The Lonely King | Ongoing [New Edition]

02 | Chance Encounters

"Stay there,
'Cause I'll be coming over.
And while our blood's still young,
It's so young, it runs.
And won't stop til it's over,
Won't stop to surrender."

SINCE I WAS so graciously kicked out of the dining hall, I was left with no other choice but to leave without my dinner. Groaning under my breath, I trudged out of the hall, trying to convince myself that a couple of spoiled brats weren't going to ruin my time here at Meilleur.

Frankly, I won't allow them to do that, and if they think I'm someone they can easily push around, they've got another thing coming for them.

I hardly took more than five steps when I felt a soft tap on my shoulder. Spinning around, I came face to face with a blonde bespectacled girl. Her platinum blonde hair was tied neatly into a bun, a few loose tendrils escaping from her hair band and framing her heart-shaped face. Thin, brown spectacles sat on the bridge of her button nose, disguising her marvellous striking royal blue eyes behind the frame.

"Uh, h-hi," she stuttered, looking everywhere but me. "I'm Emily. Uh, Emily Park. You're new here, right?"

"Yeah," I replied cautiously, wary of who she might be. At my reply, she offered a sympathetic yet hesitant smile.

"You haven't eaten yet, have you?" she asked, biting her lip nervously. I nodded, waiting for her to say something else.

"You can come to my dorm," she offered, smiling nervously. "Uh, if you want to, that is. I have instant noodles in my room."

I stared at her, trying to look for some kind of hidden agenda in her nervous expression— but found none. Instead, I only saw a nervous, timid girl that was just trying to be nice. With a small sigh, I nodded my head and answered, "Sure, why not?"

After she heard my answer, she immediately piped up, her eyes shooting up to meet mine. I almost felt a little bad that she looked so surprised, and had the feeling that she didn't have many friends.

"R-Really?" she exclaimed, her eyes lighting up. Her dainty hand shot out and enveloped my wrist, and I let her lead the way to her dorm room. It didn't take very long before we reached her door and she opened it with the key she kept in her pocket.

"Welcome," she said, biting her lip as she opened the door to reveal her room. I didn't know if she was just lucky or if she was another one of the 'special' students in Meilleur, because her room was huge. It was almost three times the size of mine! And I thought my room was spacious...

Without missing a beat, she walked into the fully-furnished kitchen in her room and headed to the cabinet where she opened to reveal packets of instant ramen.

"So you mentioned that you're studying art here?" Emily asked, looking over her shoulder. I nodded, looking around the kitchen in awe.

"Yeah," I replied absentmindedly. "Undergraduate scholarship."

"You must be really good," she murmured, grabbing a pot and filling it up with water. "The Academy wouldn't have offered you a scholarship otherwise. Including you, there's only about five scholarship students here."

"I didn't know that," I answered, suddenly feeling more pressured than before. Clearing my throat, I glanced at her and asked, "What about you? What do you do?"