Practice Challenge Two
When The Report came on, Mami and I paid attention, not because we cared, but as a force of habit. They began announcing the Selected, so I tuned out, relaxing on the coach.
âAnd finally, from Zunni, Olivia Palacio!â
My eyes snapped open, all drowsiness gone. This wasnât supposed to happen. I-I entered on a dare-
âOlivia! De que se trata? Whatâs all this about?â My mother demanded.
âMami,â I sputtered, âI entered the Selection on a dare, I didnât expectâŠâ
âNo of course not, you never stop to think, do you mija?â She sighed dramatically, âAll weâve worked for! Down the drain. UnlessâŠâ She paused, and I could practically see the wheels turning in her head.
âUnless what?â I prompted. I had seen that look in my motherâs eyes before and I knew I wasnât going to like the answer.
âYouâre going to go to that palace, and youâll make it to the Elite and then youâll get eliminated.â Mami declared. âAll of the publicity with none of the commitment,â She said, mostly to herself.
âDid you ever stop to think what I want?â I asked her. Staying in a palace with 34 other girls and a horny prince wasnât exactly my idea of a good time.
âAh no. You donât get to want anything. You forfeited that right when you applied to the Selection.â She snapped, âNow go. I donât want to look at you right now.â
Love you too.
âBest Behavior, mija, Iâm watching you,â Mami hissed at me as I walked up the stage.
All I had to do was walk across the stage. Really loving the trust, Mom.
I reached center stage, where the mayor was giving pretty speech about the Selection and the important role I was playing, but it was mostly white noise. Scanning the hopeful faces of the crowd, I tried fruitlessly to ground myself to someone, anyone. But this wasnât home. It never had been. I wondered if I would actually belong at the palace, or if it would just be another residence.
I kept the doubt off my face, opting for a for a reassuring smile instead. If itâs a princess they want, I thought to myself, itâs a princess theyâll get.
The humid Zunni air was replaced by the cool relief of AC once I was ushered inside the sleek black car. Looking down at my fancy, yet impractical outfit, I wondered how long I would last in the itchy material. Apparently when Mami had ordered my âSelection-worthyâ pants and shirt, she hadnât stopped to think about my comfort. But then again, when had she ever?
Although Iâd been living in Zunni for two years, it wasnât where I was raised. No, I belonged on my auntâs farm in Honduragua, and I was raised as a Four along with my cousins. That was home, not our lonely mansion, these uncomfortable clothes, or a stuffy palace.
Iâd been raised in Zunni to give me a taste of the province my parents had grown up in. Or so they said. In reality, they hadnât wanted a kid around to mess up their careers. So off to Honduragua I went. Not that Iâm complaining, I enjoyed my time on the farm, it beat living with my parents.
But now I was here, in a car taking me to the airport to fly to Angeles to compete for a Prince Iâd never even met.
Just breathe, I told myself, the last thing you need is a panic attack right now.
So I sat quietly, legs crossed, until we reached the airport. I smoothed out my pants, accepting the outstretched hand of the driver to help me out of the car. I was just going to have to play along.
Inside the plane, the other girls were waiting, scattered across the seats. I smiled at Melody Nolan, who recognized me and waved in return. I thought of the letter I sent her the day after we got selected.
Dear Melody, Apparently weâre supposed to be on the same plane. I donât know if you remember p, but I actually met you a while back for a movie I think it was? Anyways, I look forward to getting to know you! -Olivia Palacio
I hadnât known what to write, but Iâd felt it was necessary to reach out to at least one of the Selected. Luckily sheâd gotten the letter in time and responded:
Oh, yeah, The Journal! That was back in the earlier days of my career. That was a good role for meâŠ
I had been grateful sheâd remembered me and I was even more grateful that she recognized me on the plane. I had met Melody so long ago that Iâd forgotten the name of the movie we worked on! We had both been young, and it was one of the roles my mother had forced me to try out for when I would visit her. It was nice to see a familiar face.
After the plane took off, I attempted to initiate conversation. âSo umâŠâ I began, but looking around the plane, I saw that everyone was occupied. Whether they were sleeping, listening to music, or gazing out the window, none of the girls seemed very interested in talking. Good, I thought, Iâm not in the mood for small talk either.
I decided a beauty nap would be wise, and I promptly drifted off into sleep.
âWeâre chopping off your hair,â A woman with a nasally voice informed me, âJust an FYI.â
âNo no,â I protested, âLeave my hair alone!â Although my hair wasnât too long, it wasnât short either! And goodness knows I wasnât going to let some bossy stylist cut it off just for the sake of it.
âOh come on,â the woman continued, âCutting your hair symbolic! Represents⊠new beginnings,â she offered.
âYouâre not touching my hair,â I was adamant.
She rolled her eyes, âFine. Can I at least paint your nails? Or are those off limits too?â she said sarcastically.
âYou know Iâm really not having your attitude right now, but sure, knock yourself out. It must be so difficult when people donât let you displace their whole appearance.â I did my best to keep the annoyance out of my voice.
âYou,â said she, pointing the nail polish at me, âAre one toxic young lady.â
I shrugged. I guess I just wasnât having it today.
In the end, the lady was able to convince me to trim my hair, paint my nails, and wax a lot of hair off. So I didnât change much, but as I looked into the handheld mirror I was supplied with, my pulse quickened, my eyes widened, and any traces of fatigue faded away. Maybe the outside was the same, but on the inside, I was a new woman.








