"Marinette, have you packed all your clothes yet?" a warm and a bit concerned voice rang from the other end of the room. The voice which belonged to a petit, dark-haired and brown-eyed woman who was none other but my mom.

"Yes mom, I already have," I answered, almost automatically.

"Have you packed your undergarments as well?" Oh, here we go.

"Yes, I have."

"And your toothbrush?"

"I'm brushing my teeth right now, mom."

"Right… What about –"

"Yes, I've packed everything, mom!" I had to end it there, otherwise she would be asking me until dawn. Don't get me wrong, as much as I love my mom, sometimes I just wish she could stop worrying so much and start treating me more as an adult which I technically was.

But starting from the beginning; I'm Marinette, a 21-year-old girl and a third-year fashion student in Paris. Designing, drawing, sewing and creating had always been my greatest passions and now I was almost there to become who I had always dreamt about; a professional fashion designer.

Theoretically, I should've been only one, final year away from making my dreams come true but just when holidays were about to begin, I won the first place in the biggest fashion contest organised by our school and with that a great opportunity arose for me; the first three places had a chance to go and study a whole year abroad, in whichever university and destination you wanted and with all costs and expenses being covered by the school. Sounds fantastic, right?

And when it came to me, there was one particular place where I had been really, really craving to go for a very long time. And I was finally going to visit it. I was so excited.

"Alright, your luggage is fully packed now but what about your carrier bag? Do you have everything you need for your trip?" asked my mom.

I finished my morning routine and went to my pink backpack, which I was taking with me as well, unzipped it and began checking its content; two books, my favourite fashion magazines, my self-made diary, some medicines, snacks, small first-aid kit, tissues and my wallet. I put my covered toothbrush inside and zipped it back. In the smaller pocket of the rucksack, I found mainly my passport, flight tickets and documents which I would need when I reached my destination. There were a flight pillow and a name tag attached to the bag too.

"It looks like I have everything, mama," I responded, looking up at the woman in front of me. She held her clasped hands close to her mouth and was looking at me with watery eyes, clearly trying to hold the tears back, slightly trembling.

"Mom?"

"Oh, Marinette, I'm so sorry," she quickly wiped her eyes and put a gentle smile on her face, "I just… I've just realized how quickly you grew up, like I remember when you walked your very first steps or when you were learning how to ride a bike with your dad or your first attempts in baking and now – now you can bake any pastries and cakes and breads in whole Paris and you are a proper, real grown-up now and you are going so far, far away for a year, a year my God!, to follow and fulfil your dreams and I – we couldn't be prouder to have such an amazing daughter," the tears came back but she wasn't the only person crying in the room at that moment.

"Mom…"

"Weare going to miss you so much, Marinette."

"Oh, I'm going to miss you too!" I cried out and ran into my mother's arms. I hugged and squeezed her as much as I loved her, realizing that I wouldn't be able to do that for a very long time. Suddenly, I felt a pair of strong arms embracing us and a nice warmth spread across my back; it was my dad.

We stood like that for a minute or two when the male voice broke the silence, "I don't want to break this moment but I have to, otherwise we are going to be late." And with that, the embrace was gone.

"I'll take the suitcase to the car," added my dad and he disappeared behind the doors.

"Marinette, take your backpack and I'll take food. I made you your favourite macaroons just in case if you wanted some."

"I'm already missing you, mom." And we left the house.

Woah, this place is so big!

We arrived at the airport on time. I'd been there only once or twice in my life when I was very little. I didn't remember much, only that I was flying with my parents to China to visit my grandparents and the rest of the family from my mother's side. Frankly, I wished I could have visited them more but the whole journey in general was way too expensive.

At least we had phones and computers now so we could keep in touch and talk to each other from time to time.

I entered the building and my parents followed behind. There were exactly two hours to my departure. We went to give my baggage away, which took a bit of time, and when everything was sorted, I was ready to go. Or so I thought.

I slowly stopped walking which got my parents' attention.

"Hey, honey, what's with that face? Are you ok? You look a bit flightened!" my dad "joked" which made me cringe a little inside.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong? Are you not feeling well? Are you afraid of flying? Do you want me to get you something to drink?" asked my mom, concerned.

"No, it's not that… I was just thinking if I was actually ready for such a huge step. I know it's silly to think about it now when I'm leaving soon and can't really change my mind now but it came to me only today what I've gotten myself into and how much my days are going to be different for the next full year. I don't know if I can do it… can I do it?"

Ok, I was actually frightened.

"Darling, look at me," my mom said and I listened, "it's ok and it's normal to be scared in such situations but don't let fear overcome you. You won a great opportunity to go to the place you have always wanted to go and to meet new fantastic people, learn different cultures and languages and come back with memories and experiences many people wish for every day. And you won't be alone, you will have people taking care of you and your safety there and you have us who you can call even in the middle of the night, don't forget that!" and this time, she hugged me first.

"You can do it Marinette, I believe in you. Chase your dreams." She softly whispered to me.

"Thank you, maman."

And I love you. I love you both.

Let's go.

The whole security procedure went smoothly with no surprises or unpleasantness. Now, from what I read on the Internet, it was time for me to find my gate which I'd be entering my plane from.

I looked at the screen with flights information and searched for my own flight; there! Gate number 1. Great, now I needed to –

"My, my, look who is here." Somebody chanted in a mocking way right behind me.

That voice.

I knew that voice.

