Marinette looked at the time on her phone once again, scarcely believing it. She was a full thirty minutes early to school today.
She spotted Alya talking with Nino and Adrien. The bespeckled brunette waved her friend over. Marinette smiled as she ran towards their small group, greeting them all, "Hey, how's everything going?"
"Well," Adrien began.
"No one's seen Lynette yet," Alya offered.
"She could just be running late," Nino suggested.
Marinette thought about yesterday and nodded, "Possibly. I mean she did actually arrive to the school grounds about the same time I did yesterday."
"I am not continuing this argument with you, Lynette. Out of the car, now," A red haired woman ordered.
From where she stood, Marinette could clearly make out that this woman had the same eye colour and shape as Lynette, she could also tell that the woman was impatient bordering on furious.
"Lynette Marie Montclair, out of the car this minute. We are finding Sebastien and you are accepting his date proposal," She continued.
"I am not going on a date with him," Lynette's voice shouted.
"Yes you are. I am picking the two of you up at y our Lunch break and you will eat together in public and you will be affectionate towards him," Mrs. Montclair stated as she gripped her daughter's arm.
"I. will. Not. Date. Him. I don't want to date anyone! Just leave me alone," Lynette screamed as the woman wrenched her from the car.
"Enough of this! You're behaving like a spoiled child. Look at the scene you're causing. Just do as you're told and that is final. Go and find your boyfriend,"
Lynette bit her lip harshly enough to draw blood, she couldn't help it. It was either make her lip bleed or cry. She wasn't about to cry.
At the sight the woman threw her hands up in the air, "Well I guess your winter break will be spent in another institution until you let go of this foolish notion. God. I just wanted a normal child!"
The woman got into the white limousine and it drove off with her in it, leaving Lynette on the side walk, looking very much like a broken china doll.
Almost instantly after the limo had left Adrien rushed to Lynette as did Kim from another area of the school grounds.
Adrien crouched down next to Lynette while Kim regarded her for a moment. She was dressed in a very girly manner, too girly for Lynette's taste, that much was evident. She was wearing a pink and white floral print skirt, a pink cup sleeved shirt and white heeled sandals.
Adrien was wracking his brain trying to think of something to say. When nothing came to him, he moved to grasp her shoulder only for her to shrug away from him.
Kim knelt next to her and looked over the outfit before looking to Lynette, "did you bring a change of clothes with you?"
"She searched my bag," Lynette replied, almost sounding robotic. Kim blanched, that wasn't a good sign. He'd heard that tone before and it was never good. Adrien glanced at Marinette, pleadingly. The two girls were about the same size.
Marinette smiled a bit as she realized his thought and offered, "Hey, my house is just across the street, why don't we go get you into something you're more comfortable with? You can even change back at my place too. I'll even make some clothes just for you to wear as well in emergencies, just tell what you like to wear."
Lynette hesitated before glancing to Marinette and nodding a little, "Okay."
She wasn't robotic with that single word reply, but she still sounded hollow and Kim wondered what had happened behind closed doors when she went home. He knew her father was currently working at the studio a lot which meant Lyn was home with her mom a lot.
The two women never saw eye to eye, never had. Kim knew this, he also knew that both women were equally stubborn but the elder woman would often use physical force to get her way.
"Yeah, you'll like Marinette's parents, they're really nice," Adrien added with a smile as he coaxed Lynette to sit up.
'Nice isn't exactly what I need right now. Nice is exactly what'll break me,' Lynette thought to herself.
Marinette and Lynette made their way back over to her parent's bakery, Kim and Adrien had gone over with them.
"You're back so soon Marinette? Did you forget some-" Sabine stopped when she caught sight of Lynette. She stopped mixing the batter she'd been working on, setting the mixing bowl down and ran over to the disheveled girl.
Looking over Lynette with the concerned caring gaze of a loving mother only made Lynette's eyes well up once more as the stranger she'd just met asked her, "sweetheart, what happened?"
The dam broke and tears began to pour from Lynette's eyes. Sabine instinctively pulled the girl into her arms and stroked her hair as the girl sobbed into her shirt.
"Let it out," Sabine soothed.
"It's pointless," Lynette squeaked out between sobs.
Sabine blinked a little.
"I just want to be happy, but that's too much," Lynette added as her body shook.
Marinette felt her own eyes tearing up at the revelation. Kim felt his own heart sink to the soles of his shoes. He knew things were bad between her and her mom but he hadn't thought it was this bad. Gently he reached out to her, placing a hand on her back. Adrien grasped Lynette's shoulder, giving it a friendly squeeze while Marinette gently grasped Lynette's hand, squeezing it.
Sabine smiled at the gestures the other teenagers made towards the crying girl as she suggested, "It seems there are those who wish to see you happy."
Lynette's sobs slowed as she dried her eyes, "sorry. Marinette was going to let me borrow some clothes."
Sabine nodded, "alright. Come on over for lunch, we'll talk then."
"I-I ca-can't," Lynette choked out.
Sabine blinked for a moment before smiling and recommending, "Alright, how about you girls study together after school, at least that's what we'll tell your parents?"
Lynette looked to Marinette who smiled and nodded, "sounds like a good plan, Maman. We'd best hurry though."
She raced upstairs to her room, with Lynette following closely behind her. Kim made a point of looking away as she ascended the stairs, so Adrien followed his lead.
Once the door to Marinette's room was closed, Sabine turned to the two teen boys and inquired, "What on earth happened to that poor girl?"
Adrien rubbed the back of his neck as he replied, "We don't really know everything."
"Then tell me what you do know. This is serious. It's got recipe for disaster written all over it," Sabine insisted.
Kim swallowed hard and looked to Sabine, "where do you want to start? Yesterday or two summers ago?"
"For the record, you seem to be the only adult that actually cares right now," Adrien added.
Kim nodded, "Except Mr. Damocles but I don't know if he'll do anything. The previous principal thought something was going on too but they didn't report anything."
This caught Tom's full attention as he set the freshly baked croissants on the counter and walked over asking, "Is she being abused?"
"In a way, I guess? I'm not really sure what to call it," Kim offered with a shrug.
The two parents were about to say something else when the door opened and Lynette headed back down wearing a pair of dark wash blue jeans, which had a chain belt around the waist. The pink cup sleeved shirt was replaced with a plain white tshirt that had some purple flowers along the left side of the shirt.
The colour choice hadn't surprised Kim at all, she'd always liked purple. He smiled when he saw her, seeing that Marinette had also helped her touch up her make up.
"Feel a bit better?"
Lynette nodded, grateful that the foundation hid some of her blush, "Yes. I'm sorry for the trouble."
"No trouble at all," Tom answered.
"Our door is open to you anytime. If you ever need someone, and the bakery's closed, just keep knocking, we'll hear it," He offered.
Lynette blinked a little but gave a warm smile before leaving the bakery, Kim next to her.
"Thank you Maman, Papa," Marinette called to her parents.
"Marinette, keep an eye out for her," Tom called after his daughter.
Marinette nodded as she followed Lyn and Kim. Adrien offered her parents a quick smile before following Marinette out.