#selectionoc5

“Haru, hi!” “Bro it’s midnight. I need my beauty sleep.” “Well guess what, nap times over. Now you have to listen to me.” “Ok, fine. What happened?”

“So basically we faked some things that may happen and I accidentally shared my opinions on the whole Ben-kissing thing.” I heard him shift or something of that sort. Must be on speaker. “Wait, what? You let it out to the royal family?” “By accident, ok. I was being drilled by Princess Layla. Meanwhile, I was with Candy Rose-.” “Spy girls actor person?” “Yeah, that person, and she played it off so easily. She barely spoke about it and when I spoke, I had to give an answer. I went on and on and on. My heart was racing. Bro, they make the selection all glamorous and stuff but its hard. But you really can’t say much. If Mom had given me the opportunity to speak on behalf of the store and this wouldn’t have happened!”

“Bro calm down. It was one thing-.” “Yes, one thing Haru. I simply spoke my mind TO THE PRINCESSES OF ILLEA!” “Ok, I see your problem now. Anyway, what else happened?” “Well, they didn’t blame me,” well they could have but didn’t say it, “but it's still embarrassing. Anyway, Candy made a remark that it's her job to not express opinions. She was a little bit rude towards the rest of us, to be honest.” “Wait, really? She appears to be nice on TV.” “Appears, that's the keyword. She was saying it was a piece of cake when I'm over here like how.”

“I guess, anyway what did the other girls have to answer?” “Well, uh, I think they did something about being in a lower caste and being queen. I was so shaken up that I zoned out.” “Of course you did. Let me guess, their auras were nervous?” “I didn’t pay attention to that either. Candy’s aura was strong enough. I couldn't focus on the other girls.” “Like how strong?”

“Well we had this whole fight after the Royals had left and her aura was like, I can’t describe it. It was like staring into the sun. It was too much.” “Oh lord. Yeah, I can’t imagine that. Too bad you had to deal with that. Can I get my beauty sleep now? It's like 12 here.” “Ok, fine. But first, you have to help me with one thing.” “What?” he asked with not to much enthusiasm. “What should I draw. Or write to get my mind off of this whole thing?” “Write a poem about the experience then draw a desert. That always helped you. Anyway night, love ya!” “Yeah, yeah, night! Love you too.”

And with that, I hung up. It felt so good to just rant to someone who would listen. Especially the whole aura thing. I took Haru’s advise and wrote a poem.

Why do people put themselves higher? Make other suffer for your own good. They brag and brag when my hearts already racing, Making my heart thump Over and over

Ba-pump Ba-pump

Make me drop beads of sweat, One by one on my scalp, My forehead, My body.

Drip- drop Drip- drop

My hand shakes at my side More and more Starts at a tremble, Leaves as a shake

Tingle Shake Tingle Shake

My throat swells, Making it harder and harder to take a breath Harder to swallow out of fear Just harder.

Tention Pain Tention Pain

My breath trembles A shaking breath coming from a closed-up throat A fast-moving breath A deep one no doubt But I find myself in this pain of a breath over and over again

In Out In Out

Finally its over The heart racing Beads of sweat Shaking hands A throat full of tension And a shaky breath

Breath in, Breath out It's over.

After finishing that poem, I felt 10 times better. I combined the feelings I felt during the whole fight, but also when I was being drilled for info. There's something about putting emotion on paper.

Both Ben and I were wearing casual things. (He told me to not call hin Prince Ben and curtsy so ha!) Citrine was spying on us from the bathroom. I figured it out pretty quickly. It surprised Ben a bit, but I handed the situation well. He was saying how it was weird when people are interested in your love life, especially being the prince. Apparently, Prince Emmett from England has it tough there. He overviewed some of the royal family in both England and New Asia.

