So real quick, I actually posted this chapter 2 weeks ago on ao3 and completely forgot to put it here. Anyway, this chapter is a little less fluff a little more plot, so I hope you enjoy!
The night before his first day at school, Adrien cracked open his window and peered out into the night sky.
Now that it was the middle of fall, the air that entered his room was chilly enough to cause him to shiver. He twisted the silver ring anxiously as he thought about the next day.
His entire life, he had been alone. His mother and father had always been busy with their fashion empire, and when his mother disappeared two years ago, the space between him and his father had increased even more. Of course, his one childhood friend, Chloe, had come over all the time to play as kids, but now she had other friends in higher and more convenient places.
When the black jewelry box had first appeared in his room, Adrien had thought it a blessing. He still did. It brought him freedom in a life controlled by schedules and strict rules.
He could be unrestrained as he ran on the rooftops of Paris. No one could tell him what to do.
But it was still lonely.
It felt like just him against the world, with no one to rely on and no one to help him with the akumas that Hawkmoth continued to send out.
The metal of the ring felt cold against his skin. There wasn't much fun left in being a superhero. There had been a whole lot more responsibilities than he had expected, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. No one to share the responsibility with, no one to celebrate his victories with, no one to enjoy the freedom with. Plagg had once told him that throughout history, Chat Noirs had had partners in superhero-ing, but as of right now, he saw no one.
Maybe that's why he enjoyed hanging out with Marinette so much. The quirky, fiery, girl made things fun .
He finally had a friend that he had made on his own. A friend that liked him because of his personality and character.
"You done thinking about your princess?" Plagg zoomed towards him and hit his face (not-so-lightly). "You do have school tomorrow."
"I am so not thinking about her," he lied.
Burying his face in his arms, Adrien closed the windows and went to prepare for bed.
Marinette was pleasantly surprised when she woke up before the multiple alarms she usually set for school. The sun was shining and she could hear the birds chirping above her as she snuggled a little longer in the fluffy pink comforter.
Fifteen minutes later, she walked out of the bathroom, towel drying her hair. She wasn't sure why, but she had a good feeling about today.
She decided to wear leggings, a soft pink sweater, and a pair of grey ankle boots to match the sunny fall vibes. Topping it off with a grey scarf, Marinette tied her hair into two pigtails and grabbed her bag before descending the stairs into the bakery.
"Good Morning!" She called out as she grabbed the croissants and thermos her parents had left out for her.
"Morning sweets." Sabine Cheng smiled at her from her spot at the register, where customers were already paying to get their morning fix of caffeine and carbs. "You're up early today."
Marinette glanced at the clock. Huh. She was never down in the bakery this early. She shrugged and gave her mom a hug. "I'm just feeling really good today."
Sabine hugged her back before letting go to return to the line of customers. "Have fun at school dear. Oh, also, your father and I have that catering event this evening, but Caleb isn't available to come in. Could you cover for us? It should only be a couple hours before closing time."
"I'm catching a movie with Alya later, but I should be back way before you guys go, so that's fine," She peeked around the corner where her father was rushing around in the kitchen, "Tell Papa I said bye and that I love him."
With that, she pushed the door of the bakery open, the silver bell jingling pleasantly. The cold fall air brushed against her cheeks, and she snuggled deeper into the scarf wrapped around her neck. Unscrewing the thermos, she took a tentative sip of the hot chocolate inside, careful not to burn her tongue.
It really was such a nice day. There was barely a cloud in sight, and she was leisurely on her way to school, instead of running to get to class before the final bell.
She entered the classroom fifteen minutes early, spotting Alya immediately. Her best friend gave her a look of disbelief. "Who are you and what have you done with my Marinette?"
Marinette shoved her lightly and offered her a croissant. "Alya..."
Alya took her glasses off and wiped them with her shirt, before putting them back on, pretending to squint at Marinette. "Well, you're here before first bell, seemingly put together, on a Monday morning, smiling , so I repeat: who are you and what have you done with my girl?" A grin cracked through her teasing and she took the offered pastry.
"Oh, shut up," Marinette rolled her eyes and slid into her seat, "It's just been a good morning that's all." She took out her notebook and tablet.
"Uh-huh…" Alya faced her with a raised eyebrow, a smug expression dancing on her lips. "So it has nothing to do with the mystery boy you still refuse to tell me about!"
"What?! No!" Marinette yelped, at least not this time , she thought, an unwanted blush lightly dusting her cheeks. "And anyway, I keep telling you, we're barely friends. I just enjoy his company is all."
But as she turned away from her smirking and far-too-satisfied-for-her-own-good best friend, her thoughts returned to Chat Noir.
He's starting school today , she suddenly realized with a start, nearly knocking her tablet off the table.
