"What Dupain-Cheng is trying to tell you-using this ridiculously fake excuse of hers-is that she doesn't want to play your dumb little video game. In fact, no one wants t-"

"SHUT UP!" The words burst out of her before she was even aware of saying them.

She wasn't really thinking when she picked up her textbook and threw it frisbee-style at Chloe's face, except that she hated Chloe and wanted her to shut up, and she was under too much stress to really think about cause and effect right at that moment.

That was, until the heavy textbook slammed full-force into Chloe's face, forcibly cutting off her insulting lie mid-word as it knocked her backwards out of her chair and onto the floor.

Chloe definitely screamed in pain and Sabrina definitely yelled and Max probably said something too, but for a few seconds, all Marinette could hear was the sound of her internal voice saying viciously, good fucking riddance.

And then reality came blasting back in with the sound of Chloe's screaming as she stumbled to her feet, blood pouring down her face from her nose, which was clearly broken. Her white shirt and yellow jacket were already being stained with it as it dripped off her chin and flew from her hands, which she was flapping in the air in panic while she continued to scream at the top of her lungs.

This of course attracted the attention of the librarian, who immediately ushered Chloe to the nurse's office without even stopping to ask what had happened, leaving Sabrina to trail behind them, crying almost as loudly as Chloe was.

Marinette hadn't even moved from her seat, shocked by what she'd done and how much damage it had caused.

In all her years of being tormented by Chloe, she'd stood up for herself and others, had fought back verbally. But she'd never resorted to violence. Because for as long as she'd been bullied, she'd also been lectured by her teachers about not fighting back and not resorting to violence because, as they drilled into her head, 'hate breeds hate'.

She'd thrown the book at Chloe because she'd been consumed by hatred. Hatred for Chloe and all the terrible things she said and did, hatred especially for what she was trying to say Marinette felt when she didn't. Chloe had been lying to Max and had been about to tell him that Marinette didn't like him and thought he and the game he'd made were stupid.

Max was her friend and she cared about him, and Chloe had tried to tell him she didn't, that she didn't care about him and didn't enjoy hanging out with him and thought his interests were stupid.

She looked at Max, who was still standing there, staring back at her with wide eyes.

Their eyes met, and she opened her mouth to apologize-

And he cut her off, exclaiming, "That was the coolest thing I've ever seen!"

He spread his arms and took a step forward, and instinctively, she leapt forward to wrap her arms around him in a hug, overwhelmed with relief, with shock, with everything.

She'd broken Chloe's nose. Max wasn't mad at her. She still had a poster to design for Kitty Section and make a T-shirt for Jagged Stone and finish her essay for chemistry and, and, and-

"Are you still willing to let me test out your new video game?" She asked, her face buried in his shoulder.

He laughed. "I didn't even get the chance to ask you yet, remember? But yes, please come over to my house and try out my new game, I'm really excited about it but no one else has time to play it today! Markov and my mom are the only ones who've seen it so far! Come on, please!"

"You know I can't say no to that! Now let's hurry up and go before Chloe tries to get me expelled again!"

They ended their hug, and Marinette shoved the rest of her books into her backpack, leaving behind the one that had Chloe's blood staining it.

Marinette spent the rest of the day at Max's house, gleefully testing out his new game, helping him search for bugs and getting some much needed stress relief from the challenge of the combat, which was much more complicated than the game it was originally based on. It required careful timing and strategy, and every second counted, but it just made winning that much more satisfying.

She still had a t-shirt to finish, and a poster to design, and an essay to write.

But her friends would understand, and Jagged Stone could shut up and deal with it, and if she lost points on her essay, well, she still had an A, and a few lost points wouldn't make her fail the class.

Hawkmoth didn't create an Akuma for her to fight, and for a few hours, at least, Marinette was allowed to just be a kid, refusing to worry about what would happen tomorrow.

Chloe would probably throw a fit and try to get her expelled again, but that was nothing new, and after today, Marinette wasn't dreading seeing her again like she usually did.

Knowing your enemy could bleed was a hell of a confidence booster. Chloe wasn't some unstoppable force of nature. She was a human being, made of flesh and blood, and if Marinette ever needed to?

She could pick up another book, and remind Chloe that there were consequences for her actions.

And if she did end up being expelled over it?

Then good riddance.

She was getting stick of being told to set a good example while the people hurting her and her friends never got so much as a stern lecture.

It was Chloe's turn to be afraid. It was Chloe's turn to dread going to school.

Marinette was done playing nice.