We had to walk through the gardens to get to the beach. I still can’t get over the gardens. They are so beautiful. Like the ones in the Jane Austen BBC remakes, but better. I told him about the mini threats towards Mom and Dad about me getting into the selection. I said something like haters going to hate and he laughed at that saying I was all positive attitude.

I said that it's in my blood to which he replied to saying I would probably have positivity spewing out if I was cut into tiny pieces. This is where the flask came in handy. I mentioned that I might be a vampire and teased he should be worried.  I said something like ‘should you? I may as well get your blood in your sleep and drink it at the dinner table.’ I had taken out the flask by now and started him when he saw it. I later reassured him that it was only coke.

Even though I knew how to make a fire, he lit it up. When I asked, Ben said he has made s'mores many times. He started to kill me with this whole ‘secret ingredient’. I guessed and guessed but nothing cracked him. Once I had finished roasting the marshmallow, he put on something, but I couldn’t see it. Turns out it was caramel. It was heaven. 8-year-old Ben came up with it. I mentioned how I was the duct tape queen and somehow the shops came into the conversation.

Ben had asked how I got into fashion. Of course, I said it was a family business thing. If you think about it the entire royal family is just a family business. We got into parties and odd occasions. I mentioned that alcohol that isn’t wine is great at parties. Did you know one girl came to the palace and threw chocolate bars at it? I told him about the very interesting requests we’ve gotten and he was mortified. It was kind of funny, to be honest.

Oh yeah, Rin came into the conversation. I mentioned that he didn’t like chocolate or any sweets for that matter. He mentioned that deserts sort of make a birthday. I agreed and brought up the parties with no alcohol thing. You know that drunk people are the best people at parties as long as they aren’t you. You know how your hangover food is LOTS of coffee? Well, Ben’s is a burrito and coffee. Of course, you know my hangover food is breakfast food. (I could go for some breakfast food right now).

By this time the date had come to an end. The s’mores were delicious that's for sure. I definitely wanted to give off a friendly vibe, but, not a ‘let's be lovers and ride off into the sunset’ vibe. The walk back was pretty much silent except for a little bit of small talk. My love of chocolate and peanut butter came up. Either than that and me mentioning there should be a place to work under the stars. You would have to go through the third floor to get to the roof. That's where Ben suggested I’m allowed to go there to go to the roof but I don’t want to take chances.

We said our goodbyes and I immediately had a coke. I was worn out. I don’t get how extroverts function. I, of course, started to write this letter after I got a coke. As of now, I  am planning to do a painting of the moon for the night. I’ll send you the results afterward. 

Haru’s POV: Hahaha, I can’t wait to see what happens!

Farah’s POV: We get to the post office and there are tons of girls. What is this? We get to the end of the line and Haru hands the person behind the desk a paper. “And I'm guessing your name is Farah Winters?” she said behind the desk “Indeed I am.” I turn to Haru and he has a gin on his face. “Come this way please.” I follow as asked to. It's not like I needed a passport picture. Why was I taking a picture? I smile and she takes a picture. “All right, thank you and good luck,” she said with an (obvious) fake smile. “Thank you?”

Once we are out of the office I ask Haru what I have been wanting to ask. “What was that for? Why did they need my picture?” “Oh just for your entry for the selection.” “Ok, cool,” then it hits me, “WAIT YOU DID WHAT?” “You entered the selection. That's all.” “You sly little piece shit.” “I know you still love me.” “THAT'S THE PROBLEM!” “I still love you.” I rolled my eyes; “I know bro. I know.”

----------------

Haru and I’s family stores were having a big sale. It was crazy. Our two shops connected via a big door. They reminded me of barn doors. Haru and I were running the shops for the night. We were closing late because it was a Friday. The report was on in the background. I didn’t pay attention. I was too worried about all the people here.

