee liked movies, and so did I, though I rarely got to see them. We talked about actors who were unbearably attractive, which seemed strange since we were off to be Maxon's pack of girlfriends. Ashley giggled every once in a while but never more than that. If she was asked a direct question, she'd give a brief answer and go back to her guarded smile.
Marlee and I got along easily, and it gave me hope that maybe I'd come out of this with a friend to show for it. Though we talked for probably half an hour, the time flew by. We wouldn't have stopped talking except for the distinct sound of high heels clicking across the floor. Our heads all turned in unison, and I heard Marlee's mouth open with a pop.
There, walking toward us, was a brunette with sunglasses on. She had a daisy in her hair, but it had been dyed red to match her lipstick. Her hips swayed as she walked, and each fall of her three-inch heels accentuated her confident stride. Unlike Marlee and Ashley, she didn't smile.
But it wasn't because she was unhappy. No, she was focused. Her entrance was meant to inspire intimidation. And it worked on ladylike Ashley, who I heard breathe an "Oh, no" as the new girl walked closer.
This person, who I recognized as Celeste Newsome of Clermont, Two, didn't bother me. She assumed we were fighting for the same thing. But you can't be pushed if it's something you don't want.
Celeste finally reached us, and Marlee squeaked out a hello, trying to be friendly even in the midst of intimidation. Celeste merely looked her over and sighed.
"When do we leave?" she asked.
"We don't know," I answered without a hint of fear. "You've been holding up the show."
She didn't like that at all, and I got a once-over from her. She wasn't impressed.
"Sorry, quite a few people wanted to see me off. I couldn't help it." She smiled wide, as if it was obvious she was meant to be worshipped.
And I was about to surround myself with girls like this. Great.
As if on cue, a man appeared through the door to our left.
"I hear all four of our Selected girls are here?"
"We sure are," Celeste replied sweetly. The man sort of melted a little, you could see it in his eyes. Ah. So this was her game.
The captain paused a moment and then snapped to. "Well. Ladies, if you'll just follow me, we'll get you on the plane and off to your new home."
The flight, which was really only terrifying during the takeoff and landing, lasted a few short hours. We were offered movies and food, but all I wanted to do was look out the window. I watched the country from above, amazed at just how big it all was.
Celeste chose to sleep through the flight, which was a small mercy. Ashley had a foldout desk set up and was already writing letters about her adventure. That was smart of her to pack paper. I bet May would love to hear about this part of the journey, even though it didn't include the prince.
"She's so elegant," Marlee whispered to me, tilting her head toward Ashley. We were sitting across from each other in plush seats in the very front of the small plane. "From the moment we met, she's been nothing but proper. She's going to be tough competition," she said with a sigh.
"You can't think about it that way," I answered. "Yes, you're trying to make it to the end, but not by beating someone else. You've just got to be you. Who knows? Maybe Maxon would prefer someone more relaxed."
Marlee thought that over. "I guess that's a good point. It's hard to not like her. She's awfully kind. And so beautiful." I nodded in agreement. Marlee's voice dropped to a whisper. "Celeste, on the other hand..."
I widened my eyes and shook my head. "I know. It's only been an hour, and I'm already looking forward to her going home."
Marlee covered her mouth to hide a laugh. "I don't want to talk badly about anyone, but she's so aggressive. And Maxon's not even around yet. I'm a little nervous about her."
"Don't be," I assured her. "Girls like that? They'll take themselves out of the competition."
Marlee sighed. "I hope so. Sometimes I wish..."
"What?"
"Well, sometimes I wish that the Twos had an idea about what it felt like to be treated the way they treat us."
I nodded. I'd never really thought of myself being on the same level as a Four, but I guess we were in a similar place. If you weren't a Two or Three, it was just varying shades of bad.
"Thanks for talking to me," she said. "I was worried that everyone would just be out for themselves, but you and Ashley have been really nice. Maybe this will be fun." Her voice lifted with hope.
I wasn't so sure, but I smiled back. I had no reason to shun Marlee or be rude to Ashley. The other girls might not be so laid-back.
When we landed, the air was silent as we walked the distance from the plane to the terminal with guards at our side. But once the doors were opened, we were met with ear-shattering screams.
The terminal was full of people jumping and cheering. A path had been cleared for us with a golden carpet lined with coordinating rope barriers. At regular intervals along this channel were guards, looking around anxiously and poised to strike at the first hint of danger. Surely there were more important things they should be doing?
Luckily, Celeste was in front, and she started waving. I knew immediately that that was the right response, not the cowering I had been considering. And since the cameras were there to catch our every move, I was doubly glad I hadn't been leading the pack.
The crowd was wild with joy. These would be the people we lived the closest to, and they were all looking forward to catching the first glimpses of the girls coming to town. One of us would be their queen someday.
