Two Princes

3. Dragon Rider

"Elizabeth!"

"Diane!" Elizabeth pulls her hand from Arthur's grasp to run straight into the arms of her best friend. Diane, taller than Elizabeth, with violet eyes similar to Arthur's, and gleaming brown curls, picks Elizabeth up and spins her around in the middle of the school hallway.

"I missed you so much, Elizabeth! How was your birthday? I'm sorry I missed it!"

"How was your cruise with your parents?" Elizabeth, now with her feet firmly on the floor, still holds Diane's hands, and excitedly embraces her again. "And King? Did you see him at all during the break?"

"Well..." Diane pulls her hands away and blushes, tucking one arm behind her back and playing with one of her curls with her other hand. Her eyes light up. "He went with us! Oh, Elizabeth, it was amazing! And he got along so well with my parents, I never would have imagined!"

"Oh, that's wonderful!"

The girls chatter on, too quickly and excitedly for Arthur to keep up, and he is visibly relieved as soon as King comes down the hallway, followed by his younger sister, Elaine, holding hands with her boyfriend, Ban. Elaine pulls away to join Elizabeth and Diane, and the excitement surges once again, while the three boys stand around and exchange pleasantries in their own, somewhat awkward, way, until the bell rings and they must all part for their classes. Elizabeth is unfortunate enough to not have first period with any of her friends, so she enters the classroom alone, and takes her usual seat, at the end of the second row, close to the door.

Only a few minutes pass before the teacher stands in front of the room, takes roll, begins the lecture. Elizabeth tries to concentrate on her textbook but ends up contemplating a dozen different scenarios she would rather find herself in than this one, when the classroom door opens and closes loudly, and the teacher stops mid-sentence, and she can almost hear the class collectively turn their heads.

The instant her blue eyes lock with his green ones, she lets out a gasp, and he smirks as now all heads turn to look at her. As quickly as she can break her gaze, she stares down at her desk, feeling her face turn very pink.

"...Okay, Meliodas, you can take that empty seat, there."

From the corner of her eye... No. No, no... Oh, God. Meliodas slides into the only available seat in the room...next to hers, and she can tell that he is still smirking—as though maybe everything was happening for him exactly as he planned.

"Hey," he whispers.

Elizabeth stays focused on her desk.

"Meliodas," Mr. Zaratras addresses him, "since you don't have a textbook, look on with Elizabeth. I'll try to have one for you by next class."

He nods—"Thanks!"—and immediately returns his attention to her. "So..."

She swallows. Elizabeth, breathe. It's just Meliodas, your father's client. He doesn't bite. But what is he doing here...? She and Meliodas slide their desks midway into the aisle so that she can share her book with him, and Mr. Zaratras resumes droning on about Britannian history, often turning his back to put terms or concepts on the white board, and Elizabeth seizes the opportunity to whisper to her new classmate. "What are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you again, too," he chuckles softly. "I'm attending school, same as you."

"But—I thought—" She's momentarily stumped, unsure of what to say. I thought you were too old for high school? I thought you, not your father, owns the bar? I thought you didn't have to be here? She settles for, "I didn't expect to see you."

He shrugs, and casually laces his fingers behind his head. "Got nothin' better to do during the day."

She would like to point out that, if he is a bar owner, there must be plenty to do during the day—cleaning, cooking, inventory, book balancing—but Mr. Zaratras clears his throat then for attention.