~THE NEXT DAY~

Marinette closed the bakery door behind her as Alya and Lila walked up. "Hey, Marinette, how'd you do on yesterday's English homework?"

"I know Shakespeare like the back of my hand."

"Mm-hm," Lila cocked an eyebrow, smirking, "and just which act are we on today?"

"…Uh…act ten?"

The girls laughed as they started towards the school. "Marinette, it's a good thing you're such a whiz in gym class."

"How am I supposed to impress Adrien with good grades in only one subject?"

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Alya pat her back, "you're a plenty good student…unlike some others."

The Bourgeois limo pulled up in front of the school, and out hopped Chloe, her ponytail kept up with a hair comb and her new satchel recently polished to a sparkle. She waved goodbye to the driver, something Marinette had never seen her do before, and then she waved at them.

"…Uh," Alya leaned over to them as they crossed the street, "I thought it was Adrien that hit his head yesterday. Did I miss something?"

"You know Chloe," Marinette shrugged, "always one to bounce back."

"Hello, girls," Chloe beamed at them as they arrived at the steps, Adrien's limo pulling up as her left, "I've overcome the stress you guys gave me yesterday, and don't worry, I patiently await for your apologies."

"Apologies?" Lila looked ready to beat some sense into Chloe, Alya having to hold her back. "Why I ought to-"

"Adrien!" Chloe waved at him as he stepped out of his limo. She ran over and wrapped him in a big hug, which he gladly returned. "I'm so sorry I ran away yesterday, and I'm also sorry for letting you drop. You know I'd never hurt you on purpose, right?"

"I know that, Chloe, and don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're okay now."

"Everything's much better after a good night's beauty sleep…not that I need beauty sleep, but it really helps the pores!" She gave him a kiss on the cheek and skipped up the steps. The girls walked over to Adrien, Marinette sighing. "I'm glad you're okay after yesterday's drop too, Adrien."

"I'm still a little bit sore, but nothing I can't handle. Thanks for worrying, though, about me and Chloe." He walked in after Chloe, leaving Marinette baffled. "He…he thanked me…wow…"

"Poor thing," Lila rolled her eyes, "brainwashed by Chloe for so many years, he's nearly oblivious to her vanity."

"Not really," Alya crossed her arms, smiling, "he's just too nice to say anything. They've been friends since he was a child, after all."

As the two of them continued to chat as they followed Ivan and Nathanael into the school, Tikki popped her head out of Marinette's bag. "Hey, Marinette, we haven't seen Povas in a while. You think he's alright?"

She had been a little anxious about not seeing Povas, the newest miraculous holder, for a while. Ever since she and Chat Noir found out that he never aged while in costume, she didn't fear him leaving anytime soon, but he could be a bit of a loner when he wanted to, meaning that sometimes he…forgot to ask for assistance when it was most needed.

"Ladybug will have to check up on him after school," she winked, "you know. Accidentally run into him while on patrol."

Chloe returned to her locker, opening it and sorting through her books. Huneyy flew out of her satchel and into the top of the locker, out of view from the other students. "The students here seem nice, Chloe. Perhaps yesterday was simply a bad day for them all. Surely you've had a bad day of your own before?"

"Yeah, but I've never treated other people badly when I'm sad."

"Hey, Chloe."

Chloe slammed her locker shut and spun around to find Sabrina holding her textbooks, fidgeting. "I'm sorry how I treated you yesterday. I guess I just wanted to be with the others for a little bit longer. I shouldn't have left you on your own."

"Yeah, you shouldn't have…but whatever, you can make it up to me later. Right now, go and save our seats in the classroom, and I'll be right there. And don't even think about sitting in my spot."

"Of course not, Chloe!" Sabrina nodded and ran off. Chloe opened the locker again to find Huneyy buzzing around dizzily, having been hit by the slammed shut locker. "Okay, the coast is clear…uh, you doing okay, Huneyy?"

"Fine, dear, just fine," she shook herself to lose the dizziness, "so who was that?"

"My friend Sabrina. She's great most of the time, when she listens."

"Listens to what?"

"My orders."

"So you have a slave? I thought people no longer had slaves."

"She's not a slave, she's my friend, and without me she has nothing. I'm just too generous sometimes. Now let's get going, class is about to start."

Huneyy flew back into her satchel. She grabbed her books, closed her locker and ran out behind Alix. When she got into the classroom Miss Bustier greeted her. "Welcome back, Chloe. I hope you're feeling better. We missed you yesterday."

"I'm glad to be back, Miss Bustier," she grinned and returned to her seat, whipping her ponytail back as Sabrina prepared their writing utensils, "and to continue learning."

"That's…very good, Chloe."

As the lesson began she glanced over at Adrien. He locked eyes with her, and she gave him her biggest smile. He smiled back before returning to his note taking.

Adrien is totally fine. I can't believe everyone had overreacted yesterday. Well, no matter, I'll accept their apologies at some point. For, all I need to do is wait for HawkMoth to strike, and I can finally become the hero Paris deserves – no, Paris needs!

I'm totally screwed for the test today, Marinette sighed as she looked over her notes again and again, too bad I spent all night last night working on a gift for Mom's birthday next month. I need to practice my knitting more often.

"Hey, Marinette."

"O-Oh," she stuttered as Adrien turned to her, "y-yes?"

"Can I borrow a sharpener?"

"Yes, of course!" She handed hers down to him and watched him sharpen his pencil.

…At least the test isn't on showing your true feelings, or I'd for sure be failing. Sooner or later…I'll have to let him know how Marinette feels, not Ladybug...

Shakespeare was a lot of fun to read in school, and I'll occasionally run into him during my University courses, but with this year off I'm taking to get used to Ottawa, I'm gonna miss that crazy, romantic writer. So Marinette is going to have to read more for me! Anyway, I hope you guys don't mind Huneyy's name. Pronounce it as HON-EY, HUNE-EY, or HUNE-EH, or however you like, since I have no preference. I'm just happy we finally got her true design. She's so adorable!

Until the next chapter!