WARNING: Long chapter ahead!

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Chapter |7|

I sighed and grumbled a few annoyed words to myself as I plucked the neatly trimmed grass from the ground.

I was sitting in the garden outside the hall. It had been half an hour since I'd gotten outside and I was bored out of my mind.

Every now and then, someone found me and passed by muttering a rude comment.

Honestly, I was giving up replying to them. It was pretty useless because it wasn't gong to stop the mocking comments in any way.

I had not seen Andrew since the beginning. The reason for it was that the boys were guided to another room for their own partying since they weren't allowed to interfere in the selection of their partners.

After getting way too bored, I decided to get up and explore rather than sitting idly.

I wandered a bit, admiring the beautifully trimmed trees and wonderfully maintained flower beds that spread across the huge garden, adding to its beauty. I, for one, could never do gardening.

I was clumsy like that. Trust me, my mom had tried a lot to put me into gardening, but that was just not for me. I still remember the small plant that mom had given me when I was fourteen.

Let's just say that she found it under my bed with my 6th grade project file on it.

Don't even ask how it got there. Obviously I had blamed it on Mr. Redbum, the pet cat that literally had the reddest bum ever (among cats) and belonged to my old neighbour.

I decided to head inside since my stomach was growling a lot. I got up and dusted my sweat pants and begun my long journey in peace.

Yeah, empty stomach makes me dramatic like that.

I walked through the trees, slowly enjoying serenity before it would be disturbed the moment I set my foot inside.

As I walked, I heard a few murmurs from nearby. A few whimpers followed by.

I slowly went towards the commotion and my eyes widened when I saw a boy, around my age cornering a girl of around seven. The girl had tears streaming down her face.

Beside the boy, a younger version of him stood there smirking.

"Richards committed a huge mistake threatening my brother. Now he's going to get the taste of his own medicine," he snarled, making the little girl cower back in fear.

"B-But he pushed m-me down the s-slide and I g-got hurt," she spoke in a tiny voice.

Seeing the small girl like that made me angry. Why the hell was the boy taking his anger out on a mere seven-year old girl?

Wasn't he aware that even a small incident like this could scar her? From what I'd seen, the impact of these kind of situations could have adverse affects in further life and I was not about to see a pathetic coward just bully a child.

Before he could do anything else to scare her, I stomped towards him. He jumped a little in surprise when I pushed him aside and stood in front of the girl, protectively.

"And what the hell do you think you're doing?" I grit out, angrily.

He scanned me up and down as if trying to judge me. And that is what I hated a lot. People who judged others on the basis of what the person looked like were in my bad books.

"Listen Missy, I don't know who you are nor do I give a fuck about it but listen, you need to get out of here and pretend you didn't see anything before I will have to do that for you," he spat.

Oh, so he thought that I was just going to obey him like a little lost puppy and leave him to torment a girl? Well, he had another thing coming then.

I smirked. "You really think I'm going to listen to you?"

That angered him. "Last warning. Get out of my way."

"No," I retorted.

This made him even more angry and he literally shoved me hard. I stumbled and nearly fell but I caught myself before I face-planted.

Rage caused through my veins and I positioned myself in front of him before landing a solid punch on his nose.

I heard a distant crack as blood began its way down from his nose. Clearly he wasn't expecting me to be able to land a punch since he staggered back.

I retook my position in front of the girl, ready to punch again if needed.

Once he realised that his nose was going break if I punched him again, he backed off, but not before muttering a few colourful words and spitting at me.

How mature.

When he was out of sight, it was then when I realised how much my hand hurt. My knuckles already had a bruise forming around them and a distinct throbbing of my pulse could be felt.

Ignoring the pain for a bit, I turned to see the girl clutching her dress tightly with one hand with the other one covering her eyes. She was trembling with fear.

That sight alone made me want to punch the hell out of that monster. I crouched down to her height and slowly tried to pry her shaking hands from her eyes.

"Hey. It's okay, sweetie, he's not here anymore," I tried to coo as I delicately helped her to stop shaking.

"It's okay. I promise," I gently told her.

She reluctantly opened her eyes and brought her hand down. Tears had marked their traces on her face.

I slowly opened my arms, to gain her trust. I wanted to convey that she was safe now.

She looked around to check if what I'd told her was true. Once she was sure that there wasn't anyone coming to threaten her, she hesitantly stepped forward.

I didn't budge. Once she was sure, she hugged me with a force so strong, that I nearly toppled.

She sobbed into my hoodie, her tears staining my favourite one, but I could care less about it. I hugged her back while muttering a few comforting words.

After a while, she slowed down and looked up. I wiped her tears with my hands.