I turned my head a dozen times in a matter of seconds as people called my name from all over the packed terminal. There were signs with my name on them, too. I was amazed. Already there were people here-people not in my caste or from my province-who hoped it would be me. I felt a little roll of guilt in my stomach that I would let them all down.
I dropped my head for a moment and saw a little girl pressed up against the railing. She couldn't have been more than twelve years old. In her hands was a sign that said RED-HEADS RULE! with a little crown painted in the corner and tiny stars everywhere. I knew I was the only redhead in the competition, and I noticed that her hair and mine were very nearly the same shade.
The girl wanted an autograph. Beside her, someone wanted a photograph, and beside him someone wanted to shake my hand. So I went practically down the entire line, turning around once or twice to talk to people on the other side of the carpet, too.
I was the last one to leave, making the other girls wait at least twenty minutes for me. Quite honestly, I probably wouldn't have left as soon as I did except the next plane of Selected girls was coming in, and it seemed rude to overlap their time.
Getting into the car, I saw Celeste roll her eyes, but I didn't care. I was still sort of in awe of how I'd adjusted so quickly to something that had frightened me only moments before. I had made it through my good-byes, meeting the first girls, my flight, and interacting with our mob of fans. All without doing anything embarrassing.
I thought about the cameras following me in the terminal and pictured my family watching my entrance on TV. I hoped they'd be proud.
CHAPTER 9.
EVEN AFTER THE SUBSTANTIAL GREETING party at the airport, the roads leading up to the palace were lined with masses of people calling out their well-wishes. The sad thing was that we weren't allowed to roll down the windows to acknowledge them. The guard in the front said to think of ourselves as extensions of the royal family. Many adored us, but there were people out there who wouldn't be above hurting us to hurt the prince. Or the monarchy itself.
I was stuck next to Celeste in the car-a special one that had two rows of seats facing each other in the back and darkened windows-with Ashley and Marlee sitting together in front of us. Marlee beamed as she stared out the windows, and it was obvious why. Her name was on several of the signs. It would be impossible to count how many admirers she had.
Ashley's name was sprinkled in there, too, almost as much as Celeste's, and far more than mine. Ashley, ever the lady, took not being a runaway favorite in stride. Celeste, I could see, was irritated.
"What do you think she did?" Celeste whispered in my ear, as Marlee and Ashley spoke to each other of home.
"What do you mean?" I whispered back.
"To be so popular. You think she bribed someone?" Her cold eyes focused in on Marlee as if she was weighing her worth in her head.
"She's a Four," I said doubtfully. "She wouldn't have the means to bribe someone."
Celeste sucked her teeth. "Please. A girl has more than one way she can pay for what she wants," she said, and pulled away to look out the window.
It took me a moment to understand what she was suggesting, and it didn't sit well with me. Not because it was obvious that someone as innocent as Marlee would never think about sleeping with someone to get ahead-or even consider breaking a law-but because it was becoming clear that life at the palace might be more vicious than I had imagined.
I didn't have a very good view coming up to the palace, but I noticed the walls. They were a pale yellow stucco and very, very high. Guards were placed on top at either side of the wide gate that swung open as we approached. Inside we were greeted with a long gravel drive that circled a fountain and led to the front doors, where officials waited to welcome us.
With barely more than a hello, two women took me by the arms and ushered me inside.
"So sorry to rush, miss, but your group is running late," one said.
"Oh, I'm afraid that's my fault. I got a little too chatty at the airport."
"Talking to the crowds?" the other asked in surprise.
They exchanged a look I didn't understand before they started calling out locations as we passed.
The dining room was to the right, they told me, and the Great Room was to the left. I caught a glimpse of sprawling gardens out the glass doors and wished I could stop. Before I could even process where we were going, they pulled me into a huge room full of bustling people.
A swarm parted, and I saw rows of mirrors with people working on girls' hair and painting their nails. Clothes hung on racks, and people were shouting things like "I found the dye!" and "That makes her look pudgy."
"Here they are!" I saw a woman coming up to us, clearly the person in charge. "I'm Silvia. We spoke on the phone," she said as a means of introduction, then immediately went to work. "First things first. We need *before' pictures. Come over here," she commanded, pointing us to a chair in the corner in front of a backdrop. "Don't mind the cameras, ladies. We'll be doing a special on your makeovers, since every girl in Illea's going to want to look like you by the time we're done today."
Sure enough, teams of people with cameras were wandering around the room, zooming in on girls' shoes, and interviewing them. Once the pictures were done, Silvia began shouting orders. "Take Lady Celeste to station four, Lady Ashley to five ... and it looks like they just finished up at ten. Take Lady Marlee there, and Lady America to six."
"So here's the thing," a short, dark-haired man said, pulling me over to a seat with a six on the back. "We need to talk about your image." He was all business.
"My image?" Wasn't I just me? Wasn't that what got me here?
"How do we want to make you look? With that red hair, we can make you quite the temptress, but if you want to play that kind of thing down, we can work that out, too," he said matter-of-factly.
