Chloe Bourgeois stood outside the most expensive diner in Paris feeling as she normally did: neglected, unloved, and gullible.

Had she really though that her father, the mayor of Paris, would remember their dinner plans? He was always too busy with all sorts of meetings to spend time with her.

She shivered as she felt the rain trickle down her back. It had been raining for about half an hour already, but now it started to downpour. "Ridiculous," Chloe muttered. "Utterly ridiculous." Her driver had left her standing there without an umbrella.

I guess I'd better walk home. Chloe thought. The sidewalks were slowly starting to flood. Every step she took, caused water to splash from the puddles she stepped in. She looked down, in fear that the rain would cause her mascara to run.

She looked at her $4,000 designer suede heels, which were obviously ruined. They were a gift from her father. She had received them the last time her dad forgot about their plans.

He would always make plans for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. And every time he would fail to show up, Chloe would skip that meal, leaving her hungry. On the bright side, her father would always get her a present as an apology. At least she got something out of all of that disappointment.

Chloe stopped right in her tracks at what she saw in front of her. She was looking through the glass door to the Dupain-Cheng bakery where Marinette kissed her father and mother goodnight and went upstairs. She missed Marinette. Of course they saw each other at school daily, but that was different. She and Marinette had been best friends in preschool. They did everything together. Marinette had a perfect family with two loving parents. And that is what separated them. Chloe lost her mother when she was four. She tried to stay positive at her preschool so that she didn't have to talk about it. But one day, she went to Marinette's house for a play date. She talked about her parents and their bakery. She talked about birthday gifts her parents had gotten for her in the past. That's when Chloe became jealous. She was jealous of Marinette's perfect family and perfect life. She stopped talking to her and ignored her completely. She did the same to everyone in her school with lives like Marinette's. And all of that jealousy caused her to become a bully. A mean girl. A real life Regina George. And Chloe regretted it.

Chloe felt a tear roll down her cheek. Oh no, she thought. I'm crying. Daddy's gonna get so mad at me when he sees me. He hates when my mascara runs. He hates it when I cry. He says I look ugly when I cry. Chloe threw her heels off and ran, in hope to get home faster. She kept her head down to prevent her mascara running even more. But she couldn't control it. tears flowed down her face as she ran as fast as she could.

THUD!

Chloe had ran right into someone. She had been running so fast that bumping into this person sent her flying and landed her right on her tailbone. She had also made them let go of their umbrella and it blew away in a powerful gust of wind. "Omg I'm so sorry!" Chloe apologized. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Don't worry about it," a familiar voice answered. Chloe looked up only to see Nathaniel, her classmate. She felt her face heat up. She quickly tried to stand up, only to slip and fall face first into a deep puddle. This is humiliating! Chloe thought. she was soaked from head to toe, she wasn't wearing any shoes, and she had mascara all down her face.

Nathaniel laughed. "Let me help you up," he said. Chloe lifted her head up from the puddle to see Nathaniel offer her his hand as his fiery red hair blew in the wind majestically.

She sat up and grabbed his hand and he pulled her up onto her feet. "What's wrong, Chloe?" Nathaniel asked. Crap! Chloe thought. He must've seen my mascara.

"I...uh...got stood up by someone I care about," she said.

"What?!" Nathaniel exclaimed. "Who would do that?"

"My father," she mumbled. "But we had dinner plans. I waited for two hours and he never showed up." Chloe couldn't hold it back. She burst into tears. She didn't know if she was crying about her father forgetting about her, seeing how happy Marinette is, or embarrassing herself in front of Nathaniel. For all she knew, it could've been all three.

She suddenly felt Nathaniel wrap his arms around her, making her feel warm and cared for. She hugged him back as she cried on his shoulder.

Chloe didn't know how long she stood there hugging him on the barren sidewalk. But it was long enough for her to realize that she wasn't forgotten.

She let go of Nathaniel and looked into his icy blue eyes. She never really got a chance to see both of them. His left eye is almost always covered by his long red hair.

Chloe felt Nathaniel's hand grab hers. "I'll walk you home," he said. Chloe could feel herself blush.

As they walked, they talked about superheroes, art, school, and other things they enjoyed. Chloe opened up about how often her father stood her up and how he made up for it.

"That's awful!" Nathaniel said. "Why do you agree to do things with him if he never shows up?"

"Because," Chloe hesitated. "I'm too gullible. I thought that this time would be different."

Before she knew it, they had reached her father's hotel. But before Chloe could say thanks, Nathaniel grabbed her waist, pulled her close, and kissed her. Chloe felt her entire body stiffen. What was she supposed to do? The only thing she could think to do was to kiss him back. And she did.

But quickly, Nathaniel pushed her away. His face had turned the same shade of red as his hair. He was clearly embarrassed of what he had done. He hastily turned and ran away yelling: "SEE YOU AT SCHOOL TOMORROW!"

Chloe giggled. She liked him. She had known for some time now. She just hadn't known how Nathaniel felt about her. But now she did. He liked her. Even after all of the horrible things she had said and done to not only him, but countless other people. She knew that she needed to change the way she treated people. But that would need to wait until school tomorrow. She needed to apologize to everyone, even if they won't forgive her.

Normally when her father forgot about their plans, she would stomp up the stairs, slam her door, and flop onto her bed to cry. But instead, she skipped up the stairs, gently closed her door, and began to jump on her bed in celebration. "Someone likes me!" she said after a twenty minute dance party. She was now bored. She had thought about how she was going to apologize to everyone and she had memorized every one.

She got off her bed and made her way to her couch to watch some TV. She sat down and reached for the remote when she realized there was a small jewelry box on her coffee table. It was black with a red design painted on. The box was made entirely out of wood and it was small enough to fit in her smallest hand bag.

Is this Daddy's apology gift? Chloe thought. If it is, it must be a new brand or something. I've never seen this logo before.

She picked it up and sighed. "I don't need any more gifts," Chloe said, looking at her overflowing dresser and closets. She hoped her father would hear her and take note that all she wanted was to spend time with him. But there was no reply.

Chloe opened the box only to be blinded by a bright yellow light.