Day 22 - Part 2
Marinette walked into Mme. Bustier's room, trying desperately to ignore the stares and whispers coming from her classmates. But no matter how hard she tried, she could feel her hate and anger towards Chloè bubbling to the surface. The hand that wasn't cradling Emma balled into a fist when the blond Bourgeois flounced into the room, sending a smug look Marinette's way.
Alya glanced nervously at her friend's expression. "Uh... why don't we sit down?" She said a little bit too loud.
Marinette gave Chloè one last glare before sitting down and turning her attention to Alya.
"Just ignore her, girl. Don't give them the time of day." Marinette smirked, remembering similar advice given to her by Tikki, also in reference to Chloè.
Mme. Bustier, however, picked the worst day to be late for class, leaving no one in charge because she was stuck in traffic. Of course, it was the same day that all hell broke loose in her classroom.
"Oh, look, Sabrina. It's our newest teen mom! You don't have to tell us who the father is. We already know it's Chat Noir. For a cat, I didn't know he could be such a wolf. Although, he does seem to be bad luck."
Adrien's breath caught in his throat as he realized exactly the position Marinette was in. He turned around slowly, taking in Marinette's dejected face. Rather than standing up for herself, she simply chose to sit there and take it. She swallowed hard and stood up, excusing herself from the classroom. She walked out slowly, Chloè's words stabbing her like a knife. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out!"
Marinette walked down the hall and into the bathroom with no particular goal in mind. She took a deep breath in a futile attempt to control her emotions, a single tear rolling down her porcelain cheek as she slumped to the floor.
"It's okay, Marinette. Chloè is just one of those people. She's a life ruiner." Marinette glanced up to see Alya sitting next to her, knees tucked in to her chest.
Marinette opened her mouth to say something, but she didn't want to risk letting all her emotions break free, so she just nodded and mumbled the affirmative. Emma rolled around in Marinette's arms, waking up from her nap, and let out a little whimper, staring up at Marinette with her big blue eyes.
Marinette let a small smile escape her lips as she looked at the innocence of the baby in her arms. "Just don't grow up to be like Chloè, okay?" She whispered, planting a kiss on Emma's forehead.
"Why don't you just chill here for a minute while I go see what's going on. If I don't see you in ten I'll come back to check on you, okay?"
Marinette nodded. "Thanks."
Alya walked back into the classroom to see Adrien standing next to Chloè at the front of the room.
"Was that really necessary, Chloè? Why can't you just be nice to people? I've told you time and time again, but you just don't seem to get the concept."
"But Adrikins-"
"No, Chloè. I'm done with the attitude. If you can't be nice, we can't be friends. It's settled."
"We pinky swore, remember? That we'd always be best friends forever and ever?"
"Chloè, that was before this. I always thought it was just a phase, but you never grew out of it. Why do you constantly feel the need to pick on people the way you do? Just back off and get used to the fact that you're not more important than everyone else." Chloè gasped and started to run out of the room crying, but she ran in to Mme. Bustier before she could get out.
"Chloè, please take your seat. I would like to start class now, and we're already running behind." Chloè huffed and sat down. "I'm sorry for my tardiness this morning, class. Did everyone complete last night's assignment?" There was a murmur as everyone took out the papers they were previously given.
"Now, then. I'll take attendance before I collect your packets." She took out a clipboard with the list of names and began reading them off. "Agreste, Adrien?"
"Present!"
"Bourgeois, Chloè?"
"Present." She grumbled.
"Bruel, Ivan?"
"Present."
"Cèsaire, Alya?"
"Here." She glanced at the door. Marinette hadn't come back yet.
"Couffaine, Juleka?"
"She's absent, ma'am." Rose spoke up, gesturing to the empty seat next to her.
Mme. Bustier smiled and nodded, making a mark next to Juleka's name on her attendance sheet. "Dupain-Cheng, Marinette?"
"She's in the restroom, ma'am. May I go and check on her?" Alya asked.
"Of course. But hurry back. I wouldn't want you to miss today's lesson." Alya nodded and practically ran out of the room as Mme. Bustier continued with roll call.
