Paris Young. That was the name Ana and her family had agreed upon since Paris was her middle name and would be easiest to remember. She would be attending the University of Pennsylvania and living in the New College House.
She was expecting to have three other roommates but had only been able to contact one so far; Josh. He told her that they had been looking for a new roommate ever since the previous one had unexpectedly dropped out. And - seeing as her transfer would be so sudden - she was just grateful to find a room with a private bathroom.
It hadn't taken very long to get the fake documents ready; being born into a royal family definitely had its perks. Soon enough everything was ready and all that was left was packing. The only problem with that was - well - "You can't pack that!"
"And why is that," Ana sighed as Lili grabbed one of her favorite sun dresses out of the suitcase. "I need to pack something." This was now the third time she had tried packing only to be interrupted by the younger princess.
"That dress is literally thirty grand. Wouldn't it be slightly suspicious to have such an expensive piece of clothing just laying around?" Lili hung the dress back up in Ana's closet before she started slowly sifting through all of her other clothes.
She hated to admit it but, "I suppose you have a point." She blew out a low breath as her eyes roamed over the expensive fabric in her closet.
"Another thing," her hands paused for a brief moment so she could look back at Ana. "We have got to fix the way you talk."
Ana's brows furrowed, "What could possibly be wrong with that? I believe I have a great vocabulary."
"Exactly my point," she stated. "Most people don't, especially Americans. So we have to make you seem not so," she paused as she tried to find the best word to accurately describe it. "Royal," Lili shrugged.
"Is there anything else?" At the sign of her younger sister beginning to open her mouth, Ana held up a hand. "That was supposed to be rhetorical."
"I was just going to ask you about where you got this," Lili rolled her eyes as she held up a simple dress Ana remembered receiving as a gift from a small boutique in their kingdom. "This is the exact style of clothing we're looking for; still nice but not noticeably extravagant."
"It was a gift from someone, the name of the shop should be on the tag."
"Cherry Fabrics," Lili read aloud.
"I believe Cherry is the person who owns the shop." She remembered walking through the streets of her kingdom with a handful of bodyguards trailing her form a few months ago. A man had come up to her - bag in hand with a small child shortly behind him - and gifted her the dress.
The dress itself was beautiful; made from a soft, light pink material with puffed sleeves and a square neckline, and ending just at mid-thigh. It was one of Ana's favorite dresses to wear around the castle grounds.
"Do you remember where the store is located," the young princess questioned.
Of course she did, Ana tried to remember everything regarding her people. "Certainly."
Lili smirked, "You think the king will let you go shopping?"
~~~
They had just barely entered the store when Ana recognized the man from before. The same child was also with him, clutching onto the back of his shirt as he spoke with another customer. At the sound of the door opening he glanced over, freezing at the sight of the princess walking through the entrance.
"Your Majesty," he rushed over, panic decorating his features. "Thank you for visiting my shop," Ana felt a little guilty for causing him to fret so much just because of who she was. "Is there anything I can assist you with?"
Ana stepped forward, holding out the dress he had gave her. "You gifted me this dress a while back," she began before pausing as the kid joined the man again. They were staring up at her with wide eyes, intrigue and awe present on their face.
"Oh dear, I apologize," Ana refocused on the man at his words.
"You apologize?" She could hardly understand why he felt the need to apologize for a gift.
"It wasn't my place to give you anything," he shook his head, seemingly at himself. "If it is not up to your standards then I will graciously take it back." He brushed his hand over his forehead, presumably wiping off perspiration. "To think you came all the way here," he trailed off.
"Oh no, that is not at all why I'm here," Ana shook her head. She felt absolutely terrible for causing such a nice man so much distress just by her mere presence. "I decided to visit for the opposite reason; I truly love the design you gave me." She explained gently with a small smile.
"You do," the store owner questioned uncertainly.
"In fact, I was wondering if I might be able to buy any similar pieces." Ana raised her eyebrow imploringly as she awaited his reply.
"Grandpa," she suddenly heard a small voice whisper and looked back down to the child beside him. "Is she the princess? She's really pretty." Said princess practically melted at the words.
"Hello there," Ana leaned down slightly in order to better see their face. "What's your name?"
"Alex," they giggled. She grinned at Alex, admiring their small features as they hid slightly behind the shop owner.
"Your grandfather is wonderful at making clothes, did you know that?"
They giggled again, nodding frantically before moving slightly forward to show Ana their clothing. "I know," Alex nodded their head enthusiastically. "He made my dress!"
"Really?" She gasped, as though in shock although she wasn't surprised at all. "Well, would you like to help me find some dresses to wear? My closet doesn't have clothes nearly as pretty as the ones here."
"Alex," the man suddenly said. "Don't bother the princess, okay?"
"They aren't being a bother at all," Ana interrupted. "I need new clothes and they seem to have a great sense of style. I would greatly appreciate the help."
"You wouldn't mind her following you around while you browse?" He sounded as skeptical as he did earlier.
