Marinette flopped down onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling. It was hard to keep her spirits up in a room that smelled like old socks and burnt popcorn. She fidgeted slightly as she tried to find a way to get comfortable on the lumpy mattress. Even with her own blankets from home, the bed felt completely foreign. Moving away from home to go to a university across the city sounded like a great idea at first, but now that she was here, Marinette was starting to second guess herself. The walls were a dull brown, and the window was so small she doubted she could shimmy out through it. Coming from such a warm and loving household, this dorm felt more like a prison.
"I give up," she said softly. "I want to go home."
Tikki flew out from behind a stack of books on her desk. "You can't give up now. You just got here!"
"I don't like it." Marinette rolled over and pouted at the little kwami. "Maybe I can just live at home."
"Marinette, you've been through this time and time again with your parents. The university is just too far away. You'd spend your days travelling instead of learning." Tikki sighed and flew over towards Marinette. "And you need that extra time to help save Paris, too."
"I know." Marinette frowned. She had previously been so excited to go to university. She was going to study fashion, live on her own and become an adult. It also would help being Ladybug as well, since she wouldn't have to make excuses to her parents for randomly leaving.
However, it was all so…different. And she felt so alone. Alya was still in Paris, but she was attending a different university. Nino and Adrien were there with Alya, too. It was almost enough for Marinette to drop her lifelong dream and study something else, like science, just so she could be with her friends.
But no. She wanted to be a fashion designer. It was the sacrifice she would have to make. Plus, Alya said they'd get together every weekend.
"Oh!" Tikki looked towards the closed bedroom door as a scuffling noise came from the other side.
Marinette sat up and glanced towards the door as well. The noises grew louder and a loud bang hit something just outside the door. It must be her new dormmate. "Hide, Tikki!"
Tikki flew down the back of Marinette's jacket as Marinette got off her bed and opened the door.
The dorm was a small, two single bedroom/single bathroom space that was smaller than most hotel rooms. In the small hallway space between the bedrooms and bathroom was a clutter of small suitcases and a tall, tired looking woman. Her hair was long and dark brown with two small sections of hair secured in the front half of her hair. She wore a medley of golden bracelets and a single necklace with what looked like a tail on it. She was currently scrambling to figure out which key was the key to her bedroom while kicking her suitcases in the general direction they needed to go.
Marinette smiled at the girl. "Hey, you need help?"
The girl looked at her, but didn't smile back. "I'm fine."
"You sure?" Marinette leaned forward to grab a suitcase anyway.
The girl stopped fidgeting with the keys and snatched up the suitcase before Marinette could. A light Italian accent lingered in her words. "I said I'm fine."
Marinette flinched and then stood back up. "Okay, sorry."
The girl paused for a moment, as if contemplating something, and then turned back to her keys.
"I'm Marinette, by the way," she offered. "It looks like we're dormmates."
The girl didn't say anything as she found the right key and slipped it into the lock.
"What's your name?" Marinette finally asked.
The girl opened the door and kicked her suitcases into the room. She turned to shut the door and stopped as she met eyes with Marinette who was still waiting for an answer.
"Carlotta," the girl replied, then slammed the door shut.
The next morning, Marinette found it impossibly hard to wake up. It was almost as impossible as dragging her feet to class. She never would have made it if Tikki didn't keep poking her through her jacket. The new place made it difficult to get a good night's sleep and the horribly old mattress made it difficult to sleep well once she managed to doze off. That was something she was going to have to fix; there was no way she could keep up her night time activities as Ladybug if she couldn't sleep well for the few hours she had time to. Even the excitement of her very first day at university wasn't enough to give her the energy to get going.
Her first class of the day was science, which made it even more difficult to stay awake. It was only a general class, but it was still enough information to overload her brain far before it had fully woken up. She pulled out her schedule and a map of the school to figure out how to get to her next class.
After a semi-interesting, yet still informational overload, class on history of design, Marinette found herself finally walking into the class she was most excited for. It was an introduction to fashion design class, and even though she thought she was smarter than an introduction class, it was required before she could take anything better. Still, it sounded far more exciting than any of the other classes she was being forced to take.
Marinette sat down near the front of the class, which was filled with sewing machines and mannequins and scratch designs on the walls. It was absolutely inspiring. She turned to look about the room and take it all in when she noticed her dormmate was sitting in the back row.
"Carlotta!" Marinette raised her hand and waved to the girl.
Carlotta didn't share Marinette's enthusiasm. She smiled weakly, then looked down at her phone and proceeded to ignore Marinette.
Marinette turned back in her seat and slid down with a frown. So much for trying to make a friend. As excited as she was for the class, it was a sad reminder that she was here alone. No Alya. No Nino. And no Adrien. She had no one to talk to during class.
Carlotta threw her bag down on the floor and flopped face down on her bed. The bed sheets smelled of home, but beneath it she could still make out the strong odour of the dorm room. Even with the window open, the smell didn't seem like it would ever go away.
"Lotta…" A tiny fox-like kwami flew out from the bag and hovered in the air above Carlotta. "You can't keep this up every day, you know."
"I've been here one day," Carlotta mumbled, her voice muffled by the sheets. "Not even that."
"And you're not even trying to get along." The kwami folded her arms across her chest.
Carlotta rolled over and looked up at the little creature. "Roxxy, I'm not here to 'get along'. I told you: I'm just going to study and nothing else."
Roxxy sighed. "At least you could be nice."
Carlotta rolled her eyes. "I'm not being rude, either. I'm just…not being anything."
"You were mean to the other girl in your dorm." Roxxy gestured towards the bedroom door. "And you are going to have to see her quite often if she's in your classes, you know."
"I'll transfer out of the design class." Carlotta waved her hand as if to dismiss the idea.
"Carlotta Rosita Marcone, you will do no such thing!" Roxxy raised her voice and put her little hands on her hips.
Carlotta raised an eyebrow at the little kwami.
Roxxy let out a small breath and relaxed a little. "I know it's been rough lately, but you've worked hard for this. It may not be much, but this is the first step towards making your fashion magazine that you've always wanted to create."
Carlotta looked down at the floor. "Roxxy…"
"I'm serious!" Roxxy said. "I know you said you're done fighting, but I'm not giving up on that just yet. And I sure won't let you give up on your dreams."
Carlotta didn't answer. She just continued to stare at the floor. After what happened with Pavone, with William…she just couldn't bring herself to think of anything else. She didn't want to be part of that world, or any world for that matter. Not anymore. She didn't have the heart to toss Roxxy aside, or else she would have left every part of that life back in Italy. Her fingers absentmindedly touched the small foxtail necklace she wore.
"I'm not going to fight. Not anymore. Let someone else do it. I'm never going to be Volpina again." Carlotta replied.
Roxxy snorted. "We'll see about that."
