บท 18: Trouble in Dresses
After ordering room service and having dinner, a late night individual five hour study session that ended at around midnight, Emma had somehow managed to wake up early, which was challenging. Even Lily ended up waking up later than she did, causing the two of them to have a massive delay and a sudden change in their already-arranged schedules.
The first thing they had to do was have breakfast, which had two options. The first was to call room service, and order breakfast and have it privately in the ZALE dorm. The latter was to have breakfast in the ZALE cafeteria, even though it was more of a michelin-star restaurant than a cafeteria.
Waking up late had ruined the two girls' plans, so they ended up choosing the first option. They ate their breakfast in a hurry before cleaning up, applying some make-up, and wearing the ball gowns they had previously chosen from the Zenovia palace closet.
Emma had opted for a green off-the-shoulder box pleated dress instead of a ball gown, she still looked stunning.
Lily had opted for a red a-line silhouette satin dress that had a v-neck for its collar and embellished with lace.
The two girls took one last look in the living room mirror, the two being the only people left in the dorm as Courtney and Winnie had already left for the assembly.
They admired their makeup one last time before they headed for the assembly hall.
The girls barely made it there on time. They found two seats in the massive assembly hall, and made themselves comfortable for the one hour to be spent on introductions, rules, and what was to be expected from the students of ZALE.
"As you already know, ZALE is a prestigious school. One of the MOST prestigious. Knowing that, it's a given you all have to display perfect etiquette and manners around others. You all might have the chance to be representatives of the people. This school is to help you with preparing for that. With that, there are rules ZALE enforces strictly on its students," a woman droned.
She had pale gray hair, even grayer eyes, and fair skin. She wore a black blazer over a white long-sleeved shirt.
She looked to be hundreds of years old. Maybe even ancient. She was Dean Fleur, current dean of ZALE, and someone not known for giving second chances, running the school with an iron fist, and being stricter than any other previous dean or principal that had ever run ZALE.
Students feared her, teachers respected her, and the students that had gotten themselves into trouble would be severely punished.
It was a relatively boring hour of rules and etiquettes that were to be followed, it was practically common sense.
Emma had been eagerly listening to the rules, occasionally jotting down a few notes on her ZALE notepad as Lily scanned her surroundings and picked at her nail.
The assembly had clearly ended when the ZALE bell chimed, signalling the end of today's assembly.
The girls headed out of the hall, using the map they had received to find their way to one of the ZALE ballrooms. Their next class was dancing. This was bound to get fascinating.
Engrossed in their map, they didn't notice the nearby troublemaker placing his foot out to trip Emma.
"Ouch!" Emma cried as she fell, letting go of the map she was holding, her dress not cushioning her fall and practically being useless.
The only thing heard other than the loud thud after Emma fell was the sniggering from the troublemaker who had caused it all.
Lily helped her best friend up, before glaring at the stranger.
"And what makes you think you could just do that and get away with it?" She asked fiercely.
He shrugged nonchalantly.
"You don't even know who I am. Your fall was satisfactory and I could have totally gotten away with it, given my family history," he bragged arrogantly.
Emma narrowed her eyes at the guy who tripped her.
"And who are you exactly?" She asked.
He rolled his eyes.
"Prince James of the kingdom of Amaris. Pleasure," he said, not meaning his any word.
The girls understood his snobbish attitude came from. He was a prince. Of another powerful kingdom, no less. Amaris was no weak kingdom, and it was known for its brutal armies and it's technologically advanced weapons.
Emma's eyes widened as her gaze landed on a nearby wall clock.
They were late for their first ever class.
How tragic. Especially to Emma.
"We're late for our very first class!" She cried, making much more of a deal than it was supposed to be. Everyone was late and or tardy to their classes once in a while, but ZALE being a school about learning etiquette, this was terrid news.
Lily tried to calm her down, but to no avail.
"Girl, it's going to be fine," she said as she patted her best friend's back.
Emma tried to keep her composure, figuring that any reaction from her would've made James even more amused.
James raised his eyebrow. He had also realized he was late, but did his best to stay calm and composed.
"And what class do you currently have?" He questioned.
"Dance," Lily replied, not bothering to call him a formality of any sort, regardless of who he was, and the title the two girls had just found out he had.
"Great. I'm stuck with you. I have dance as well," he said as he breathed a deep sigh.
The three stood there, not saying a word, until James broke the silence, wanting to go to class himself.
"Well? What are you doing just standing there? Don't we all have a class to go to?" He asked in an abrupt manner.
Emma nodded, not wanting to be anymore late for her classes.
The two girls rushed to class, James right behind them.
The three reached the designated ballroom for dance class, only to be stopped by their dance teacher.
He stood at the entryway of the ballroom, his eyes looking disappointed as he scanned the three latecomers.
"Mr Carrington, Ms Grey and Ms Carmichael," he started, addressing the three without some of their royal titles.
"You are tardy. What is the meaning of this?" He asked.
"Mr Carrington. Your family upholds a high reputation. The first day hasn't yet passed and you are...already behind schedule. How disappointing," he added. He then turned his attention to Emma and Lily.
"And who is Ms Grey, and who is Ms Carmichael?" He asked, confused which was which.
Lily spoke up.
"I'm Ms Carmichael, and she's Ms Grey," she said as she pointed at Emma.
"Ah," Monsieur Gabriel said as he nodded.
"Well. This type of behavior is absolutely unacceptable. Off to the dean's office with you," he added.
James' eyes widened. His previously snobbish behavior had somewhat disappeared, especially now that he was in front of someone two times his senior.
"Monsieur, in all fairness, this is our first class, and we had some...trouble in the hallway," James reasoned, trying to save his own skin.
Monsieur Gabriel sighed.
"I am sorry, but this matter is not in my hands. Dean Fleur will be informed of this immediately, and you'll have to visit her office to see what she has to say about this matter," Monsieur Gabriel explained to the three of them.
Emma was devastated. It was her first day of ZALE, and she had already gotten into trouble, AND had gotten Lily in it with her too.
James' back was hunched as he walked towards the dean's office. Emma and Lily were whispering to each other as they discussed how this was unfair.
"It's literally our first day, and we're already in trouble? This is not good for us, Em," Lily whispered, not at all mad that Emma had brought her into this mess in the first place.
Emma looked at Lily guiltily.
"Lil, I'm so sorry I brought you into this. If you hadn't had stayed-
Lily cut her off.
"Hey, it wasn't even your fault. If we should be blaming anyone, it's all that brat, James' fault," Lily reasoned as they followed James to the dean's office.
His once smug smirk had disappeared as he fearfully knocked on the door.
The doors to the dean's office creaked open, and there she was. Dean Fleur.
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