The first thing Nino saw when he walked into class was his best friend with his head down on the desk. "Uh... you okay, bro?" he asked. "You're not normally this down... or here this early, now that I think about it. Post-holiday blues? I know there's not an akuma after you 'cause there hasn't been one since Lila, but with you looking all down in the dumps, Hawk Moth might change his mind."

Adrien just barely lifted his head, his chin still on the desk. "My cousin's being sent to live with me," he explained. "She got kicked out of her school in America, and my aunt and uncle think Paris will be a good influence." He lowered his head, only to lift it again. "And don't jinx it."

Nino nodded slowly, sitting down in his seat next to Adrien. "I give her three days before she's akumatized, mysterious absence of supervillain or not."

"I've got two, Chloé says five," Adrien replied dully. "Danielle is a hurricane, and I don't mean that as a compliment. If she doesn't become an akuma, she'll cause one. Possibly me."

"That is some dangerous thinking right there, buddy," Nino said.

"Just wait until you meet her." Adrien lowered his head again and groaned.

He heard a new set of footsteps followed by Alya's voice. "Is he okay?"

"His cousin's being sent to live with him," Nino said, keeping it simple for Adrien's sake. "Apparently she's a real case."

"She's not that bad," a new voice interrupted, and Adrien lifted his head to see Chloé walk in.

Adrien raised an eyebrow. "Then why'd you give her five days until she becomes an akuma?"

Chloé just scoffed and rolled her eyes. Boys. "She got kicked out of her school and has to live in another country with a cousin she only sees once a year," she said matter-of-factly. "She's only conversational in French and is going to be over seven thousand kilometers from home. It'll be a miracle if she doesn't hurt someone without being akumatized."

"She beat someone up," Adrien reminded her. He tilted his head and gave Chloé an exasperated stare. "You haven't seen her since we were ten; I see her every year. She's changed."

"But she's still Danielle," Chloé insisted. She crossed her arms and turned to the front of the class, refusing to look back again when she said, "If she beat someone up, they deserved it."

"Just wait until you get to meet her again." Adrien leaned back in his seat and pouted at his desk, crossing his arms just like Chloé. "She's supposed to get in soon; I'm hoping to put off meeting her until the end of the day."

Alya raised her eyebrows and took her seat. "That bad..."

"That bad," Adrien confirmed. When he glanced across the aisle, Chloé rolled her eyes.

By the time lunch came around, Adrien was a nervous wreck, jiggling his leg and looking around like a paranoid fool.

"Alright, we're taking you to lunch," Alya decided after the bell rang. "You're clearly not ready to go home."

Adrien flashed her a meek smile. "Thanks," he replied. "I just... she's so frustrating! She likes causing trouble, and sometimes she drags me along with her."

"Don't worry, bro, we'll protect you," Nino promised. "Worst comes to worst, you can hide out at the bakery across the street. Your parents own that place, right Marinette?"

Marinette opened her mouth to speak, only for the words to get caught in her throat. In lieu of a verbal response, she laughed nervously and nodded. Finally, she managed to choke something out. "Uh, heh-heh, totally!"

"Thanks, but I wouldn't want to put you out like that," he said. In his eyes, Marinette still wasn't over the gum incident; it was the only reason she would avoid him so much and barely talk when they were near each other.

Sure enough, Marinette let out a soft sigh of relief, and Adrien winced. Why did he have to like girls who clearly weren't interested in him?

"Maybe if you're lucky, she'll just keep her head down," Alya said, cutting into Adrien's thought process.

Adrien scoffed. "Yeah, right," he murmured.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are now beginning our final descent," the pilot said over the intercom.

In her seat, Danielle shifted and looked at the people on either side of her. On her right, a businessman slept, completely unaware of the pilot's announcement; on her left, a college student took selfie after selfie, not even caring about the "no phones" warning they'd been given a million times. Both had more value in the clothes on their backs than Danielle had in her entire suitcase, and she knew it.

"So are you stopping in Paris or heading on to Rome for the study abroad program?" the college student suddenly asked, turning her attention to Danielle.

Danielle blinked a couple of times, surprised by the question. She brushed her hair out of her eyes and said, "I'm only staying in Paris for a few days to see my uncle and cousin, and then I'm going to Antalya to help Syrian refugees."

