Michel just shrugged his shoulders. With a final wave, Michel went on his way. Staring down at the letter, I opened it and read the note inside.

Dear Sharena Beyevell,

I am pleased to inform you that you have been selected to participate in the famous game show Connect the Hearts. You will be competing against other girls for the heart of Lance Auburne. If you don't know how the game works, there will be three rounds of the game: the fashion round, the QNA round, and the talent round. The address to the game show studio will be at the end of this letter. Congratulations, and good luck, Ms. Beyevell.

Sincerely,
Klaus Auburne

I stared at the letter in shock.

"Why would Mayor Auburne send me a letter?" I asked, looking down at Onyx.

Onyx just tilted his head in confusion. Reading it again, I let out a sigh.

"What am I getting so worked up for? He probably sent the same letter to every young lady in LA. I don't even want to compete for Lance Auburne. He's just going to pick the girl with the prettiest eyes, or the sexiest body." I said.

Onyx grumbled and placed his head on my lap, as if he were trying to comfort me. I smiled and patted his head. Looking down at the letter in my other hand, I began contradicting whether to go or not.

Funny thing is, I don't want to go because of what I'm competing for, but I need to go because it's a request from the mayor himself.

I sighed when I came to a conclusion.

"Guess I'm going to be on Connect the Hearts, even though I really don't want to go..." I said.

Looking down at the date, time, and address, I copied everything onto the calendar on my phone.

"Maybe I can ask one of my cousins or aunt to drive me..." I said.

Picking up my guitar, I went inside with Onyx in tow. Almost immediately, I was bombarded with questions from my cousins, Cassie and Mina.

"Rena, did you hear the news!?" Mina asked.

"All young women are going to be on Connect the Hearts in hope to be Lance Auburne's girlfriend... Yeah, I heard..." I said, making my way to my room.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Cassie asked, putting a hand on my shoulder, and holding me in place.

I let out a sigh and turned to my older cousins.

"I know I have to compete, but I don't want to. Plus, I'm not even that beautiful. The world would have to be flat, purple, and yellow if I'm chosen to be Lance Auburne's girlfriend." I said.

My cousins laughed at my remark.

"Don't ever say that you're not beautiful. God made you beautiful and special. You are a spitting image of him. (Psalms 139:14)" Mina said.

I looked up at her and smiled.

"We were just about to go out and buy some dresses. Want to come?" Cassie asked.

"Sure." I said.

Quickly putting my guitar in my room, I walked outside and climbed into Mina's silver Chevrolet. Leaning back into the leather seat, I let out a deep sigh.

"So, what color are you going for, Mina?" Cassie asked.

"Purple, of course. How about you, sister?" Mina asked.

"Amber orange."

I rolled my eyes as I listened to their ridiculous conversation.

"What about you Sharena? What color dress are you getting?" Cassie asked.

"Well, I thought about blue at first, but then I remembered that my mom's favorite color was red, so I'll go for a red dress, just for her." I said.

"That's so sweet, Rena. I know Aunt Vanessa is so happy that you're thinking about her." Mina said, looking at me through the rear view mirror.

I nodded with a small smile. When we reached the dress store, there were a lot of young ladies already here.

Not a complete surprise...

The three of us got out the car and walked inside, seeing a lot of other girls.

"Let's stick together so we don't get lost in this." Cassie said.

"Good idea." I said.

Joining hands with my cousins, we began weaving our way through the crowd.

"Why not split up here? We are in the same section." Mina said.

"Alright." Cassie said.

"Fine by me." I said.

And with that, we went our separate ways, looking for our dresses. Knowing I want a red dress, I looked for a dress that my mother would wear. All the red dresses I saw were either too dark in color, showing to much skin, too long, or simply just not my style. Wandering out of the section, I went to see what other red dresses I could find.

"Are you in need of assistance?" asked a friendly voice behind me.

I turned around and saw a female employee.

"Yes. I'm trying to find a red dress. Nothing too dark, nothing too revealing, or too long. Something simple." I said.

