Marinette was getting better. There was that moment when she'd first come downstairs for breakfast, but it had only been a small misstep.
Adrien had been sitting at the table, eating buttered toast and drinking hot cocoa while listening to her mother. He had looked up when she'd moved and, seeing her, smiled with what looked like genuine pleasure.
A small misstep indeed. She'd been so distracted by that expression that the next step had managed to drop almost three feet without her notice. She'd caught herself before she'd rolled head first down the rest of the stairs, but when she looked back up, Adrien's beautiful smile had been replaced with an expression of concern. He was already pushing his chair back when she'd waved him off.
"Not quite awake yet." She confessed, managing a shrug that offset her heated cheeks.
"If it helps," He pulled out the chair next to him, "I was barely human when your dad first got in, but we've been up for a little over an hour now."
"We probably should have gotten you up too, Marinette." Her mother told her, handing her a bowl. "If you're late at all this week, you'll have Adrien late too."
Both she and Adrien had assured her mother they would be fine, and, true to those assurances, they had gotten to school before the start of class. With only Literature left before lunch, she had trouble looking at him without smiling, but she could now mostly do it without blushing. It felt like they were co-conspirators in something wonderful and exciting, and it had only been one day. She wondered how it would at the end of two-
"Class," Ms. Bustier sighed. "Please pull out your reading books. We need to discuss Elizabeth's visit to Hunsford."
Marinette never heard her teacher sound so defeated. She looked Adrien who shrugged very lightly, but at least he'd heard it too.
"Ms. Bustier," Alya called, "Before we do this, can we talk as a class?"
"No, Alya. Not today."
"But Ms. Bustier, we really think this is important." Rose protested, and Marinette could see Alya nodding.
"Please," Ms. Bustier implored, "Please, class, we can we just do the lesson? Open Pride & Prejudice. Turn to chapter twenty-seven."
Adrien raised his hand. Ms. Bustier eyed him suspiciously, but gave in. She gestured to him. "I think Elizabeth was right to turn down Mr. Collins, and our class project plays directly into that.
"Mr. Collins came, claiming he wanted to spend time with the Bennets and heal the bond that had broken within their family, but he never followed through. He said he wanted to find a suitable wife, but he never got to know any the girls. If he had, he'd have pursued Mary instead of Lizzy.
"Now, we're reading about Elizabeth's visit with him and Charlotte, and he's even less considerate of her. He still has little to no idea about who she is, and I'm happy to see that she's still satisfied in her rejection of him."
"That's the opposite of Mr. Darcy," Alya interjected, "Sorry Adrien, but I totally agree with you.
"Rose and I read a little ahead, and got to Lizzy and the Gardiners at Pemberley, and Lizzy gets to know him better there. The letter maybe started it, but she doesn't really get the final piece of who he is until that visit. Then she starts trying to give her aunt and uncle a better opinion of him because she doesn't want them to think ill of him."
"But it wasn't a case of just getting to know him, that's not who he was all along." Nathaniel responded. He blushed when everyone looked at him, but pressed on, "I mean, she made that final piece. Think about when he proposes, he's proud. He knows he's of higher social standing, and he's really obnoxious about it.
"If she had just accepted him then, she would have still gotten to know him, but it would have been a different him, a more self-assured and arrogant him. And do you really think she would have been happy, or would he have spent the rest of their lives reminding her of what he could have been if not for his feelings for her, making her life just as intolerable as Charlotte's?"
"I didn't get the impression that Charlotte found her life intolerable." Mylene carefully countered. "I don't think she really loves her husband, but she said that love was never really that important to her."
"My point remains," On the surface, Nathaniel could have easily been mistaken for petulant, but Marinette was sure she heard the undertones of anxiety. "Darcy and Elizabeth can't get together until he realizes that not everyone is going to think he's perfect without reason. Not everyone is going to bow, and scrape and simper, or understand his side of things without explanation, least of all Lizzy. Part of his attraction to her is that she is so capable of being herself, even around him, but he still holds up the masquerade. I think without her aggressive rejection of him, he'd have gone on trying to do just that, and wouldn't have valued her opinions nearly as much."
"That's true, and this section, with Darcy's letter, also changes Lizzy. She has started to realize that you can't just condemn a person without hearing their side of things." Marinette agreed. She saw Nathaniel relax a little.
Adrien nodded, but his expression was thoughtful, "From what we've seen so far, they do change some. They both learn to listen and share more, but I still think most of what they need is time spent together. They need a chance to get to know the real person, not just the face that everyone sees."
"Adrien, you sound like you have a special perspecti-" Ms. Bustier started, but Nathaniel cut her off.
