I wake up to the feeling of Alexander's breath on my hair. In and out, in and out. My auburn hair blows back and forth, back and forth, across my face. His elbows are laid on the table with his head propped up to watch me, but he fell asleep.

I watch him sleep for a few minutes, all the stress gone from his face. His strong jaw is relaxed from the pressure that usually weighs heavily on him. "Hey, Alexander," I whisper quietly, "wake up, sleepy head." He jolts awake. As he realizes it's me, he sighs.

"Hey, Clarissa."

"So..." I need him to say something; the awkwardness of the memory of last night causing a blush to spread across my cheeks.

"So, how are you feeling?" He stretches and yawns running his hand over the back of his neck.

"Better. The doctors did a good job. How are you?" He reaches out and gently fingers the stitches. I don't even feel the pain, it's numbed by painkillers.

"Worried about you, what else?"

I smile and laugh, "You're too kind, too kind." He fans himself dramatically.

"Well, I never can help it."

"Neither can I, we just can't help being perfect, can we?" I say sarcastically, acting as if it is tiring to be so perfect, even though we all know I'm not.

"I agree completely." He's suddenly serious, and he leans in.

He kisses me, and the warmth from my lips spreads throughout my whole body. I feel a tingling sensation in my spine, and put my arms around his neck. I suppose I shouldn't feel this way, this quick, but it feels impossibly right. He gently rubs my cheek, as if I am a porcelain doll that might break if pushed to hard. When we break apart, I feel his breath on my neck, warm like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.

We stare into each other's eyes. The moment seems so electrified, we are scared to break it.

"W-was that all right?" He is nervous too. I wonder if this is also his first kiss.

"Yeah," I whisper, "that was perfect."

He sighs, blowing hair out of my face. Then, he grins. "I think that was a very good start to your stay here. And, by the way, I don't plan on sending you home anytime soon."

I smile too. "That works just fine with me."

§§§§§

For the whole day until dinner I can't stop thinking about the kiss. The kiss. That wasn't supposed to have happened because none of us have even officially met Alexander yet!

But still, every time I ponder it, the my vision gets brighter with hope. Hope that, maybe, being a selected isn't such a bad thing after all.

Even though Alexander says he will be keeping me here, I'm still nervous for our meeting. I've heard rumors that he will be asking pretty serious questions, and what if I answer incorrectly?

§§§§§

We have been eating dinner for a while in the Dining Room, and some of us have finished eating. When we first arrived, The Selected curtsied to the royals as Jacqueline, our mentor, instructed. Because of the rebel attack, she only had a brief amount of time to prep us, and me even less considering I had spent the whole day in the hospital yesterday.

Alexander seems to notice the 'falling action' atmosphere of the room, and stands up.

The room goes silent and everybody stops eating.  I finish chewing what's in my mouth, then politely put down my fork.  Alexander winks at me before he has everybody's full attention. I'm sitting on the end of the table, closest to the royal family.  Cece and Eleanor are to my left and right, and a girl named Willow Beverly is sitting across from me. She so quiet that I haven't learned anything about her.

"I will now start calling you all up for our meetings.  Please come to me starting with the farthest end of the table, and ending with the closest."  He glances down at me and grins, excited to meet us all.  The faces of The Selected look at me jealously, wondering how I have this sudden connection with the Prince.

As I watch the girls take their turns talking to him, I see Alexander kiss most of them on their hands before they leave.  I look away as he kindly greets Bridgette.  He cannot like her.

A few girls make him laugh, but some make him sit stiffly.

Suddenly, it's my turn.

"Lady Clarissa?  If you would be so kind as to accompany me?"  Alexander stands behind me with his hand held out.  He hasn't walked up to any of the other girls, and I blush.

"Of course Prince...Alexander, is it?"  I wink at him and he smiles as he takes my hand.

A minute of jokes and small talk later, he leans in and says, "Clarissa, I think, for the sake of the other girls," he arches his eyebrow at me, "we should keep our beautiful moment earlier a secret."  I blushed and lean in as well.

"Yes, I quite agree.  Keeping it a secret, and that it was beautiful."  He grins his lopsided smile, and rubs the back of his neck.

"I have never done this before, so, please, kindly tell me if I fail horribly."  He clears his throat as I wait expectantly.  "Will you take a stroll around the gardens with me, say three o'clock tomorrow?"

"I shall have to think about it...but....yes!"  I smile at him and duck my head.  I feel his hand on my chin, bringing my eyes back to his.  "And you did a wonderful job, kind sir."

He looks into my eyes.  I blush, it feels as if he could see all of my darkest secrets.  "Thank you, my beautiful lady."  His - beautiful! I blush even deeper, if it is even possible. "Now, I know you probably expect this to be a light a meaningless meeting, but I do have one serious question for you."

I look at him with a curious expression, and he reassures me, "I have been trying to do this with all of you." He waves his hand at The Selected, "You're not alone. I'm not sure if this is to much to ask, but I was wondering about what you are afraid of. You always seem in control of the situation, even if you don't feel that way on the inside." I laugh, knowing that I definitely don't feel in control, then process what he asked me.

As soon as I realize what he has asked, I remember a common nightmare I have.

I am standing in a dark alley, and I hear a loud footstep behind my back.  I instantly turn around.

"Mother?"  I gasp.  My mother is standing there, clad in black, staring more daggers than usual at me.

"I am no more 'mother' to you than you are 'daughter' to me."  She pushes me hard against the cold metal wall of the building behind me.  This is worse than she has ever been.

Tears sting my eyes.  I know she isn't the most loving mother, but not- not even being her rightful daughter? It still hurts.

"Mommy!  Who is that?"  A confident voice seeming to be about my age came out of the shadows.  My mother's dark eyes light up with a warmth I had never seen before.

"Oh, honey, it's just a little street rat.  Nothing to worry about.  Stay in the shadows where you are safe."  The girl starts to step out of the shadows, but quickly retreats. But before she did, I glimpse her face. She is the perfect image of my mother, what she must of looked like when she was younger.

My Mother looks concerned as she gazes into the shadows of which the girl disappeared. Suddenly, I realize what this is.

That girl is my mother's rightful daughter.  She has replaced me, and any love I ever got from Arielle.

"Oh, Clarissa, how rude of me!  This is Jewel, my daughter."  She stares back at me with those hard, cruel eyes after looking kindly at her Jewel.  "Unlike you, she is sweet, kind, caring, obedient, pretty, hard working, not a mistake," Her words blur together as they echo in my mind.  Her list goes on and on, teasing me.

The woman who used to be my mother keeps her list going, and now Jewel has stepped into light, so I can fully see her.  They both have a mocking face on, without pity.

I look down at the asphalt, which I have somehow ended up cowering on. 

But I don't tell him about my powerful fear of my Mother, or the whole her neglect has left in me. Instead, I tell him a silly fear, though one that makes me scream as loud as a gun would, "Spiders. I am deathly afraid of spiders."

He laughs, and looks around as if about to tell a secret. "My sister is too." He covers his mouth, as if someone has heard him.

We talk for a few minutes, and then my time is up.

He kisses my cheek ever so gently. As I walk back to my seat, the girls stare at me.  "How do you do it?"  Cece asked me jokingly.

I wink at Alexander, who has just sat down, and answer, "You cannot help being born with perfection."  I know he can hear me.

Cece and Eleanor look confused, and I ignore them with a smile to brush it off.  I didn't say it for them, after all.

------

Please vote, recommend, and comment! It's really appreciated!

How do you like the plot so far?