A few days pass by with many heart-to-heart conversations with her father, Chloe returns to school. When she walks through the gate, many students' eyes are on her, curious at why she is there. Instead of lashing out at 'the peasants' for looking at her, the blonde stays neutral and walks to her classroom. Although not knowing what's going on, most students can sense a change in her, she seems to be…more glowing…
When Chloe walks into class, many eyes are on her, as she walks to her seat, minding her own business. She can hear lots of whispering, and how fingers are pointing at her, or how some students are glaring at her, but Chloe doesn't care. She's not the same girl she was months ago, such a small ruckus will no longer bother her.
Marinette arrives at class with a dreadful expression on her face, when she sees Chloe, her eyes narrow, not pleased to see the blonde. She drops her bag on her seat, turning her attention to the empty spot in front of her and sighing.
Adrien…
She didn't mean to pry, but what Lila told her a few days ago kick start her insecurity as she confronted her boyfriend about what's going on between him and Himawari. Even when the blonde told her everything, something inside Marinette called out, telling her to make him promise all the things that she wants him to do. One of them was to cut off his friendship with Chloe.
When Adrien heard this, the first thing he did was shake his head and deny her request. Although he understands how much she dislikes Chloe, it doesn't make sense for him to do the same, not when he is building back their friendship again. The bluenette was very upset at his answer, and before she even knew it, their conversation turned into a big fight and they haven't talked since then.
Marinette exhales, she can't believe it. If Adrien loves her, why would he go as far as to fight her to protect Chloe, Kagami and Himawari? She's his girlfriend, not them. Why would he do this to her?
Her hand balls into a fist when she sees the next students walk through the door, it's Adrien and Himawari, smiling and laughing as if nothing happens. She grits her teeth, looking at the raven head with anger in her eyes. Himawari is her friend, why would she do this to her?
"Chloe, you're back!"
"I am." the blonde smiles fondly at her friend, a rare sight that almost makes the whole class gasped.
"Did you manage to catch up with the schoolwork? I'm happy to lend you a hand."
"I might need that, thank you. Next week is the chemistry test, I'm not ready for that."
The sight of Himawari giggling with Chloe makes Marinette's blood boil. She is now friends with the girl she hates the most, but why? Why would Himawari do this to her? She knows very well how much the bluenette hates Chloe, and yet, still chooses to be her friend?
Disgusting…
She is disgusted at how fake the raven head is. On one end, she's all happy and sunshine with her and Alya. Now, she's talking to Chloe like they have been friends for quite a while. Has Himawari forgotten how much trouble that blonde brings to her? Who were the ones that always have her back? It's Marinette and Alya, not Chloe Bourgeois…
When Himawari returns to her seat, she greets the bluenette with a warm smile on her face, but her friend just glares at her and turns away, refusing to talk. The raven head blinks several times, confused at what's going on. Did she do something that make her mad?
"Uhm, Marinette?"
"Sabrina!"
Marinette stands up and walks toward Sabrina, talking and smiling at the girl as she guides the brunette to her desk.
"You, me and Alya can be in the same group for today's assignment."
Adrien turns to look at his girlfriend, frowning. Not only she's asking another person to replace Himawari in her group, but she's also forcing the raven head to switch her seat with Sabrina. The glassed girl is smiling and nodding in agreement, feeling very excited to be in the same group with the bluenette.
"O-oh, but what about Himawari?"
"Don't worry about that. Alya doesn't care, right?"
Alya who just walked into the classroom is baffled at what happened. She doesn't understand what the situation is but she knows very well that Marinette clearly does not welcome Himawari into their group. The brunette frowns, trying to reason with her friend but Himawari shakes her head gently. They shouldn't cause a scene right now.
"But Himawari…"
"It's okay, I don't mind." she smiles at Alya "I'm going to sit with Chloe, call me if you guys need me."
Alya wears a complex look on her face. She's Marinette's best friend, of course, she will support whatever decision the bluenette is making, but to pull this stunt in front of a whole class? She might need to have a few words with her friend about this.
Chloe is fixing her nails when Himawari takes a seat next to her. If she has to be honest, she enjoys the raven head more than that Sabrina. But to see her being treated like that makes the blonde feel bad for her.
"So much for their friendship…"
"Don't worry too much about it." Himawari pulls out her sketchbook "Whatever makes her happy."
"You mean, whatever fills up her own ego."
