My mother was sitting across the table from me, being as stubborn as I am, with father on her right side, Samantha sitting on my left, little Jameson on mothers left, and baby Abigail sitting on the other side of me, and I feeding her of course. It has been hard these past couple of months with Harold leaving after selling his last sculpture off to a family of two’s and making a fortune. And then Elizabeth getting married, and of course then there is me, the middle child in a family of Sixes, just plain old me, Annabeth Marks.

“Please just give it a try, you might make some new friends and this is a great opportunity for you Anna. You could even become our future queen by marrying Prince Nolan and you would make our caste become all One’s.” my mother says still trying to make me enter The Selection. “You are a beautiful, smart, strong, talented girl and you have an amazing shot at winning the love of the Prince.”
“Mother I am not beautiful, now stop saying that.”
“You are to beautiful, and I know that because I look just like you and I am gorgeous.” There is the perky little Samantha I’ve always known and loved. She is beautiful and she does look like me, only I am not beautiful and she is. She is three years younger than me, so she is still too young to enter the Selection, which she is sad about being as boy crazy as she is. I on the other hand turned eighteen two months ago and my mother got the note from the palace last week and she still wants me to enter even though I have told her a thousand times NO!
“Come on Anna, Prince Nolan has just come into age for the Selection to begin and if you don’t fill out the form now than the Selection will be over by the time that you do.”
“Mother I am not going to marry a stranger, who for all I know is a stubborn, stuffy, stuck-up, prince!” I said as I rised to stand up out of my seat. “That is the end of this discussion.” I was so angry that I took my plate, shove it into the oven in the kitchen and stomped to my room. She was clearly taken aback with my choice of words and everyone ate silently for the rest of dinner except for little Jameson who finally looked up from his dinner plate and asked for more.
“You can have Anna’s she put it in the oven.” I could hear her say from my room.
“No, Anna might want that later on if and when she get’s hungry.” He eyed my mother at being so stubborn.

When my mother came to say goodnight to me, I could see her eyeing me about being so stubborn but I get that from her.

I just can’t marry him. I have secretly already been in love with someone and I know that he is in love with me. If anyone ever found out than we could be punished by a whipping, jail time, or even death. My mother would be so disappointed with me because all she ever worries about is me getting married to someone in a better caste. My sister was married to a man in the caste of a four and my mother thinks that I could do even better. If she ever finds out about me in love with an eight all hell will break loose in the Marks house.

