It seemed that as soon as it started, the dance had ended.
The dancers breathless and exhilarated, the lights returned to normal, and they dispersed like ants in a colony. The usual clapping and cheering started, as everyone continued to greet and hug and smile and laugh, but Marinette and Gaberiel were frozen time. Her arms around his neck pulling him closer, and his arms around her waist pulling her closer. It was a game of tug-of-war in reverse. Their eyes were glued onto each other, and everything else around them dissolved into nothingness. They were so close together that they shared breath, and their eyes had darkened. "I thought you said you couldn't skate."
"Are you going to kiss me?" She replied, ignoring his statement. Marinette had never been subtle with her words. If she wanted to know something, she was going to ask it bluntly.
"You're ignoring the question." As he said it, he started to smile. A enormous smile.
"Are you?" she questioned. She had no idea where the question came from, and to be honest she wasn't sure she wanted to. The yellow in his eyes appeared to get bigger and brighter, and he smiled so hard that she was afraid his face would tear apart and become the Cheshire cat. It frightened her, but it also sent her heart fluttering at the thought. Their eyes never left each other as they came closer and closer, and when their lips met, it was unlike any other.
Butterflies flew in her stomach, making her heart twist and turn in her chest like never before. Marinette couldn't explain what she felt, but his soft lips, and his scent sent her mind whirling in ways she had never thought possible. She never thought her first kiss would be with a guy she had met only a week ago, but she also had never thought it to be this passionate.
Marinette could hear the instruments in the background playing: violins, piano, and the soft strum of an acoustic guitar. She could envision the fireworks setting off with the music, and could almost feel the gust of wind from outside that would sweep her hair away from her face, and then nothing could get between them. It was the best and only kiss she had ever gotten, and she never wanted it to end. However, all good things must come to an end.
When they pulled apart, it wasn't by self-will. The pressure put on their lungs, from not taking in the air they treasured the most, made them pull apart. Taking each breath, Marinette rightfully needed, she laid her head against his chest, where his heart beat rapidly, yet still in sync with her own.
It was perfect, she thought, my first kiss was perfect.
"Are you going to answer my question, now?"
"What question?"
"Why did you say you couldn't dance?" His voice had an indication of disappointment, and she feared she would lose him just as quickly as it took for them to become friends. She could remember a time when she sat by herself in the classroom in seventh grade, doing nothing, as everyone else was talking with their friends about something that happened earlier (as it always seems to); about how Chloé had been antagonizing a younger female student by saying:
"If you can't even afford the school field trip, how can you afford anything?" With her arms crossed, standing over the girl like she was some type of god; Marinette couldn't remember the girl's name but she could remember the look of sorrow in her pretty brown eyes. Her parents could afford the trip, but they didn't get paid until after Friday, the day after the money was due. Her papers were filled and signed, but there still wasn't anyway to get the money on time. She tried to explain this to Chloé but she wouldn't to listen. Everyone had refused to defend her, simply because they wanted to avoid the wrath of Chloé Bourgeois. "Maybe that explains why you have bad taste in clothing." Chloé smirked.
In all honesty, Chloé only did it because her minion, Sabrina, had lied about the girl asking out Adrien. Sabrina's been doing anything and everything to gain the approval of Chloé since kindergarten, but Chloé only gives her the cold shoulder. Even when Sabrina does something that Chloé approves of, she gives her praise, and it's like watching a love sick puppy constantly seek the attention of their owner. Sabrina gets so delighted, until Chloé demolishes that joy. Over and over again. In return, Marinette only felt bad for her.
Sabrina's lies had become so bad you couldn't even trust her on the simplest things. For example, when the girl "supposedly" asked out Adrien, she was only asking for help on the homework because she wasn't present on the previous day.
But Marinette only knew this because the conversation had happened near her lonely desk. Marinette had admired Adrien's kindness; his golden blond locks, shortened by age, his big emerald eyes, and kind heart.
The year before, in sixth grade, Marinette had a crush on him for that whole year. She would continuously draw his face with his beautiful features, even at a young age. Let's just say her crush didn't last for another year. For the first time in Marinette's life, Chloé had actually talked to her, willingly. But it wasn't a friendly conversation. She had threatened her with the exposure of her "pathetic crush." Marinette wanted to protest that her accusation wasn't true, and even though it was, she would never admit it to anyone. So she just let Chloé ruin what she had created. She had ruined everything. All except one.