In the bathroom, Marinette was trying to calm down Emma, who had started crying. Again. "Oh, come on. Please?" Alya heard Marinette coaxing Emma to be quiet.
"Girl, we gotta get back to class."
"I can't go back with Chloè in there."
"Oh, you should have see it. Adrien totally stood up for you against Chloè!"
Marinette's face lit up and her cheeks flushed pink. "Really?"
"Yeah! He basically gave her an ultimatum. You know, be nice or we can't be friends. That sort of thing. Anyway, I'll tell you all about it later, but Mme. Bustier is getting ready to start class and we're going to be late if we don't hurry." Alya walked out with one last gesture to Marinette as if telling her to follow Alya.
"Um...okay." Marinette shifted her hold on Emma and walked through the corridor to Mme. Bustier's room, all eyes on her except a fuming Chloè and a nervous Sabrina.
"Welcome back, Marinette. If you'll take your seat, we can get started." She walked up the stairs to her seat carefully, so as not to disturb Emma. Adrien winked at her as she walked by and she felt blood rising to her cheeks. Ironically, it was the same feeling she got when Chat Noir winked at her, but she let it pass and didn't give it any more thought.
The rest of the day was pretty normal until lunch. Marinette didn't go home for lunch like she usually did because the patisserie was running a special, which meant extra business. Instead, she took a seat at her usual table with Alya and Nino, as Adrien went home every day for lunch regardless.
Kim and Max walked over to Marinette, who was bottle-feeding Emma. "So is it really yours?" Kim asked.
"I...um, no. No, it isn't." She stammered back at them.
"Are you certain, Marinette?" Max chipped in. Marinette felt like everyone was ganging up on her.
Alya sighed. "Sheesh, people. Has she looked anything more than skinny as a stick in the past nine months? You guys are blind if you think the baby's hers. Besides, she hasn't even-"
"Alya!" Marinette didn't know how her friend was going to finish that sentence, but it was likely something she didn't want to be public knowledge.
"Girl, I'm just saying. There are two reasons it's impossible for you to be pregnant. First, you-"
"Okay, never mind. You can tell me later, 'k?" Marinette looked at Alya, who rolled her eyes goodnaturedly and dropped the subject.
Rose ran up to Marinette, Juleka trailing behind her. "By the way Marinette, I think it's so cool that you're a mom!"
"Huh?" Marinette didn't know that the rumor had spread that far.
"Yeah, it's cool." Juleka mumbled as she walked by.
Mylénè was next. "Being a mother is a lot of responsibility, but I know that you can handle it! If you ever need a babysitter, I'm sure you can get me or one of the other girls to do it."
"God, people really are blind." Alya grumbled.
"I swear, if one more person mentions this baby being mine, I will-"
Chloè interrupted. "Sabrina, I never said it was a bad thing to be a teen mom. Some people just get screwed earlier than others." Chloè directed the last part of her conversation towards Marinette.
"Okay, that's it! I've had enough. Can't you see that this baby isn't mine? She doesn't even look like me! I think you need to check your facts. Emma here is eight days old. Eight days ago, it was Monday the 20th. And I was at school. Not at the hospital having a baby. Did any of you even consider that?" Marinette raised her voice and Emma started crying again. Marinette stormed out of the cafeteria and went into the locker room to quiet the crying baby.
Max looked contemplative. "Hmm… she does make a good point."
"Who started this whole thing about the baby being Marinette's anyway?" Alix asked. "I heard it from Rose."
"I heard it from Juleka." Rose pointed to Juleka, who was sitting next to her.
"Mylénè told me." Juleka muttered.
"Ivan told me."
"Kim told me." Ivan said.
"Max told me." Kim said. "I swear."
"Sabrina told me." Max countered.
"Well, Sabrina?" Alya asked. Sabrina looked at Chloè, who gave her a death glare. "Um...it was...well...Alya told me!" She blurted.
"Well, well. Looks like you can't trust anyone anymore." Chloè snarked, obviously pleased that the blame had gone elsewhere.