Ellen DeGreat started calling out names one by one. I couldn’t give a fuck. Haru entered me without my consent. I took a sip of water. I was thirsty from all this walking around “From Waverly, Farah Winters!” I spit out my water; “WHAT!” Everyone was looking at me. “FARAH,” Haru called out from his shop, “I CALLED IT! YOU’RE A SELECTED! AREN'T YOU GLAD?” “I COULDN”T GIVE AN EF HARU!”

“What is going on down there?” My dad asked from the staircase. Haru answered; “Farah is a selected, that's all.” “Oh alright.” I gave Haru a good glare. People kept looking. “Sorry for the disruption everyone,” I said loud enough so anyone in both shops could hear. People, luckily, went back to shopping. 

----------------

A couple days before Farah was going to leave

“Ah, nooo,” Haru said from his desk. We were chilling our shops. No one was here and the ‘wall’ was open. Haru an I both had our feet on our desks, both to our parent's disapproval. “What?” Then I noticed he has 2 magazines open; The Gossipel and Illeá Now. “Prince Ben was spotted making out with a girl who isn’t a selected at a bar!” “Hm.” “You aren’t worried? Aren’t you leaving in a couple days?” “Yes I'm leaving in a couple days, but I couldn’t care less. There are probably some girls in the selection that are heartbroken.” “True, true.” ------------- Today was the day; my sendoff. I would be leaving Waverly for who knows how long for a selection I didn’t want to be in. All I was excited about was the food. And maybe meeting people. A couple days ago people from the palace came to measure me and gave me my send-off clothes. It would most likely be the last time I wear pants for a long time. It was a simple outfit. It was only black. The only pop of color was the flower and the pin they gave me. The flower, a rose, was pinned to the corner of my top along with my pin. This said my name and my province.

I headed downstairs and started to brew some tea. The barn door was slid open and I made my way to Haru’s room. I was going to make sure he didn’t oversleep. I had been upstairs on his side of the ‘house’ many times. His parents were already awake and in the kitchen. He was nowhere in sight.

Once I got up to his room, he was fast asleep. I got out my phone from my pocket and opened up the music app. I opened it up to my alternative rock playlist and picked the most upbeat song that was on there. I chose Ill Sleep When I Am Dead by Set It Off. I plugged in my earbuds, then put it in his ears. He was a deep sleeper so he probably didn’t feel a thing. I put in at a reasonably loud volume. This meaning just about full volume. I skipped over to the loudest part of the song and hit play.

He shot straight up. “WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR!” “Good morning to you too.” “LANGUAGE HARUKA!” Haru’s mom yelled from downstairs. “SORRY!”

“Why did you do that?” “My sendoff is at 10. It’s 9. I won’t see you for a while.” “True, but why the music.” “All I could think of.” “Alright. Well, I better get dressed before you hit me with a book.”

I laughed and walked out, shutting the door behind me.

--------------- The driver came right on time. I grabbed my suitcase from my room and said my goodbyes. I promised to call every day or else Haru would be spamming me with texts. Once I got to Central Park, the butterflies started to kick in. THere were so many people. I get that a selection doesn’t happen for a long time but still, it was weird. The thought I had fans was weird. I knew I had fans of my clothing, but myself, it was a weird thought. There was a stage where the mayor was waiting. He announced my name and I said things like “I hope to make Waverly proud.” It was quite short. From Waverly to the airport I was supposed to be was a long drive.

I looked up my travel time; 2 hours. I didn’t do much. I listened to music and did a painting of an ocean sunset on my computer. I had one of those computers that could flip back into a tablet. Somehow I managed to not mess up too much despite being in the car. Wasn’t my best, wasn’t the worst.

When I got to the airport I was the first one there. I took my luggage and sat in a chair till the next girl came in. I was sitting on my phone till Tory Livingston came in, her face red.  She thought she was late when she wasn’t. Tory had a bunch of bags as well as a lot of food. She was snacking on a bag of chips almost the entire time.