She was beautiful for a kid. Dark locks contrasted with her dark grey eyes that seemed to sparkle. She had rosy cheeks and full pink lips.

"You okay now?" I asked.

She nodded, slowly.

I smiled. "Good. You're a brave girl. You know that? So what's your name?"

She hesitated but answered in a sweet, soft voice. "I'm C-Chloe."

"Well, C-Chloe, it's nice to meet you," I joked.

She giggled. "No. My name is Chloe and not C-Chloe," she protested, pouting, to hide her grin.

I laughed. "Okay. Nice to meet to then, Chloe."

"What's your name?"

"Hmm. I'll tell you that on one condition," I told her.

Her eyes brightened. "What is that?"

"It depends. Can you keep a secret?"

She nearly jumped. It was a good thing that she was forgetting about the incident. "Yes. Yes. Please tell me."

I laughed at how cute she looked. "Okay, then. But only if you promise to keep it."

She nodded eagerly.

"Well, my real name is Skylar but only special people call me that. Everyone else calls me Penny," I told her.

"So what should I call you?"

I smiled. "You can call me Skylar when you're with me but Penny when with anybody else. Okay?"

She nodded, a smile stretching along her beautiful face. "So that means I'm special?"

I nodded, making her jump with a 'yay'. I chuckled at how adorable she looked.

"Let's go inside. Shall we?" I asked. There were two reasons I wanted to go inside. One, we needed to find Chloe's mom and second, the hand with which I'd punched was aching a lot.

I stood up and dusted my sweats. I helped her smoothen out her dress and we started heading towards the main hall.

While walking, Chloe suddenly grabbed my hand, making me look at her in surprise. In return, she just gave me an adorable grin.

An involuntary smile crept up my face as I walked inside the hall. I looked around and observed the familiar surroundings and the atmosphere of pretence.

I was about to say something when Chloe suddenly left my hand.

"Mommy," she shrieked, running into the crowd of ladies. I tried to follow her but I couldn't find her.

Maybe she went to her mom.

With that thought, I started my way towards the washroom to clean my bruised knuckles.

Who knew throwing a punch could be that painful?

Once I reached the washroom, I went to the taps and let the cool water wash down the few drops of blood that had escaped.

The water felt as if someone was pricking my knuckles and it gave an uncomfortable feeling.

After a few minutes, I took out my hand and dried the water. Once I was sure that it was clean, I started my way out of the washrooms.

Since there was nothing much I could do, I started observing people. I know it sounded a bit creepy but I had to pass time one way or another.

I couldn't even spot Chloe anywhere. Shrugging, I sat down near the corner of the room.

I swept my gaze and tried to spot something interesting.

There were small groups where all the girls were trying hard to impress various mothers. There was a group, a bit bigger where there was a lady in a beautiful subtle red gown, holding a glass of what looked like wine and talking to about nine to ten girls who were either giggling, or were nodding eagerly to whatever she said.

I rolled my eyes at those giggly girls. But what kept me looking was that lady. She somehow didn't seem as snobbish like some of the people who had passed by making rude comments.

She had an easy smile on her face as she talked. Her dirty blond hair were pulled in an elegant bun.

I spotted Alicia among the girls. Even from this far away, I could see that she was really trying hard to make a good impression.

Averting my eyes before I became borderline stalkerish, I spotted an interesting sight.

A group of ladies were talking animatedly when a waiter came by, offering something like a pie.

Everyone's face scrunched up as they eyed the pie. No one wanted to eat that but out of fake politeness, each one of them grabbed one plate and hesitantly started eating.

Interested, I walked a bit closer so that I could hear their conversation.

"Oh Darla, why aren't you having your pie? Are you trying to lose your weight or something?" A woman in green gown taunted.

The one in yellow replied in a tight voice and a fake smile,"Of Course not Cynthia, I'll have you know that I've lost five pounds with this amazing diet. You should try that too, looks like you need it."

I held in my chuckle. This was entertaining. The best part was how they were doing it with a polite tone and a fake smile on their faces.

After a while, the lady in green, Cynthia, excused herself from the group and made a beeline towards a place out of the line of sight.

She had a half-eaten pie which she dumped in a potted plant.

Amused at how these women were behaving, I walked away to find something to drink. My throat was parched and I really needed to get something in my stomach.

As a waiter carrying drinks passed by, I saw a number of colourful drinks lined up there. Randomly picking up a yellow drink, I took a sip.

Immediately I wanted to spray it out. "What the hell is even this?" I muttered to myself.

"This is a ginger, banana and tomato drink, Miss," the waiter replied, throwing me an amused look.

My face scrunched up in disgust. "What? Ew!"

I was about to give it back when he disappeared. Groaning, I spotted a huge potted plant. Surely no one will notice that.