A warm smile made its way onto her face as she thought about the normal kid who she had met under a superhero guise. I hope he has a good first day .
Adrien was not having a good first day.
Plagg had accidentally turned his alarm off the night prior when the kwami had been playing games on his phone. Adrien hadn't even had time to yell at the cat god because he had been too busy rushing about after Nathalie had knocked on his door to get him up. Then, after grabbing a single piece of toast from the kitchen staff for breakfast, him and Gorilla had been stuck in traffic for twenty minutes.
Now, he stood before the headmaster, nervously fidgeting in the awkward silence. The old, owlish-looking man scanned his papers. "Well, I suppose everything is in order."
Adrien bit his lip as he listened to the slow and gravely voice of the man, who simply peered at him from behind a pair of reading glasses. "I hope you understand, Mr. Agreste, without meaning disrespect of course, that there will be no special treatment regardless of who your father is." frowned a bit, and used a handkerchief to wipe his forehead. The next part was more hesitant, "But, uh, if you do run into any sort of–complication–do not hesitate to come to administration."
With a slightly pinched look, the aged headmaster continued, "The school doesn't want any sort of trouble."
The air grew tense and Adrien reached up and scratched his neck. "Oh, uh, thank you sir. I don't plan of causing any sort of trouble, sir."
"Then I'll send you on your way. You should be in 's homeroom, which is in room thirty-nine. Have a nice day."
With the obvious dismissal, Adrien smiled awkwardly and grabbed his bag. "You too sir. Thank you."
Thirty-nine . Room thirty-nine.
Adrien made his way onto the third floor and slowly began counting the rooms. As his steps echoed in the currently empty halls, he was reminded of his house.
Thirty-five...Thirty-seven...Thirty-nine!
There it was.
A simple wooden door with a two bronze numbers nailed slightly off-center.
Nothing to be scared of. It was just a door.
Yet Adrien didn't move.
It was just a door.
"Kid, you okay?"
Plagg popped out of the outer pocket of his bag, a dusting of cheese evident on his whiskers. "You've been standing out here for five minutes."
"I–," Adrien placed a shaky hand on the brass knob, "It's just that when I open the door, I won't be able to take it back. I-I've never done this before. I don't really interact with people without Father or Nathalie present."
"Well, new is good isn't it? Change is good. You'll be fine kid." Plagg raised an eyebrow and smirked, the closest look to affection that he had ever given Adrien. "It'll be fine."
Adrien nodded and opened the door.
The cacophony of overlapping voices instantly hushed as he felt multiple pairs of eyes turn towards him at once. Swallowing, he ignored their whispers and stares and focused his attention on the tall red-headed woman at the front of the classroom.
"Adrichou!" His eyes snapped to the familiar blonde girl in the second row, whom he instantly recognized as his childhood friend. Chloe made to leave her seat, but the teacher cleared her throat and gave the affronted girl a pointed look. Chloe huffed and subtly nudged the girl next to her.
Huh. Chloe Bourgeois in his class. Who would have thought. The two hadn't properly spent time together since they were preteens. He suspected that he hadn't been quite enough for the social climbing girl.
"You must be Adrien Agreste! I'm Ms. Bustier." His attention was once more drawn to the teacher as the hushed voices rose a little at the mention of his last name. His teacher strode over and placed a hand on his shoulder as she looked at the murmuring kids. "Everyone, Adrien will be joining us for the rest of this year. I hope everyone here will do their best to make him feel welcome!"
She gave him a warm smile and nodded to an empty desk in the front row. The bespectacled boy in the seat next to it gave him a curious, but not unfriendly look. "You can take the desk next to Nino. We're currently debating the meaning of some of Shakespeare's more complicated wordplays; Nino can explain more."
His barely registered her words though; his vision was filled solely with the blue-eyed girl that sat behind the empty seat.
Marinette.
A giddy feeling rose up in his chest as he realized that his friend, his first real friend , was in his class too! But apprehension soon took over as those blue eyes continued to stare at him without any recognition. His nervous smile felt frozen to his face.
Realizing that Ms. Bustier was expecting him to move, Adrien gripped the strap of his designer bag tightly, and schooled his face into a professional mask of calmness. He could do this. He could so do this.
The boy that Ms. Bustier had called Nino grinned up at him and stuck his hand out. "Mr. Celebrity! What a pleasant surprise to see you in our humble little classroom. Chloe B actually talks a lot about you, and here you are! Nino Lahiffe at your service." The boy offered him a cheeky grin.
Adrien instantly warmed up to the boy and clasped his hand. "Adrien Agreste, which I guess you know, and uh, yeah, Chloe and I were friends when we were really young." The hairs on the back of his neck stood up slightly; she was behind him(!) at the very moment. He didn't know why he was so nervous. If he and Marinette were easily friends when he was Chat, it shouldn't be too difficult when he was Adrien.