Himawari doesn't respond to that. She doesn't want to. The raven head still wants to believe that Marinette is a sweet, loving girl who is a little bit mad at her for something. To say that Marinette is doing this to fan her ego makes her stomach twists painfully, she hates that idea…
Chloe glances at her friend, slightly shaking her head. Sweet and gentle Himawari who only sees the good in everyone, it's nice to see how kind she is towards everyone and yet, sometimes that kindness is backfiring at her right now.
Today's class is dreadfully long, almost everyone can feel the tension in the air between the two girls. Maybe it's Himawari's imagination, but her blue-haired friend is awfully loud today, talking about how amazing Sabrina is and how she's so glad to have her in the same group. Even Adrien and Juleka give her weird looks for being so obvious like that.
"She's trying to provoke you," Chloe whispers as she glues the wooden sticks together "I guess that she fails a lot. You don't seem to be bothered by it."
"I don't care much about that type of talk." Himawari smiles to herself "As long as it doesn't affect me or anyone around me, I don't really care."
"So the only thing that truly bothers you is when Luka is in the picture…"
Himawari almost choke at her own saliva when she heard this. Since everything begins to settle down for Chloe, she seems to be more playful at teasing her along with Kagami.
"Can you stop saying things like that…?" her face is bright red as she tries to tell off her friend.
The two girls look at each other as they giggle, such lighthearted banter is exactly what they need to fight off the tension in the air. Marinette turns her attention to the raven head, biting her lips angrily. How can she still be happy when Sabrina is replacing her? What is it that she can do to make her pay for what she did? What is it…?
A picture comes across her mind as she smiles to herself…
Luka… It has to be him…
Alya speaks to her friend in private about what she did this morning, the bluenette just stares at her, in awe at the accusation. Her best friend is thinking about her like that? That she's the one who stirs the pot and causes the problem? What about Himawari? Or Adrien? Or Chloe? Or Kagami? Why are they not the problem but she is?
"Marinette, I don't understand where this jealousy coming from. We all know that Adrien likes you a lot, why are you acting like he's doing something wrong? And why putting your anger on Himawari?"
"I have the right to be angry! If she doesn't go all saintly and decides to help Chloe, none of this would happen!"
"Chloe? What about Chloe? What the hell did she do?" Alya exclaims "You're making a fool out of yourself, Marinette. Being all angry and jealous like that!"
The bluenette pouts at her friend's words. Even Alya doesn't understand her, why would she even care…
"Whatever, if you think that I'm so stupid, then leave me!"
She walks away, leaving Alya gritting her teeth with irritation. This girl…Alya can't believe that's what Marinette told her…
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Alya exhales heavily. Now is not the time for her to be all riled up about what the bluenette told her, she needs to find her friend and stop whatever she's planning to do. Following Marinette, she spots her walking to Luka's classroom.
No no no…Marinette, no…
School time is over, the last bell of the day has rung, all students are ready to leave and go home. For Marinette to walk up to Luka's classroom, what is it that she's planning to do?
"Hi Luka…" the bluenette wears a lovely smile on her lips "Can you help me with something?"
"Marinette, hey there!" the older boy nods his head "What do you need?"
"Come with me first."
Luka follows her, not knowing what's going on. He doesn't know about how Marinette grows distant from Adrien, or how she is angry at Himawari. He knows nothing about that. Lately, he has been with his father and helped him with the band deal. Despite having little time with Himawari, he still calls her every night and talks about the progress. Although not seeing each other that often, the bond between them is still growing strong.
Marinette leads him to the school ground, where they can become the center of attention. Luka looks around, he's getting skeptical about this place. Why Marinette wants him to be here?
Lila, who is talking to Sabrina upstairs, looks down, and a satisfying smirk appears on her face. She doesn't even need to put her hand to work and here is Marinette, doing all the bidding for her. She understands the class rep very well to know that by just provoking her, Marinette can stir up the pot and she gets to entertain herself with whatever is going to happen down there.
"Is that Marinette and… Luka?"
"This is interesting…"
She can see it, Alya is rushing toward her friend, Adrien and Nino are walking down the stairs, and the trio Himawari, Chloe and Kagami are close enough to see what's going on. Best of all, Luka and Marinette are at the center of attention, whatever that bluenette is planning to do, she is sure that everyone in the school can see it.
Lila might not have any beef with Himawari Ono but she is sure to love seeing scandalous things. It's always piped her interest to see what bad things can happen to good people like the raven head, how just one betrayal can turn a person agaisnt their friends…
"Marinette, what are we doing here?" Luka looks at the bluenette, confused.