At least that's what I thought until I heard a voice behind me. "And what do you think you're doing?"

I turned around to see a woman from the same group I'd earlier been spying on, standing there with a disgusted expression.

"Um..."

"I don't even know how girls like you are even invited here. You don't even know the value of these parties. I mean look at how you're dressed. I hope no one chooses you today," she sneered.

"I was just...," I was about to say something when Cynthia came sauntering to join in.

"Do you even know how much that drink was for? God, look at you wasting these things," she spoke with a sour expression.

I almost gaped at her. What the hell? As if she wasn't doing just that a couple of minutes ago.

They were such hypocrites. And if they thought that I was going to stay mum, they were in for a surprise.

"That's rich coming from you, ma'am since not even five minutes ago I saw you dumping your pie in the plant near the staircase," I replied as politely as I could.

She immediately turned red. "What? You liar. I never did such a thing," she spat.

"Oh I can show you the plant if you'd like," I spoke with a smile.

"Look at how mannerless you are. Did your mother not teach you anything about talking back to your elders?" She barked, her face red.

I nearly took a step back. A dull ache threatened to spread at the mention of my mother. She had just hit a sore spot which wasn't good at all.

Calming my breath, I responded.

"My mother taught me to defend myself when people like you tried to bring me down ma'am. And I will not let anyone degrade me when I know nothing I did was wrong. And if you think I'll be humiliated with those judgemental eyes of yours, ma'am, I'll let you know that I know my worth and nothing, not even your words are going to bring me down," I spoke, staring right into her eyes.

Before she could say anything else, I turned around and walked away. As soon as she was out of sight, I exhaled a breath I didn't know I was holding.

I turned around to head the other way, when the woman whom I'd seen with the giggling girls stopped me. The one in the subtle red gown. 

I looked at her, ready for the taunts she was about to throw my way.

But what she asked, nearly blew my mind.

"So what was it that you fed the plant?" She asked with a smile.

I stared at her for a few seconds, gaping like a fish out of water. "Um, sorry what?"

She chuckled. "I asked that what was the drink that the plant enjoyed?"

"Uh- it was something with ginger, banana and tomato, I guess," I replied, still dumbfounded. This was something I didn't expect. At all.

She scrunched up her face,"Ew. Never liked those anyway. I don't even know why they make those."

By now. I was sure that my jaw had dropped to the floor. I couldn't believe what I was just hearing. Why wasn't she making fun of me like the others?

She chuckled at my expression and was about to say something when an announcement caught out attention.

"Ladies and girls, I now request you to line up according to your numbers and our dear mothers will be choosing you one by one," a lady announced, gesturing for everyone to gather in the centre.

I reluctantly followed the instructions and stood in between the numbers 45 and 47, both of whom were drop dead gorgeous.

I literally felt like a piece of scrapped poop right now, standing between these almost-models.

No matter how giggly and impression-greedy they were, there was no doubt that they were a really pretty.

By now, I noticed that the guys had also lined up behind their mothers.

I quietly observed the guys, a tinge of red crawled up my cheeks and I didn't even know why.

Suddenly a hand pulled me by my arm and turned me around. It was Alicia.

She took in my appearance and let out an obnoxious laugh.

She was dressed in a glittery golden gown that accentuated her body and contrasted with her red hair. Her hair was styled into a beautiful up do and her heels gave her some extra height while I stood there with some crappy sneakers.

Even though I didn't want to admit it,  she looked nice.

"Have a safe journey Penny!"

I looked at her in confusion. "What?"

"I said have a safe journey, you dimwit," she spoke.

I rolled my eyes. "I heard you the first time. I meant why?"

"Oh come on. You really don't think that you stand a chance here, right? And obviously they won't let the non-selected part of the candidates stay, so...," she trailed off, knowing that I understood where she was going with this.

As sad it was, I knew it was true. I didn't stand a chance against these girls.

I didn't say anything and Alicia sauntered off, snickering to herself.

I turned back and spotted Andrew, who was now dressed in a suit.

And boy, did he look smashing?

Once he caught my eye, he gave me a huge grin, which I returned happily.

The announcements started again and I zoned out. The mothers were now supposed to choose their partners for their sons.

I didn't want to let the reality pain me. So as the mothers started calling the numbers that were allotted to us, I took a deep breath and did what I was best at: observing.

The excitement in the room was palpable.

One by one, the mothers called out the numbers of the girls they wanted to represent their families. It was a quick ceremony because they didn't want to delay it by stalling.

"I wish I get Daniel," the one to my right exclaimed.

"I wish I get him. He looks so delicious in that suit,"another piped in.

