The Luna Choosing Game by Jane Above Story

Chapter 0555 Holding Elva's hand, we followed Bridget around to the side of the mansion. A camera crew followed us, with their cameras trained on Bridget, Elva, and me. | tried to keep my head up high and my grip firm on Elva's hand.

Constantly having cameras watching was unnerving. It felt like 1 was constantly under a microscope, so | had to perform to be the best person | could be. Since mistakes weren't tolerated, | felt like | couldn't be myself.

As we came around to the side of the mansion, | saw a massive sand sculpture right there on the beach. Bridget ran to it, then threw her arms out, and spun around.

"Elva!" she called. "Look what | made you!" Elva gasped, then tugged me forward. We rushed toward the sculpture, which | realized as we drew closer, was an elaborate sandcastle.

It was multi-leveled, with towers stretching even taller than Elva. Each tower had winding stairs down the sides that led to a main, large building with carefully carved windows.

Every detail was meticulously designed and crafted, even down to the brick fagade that covered the entire sculpture.

Elva was in total awe. | was too, for a minute. It really was a work of art.

| wondered who Bridget had brought in to make this.

"I made this castle for you, Elva," Bridget said, "As an apology for the unfortunate accident which destroyed your own little, dilapidated castle." Bridget made this? My initial thought was to majorly doubt that, but | pushed down on that feeling, recognizing it likely as jealousy. Bridget was so damn good at everything.

Would it be so out of question for her to be good at this too? *This is for me?" Elva released my hand, so | let hers go too. She dashed forward to look closer at the castle.

"I thought you might want to see what a real sandcastle

should look like," Bridget said. Her sugary voice might have sounded nice, but | could hear the insult underneath.

Fortunately, Elva seemed blissfully unaware, too caught up in appreciating the craftsmanship and beauty of the sand sculpture.

"Your little pile of sand looked like so amateurish compared to what I'm used to," Bridget went on. "You can see now how | would have thought it wasn't anything when | stepped on it." *Not everyone makes sandcastles just for the aesthetics," | said, unable to contain myself anymore. "Children, for instance, are learning and playing. They don't need to make sculptures like this every time they go to the beach." "They don't need to," Bridget replied, "But they should certainly strive to. If we pushed our children to do better, maybe they would grow up to be actresses or other successful members of society. Not... what was it you do again, Piper?"

"| was a waitress," | said.

"Right." Bridget kept smiling, totally ignoring the fact that she insulted me right to my face.

1 opened my mouth, about to really give Bridget a piece of my mind, when Elva called for me.

"Mommy! Look it!" | gave Bridget my best glare as | moved around her to Elva's side, to see where she was pointing. There, tucked into one of the windows, was a little sand cat, snoozing on the windowsill. To carve something that intricate would have required such a steady hand, it was impressive.

*Such a sweet thing, being impressed by windows," Bridget said. She giggled a little, patronizingly, for the cameras.

"She's admiring the cat," | said.

Bridget looked at me. "What cat?" That little voice of doubt that had whispered in my mind that Bridget hadn't crafted this sculpture herself came

rushing back to me, this time with renewed fervor. Anyone who had taken the time to design and make this castle would appreciate their details being recognized.

Bridget didn't seem to recall any of the specific details that she would have had to painstakingly craft, had she actually designed this herself.

| kept my accusation to myself, however, recognizing how easily it could be twisted to make Bridget seem a victim.

Hopefully, through the cameras, the public would be able to see Bridget's true nature through her veiled insults.

*Bridget! Piper!" Nathan called from where the others had been stretching. "It's time!" | gestured Elva closer and then took her hand. "Come on, honey. Let's go find Nicholas." "But the castle, Mommy..." "We'll come back later," | promised.

As we walked back toward the deck-side of the beach, | spotted Nicholas and Julian now standing near Veronica.

Nathan was just beyond, setting up the cameras alongside a crude start line, which was no more than a line drawn in the sand.

Out in the water, a few boats were set up to show the water side of the race track.

It was nearly time. (

"There she is," Julian said as we came closer. He was giving me his typical, sideways-slanted smile, though it didn't quite match his eyes. "You ready for this?" "Ready as I'll ever be," | told him.

He wanted to say more. | could tell just by looking at him.

He was worried. He probably wanted me to be careful, like Nicholas did.

But unlike Nicholas, Julian didn't make me promise. He just held my gaze for a while, and | held his in return. He must have been able to tell, just from looking at me, or perhaps from gauging my previous actions, that | wouldn't take unnecessary risks.

"We'll be right here," he said, and | nodded, relieved. He might as well have said, We've got your back. By now, | shouldn't have been surprised that these two princes cared about me so much. Yet it still felt so surreal to know it was true. | was blessed, truly.

Finally, Julian looked away from me. He lowered himself down to one knee and held out his arms for Elva. "Why don't we find a good spot to watch the race, Elva, huh?" Elva glanced up at me. | immediately leaned down and kissed the top of her head. Then I let go of her hand and she rushed to Julian.

Julian lifted Elva up into his arms and carried her closer to the water.

With the two of them moving on, and Veronica headed to the start line, this left me and Nicholas.

"You won't forget your promise," he said.

"I won't," | assured him. His face, usually so stony and expressionless in front of the cameras, was crinkled with worry. Knowing my words wouldn't be enough, | inched closer to him, as close as | dared with so many onlookers.

‘We weren't touching, but we were mere centimeters away.

Like this, | could feel his warmth and he could feel mine.

He closed his eyes and took a few visibly-deep breaths.

‘When he opened his eyes again, he had schooled his face once more, hiding his worry behind an expressionless mask. The anxiety still shone in his eyes though.

| didn't know what exactly he was expecting to happen, but if he was going to be the one stressed out, then | had to be the strong one instead.

"I'm going to be okay," | said.

Holding my gaze, | watched his resolve harden. "You will," he agreed. "Because | won't allow otherwise."