Anjana

A Fated Meeting

His royal highness had decided to throw a ball commemorating the acceptance of students into one of his prestigious schools. He did this every year and made sure to invite as many foreign nobles as he could. Therefore, the ballroom was entirely and completely packed to the brim.

Of course, this did nothing to help calm Zamora's nerves. She really disliked large crowds and the idea of having to talk to strangers. So, she sat herself in the most spacious corner and pretended to be engrossed in her dinner.

As she swallowed the spoonful of 'Imperial Rice' Zamora thought about just how badly she hated these functions. They made a nasty feeling take hold in her stomach, made her feel frustrated and useless. It wasn't that she hated parties, no, it was these parties that put a bad taste in her mouth and made her stomach do summersaults. These parties were filled with snooty nobles and required a high social status to enjoy.

It wasn't that Zamora was poor, although there was nothing wrong with being that, she was part of a well-off middle class family which would've been enough to draw the attention of at least a few nobles but that wasn't the reason she was so shunned by society. No, it was due to the lineage of her mother's family that she was treated so harshly. Despite making it into such a prestigious school Zamora remained unlikeable and unapproachable for practically everyone in the ballroom.

She sighed, noticing that her plate was empty.

Maybe it's time to go, she thought.

As Zamora was about to get up and attempt to sneak out she saw a boy approaching her table. She froze and opted for starring at the table intensely.

He sat down and they remained in awkward silence for a while. She noticed that in the while he was there no one came to ask him if he needed anything to eat. So she decided to try and sneak a glance at her new table-mate and slowly looked around and then at him.

The first thing she noticed was his unnaturally red hair because it was a cherry red instead of a rusted red color. It looked otherworldly, and made a nice contrast against his tanned skin. Zamora also noticed the furs and very obviously expensive cloth that adorned his frame, it made him look straight out of a textbook.

His eyebrow furrowed and she looked away shyly, he'd caught her starring.

"So are you going to keep starring or are you going to tell me to leave?" She heard him grumble.

She felt her face and ears burn hot with embarrassment, she knew she was probably nearing the shade of his hair with how warm the room was suddenly starting to become.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare...." she said in a shaky voice, "It's just no one really...sits with me...ever."

He squinted as she said that and starred intensely at her face.

"Why not?" He asked.

Zamora really wanted a hole to open up and just swallow her whole, she felt her face get hotter.

"Well...." she paused and looked to the side, "lots of reasons."

She looked up at him and saw his hand was stretched out.

"Same here, if you haven't already noticed no one's even pretended to ask me if i need anything." He said, obviously annoyed. "I'm Roan."

Zamora tried to recall where she'd heard that name, but the pounding music and chatter made it hard to concentrate so instead she shook his hand.

"I'm Zamora."

As they shook hands Zamora thought she noticed their corner became larger as it became more vacant. She started laughing and Roan's eyes widened.

"What?" He asked.

"I think we've officially traumatized everyone within 5 ft of this table" Zamora noted as she saw the very obvious stares and whispers coming from the tables close enough to see.

Roan looked around and that seemed to put everyone on their best behavior because the gossiping stopped until he turned back around.

Zamora starred at Roan intently and tried to remember where she'd heard his name.

"I don't know why I even bother to show up to these things anymore." Roan groaned.

Zamora nodded in agreement.

"Honestly, if I hadn't been forced I would've stayed home" she responded.

Roan made a face.

"What?" Zamora asked.

"Are you one of the students they accepted this year?"

Zamora nodded slowly.

"What about you?" She asked.

"No, I'm here on foreign affairs" He responded.

She noticed the way he mockingly said the last part.

"You look too young to be an ambassador, is one of your parents an ambassador?" Zamora asked, even more confused as to the identity of her table mate.

He shook his head and smiled.

"For now," He paused, "I want to keep my identity a mystery."

She laughed at that and he starred at her questioningly.

"What are you, Cinderella?"

He made a face and looked at her confused.

"What the hell is a Cinderella?" He asked.

Zamora's eyes practically popped out of her head.

"You don't know Cinderella?!" Her eyes practically shone as she said that.

Roan felt a shiver go up his spine as if warning him of the beast he'd unleashed.

"No...what is it?" He asked carefully.

He immediately noticed how her previously shy and awkward composure was stripped away as she went into detail on the story. One story turned into many and Roan found himself engaged, sharing some of his own culture's fairytales.

As the evening went on the conversation soon turned on Zamora's background, she found it liberating to tell someone about her problems, although she tried to be as vague as possible. They bonded over their shared hatred for formal events and Roan slowly opened up about as much as he could without revealing his identity, which he found surprising she hadn't figured out yet.

Slowly, the party started to come to an end and the pair prepared to exchange goodbyes before Zamora summoned all her courage and asked Roan if he'd be busy tomorrow.

Roan looked taken back as he shook his head.

Quickly, Zamora took a pencil from her coat and took out a small book. She wrote an address and a time and carefully folded the paper.

"Wanna meet at the library tomorrow?" She cringed at how lame that sounded and fiddled with her gown, looking away.

Roan took the paper and smiled.

"Yeah!"

Zamora's eyes widened and and she smiled at Roan.

"Okay!"

They both stood up and walked to the exit.

"Are your parents here?" Roan suddenly asked.

Zamora stopped and starred at the floor, reality hit her like a bucket of freezing water. She sighed and her shoulders slumped.

"No, just my sister."

Roan looked at her as questions whirled around in his head but before he could ask any he heard his name. Zamora's head perked up as she heard her name coming from outside. The pair looked at each other and sighed.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" Roan asked, expectantly.

Zamora nodded and made sure to remind him to dress comfortably. They exchanged goodbyes and went their separate ways, yearning for tomorrow to come.

[Zamora & Roan are both like 13/14 this is just a bit of background,,,before the actual story starts ;)]