"Well, we're talking about these expressions from the Shakespeare unit we just did, which boy are you lucky you missed that!" Nino pointed at the worksheet that was in front of him and launched into a tirade about the difficulties of literature.
Adrien grinned as he glanced at the list of puns that ran down the sheet. This was his element.
Feeling his nerves settle down a bit, Adrien let Nino take the lead in the conversation, but he was soon adding plenty of his own thoughts and jokes. The morning passed by quickly as he began to grasp how a classroom worked. But the whole while, he itched to turn and face the girl behind him.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but maybe you were right this morning," Alya said as she linked her arms with Marinette, the final bell having sounded just seconds before.
"About what?" Marinette jokingly slid her arm out as she finished packing her books away.
"About it being a good day. The sun is still shining, I didn't fail the math exam, Mr. Barro let us out of history early, and we're finally going to go watch that superhero movie that came out last week!" Alya was bouncing on the balls of her feet at this point, impatiently tugging at Marinette to hurry up.
Laughing, Marinette zipped up her bag and let Alya drag her out the classroom.
As they exited the building, they spotted Nino and that new kid chatting on the steps. Alya excitedly waved. "Hey Nino!"
Nino turned around and flashed them a grin. "Hey, it's my two favorite gals! Adrien, meet Alya and Marinette."
The blond smiled at them, and for a second, Marinette saw something in his green eyes as he looked at her. She shook off the odd feeling.
"Nice to meet you," he stuck his hands into his pockets and shuffled his feet a bit.
"My boy here has been homeschooled for literally all of his life," Nino threw an arm around the other teen, "So I'm giving him a crash course on how to be cool."
"I don't think you're qualified to teach that course," Marinette teased, jabbing her friend in the shoulder.
Alya grinned, "Poor kid wouldn't know anything about being cool if it wasn't for us."
"I'm just feeling all the love today–"
Nino was interrupted by a whirl of yellow and gold bangles. "Adrien!"
Marinette's smile turned pinched as Chloe Bourgeois butted through the group and dragged the Adrien into a clingy hug. "You didn't tell me you were finally coming to school! And we only have Ms. Bustier's class together, which is a damn shame. Anyway, now that I'm here, you don't need these plebs anymore. Come over with me to the hotel, we simply must catch up." She began dragging Adrien down the steps.
He made a sort of protesting, blubbering noise, but made no move to take his arm back from the grips of the teenage socialite.
Marinette wasn't dumb. Chloe Bourgeois was a flawed individual and an overall terrible human being. But she had made leaps of progress (even if the blonde would never admit it) over the years that Marinette had known her. Her unique disposition and prejudiced view was a definite result of her sheltered and spoiled childhood, something she had no control over.
Chloe wasn't perfect, but it wasn't entirely her fault. However, that didn't mean that Marinette didn't try her best to avoid her. The two girls just didn't mix.
So as she stared at the retreating back of the boy trailing after Chloe, she wondered what sort of person Adrien was..
"How does a new kid like Adrien know Chloe Bourgeois?" She asked Nino. Something about Adrien had seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.
It wasn't Nino who answered, but instead Alya, who shoved her phone's screen into Marinette's face. "Um, Earth to Mari? He's Gabriel Agreste's only son, model extraordinaire, set to inherit a fashion empire? I would think you would've known. Everyone else did." The iPhone displayed a black and white photo of Adrien, looking cool, composed, and handsome, as opposed to the nervous, fidgeting kid that had stood before them moments prior.
Marinette shrugged. "I don't pay attention to the models or celebrities, only the clothes. But that explains how he's in Chloe's little social circle."
Alya nodded, "Rich kids all know each other. It's inevitable that Chloe and Adrien would, and from the looks of it, they do seem all buddy buddy."
Nino opened his mouth to protest, but Marinette didn't notice his discomfort. "Better to stay away then. They're from a different world than us, and mixing with stuck up kids like them would only cause trouble."
Alya re-linked their arms. "As always, you're right. Well, we better catch that movie now. See ya later Nino! Hope pretty boy doesn't cause you too much trouble. Sorry you were stuck showing him around."
With that, the two girls waved goodbye and made their way down the steps.
Nino frowned.
Adrien had lived a privileged life, sure, but it had resulted in a naive and sheltered boy, not a spoiled and prejudiced one. At least, that's what the boy thought after spending most of the day with the new kid.
He hoped his two friends wouldn't let their own prejudices blind them too.
As I said earlier, I posted this on ao3 awhile ago, but the fourth chapter might be a little late in the coming since my family has been going through a rough time lately. Everything is fine now, it just might take a little longer for me to update.
Thanks for reading!