Next, Ahmara Quill came in, on the phone. She quickly hung up and we said our hellos. I thought she was talking to her ex-boyfriend but I later learned it was her best friend. We also learned that her best friend and Haru would get along quite well after I told the story of how I was entered without my consent.

We talked about many things including food and song choices. The palace staff helping us in the airport weren’t that nice too. We nicknamed her ‘Scary Lady’. When it was time to get on the plane, we had to walk through tons of people seeing us off. Tory and I were fine, but on the other hand, Ahmara was zoning out and still waving when we got in the terminal.

Ahmara wasn’t too sure of flying; in fact, it was her first flight. We helped her through it, and eventually, she got over it. For the duration of the flight, Tory taught us how to play poker. It was really fun actually. The plane ride wasn’t long at all talking to Tory and Ahmara. They were both really sweet.

Once we got there, we were stuck for a while. Lots of people wanted selfies or autographs. Once we got to the palace, I was just in shock. It was huge. As soon as we got into the palace we were bombarded with people who were going to get us ‘palace worthy’. They took my suitcase to my room and I was stuck in a chair for what felt like forever. There were people running around and lots of bright lights. They didn’t do much with me. They lightened my hair a tad bit, curled it, and pulled it into a ponytail. My nails were done with a dark purple color that had a little bit of glitter in it. My makeup was light too. I was glad they didn’t do much. I didn’t have much jewelry on too. Only little necklaces and earrings. When a rack of my dresses arrived I chose a blue one.

I got assigned my room; Abby Hall, room 21. When I got there I was greeted by my maids; Pyrite, the head maid, Zoisite, and Citrine. All crystal names which I found interesting. They all had necklaces of their crystal and looked similar. When I asked, they revealed they were all sisters. I also asked them to not call me ‘Miss Farah’ or ‘Lady Farah’ and just Farah.

They excused me for a couple minutes to settle in. I immediately went to the balcony, I got the view of the ocean. It was beautiful. I immediately texted Haru a picture of my view and gave him a call. He was probably worried sick. He even called me in the airport. I talked to him for a while then I had to change for dinner. I didn’t choose anything fancy. The food at dinner was amazing. It was definitely one of the highlights of the day.

When I got to my room, I unpacked immediately. I honestly had a bunch of art supplies. My computer, watercolor supplies, tons of chargers, and my travel guitar. It was tiny for being a guitar. Once I had unpacked and changed I sat on my computer for a while. After an hour I finally went to bed.

Citrine awoke me today to the biggest smile. “Guess what!” She sang. “Hm,” I said, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. “You get to meet the prince today!” “That's great,” I said a little bit unenthusiastically. “Oh come on! Aren’t you excited?” “I guess. I'm tired, ok.” “Well guess what.” “Hm?” “I already had your green tea made!” She grabbed a mug from my bed stand. “You know me so well!”

I sipped my tea thinking about how close I was with my maids already; especially Citrine. Maybe because we like the same things or that we feel different from other people. It was like we had known each other for a long time.

Once I had finished my tea, I got dressed. Like always, makeup was light and hair was curled. My dress was a blue dress that wasn’t too showy. I didn’t think skin showing was really a way to win someone's heart. Anyway, I'm not here for love. I actually liked this dress a lot.

I slipped into heels and made my way down to eat. The normal breakfast spread was there. I got my usual; pancakes and a yogurt. I also got another cup of tea. I ate in silence till it was my turn to go up. I was tired and didn’t have the energy to talk to anyone unless I had to.

“Lady Farah,” a voice queued me to go up to the prince. I stood and walked to the two couches. When I approached, the prince stood with a small smile. “Hi Lady Farah, care to sit down?” He gestured to the couch. I smiled and curtseyed. “Hello your highness,” took a seat and thanked him (for the seat). He sits across from on the second couch. “Call me Ben, please. I think we can be on a first name basis.” I replied with a small laugh at his comment, “True. I guess the whole ‘your highness’ is from all the lessons I have gotten thus far.” Ben started to click his tongue; “Those pesky lessons,” he laughed, “I shouldn’t have said that otherwise, Lady Lorelai would have my head. But anyway, tell me more about yourself, Farah.” “Hm, uh, well I do a lot of art and poetry.”

