A/N: Hey folks! ADL is back with the next chapter! A new day, a new beginning for our brunette. Let's see what the day holds for her.
Once again, big shout-out to SpiderDom321 and TwilightKingA5L, especially for you, SpiderDom. You favoriting me really made my day :3 And nice to see you liked my first story as well. I wanted to start with something no one has ever read before to make a nice entrance, and I guess I succeeded :D
to your review: Thanks, glad you think so!
And actually, it's the Dog Miraculous, Bloodhound is the name Alexa takes on when she becomes a superheroine. Sorry if I'm being kind of a smartass here, just wanted to clarify it :')
to Koko da Cat (Guest): Thank you :)
to black-hoax: Thanks. I can only hope it corresponds to your expectations :D
One last thing: I know that as per the episode 'Sapotis', the Dog Miraculous is stored with the others in the jewerly box, but in this AU story, it got lost way before the Guardians' temple burnt down.
Ah well, on to the second chapter!
It was 7.00 a.m. Alexa was laying in her bed and listening to the music coming from her alarm clock.
Ah… nothing's better than radio tunes early in the morning. She sighed satisfied. She then began slowly stretching, her head nodding to the rhythm of the music. School didn't start 'til eight, so she had plenty of time to get ready.
Fifteen minutes later, the girl began to dress up. She put on light-blue jeans with a black belt around the waist, the belt hidden by a simple black hoodie. That was her usual clothing.
Grabbing her blue backpack, Alexa dragged it out of her room into a corner of the hall before entering the kitchen.
There, another woman sat on a chair and was drinking coffee. She was in her late thirties, dressed in a white, sequined shirt and dark-blue jeans. She had brown hair which was lighter than Alexa's, almost caramel. Her eyes were green-grey and she looked very tired.
Alexa threw her a soft smile.
"Morning mom, rough night?" she asked.
The woman only nodded. Alexa sighed and gave her a little hug, which she gladly reciprocated.
Alexa then made herself some cereals with milk, quickly eating before putting the bowl away and rushing into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Looking at herself in the mirror, she could see little dark bags under her eyes. She appeared to be have had lesser sleep than she originally thought. Ah well… Alexa shrugged and swiftly washed her face.
Leaving the bathroom, she saw her mother next to the front door. She held a lunch box and a fresh bottle of water in her hands.
"Thank you!" Alexa replied, taking the supplies and putting them into her backpack. She then put on some white sneakers with three blue stripes and a dark-blue jacket.
"Do you have everything for school?" her mother asked her.
The girl pondered. History? Check. French? Check. English? Check. Chemistry, mathematics and geography? Check, check and check. Yep, she had everything!
Her nod satisfied her mother. "Good. Have a nice first day!"
"Thanks mom. Bye!" the girl smiled. Taking a deep breath, she walked out of the apartment.
Monday was always, according to Alexa, the busiest day of the week. People rushing here and there, shops opening again after a short weekend and cars and buses driving across town non-stop. Thankfully, Alexa didn't need to take the bus. She could calmly walk with headphones in her ears to listen to some more music.
A while ago, she found out her new school being just a few streets away from home. 'Collège Françoise Dupont' was the name. Alexa heard that the name was a tribute to Fantô… Fanette… argh! To some fictive superhero's alter-ego name! She couldn't remember whose anymore.
Anyway, she could already see the school from afar. It was tan with a slate blue cobbled roof, and the building appeared to be three stories tall. Alexa saw various people walking inside, students and teachers.
She took a look on her watch. 7.45 a.m. Fifteen minutes left before school started. Pulling the plugs out of her ears, the brunette put her phone away and proceeded to enter.
… Before something bumped into her rather harshly.
Alexa turned around to see a girl with honey-blond hair tied in a ponytail, dressed in a yellow long-sleeved jacket over a white shirt with black stripes around the waist. The girl didn't even bat an eye on her, simply walking away in a flaunting manner.
Behind her trotted another girl with orange hair and glasses, wearing a white long-sleeved dress shirt underneath a purple and blue argyle vest with a dark-grey bow around her neck.