My eyebrows furrowed. How was a person delicious? They didn't taste him or something, right?

"37," a lady called out and I saw they girl with that number jump in excitement before hurrying up to where she was supposed to go.

"67," another one followed.

"52," It was Cynthia who called out. I looked to see who it was and surprise, surprise, it was Alicia.

I snorted. It was like a match made in heaven. I saw her go stand by a good-looking guy, who was shamelessly checking her out and she was letting him.

"46," I turned my attention to the speaker and saw the same lady to whom I was talking to a few minutes ago, standing there, with a smile.

I looked around to see who was the girl who she had chosen, when I saw everyone staring at me with incredulous expressions.

That is when I realised that it was me. My eyes widened when I turned to look at her with the same expressions as everyone else.

She just smiled and called out again. "46?"

Realising that I was probably creating a scene, I rushed towards her, looking at the marbled floor.

I look up at Andrew to catch his reaction and gaped as I saw him grinning smugly.

What the hell?

This was just a bit too shocking. And that was the understatement of the century.

It was nearly dead silent as everyone watched me walk like a hawk. And that rhymed. My head seriously needs to be checked.

I was about to reach my destination, when a tight grip stopped me.

I saw Alicia glaring daggers at me. "How the fuck did you manage to get Daniel Richards?"

I froze. Her grip had tightened with each word she uttered and that's how I knew that she was pissed. Uh-correction, super pissed.

Her eyes were narrowed into slits as she glared at me.

I was about to tell her that I didn't even know who Daniel Richards was when I was rescued by Andrew.

"Any problem ladies?" He spoke in a smooth voice.

Alicia immediately straightened, loosening her hold on my arm, which I was thankful for.

She started batting her eyelashes, her  expression changing within a second.

I held in the urge to snort. Typical Alicia.

"Oh hey Andrew, you look really handsome," she cooed and I rolled my eyes.

He smirked. "And you are?"

"I'm Alicia Carter," she flirted.

"Carter as in...," he turned his gaze from her to me and that is when realisation dawned upon him.

I had already told him about Alicia and Linda. But I wasn't going to be fazed if he switched sides right now. I mean she was good-looking.

Andrew's gaze hardened as he returned it to Alicia. "So, uh do you know her?" He asked pointing towards me.

I looked at him confused.  What was he trying to do?

Alicia looked at me and quickly shook her head,"No. Never. I mean do you really think I'd hang out with-ugh-her?" She said with the familiar disgusted expression.

"Oh. Then I have no interest in talking to you," Andrew stated flatly and gently pulled me by my arm, dragging me along.

The expression oh her face was priceless. Her jaw unhinged from her face in an unattractive way. She couldn't believe what happened and just with one glance at her red face, I burst out laughing.

"That was hilarious!" I cried out and Andrew joined in.

"Thanks by the way," I spoke after calming down a bit. And I didn't just thank him for saving me back there. It was also for not switching sides.

It was something I wasn't used to. People showing affection towards me seemed all so surreal.

When Andrew stopped, I looked up to see the woman who'd called out my number, looking at me with a smile.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, I started feeling shy. I have no idea what came over me but I looked down.

"Sweetheart, look up," she spoke with a sweet voice.

I looked up to see her smiling face looking at me with warmth. "Hello, my name is Emma Richards."

There was something in her eyes as she looked at me with tenderness that had me feeling all tingly inside. The last time I felt that good was when my mom had looked at me like that when I scored a hundred in my test.

So I didn't know what made me blurt out-

"Why did you choose me?"

She chuckled. I blushed.

Before I could embarrass myself more, Andrew piped up,"Hey, Aunt Em, why don't we go home before her face becomes capable of frying eggs on it?"

That made me turn even redder and I elbowed him making him grunt in pain.

Mrs. Richards just laughed it off but nodded and started her way out of the hall. I looked around to see that the ceremony was over and there was a row of girls who were crying their hearts out as they couldn't manage to make it. 

I felt bad for them. I knew how horrible it was to not get selected. If felt similar hurt way too many times. It happened when you're step-sister nearly had the school in her palms.

Andrew walked beside me when something struck my mind. "Wait-what did you mean by 'Aunt Em'?"

"Oh that. It's just that Daniel and I have grown up together, being best friends, so basically she's family," he explained.

"Oh," I said in understanding. "But where is Daniel?"

"Ooh. Someone's eager!" He teased.

I turned red before muttering a "shut up."

He burst out laughing.

I ignored his laughs and continued walking where Mrs. Richards was leading me.

I couldn't help but feel a bit excited as I took steps towards what was going to be my new home for two months. Maybe this was my chance to live my life better than those three years that I had wasted because of Alicia and Linda. 

******
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