Selected
Ninth

I came out of my bed cocoon to read for a little while. Eventually I had passed out, and when I woke up someone was wrapped around me. I looked over my shoulder to see a tuff of blonde hair. He stirred a little because of my movement, but didn’t wake. The clock beside me read 4:45. I had been asleep for almost 3 hours. I rubbed my face, still a little groggy from my extra long nap. I felt better, a lot better actually. My headache was gone and my stomach wasn’t in knots anymore. Not wanting to wake Vox, I carefully grabbed the book off my nightstand and propped it up so I could read.

Not ten minutes after I had started reading did Vox’s hand reach across and slap it closed. “No books in bed.”

I rolled my eyes, “My bed my rules. And my rules say that books are allowed in bed.”

He chuckled. “Fair point.” There was a pause before he continued, “Hal said you were talking about the wedding when you suddenly didn’t feel well.”

“Yeah, it’s just been a little overwhelming. The whole getting married in two weeks thing.”

“What makes it so overwhelming?” This was another point that showed how different our cultures were.

I shrugged, “I don’t know I just... It’s just that where I’m from we don’t get married for at least a couple months. Most couples wait a year.”

“Why wait? It’s not like you can change your mind.”

I frowned. Maybe that’s what was troubling me. Not the fact that I was getting married to a complete stranger in two weeks. Okay yeah, that was half my problem. But the other half was the fact that I didn’t have any say in the matter. I couldn’t say no. I was going to be forced to stand under an alter and say ‘I do’. I decided to just talk about the former complaint for now. “I know, but we barely know each other.”

“Okay, well, what do you want to know?”

I twisted around so I could see his face. “I don’t know.”

He chuckled, “Then why are you complaining?”

I rolled my eyes, “Why don’t you ask me something?”

He frowned in concentration. “Okay. Hmmm. Okay, yeah. What’s your favorite book?”

Easy. “Romeo and Juliet.”

“A. That’s a play. B. Why on earth is that your favorite? They all die in the end.”

I frowned at him, “Because it’s all about how they would do anything for love. I think that’s noble, because I know I couldn’t do the same.” I thought back to Koontz asking me to run away with him.

He let my comment go. I think he wanted to keep the conversation light. This was a get to know you conversation not dig up things that you regret most conversation. “So I repeat, what’s your favorite book.”

I smiled and rolled my eyes, “I don’t know. I really like the book you gave me.”

A smile appeared on his lips and playfulness danced in his eyes. “Oh yeah? What part are you at?”

“Um,” I opened the book and reread the last line. “Him and the other prisoner are digging the tunnel.”

Vox grinned, “Ooooh, you’re just getting to the good part.”

“It’s all good.”

“Yeah but he’s about to get to the treasure.” He grinned.

I smiled in response, “Can’t wait. I could probably finish it sooner, but somebody doesn’t like reading in bed.”

“I wonder who that could be.”

“I have no clue.”

He chuckled. “Okay, next question. Are you ready? This one is going to be hard.”

I rolled my eyes, “Fire away.”

“You asked for it.”

I laughed, “Just ask already.”

He smirked at me, “What’s your favorite color?”

I shrugged and then thought about it. My room back home was painted green. I liked green it was the color of grass.

“Green, like grass.”

He smiled, “I like green, but I’d have to say mine would be blue.”

“Oh, yeah? And why is that?”

He shrugged, “I don’t know, I just like it. It’s calming.” He smiled at the end of his statement, like just picturing the color alone gave him serenity. I liked it when he smiled. I liked it even better when he laughed. His laugh was nice.

I was suddenly aware of how close we really were. His face was inches from mine, our bodies were inches apart. He picked up a strand of my hair and was playing with it as he asked his next question, “What do you miss most about 16?”

I looked up into his eyes. He was seriously curious. There was no playfulness in there anymore, just curiosity. I licked my lips, they were suddenly dry. “Probably my family.”

He nodded, “What were your parents like?”

Now we were diving into the deep stuff. These questions were no longer what’s your favorite animal. I swallowed, “Well, my parents had the reasoning that I’d be gone, so what’s the point in getting attached? They loved me, at least that’s what I’d like to think, but they never really showed it. I think it was to make it easier when I left.”

He was intently listening to every word I said. “But you still miss them?”

I frowned and shook my head, “Not really them so much. I miss Koontz and his mother and brother more. They were more like my family. I loved them a lot. Teyland is the one who made me the dress. She was more like my mother than mine could ever be.”

I could feel Vox studying me. He stayed silent for a few heartbeats before he finally said what I knew he would eventually figure out. “You loved him. More than a brother, I mean.”

I didn’t look up. My voice was small when I finally confirmed his conclusion. “Yes.”

His voice was equally quiet, “I’m sorry.”

I looked up at him, his gold eyes were dark, like he was lost in his own memory. “Did you love anyone?”

Vox stayed silent for a few seconds before answering. “I thought maybe at one point, but she didn’t feel the same. After a while I think I realized that I didn’t really love her.”

“What happened?” Who was this girl? Was she still here, or had she been matched in a different sector?

“Well, a lot of the time if you’re matched with someone else in Sector 3, your families meet up before hand a few times and get to know each other. So a lot of the times what happens is these couples start dating already. I think that’s why its so common that people get married right away because they’ve already been dating.

