Chapter Fifteen – Flour Pudding
Adrien watches Marinette rush away from him. He hadn't been expecting to see her before he got to the classroom, and she's usually about five to ten minutes late, so he's been telling himself he'll have enough time to mentally prepare himself for seeing her once he gets to school. Now, however, he doesn't have much of a choice. So he hesitates, and when he finally does open his mouth to say something or to call out to her, she's already disappeared through the school doors.
Shoulders slumped and a death grip on his bag strap, he walks up the stairs to the classroom, trying not to think about the last thirty–six hours of his young life. He tells himself that it's fine, he's fine. Yes, he has realised he's in love with one of his best friends, the same best friend who he's not only seen in her underwear, but also that there is something very wrong with her right now, not to mention he's pretty sure she's already dating someone, and yes, he did just breakup with his first girlfriend and quite possibly destroy his father's business agreement with her mother, but he also realised he's in love with one of his best friends.
One of his best friends who bumped into him, muttered something that may have been 'sorry' and then fled the scene with tears rolling down her cheeks.
Oh shit, she was crying! Adrien realises, coming to a complete stop outside the classroom door. He almost slaps himself, wondering how in the world he could have missed that. And he didn't even call out to her! How could he have seen her crying, not realised, and then let her leave without saying anything? Oh, he is the worst friend in the world!
"Adrien?"
Said person almost jumps out of his skin at the unexpected voice. Nino raises an eyebrow at him, before looking past him down the hallway. Because the classroom door is open, Adrien can hear the (overdramatic, so fake, how can they not tell?) crying of their favourite pathological liar, and the murmur of comforting words coming from all of the girls.
"Have you seen Mari?" Nino continues, still looking down the hallway. He pushes past Adrien to look over the railing and down into the courtyard.
"Uh . . . yes." He scratches the back of his head.
Nino spins around so quickly that Adrien is sure he's given himself whiplash. "When?" He demands, gripping Adrien's shoulders.
"B–Before. When I was coming into school. Sh–She bumped into–"
"Was she okay? Did she look angry? Upset? Was she crying? Did she say anything to you? Did you say anything to her?"
"U–Um–"
"This is important, Adrien!" Nino exclaims, shaking his friend's shoulders a little to illustrate his point. "You need to tell me! Where did she go? Is she in the bathroom? Did she go home? Did she run away?"
"I–I didn't see." Adrien cuts in quickly before Nino can continue his interrogation. "But it looked like she was heading in the direction of her house."
Nino frowns, releasing Adrien's shoulders to rub his eyes beneath his glasses. "Did she walk out the front doors?"
"Yes."
"Then we have no idea." He throws his hands up in exasperation.
Adrien frowns. "Why–"
"Because if you didn't actually see her go into her house then we have no way of knowing if she actually went home." Nino stamps his foot, cursing under his breath.
"You could text her."
"She's not answering." He groans, dropping his head into his hands. The crying inside the classroom picks up a notch. "Oh, for the love of God!"
Adrien jumps at Nino's outburst and shuffles a foot backwards, prepared to run in case he has to. "What's wrong? What's going on?" He glances back inside the classroom and eyes the girls surrounding the source of the crying. "Why is Lila crying?"
"Who fucking cares?" Nino mutters and Adrien's eyes widen, turning back to him.
"Nino," He berates, frowning at his friend. "I know that Lila isn't exactly . . . honest, but that doesn't mean you should disregard her feelings. What if she gets akumatised?"
"Then let her!" Nino shouts. He steps closer to Adrien, eyes shooting daggers straight to his soul. "It's not up to you to decide who gets hurt and who gets akumatised and who lies." The bell rings, but they both ignore it. "That isn't your decision!"
"Where is this coming from?" Adrien asks softly, shifting uncomfortably under his friend's gaze. Nino's eyes soften slightly, but he doesn't back down. "I never said it was my decision."
That is apparently the wrong thing to say, because Nino's eyes harden again. He drops his voice down to a whisper – more of a hiss, really – so their classmates don't overhear. "It was your decision to tell Mari to take the motherfucking highroad."
Adrien's eyes widen in surprise, before he frowns and tilts his head questionably. "How do you know about that?"
"She told me."
Jealously flickers in Adrien's chest but he pushes it away. He has no right to tell Marinette what she can and can't tell people, and who she can and can't talk to. Even if he has been hoping she'd open up to his cat side before anyone else. What is it about Nino that Cat Noir doesn't have?
"It's good advice." He mutters, because he knows it is. If they ignore Lila she'll get bored and stop, and if she doesn't then she'll get caught up in her web of lies and then . . . and then he won't have to deal with it. "It works."
"With tabloids, maybe, but this isn't some flimsy gossip magazine that you can throw away and never think about and that you know is a lie just because of where it's coming from." His gaze hardens even more and Adrien shivers. "This is our life, Mari's life, and right now you not being by her side and helping her stand up to Lila is ruining her."
"I am on her side!"
