Marinette, Nino and Alya arrived to the classroom. Everyone was whispering to the person they were sat next to about what could have possibly happened with Adrien. Rumours, of course, were not forgotten. Rose was murmuring to Juleka, with her eyes a little watery; Max, Kim and Ivan were blocking the hall; Mylene was trying to put the pieces together while Alix just listened, trying to comprehend. The only students who did not take part in any of the conversations were Nathaniel, Sabrina, Chloe and Lila (the last two much to Marinette surprise). Marinette felt sick to her stomach, it was obvious that everyone would feel the need to express how they were feeling about what happened, at the end of the day, Adrien was their friend, they had every right in the world to be worried and concerned.
Alya and Marinette proceeded to go to their sits, but Nino couldn't, he just stood still, seeing the two chairs in the desk behind his girlfriend and her clumsy friend; one of those chairs is where his best friend was supposed to sit. Nino felt like throwing up, he knew Gabriel Agreste was the kind of person you would not want to see angry or mad, in fact, after the loss of his wife, he also became a single father, an overprotective one. Nevertheless, the most famous designer of Paris was capable of giving his life to save his son; Gabriel Agreste loved Adrien more than anything. That is exactly why, he did not believe the rumours about the abusive family, however, he could not say the same about the suicide attempt. Adrien was hurting, yes, his father loved him, but he was not present; his mom died and his schedule barely allowed him to see his friends outside classes. Nino was aware of all of this and still he did not do anything else to help his best friend. "If Adrien tried to kill himself, I am the one to blame" Nino thought.
Promptly, the whispers stopped, they were cut as Lila, out of nowhere started to give a monologue.
"Guys, I feel really bad about what is going on with Adrien right now" Lila said, touching her chest with her hands. "But, even if we do not know what happened and we have only heard rumours, it is more likely that maybe, he attempted suicide, so we must be there for him" Lila kept going. Marinette's face was red, she wanted to hit that liar, how could she say something like that.
Before Marinette could speak, someone else did.
"Listen, you second class Italian" Chloe declared with a serious voice. "In the first place, you are only making assumptions about what stupid paparazzi are making viral on the media; second of all, you have no right to talk the way you just did". Chloe was obviously mad. "That is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous".
"But I am just worried, and based on the evidence…" Lila could not finish the sentence, as she was cut again.
"No girl, you have absolutely no right". For once, everyone in that classroom supported Chloe, especially Nino and Marinette, as they could only show their anger towards Lila.
"In that case, you do not have either, didn't you two fight after the premier of the movie you were supposed to star in?" Lila asked, that was a question meant to hurt Chloe, Lila was showing her true colors, their classmates were just blinded by her fake empathy.
Then Chloe stood up.
"I was Adrien Agreste first friend, we met when we were babies, I was there for him before any one of this class" Chloe stated. "Even if we fought and we are no longer the friends we used to be, I have more right than you to talk about this, and still I don't do it". The faces of all her classmates were blank, Chloe never missed a chance to play the victim, but today she did not do it. "How would you think Adrien would feel about all of your utterly ridiculous mockery, LieLa?" Chloe questioned.
Everyone got silent. Chloe simply sat down.
"How dare you? You were such a bad friend to him, call people names and yet you think you have any kind of authority to show off your obnoxious past?" Lila thought she had everything under her control.
"I am certain of two things, Lila. The first one is my childhood, the second one is that at least I am not a liar nor a hypocrite". Chloe answered back.
"Savage" Alix tried to whisper, still it was loud enough for the whole classroom to hear it.
Then everyone went silent.
"I was just trying to help" Lila said with a shy and sad voice. Sabrina, Nino and Alya smirked.
When Marinette was about to answer back, miss Bustier came into the class, aware of the conversation and the recent news.
"Good morning class" Miss Bustier said. Normally her students would answer back, but they kept quiet. The teacher had already been informed about the famous model situation by the school authorities, even though, she heard the news before arriving to school. Nevertheless, miss Bustier did not know how to react in front of her students due to the current situation. She, as everyone else, only had knowledge about the rumours and what Gabriel Agreste's assistant had told the principal Damocles (just that Adrien was in the hospital and would not assist to classes). "Okay kids, I know you are all really concerned about Adrien but Principle Damocles spoke to his father's assistant and we were informed that he was fine, it seems that your classmate had an accident". That would be enough for her entire class to relax, right?
"That did not seem like an accident at all" Max said coldly.
"We saw the images, the pictures, an accident like the explanation does not make sense" Mylene added.
"Nino, please, take your seat" Miss Bustier indicated the boy (she was trying to avoid the comments that were just made).
Nino tried not to think about it twice and went directly to his desk. Nathaniel noticed this behaviour and spoke up.
"Professor, would it be okay if I sat with Nino today?" Nathaniel asked, Nino in fact, was extremely thankful for this gesture.
"Yes, you may" Miss Bustier responded. Nathaniel started to grab his stuff and changed places; the drawer definitely did not want to sit next to Lila.
"Thanks bro" Nino thanked Nathaniel. The red haired nodded.
"Okay class, I know everyone all of you are worried and that what you have been hearing might not be pleasant, but we need to be strong and resilient" The students started to calm down a little. "What about this? Today we can review the topics from last class and after that you can all make cards to Adrien. Is that alright with you? Miss Bustier understood her class needed something like this, they were a total mess, and she could not blame them.
Everyone nodded their heads. Today was going to be a long day.
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After arriving to the classroom, Tikki (behind Marinette's back), went to check on Plagg, who was hiding in Adrien's locker.
"It smells like cheese in here" Tikki said, after trespassing the metal door.
"Good morning sugarcub" Plagg mumbled. The black kwami had a sad smile drew in his face.
Tikki had never seen Plagg so broken. This situation was in fact unbelievable.
Plagg was staring at the ceiling in the right corner of his owner's locker. The ring was resting next to him. Adrien always had extra cheese there in case he forgot it at home.
Plagg hadn't eaten any of the cheese there was.
"Aren't you hungry? When was the last time you ate?" Tikki questioned.
"Last night, after detransforming" Plagg commented.
"You should it, you know?" Tikki hated to see her best friend like that. So vulnerable. "You will need your strength to help Adrien"
"I know, just, not really hungry" Plagg commented.
"So, when are you getting back home?" Tikki asked. She felt like she was interrogating Plagg, but she did not know in what other way she could help him.
"Tonight" he coldly said.
Tikki then decided to get closer to Plagg and rested her head right next to Plagg's. Everything went quiet for a few minutes.
"Why didn't I notice? I am meant to protect the kid, to give him strength, to hold him when needed, to supervise him. He was breaking in front of me, under my eyes, but I did nothing to help him. Maybe if I paid more attention, or if I did not think a lot about cheese, maybe if I talked more to him" Plagg was finally breaking down. "This is my fault, I failed as a kwami and as his friend" Plagg was crying.
"Do not say that, you are a great kwami and I am absolutely certain that if Adrien heard you saying something like that he would not be able to forgive himself" Tikki tried to console Plagg.
"But I knew how his father treats him, how he is always busy, how he sometimes doesn't feel strong enough, how he reacts when he is not taken into account to fights because Ladybug does not know his real identity. I knew all of this and still I didn't do enough" At this point Plagg was inconsolable.
The red kwami grabbed her best friend and held him, hugged him. She did not speak, she only listened, that was what Plagg needed.