Chapter 13
I’m going insane.
”
Every morning, at seven a.m. sharp, a team of stylists, including Jessica and Lucy, barges into our room. June and I spend the next two hours being poked and prodded, all in the name of beauty.
Our hair is styled daily into new intricate styles I’ve only ever seen in magazines or on red carpets. Then they moisturize and shave and wax and pluck and draw and contour and highlight and conceal, and at the end of it all, my sister and I are left looking like actual porcelain dolls.
I don’t know what the point of bringing luggage was. I don’t know what the point of unpacking was. Because each morning, the stylist team comes to our room armed with a rack of new clothes, ensuring that my sister and I look as elegant and expensive as our surroundings.
When they do that, I wonder if it’s just us–because of our poor–looking, threadbare clothes–or every other girl got a new wardrobe.
After the morning torture session is breakfast.
June and I dine with the other twelve girls in the dining hall, choosing from a large buffet of options. We usually keep to ourselves on the table and no one really makes an attempt to relate with us.
It’s a room full of twelve girls in a competition where the prize is a rich husband. It’s no wonder no one is interested in making friends. Especially when June and I already stood out as troublemakers.
Thankfully, Valerie has kept her distance, only shooting scornful looks in our direction once in a while.
After breakfast is etiquette training.
That’s right–learning to sit and stand and walk right. Learning which fork is used with what meal and the difference between a soup and dessert spoon. The day we balanced actual textbooks on our heads and were instructed to walk in a straight line, I almost dissolved into fits of laughter at how utterly ridiculous it all seemed.
Is sitting, standing, walking, and talking like a princess what it takes to marry an Ashford? What about love? Basic companionship and compatibility?
It feels like everything we do is to present a perfect front to the media and the public. It makes me a little glad that I have no chance of winning. Marrying into a family where there’s maximum pressure to be perfect, and I might not actually have anything in common with my husband, sounds awful.
Speaking of the Ashfords since that first day, I haven’t seen anyone of them. Not even Peter, with his vague promises of stirring things up, shown his face since that moment in my room.
has
While we move around the house, I find myself craning my neck around corners, curiously trying to peer into rooms, hoping to catch a glimpse of curly brown hair and gorgeous green eyes. And every time I climb the stairs to the east wing, I linger just a little, staring longingly at the west wing.
While I’m having a questionable time at the Ashford’s, June is having the time of her life. She wakes up every morning more excited than I’ve ever seen her and eagerly goes through the day and all the training with more vigor than anyone else.
If she were old enough and in the competition, my completely unbiased opinion is that she would win, hands down.
We only have an hour to ourselves every day, and June always wants to spend it outside in the splendid garden.
Today, for example, three days into the competition, I sit in the pavilion watching June weave through the garden, enamored by the colorful flowers and the butterflies and bees that buzz around them.
She disappears around the back, but I’m not worried. Guards are situated at virtually every single corner of the Ashford Manor, so I know that even out of sight, my sister is safe.
She appears shortly after, wearing an adorable flower crown made of daisies. Behind June, smiling shyly is a girl I recognize from the competition. She’s pretty and mostly keeps to herself, barely interacting with any of the other girls.
My sister takes the girl’s hand and tugs her towards me.
“Spring,” she greets excitedly. “I made a new friend. Look what she made me!” June points excitedly to the flower crown.
1/2
12:40 PM
Chapter 13
I smile at the girl holding my sister’s hand. “Hi,”
“Um…” The girl blushes. “Hi, Spring I’m Eliza.”
I chuckle softly. “Actually, my name’s April. Spring is just a pet name my sister calls me.”
D
“Oh, sorry.” She blushes harder, and I find her adorable, certainly not like the pretentious, stuck–up girls in the competition. Plus, any girl willing to play with and humor my sister is an angel in my book.
Also, I miss Lou, and will greatly welcome the company of another girl my age.
So I give Eliza a reassuring smile. “That’s okay.” I gesture to the seat opposite me, “Wanna sit?”
Her smile is more confident as she sits. “Thank you.”
June slides in next to me, laying her head on my shoulder. I know she’s exhausted, but she’s trying her best not to show it so I won’t worry. I squeeze her hand gently.
So, how are you enjoying the competition so far?” I ask Eliza conversationally.
She glances around like she’s looking around for eavesdroppers. “Honestly?” she says, her voice low. “It’s hands down the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
I decide instantly that I like her.
“Right?” I agree. “It’s like something out of a movie.”
She nods. “The only reason I’m here is because my parents basically forced me to apply. They have wild dreams about how amazing it will be for my father’s company if I marry an Ashford. You should have seen him shitting rainbows when I got accepted.”
I laugh. For the first time in three days, in a long, long time, really, I’m just a regular girl–more than my sister’s keeper–and I can enjoy the company of another girl.
So with June snoozing on my shoulder, Eliza and I become fast friends, talking mainly about the competition and what we think is the most bizarre part.
“Oh, Eliza says dully, her eyes flicking over my shoulder. “Great. Her.”
Confused at the sudden change of demeanor, I turn, following Eliza’s gaze. I understand immediately when I see who she’s referring to.
Valerie–weaving through the girls in the garden with a haughty smile on her face.
What’s worse, she’s heading in our direction.