It was damaged badly, but it wasn't destroyed. The pieces had been ripped, separating them into three unequal pieces-each consisting of a piece of his face- and had been crumpled. She remembers picking up the pieces from the floor, and hiding them from Chloé in her back pocket, and praying she didn't notice. She remembers the look on both of their faces, Chloe's and Sabrina's: the look of triumph for entirely different reasons. She remembers never feeling so much sorrow and hatred for someone else, other than herself. She couldn't remember what happen before, but she remembers what had come after. The look of triumph transformed into a face of terror; their eyes containing dismay and confusion. Slowly they began to step back, frightened by what they just saw in her eyes. They had caught a glimpse of their futures. It was a frightening sight.
After school, Marinette removed the sections of paper from her pocket and laid them down gently, as if they were porcelain dolls, on her desk. She looked at the pieces for what appeared to be over an hour before getting up from her pink rolling chair, pushing it back, sending it gliding across the room. She quickly grabbed the tape dispenser that sat only but a few feet away from her, and she brought it close to her chest, as if it would tape her broken heart, too. She sat it down, and quickly went to work. She flipped the pieces over, and put them together and made sure they stayed that way. When she finished, she flipped it over and stared at it. The picture could still be seen, but now she could see where the paper had been ripped and torn.
Marinette walked over to her mattress and began to cry. She didn't know why it made her cry, but it had and it sent a feeling to the pit of her stomach. After a while, Marinette placed the picture on her wall, right next to her computer desk, so next time she sat there doing her homework or was working late on a project she would look at it, and wonder what caused the look of terror on Chloé and Sabrina's face.
So, Marinette knew what the nameless girl was going through, only this time Chloé wasn't scared. She was fearless, and she wouldn't back down. It would eventually be her downfall.
Finally, Chloé had walked away and everyone followed not too far behind, except Marinette. The girl looked like she was on the verge of tears, angry and defeated. Marinette had stepped in front of the crying girl, and stood there, staring at her, feeling remorse. "Are you gonna tease me, too?" She could remember her saying, Marinette only shook her head.
She crouched down, now eye level with the girl and without breaking eye contact, she reached into her pocket and held out the money her parents had originally given her. There, in that single moment, someone had looked at her and she couldn't see any fear, or annoyance, or anger in her eyes; just surprise. "Why are you helping me, Marinette?"
It was Marinette's turn to be surprised. She thought no one knew her; she was invisible, an outcast, a nobody. And yet, she knew her name.
"I know right from wrong," she replied, shoving it further into the girl's direction. Reluctantly, the girl took it and held it close to her lips, and closed her eyes.
The girl looked like she was sleeping blissfully; as if she could have died at this very moment she would have been at peace. She opened her eyes, and Marinette could see specks of gold hiding in her pretty brown eyes as they stared at her. The girl scanned her face, "You would look pretty in glasses, Marinette." Quickly and quietly, the girl stood up and retreated; she didn't even thank Marinette for her kindness.
But Marinette didn't need to hear those words to know she meant them in the last words she spoke. That was as close as she was ever going to get, and she knew it. It was almost like a compliment. That was enough.
Later, that evening when Marinette got home, she had explained to her parents that she had given her money away. That someone needed it, and that she had to. Her parents, Tom and Sabrina, asked her what had motivated her to give the money away, "I know right from wrong," she replied. The same reply she gave the girl.
Her parents looked at her, and smiled. Tom and Sabine smiled at their daughter's massive and kind heart. They couldn't help but hug her, for the innocent child she was. For the innocent child she would no longer be.
"Marinette, that was very kind of you." Her father's smile was like the sun, and her mother's the bright light of the full moon.
Marinette had inherited Sabine's natural bluish hair, high cheekbones, and her slender figure; she inherited Tom's wide shape eyes, and his dimples; she took on both of her parent's last names and their loving heart. Though her mother had grey eyes, and her father had green Marinette did not possess either color. Her eyes a beautiful shade of blue bell eyes, that she had inherited from her great-grandmother on her father's side.
The next day Marinette turned in her permission slip and money to her teacher, and by next week they were on the bus going to Louvre, the world's biggest museum. Marinette now knew why the girl was so eager to go. The museum was larger than it seemed from the outside. The windows let light in, and Marinette could see the paintings and sculptures so very clearly. The scenery gave the place a calming atmosphere, where the quietness sent the sounds of bells ringing her ears. She was too far away from her seventh grade teacher, but she wasn't worried about that, she was too busy staring at a particular photograph. Though the photo was kind of blurry like the photographer wanted it that way, it was clear enough to say that the picture was enlarger, giving it the blurry sense.
