The One (The Selection, #3)(35)
“It’s also funny how you can think you’ve heard something when you didn’t either,” he said instead.
All the humor vanished from the moment. “I know what you mean.” I swallowed and watched as his hand moved from my cheek to lace his fingers through mine, knowing that he and I were both watching them. “Maybe, for some people, it would be hard to confess that. Like, if they worried they might not make it to the end.”
He sighed. “Or it would be hard to say if you worried that someone might not want to make it to the end . . . maybe never quite gave up on someone else.”
I shook my head. “That’s not . . .”
“Okay.”
For everything we’d said in the safe room, for everything we’d confessed to each other, for everything that had firmly settled in my heart, these small words were the most frightening things to pass between us. Because once they were out there, we could never take them back.
I didn’t completely understand his reasons for hesitating, but I knew mine. If he ended up with Kriss after I’d put my heart out there, I would be upset with him, but I would hate myself. It was a risk I was too frightened to take.
The silence was making me uneasy, and when it became too much, I spoke.
“Maybe we could talk about this again when I’m feeling better?”
He sighed. “Of course. Completely thoughtless of me.”
“No, no. There’s just something else I wanted to ask you about.” There were bigger things than us to consider right now.
“Go ahead.”
“I had a thought about my guests for the upcoming tea party, but I would need your approval.”
He looked at me, confused.
“And I want you to know everything I would intend to discuss with them. We might be breaking several laws, so I won’t do it if you say not to.”
Intrigued, Maxon propped himself up on one arm to listen. “Tell me everything.”
CHAPTER 17
THE BACKDROP FOR OUR PHOTOS was plain and light blue. My maids put together a lovely dress for me, with little off-the-shoulder cuffs that just covered my scar. For now, my days of strapless gowns were gone.
Though I looked pretty good, I was completely overshadowed by Nicoletta, and even Georgia was dazzling in her gown.
“Lady America,” the woman next to the camera called. “We remember Princess Nicoletta from when the women of the Italian royal family came to visit the palace, but who is your other guest?”
“This is Georgia, a dear friend of mine,” I replied sweetly. “One of the things that I’ve learned from the Selection so far is that moving forward means joining your life before coming to the palace with the future that lies in front of you. I’m hoping to make another step in joining those two worlds today.”
Some of those standing around let out satisfied noises as the cameras continued to capture the three of us.
“Excellent, ladies,” the photographer said. “You can go enjoy the party. We’ll be taking some candid shots later.”
“Sounds fun,” I answered, motioning for my guests to come with me.
Maxon had made it clear that of all days, today was one when I really needed to be on. I hoped to be the lead example of what an Elite should be, but it was hard for me to try and be so perfect.
“Tone it down, America, or rainbows are going to shoot out of your eyes.” I loved that even though our friendship was brief, Georgia could see right through my act.
I laughed, and Nicoletta joined in. “She’s right. You do seem a bit perky.”
I sighed with a smile. “Sorry. Today is a high-stakes kind of day.”
Georgia put an arm on my shoulder as we walked deeper into the room. “After everything you and Maxon have been through, I highly doubt he’ll send you home over a tea party.”
“That’s not exactly what I mean. But we’ll have to talk about it later.” I turned to face them. “Right now, it would be a huge help to me if we could mingle. Once things settle down, we need to have a pretty serious discussion.”
Nicoletta looked over at Georgia, then back to me. “What kind of friend are you introducing me to here?”
“A valuable one. I swear. I’ll explain later.”
For their part, Georgia and Nicoletta made me shine. As a princess, Nicoletta was quite possibly the best guest in the room, and I saw in Kriss’s eyes that she wished she had thought of that. Of course, she didn’t have a direct line to Italian royalty like I did. Nicoletta herself had given me a phone number to contact her if I ever needed to.
No one knew who Georgia was, but when they’d heard my line—the one Maxon had specifically fed to me—about joining my past and my future, they thought that was a spectacular idea as well.
Elise’s choices were predictable. Powerful but predictable. Two very distant cousins from New Asia representing her ties to the leaders of the nation paraded next to her in their traditional dresses. Kriss had chosen a professor from the college her father worked at and her mother. I was dreading my family hearing about that. When Mom or May realized they had a chance to be here, I was sure to get a very disappointed letter from them.
Celeste, true to her word, brought full-fledged celebrities. Tessa Tamble—who had allegedly given a show at Celeste’s last birthday party—was there in a very short but glamorous dress. Celeste’s other guest was Kirstie Summer, another musician who was mostly known for her outlandish concerts, and her outfit was more like a costume. My guess was that it was either something she usually performed in or an experiment in painted leather. Either way, I was surprised she got through the door, both because of the way she was dressed and the fact that if you passed within a foot of her, you could smell the alcohol radiating off her.