The first class goes exactly how Marinette had expected it to go. Chloe and Sabrina joined her in the back, Alya turned an occasional scowl in her direction and Lila acted like the fake little angel she was. The rest of the class ignoring her the typical topper on the fake cake.

In the back of her mind, the bluenette had done her best to keep her new friends in her heart. Even if it was Hawkmoths day off she didn't want to risk it now that he knew who she was. Thinking about Hawkmoth however, would bring about an anxiety she wasn't too sure how to deal with, so she would flip her spare notebook to a blank page and draw some designs based on how her friends looked and what little she knew about them. She had at least 3 pages filled with sketches.

Her next class goes much like the last, normal, expected. Completely different from how she thought it would. Something bad was going to happen, she just knew it in her gut.

Their teacher excuses themselves out of the room. Leaving them to go over homework for a few minutes while they were gone.

That's when Lila approaches her, "Hey, Marinette!" Her voice is sickeningly cheerful.

Taking a deep breath, she tries really hard to focus on her homework, "Lila." She can't get more out than that.

The girl slides into the empty seat next to her, keeping her shoulders hunched in, "Oh come on now, I just want to talk. You know, to apologize for showing up at your house!"

Blue eyes glance sideways with suspicion, "Well, thanks. Would you please leave me alone now?"

Lila frowns deeply, a faux sad look on her face, "Oh, well that's fine. I guess you're too busy for me then. That's ok."

Someone makes a sound of disapproval, and when she looks, everyone in class is staring at them, giving Marinette disappointed glances. It turns her stomach sour.

"I'll just leave you to your drawing then." The teen stands up and leaves, sitting back at the front of the class with a huff.

The bluenette spends the rest of the class trying to ignore the stares directed her way and sadly her next class has a few of the same students. Word spreads quickly it seems.

Lilia sits next to her before the teacher enters, "Come on, I just want to talk. To fix what happened."

Marinette pointedly doesn't look at her, "I don't want to talk, Lila. Please leave me alone." She tries to keep her voice down so fewer people could hear her.

Their teacher walks in and starts by putting them in groups. Grouped by table.

Lila beams at her, "Isn't this great! We get to work together!"

The bluenette groans, "Yeah. Great."

When class ends she's more than a little irritated, barely clinging to the few happy thoughts she could muster up with a bitter hand. Trudging to the bathroom during lunch is more of a habit than she wants to admit, it was probably the only place she could expect some sort of privacy if Lila didn't find her.

Sadly, the girl is basically on her heels, "Marinette!" She sings songs.

Said teen stops in her tracks, the bathroom was empty again, "What?"

She's blocking the only exit, "Don't be so harsh Mari~ we're friends remember?" Her tone of voice is almost teasing.

That feeling of dread hits her again, "We are not friends. You made that very clear."

The girls soft face twists into an evil anger, "Oh, I never said that. You just refused to listen to me."

"Why should I listen to you when all you do is lie?"

"It's not lying if people are hearing what they want to hear. Now," she smiles wide, her teeth on display, "Since I'm feeling generous today, I thought to myself, why not stretch out that hand again? We can be friends. You stop trying to undermine me and I can get you all of your friends back in a snap!" She snaps her fingers before holding out her hand, "No strings attached!"

Marinette levels her with a hard glare, holding her book close, "No thank you."

The others smile completely disappears as her hand drops, "You're in total isolation, your friends hate you because you've been a bad and mean person. Why won't you accept my offer?"

The thought of a warm blanket, even warmer muffins and the safety from that morning keeps her grounded, "You know why."

Anger colors he others faces before smoothing out into a cold blanket of a smile, "Fine." She walks forward till their an inch apart, "Then I just want to let you in on a little secret."

Marinette tries to back up, but the teen keeps following her.

"I will not hesitate to break everything you care for. Your home life is going to become a nightmare and I'll make sure school is just as bad, so bad in fact you won't even show your face out in public." Marinette's back hits the wall, "I will break you if it's the last thing I do."

