"Marinette! PLEASE come down for breakfast!" Came the irritated shout of her mother, downstairs.
"*Mmpf*" The girl mumbled, sitting up. [Why can't they make exceptions for superheroes?] She thought in a garbled way.
Tikki, Marinette's kwami regarded her in a conerned manner. "Marinette, are you alright?"
Marinette turned to her with a weary expression. "After the night I've had, do you really have to ask?"
"Don't despair. You've only lost track of that thief once. I'm sure you'll get another opportunity." Tikki tried to reassure her.
"Oh sure, then, as soon as she pulls that dumb flute out, and it's the tango all over again!" Marinette grumbled as she beleaguredly dressed herself.
"You know, I believe I may be able to assist you to.." Tikki began.
"Sorry, Tikki, it can wait. Mom's gonna start counting soon.." Marinette interrupted, shoving the Kwami into her bookbag.
"Un.. Duex.. Trois.." Mrs. Cheng began in an impatient tone.
"See?" Marinette said with a grimace, before heading downstairs.
Once in the Cheng kitchen, Marinette's tall quite beautiful mother, her chocolate brown hair coming down in strands from the bun atop her head, stared concernedly at her daughter, as she hobbled into the room on the sides of her feet. "Marinette, dear, whatever's the matter with your feet?"
"Huh?! Oh.." Marinette exclaimed, her cowlick suddenly jumped up, as she then tried to come up with an explanation. "I.. Uh.. Bumped my foot in bed last night." She stammered quite unconviningly.
Mr. Cheng lowered the newspaper he was reading and said, with genuine concern in his voice "My goodness dear. Would you like your Mother to drive you to school today?"
Marinette was about to answer, but then took notice of the paper's headline "LADYBUG FAILS TO CAPTURE PHANTOM THIEF VOLPINA; WASTES TIME IN MOONLIGHT TANGO". She turned beet red with anger and embarrassment. "No thanks, the walk will do me good!" She snapped, before limping out her front door, slamming it behind her.
"That girl has been acting peculiar lately.." Mrs. Cheng remarked with confusion.
Marinette, despite her sore feet, did her best to stumble and stagger to class on time.. But, as she rounded the corner cafe, she could already hear the first of the bells begin to chime!
"OH, CRAP!" The girl explained, doing her best to "race" on the sides of her shoes, drawing many snickers and odd looks from bystanders. [Ooh! Everyone's staring at me..] She thought with a self-concious blush. [But.. Still.. I.. I've gotta get to school on these stupid feet!] She continued to herself, in a determined fashion, eyes straight ahead unfortunately, not noticing the curb ending in front of her..
"OOOF!" She grunted upon collapsing to the hard, gritty pavement beneath her..
"Marinette?! Did you hurt yourself?!" Tikki asked with alarm from inside her backpack.
"No Tikki.." Marinette sardonically responded, not even bothering to pick herself up as the second bell began to blare. "Just my chances of not getting a tardy slip.."
[Music.. First period.. Perhaps they'll still be tuning up and the Professor won't hear me sneaking in..] Marinette considered to herself as she, with considerable stealth, sneaked throughout the halls of Notre Dame, plastering herself behind the lockers adjacent to the classroom. Taking a deep, concentrated breath, she dashed to the door and opened it just enought to see inside.
Sure enough, the students were indeed beginning to tune up their instruments, as Professor Mestral was looking over a musical sheet, his eyes focused note to note. Marinette took advantage of this and tried her best to dart into her position with the rest of the flute players, despite only being able to hobble.. Didn't work..
"MADMOISELLE CHENG!" The elderly man with a ridiculously fake looking combover shouted, his head snapping up to glare at her.
Marinette's strand of hair and pigtails sprung up as her body went rigid with fright.
"I will NOT tolerate your frequent tardiness! You'd best apply yourself if you want to get a decent education!" Mestral growled.
"Y..Yes, Professor Mestral.." Marinette sighed with a frown, her hair strand drooped over her face like a sad dog's tail, before making her way to her seat and picking up her instrument.
"Smooth, Marinette.. The way you stumbled in, you should have NO problem applying for the CIA!" Chloe, the blonde, egotistical bane of Marinette's existence taunted with as much venom as she could muster.
