The Elite (Where the King is Nice)

Chapter 10

A/N:

Italics are when Maxon is thinking.

(Maxon's POV)

I hear America's words and my stomach does a summersault.

"D-Did you just say what I think you said?" I ask. She nods slowly. I can't take it anymore. I pull her close and kiss her with as much passion as I can. Then I realize that we are in the middle of the hallway.

"Er- Let's keep going." We walk the rest of the way to my room in silence.

"I meant what I said," America says quietly once we get to my room. I turn around and smile.

"I know." America's entire face lights up.

"I love you," I tell her, but before she can answer me I crash my lips into hers. I've been waiting for this moment ever since America arrived at the castle. She wraps her arms around my neck and deepens the kiss. After awhile, I pull away just slightly. I can still feel her smiling against my lips.

Wedding bells ring as I see America walk down the isle in a beautiful gown. She smiles proudly at me as the crowd goes nuts. When she gets to me, she whispers,

"You look handsome, as always."

"And you beautiful."

"What are you thinking about?" I ask her.

"What are you thinking about?" She counters.

"Our future," I say. She smiles and rests her head on my shoulder. Then she sits up with a worried look on her face.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just... Are you going to have to keep prolonging this Selection because your parents are making you?" She asks. I frown in response.

"I'm going to talk to them about that. Sure, prolonging drags out the suspense, but it's also very costly."

"You can prolong it if you have to, I don't mind." She says.

"I don't want to have this any longer," I say in frustration.

"Do your parents know?" She asks quietly.

"About what?" I respond. I know my mom will support my decision no matter what, but I don't know how my dad is going to react. Sure, he likes America. But I don't know how he'd react to me coming to a decision like this so quickly.

"Ummm... Us?" She squeaks out. I shrug my shoulders in response.

"They'll find out soon enough." After that, I show America around my room. She occasionally gasps and gapes at the stuff in my room.

"You paint?" She asks me. I smile and nod. Then, I bring her over to the pictures that I've painted and show her.

"You know, I've never shown these to anyone before." I tell her.

"Not even your parents?"

"Nope." America looks shocked and sits there for a minute. I can see a lot of emotions flicking over her eyes.

"Why are you showing me this?" She asks tentatively. I look over at her with surprise.

"Because I-" But just then there's a knock at the door. I have a feeling that it's my mom. America looks over at me with her eyes wide, as if to say, should I hide? I shake my head and open the door.

"Hey mom!" I say as my suspicions are confirmed.

"Hey Maxon, sweetie, I- oh hey America!" America looks embarrassed for a second but then says,

"Good afternoon, Your Majesty." I suppress a laugh. She calls me Maxon all the time, but still doesn't call my parents anything informal.

"America, please. Call me Amberly." Mom then glances over at me and then back to America.

"Can I speak to you for a minute?" She asks, referring to America. America looks nervous but quickly glances at me. I give her a reassuring nod and she walks out with my mom.

I hope I didn't get America in trouble. Hopefully after my mom talks to her she won't-

Wait, did my mom come in here originally to ask me if I knew where America was?

Did she know about America coming here? I walk out of my room and see them at the end of the hall. They immediately see me and stop talking.

"Is everything ok?" I ask. It felt like they were taking forever. America smiles and says,

"Yea, we are fine."

"Maxon, honey, why don't you go help your father set up for the report?" My mother asks. From the corner of my eye, I see America stiffen slightly.

"But that's tomorrow!" I complain.

"Yeah, but it's also early in the morning and this Report needs more setting up than usual." I groan and say,

"Fineeeee." Then I walk down the halls to find my father. Why, oh why, did my mother have to ruin my moment with America. I honestly wonder what they are talking about. Hopefully I'll find out soon.

"Hey dad," I say as soon as I see him,

"You called?"

"Yes, so your mother did pass on my message. I told her that I wanted you to help me set up for the Report, but that's not true." I get nervous for a second until I see his carefree smile.

"You know how Ambe- your mother's birthday is coming up soon?" I nod in response. I can see where this is going.

"We should have a huge surprise party for her!" He says, and then squeals a little bit.

Wait- Did my father just squeal??

Anyway, I think of something we could add to that.

"We could have the girls help us with it, too. Kinda like another project," I suggest. The more projects there are, the more girls I can eliminate, and the faster I can propose to America.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't want to make any of the girls feel bad, but I just want this whole thing done with already.

"Ummm, sure!" My dad says,

"We have about 5 days to plan. So how many girls are you eliminating tomorrow?" He asks.

"2." I respond to him. He nods and I can almost see the gears turning in his head.

"Ok.. So we will have 3 girls left that can help us with the project. Perfect!" He says while clapping his hands together.

"What did we do for mom last year?" I ask. Honestly, I don't remember doing anything, but you never know. My father ducks his head in embarrassment while saying,

"Nothing.. We forgot!" My eyes widen. That's probably why I don't remember doing anything.

"We have to make this year extra special!" I tell him. Dad nods.

"How would the girls help?" He asks me. I shrug,

"Let Silvia figure that out!" Suddenly, he jumps up in excitement.

"THAT'S IT!!" He yells,

"Silvia can help us. She better keep it a freaking secret though. God she has such a loud mouth," my dad says. I nod and we both run through the hallways down to the Ladies' Room. Now, that's something you don't see everyday. The king running through the halls.

When we get there, my dad is wheezing for air.

"Wait... A minute..." He coughs.

"Gosh dad you are really out of shape," I comment casually. He shoots me a glare and says,

"When you get older..." But he doesn't finish his sentence because just then we find Silvia. We tell her the whole plan and she asks,

"So this is all hush-hush?"

"Yes! And you better keep it a secret!" My dad tells her. She nods and turns back to all of the girls. (Excluding America) She starts to tell them everything until someone, or should I say, 2 someones, burst through the door.