The Awkward Noble

Some things were like fate, a twisted sense of irony and coincidence.

Endra Luunfor never liked either. Upon entering the common area of the room she was stuck with for the next year it was empty and orderly. Not a single blemish, like the maids had just finished with making sure it was fully presentable for the people that were to inhabit it. There were four rooms attached to the common room and being the first one to the dorm the silver-haired girl had decided she would take the first door on the left. It all seemed like the perfect situation; and then the door swung open.

“What the heck are you doing here?!”

It was a good enough question. The incident earlier had already caused a stain on her attendance that she was sure the teachers had took note of, so when the appearance of the person who caused said lateness waltzed into the dorm she was a little bit annoyed. There was no way her ancestors would demean her in such a way. She refused to believe it. This had to be a mistake.

The green-haired girl didn’t think much of it. “Uh… this is my room. Says so right here.”

A wide grin as she turned the booklet the school had sent all of its students, which included a map and identification. It was indeed the very same room.

“The universe hates me.” Endra slumped down in her seat.

Of her three roommates, Miieie had been the first to arrive. It made her own errors of dallying in the city rotate in her mind like a cancerous echo. Even had the girl not bumped into her on her way to school she would have probably been late for the opening ceremony. It was a shameful reminder. Who were her other roommates to be? Other reminders of her past failings? She groaned audibly, the anxiety was too much to bear.

“Wow.”

Clunk! The girl dropped the suitcase against a wall, immediately hovering around the room like a fairy who had never seen the human world before. It furthered Endra’s embarrassment.

“Got its own table and everything. Where’re we gonna sleep, though? I don’t see any beds.”

Endra’s eyes widened. Miieie laughed. She couldn’t possibly think the common room was where they’d be sleeping? The doors to the exact rooms were right there? She was being punished. Not only had the person who bumped into her stalled her and was reminding her of her failures, she was also a bumble-brained idiot! She wanted to cry. Why was her life always full of errors and barricades? What had she done to deserve such things?

“Oh. There’s the beds.”

The girl shuffled into the room, Endra remained where she was.

It would take a few minutes before the melancholy faded and the girl plopped herself at the opposite end of the table. By all appearances the girl was friendly, even if she had the worst awareness Endra had ever seen. Still, there was no way her other roommates would be as obnoxiously dim. It was an anomaly. She could deal with this.

“So, guess we’re roomies, huh.”

Endra cleared her throat, “Yes, of course. What a coincidence.”

The girl leaned back in her chair, her hands behind her head as she looked at the ceiling.

“Gosh, everything here is bigger. Gotta hand it to you mainlanders, what they say is true.”

Mainlanders. A term meaning the major islands of Rosenfel, Ieiel, Santrscwine, Taina and Elmar. The five great nations that made up the overarching Kingdom. Endra raised her hand over her mouth as she took a deeper look at the girl now that she had the chance to. It was hard to tell at first glance on account of the uniform they shared, but the demeanor and lack of utter sense or composure led to a pretty obvious conclusion. This girl was from somewhere totally backwater! How did she even get in? Because it certainly couldn’t have been from any latent intellect.

“I suppose it is.” She commented, “Is it your first time?”

“Bein’ here? Yeah, more or less.”

It was a common thing. Even Endra hadn’t been too familiar with Rosenfel when she had arrived. Her last visit had been with her mother some years ago and she didn’t remember that day very well. How old had she been? Nine? Eight?

“As someone familiar with Rosenfel, it shall be my duty to make you not make that same mistake again.”

Endra mentally paused. Why did she say that? She barely knew anything about Rosenfel that she didn’t read from a book! She kept her expression like stone as the thoughts cycled in her mind. Why did she always have to be so presentable and courteous? Even if she didn’t know anything about the subject at all?

“T-that is, if you require my aid.” She added with a cough, obviously trying to correct her mistake.

“I’unno.” The green-haired girl said with a yawn. “I don’t know about you, but I did not get any sleep on the way here. So I think I’m gonna, like, take a nap or sumthin’. Rain check?”

“Rain check.”

Rain check! Absolutely! Endra mentally sighed a breath of relief.

“I intend to observe the school grounds myself. I suppose I will see you later.”

The silver-haired girl got up from her chair, it didn’t look like it but she desperately wanted an excuse to collect her thoughts away from any sort of awkwardness. The shadow of who exactly her other roommates would be loomed over her mind, though if they were as amicable as Miiele was, perhaps it wouldn’t be too troubling. As simple as the girl who bumped into her was, she didn’t seem to take offense at anything she said, which was more than she could say for others she had met before.

She moved for the door, hoping whatever came next she’d be able to handle it without issue.

She could get behind her own awkwardness, right?

With a quick smile and a brief brushing of her uniform, it was a new day and a new year. The year would be good. It had to be.