Leïla looked around the mall entrance curiously, taking in the massive crowd of people entering and leaving all around her. She had been to this mall before, of course – every few weeks, she had met Marie or Amalia or Sophie here to look around. But this might be the busiest she had seen the mall in over a year! A woman bumped against Leïla's elbow, and she stumbled slightly; her hand tightened on her purse. She could feel the purse shuddering – inside, Kheaa had to be upset at being jostled like that. Leïla clutched the purse to her chest, her eyes wide, watching to avoid getting bumped anymore. If it was this busy now, what would it be like when they were leaving with bags of clothing? But at the same time, a part of Leïla was tempted to forget about shopping for new school clothes; she had plenty of outfits at home. With the number of people just in the entrance, how busy would any clothing stores they visited be?
Of course, new school clothes were only part of the reason she was here.
"Come on," Ruth complained, rolling her eyes and nudging Leïla pointedly. "Let's get going – before the crowd tramples us to death!"
"Not yet," insisted Leïla, shaking her head. Craning her neck, she searched the crowd entering the mall. "Chloe said she would meet us at the entrance – we can't leave without her. Especially since we don't really know what she looks like yet…"
"Really?" Ruth arched an eyebrow at her pointedly. "Are you telling me you haven't looked at any of the photos? Leïla, they've been literally everywhere online the last couple weeks! You must have seen one. And besides, doesn't your mom work there?"
"Fine." Leïla flushed. "I… may have checked – just once! But only so I would know what she looked like when she arrived. But they say the camera adds five kilos. Besides, even if we do know what she looks like, she doesn't know what we look like–"
"Unless Chloe showed her," Ruth argued, just as a girl a little younger than themselves made a beeline straight toward them, pushing through the traffic as best she could. Light hair streaked with a single pink highlight, brand-new designer clothes, brand-new purse, wedged heels that almost put her on the same level as Leïla and Ruth. But as she approached them, Leïla examined her carefully. Even after two weeks, the girl still looked a bit uncomfortable as she ducked her head, her eyes darting nervously around the entryway.
"You must be Zoe!" Leïla greeted her as the girl paused in front of them, looking up at them expectantly. Leïla smiled brightly and held out a hand. "It's good to finally meet you! I'm Leïla and this is Ruth."
Zoe's shoulders relaxed slightly, and she smiled back. "It's nice to meet you both," she told them. "When I saw the crowd, I wasn't sure how I would get in, or if I'd ever be able to find you! I wish Chloe had come with me…"
"I was surprised that she wasn't meeting us," mused Ruth.
Zoe shrugged. "She said she was too busy." As she looked closer at Leïla, Zoe cocked her head to one side, staring at her in confusion. "Sorry, but for some reason, you look really familiar…"
Leïla giggled. "My mother works at Le Grand Paris – she's the supervisor for the housekeeping day shift," she explained.
Zoe's eyes widened. "Ohh… That's what it is – Mme Ouazani. Of course! I mean, I've only met her a couple times, but your mother has been really nice to me."
Leïla smiled fondly. "She tends not to talk about her work at all at home, but when I mentioned that I would be meeting you at the mall, she was happy to hear it."
"It's really nice to meet you," Ruth told Zoe, smiling and holding out a hand to her. "We've heard so much about Chloe's sister–"
"Everyone always says it that way…" Zoe muttered, smiling in amusement.
Ruth blushed. "Sorry; I, um, I didn't mean to–"
"No; it's okay," Zoe quickly assured her, grinning. "I'm just… still getting used to being known as someone's sister. It's… it's been a bit of a change. Even though I knew about Chloe before all of this – I knew who my father was, even though I'd never met him. But I was an only child until a couple weeks ago. But it's… it's been… nice, having a sister."
Ruth nodded in understanding. "I have an older brother; everyone back home just knew me as 'Jack's little sister.' In school, in the stores, at the restaurants…" She looked away pensively. "Before I left, I thought it was so embarrassing; now…"
"Where are you from?" asked Zoe curiously, cocking her head, her eyes wide.
"America," Ruth replied immediately. "Originally from New York, but lately from South America."
Zoe's eyes bugged out. "New York? Really? Have you ever seen the Empire State Building? I really want to see it one day, though I've never been to America before. I'd love to see a play on Broadway…"
Ruth gave her a deadpan look. "There's more to New York than just the City," she pointed out. "I grew up in upstate, nowhere near the City." She grimaced. "But I suppose that doesn't matter, because I've actually been to the City a couple times and have even been to the top of the Empire State Building!"
Zoe bounced on the balls of her feet. "Really? I'd love to visit America sometime…"
"Maybe someday, you can come back to visit my tribe!" Ruth agreed.
"That would be so much fun!" Zoe furrowed her brows. "What do you mean, 'tribe'?"
"I'm Seneca – born and raised on the reservation."
Leïla hummed, gesturing for the other two to follow her further into the mall. "I hope I get a sister," she mused. "I don't think I'd survive more brothers!"
Zoe turned to her in surprise. "Wait… you mom…" Her eyes widened, her mouth opening in an "O". She nodded slowly. "I'd wondered… Any idea if it will be a boy or a girl?"
Leïla shook her head. "Mom and Dad don't want to know in advance; they prefer a surprise. They did just do a prenatal genetic screening, just to make sure there weren't any surprises like that. But Dad didn't even look at the test, just to make sure he wouldn't see which chromosome the baby has. Though apparently, we're having twins again…" she muttered under her breath, grimacing.