The college student gasped. "Oh, that's so noble! I wish I could do what you're doing!"

"I'm sure you could."

For her part, the college student realized Danielle had, in fact, insulted her, rather than given her a morale boost, and turned her attention back to her phone. Danielle rolled her eyes and sat back in her seat, eying the businessman's wristwatch.

After the plane landed and people started getting off, the college student spared one last smile at Danielle. "Have fun in Greece."

"Thanks." Danielle smiled back until the woman turned away, and her smile instantly fell to a frown. "Antalya is in Turkey, you moron," she grumbled, grabbing her bag and putting it on her shoulder. No one noticed the new, oversized watch on her wrist.

"This is going to be a disaster," Marinette whispered once she and Alya were in the kitchen, just out of Adrien and Nino's earshot. "I'm going to say something stupid and then Adrien will never want to talk to me again."

"You're overreacting." Alya glanced to the two boys, then back to Marinette. "He's worried you're still upset over the gum thing; he'd do just about anything to keep you happy. The only reason he might stop talking to you is if he thinks he pissed you off."

Marinette's eyes went wide. "What if that happens?" she asked. "What if I react wrong and he thinks I'm angry?"

Alya groaned quietly. "Oh, I shouldn't have said that," she muttered. With a sigh, she put her hands on Marinette's shoulders. "Think of it this way," she offered, "if Adrien ends up spending more time here avoiding his cousin, you'll have an excuse to get to know him better and vice versa. He'll learn your reactions to things and figure out when you're actually angry and when you're not. Just make sure to type up some talking points so you'll have something to go back to if you flounder."

"You mean when I flounder."

"You get the point." Alya looked over to Nino and Adrien, then back to Marinette. "This is your chance, M. Don't pass it up. Take the plunge, live deep, and a bunch of other cliche motivational quotes. Got it?"

Marinette nodded. "I can do this," she whispered. "I am Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and I will use this as a chance to-"

"Do you need any help?"

Any composure Marinette had flew away in that instant, and she let out a yelp as she turned to face Adrien. "No, no, we're totally good here. Everything's great. We're great. You're great." She looked over to Alya just in time to see her bury her head in her hands. Marinette looked back to Adrien and smiled. "So... lunch is ready!"

Adrien furrowed his eyebrows and frowned. "You... haven't even turned on the stove."

Marinette looked at the stove and sure enough, the croque monsieurs were completely uncooked. She let out a nervous laugh and turned back to Adrien. "I knew I forgot something! You're so observant. That's great; being observant is great!"

Alya grabbed Marinette's shoulders and turned her to the stove, helping her to turn it on. "We'll get there eventually."

Lunch came and went, and as Adrien wandered back into the classroom with Nino he froze halfway to his desk.

"Uh... you okay, dude?" Nino asked, waving his hand in front of Adrien's face. He followed his best friend's gaze up to the back of the room, where he saw a blonde girl sitting next to Nathaniel, a book in her hands. "Oh, that her?"

The blonde girl looked up and took her feet off the desk, lowering her book as she did. "No need to get your panties in a bunch, Dree," she mocked. "It's just through June."

Adrien groaned. "Nino, this is Danielle. Danielle, Nino." Without waiting for a response from either of them, he went to his desk and sat down.

Danielle rolled her eyes and shifted in her seat.

As class began, Ms. Bustier cleared her throat. "Alright, I'm sure some of you have already met our new student, Danielle Agreste. Danielle, if you'd stand up."

Instead of standing, Danielle just lifted her hand in a mock wave. "Sup?" she greeted the group.

Ms. Bustier sighed and shook her head. "Miss Agreste, I'm not sure how your classes are handled in America, but here, you show respect. Stand up please."

Danielle sighed and got to her feet, tilting her head to the side. "Hi, my name is Danielle, I'm an Aquarius, and I'm here because I got kicked out of my old school for beating someone up. The end." She sat back down in her seat and leaned back, making it clear she wasn't interested in being there.

Adrien cringed and let his head fall to the desk again. "Please kill me."

I've been working on this fic for over a year, and I'm so proud of myself and all the progress I've made from the first draft to this. It would mean a lot to me if you would review; it doesn't take much time, but it means the world to me.