Aurora looked upwards at the impressive building looming over her. It was going to be both her school and living place over the coming years, and she felt all sorts of anxious emotions simply knowing that.

She hadn't wanted this. Oh no! She had been prepared to kick, scream, and claw out eyes not to go. If it hadn't been for her so-called 'aunts' having had her bags packed and already on the train before she even knew she was going, she would have done just that.

Having grown up in her parent's palace in their far-off kingdom, most human beings would think that Aurora would be accustomed to residing in large, castle-like structures, as it was all she knew.

They were dead wrong. The young blonde hated castles – they were far too cold, and you could barely whisper without having the message resounding off of the walls for all to hear. At least, that's how it was in her parent's castle anyway.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Aurora picked up her only suitcase from the ground, and made a bee-line for the front entrance.

The woman at the front desk was not what she had expected. Short, white hair flopped over one side of the oversized woman's oddly shaped face.

'Is her skin purple?" Aurora wondered to herself. Aurora couldn't tell what the receptionist was wearing, as she was sitting behind a high desk leading into another room, but from what she could tell the woman was grossly obese had had tiny hands and eyes. The stranger was undoubtedly one of the most interesting-looking people Aurora had ever seen, and she had met all sorts of strangers over the years.

Squaring her shoulders, she decided to focus solely on settling in, and shove any distractions to the back of her mind.

"Um….hi!" she squeaked. She immediately winced at the sound of her own voice. She had wanted to come across as confident and assertive, but had sounded completely pathetic.

The woman behind the desk looked up from her computer to give her the once over. Aurora shifted uncomfortably. She hated it when people stared at her; it made her feel self-conscious.

As the woman went from taking her in appearance to simply glaring at her, Aurora looked around the room for something to get the conversation started. She needn't have bothered however, as the receptionist suddenly started speaking.

"I'm guessing you're one of the princesses?" she drawled.

Aurora gulped. The tone in the woman's voice hadn't sounded as questioning as it had knowing and resentful. How could she know Aurora was a princess? She was dressed in civilian clothes and had made a point to leave her crown with her parents. The woman couldn't read minds could she? No, Aurora was just thinking irrationally.

'Get your head together!' she mentally berated herself. Finally, the young teen blew a small breath to help calm her nerves before answering.

"I….yeah. Aurora. Fr-from Andolesia."

The receptionist didn't respond, or even look surprised. Instead, she picked up a list from the desk in front of her and stared at it for a few minutes, clearly searching it for something.

"All princesses must go to the north-east wing. All bedrooms reserved for princesses are near the top. Rooms are shared by three people at a time, unless you get lucky or drive the others out." Tossing the paper back onto the desk, the receptionist turned to glare at Aurora once more. "Feel free to pick your own room – none of the staff is going to care about sleeping arrangements. Just get to class on time on Monday. Got it kid?"

Aurora frowned at the condescending tone the woman had suddenly taken, but chose not to remark on it.

"Fine, I'll just go." As Aurora walked further into the building, she stopped in a doorway to scowl at the moody receptionist. "And here's a tip for you Miss: smile. Hopefully it won't kill you."

The receptionist's jaw nearly hit the floor, but Aurora had barely noticed it in her haste to get out before the heavy female came after her. Insulting people she was good with – holding up in a fist fight she was not. Still, the lady's face had been utterly comical. Aurora couldn't help but laugh as she ran around the empty hallways.

"Oh that was mean but funny!" she grinned. Almost immediately said grin was wiped from her face. She had been so busy running away from a (greatly) angered receptionist, she hadn't even given her surroundings a second thought. Now, that she looked around, she realized with a heavy heart that she was alone, lost, and suddenly feeling the tiring effects of having traveled halfway across Europe. It was then she did the only thing she could do –

She slapped herself. In the face.

"How can I be so stupid? I don't even have a map!" she groaned. "Aurora you stupid girl! You could have at least snatched a map before running off!"

"Yeah, that was pretty dumb of you."

Aurora spun on her heal to face the source of the new voice. Immediately her gaze fell on a boy with dark brown eyes and pitch black hair –both matched his darkly tanned skin perfectly.

The unknown boy stuck out a hand for Aurora to shake.

"My name's Aladdin. What's yours?"

Aurora noted with the smallest hint of distain how his hands were covered in dirt. She chose to ignore the gesture.

"It's Aurora, but call me whatever you like."

Aladdin stood there for a few awkward moments with his hand still outstretched. Finally stuffing both hands into his pockets, the tall boy looked around the hallway nervously.

"So I'm guessing you're lost?" he grinned. Aurora rolled her eyes. Wasn't he just eavesdropping on her?

"As you heard."

Aladdin's face dropped. Why was this new girl being so cold? Weren't princesses supposed to be nice? That was what he'd been told, and he knew the girl before him was definitely a princess – her and a few others' names being tossed around for a while amongst his friends, so he easily recognized it.

Aurora tossed the boy a curious glance.

"Are you going to be going to school here too?" she asked. Aladdin gave her his best are-you-stupid look.

"Well yeah. Why else would I be here?"

Aurora raised her eyebrows at his expression.

"Well, maybe you dropping someone off, or helping someone settle in, or something," she suggested.

Aladdin felt the corners of his tug upwards once more. This Aurora girl didn't seem very welcoming, but from what he could tell, she kept her mind open.

"No and no. I'm not here to help anybody. Don't really know anybody yet."

Aurora nodded her understanding.

"I can sympathize. The only person I know here is Maleficent, but she got held up in my home country, so I won't be seeing her for another week at least." As she said, her face fell into an almost put-out expression, as though she didn't like the idea of not seeing her enemy for another week. The idea highly confused Aladdin.

"Well….isn't that a good thing? I mean, I heard your prophecy and ….she's …evil…..right?" he voiced faded with every word that he said, because with every word, Aurora looked more and more infuriated.

"Who are you to judge someone based off of someone else's prophecy? You don't know anything!" she hissed.

Surprised and suddenly on the defensive, Aladdin squared his shoulders and gave the princess a glare of his own.

"Hey! I was just taking an interest is all! Are really so self-absorbed that you only care about what's going to happen to you and no-one else?"

Aurora's eyes flashed with rage.

"I don't know my own prophecy, because guess what? I couldn't care less! You're calling me self-absorbed? You're the ones judging people you haven't even met because of something someone else said! And for the record: Maleficent not evil!"

Aladdin snorted. "Yeah, sure! She's just an evil fairy that cursed you at birth – but hey! I'm sure she's the best kind of person there is!"

Aurora's fists clenched so tightly, her knuckles had turned white.

"HOW DARE YOU! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!"

"YEAH WELL YOU – YOU'RE MEAN!" Aladdin exploded. Infuriated and out of insults, he dashed passed her and took off down a random hallway.

Aurora huffed and grumbled. "Ignorant, judgmental….just cause he's a boy, thinks he knows everything! Just like everybody else. Who needs 'em?"

Aurora marched to the end of the hallway….and into another one….and down another one. After making who knew how many twists and turns, she stopped to stomp her foot with a newfound frustration.

"GAH! I'M STILL LOST!"