***

It was midnight and I was sitting at my bedroom window waiting for him to climb up the tree house, when I saw a shadow run to the steps of the tree house and climb up, I just new it was him. I ran downstairs grabbed my leftover food, which we never really have being so low in the caste system, an orange, some bread, and a cup of water. I carefully went back to my room making sure that no one would wake up and set the food down changing into my favorite white tank top and brown shorts. I never knew that I could ever feel this girly, being in one of the lowest castes we don’t have nice clothes, we have to wear brown, white, or black in my caste unless, since we are performing for a family of twos or threes. I climbed down my window carefully so I would not spill any of the food. When I made it down I looked around to make sure no one would see that I was breaking curfew and scuttled over to the latter of the tree house. When I finally got to the top of the ladder I knew I wasn’t alone with the dimly lit candle, which was the only light source that wouldn’t grab anyone’s attention.
“Hello beautiful.” I could see that the figure that said that had a small grin on his face.
“Don’t call me that, my sister, my mother, my father, and now it’s you.” I realized that I wasn’t helping my “I’m not Pretty case”, if only people would stop saying that I am beautiful.
“Well I can’t help it, it’s the truth about you Beth.”
“No I am not beautiful and I could never be.”
He stopped arguing with me and stared at me.
“What are you doing?” I asked
“I am just taking a look at you.” We stayed that way for a while just looking at each other with him grinning at me. When I am with him I feel loved and I know that I am loved by Parker.
I remembered the food that I had brought for him. “I brought you something to eat.” he tried to keep his happiness in but I could see it shining through his gorgeous green eyes.
I saw his legs open and I crawled into his legs and set a blanket that I had brought and placed the food down. “I cooked it all myself.”
“You are going to make a man very fat and happy some day.” he said taking a bite out of the bread that I brought him. “The only man that I plan on making fat and happy is you.”
He stopped and thought of it for a moment. “Ahhh, to be fat.” and we both laughed for a little while and when the chuckles went down he picked up the bread again and took another bite. I grabbed the orange I’d brought for him and I peeled it and took a small bite so he would feel that it was for us. I looked up at him and smiled I knew that I was going to be the girl to make him fat and happy some day. I knew that I was, am the girl he loves, and I love him. “Parker?” I said with a question lingering in my brain. “Yes darling.” “Do you think that there could ever be another girl that’s right for you?” “Beth, why would you ask a question like that? You know I love you, I will always love you.” I could see the thought of him being in love with anyone else frightened him. “I don’t know, I just know how thousands of girls chase after you already and I was wondering, What if we never met? What if we didn’t love each other? Would you be in love with another? Would you dream of other girls waking up beside you?” “Anna, even if we never met you would still be the only girl I would ever dream of waking up beside.” I looked up at him with hope in my eyes, hope in my heart. He was still looking at me and when he found my eyes he wrapped his arms around me and turned me towards him and kissed me feverishly. He held me there in that kiss for a while as we kissed on we ended up on top of each other. He pushed his shaggy brown hair back and there was no doubt in me that I wanted to be with him forever. He began to kiss my cheek making his way down to my neck with his hand moving up and down my thigh. “Beth, we better stop or we could be caught.” he whispered ruining the moment, but I knew that we did have to stop before we went any further. He sat up and held my hands helping me sit up as well. I remembered why before he got here I was angry with my mother. I sighed and ran my hand over my forehead. “What’s the matter, is something making you feel distressed?” Parker looked into my eyes searching for an answer. “Yeah I forgot to mention. My mother wants me to sign up for the Selection.”
“Oh yeah, we got two letters in the mail for that. Amelia and Tessy are extremely excited for it.” Of course Parker has two little sisters, they’re twins, and they are just absolutely boy crazy. “Well that’s good for them and there is no doubt that one of them will make it and win.” We fell silent again. “I think you should sign up.” he said pulling me out of my thoughts.
“For what?”  “The Selection. I think you should sign up.”  “Parker are you crazy?” I said smacking him across the shoulder. “You’re the one I love. You’re the only one that I have ever and will ever love. I am not signing up.”  “Beth, you have to for me. If you never sign up then I would only be able to blame myself for holding you back and if that happens then I would wonder……what if Anna? What if?”
When he made it about him I never stood a chance. I cared about him too much to let him blame himself for something. “Beth, you have to.” he had tears in his eyes and he never cries. Except for one time when his little brother Tray was whipped at the town square for stealing fruit. Little Tray was hungry and since his family are so poor they can never afford food. That night Parker came to the the tree house crying in my arms saying that if he had worked harder Tray wouldn’t have to steal food. As he cried on that night a sang him a lullaby calming him for a while and that was how we ended that night him in my arms and me singing to sleep. “All right I’ll sign up.” “You will?” he asked me sounding surprised that I wasn’t being as stubborn as usual. “Yes.” what are the chances of me ever getting picked anyway? The chances are one in a million. “And when I don’t get picked don’t expect me to come running to you with tears in my eyes. I will be running to you with a big smile on my face.” he chuckled at the thought most girls would be crushed not getting picked for the Selection. “Well could you please sing for me?” he asked giving me a penny for the thousandth time. “Of course my good sir.” we chuckled as this time he crawled into my lap while I was clearing my voice. I sung him a small gentle lullaby. And as I did so he grabbed my arm and started to kiss up and down my arm or at  least the places of my arm he could reach. When I was done he gently applauded and handed me the penny. He gave me one more kiss and climbed down the ladder. As I cleaned up the garbage from his dinner I watched him run back home and making sure no one in town had woken up. I climbed down the ladder myself and through my window. I put the garbage on a table in my room knowing that my mother would get it early in the morning thinking that it was just a snack for myself like she always did. And fearing the terror about having to sign up for the Selection and I fell asleep with the terror roaming my thoughts.