"I think I know just the dress. Follow me." she said.

Following the employee through the crowd, she led me to a rack with very beautiful, but still simple, dresses.

"I'm sure you'll be able to take it from here, right?" the employee asked.

"Yes, thank you." I said.

With a slight bow of her head, she went on her way, disappearing into the sea of young women. I turned back to the rack and began pushing past the dresses that weren't the color I was looking for. Then, a red dress finally caught my eye. I took it off the rack and smiled. It was a gorgeous ruby wine color. The front was knee length and the back was up to the shins. I turned to a mirror and held it up against my chest.

"Mom..." I said.

I checked the size and hugged the dress.

"Thanks Mom..." I whispered.

Just to be on the safe side, I went into the dressing room and tried on the dress. It fit like a glove. Looking at myself, I quickly wiped a tear away from my eye.

"Definitely Mom." I said.

Putting on my normal clothes, I went back to the rack and picked out two more dresses: one gold and one silver. I then carried the beautiful dresses over to the cashier where Mina and Cassie were waiting.

"There you are. We were looking for you." Cassie said.

"Sorry," I said.

"So, did you find a dress?" Mina asked.

"I found my mother..."

Mina and Cassie smiled when they saw the dress. We paid for the dresses and walked back out to the parking lot. Climbing into the car, we headed home.

"Remind me again when this whole thing starts." Mina said.

~Lance's POV~

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to LA's famous Match-Maker game show, Connect the Hearts!" the announcer said.

The studio cheered and applauded. The day came where I would have to judge each performance and find that one special girl.

I do hope Sharena attended...

"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Kevin Steel, and with me today I have LA's dreamboat, the son of the Mayor of LA! Please welcome, Lance Auburne!" Kevin said.

Another round of cheers and applause started up again.

"Thanks so much for coming, Lance," Kevin said.

"Thanks for having me, Kev," I said.

"If you don't mind me asking, but what made you do this?"

"Well, as most of you know, I went through a breakup recently, and I'm ready to find my new queen."

Some girls in the crowd began to shriek.

"Wow, really putting yourself out there," Kevin said.

"Sure am." I said.

"Well, let's not waste a second more. Let the game begin!"

With that, Connect the Hearts began.

I have no idea how many girls entered, but I just hope Sharena is here...

First up was the fashion round, and every dress was either too long or too revealing. Then, a certain silver dress caught my eye. It was like a knee length, champagne silver with a sweetheart top. I smiled widely when I saw the wearer. When the round was over, Kevin and I each voted on our top 3 favorites.

Usually there would be the top 5 or 10, but since there's so many girls, we had to limit the number of winners.

"Alright everyone, the results are in. First, I want to say that every single one of you were gorgeous, but there were 6 young ladies that really caught our attention." Kevin said.

"When I call your name, please step forward." I said, looking down at the list.

Reading the following names, I smiled when I got to the last one.

"And last, but not least, Sharena Beyevell." I said.

I saw Sharena smile sheepishly and step forward.

That little smile of hers is so cute.

"We are so sorry to our other contestants. You're all still so gorgeous, and we hope to see you possibly in another game." Kevin said.

The other girls left the stage either upset or angry.

"As for you 6, you will proceed to the QNA round. That round will test your smarts." Kevin said.

The 6 girls nodded and left the stage and went to the back.

"Did you see her?" Kevin asked.

"I sure did," I said.

"I honestly cannot wait for the talent round."

"Yeah, me neither..."

About half an hour past, and it was time for the QNA round. The 6 girls came back out wearing different colored dresses, but Sharena's gold dress caught my attention. It was simple, but still beautiful, like her. The girls stood in front of the podiums prepared for them and waited patiently.

"Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to the QNA round!" Kevin said.

The audience behind us broke into applause.

"These questions will be focused around LA's history. When you think you know the answer, hit the buzzer on your stand. If you get it right, you get a point. Simple as that. The three girls with the most points will advance to the final round." I said, turning to Kevin.

