Arlo

To define is to limit, but right now, I'm pretty sure I'm a socially awkward small-town prince with shoes that are two sizes too small for my feet.

I've been through hundreds of manner classes that taught me all I need to know about how to converse with anyone, but all my confidence leaves my body as I pass a large group of royals who look like they have already known each other for years. They likely have. My kingdom sits on a smaller island, away from the main continents. Connections have always been limited to me. As for my small shoes, that happened because they were a going-away gift from my parents, who apparently don't know my shoe size.

My shoes hadn't bothered me because I planned to buy another pair once I settled down at my new school. However, I feel that I should have visited the village beforehand because I feel very self-conscious about them now. My hand grips the strap of my bag closer to my chest as my head dips low. As swiftly as I can, I march across the courtyard in front of the school.

Uproaring laughter can be heard from the young royals. Their jeweled hands wave vibrantly when talking to one another. Huge smiles stretch across their faces in contrast to my face which probably looks like I'm going to puke. My eyes scan for a different route to take to avoid passing the crowd to get into the front door. A small dirt path veers off the side of the concrete and I dare to take a look at it.

Usually, I don't struggle with making friends, let alone being scared to make one. Coming to a new school filled with new people it's a strong change, however. Especially in comparison to my home town where I knew nearly everyone. The other problem is that this school is made of royals. I am a proud prince of my island, but I fear I might be looked down upon by some of the larger names.

The ball of anxiety starts to unravel and dirt away. I am no longer in front of the school, but instead following the new path I found. It leads me to the back of the large building where the landscape stretches for miles. The sight is breathtaking. I decide to stay outside for longer. After my long journey of multiple transportation to get to the school's location, I am exhausted. Going inside that busy school might make me collapse.

The sun doesn't set for roughly two more hours, so I switch between sitting in the grass to exploring the grounds. A smaller building closer to a school catches my eye. I hike down another path that slowly transitions into gravel. Outside the building, a sign indicates it's a horse stable. My head swivels around to see if anyone might stop me from going inside it. From what I can see, nobody is out here.

I push open the barn door. I'm greeted with a large room with many different sections for stables, and an awful smell that could only come from a horse. My footsteps sound quiet as I look at all the horses. I make sure I greet all of them. All but one horse let me pet him. I respect animal's space, but this horse intrigued me.

It's a dark horse with a strong attitude. Right as I got within two feet of his stable, it yelled and stomped his foot. On the stable door is a piece of paper with its information on it. I read it from a distance. It tells me the horse's name is Tinkle and she gets aggressive once hungry.

"Ah, so that's why you're so moody," I speak to the horse. Who responds with an angry huff. Near the other side of the room is a bucket of washed carrots. Not sure if I'm allowed to feed Tinkle, but I do it anyway. The horse's attitude changes once she sees me lift the bucket. She backs to the farther side of her room to let me open her gate. Carefully, I walk in and feed her a few carrots. A few pieces can't be too bad for her. I just hope I'm not making any of the other horses jealous.

After solving Tinkle's hangry episode, I decided to finally go inside the castle. I put the buckets of carrots back and exit the barn. At this point, my feet are throbbing from my tight shoes. I take a moment to adjust them once more before preparing for my trip to find my dorm room. Once I stand back up, I feel a warm breath go down my neck.

My head whips around to see Tinkle, the horse, standing there. Outside of her stable, and outside of the barn. Panic rises within me. I must have forgotten to close the doors. The horse stares at me blankly as I try to gesture it back into the building. I don't want to push it because it might kick me. I learned that lesson when I was younger.

Maybe this happens often. I could try walking away from it and the horse might naturally go back into the barn. Slowly, I start walking away from the animal. It follows me. I make more progress down the path and Tinkle continues to follow me. I stop to stare at the animal. My hands go to my hips as I debate on what I should do.

"Really? Can you please go back to the stables?" I plead the horse.

Louder stomping comes from my side. The loud gets closer. Before I could turn and react, I was swept off my feet.

My back hits the ground roughly. A groan of pain escapes from my lips as I feel a heavy weight on my chest. Quickly, it scrambles off of me. My eyes flutter open to see I have just been ran into by someone.

"My bad," the voice comes from above where I continue to lay on the ground in pain. "I hope I didn't crack any ribs, I didn't see you standing there... Oh, nice horse," the man rambles. His hand stretches towards me. I take it and I'm pulled back onto my feet. I massage my bruised side while seeing who just crashed into me.

It's a younger guy, probably about my age. His eyebrows are scrunched together in worry, but his mouth is spread with amusement. The guy's messy blond hair almost covers his eyes. Not to be judged mentally, even though I feel like I have a right to be, he doesn't seem very royal. But who am I to say that? My shoes are too small for me.

"Yeah, thanks," I respond to his horse comment, "I'm trying to get rid of it." My voice comes out wary and confused. How could he just tackle me and then act so casually? I continue as I am filled with confusion, "What are you running from anyway?"

His blue eyes scan the land frantically. "It doesn't matter. Let me help you return the horse," he offers quickly. I don't question him further in exchange for help with the rogue animal. The guy effortlessly leads Tinkle back to the building. I watch from a distance, astonished at how he was able to lead her back into her stable.

"Who are you?" My voice is lighter now since the pain has gone away.

"My name's Robin. I guess I have some experience with wrangling horses back home." He gently pets the horse's nose before walking towards me. This might be my chance to meet someone at this school. I think of a way I could carry on my conversation with Robin.

"Oh, I see," I start and follow him towards the school. He doesn't seem to mind me walking with him. "Are you from the coastal parts? I hear horse farms are popular there." Robin shakes his head and lets out a scoff.

"No, no, I'm from the north. You know, near the Iron Peak mountains." Robin sounds so casual when he talks. In general, he seems like a laid-back person.

"Are you from the Fallhill kingdom? I don't know my geography that well, but I know it's placed in that area," I chirp to him. He looks away from me, looking troubled. Did I say something wrong?

"Er, no. I'm from," Robin takes a short pause, "Bushford. Yeah, I'm from Bushford Kingdom. The prince, that is."

The kingdom name doesn't sound familiar to me, but since I don't want to seem disrespectful, I don't say that I haven't heard of it. My eyes go down to my feet as Robin and I go through a back door to get inside the castle.

For a moment I thought Robin was going to walk off and leave me, but he didn't. We walk to get her as we follow the direction arrows to the dorm rooms. I'm grateful for these because they are specially designed for new students like me. I wonder if Robin is a first-timer too.

Before I could ask him, he turned towards me. "What's your name?" He asks flatly. I'm a bit surprised by it as I'm used to the 'apologies' and 'excuse me' in front of questions like that.

"Arlo."

Robin nods before his eyes light up. He then digs a paper out of his pocket. "Is your last name Ashford?" He asks while reading off the small paper.

"Yeah..." I respond, confused.

"Nice to meet you, Arlo Ashford. I'm your new roommate."

─────── ☼ ───────

Hopefully Arlo and Robin get along. You never know where this dynamic might go. Well, I do. but I'm not telling ;)

Thank you for reading!