Chloé's words rang in her ears as she pushed open the library doors for study hall. She hoped she didn't look like she was crying- she knew her eyes were rimmed with red.

She sat down at a table in the corner, behind a bookshelf. She sniffed, wiping her nose.

She kept her face down, opening her textbook.

Nathanael appeared, smiling at her. "Hi, Marinette! Want to start round two of the drawing club?"

Marinette looked up at him. He was startled. Her cheeks and nose were pink, her eyes were glossy with tears, rimmed with red. Her lips were slightly puckered from the salt of the tears rubbing into them.

She still looked beautiful, just... Sadly beautiful.

"You don't have to anymore," she said softly, sniffing sadly. "I don't want to look stupid."

"What?" Nath took a step back. Since when was Marinette insecure?

"Just go," she said, her voice cracking. "Go laugh with Alix, or something."

Nath blinked rapidly. "Are you-"

"Please," she said forcefully, staring down at her lap.

Nathanael winced. "Okay."

-/-/-

It had been a week since Chloé's bathroom torment. Now that she had sink her claws in, she had been ripping Marinette apart piece by piece every day, now.

Adrien came up to her after class as she was packing up, brushing his hair out of his eyes. He was excited, because he had been planning something for Marinette as a surprise for her helping him make up extra credit for his science homework a few days before.

"Hey Marinette," he said. She looked up at him.

Something about her was different. The usual sparkle in her eyes was gone. The natural upturn of her pink lips had turned down. Her shoulders were hunched instead of straight, her posture sinking in instead of confident.

"You look awful," he said without thinking. She looked away quickly, standing up.

"Excuse me," she said, trying to move past him, out of her pew-like desk.

He stopped her. "Wait, I didn't- I mean-"

He sighed. "I was wondering if you wanted to come to a drawing class? My dad's friend is hosting one. It'll help you sketch your designs better."

She shrank a little lower, bringing a hand up to her face.

"I get it, okay?" She whimpered, pushing past him and hurrying out of the empty classroom.

He blinked in surprised. "Marinette?" He said to no one in particular.

-/-/-