Golden Eagle

Chapter II:

The Greatest Challenge

Collège Françoise Dupont - 7:25 a.m.

Marinette and Alya were waiting around for school to start, talking about Ladybug and Cat Noir since they had saved Paris yet again. Adrien and Nino joined them but their conversation was interrupted by the sound of tires powered by an electric motor. They looked around and saw a pale girl with dark brown hair, green eyes and thick-rimmed glasses pull up on an electric scooter. She folded her scooter up and carried it up the front steps.

"Who was that?" Adrien asked.

"I heard we were getting a new girl today. Alicia something-or-other, that must be her," Alya said.

"She looked pretty nervous to be here," Marinette pointed out "We should... help her out. Give her a positive welcome before she meets Chloé,"

The others all mumbled their agreements and headed into the courtyard to catch up with the new girl.

Alicia hugged her folded scooter out of instinct as she worried about where the principle's office was. The sounds of the other students merged together and were drowned out by her rapid breathing and pounding heartbeat. Left, right, up, down... they all became meaningless as she felt her head spinning. She should have had her father come with her but she had decided to try to be brave. What a foolish idea that-

"Hi, I'm Marinette. It's nice to meet you,"

Alicia turned around to see a girl with deep black hair and light blue eyes behind her. She was accompanied by another girl with geek-chic glasses and two boys, one with blonde hair and the other dressed like a DJ. Alicia found her cheeks burning and she wished she had worn a hood today so she could hide her face with it. Marinette seemed to be waiting for her to speak but got the message she wasn't going to.

"This is my best friend, Alya," she said to break the silence.

"S'up, girl? I run the Ladyblog so if you have any questions on our favourite crime-fighting duo, you know who to ask," Alya said, confidently taking out her phone to film.

Alicia shied away from the camera and Alya got the message to put her phone away. Adrien then stepped forward.

"Hi, I'm Adrien Agreste and this is my buddy, Nino," he said.

"Hey, kid, you too shy to talk?" Nino asked.

Alicia cowered away but gulped and looked at them. She recognized Adrien from some ads she had seen around town for the Gabriel Agreste label.

"Hi..." she said in a barely audible voice "I'm... I'm Alicia... Alicia Blaise..."

"Blaise?!" Alya exclaimed "Any relation to Grant Blaise?!"

"Y-Yeah... he's my dad," Alicia responded.

"Ah! He's my blogging idol!" Alya continued to fawn "He's always got the scoop, his network of contacts reaches from here to New York! But... I didn't know he had a kid?"

Alicia cowered away again after Alya's sudden fangirling and Marinette pulled her friend back. She stepped forward to talk to her and began with an apology.

"Sorry about that. Alya doesn't know when to stop," she said "My guess, you're looking for Mr. Damocles' office, right? Follow us,"

Marinette headed towards the stairs and her friends pushed Alicia forward into the same direction. Panicked thoughts whirled around in her head. What if they were messing with her? Were they just pretending to be friendly for a joke? How could she trust utter strangers?! Her panic attack was interrupted by Marinette knocking on a door at the top of the stairs and a voice calling.

"Come in!"

The group entered the office and Mr. Damocles looked up from his paperwork. Alicia cowered behind the group in the doorway. She felt like throwing up.

"Hello, everyone, can I help you with something?" he asked.

"We've brought the new girl with us," Adrien said.

They all turned around to look at Alicia and her grip on her folded scooter tightened. She couldn't think of anything and yet her mind was racing like a broken projector reel. Was she supposed to step forward or- what was she meant to do? Her legs went limp and she felt sick to her stomach.

"Whoa! You okay, Alicia?" Adrien asked, putting her arm around him to support her.

"I-I... anx-anxie-ty... I... suffer from... su-suffer..." she stammered, blinking rapidly "Anxi-anxiety... I- suffer from... anx-ie-ty... i-issues..."

Alicia fell to the floor and hugged her knees, rocking back and forth. She buried her face into her arms when she heard the sound of a can opening. Surprised, she looked up to see Marinette offering her a can of cherry soda.

"It's okay," she said, smiling "I get nervous sometimes too but... I find having a cold drink and just letting myself calm down works well,"

Alicia shakily took the soda can and took a sip. She pierced her lips together and put the can aside.

"[That's way too sweet! Back in New York, soda's meant to have a bitter tang to it]" she said and she saw the looks on the others' faces "[What?]"

"You're... speaking English... pretty flawlessly, too," Alya said.

Alicia covered her mouth and her face turned red.

"Sorry..." she said "I've spent most of my life in English-speaking countries so I still slip into it when I'm... when I'm not thinking,"

Mr. Damocles got up from his desk and walked out from behind it with his hands behind his back. He approached Alicia and offered her his hand. She took it and he pulled her to her feet.

"When your father was enrolling you here, he warned us of your anxiety problems and to watch out for panic attacks," Mr. Damocles explained "Marinette, you seem to know how to calm Alicia when she's frantic so I'd like you to be her guide while she's settling in,"

"Sure, Mr. Damocles!" Marinette agreed.

As she feared, the teacher asked Alicia to stand up to introduce herself to the class. With all eyes on her, she stood up from the empty row behind Alya and Marinette and looked around the room.

"So, Alicia, what brings you to Paris?" Miss Bustier asked.

"W-Well... I did live in... in New York... b-but my pa- my father... lives here and... my school wasn't... working out so... I came here," Alicia stammered.