"Oh, you know, I was just thinking…"
Her voice may be soft and sweet, but Luka can sense it, the melody inside her heart is dark and twisted.
None of this is my fault…
Marinette keeps telling herself that. It's Adrien's fault for making her mad, it's Chloe's and Kagami's fault for interfering in her relationship, it's Himawari's fault for even helping that spoiled blonde in the first place. If she had decided to do nothing, then none of this would happen.
And now, she even dares to laugh and giggle with Chloe while acting so saintly, like she did absolutely nothing wrong. Marinette hates it, she hates it so much that the raven head can be so calm, even after what happened this morning. She despises that calmness inside her…
Looking at Luka, she knows exactly what she wants to do. Adrien will be here, Himawari will be here, and she will make sure that they learn their lesson for making her mad. If her guess is correct, the only person that can make Himawari upset is no other than Luka.
Marinette knows Luka liked her and maybe he still does. She also finds Luka very attractive, so why not?
Why not kill two birds with one stone?
"Luka…"
She leans in, noticing how the older boy is taking a step back.
Hell no... No way you're messing up my plan, Luka!
Her hands are on his face, Marinette leans in, capturing his lips with hers.
She can hear the cheering around her, people are whistling at them for being so bold at confessing their feelings. As bad as it sounds, she loves it. Luka is shocked, he holds onto her arms tightly and yanks himself off her, his brows furrowing as he looks at her in disbelief.
"What in the world are you doing?" he snaps at her.
"Brother!"
"Marinette!"
Juleka runs up to him, holding his arm tightly as she is afraid he might do something he will regret later. Alya steps in, blocking the older boy from Marinette. She turns to her friend, her eyes open widely at the bluenette. The cheering is still happening, some are even bold enough to tell them to keep going. But none of them matter when Luka hears the clattering sound of books falling onto the floor, his heart drops immediately when he sees her.
Those beautiful amethyst eyes are filled with tears. Himawari bites her lips, trying to hold back the sob as she runs away, dropping all her belongings to the floor as she flees, ignoring their call. Her body feels numb, her eyes hurt as tears keep falling down, blurring her vision. She keeps running, as fast and as much as she possibly can, until her legs give up on her. Himawari can barely breathe, her chest tightens painfully, her body is actively blocking away all the noises as she wraps her arms around herself, feeling so hurt, so weak, so…
So betrayed…
Chloe casts a look at her other raven head friend before running after Himawari, her hands carrying the sketchbook. Kagami looks at them, she can't believe what they just did. What's even worse is the loud storming footstep coming toward them.
"Adrien!" she calls out "Adrien, calm down!"
"Why did you do it?" the blonde roars at Luka, hand fisting his collar "WHY?"
"Adrien!" Nino tries to break them off, but the grip of his friend is too strong.
"What is going on here? Break off, you two!" the PE teacher, Mr. Ross runs to them, pulling the aggressive blonde off Luka "Both of you, to the principal office."
Adrien grits his teeth, his hand fists into a ball and before anyone can react, he punches Luka. It's like his heart is taken away by anger, the blonde keeps hitting his opponent, with Luka trying his best to block the punch as much as possible. Mr. Ross hooks his arms onto Adrien, dragging him off the older boy while Juleka helps him stand up, fearing that her brother might be hit again.
"This is enough, Mr. Agreste! You will be expelled from school if you keep doing this!"
But Adrien doesn't listen, he's too angry, too upset to even realize that he's doing something wrong. Mr. Ross has to use most of his strength to get a hold of the blonde, stopping him from breaking free and grabbing Luka. Juleka looks at her brother with worries filling her eyes, she takes out a handkerchief and wipes the blood on the corner of his lips.
"Adrien, calm down!"
"You two, to the principal office!"
Nino has to help Mr. Ross escort them to the principal office, leaving the girls behind. Alya exhales heavily and turns to Marinette, who just realized how bad the situation it is.
"Alya…"
"Don't! Not one word from you!" Alya snaps at her "You've disappointed me!"
"How could you?" Juleka yells at her "Do you think that playing with my brother's feelings is funny?"
The bluenette turns to her, surprised at the outburst. She did nothing wrong, nothing…
Right…?
"I told you already, I will not hesitate to take Adrien from you if you make him upset." Kagami stares at her coldly "I guess it's time for me to make it happen."
Marinette looks at her friends, all are very upset with her. She had thought that she did the right thing, that she was the right person here, and yet…
Why is her heart aching so much…?