Kevin nodded and turned back to the girls.

"Alright, first question: What is the original name for Los Angeles?" Kevin asked.

After a few minutes, Sharena pressed the buzzer.

"The original name for Los Angeles is El Pueblo de la Señora de Los Angeles de la Porciúncula. Translation, The Town of the Lady of Los Angeles of the Porziuncola." she said.

"Correct!" Kevin said.

Beautiful and smart. She even knew the translation. I didn't know the translation.

"Next question: The city of Los Angeles approximately covers how many square miles?" Kevin asked.

A girl named Penny pressed her buzzer and answered.

"300 square miles." she said.

"Sorry, but that is incorrect." Kevin said.

Sharena then pressed her buzzer and answered.

"LA covers 500 square miles." she said.

"Correct!" Kevin said.

After a few more questions, we came down to our 3 finalists: Kylie, Willow, and Sharena.

"Well done, ladies. Your IQs are very high. Wendy, Penny, and Destiny, we are so sorry, but we must cut you loose. You did amazingly well, though." Kevin said.

The 3 girls left in disgust.

"As for you lovely ladies, you 3 will be moving on to the final round, the talent round. Each of you will perform a special talent, and whichever Lance likes best, is his match." Kevin said.

The girls nodded and walked off the stage. I sighed and slumped back into my seat.

"You okay there, champ?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah, I'm good." I said.

~Sharena's POV~

I can't believe I made it to the finals...

My heart began beating out of chest.

"Lance is so going to choose me. I mean, look at me. What boy wouldn't want this?" asked the girl named Willow, striking a model pose.

"Oh, please. Lance like's girls who look pretty, not because of their bodies. I have the most gorgeous face. I'm so going to win him over." Kylie said.

I leaned my head against a wall, watching the two girls bicker and bark.

"Sharena!" someone cried.

I looked up and saw Cassie and Mina.

"Good luck, little cousin." Mina said.

"Thanks, girls. I honestly don't care if I win or not." I said.

Not like I had much of a choice coming here...

"You're going to do amazing. We'll be watching from the crowd." Cassie said, placing a kiss on my forehead.

With a final wave, the two of them walked away.

"Our first contestant is Willow." Kevin said over the loudspeaker.

Willow flipped her red hair walked out onto stage. Looking at the stage on the TV, Kylie and I watched Willow as she sang.

She sounded good, but she was moving her body way too much...

When she was done, the audience applauded.

"What a wonderful performance. Next up, we have Kylie." Kevin said.

Kylie smiled boldly and stood up.

"Good luck." I said.

"Hah, I don't need luck." Kylie said, walking onto the stage.

Looking up at the TV, she began performing gymnastics. She was really flexible. When she finished with a split, everyone applauded.

"Quite the performance. Last, but not least, Sharena." Kevin said.

I took a deep breath and firmly grasped my guitar. Walking out onto the stage, I sat on the stool set up for me. Looking at the audience, I sighed and strummed a chord. I then began playing my mother's number 1 favorite song.

"You give life, You are love. You bring light to the darkness. You give hope, You restore every heart that is broken. Great are You, Lord... It's Your breath in our lungs. So, we pour out our praise, we pour out our praise. It's Your breath in our lungs. So, we pour out our praise to You only." (Genesis 2:7)

I continued to sing, and with every note I played, I felt my voice become louder and stronger. Playing the final chord, I smiled at the crowd. The crowd broke into cheer and applause.

"That was a beautiful performance. Kylie and Willow, please come out on stage." Kevin said.

After he said that, the two other girls came out and stood beside me.

"All of your performances were astonishing, mesmerizing, and simply amazing to watch. But it is not my decision on who the lucky gal is. Lance?" Kevin asked.

Lance stood up and smiled.

Why does his smile look so familiar...?

"Your performances were amazing, but there was one that really caught my eye." he said, looking at me.

My cheeks began to get hot when he looked at me.

"Congratulations, Sharena Beyevell." Lance said.