"And we're very happy to have you here with us," the teacher said "Now, let's get started. Today we'll..."

Alicia sat back down as Miss Bustier began giving the lesson. She just looked down at her literature textbook that had been especially translated to English for her. With her notebook out, she absent-mindedly brushed her pencil against the paper until she noticed it looked like something. Alicia completely forgot about the lesson and began making the pencil lines into a butterfly but then she changed them into the swish of a woman's hair. Just as she was really getting into her drawing, the bell rang and everyone got up to go to the next class.

"Hey, Alicia, I like your drawing," Marinette said.

Alicia jumped at Marinette's sudden appearance beside her but Marinette just smiled at her. She closed her notebook and put it in her messenger bag. She kept her eyes on the ground as she left the classroom, walking past Alya who was stood in the doorway.

"Huh, that was kinda rude. All you did was compliment her drawing skills," Alya remarked.

"You heard what Mr. Damocles said earlier. Alicia has had anxiety issues and it's only her first day. I'm sure it'll be fine once she's settled in," Marinette said, optimistically "We just better keep her away from Chloé,"

"And how," Alya added as they left the classroom, leaving it empty.

They couldn't keep Chloé away forever and the school's mean-girl found the new girl during lunch. Alicia was sitting in the corner of the courtyard with a book on her knees, a brown paper lunchbag next to her and an apple in her hand. She was eagerly reading line after line of text when her apple was torn from her hand. She looked up to see Chloé standing over her, brushing off the apple on her yellow cardigan before taking a very snobbish bite out of it.

"So... you used to live in New York, eh?" Chloé asked/more like stated.

"My apple," Alicia murmured "That was mine,"

"Hey! Don't ignore me!" Chloé screamed.

Everyone in the courtyard froze and looked over to see Alicia blankly looking up at Chloé. Trying to avoid confrontation, Alicia closed her book, picked up her lunchbag and walked away. Chloé gasped and glared at her, squeezing the stolen apple. Alicia began to feel the stares from her other classmates. Her knees began to weaken beneath her and her stomach twisted into knots. Then she remember what Marinette had said about having a cool, refreshing drink. So Alicia wobbly walked over to the bench, sat down and took her orange juice carton out of her lunch. She pierced the top with the straw and shakily began to sip the juice.

"Just have a nice cool drink... and let my body relax... I won't have a panic attack! Everyone's already lost interest any-"

Before Alicia could finish her thought, her juice carton was slapped from her hands, the straw left in her mouth. She looked up and saw Chloé standing before her. The worry began to grow from the pit of her stomach and her head began to spin.

"What... What do you want?" Alicia asked, her voice quiet.

"That jacket..." Chloé said "A Bridget Foley? Way too nice for the likes of you. Just give it here and it'll find a better home paired with my Foley winter dress and boots!"

Alicia looked down at her jacket. Bridget always made her clothes to fit her daughter while designing. The jacket was black denim with gold thread stitching and red heart-shaped buttons. It was handmade by the designer herself with her signature stitch along the inside to prove it. For a fashionista, it really was invaluable and Chloé wanted it but Alicia didn't want to let it go. Her mother had made it, after all!

"No..." she said, timidly "I-I can't just... give you my jacket..."

Chloé looked furious and Alicia began to cower from her on the bench. She hadn't even thought about what she was putting on when she was getting dressed this morning. She just grabbed a jacket and went out the door. Chloé's domineering demeanour made Alicia's heart beat in her ears and she felt her breathing grow faster and faster. Any longer and she'd be hyperventilating or having a panic attack or both! Out of fear, she dashed out of the courtyard, down the front steps and ran through the streets of Paris.

Grant was tapping away on his computer as he researched Gabriel Agreste for his upcoming interview with him. He was laying back on a chaise longue when the door suddenly burst open and his daughter in tears came running through. Alicia ran up the stairs to the second floor and slammed her bedroom door shut. Before Grant could go ask why she was home so early, the phone rang. It was the school...

Alicia threw herself onto her bed as tears streamed down her face. Maybe transferring to a Parisian school wasn't the best idea? Not with that Chloé girl there. She sat up on her bed and looked down at her jacket. She ran away because of a jacket? Alicia pulled the jacket off and stumbled to stand in front of her wardrobe mirror. Her glasses were foggy and her cheeks were stained. She sighed.

"Why are you so anxious all the time?" Alicia asked herself.

"Ali?!" Grant called and he opened her bedroom door "Hey, Ali, the school just called. They said a mean girl tried to take your jacket because it's one of your mother's designs. Is that right?"

"Y-Yeah..." she sniffed "I just... I couldn't... I'm sorry for skipping..."

Grant gave her a tight hug and let her cry into him before going to sort it out with the school. Alicia was left alone and she took the opportunity to wallow in self-pity. She kicked off her shoes and closed her window blinds before collapsing onto her bed. She put her glasses on her beside table and closed her eyes, falling asleep.

"I just..." she thought "...want to be brave,"

Alicia's Bedroom - 4:33 p.m.

Alicia was deep asleep when a light in her eyes woke her up. She sat up, rubbed her eyes and put on her glasses. The light was coming from the unpacked boxes in the corner of her room. Curious, Alicia pushed the boxes aside and found her mother's parting gift glowing from the inside. She ripped open the wrapping paper to find a velvet box. As she opened the box, the light intensified.

"What the- GAAH!"