Zoe nodded in acknowledgment. "Chloe mentioned that your dad was a doctor…"
"Did she mention that she and Adrien Agreste helped him start his clinic?"
"No – they did?"
Leïla smiled. "They did. Chloe also helped my mom get a promotion last winter. And they arranged for me to transfer into a different school – Collège François Dupont."
"That's where I'm going this year!" Zoe replied, grinning. "Maybe we'll be in the same class!"
Leïla sighed shaking her head. "I just graduated from collège, actually; I'm going to be attending Lycée Pasteur."
Ruth scoffed. "Of course, you're attending a smart school," she interjected, bumping Leïla with her shoulder. "Couldn't attend the normal school, could you?"
"Half my friends are going to Pasteur," Leïla protested. "And the other half are going to Haussmann. You'll know a few people there…"
Ruth hummed in acknowledgment.
Zoe's eyes widened. "And all of that was thanks to Chloe?"
Leïla nodded, turning to lead the way around the perimeter of the mall. "My family owes a lot to your family – especially your sister."
As they walked through the mall, Leïla looked around curiously, pausing occasionally to look through the display windows of the outlet stores they were passing. Ruth and Zoe had returned to their conversation about America, though Leïla had already lost interest in the subject. She was interested in America, of course – seeing the reservation where Ruth had grown up would be fascinating, to say nothing of all the sights in New York City. But at the same time, considering the difficulty that her family had gone through to get into France in the first place, why would she want to leave the country and risk not being allowed back? Traveling might be fun, but France was her home; she had become a member of the Heroes of Paris so she could protect her home and its people from anyone who would try to hurt them.
"Let's check in here!" Zoe suggested, pausing outside of the Agreste outlet near one end of the building. "They have the most amazing clothes!"
"I know." Leïla stifled a laugh. "I love everything Marinette designs," she agreed, nodding.
Ruth quirked an eyebrow at both of them. "Considering that you both are wearing 'Marinette' clothing…"
Zoe raised an eyebrow at Ruth. "Are you saying you want to get something here?" Her eyes widened, and she looked Ruth down evaluatingly. "That would be so awesome! This time, we can find you some shirts – and maybe a new skirt."
"I've never worn a skirt before," Ruth retorted, holding her hands up.
"Then pants." Zoe grinned reassuringly. "I'm sure we can find something here for you to wear!" She furrowed her brows in concern, studying Ruth's face nervously. "Unless you don't like Agreste clothes…"
Ruth's eyes widened. "No – it's not that. I do like a lot of what Marinette does…" Turning to Leila, she muttered under her breath, "I don't know if I'd be able to live there if I didn't!"
Leïla muttered back, "Then why not pick a couple things out?" Louder, she told Ruth, "There's enough variety that you're bound to find something you like."
Ruth glanced at her nervously. "Okay, but I don't think I can afford more than a pen in there…"
Zoe gave her a pointed look. "You know who my father is, right?" she asked. "Do you honestly think he would have let me go shopping without being able to pay for it? Please. Consider this a 'down payment' for when you give me the tour of your reservation next year!"
Leïla raised an eyebrow at Ruth. "I'm in," she agreed. "A couple of Marinette's latest designs are amazing – exactly your style, I think."
Ruth groaned but nodded in concession. "Fine. But I thought we were here shopping for you," she pointed out, giving Zoe a look.
Zoe shook her head. "I literally just got a new wardrobe a week ago," she reminded them. "There isn't anything else I could possibly need – and there wouldn't be any more room in the closet, even if I did get something else!"
Leïla shrugged. "I might pick out a new top or two, but I'm pretty set." She grinned at Ruth. "Looks like it's all you!"
"My lucky day."
Two hours later, a half-dozen shopping bags in hand, the three of them finally left the Agreste outlet. Zoe had insisted on paying for their purchases, explaining that this was the first time she'd been in a position to buy anything for her friends. Leïla had felt embarrassed by the gift – she'd only ended up purchasing one top, a new one inspired by Africa. But finally, they stood in the mall's food court, looking around at all the food options available. Leïla grimaced, looking back and forth between all the restaurants. Her stomach growled… but she wasn't sure where she could go. The burger place smelled really good, but with bacon on almost everything, there would almost certainly be bacon grease on anything she ordered – her stomach churned. There was a Vietnamese place. Or there was one with gyros – maybe that would be okay.
"Where do you want to go?" Ruth asked Leïla, raising an eyebrow expectantly.
Leïla hummed. "I think I'm going to go there," she decided, indicating the gyros.
"That does look good," Zoe agreed, "but I've been thinking about a burger all day."
Ruth shrugged. "First one to get their food picks a table?"
After another ten minutes, Leïla found the other two, already sitting at a table not far from the entrance. Sitting down and taking a first bite of her gyro, Leïla looked over at Zoe's burger and fries. "Those smell amazing."
"Do you want one?" Zoe offered, holding a fry out to her.
Leïla winced. "Um… I'm good. Thanks for the offer, though."
Zoe shrugged. "Why not?" she asked curiously.
Ruth leaned over. "It's the bacon."
Zoe's eyes widened and she flushed. "Oh – I – sorry."
Leïla shrugged, giving her a reassuring smile. "It's not a big deal."