"Yeah, okay. But wasn't I the one who stood up for Marinette when everyone was spreading the rumor around? Wasn't I the one who said she couldn't possibly be pregnant for two very good reasons I won't mention? Besides…" She paused. "Chloè told me."
"Chloè started it?" Kim asked.
"That's a lie! I so did not!" Alya facepalmed and headed out to join Marinette in the locker room. She figured she would let Chloè try to get out of that one herself.
Alya casually walked over to where Marinette was sitting and perched next to her.
"How'd it go?" Marinette asked.
Alya shrugged and smirked, hearing Chloè shrieking her innocence from the cafeteria. "Karma's a bitch."
Marinette giggled. "At least that's over with."
"For now, girl. You never know."
Marinette sighed dejectedly. "Yeah, I know. I'll talk to Chat Noir tonight. Maybe with a little bit of luck he'll be able to take her off my hands sooner." She gestured to Emma, who had finally fallen back asleep.
"You'd better hope so."
~~~~~ That Night ~~~~~
"Come on. Please? Please go to sleep. It's late and I don't want you to wake up my parents." Marinette pleaded with the baby in her arms. Emma's crying was so loud that she barely heard the knock on her trapdoor. Marinette sighed. "Come on in."
Chat Noir peeked through the trapdoor and chose to walk down the ladder rather than jumping like he usually did. "Hey." He said. "Having fun?"
"You've got to be kidding me."
"I...I have some bad news."
"What is it?"
"The adoption process is going slower than we'd hoped. The parents are caught in some red tape and I have to ask you to keep Emma for a few more days."
Marinette struggled to keep her composure. "How-how many more?"
He shrugged. "Four, maybe five."
Marinette looked at him, trying to hold back her tears, a combination of anger, sadness, and stress, but it was too much. The dam burst. Chat Noir had to admit, he didn't know what to do. He'd never been in that situation before, but his heart went out to her. He gently lifted the still-crying Emma from her arms and set the baby down on the chaise.
He wrapped his arm around Marinette's shoulder as the two both sat perched on the edge of her bed. He wished he could take Emma now. Even better, he could go back in time and not have given her to Marinette at all. What was he thinking, giving a fifteen-year-old girl the responsibility of a baby? She had school and a social life. She didn't have time for a baby.
Marinette hugged him and cried into his shoulder. "I-it was a-awful today. A-at school." She said between hiccupy sobs.
"What happened?" Chat Noir brushed some hair out of her face, hoping she would let him know what was bothering her.
"Th-there's this g-girl. N-named Chloè. I-in my class. She...she told everyone th-that...that…"
"That what?"
"She said Emma was my baby! She told the whole freaking class and everyone thinks I got pregnant! And you…" she trailed off, her voice lowering to a whisper.
"What about me?"
"She-she said you were the f-father."
Chat Noir's eyes widened and his face went pale. How dare she do that? And to Marinette, too. What does she even have against Marinette? "I'll come to school with you tomorrow and explain everything. How does that sound?"
Marinette sniffed. "O-okay." She let out a small smile. Chat Noir's heart broke at her weak smile and her vulnerability. All of the drama must have happened at lunch, he thought. Why didn't I stay there? I could've stopped it.
Emma let out a small cry and Marinette sighed, standing up to take care of her.
"It's late." Marinette said. "You need to get some sleep."
Chat Noir smiled softly. "So do you."
She scoffed at him. "Yeah, like that's gonna happen."
"I'll come over tomorrow morning, Princess." He lightly grabbed her shoulders and planted a small kiss on her forehead. He looked down at her and the two stared at each other. It was only for a few seconds, but it felt like much longer.
Marinette snapped back to reality and began to blush profusely, causing Chat Noir to tear his eyes away from her as well. He uncomfortably laughed a little bit and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "I should go." He left in a daze, leaving Marinette in her room wondering what just happened.
"Yeah." She said, a few seconds after he had already left. "Bye." What was that?, she wondered. Why do I feel so weird? The kiss had made her momentarily forget the extra time she had to spend with Emma, but the crying jogged her memory. She groaned. Maybe tomorrow will be better. I hope.