“What kind of art do you do?” He asked, tilting his head a bit. “I mainly do things with watercolor but I occasionally digitally.” “Is there anything, in particular, you prefer to paint or do digitally?” “I’ve been fascinated by stars and the moon ever since I was little, so probably things at night. That or sunsets.” “That sounds like it makes for beautiful works. I’m sort of artistically challenged, so I appreciate artists,” he said with a small laugh. “It does. Art is hard though. Most things sound like gibberish,” I replied with a laugh.

Ben chuckled hat my comment; “Glad to know I’m not alone in thinking that. You mentioned you also do poetry?” “Yup! Do you have any hobbies?” “Well, I actually like to read a lot. Not so much poetry, but a little bit of everything,” Ben replied with a smile. “Hm, I actually don’t read too much poetry compared to the books I read,” I returned the smile. He chuckled, “I can understand that. Sometimes I get sick of reading about the history of Illea as much as I enjoy learning about it. Finding that balance.”

“Well, I mean reading about the history of Illea can be pretty boring compared to someone actually teaching it to you.” He lifted a hand in agreement, “Exactly. Too many dates and not enough action,” he teased and looked at something over my shoulder, then back at me, “I’m so sorry, but our time is actually up for right now. He stood and offered his hand to help me up, “But it was lovely talking with you.” I took his hand and stood, “You  as well,” I smile, “good luck with the rest of the girls!”

I saw the next girl stand and I started to walk back to my seat. “Thank you!” Ben called out. I grinned and sat back down. I didn’t have to much to do once back in my seat. As soon as we were dismissed, I left.

Farah’s POV

“FUCK YOU SEWING MACHINE,” I yell, hitting my fist on the top of the machine. My sewing machine wasn’t doing too good; the thread kept jamming.

“Take a chill pill,” Haru said from across the room, “You don't want your mom to hear your foul language.”

“I know, I know,”I sighed, “Desi parents suck sometimes.”

“As do Japanese parents,” he said, standing. I simply rose an eyebrow.

“Do I sense bad energy coming from you?”

I rolled my eyes. “Like you have problems with your sewing machine, Haruka.”

I did that on purpose; say his real name. Haruka Kato, my best friend. The name Haruka is technically a girl's name in Japanese. He hates being called Haruka. Our moms have known each other since Junior High. They had us around the same time. The same day actually. I was the second born but born two months early from when my due date was.

My mom opened Indigo Clothing; Soon after, Haru’s Mom opened Crystal Jewelry. Both named after Indigo/ Crystal Children. Haru and I were both Crystals. Both could see aura’s, since things others couldn’t. be greatly affected by negative energy for example.

Haru and I were entrusted with the next partnering line of jewelry and clothing. After hours of arguing on the text, we decided on a cherry blossom inspired collection. We would call in The Sakura Collection; the Japanese word for cherry blossom. My sewing machine kept jamming, as I said before. I do need a chill pill.

“Don't call me that,” Haru replied to my comment.

I laughed. “Even at your wedding, I will be saying Haruka.”

He snarled, but his aura didn’t show anything of frustration. I smile and stood.

“I'm turning on music, what do you want?”

“Hmm, maybe,” he pointed a finger at the ceiling, “something from a musical, yes that's it.”

“What musical then; Heathers, Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, the list goes on,” I turn on the speaker.

“You know what I'm going to pick,” he smirked.

“Dear Evan Hansen it is. I'm guessing Sincerely Me?”

He nods and I connect my phone to the speaker. The first couple notes come on. He stands and we both smile. We have both become so in tune with each other so we basically know what each other is thinking sometimes.

