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Marinette happily skipped to school early on Monday morning. Over the weekend, she was bouncing off the walls in joy and excitement for the upcoming date with Luka. Nothing could bring her down at that moment!
"It's Adrien Agreste's."
That is the first thing Marinette heard once she walked into the room. Bluebell eyes immediately locked onto the small crowd of girls and a few guys surrounding Lila's desk in the back. Alya is up there as well, recording whatever lie Lila is telling them now.
Marinette merely rolled her eyes and sat at her seat. It made her sick to her stomach that her friends are falling for this propaganda Lila is pulling. One day, all her lies will catch up to her and reveal her real self—an attention seeker.
Lila craved attention and popularity like an addict is to his drugs. She'd do anything to keep an audience in awe of her "amazingness."
"What a bunch of bologna!" Marinette thought in a huff, digging out her tablet. The classroom door opened, gaining the bluenette's attention. Her heart rate increased once seeing Luka entering the room with a paper cup. Sky blue eyes found bluebell.
Luka smiled and waved slightly at Marinette. She couldn't help the faint smile that formed on her face and waved back, face growing red. Her heart dropped to her stomach when Luka made his way to the back and fused himself into the crowd. Marinette whined a little before dropping her head onto the surface of the desk.
Even Luka has his flaws in believing liars.
Yet, he didn't know about the fox in disguise. Maybe, she can tell him about Lila when they go to see a movie. It is worth a shot.
"Hey, girl!" Alya chirped, happily and sat down in her seat, "Before I go do the morning announcements, I've got some juicy deets that I just got to tell you!"
"Tell me, it has nothing to do with Lila," Marinette sighed, raising her head from the desk.
"It has nothing to do with Lila," Alya responded, professionally. She paused for a moment before going back to being excited, "So, now I'm going to tell you what I learned about Lila."
Marinette raised an eyebrow before shaking her head in pity.
"Oh, my dearest friend. Why do you and everyone else in Paris have to be so gullible?" She thought, sadly.
"So, I was right! She has a bun in the oven. What makes this crazier, the baby's father is the Adrien Agreste's!" Alya ranted, quietly enough for only Marinette to hear. Bluebell eyes once again rolled at this bull Lila is telling people.
"You seriously believe that Lila Rossi, not only just pregnant, but was knocked up by the son of Gabriel Agreste," she questioned, blandly and in disbelief. Before Alya could retort, a timer on her phone went off.
"I gotta go, Girl. I'm going to want to know in explicit detail what happened between you and Luka. So, you better prepare yourself as much as possible," The ombre-haired teen said before heading to the office. Marinette fondly smiled, watching her friend leave the room.
Her eyes wavered to the back of the classroom for a moment, before returning forward. Once Miss Bustier walked through the door, everyone was seated and attendance began to be taken.
Classes went by fast for Marinette as she spent most of them daydreaming of her future with Luka. Alya dragged her best friend to their lunch table before the bluenette began to rattle off what happened with her and Luka. Marinette's face has a delicate blush paint her cheeks as she smiled gibbily.
"Did you seriously use a pun to ask him out? Are you sure you're my best friend? You look like her but she absolutely hates puns?" Alya questioned, raising an eyebrow. The bluenette laughed a little and nodded, "Yeah, hard to believe right? But, he still said yes!"
"So, when is this date of yours exactly?" The reporter asked. Marinette froze before sheepishly scratching the back of her head. Alya facepalmed before saying, "Hun, you're going to be the death of me."
"Hey, Marinette!"
The aspiring designer jumped, nearly falling out of her seat when hearing Luka. Bluebell eyes shot around until spotting the said boy walking over with a lazy smile. Marinette's heart rate excelled faster than normal speeds. The warmth in her cheeks is rising higher than her grades.
"I'm free Thursday night if that works for you," the musician informed. Not wanting to make a fool of herself, she merely nodded her head with a giant, odd smile.
"Cool," He said, then saluted at the two girls, "I've got to go, but I'll see you later, Marinette." The teal-haired male walked away but did nothing to calm Marinette down.
"Is it getting hot in here or is it just him?" Marinette questioned, dreamily waving her hand at her face to cool down. Alya shook her head, smirking at her best friend.
"Well, judging by how red your face is, I'd say you caught a fever. Should I call the love doctor back over here to help with your issues?" she teased then took a bite out of her salad. Marinette rolled her eyes before taking a bite from her sandwich.