Then she backs up with a soft smile and a skip in her step, "See you later Mari~! Let's talk again, ya?" The bell rings signaling that lunch was over.

The doors close quietly behind the monster of a girl, leaving behind a fear inside of Marinette that she couldn't hide from.

Slipping to the floor, she grips her legs as she starts to shake, Tikki's soft voice the only thing keeping her from breaking down completely.

"Don't listen to her Marinette, please."

She takes hold of the Kwami and hugs her close, "I know. I know, she can't hurt me. She's not even my biggest problem right now." She takes a few calming breaths, "I'll be ok. I just need a second."

Tikki nods, cuddling into her chest for all it's worth. Distantly the bell rings, "You're going to be late to class."

"I know." She stands with a sigh, reaching for the sink and splashing water on her face, "Ok, I'm ready."

The teacher gives her a light reprimand for being late but otherwise says nothing. When the bluenette turns to her chair however, the class is staring her down, each person's face more visions than the last.

She makes it to her seat, just barely holding onto what composure she had left and decides that, instead of taking notes, she would write down everything she remembered from her new friends.

This task isn't hard, Nicolette was a boater, apparently spoke Russian, lived with Sofia and Zola, her nickname is Nicole.

Putting graphite to paper, she curls up in her seat, focusing on the lines she drew and making her writing legible through the shaking.

Sofia is super bubbly, liked a Japanese style of clothing, thought she couldn't remember the name, and went by Sof. Because she's 'soft'. She also liked to cook.

Marinette tries to remember each and every single sticker, barrette, and color the girl had on her. The image that comes to mind seems more exaggerated then she thinks it's supposed to be.

Zola was super quiet, she probably liked black since she was covered in it, and she didn't eat a lot of sweets during breakfast. She's also really calm and also speaks Russian? She at least knew the word for butterfly.

She starts to sketch what they looked like that morning. Replacing their heads with a traditional manikin look and putting more detail into their outfits.

All three of them were college students and didn't wear shoes in the house. She writes 'blue-eyes' in the corner next to her drawing of Nicole. A few drawings of cupcakes and candy are drawn next to Sof but she isn't sure what to draw next to Zola. Marinette smiles as she draws a cup of coffee next to her picture.

A paper lands on her work and it takes her a minute to recognize it as their homework for the day. A blush colors her cheeks and she switches to that instead, having momentarily forgotten where she was. Almost as soon as she does so however, her notebook is taken from underneath her arm. She resists the urge to lunge for it, but wishes she had almost immediately.

"What are these?"

Marinette cringes at the sound of Alya's voice, so accusatory and filled with disbelief, "Just… some outfits I came up with after seeing something on the internet." Her voice is smaller than she had wanted it to be.

The brown girl hisses out her next words, "You weren't even paying attention to the teacher? Smiling at this stuff after what you did to Lila?"

That fear comes back, "What I did?" She hadn't realized she was smiling.

Alya growls, wrinkling the pages in her grasp, "You cornered her in the bathroom again!"

Her jaw drops open, "Again with this? I didn't do anything." She tries to keep her voice low, "She's' The one who-"

The other cuts her off, "You do this every time! I can't believe you!"

Alya slams her book on the table, the loud smack grabbing quite a bit of attention, "You're over here acting so innocent when Lila came into class with tears in her eyes and she won't even talk about what happened!" Her voice is no longer quiet.

Their teacher rises from his seat, "Madam, I need you to sit down and stop this immediately."

Marinette snatches her book off the table and cradles it to her chest, "You won't even listen to me!"

Rage consumes the darker girl, her arms waving around to emphasize her point, "Why should I when all you do is lie?!"

The echo of her own words back at her cracks something very delicate inside her heart. She decided it must be the last straw because she says nothing while grabbing all of her things.

