Ch. 1: A Stroke of Luck
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They say that having a ladybug land on you brings good luck.
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Marinette believed in luck. She avidly believed that sometimes the sun shines on your patch of the garden, that sometimes a dollar bill spontaneously appears on your side of the path, or that you could even win the lottery. She trusted that if you simply believed, everything would fall into place and would turn out okay.
She smiled at the tiny insect that had been flitting around in the air and found sanctuary on the top of her ring finger. The girl admired its shade, red like a sunset, and its spots, soothing like stones sitting in a pond. She longed to be free and fly around, doing whatever she wanted without a care or consequence in the world. Marinette observed the ladybug, her favorite bug, for a bit. Maybe today will be a good day full of luck, she thought to herself, reassuringly.
A jolt went through her system as her phone angrily beeped at her, frightening herself and the ladybug as it flew away to seek refuge on another lucky person's hand. Marinette let out a tired sigh as she watched the bug disappear. "Sadly, luck doesn't come to those who don't work."
She stood up from the park bench just outside the patio of Starbucks and strolled back into her workplace there after her fifteen-minute break, tying up her apron and readying herself to plunge back into living Hell. Unfortunately, her boss decided to be a major prick today and move her shift to lunch. Marinette already had her hands full with her two other jobs, and she certainly didn't need this B.S. making her life even more miserable. But, it was all to help sustain her family and her new fashion business, so it was all worth it.
"Hey, Mari, my shift's over," her bubbly co-worker, Rose, blabbered faster than the human ear could perceive. "I gotta go, but I left some drinks on the counter, so can you take care of that, thanks, BAIZ!" Before Marinette could so much as turn her head to bid her farewell, there was a blinding flash of hot pink, and the back door shut with a loud thud.
Marinette just shrugged happily and went to work, greeting customers and her co-workers with laughs and grins. The girl set her palm down on the cold, marble counter and began calling customers up to retrieve their drinks, some politely thanking her and others complaining– the usual. She wrapped her fingers around the hot cup, put it past the divider on the counter for the designated customer to claim, and read out the name.
"Adri–"
A bigger, firmer hand enveloped hers in its warmth, and she looked up to peer into the owner's handsome, yet arrogant, emerald green eyes.
"That's my name, don't wear it out, m'lady," Adrien chuckled, as he shot her a flirtatious wink.
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Oh, fuck.
For the first time in her life of nineteen years, Marinette was beginning to believe that ladybugs were not good luck.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yo-yo! Hope you at least half-enjoyed the first chapter of my first fan fiction. I've always been reading other's masterpieces, and I wanted to know it was like. Au revoir!
