"Before we cut the cake, let's open gifts," said Sabine Dupen-Chang.
The classmates—in this setting, friends—gathered in the living room. Marinette sat in the center of the circle on an ottoman, grinning nervously.
"All right, who wants to go first?" said Aliya.
"I do!" Rose thrust her pink-wrapped gift into Marinette's hands. Marinette's fingers trembled as she carefully ripped near the tape and folded the wrapping back.
"I thought you might need a new sketchbook," said Rose, "because you're always drawing, and I thought of you how made my notebook special, so I thought I'd do the same for you—do you like it?"
"Rose, I love it!" Marinette threw her arms around Rose, almost knocking her over. "Thank you so much! This is so thoughtful!"
"I'll go next," said Alix. "Mine isn't wrapped all fancy like Rose's." She handed Marinette a plain black box.
Marinette lifted the lid. "Oh, Alix, it's beautiful! I've never had a watch!"
"I figured," said Alix, "since you're always late."
Everyone in the circle giggled. Marinette grinned sheepishly, and fumbled to strap the watch around her wrist.
Adrien, who was sitting closest to Marinette, said, "I got you."
Aliya and Nino traded excited glances as Adrien gently fastened the watch around Marinette's wrist while Marinette blushed and trembled.
Kim's gift, in a gift bag with some misshapen tissue paper, was a silver necklace with a single pearl pendant. The girls gushed over it, complimenting Kim on his taste until Kim's face turned bright red.
"Max helped," he said.
"Pearls have remained among the most popular jewelry items for the last several hundred years," said Max. "It was a statistically sound choice. This is my gift, Marinette." He handed Marinette a precisely wrapped package the size of a CD case.
In accordance with the gift's neat wrapping, Marinette carefully picked it apart. Her jaw dropped when she saw what was inside.
"Oh my gosh! The original Ulimate Mecha Strike?! Max?! Where did you find this?! They're out of production!"
"One can find anything online for a reasonable price with the correct search algorithm," Max said. "The graphics are significantly less advanced than the current version which we both so enjoy, but I find that playing is still a delightful experience."
"It's great, Max! We can play it today!"
"I would enjoy that immensely."
With some urging from Rose, Juleka presented her gift: a beauty basket, with eyeshadow, red lipstick, and red hair dye.
"I can do my bangs like yours, Juleka!" Marinette said.
"I thought red would be a good color for you," Juleka said quietly.
"Absolutely!" said Rose.
"Red? Really? I don't know," said Marinette, "but I'll try it!"
In the brief lull that followed, Nathaniel slid his gift across the floor: an ink sketch of the Eiffel Tower, lit up at night, in a simple wooden frame.
Marinette gasped. "Nathaniel, did you draw this? It's wonderful! Thank you!"
Next, Mylene presented Marinette with three tickets to a production of Othello. "I thought you and your parents might like to go. My dad is playing Iago!"
"I've never seen live Shakespeare before!" said Marinette. "This is so thoughtful, Mylene, thank you!"
Ivan handed Marinette a black thumb drive in the shape of a skull. He explained, "I put some music on it for you. Mylene made sure the songs weren't too scary."
Marinette laughed delightedly. "Thanks, Ivan! I'm sure I'll love them!"