This however seems to fuel Alya's anger, "What do you think you're doing?!"

Their teacher stands from his seat, "Miss Césaire, go to the principal's office."

Marinette stands and bows slightly to her teacher, her voice hardly a whisper, "Excuse me."

She rushes out of the room, murmurs from class following her out. Her teacher yelling about her needing to come back.

She doesn't.

Instead she books it out of the front doors of the school, running as fast as possible towards home, stopping just short of the stop light when she sees Nathalie walking inside.

The reminder of Hawkmoth has her back peddling and running in the other direction. She avoids hitting a any passerby's, stumbling her way past the few people who were out and about, darting across the street when the light was green. For the cars.

A loud honking makes her look up from her blind run to see a truck barreling towards her. A scream tears out of her throat, her body curling in on itself as she braces for impact, expecting to get hit but someone grabs her arm and wrenches he's her to the side.

The truck passes them and her savior without a problem, the truck driver shouting out his window about stupid teenagers.

Marinette's breathing is hard as she shakes in the persons hold. Cold fear wrapping around her heart.

A familiar voice fills her ringing ears, the voice soft and speech slow, "Geez, I thought she was kidding."

Looking up sharply, the bluenette's eyes widen, focusing on anything but what had just happened, "Zola?"

Her head tilts down, her sunglasses glinting in the sun, "Hey kiddo." Her eyes flick behind her glasses, Licking onto something behind her, "Let's go. You're not safe here."

Marinette's heart hasn't stopped pounding yet, "Go-go where?"

The others arm wraps around her, a comfortable weight on her shoulders, "Anywhere but here. Got any ideas? Can't take you to my place since it's too close. I'm assuming yours isn't safe either."

Tikki presses into her side and a thought strikes her, "Follow me."

Marinette guides them across a different street, Zola pulling her in the wrong direction as soon as she tries to go the correct way. More than a little confused, the bluenette lets her. Waiting until the taller female asks her where to go to correct their path. This pattern continues, the pair taking twists and turns, Zola leading her in the wrong direction a few more times before she seems to relax. They arrive at Master Fu's about 20 minutes later than it should have taken.

"Um, Zola?"

"Hmm?"

She fiddles with her book, "Why did you take us the wrong way so many times?"

Her shoulders tense as she lets go, "We were being followed." At her shocked look she continues, "I saw you turn around suddenly before running across the street. That woman from the bakery was staring at us the whole time."

Marinette gasps, "Nathalie was following us?"

She shakes her head, "The car she was in. The black one. We lost it a while ago."

A shiver runs down the teens spine, "I… I need to talk to Master Fu. I should have gone to him right away." She turns on her heal to run into the building.

A cold hand grips hers, "Are you sure?"

Turning she sees Zola has taken off her glasses, her eyes are filled with concern, "Are you sure you're safe here?"

She doesn't hesitate to nod, "This is the safest place I could be, aside from your house, but I don't want anything to happen to you."

Zola's frown deepens, "That makes me more concerned but I'm not worried about me. Nicole told us to watch you because you were acting funny and now you're telling me you don't want us to get hurt. Merinette, if you have people chasing after you, you need to call the cops. This is more than bullying and this is not just a school problem."

The others concern is so clear on her face it's heartbreaking, they didn't even know each other that well. Making a split decision she tugs the taller girl with her, "If you're worried, then come with me." Tikki presses urgently against her side, "See for yourself that I'm safe."

Zola hesitates but follows none the less. Her steps slow as they enter the building.

"Let me warn him you're here." She runs up the stairs.

Tikki flies out as soon as the reach the top, "What are you doing?!" Her voice is a whisper, "No one can meet Master Fu like this! Never like this! This is dangerous!"

She pats the Kwami's head and passes her "I know, but I'm scared Tikki. All of my old friends are gone, I need help. I am running out of people I can trust and there's only so much I am willing to risk right now. Please."