"Then show it!" Nino's voice comes out so loud it echoes around the hallway and silences everyone in the classroom. Adrien stares at him in surprise, tears pricking his eyes although he has no idea why. Nino deflates slightly and his cheeks flush in embarrassment. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."
"Y–You d–didn't." Adrien mumbles, gripping his bag tighter. He wipes his eyes on the back of his hand hastily.
"Nino?" Alya calls from inside the classroom, appearing in the open doorway. "What's going on?" Her eyes shift between him and Adrien questionably.
"Nothing." Nino mutters, the look he gives Adrien telling him to agree and not say otherwise. The blond dutifully nods and smiles politely at Alya.
"Were you telling him about M?" Alya's eyes narrow suspiciously and she studies Adrien as if he's a missing piece to the puzzle.
"I was getting there." Nino forces a smile and slings an arm around Adrien's neck, ushering him into the classroom. "But we're already late for class so we should–"
"What about Marinette?" Adrien asks, and he has to quickly dodge the kick Nino aims at his feet. Before anyone else can say anything, Lila rushes forward and grabs his arm, starting up the crocodile tears again.
"Oh Adrien!" She wails, pressing her head against his chest.
He steps back from her hastily, his spine hitting the edge of Ms Bustier's desk, making him wince. Lila stumbles at the sudden movement, but Alya wraps an arm around her waist so she doesn't fall. She shoots him an unimpressed look. He ignores Alya and focuses his attention back on Nino.
"What about Marinette?" He repeats, his tone coming out more demanding than he intended. Nino shifts uncomfortably and bites his lip, glancing between Adrien, the girls and the floor.
"She's up the duff." Lila answers, sniffling and wiping fake tears away. "I feel so sorry for her, but it's her own fault for not using the proper protection."
"Up the what?" Adrien frowns at Nino, ignoring Lila. "What's a 'duff'?"
"The Scottish meaning is 'decaying vegetable matter covering the ground under trees'." Max supplies, reading off his phone. Nino rolls his eyes. "Another meaning is 'a flour pudding boiled or steamed in a cloth bag', or–"
"Thanks Max." Alya cuts him off, shooting him a glare.
"So . . . she has a flour pudding?" Adrien raises an eyebrow. "That doesn't make sense."
A loud groan echoes through the room and everyone turns to look at Chloé. She ignores them and fixes her gaze on Adrien, leaning forward in her seat to prop her chin on her hand. She absentmindedly fiddles with the ends of her hair. "Adrikins, just once use your intuition."
Alix snorts. "Chloé knows what 'intuition' means?" She asks under her breath, earning a few giggles from their classmates.
Chloé shoots her a glare, before looking back at Adrien. "Why would Dupain–Change need to use the 'proper protection' if she was decaying vegetable matter or had a flour pudding?"
"You mean an apron?"
Chloé closes her eyes and mutters something under her breath before opening them and standing up, hands on her hips. "Rossi is claiming that Dupain–Change is up the duff." She raises an eyebrow. "Knocked up. In the family way. With child." She crosses her arms and tilts her head, shifting her weight to one foot. "Do you get what we're saying now?"
"U–Um–"
"She's claiming Dupain–Cheng's pregnant." She huffs and sits back down, leaning back in her seat and holding her hand out to Sabrina so she can continue filling her nails.
"H–How do you know that?" Adrien's eyes dart over his classmates faces, stopping on Lila's. She quickly replaces her smirk with a grimace, but he still sees it. Is that why Marinette has been acting the way she has? Is she pregnant? He thinks back to last night, her ribs. Could she be making herself thinner so we can't tell? Another thought makes its way into his mind and his eyes seek out Juleka's. If Marinette is pregnant . . . who is the father? "She doesn't look pregnant."
"Well she is. She didn't deny it when we asked her." If this had come from Lila, he'd have assumed the 'asking' part was a lie, but Mylène is the one who says it.
"How do you know, though?" He crosses his arms, frowning at them. "If you had to ask, she obviously didn't tell you."
"Actually, she did." Lila says, her voice slipping into the sickenly sweet end of the spectrum. "I ran into her at the store the other day when she was buying a pregnancy test and she confided in me that she already knew she was pregnant, but her parents wanted her to be sure."
'I'm going to the store to get some things'. That's what Marinette said on Saturday. Could this be true? Could Lila be telling the truth? Marinette didn't specify what she was getting at the store. Could she have been getting a pregnancy test?
As if sensing his doubt (or perhaps seeing it in his face), she takes her phone out of her pocket and holds it out to him. "I accidentally took this photo before we noticed each other." She smiles innocently at him.
The first thing Adrien notices is that for a so–called 'accidental' photo, it is remarkably clear quality, and quite obviously taken to show exactly what the (undoubtably Marinette) person is doing. It's taken from the side, with her face turned a little away from the camera so if he didn't know her (and hadn't seen what she was wearing that morning) he wouldn't have guessed it was her. Still, the pregnancy test box in her hand is as clear as day, as is the fact that she seems to be putting it in her basket.