However, it wasn't an ordinary picture (to everyone else it might have been). The picture was of a wolf standing tall and proud on a rock, its left paw a little further up than the right as if it was claiming authority. Marinette knew this was an alpha male. It had a black snout, pointy teeth, and its fur was white, as it camouflage with its snowy environment. But that wasn't what had captured her attention. It was its position, the angle and the proximity of the photo (how could he have gotten that close without the wolf knowing?), the wolf's stance; it was the wolf's eyes.
They were almost human-like, and if she looked close enough she could see those golden flecks in its vivid blue eyes; it was so small, but if felt like as she repeatedly continued to blink, it seemed to only magnified her vision. The flecks were the same as the girl. "Well, this photo seems to have captured your attention, has it not?" The owner of the voice was a man with a buzz cut and same color eyes as the wolf picture. Marinette nodded. "It is one of a kind, y'know?" he said, his voice boastful. "No one has ever dared to come that close to a wolf, especially an alpha male."
Marinette looked to her left, and saw the girl waving, signaling to her that the class was moving on. Marinette nodded one last time, before walking down the hall to the girl, but she could feel his gaze as she walked away but she didn't look back once.
On Friday, Marinette, along with the whole class, had gotten the news that the girl had moved away. The whole class was silent, as if they didn't know whether to feel guilty for not standing up for her, or angry at Chloé for treating her so badly. For that to happen, they would have to acknowledge their mistakes, which they would not. So, they felt nothing, and soon forgot about her. But Marinette did not.
How could she when sitting on her desk, all the way in the back, sat a pair of black rimmed glasses with a silver bow wrapped around it like a present.
Was it a present? A thank you present? They were plain and simple, but it stuck out like a sore-thumb. There wasn't even a card to address who it was from. However, Marinette didn't need a card to know who it was from.
To remember her (though she wasn't dead, but it felt like she was a ghost),
You would look pretty in glasses, Marinette.
The last words she had spoken to her. It felt sacred.
To remember her (though she wasn't dead, but it felt like she was a ghost), Marinette wore them everywhere, and even though she had perfect vision, she wore them anyway.
Marinette could hear the voices in head, torn between good and evil.
"What a pathetic crush," Chloé had said, "for someone as pathetic as you."
Pathetic crush...
Her breath had gotten caught in her throat, and it felt like she couldn't breathe. Her chest rose and fell, at fast intervals and they quickly became unstable.
Glasses...
Her heart was hammering at her chest, wanting to escape. Her body became weak, and it became an effort to stand.
Her vision flooded, and she could see black spots, growing larger and larger, as it burned away the awful memories, until it was no more, and then all she could see was black...
She wouldn't be able to take Gaberiel's reject, even if it was a small white lie, it burned to know that she might lose the only friend she has ever had.
Marinette…
She blinked rapidly tasting the saltiness of her tears, and if as she was light as a feather, and was carried to safety. Curling into some sort of ball, her nails ripped into the fabric, of whatever stood before her as she silently sobbed. She had become excellent at hiding her feeling, so why did Gaberiel have to break those walls she built to perfection. How did he make those walls crumble?
"Yeah, everybody needs one, and today you're my first friend."
That word. That evil, good-for-nothing word.
Friend.
Her emotions were swirling. Flying and spinning and crashing all at once. It was something she never had; it was something she expected to never have. And as she has come to figure out, it was something she resented and treasured the most.
A friend.
I'm pathetic.
She couldn't even make up her mind about what she wanted.
She wanted Gaberiel.
She didn't want Gaberiel.
It felt as if she was abandoned in an ocean, forever doomed to drown in her own darkness, and there was no one to save her. No one was willing to save her. Marinette wouldn't even save herself, she would let herself go deeper and deeper into the depths, and then maybe it wouldn't be so bad…
Drowning, for all eternity, in her own insecurities and weaknesses. She had done it for so long, that people weren't able to tell the difference. It was like her second home.
It was her second home.
Curling tighter, Marinette sobbed harder. However, she could hear a soothing voice pulling her from her thoughts; pulling her from that ocean of darkness. A hand coming from the sinful darkness and with it brought light. It ignited a spark of life that no man should ever have to endure. It was disgrace.
A disgrace she would have to live with for the rest of her life.
A disgrace that would save the people she loved.
A simple disgrace was all that it came to.
Hey guys, here is another chapter!
Since I'm still in school I won't be able to write as much, but I'll update as soon as I can. And school is almost over, then I'll have more time.
I also hope this answers any questions from the previous chapters, if not just message, and I'll probably give a little hint.
Bye, guys!