The Kwami hesitates, her sad expression turning to understanding, "Ok."

Marinette opens the door to Master Fu's home when he invites her in. The man is kneeling at his small table, the box of miraculous in front of him, "Hello Marinette. What brings you here?"

She walks forward, "Master Fu, everything is a disaster. We have so much I need to talk to you about but I want you to meet my friend first and assure her that she doesn't need to call the cops."

Surprise and shock cross the old man's features, "Just how bad of a disaster are we talking about here?"

Marinette waves her hands around as she talks, "Hawkmoth knows who I am, none of my friends trust me anymore, people were chasing me down town and Zola is the only reason I made it here without being followed and she wants me to call the cops."

Master Fu raises a hand to stop her, "Wait," Worry etches into his face, "Hawkmoth knows your identity?"

Anxiety crawls up her spine, "Yes and he sent his evil henchmen after me and now Zola wants to call the cops!"

He shakes his head and pinches the bridge of his nose, confusion lacing his voice "Hold on, who is Zola?"

Marinette points to the floor, "She's down stairs and I wanted you to meet with her to tell her I'm safe."

The old man sighs heavily, his shoulders sagging, "Do you trust this girl?"

She nods, "She just saved my life."

There's a moment of silence as he thinks, "Bring her up. I will hide the box and speak with her."

Marinette runs out of the room and down the stairs to see Zola texting on her phone, "Uh, who are you texting?"

She looks up, "I'm letting Nicole know I had to save you from getting run over. She mentioned you falling into the river the night you were brought home, I didn't know you were such a disaster child."

The bluenette sighs, "I'm usually not this bad."

Zola smirks, "I don't believe you."

A blush colors Marinette's cheeks, "He's ready to meet you. Will you follow me?"

She nods, slipping her phone away and walking up the stairs, waiting at the door.

"Ma-uh, Grandpa! This is Zola!" She steps into the room, hands in her pockets, "Zola this is my grandpa!"

Zola gives a respectful nod, "Nice to meet you."

Master Fu gestures to the spot across from him, "Please, take a seat. I hear my granddaughter wanted me to make sure you weren't worried about her."

Zola sits down on the cushion cross legged, "Don't get me wrong, I'm going to be worried no matter what you tell me. This just changes whether or not I leave her alone with you."

Marinette takes a seat between them, keeping her mouth shut.

Master Fu smiles, "You care a lot for her doesn't you?"

Zola nods, her black hair covering her face for a second, "Surprisingly, she grew on us overnight."

The man frowns, "Overnight?"

Marinette blushes when she realizes what the young woman is talking about.

"Yeah, my roommate brought her home late last night, dripping wet and huddled in a blanket with no shoes on."

Master Fu turns a curious look to the bluenette, "Is this true?"

She huffs, "Yes. I fell into the river last night."

Zola ruffles her hair, "Then I see her almost get hit by a truck today and I can't help but think she's a magnet for trouble."

The old man nods, "I see she's had an exciting last few days. Well, I want to assure you that this is the safest place for her is Paris right now."

She sticks her hands in her pockets again, "She said the same thing."

Marinette bounces in place, "That's because it's true!"

Zola gives her a long look before sighing, "Fine. I believe you." She pulls out a piece of paper, "I'm going to give you all of our phone numbers just in case."

The paper turns out to be a business card with three phone numbers on it.

"Text us if anything, and I mean anything comes up." Her black painted nails point at her face, "Got it?"

Marinette nods quickly, "Oh yeah! Of course!"

Zola stands, "Don't worry about walking me out. I'll make sure those guys don't find you. Maybe even let them see me across the river or something." She walks to the door before pausing, "Be safe kiddo." Then she leaves.

The soft ding of the door downstairs is the last they hear of her.

Master Fu turns his attention to her, "I will need a lot more of an explanation now that she is gone."

Marinette gives him a tired smile, "I have a lot to tell you."