“Dear Evan Hansen we way to out of touch,” I start, “things have been crazy and it sucks that we don't talk that much. But I should tell you that I think of you each night; I rub my nipples and start moaning with delight.”

“I've gotta tell you, life without you has been hard,” Haru says after me.

“Hard?”

“Has been bad.”

“Bad?”

“Has been rough.”

“Kinky,” I say with finger guns.

“And I miss talking about life and other stuff,” as I walk around the room.

“Very specific.”

“Shut Up!”

“I like my parents,” Haru continues.

“Who says that?”

“I love my parents, but each day another fight. If I stop smoking drugs then everything would be alright.”

“Smoking drugs,” I went along with the song.

“If I stop smoking crack.”

“CRACK!”

“If I stop smoking pot then everything would be alright.”

“I’ll take your advice. I'll try to be more nice. I'll turn it around wait and see,” we started in unison, “Cause all that it takes is a little reinvention. It’s easy to change if you give it your attention. All you gotta do is just believe you can be who you want to be. Sincerely, Me.”

The song went on with just some talking when Haru picked it up again. “Dear Connor Murphy, yes I also miss our talks. Stop doing drugs Just try to take deep breaths and go on walks.”

“Noo,” I say, probably overdoing it.

“I'm sending pictures of the most amazing trees.”

“No.”

“You'll be obsessed with all my forest expertise.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Dude, I'm proud of you. Just keep pushing through. You're turning around; I can see!”

“Just wait and see!”

We go back to unison; “Cause all that it takes is a little reinvention. It’s easy to change if you give it your attention. All you gotta do is just believe you can be who you want to be. Sincerely, Me.”

“My sister’s hot!” I say

“What the hell!” Haru replies.

“My bad.”

I start to take the part of Connor, Haru being Evan.

“Dear Evan Hansen, thanks for every note you send!”

“Dear Connor Murphy, I'm just glad to be your friend.”

“Our friendship goes beyond, your average kind of bond,” we say in unison once more.

“But not because we’re gay.”

“No not because we’re gay.”

“We’re close but that way.”

“The only man I love is my dad,” Haru said that made us laugh.

“Well any-,” we tried to sing when Haru’s mom burst through the door. After freezing for what felt like forever, I paused the music.

“Why are you all so loud? Shouldn’t you be working on your new line?” I started to notice a letter in her hand, “also Farah, I think this is for you,” she said with a smirk on her face.

I take the letter and thank her. “We will probably try to stay quiet.” She smiled and closed the door.

I looked down at the letter only to notice it had been opened. “So what is it?’ Haru asked.

“Looks like nothing. Well, want to go to my room for now?’’

“You still have the good food, right?”

“You know it.”

We walked down the hall to my room where he plopped onto my bed, lying down. My room was an overall mess. Being the clean freak I was, my room was the one thing I let slide. It had wall tapestries all over the walls. To the right of my bed I had my desk; on the wall above it, I had my favorite paintings. Mostly oceans, eyes, and paintings inspired by poetry. I was an avid poet. I wrote day and night as well as painting. In front of my bed was my guitar. It was purple with a butterfly in the corner.

I sat next to Haru and pulled out the letter. He, luckily, sat up. I would have to lie on top of him. I skim the letter because it was nothing new. I could apply to Prince Benjamin's selection. Haru looking over my shoulder but then finally laid his head on my shoulder. “Ahh, Prince Benjamin,” he cooed, “ I wish he was gay, then I could have entered.” Then his face shot straight up, “Farah, you should enter!”

“Oh, no, no, no. No way Haru. Don’t you think it would be weird to have someone like me say in the middle of a conversation ‘is your shoulder heavy?’”

“Oh come on! We are basically the same person! You would be fine,” he turned so he was on his stomach and used his hands to prop himself up, “he's a hottie y’know.”

“I am aware of that. There is no way you could convince me.”

And with that, we were called down to dinner.

Haruka’s POV