She threw Alexa an apologetic look - at least it seemed like one to her - before turning her attention back to the blonde.
Alexa simply raised an eyebrow. What just happened?
Her curiosity sense suddenly began to tingle. She didn't know why, but something didn't feel right there.
Following the blonde as quiet as she could, Alexa saw her approaching another student. And to her utter shock, the blonde, too, bumped into them roughly, making them drop everything they held in their hands, mostly sheets of paper, on the ground. As if it wasn't bad enough, the blonde even laughed at them - she swore her ears even picked up some taunting - before flipping up her ponytail and walking away.
Alexa felt her blood boiling. That brat has nerves… she seethed inwardly. The person seemed to have recovered from the bump, but began panicking after spotting the mess, trying to collect all things in a rushing way.
Alexa's heart went out to them. They needed help, and she was going to give it!
Rushing to the despairing student, she knelt down.
"Need a hand?" she asked the person, making them flinch then turning around to face her.
Now Alexa could finally take a closer look. It was another girl with blackish-blue hair tied in pigtails and beautiful bluebell eyes. She wore a dark-grey blazer with rolled up sleeves, the inside was lined in white with pink polka dots and had black trimming. Underneath was a white t-shirt with black stitching and a design below the collar which had pink flowers and black leaves.
Without waiting for the teenager's answer, Alexa bent down to collect a few things lying around. The girl snapped out of her shock once again and continued to pick up the papers scattered around. In no time everything was sorted and Alexa gave the rest to the blackette.
She threw the brunette a grateful smile. "Oh thank you, thank you! You're a lifesaver!"
"Nah, I'm not." Alexa blushed. "I'm just glad I could help." She then scowled into the direction where the blonde disappeared just a minute ago. "Who the heck is that snobby brat?"
Her venomous tone made the girl flinch. But she quickly regained herself and shared Alexa's expression.
"That is Chloé Bourgeois, the meanest, brattiest and most selfish girl in whole Paris. Her father is the city's mayor, so she gets away with almost anything you throw at her. She does everything she can to crush and humiliate the other students, including me. Not to mention, she is also very spoiled and conceited." The black-haired crossed her arms in a peeved manner.
Alexa copied her movement. "Whoa, she's worse than I already thought." She gave the girl a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry for that, really. Maybe if I saw that coming, I could've prevented it somehow."
"Don't be." The girl brushed her off. "That you came over and helped me is already generous enough."
She threw Alexa another smile, flustering the brunette a bit. She wasn't used to getting such high attention from anybody, but when she received it, it made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
"Aww, you're welcome." she chuckled sheepishly while playing with her hair.
"What's your name?" the girl asked her suddenly.
This question startled her a bit. That came out of nowhere. "… Alexa." She answered eventually. "My name is Alexa."
"Nice to meet you, Alexa." The girl said. "I'm Marinette."
"Nice to meet you too, Marinette." Alexa replied happily.
Suddenly, the school bell was heard throughout the school. Alexa's head automatically jerked to her watch. Eight o'clock! Marinette seemed to notice that too, because both screamed simultaneously. "OH NO! WE'RE LATE!"
The girls then bolted into the building, Marinette unexpectedly grabbing Alexa's arm and dashing through the already empty hallway.
While she was dragged along, multiple thoughts rushed through the brunette's head. First day, and I'm already late! – Which class am I assigned to? – My parents are gonna kill me! – Marinette's late because of me! – I'm such a dawdler!
Before she could continue dwelling in her panic, Marinette pulled her around the corner into a classroom. Every student was already in there, including a very familiar looking, arrogant blonde. Great… She just had to be in this class… Alexa groaned inwardly.
The teacher, a woman with reddish-orange hair dressed in a light blue jacket with a teal collared shirt, looked very displeased at the late arrivers, especially at the blackette though. "Marinette, if you want to be a good class representative, you need to be on time!"
Marinette flinched. "I'm sorry, Miss Bustier."
