As the bell rang, all of the students of Françoise Dupont High School rushed to their next class. Having a free period, Marinette decided to visit the art room to work on one of her new designs. She noticed a boy sitting in shadow under the stairs.
"Oh, it's you, Marc!" Marinette giggled as the boy jumped. He dropped his pencil. "Still writing, I see."
Marc extricated himself from his hiding spot, attempting to locate his pencil. "Yeah. It helps keep me sane since my family moved here a couple months ago. I've just been so inspired, living in Paris! All of these heroes you guys have… they make for great stories."
Marinette leaned against the stair railing, smirking. "Are you ever going to let me read them?"
The boy shook his head, smiling. "Sorry, Marinette. They're just for me… for now. Maybe one day I'll do something with them."
The bluenette found the pencil. She returned it to its owner. "Well, if you ever get bored of writing in the stairwell, a bunch of us 'creatives' get together in the art room; sometimes, we even collaborate! Room 33- you should join us sometime." Marc shook his head.
"I'm still too shy to talk to talk to anyone else but you. You're one of the few people who bother to notice me."
"Maybe if you found a group of like-minded people, you would find a place to belong." Marinette shouldered her bag, patting Marc's arm reassuringly. "Well, I'm off the to art room. Hope to see you there!"
xXx
"Just keep it loose. Scribble the general human form. Then you can tighten it up, like this." Nathaniel sketched the rough outline of a human figure next to a sketch of Queen Bee. Chloe attempted to copy him in the sketchbook Nathaniel had given her.
"Why is this so hard?" The blonde huffed. The red head chuckled.
"That's every artist's biggest question. Maybe figure drawing isn't your style. Everyone's got their own." Nathaniel gestured to his sketches. "I enjoy drawing people, so I had to learn how to draw the human form."
"Nath, will you throw me the red?" Alix removed her paint-splattered air filtration mask as she placed an empty spray paint can on a nearby table. The boy obliged.
"Alix likes her street art, so she decided to take a course on typography in order to incorporate different font styles into her work." He placed a hand over Chloe's sketchbook. "Even if art only stays a hobby you do for fun or to relax, you'll find your style eventually."
Chloe smiled. "Thanks for taking the time to teach me a little about art. I never knew it was so complex." She liberated a loose page from Nathaniel's sketchbook. It depicted the now good Mighty Illustrator teaming up with the Miraculous Squad with Ladybug and Queen Bee front and center. "I especially like these new ones about the whole team. You should do a comic book or something."
"She's right, Nathaniel." A new voice came from the doorway. Lila stood there, looking as sweet as could be. The entire art room gasped. Rose bounded over to the girl, taking off her headphones.
"Lila! You're back!" The tiny girl gave Lila a hug. "We didn't realize you were coming back so soon!" The brunette awkwardly patted Rose on the back.
"Well, I told my diplomat parents that I wanted to be back in town for Hero's Day to see all of my friends. They canceled the rest of the trip to get us back in time!" Looking back at Nathaniel and Chloe's table, the girl smiled. "But yeah! You should totally do the comic book, Nathaniel! I once did an internship at one of the most prestigious comic book companies in Italy. Your work rivals a lot of the books they've produced."
A scoff from Marinette's table had every eye trained on her.
"What's wrong, Marinette?" Lila blinked. "Don't you think Nath's work is good enough to become a comic book?"
Marinette flushed. "Of-of course I do! I never said that. I think they're really cool." Peering around Lila, the girl noticed a familiar face.
"Marc! You came!" She jumped up, grabbing his hand to drag him into the room. "Everybody, this is Marc. He moved here a couple months ago. Marc, this is everybody." All of the students in the art room chirped a greeting.
Mr. Haberkern, the art teacher, approached the pair, extending his hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you, young man. If I may ask, what form does your creativity take?"
Marc shyly tightened his grip on something under his sweatshirt. "Um… I like to write…"
Chloe perked up. "Really? We were justtalking about how Nath here should turn his Miraculous sketches into a comic book. If you like to write, you guys should totally get together and collaborate!" Marc curled further into himself.
"Uh… I don't think I'd be right for that… I hardly let anyone see what I write anyway." He backed away, bumping into Lila. "I'm sorry. This was a mistake… I… GOTTA GO!"
"Wait, Marc!" Marinette stood, but the boy had already bolted. He ran into the railing, dropping something as he continued running.
Marinette rushed to the fallen object. It was Marc's notebook! Unable to resist the temptation, she opened the cover. "The Diary of… Ladybug?"