"I'm not changing everything about me to cater to some guy I don't even know." Or like, I added in my head.
"Oh, my. Do we have an individual here?" he sang, as if I were a child.
"Aren't we all?"
The man smiled at me. "Fine, then. We won't change your image, we'll just enhance it. I need to polish you up a bit, but your aversion to all things fake might just be your greatest asset here. Hold on to that, honey." He patted me on the back and walked away, sending a group of women swarming my way.
I didn't realize that when he said "polish," he meant it literally. I had women scrub my body because I apparently couldn't be trusted to do a good enough job on my own. Then every exposed bit of skin was covered with lotions and oils that left me smelling like vanilla, which according to the girl who applied them was one of Maxon's favorite smells.
After they were done making me smooth and supple, attention was turned to my nails. They were trimmed and buffed and the tough little pieces of skin around them were miraculously smoothed away. I told them I'd prefer not to have my nails painted, but they looked so disappointed that I told them they could do my toes. The one girl picked a nice neutral shade, so it wasn't too bad.
The team of people who worked on my nails left me for another girl, and I sat quietly in my chair, waiting for the next round of beautification. A camera crew came past, zooming in on my hands.
"Don't move," a woman ordered. She squinted at my hand. "Do you even have anything on your nails?"
"No."
She sighed, got her shot, and moved on.
I heaved a heavy sigh myself. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a jerking motion just to my right. I looked and saw a girl staring into nowhere while her leg bounced up and down under a large cape they'd draped over her.
"You okay?" I asked.
My voice shocked her out of her trance. She sighed. "They want to dye my hair blond. They said it would look better with my skin tone. I'm just nervous, I guess."
She gave me a tight smile, and I returned it. "You're Sosie, right?"
"Yeah." She smiled in earnest then. "And you're America?" I nodded. "I heard you came in with that Celeste girl. She's terrible!"
I rolled my eyes. Since we'd arrived, every few minutes the entire room could hear Celeste yelling at some poor maid to bring her something or to get out of her way.
"You have no idea," I muttered, and we both giggled. "Listen, I think your hair's very pretty." It was, too. Not too dark, not too light, and very full.
"Thanks."
"If you don't want to change it, you shouldn't have to."
Sosie smiled, but I could tell she wasn't completely sure if I was trying to be friendly or hold her back. Before she could say anything, teams of people came to work on us, directing one another so loudly there was no way for us to finish talking.
My hair was washed, conditioned, hydrated, and smoothed. It was long and all one length when I came in-my mom usually cut it, and that was the best she could do-but by the time they were done, it was several inches shorter and had layers. I liked those; they made my hair catch the light in interesting ways. Some girls got things called highlights, and others, like Sosie, had the color changed completely. But my attendants and I all agreed that mine should go untouched in that department.
A very pretty-looking girl did my makeup. I instructed her to go light, and it was nice. Lots of the other girls looked a little older or younger or just nicer after the makeup. I still looked like me when I was done. Of course, so did Celeste, since she insisted upon piling it on.
I'd gone through most of this process in a robe, and once they were done fixing me up, I was led over to the racks of clothes. My name was hanging above a bar holding a week's worth of dresses. I guessed princesses-in-training didn't wear pants.
The one I ended up in was a cream color. It fell off my shoulders, fit snugly at my waist, and hit just at my knees. The girl helping me into it called it a day dress. She told me that my evening dresses were already in my room, and the rest of these would go up there as well. Then she placed a silver pin near the top of my dress. My name glittered across it. Finally she put me into shoes she called kitten heels and sent me back to the corner so I could take my "after" shot. From there I was ordered to one of four little stations lined up against the wall. Each had a chair with a backdrop and a camera sitting in front of it.
I sat down as instructed and waited. A woman came up with a clipboard of information in her hand and asked me to be patient while she found my papers.
"What's this for?" I asked.
"The makeover special. We'll be airing one about your arrivals tonight, the makeovers are on Wednesday, and then Friday you'll do your first Report. People have seen your pictures and know a little bit about what was on your applications," she said as she located her papers and placed them on the top of her clipboard. Then she laced her fingers together and continued. "But we want to make them really pull for you. And that won't happen unless they can get to know you. So we'll just do a little interview here, and you do your best on the Reports, and then don't be shy when you see us around the palace. We aren't here every day, but we'll be around."
"Okay," I said meekly. I really didn't want to talk to camera crews. It all felt so intrusive.
"So, America Singer, yes?" she asked just seconds after a red light lit up on the top of the camera.
"Yes." I tried to push the nerves out of my voice.
"I have to be honest, you don't look like you changed too much to me. Can you tell us what happened in your makeover today?"
I thought. "They put layers in my hair. I like that." I ran my fingers through the red strands, feeling how soft my hair was after professional care. "And they covered me in vanilla lotion. I kind of smell like dessert," I said, sniffing my arm.
She laughed. "It is lovely. And that dress really suits you."