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lucky charms ❛i. coccinella & cat noir ❜
━━━━━EVEN BEFORE CHARLOTTE'S life had been turned upside down, she was already having a pretty rotten first day back to school.
first; she had woken up late, having accidentally set her alarm clock to the wrong time. second; her dog had peed right outside her bedroom door. that part was pretty important because she came running out of her bedroom and stepped right in the puddle. (her brother's laugh made it all so much worse.)third; charlotte had to run to school, and the girl hated running, that's why she quit track.
her father would normally drive her and her brother to school, but there was always the rule if you weren't out of the house by a certain time, you'd be left at home. and charlotte was left at home, left to fend for herself.
she skittered to a stop, hurdling herself around a corner. she grabbed her book bag that was sliding off her shoulder, barely looking over her shoulder for a moment —
charlotte ran directly into an elderly man, sending his cane flying out of his hands and sliding across the concrete.
"i'm so sorry!" charlotte gasped, holding onto her shoulder as it throbbed in pain. "i didn't see you! sir" — she lunged for the man's cane, soon helping him to his feet — "i'm so sorry — really, i didn't mean to! let me help you."
the elderly man used charlotte as a brace to get back on his feet. she handed the cane back gingerly.
"does anything hurt?" she asked, dusting off his shoulder.
"oh, everything now," said the man. he didn't look frail, but still, with a hunch in his back and a cane in his right hand, it was easy to tell he had a long life. he was of east asian descent with brown eyes so dark they looked black and hair that was entirely steel grey in color, with a mustache and goatee to match.
charlotte winced at his words, grabbing a notebook to tear a piece of paper out. she ripped the plastic lid of a pen off with her teeth, using her knee to write her number on. she handed the paper to the man, saying, "if anything starts to hurt you, call me and i'll do anything to help. again, sir, i'm so sorry!"
she wrapped his fingers around the paper, grabbing her bag before she ran past him and down the street.
charlotte ran up the concrete stairs of lycée françoise dupont. the school was a tan building with a slate blue cobblestone rooftop. there were three layers of windows. she shoved open one of the dark oak doors to the entrance of the school.