Alexa's eyes widened. Marinette is the class representative?!
While the woman continued to lecture Marinette, who hung her head in shame, the brunette felt even more awful. Because of her stupid lingering the girl not only came late, but also got accused of coming late.
Her ears picked up a faint, disdainful snigger from across the classroom, no doubt coming from that damned wannabe-diva…
Alexa growled. Not on her watch!
"Miss Bustier! Please!" she interrupted loudly, drawing everyone's attention to her. Alexa blushed slightly, surprised by her own boldness, but quickly regained her posture. "Please, don't scold her! It's not Marinette's fault! I'm the one to blame!"
Marinette threw her a What are you doing?! look, but the brunette ignored it. "Somebody bumped into her and I just helped her picking up her stuff. While doing so, we were getting acquainted with each other… and because of me we lost sight of time."
Alexa smiled softly at the blackette. "Marinette could have just run off without me, but she didn't. She pulled me along. She cared. Even though she barely knows me."
She turned back to the still baffled teacher. "So please, don't punish her. Marinette is a great girl; she doesn't deserve that."
"Oh PUH-lease!" the voice of the annoying blonde boomed through the classroom. Almost everyone's attention was immediately drawn to her. "Do you really wanna waste your time defending 'Maritrash'? Like you said, she barely even knows you." She crossed her arms and gave the brunette a smug expression. "So why do you think it would matter if you stand up for her?"
Alexa looked blankly at her for a moment, before copying her posture with a glare. "Who asked for your opinion?"
The reactions she received very various: shocked, impressed, etc., but nothing topped the look of indignation that Chloé wore once these words left Alexa's lips. She then glowered at her, claiming she was the mayor's daughter, she would make her life miserable; the whole package, but the brunette simply brushed her of and proceeded to explain Miss Bustier about her status.
A quick presentation was then held off of her German origin and Russian kin, her hobbies, her favorite subjects and other things. She also explained that her family moved to France because her father got transferred here to work as an advanced computer technician.
After that, she was seated next to Marinette and her neighbor, another girl - gee, she sure was meeting a lot of girls today - with reddish-brown hair. She was tan-skinned and had hazel eyes covered by glasses. She wore a white tank top underneath a plaid flannel shirt with white, orange and purple stripes.
From what Alexa had been told, her name was Alya and she was Marinette's best friend, who was rather peppy and more energetic. Alya also was not only the class deputy but the administrator of the popular Ladyblog - the blog was about Paris' two superheroes Alexa and her family heard about - and her mother was the head chef of a fancy hotel called 'Le Grand Paris'.
… Where the blonde snob apparently resided, shudder.
And Marinette, who remained rather inactive after the whole ordeal, was revealed to be half French and half Chinese, her parents owning a bakery which was located in 12 Rue Gotlib - coincidently, Alexa lived in 10 Rue; they were neighbors! - and her adoring fashion, having a knack for designing and sewing. This both worried and intrigued the brunette, the former because she had absolutely no taste in clothes and appearance, and the latter because she had never seen a fashion designer up close.
But the moment video games were mentioned, Alexa immediately got excited. For she adored video games and got happy that somebody else shared her interest. Maybe I'll get the chance to play with her someday… she beamed to herself.
Alexa also met two boys who sat in front of them, one of them being Nino. He had dark skin, short dark-brown hair with a plain red cap atop and golden brown eyes covered by glasses. The boy wore a short-sleeved blue shirt with an eye design a black pupil, white sclera, dark-grey upper eyelid with lashes, and light blue lower lid. Additionally, Nino had a lot of neon armbands on his right wrist.
She instantly liked his enthusiastic nature, especially his sense of justice which made him a great guy to have around. Also particularly were the worn headphones around his neck, to which he explained that he was a DJ and loved attending as one at parties.
The other boy was Adrien. He had blond hair and light green eyes. He wore a white button-down shirt with an upturned collar and sleeves rolled up above his elbow, which he kept unbuttoned. Underneath, he wore a black shirt with a yellow, olive green, bright green, dark-green, and periwinkle stripe each on his chest.