"Of course not," Ana smiled down at Alex, "She seems like wonderful company." She stood back to her full height, "But - before we start exploring - what's your name sir?"
"Thomas, your Majesty."
"It's lovely to make your acquaintance, Thomas. If you don't mind me asking, who might your store be named after then?" She was sure the store was named after the owner, but it obviously wasn't so if his name was Thomas.
"My late wife. She was originally the one who founded the store; I changed the name after she passed." While the memory seemed sad he still wore a fond smile on his face. Ana wondered what it would feel like to so clearly be in love with someone even after their death.
"I'm sorry for you loss," she offered with a sympathetic smile.
"Thank you," Thomas looked back down at Alex. "Go on, you can help her find the prettiest outfits," he pushed her gently in Ana's direction.
"Come," she held out her hand and waited till the little girl took it before moving in the direction of a random clothing rack.
~~~
"So this is the key card to your room and your PennCard, which you need to have on you at all times. You don't have a curfew because you're already over eighteen but if you ever need to know more about specific rules or procedures then feel free to look at this handbook." Ana took all three items from the woman at the front desk.
She had arrived at UPenn less than twenty minutes ago and had been bombarded with enough information to rival a meeting with the king.
"Here's a map but since you'll be living in one of the college houses, I've called down a student living in the same building to help you get there. She should be here in just a few moments if you'd like to take a seat." Ana slid the map in between the first and second pages of the handbook.
"Perfect, thank you." It felt unusual to take orders from someone who wasn't another royal, but she would have to get used to it if she wanted to be a student.
Lili had spent some time training Ana on how to speak more normally for a few days before she left and she caught on relatively fast so she had nothing to worry about in that department anymore. The younger princess had quizzed her on the best words to use in certain situations and how to address people you're close to versus people you weren't. And one of the most important aspects was to respect your superiors and/or elders.
It was a lot of time wasted.
At the sound of footsteps, Ana focused on the person walking into the room. They walked up to the woman she just finished speaking with, who gestured in Ana's direction. Ana assumed she was the student supposed to be helping her. The student turned to look at Ana, making eye contact with her and smiling as she made her way over. "Hi, I'm Ally," she greeted.
"Nice to meet you," Ana stood up to shake Ally's hand. "I'm," she paused for a brief second before she was able to say her real name, "Paris."
"Nice to meet you too. Come on," she waved them in the direction of the front door leading outside. "It's only like a three minute walk. And it's pretty much just a straight shot from here so it's pretty simple to get there."
"Three minutes?" Maybe she sounded too shocked because Ally looked over at her with a confused expression. "Sorry, I used to live like twenty minutes away so it's just a little weird," Ana laughed awkwardly. Reality was it took longer to walk from one side of the castle to the other, so to only live three minutes away was quite strange.
"Oh yeah, no I totally get it. I was really surprised too when I heard about it. It's so convenient right?"
"Right," Ana nodded as she mentally berated herself. Half a minute into a conversation and she already messed up.
"I really like your name by the way. I've never met someone named Paris before," Ally suddenly complimented.
"Oh, thank you. I really like it too." At least that wasn't a lie; Ana had always been partial to her middle name.
"And your accent is really cool too, where are you from?"
"England," she was warned to be as vague as possible when answering questions.
"Cool cool," she said just as they reached as they reached the college house. "Are you good from here? Or do you want me to take you to your room too?"
"I think I'm okay," she responded easily. She had studied the building's map previously and knew exactly where she needed to go. "Thanks so much for the help."
"No problem," Ally turned away to walk back to UPenn as Ana walked up the steps and into the building. She rode the elevator to the third floor before walking down the hall towards her quad dorm suite, 319.
She opened the door using her new keycard, briefly admiring the living room before turning back around in order to shut the door behind her. So far so good, she thought to herself as she turned back to see the room.
Ana shrieked and frantically shielded her eyes as a very male, very naked man entered the room.
"Holy fuck," she heard the man say, or rather shout, before the sound of something crashing to the floor met her ears. She spread her fingers slightly, peeking through to assess the damage. "Don't look!" She clamped her eyes closed.
"Who are you?" Ana resisted the urge to peek once more as she heard him move around.
"Better yet who the hell are you," he bit back sharply and she resisted the urge to flinch at the unnecessarily harsh tone.
"Do you live here?"
"No," he deadpanned. Her eyebrows furrowed in slight confusion. "I'm just in a random ass college dorm walking around naked. What do you fucking think, Sherlock?" He sneered and she bit the side of her cheek to hold back the oncoming eyeroll. Leave it to the second college student Ana comes across to be a total jerk.
"Well then I do believe that makes me your roommate."
~~~
Word Count: 2088
A/N: Just remembering that time I said the chapters would be a thousand words long
Anyways-
I hope you enjoyed, and next chapter we'll get to see Mason and Ana interact a bit more so be excited for that :)
Let me know what you thought of this chapter :D