"So, how is Nino?" The bluebell-eyed girl asked, changing the subject. Alya perked up at the mention of her boyfriend. She swallowed before answering the question, "He's doing good. In fact, he recently told me he was able to DJ at the dance!"
"Really? That's awesome! But, what about you? Aren't you guys going together?" Marinette asked.
The reporter nodded, "Yeah, he said he will save a few dances for me, and after the dance, take me out to a cafe. He's even going to play one of my favorite songs! I'm so excited!"
"Me too! I hope Luka asks me to the dance when we're at the movies or sometime in between," the bluenette chirped. Her mood quickly changed when she spotted Lila walking over to their table. Bluebell eyes narrowed icily at the sly vixen that sashayed over to them.
There is a bit of a noticeable stomach bump protruding. Yet, Marinette isn't going to be fooled knowing that she could have easily stuffed her shirt with a blanket or something.
"Hi, Alya!" Lila chirped, ignoring the death glaring bluenette, "You asked me earlier on what names I was thinking of for the baby. I think I may have a few."
Alya quickly rummaged into the bag, pulled out a pen and notebook. She opened up to the first blank page in the section of the notebook dedicated to all of Lila's stuff.
"Spill," The reporter said, making a two-section graph, one for boy and the other for girl. Marinette huffed, lunchtime being spoiled for her as her best friend and secret bully conversed in baby names. Lunch ended about ten minutes later, much to Marinette's relief.
"She is so tough being pregnant and dealing with school must be exhausting," Alya ranted, making Marinette's relief disappear and annoyance return. She wishes she can tell her best friend it is all a hoax, but Alya wouldn't believe a single word.
No one will believe a single word. Everyone in Paris adored Lila, everyone except for Marinette of course.
School finally ended that day, and Marinette is able to return home. She is able to breathe calmly once Alya left and discontinued her ranting on Lila. The bluenette is so close to ripping out her hair if the ranting continued any longer.
She walked down the steps when a black limo pulled up to the curb. Marinette's eyes watched as a woman slid out of the car with a blank and tired look. The teen nearly fell down a few steps after almost losing her balance from being distracted, not watching her footing.
The woman looked over at her before passing Marinette and walked into the school. Marinette continued on her way home while glancing back at the limo a few more times.
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Nathalie can't for the life of her remember the last time she got a wink of sleep. A headache pounded her skull and she is under quite a strong dizzy spell. She is so close to being done, yet it seemed like more things are being piled onto her plate.
Almost every Agreste thing was sold off which brought in a lot of money. Yet, half of the workers within the mansion had quit. There are still a few remaining staff members. The remaining workers are still working because they all are still looking for new jobs.
Nathalie massaged the sides of her head as she waited for fencing practice to end. She sees Adrien take off his mask and used his arm to wipe the sweat off from his forehead. A smile formed on the woman's lips as Adrien and his partner shook hands.
He smiled brightly just like his mother had done.
Nathalie shook the thought from her mind before refocusing on the blonde teen. Adrien happened to glance over to see his temporary guardian watching. His smile widened as he waved over at her. Blue eyes widened slightly before waving back with a small smile of her own.
Adrien and his partner practiced one more round before fencing ended for the day. The boys scattered from the locker room after finishing showering and changing back into their regular clothes. Adrien went over to meet up with Nathalie, heart warmed that she watched him fence a little.
"I wasn't expecting you to be here so early," Adrien said as they walked out to the limo.
"I needed a bit of a break from all the paperwork and needed to get out of the house," Nathalie admitted before yawning. Adrien grimaced a little, a wave of concern flowing over the teen. His temporary guardian was working nonstop day and night.
He felt quite bothered by it since the hardworking woman reminded him of how much his father rather work than schedule a conversation with his son. Yet, the blonde understood it was a lot of hard work to keep up with.
Has he ever really told Nathalie how much he is proud of her? How much he appreciated everything she has done for him? Does she realize the incredible change she has incorporated in his life after his father was placed in jail?
"Come on, Adrien," the woman urged. Adrien snapped out of his thoughts as he saw Nathalie waiting for him to enter the limo. The blonde slid into the car followed by Nathalie, who closed the door. The limo began to move back into the streets of Paris and headed towards the mansion.
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