He was the son of the famous fashion designer Gabriel Agreste, whom Marinette idolized, and also a model. Besides of being homeschooled beforehand - which intrigued Alexa because homeschooling in Germany is illegal - he also took fencing, piano and Chinese lessons and was overall a nice and polite boy. And despite his rich status, he wanted to be treated like everyone else in this class. Modest and generous… he's definitely no second Chloé. Alexa nodded in delight.
After that, school went by fairly quick and they were all dismissed. It was 4.10 p.m. and Alexa watched as Marinette and Alya waved goodbye to the boys before glancing in her direction.
"I must say, that was pretty cool, girl." Alya gave the brunette an impressed grin. "But you do know that Chloé will now hold a deep grudge towards you?"
"Meh, that was expectable." Alexa shrugged nonchalantly. "Besides, I had a girl in my old school who couldn't stand me either for whatsoever reason, so I'm kinda used to it."
Alya laughed. "Yep, you're definitely cool." she grinned. Alexa couldn't help but blush a little. Nobody had ever called her cool before, so this was foreign territory. Marinette noticed that and turned to the other brunette.
"Alya stop it, you're flustering her." she said sternly.
The still laughing girl stopped after a moment. "Oh yeah. Sorry." Alya said sheepishly. She then perked up again. "You know, for someone who comes from a different country, your French is practically flawless."
"You really think so?" Alexa asked flattered. "French was always one of my favorite languages, next to English. I practiced both of them every day to perfect my vocabulary and grammar."
"That's totally neat!" Alya said. She sighed when she looked at her watch. "Well, I guess I'll go now. I need to babysit my younger siblings today as my parents are both busy." She started to walk away. "See ya tomorrow!"
"Bye Alya!" The two remaining girls waved at her retreating form. Marinette then turned to Alexa again. "Alexa, about earlier, why did you defend me? Not that I'm ungrateful, but… why?"
The brunette grimaced a bit. The stupefied look on the blackette's face has remained throughout the whole school day, even during lunch break it never disappeared, so that question was kinda expected.
After what felt like an eternity, she looked at Marinette again, who still patiently waited for an answer. The little smile on her face showed that whatever answer Alexa threw at her, she wouldn't judge her. Something told the brunette that she already experienced something like that.
"… It wasn't fair." she finally said. Ignoring the surprised look from Marinette, she continued. "It was Chloé who made you drop your stuff. It was me who kept us both back. You were completely innocent, Marinette. And I didn't say anything about Chloé because it would come across as snitching." she gave her a dry look. "For teachers, tattletales are always complicit." she looked down frowning. "… You shouldn't be punished for something you aren't responsible for."
Silence. Alexa clenched her eyes shut, silently awaiting the rejection, only to feel a gentle touch on her shoulder. Glancing up, she saw a pair of bluebell eyes with the softest look she had ever seen.
"I don't know what to say." Marinette murmured awed. "Thank you. That was very brave and kind of you, Alexa."
Alexa gaped a little. "You… you don't think it's weird?"
Marinette shook her head. "Not at all! Quite the opposite. That was the most selfless thing I've ever seen. Only a few are courageous enough to stand up to Chloé." She smiled widely at the shocked teen. "The world needs more people like you."
Alexa felt her mind short-circuit. That was so foreign territory right now! All this niceness, all this supporting, all this… acceptance. She felt herself tremble gleefully. That was simply too much for her.
She refocused herself when she felt Marinette's hand off her shoulder. "Can I somehow return the favor?"
"Marinette, you don't need t–" Alexa stopped herself when she saw the pleading look on the designer's face. She scratched her head awkwardly. "Weeeeeeell, if you insist… uh… I'm currently still unpacking, but… care to give me a tour 'round town tomorrow? I'm still a bit rough around the edges."
An excited nod later, they both started to go home. It was pretty quiet for a while…
"… Hey, Marinette?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you like Adrien?"
"Meep!"
A/N: Not bad for a first day in school, huh? Like always, don't forget to R&R!