"Following a girl around for a week doesn't make her love you! Look at Mr. Collins. He spent time with Lizzy. He singled her out to spend time with her, and she was disgusted by him and his selfish attitude. It takes more than just good looks, or money to make someone love you! You need to be open to change, to being confident," Nathaniel took in a deep breath and, with cheeks as red as his hair, turned back to his desk, mumbling, "Sorry, it's just, Mr. Darcy starts off as shy. They don't call it that in the book, but that's why Lizzy hates him; he's shy, and he handles his shyness with arrogance. I mean, his whole character arc is figuring out how to talk to new people on a personal level, and how to be kind instead condescending when he's nervous."
Adrien tilted his head, studying Nathaniel's hunched shoulders, and red ears, "And he's a great example for those who don't have the talent of conversing easily with others?"
Nathaniel nodded.
Ms. Bustier clapped her hands together, cheerful once more, "Class this has been wonderful, and I think we've hit a lot of good points that I would like to go further into like, uh, cultural shifts, like how we would use shy to describe someone like Mr. Darcy today. I think we should discuss Lizzy judgments, Adrien says she was on point with Mr. Collins, but Alya has said that she was wrong about Mr. Darcy, so at what point can we really consider ourselves to know someone? And I'd even like to cover what Mylene said, about how Charlotte seems happy with her choices, as love isn't very important to her. Is that just her practicality or do we think there is something else going on with her character?"
"Can we talk about Nathaniel's other point too?" Alya asked, "How exposure to someone can change you?"
"And how one act, large or small, can entirely change the way you see someone?" Marinette added, looking at Adrien.
Max chimed in, "Ms. Bustier, I think, in the spirit of class project and getting a better perspective of each other, we should also discuss why we each got what we did from the narrative."
The discussion went on from there. When the class broke from lunch, Ms. Bustier gave them no new chapters, instead promising them that they could resume their discussions the next day.
Alya hadn't gotten a chance to revisit her initial thought, so she caught up with Marinette and Adrien in route to the lockers, and got several other students to gather around as well. "I'm worried about the project. I wanted to tell Ms. Bustier today that I still support it, so do my parents, but I'm worried that with an akuma attack on the very first night, the school will shut it down and send us home."
"But it's just Chole," Alix pointed out. "When does she not cause an akuma attack? Seriously, Hawk Moth should be sending her personalized thank-you cards."
"I can't see that mattering very much when her father is the mayor." Alya replied.
"Yeah, he could shut us down, and it'd be a shame, 'cause I'm just starting to get to know my boy here." Nino put an arm around Nathaniel's shoulders.
Nathaniel nodded solemnly, "And if Chloe insists that it isn't her fault, which she will, then he'll do it just to make sure his little brat isn't singled out."
"I think we should all talk to our parents. See if we can get them to contact the school and let Mr. Damocles know they still support the project." Alya finished.
The others in the small circle nodded in agreement except for Sabrina, who frowned at a spot on the floor, biting her lip, and Adrien, who shook his head. "Not everyone's parents will support this, Alya. My dad is more likely to pull me from the project if he catches wind of yesterday, but I could talk to Chloe. I know she can be mean from time to, well, a lot of time, but she's not all bad. Really. Maybe I can get her to still support the project."
Sabrina smiled gratefully at him, tears unshed in her eyes, "Please? She'll listen to you, Adrien. I just know Chloe's going to listen, and then everything will be okay. You will all see."
Mylene touched Sabrina's arm gently and nodded to Adrien, "Please talk to her. In the meantime, we can talk to our parents."
Alya grinned at Marinette, "Speaking of, did you talk to your parents? Are we still on for tonight?"
"Oh, are you two, uh four, hanging out tonight?" Mylene asked.
"Yeah, I can ask my parents if you can come too, if you want. We could do a girl's night." Marinette told her. She noticed the look of sympathy Nino shot Adrien as he and Nathaniel moved on, but Adrien shrugged lightly in response to his friend's unspoken condolences.
"I'd love that." Mylene replied.
"Juleka, Alix? How about you? It wouldn't be a sleepover, but," Marinette started.
Alix interrupted her with a look of disdain, "Is this gonna become a dress up party, or another secret mission?"
Marinette blushed, "Dress up party, probably."
"Pass."
"Juleka?"
"We'll ask." Juleka mumbled, waving a hand back and forth between her and Ivan.
"Okay then, I'll definitely check with my parents," Marinette smiled at each of them, "And I'll let you all know what they say when we get back, alright?"
The girls all grinned, save Sabrina, who's smile was more hopeful and concerned. Ivan looked uncertain, and maybe displeased, but Adrien seemed indulgent, and shrugged again, good naturedly. "When we get back then."
In case you were wondering, I'm really considering the characters in a Pride and Prejudice play after this piece.
It won't be as long, probably only a couple of chapters, but I'm considering it.
