The Chosen

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Beep beep beep beep

My eyes immediately fly open at the sound of my alarm. Along with waking up comes the realization of how terribly cold it is. Groaning loudly I stick my head under my blanket and curl up into a ball, attempting to stay warm. There is no way I am stepping outside of my covers into the freezing room. It must be at least 40 degrees! My alarm is still going off but I try to ignore it. Maybe if it keeps going it will eventually annoy Marina and she’ll get out of bed and turn it off so I don’t have too. Too my satisfaction that is exactly what happens. I hear a groan from the bed next to me and the sound of feet hitting the floor. I hear Marina walk over to my bed stand and smack the alarm button.

“Kiara wake up!” She snaps, clearly annoyed. When I don’t come out from under my blanket heap she pushes me off the bed.

“Hey!” I sit up off the floor and reluctantly jump to my feet.

“You two are finally awake! Get ready sleepy heads, we have a test in History today.” I rub my bleary eyes and look around the room to see someone sitting at the vanity.

I sigh and walk groggily over to my wardrobe. I fling the doors open and shove my hands in. When I finally find my school uniform, I quickly change into it. We all wear the same outfit every day here at Ms. Neely’s boarding school. We have multiple copies though so that we don’t stink all the time. Yet some kids here still manage to smell like a garbage can everyday. It’s incredibly disgusting. I slip on a plaid maroon and silver knee length skirt and shove my white socks on. Thankfully, we are allowed to wear whatever shoes we want, so I choose my favorite black high tops. I don’t know what I’d do if we had to wear flats all the time, they give me painful blisters. I look in the mirror as I button a white short-sleeved collared shirt. The school emblem is threaded onto the shirt which gives it a cool texture.

After getting dressed I walk sleepily over to the vanity and sit next to the person who had been there before. Cassandra, who we call Cass. She’s currently combing her beautiful curly hair. It looks like sunshine. I then take my hair out of the braids I had put them in the night before. My strawberry blonde hair comes out a tangled mess. It looks like a bird’s nest. I grab a brush and start brushing through the tangles gently. One time I brushed too hard and the handle broke off my comb. That was fun.

Marina paces back and forth anxiously.

“Marina, you’ve studied all week! You’re going to pass, stop stressing out.” Cass advises patiently.

“Yeah, Cass is right. You rarely fail tests, and you’re one of the smartest girls I know. Don’t panic.” I add.

Marina bites her lip like she always does when she’s anxious, nervous, or deep in thought.

I look over at Cass, and she shrugs saying, “Hand me the flashcards.” Marina hands Cass a 1 1/2 inch stack of flashcards. This is nothing compared to the 3-inch stack Marina made for our biology class last year. Cass puts her comb down and flips through the cards until she finds a good one.

“Okay, Marina. Maybe if we quiz you you’ll see you have nothing to worry about. What is the meaning behind our school emblem and colors?”

“Um, well. The maroon stands for courage, strength, and confidence. And the silver stands for graceful, sophisticated, and elegant.”

“Yes, and the emblem?”

“Oh. The emblem is a red allium flower. The allium stands for unity, humility, and patience. It is also thought to bring good luck and protection against evil.”

“Good job!” Cass smiles and puts the cards down. Marina puts so much thought into her answers. “Your turn to ask a question, Kia.”

I sigh and open the stack to a random card. Oh, haha. This one is easy.

“This is easy. You ready?” Marina nods. “What is the name of our kingdom and our enemy kingdom? And who are the rulers of each?”

Marina chuckles softly. “Our kingdom is the kingdom of Alynthia. And our rulers are King Rupert and Queen Helena. Our enemy kingdom is the kingdom of Valdonnia. The rulers are King Gideon and Queen Sasha.” We learned this in 4th grade, but it’s on the test every year.

“Good job!” we high five and I give Marina her flashcards back. “You’ve got this.” Marina smiles gratefully.

Cass stands up and swings her knapsack over her shoulder.

“I think we should head to breakfast, I’m famished.”

My stomach rumbles as Marina and I nod in agreement, grab our knapsacks, and head out of our dorm. In case you hadn’t guessed by now, the three of us are roommates. Our dorm is just one of the many in the girl’s tower. Since Ms. Neely’s boarding school is home to both boys and girls, there are two towers on opposite sides of the school that hold the dorms. One tower on the very left side of the school is the boys, and the very right side is us girls.

The three of us walk down the tower stairs and greet other girls as they come out of their dorms. As we approach the cafeteria, I can already smell the delicious aroma of the french toast. My absolute favorite! Yesterday, we had orange rolls and cinnamon rolls. As we get our food, I make sure to put a huge glob of strawberries on my french toast.

We then head toward our usual table near one of the corners of the cafeteria. Waiting for us are our friends Liam and Clay.

“Hey girls. What took you so long?” Clay greets us. I roll my eyes and take a seat next to Liam and Marina.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me, young lady!” Clay says dramatically.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot that I should always respect my elders.” Clay fakes a shocked look and Cass rolls her eyes as well.

“You too?” Clay asks teasingly. Clay likes to call us young just because he’s the oldest of the group. Only by a few months though.

“16. We’re so old.” Liam jokes.

“Okay, you jokers. Ready for the test?” Marina asks.

“Nope. Didn’t even study.” Clay says. Liam and I groan.

“What?!” Clay asks defensively, his green eyes full of mischief. “Why study, when you can just cheat?”

“Because it’s not right! You can’t cheat for everything.” Cass shoots, clearly annoyed. Clay shrugs and shoves a sausage in his mouth. He could care less about school. Marina pulls out her flashcards again and begins silently studying. We sit awkwardly for a few seconds until Liam breaks the tension.

“So Cass,” she looks up at him. “I heard you won the spelling bee yesterday!”

Cass’s hazel eyes shine, looking proud of herself. “Yes, that’s true.”

Liam chuckles, “Why didn’t you tell me sis?!” His matching hazel eyes share the same look of pride.

“I wanted to be humble. I thought it’d be bragging if I told you.” Cass laughs at the thought.

I jump into the conversation, “It’s not bragging if we’re your friends!”

Spelling bees are a big deal for Cass, she studied very hard for this one.

I watch as the twins continue talking. Liam has the same curly sunshine hair as his sister. I say sunshine because that’s what it looks like. Very blonde. They share the same freckled faces as well, but have different personalities.

Right as I take the last bite of french toast, the bell rings. We all get up and start walking to our classes. Liam and I have history together for 1st period, so we walk together to class. As we sit down he whispers, “Good luck.”

“You too.”

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