Marinette only grumbled in response, her face a low, frog-like grimace. It was then that she felt the warm prescence of love.. Romance near her. She looked above her on the platform. Just a few seats away from Chloe in the violin section, there he sat. His finely chisled, serious, gorgeous visage accentuated by his angelic golden hair was enough to send Marinette's heart aflutter.
Dressed in his usual grey dress shirt and black vest, staring ahead attentively with his peircing green eyes, Felix oozed his usual "hard-to-get" desiribility. It would take some time, but as her hair strand formed into a familiar heart shape, she knew she WOULD do it..
[REEEEEEEEEE!] Poor Marinette's eardrums nearly popped at the loud screech of Chloe playing an unessecarily long note near her ears. Her hair strand spun around like a helicopter rotor.
"Oops, sorry, Marinette.. Just tuning it up.." Chloe whispered with dripping hostility.
Marinette simply gritted her teeth. Wouldn't do good to cause more trouble now..
Prof. Metsral tapped his conducting wand for attention. "IF I MAY, for those of you that ARE paying attention.. We shall resume our rehersal for the first movement of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake"." He instructed in his usual gravelly, aggresive manner.
"Ready when you are, Professor!" Chloe nearly shouted with an annoyingly fake smile and a dramatic adjusting of her instrument.
Alya, Marinette's best friend, seated nearby in the clarinet section, gave her buddy an encouraging "thumbs up". Marinette returned the gesture with a smile, when suddenly there came the shrill whine of another flute, followed by laughter from most of the chorus.
Sofia Machiavelli, the jittery, nervous Italian student tried her best to sink into her chair with a deep, scarlet blush, doing her best to hide her face with her stout pigtails. Marinette couldn't help but feel sympathy for her.
"Madame Machiavelli!" Prof. Mestral roared.
"Scusi! Sorry! Sorry, Professor!" The girl quickly and frightfully apologized.
[That poor girl.. Maybe I should talk to her later..] Marinette thought with a compassionate expression.
Between periods, as Marinette sauntered up to her locker, she caught sight of Sofia, about a yard away, looking glumly through her items. Marinette smiled warmly and approached her.
"Bonjour, Sofia!" She exclaimed.
The girl jumped with a start! "AH!" She wordlessly yelped.
"Oh, Sofia, I'm sorry.. I didn't mean to startle you.." Marinette apologized.
"That.. That's alright, Murnette.. I just didn't hear you, that's all!" Sofia replied with an uneasy smile.
"It's.. It's Marinette, actually.." Marinette playfully corrected her. "And don't worry about it!"
"Oh, thank you for understanding, Missinette.." Sofia replied, becoming a little more cheerful.
"Of course!" Marinette responded, not even bothering to correct her this time. "I'm very sorry about what happened back there. You must forgive Professor Mestral, he expects everyone to be concert level competency in the first week."
"Yes. I suppose I'm just not cut out for playing the flute, is all.." Sofia reflected sadly.
"HEY!" Marinette reprimanded, looking the girl straight in the eye "Don't say that about yourself! There's a lot of hidden potential inside you! I mean, I'm not the best flautist in the world either, but I suppose I could give you some tips after school."
"You.. You would do that for me..?" Sofia asked with a hopeful sounding voice.
"Of course! How does 4:00 sound?" Marinette asked.
Sofia then suddenly became somewhat evasive, her foot nervously tapping an unsteady rythym on the linoleium floor. "Oh.. Uh.. No.. I'm sorry... I.. I'm very busy then, and this evening as well.. Perhaps some other time?"
"Oh, sure! Why, in fact.." Marinette began, only to have her voice trail off as Felix, his usual quiet self, sauntered past the two girls. Marinette's voice then became very soft and dreamlike, the heart shape in her hair once again. "Oh, please forgive me, Sofia. I must.. be going.." She mumbled lovestruck with a glazed look in her eyes.
Marinette gone, and the halls practically empty, Sofia retreated to the nearby girl's bathroom and entered a toilet stall. Now, away from view, a sly.. mischievous smile crossed the formerly shy girl's lips as she reached into her purse and retrieved a large bundled handkerchief, which she unwrapped to reveal the glistening Scarab Jewel!
[Yes, MARINETTE, my new friend..] The girl thought arrogantly, correctly pronouncing her name. [I'm a very busy girl..]
TO BE CONTINUED...