No… it couldn't be…

Unbelievable, out of all places and times it had to be her. The person I wanted to see the least, especially before my life-changing trip was none other than –

"Chloe Bourgeois."

The one and only daughter of major of Paris and my greatest enemy since I could remember. We'd been attending the same schools throughout the years and, unfortunately for me, it didn't change when getting into university. And to make things worse, we were on the same course, in the same class, again.

I couldn't say that it was a big surprise to me though; she had a great sense of fashion after all and that was probably the only thing she showed any interest in. Yet, I strongly hoped that after graduating from high school she'd be too occupied with buying the latest collections from Coco Chanel or Dior that she wouldn't find time to go to school. Proved I was wrong.

However, while most of the students were really passionate about what they were doing and wanted to learn more about designing, Chloe's only priority was to, well, look pretty. And make others feel worse, like me.

And now, here she was, that blonde spoiled brat, wearing her usual expensive brand clothes and with that stupid, derisive smile of hers.

"If it's not our sweet, clumsy Marinette. What a coincidence. I wonder why and how did you manage to get here, hm? Did your parents sell that little, smelly bakery to afford your trip here?" and she went into a full belly laugh.

Agh, I hate that girl!

"Or did you break in?"

"No, Chloe, I got here on my own, legally and with no sacrifices," I gritted through my teeth, with my fists clenched, "I'm going for a year abroad from our school, sooo it was really nice meeting you, hopefully, our roads are never going to cross again, bye!" I added with such fake politeness, wanting nothing more but to go and never see her again.

I turned around and started walking to my destination when I heard her asking.

"Where?"

Crap, she had to ask!

"To a really great city in America. Why would you like to know?" I turned my head to face her. She changed her expression from vain to suspicious. There was something about that I didn't like.

"Is that really great city New York? Perhaps FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology)*?" she sneered, her satisfaction growing with every word she said, "Judging from your shocked expression, I'll take it as a yes. Well then, I'll see you there in this case. Maybe. Unless your flight gets cancelled or takes you on the other end of the world, haha!"

My brain tried to understand what she was saying. Ignoring her last comment, I asked in disbelief and terror.

"Wait! What do you mean you'll see me… are you going to study in America too?!" That had to be a joke. A really bad joke. Or was I in some sort of a nightmare? How unlucky could a person possibly be?

"That's exactly what I said. Now I have to go, my plane is about to depart, I don't want to miss it because of you."

"But the gate for the flight to New York is in the opposite direction." Why did I even say that? Why had I just helped her, I didn't want her to go! How did she even get accepted there? I had so many questions but I didn't know if I wanted them answered at that moment.

"Yes, for the people like you, haha! I'm taking a private jet, specially prepared for me. You didn't think I'd fly in a such cheap, cramped and dirty plane. I'll leave this pleasure to you and the poor. I'm leaving, my caviar and champagne are waiting. Bye, looser. Have a nice trip, hahaha!"

She seriously was the worst. And now it turned out that she would be studying in the same city and school as me. AGAIN!

I was internally screaming.

What's fate? And what was exactly wrong with it?!

I finally found my gate. There was still a few minutes left before people were allowed on board so I decided to buy myself something to drink which I really needed, especially after the encounter with you know who.

There were few coffee and tea shops around but I picked a particular one where they were serving traditional Chinese teas and… the queue was the shortest. I approached the till, knowing exactly which tea I wanted to order and waited.

Moments later, a small, old man came to serve me. He was Chinese or at least had an Asian appearance and overall he seemed to be a nice person.

"Hello, how can I be of service?" he asked, smiling politely which made me smile as well.

"One Keemun tea, please, sir. Take away if possible." I ordered and paid for the drink. The man then left to make the tea and not even minute had passed and he came back. He handed me my order and gave a little paper bag.

"Oh, I didn't order that, sir," I said, confused.

"It's on the house. Have a nice and safe journey, Ma – my young lady." He replied and went to serve another customer. There was something mysterious in the way he said the last sentence, like a second meaning which I didn't understand.

I was staring at the bag until an announcement brought me back to reality.

"Passengers flying to New York, flight number ML12345, are requested to proceed to Gate number 1."

That's mine!

I looked at the elder but he was still busy so I whispered "thank you" and with another, genuine smile, I went back to my gate.

We were separated into different lines so that the boarding process could go faster and with no delays. In the meantime, I decided to check what was in that bag from the old man. I opened it and I found two things inside; a fortune cookie and a little plushie.

I took out the mascot first; it was tiny, red with black dots and big blue eyes and it was very cute and soft, even though I didn't know what it was. I put it back and grabbed the cookie. Let's see what another misfortune was waiting for me.

I easily broke it in half and went for the little note. I couldn't lie, I was a bit excited to see whatever was written on it, even if I didn't really believe in fortune-telling and stuff like this. I opened it and carefully read it in my mind.

Oh.

That's… interesting.

I was inside the plane at that point and I started to look for my seat which was somewhere in the middle of the aircraft but next to a window and, after finding it, I took it.

Half an hour had quickly passed during which I was mainly thinking about my "fortune". Or that I didn't know what exactly think about it!

The plane started to move, it was heading towards the runway. We were only minutes from ascending and I was just few hours from starting a new chapter in my life.

"New York, here I come!"

*the school's legit but i dunno if the best, i just typed the best fashion schools in nyc, i'm sorry, that's not my cup of tea

enjoy.