Total pages in book: 210
Estimated words: 200837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1004(@200wpm)___ 803(@250wpm)___ 669(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 200837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1004(@200wpm)___ 803(@250wpm)___ 669(@300wpm)
Which was my plan. The Extraction Master, Aldo Scott, is kind of old, but he’s still a man. Men respond to beauty and when I pull out all the stops, I am more than beautiful. I am… tantalizing and sultry. Not exquisite in a Clara Birch way. But I see how the men look at me. Even the old ones.
And anyway, Aldo’s retiring this year so his son, Finn Scott, will be right beside him tonight. He is not an old man and I don’t care how attached he is to stupid Clara Birch, all men look.
He will definitely be looking at me tonight.
I labored over my skirts for more than a year, hand-stitching hundreds of handmade fabric butterflies into the tulle. Then I accented it with strings of shimmery, silver thread and tiny golden roses made of silk. Cheap silk, but who cares. The final result is something right out of a fairy tale.
And I didn’t tell a soul about it. Which is why all four of my best friends are gaping at me in shock.
“Holy wow, Jasina!” Ceela’s hand is over her mouth as she takes in my new look.
Britley comes over and bends down to get a better look at the details. “My goodness. Now we know why you turned down all those dates over the past year! How long did you work on this?”
“So long.” I chuckle.
Harlow circles me with a critical eye, tapping her chin with her forefinger. “It’s over-the-top, excessive, and pretentious.” She stops in front of me, frowning. But then she bursts out laughing. “But that”—she points at the dress—“is a fabulous dress!”
Lucindy squeals, clapping her hands.
And then I compliment their dress embellishments too. We all brought extra tulle skirts. It’s the only thing that could make this kind of impact and fit into a makeup case the size of a toaster. But each of our dresses are vastly different.
Harlow’s skirt is gold and embellished with tiny brass fairy bells so every time she moves, she makes music.
Lucindy’s skirt is blue, like mine, but it’s not just tulle. She’s ripped up tiny strips of dyed cotton and sewed them along the back to make a train that fluffs up in the wind she creates with her feet as she walks.
Ceela made her tulle into a huge bow that attaches at the small of her back and falls all the way down to the floor.
And Britley has not only made a skirt, but a capelet too. Her day dress was tailored, unlike all the other Little Sisters, who opted for full and fluffy. So this capelet makes her look mature and sophisticated instead of princess-y.
We stand in front of the massive, floor-to-ceiling mirrors in the sewing room and sigh.
But then the Matrons start calling us to line up, and while all my friends seem to have found time to pull their hair into something cultured and sophisticated, mine is still an untamed mess of auburn waves.
It’s long and wild—like me. And I decide that it will just have to do.
When we get in the line of Little Sisters down the center canal of the dorm, every head turns to look at us. All eyes widen. Most with appreciation, but some with jealousy.
They all look gorgeous as well. Most of them have much nicer hair than me, though mine is pretty spectacular, wild and untamed as it is. And all of them have better makeup, since I didn’t have time for that, either. But still, even though they look stunning, they are… the same. They are what the people of Tau City have come to expect from the first Choosing.
And the five of us are different.
This is when they all realize that we’re down-city girls and not only that, we’re sticking together. A team. Always a team.
And that’s when they remember that this is a competition and turn back around to stare straight ahead.
I catch the eye of Auntie Bell after we start filing though the hallway to make our way over to the God’s Tower event center, and she winks at me.
A knowing wink.
Not just because I look amazing and my seamstress talents are on full display, but because this is the beginning of the end for these galas.
It all starts here.
CHAPTER FIVE
The God’s Tower event center is unquestionably the most elaborate, over-the-top community building in Tau City. It is a giant four-story dome set in the middle of God’s Lake with bridges leading back to both the Maiden and Extraction Districts like spokes on a wheel.
It’s massive, but when compared to the God’s Tower directly behind it, the event center comes off as miniature.
The ballroom inside is equally impressive—glossy, ice-blue floors lead up to a set of grand shallow steps at the top of the room, where balcony staircases feed into it. These balconies are supported by thick columns, meant to draw your eye up to the ceiling, which is a series of glass-paned windows surrounded by an intricate framework of silver-gray trusses.