"Anyway, all my friends were coupled off with their match except for me and a few others. I don’t know I felt left out, and Felicity, who you heard Mal mention last night, we started to get together. And to make a long story short, I found out that she was only using me to get back at this other guy she was secretly dating, Ketchum. He’s actually matched with Mal. It was a huge mess when everyone found out.”

I didn’t really know what to say in response. So I stuck with the two words he had said to me, “I’m sorry.”

He shrugged it off, “Don’t worry about it. It was a while ago. What’s in the past is in the past.”

I wished I could feel the same. Vox had let go of his past. But here I was feeling guilty whenever I thought of Vox as being attractive. Feeling as though I was doing something wrong. Koontz and I were never even officially together. We never could be. We just had mutual feelings for each other. Koontz was probably living his life happily with his new match, never giving me a second thought.

“Speaking of Mal and Ketchum, their wedding is tomorrow. Out of the kindness of their hearts, they invited us.” I stayed quiet. I didn’t know them, nor did I want to go to their wedding. “We don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

I shrugged, “I don’t care either way. They’re your friends.”

He frowned, “So you wouldn’t mind going with me?”

I shook my head, “No, I’ll go if you want.”

He smiled, “As long as you don’t upstage the bride.”

“What do you mean?”

Vox shrugged as he looked me directly in the eyes, “Just that you looked pretty incredible last night.”

I could feel my face get hot as a blush crept to my cheeks. I tried to play it off as I rolled my eyes, “Whatever.”

He chuckled. “I don’t know what you’re going to wear. I think even in rags you’ll look a million times better than Mal could ever dream of looking.”

I swatted his arm, “Get out of here.” He chuckled. “But in all seriousness what should I wear?”

Vox glanced over at the open closet, “I don’t know, what do you have.”

“Probably every dress imaginable.”

“You should try your favorites on, and I’ll decide which one you should wear tomorrow.”

I frowned, “That sounds like a lot of work on my part.”

He shrugged, “I guess you will have to figure out what dress to wear on your own then.”

I sighed. “Fine I’ll put the stupid dresses on.”

He smiled, but I didn’t move. I stayed right where I was. This was nice, just laying in bed. I liked Vox the best when it was just me and him, no one else. In a moment like this I could actually imagine future us together. Just us without all the gaudy parties and lavish dresses and extravagant furnishings. I liked Vox when he was just Vox, not Vox Bly, not the son of Lincoln Bly, not the heir to the Selector throne, just Vox.

“Oh, hey. I almost forgot.” He sat up, and suddenly I was sad for the distance between us. He grabbed his coat off the bed post and dug around in the pocket. “Here’s stuff to write the letter. Just write it on this paper and put it in this envelope. It’s already got all the official stamps and everything so we can just drop it off at the post and it should be there in a few days.”

I sat up and took the papers from him. “Thanks.” I didn’t want to think about this right now. I didn’t want to bring up Koontz or my feelings for him. I tucked the papers into the drawer of my nightstand and tucked Koontz into a drawer inside my mind. Dwelling on my feelings for Koontz wasn’t making my situation with Vox any better. Vox was the one I was going to be with for the rest of my life. Not Koontz. I should stop thinking about him. He’s my past, and he’s always going to be my past.

I got up off the bed, “Okay, so how fancy is this wedding going to be?”

I turned to look at Vox as he propped himself up against the headboard. “Well, it’s Mal, so it’s a black tie affair.”

I frowned, “Okay. I think Hal bought me something…” I trailed off as I dug through the racks of close. I pulled out something I thought would work. “How about this?”

Vox smiled, “Go try it on.” He nodded toward the bathroom.

I went into the bathroom and shed the dress I was wearing. I felt bad because my new sundress was wrinkled from sleeping in it. I pulled on the floor length dress. It was an emerald dress with green puff sleeves. I frowned in the mirror. I didn’t like this one at all. I remember trying it on at the store. Hal had said I looked fabulous. I should have told her that I thought it was hideous.

I walked out to see Vox standing at the closet looking through. He turned to face me and gave me a thumbs down. “Please don’t ever wear that one.”

I feigned disappointment, “You don’t like it?”

He shook his head, “No. You look like a giant green puff. I was going to say something clever, but I don’t know anything that’s green and puffy.”

“Why on earth did you let me try it on!?”

He grinned, making his eyes crinkle. “I thought it’d be funny. And I was right.” I frowned at him as he laughed. That confirmed it, I loved his laugh. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hurt your feelings did I?”

I laughed and shook my head, “No, you’re sister is the one who picked it out.” Vox made a face. “Did you replace anything else good?”

He shook his head, “I don’t even know where to start with this. It just looks like a laundry mat threw up in here.”

I rolled my eyes, “It’s organized by category. The fancy dresses are there on the end. I was thinking maybe this one.” I pulled another off rack and held it up. ”

“Go try it on.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, “You think this one will actually look good or do you think it’ll be funny again?”

“I think it’ll look great.” I rolled my eyes and stalked back into the bathroom, nearly tripping over the hem. I could hear him laugh, “I saw that.”

“No you didn’t.” I shouted back from behind the door as I changed.

When I came back out Vox was sitting on the bed. I watched his face go slack as his eyes raked up and down my body. I smiled, “From your silence I assume this is the winner?”