Monday as usual came too soon. Marinette had spent her Sunday cleaning up her room and doing homework. She even tried writing her apology letter to Chat Noir, but it felt too weird to be apologizing to her partner for a fight he had no business butting into, well… almost no business. She really wanted to write a "thank you" for how he had helped her see that the world wasn't ending after the event, but she couldn't do that for obvious reasons. She decided she would figure out some generic apology later, hoping that Miss Bustier would let the whole thing go. How would she get the letter to Chat Noir anyway? She hadn't even bothered to think about the note she would have to write Chloé. Honestly, the whole idea of apologizing to her bully disgusted her, and she thought about exposing the whole situation to her parents just to get out of it, but the thought of them being disappointed stopped her. Now school was about to begin and Marinette silently dreaded when she would have to hand in her apology notes, and even worse, when she would have to spend an hour alone with Chloé.

As she walked to school she wondered what they would even talk about. The dance seemed like so long ago and the Chloé who opened up to her about Adrien seemed like a dream.

Marinette felt that even if Chloé had proved she could care about anyone but herself, that didn't prove she was a good person. Her and Adrien came from similar worlds of privilege and luxury, of course she cares about him. She felt bad lumping Adrien in with people like Chloé, but it was true.

Adrien…

Marinette hadn't had the courage to text him after he brought her back home on Saturday. She felt bad but, then again, he hadn't texted her either. She wondered if he had thought about her. If he thought about… her mind suddenly filled with images of his eyes when he almost kissed her. She covered her face with her hands and stopped to recover. Unreal! Everything about that day was unreal!

She took her hands from her face and looked around as if to see if anyone had peered into her thoughts. Everyone on the street was too consumed with their own lives to notice the awkward love sick girl on the sidewalk. She ran up the stairs of her school content to keep this happiness for herself a little longer. Once that bell rang she felt that everything would go back to normal and her time with Adrien would have been nothing more than one of her lame fantasies.

Marinette had just settled into her desk when Alya walked through the door.

"Hey, girl. What did you get up to this weekend? You were pretty silent. You're not cheating on me are you?!" Alya said dramatically. Marinette chuckled and lightly pushed Alya's arm.

"I was just…helping my parents with…stuff. Catching up on homework. Boring stuff." She said, She wasn't sure what compelled her to lie to Alya. Maybe it was the room where the conversation was too exposed. Maybe she thought it was too complicated to get into in the few minutes they had before their teacher arrived. Maybe…she wanted to keep the moments she had with Adrien between just themselves for a little longer. Maybe it was a combination of all three.

"Same. I literally slept until 3 on Saturday! Can you believe that! I didn't even go to sleep late on Friday." Alya said while unpacking her bag.

At that moment Nino and Adrien walked into the room. Adrien met Marinette's eyes and her heart lept in her chest. He smiled at her and gave her a small but friendly wave as he approached his seat. She gave him a small wave back and he beamed with happiness. Luckily, the keen eyes of the ladyblogger were still too immersed in her school supplies to notice the small but poignant exchange.

Then, as if on cue to ruin her mood, Chloé waltzed into the room. Chloé looked Marinette up and down and gave her a disgusted look before taking her seat, an anxious Sabrina not far behind. This morning was full of mixed emotions, but all that meant was that it was up to Marinette to determine how her day would go.

Classes were unusually calm the entire day, and Marinette left class with very little homework to accomplish. Maybe the effects of the dance still lingered in the air, or she had just forgotten what life was like without having to worry about Chloé's pranks and abuse. Marinette was having such a good day that she almost walked out of school without going to Miss Bustier's office. She groaned and gave Alya a quick goodbye before running back into the school.

When she got to her teacher's office she stood outside for a moment dreading what was on the other side. She took one last moment to send her mom a text about staying late at school before opening the door to the room.

Miss Bustier and Chloé were already sitting there waiting for her. Marinette was surprised that Chloé even came, but then again, there are some battles in life you can't pay your way out of.

"Thank you for joining us, Marinette. Take a seat." Miss Bustier said, directing Marinette toward the chair she had sat in the first time they got in trouble. Marinette slowly padded over to the seat and lowered herself into the soft velvet.

"Okay. I want you girls to talk while I'm gone. I don't care about what, but I want it to remain civil in here. I'm going to be in the teacher's lounge reading my book if you need me." Miss Bustier said as she left the room and the two girls inside.

They sat in silence for a long while which made Marinette even more anxious. What if Miss Bustier asked them what they had talked about, and they couldn't come up with anything? Would they be punished even further? Would the week turn into two?! Marinette searched for things to say. Questions she wanted to ask. Of all the important things she could think of she landed on-

"How was your weekend?" Her voice sounded unusually loud in the quiet room.

"Fine!" Chloé said, crossing her arms over her chest. Well, at least now she couldn't say she didn't try to talk to the royal brat. There was a long pause and then.

"How was yours?" Chloé asked begrudgingly while sinking into her chair.

"Oh..um. It was ok. I guess." She said, she wasn't really expecting Chloé to continue the conversation. Was it her turn again?

"Did you think about what I said?" Chloé asked in a more serious tone. Marinette didn't have a clue what she could be referring to. She stared at her blankly. "About Adrien?!" Chloé exclaimed.

Oh! "Oh! Yes, I did. I think you made a fair point about me liking him, but not really knowing him. I don't want to hurt him, but I don't want to give up on him either. I'm trying to love him-or at least trying to find better reasons to love him." Marinette said. She felt awkward talking about her love life with Chloé. She was sure she would find some way to use her feelings against her.

"Good for you." Chloé said flatly.

Marinette looked down at her hands and thought for a moment. "Chloé?" She said in a quiet voice.

"What, Dupain cheng?" Chloé sighed, putting her chin in her hand and leaning on the arm of her chair facing away from Marinette.

Marinette turned and stared at the girl she had known since childhood. She was so frightening yet she seemed so small at times. "Do your parents really compare you to me?" She asked.

She was ready to hear the screaming or even the silence that would follow such a question.

Instead, Chloé defeatedly replied. "What do you think?"

Marinette felt her stomach seize. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and took a deep breath.

"You know what they say isn't true right? You're fine the way you are. You don't have to be like me." Marinette said.

Chloé laughed bitterly and turned to Marinette. Marinette flinched at the sadness in Chloé's eyes, but didn't dare look away.

"OH really? You think I'm perfect Dupain cheng? What's your favorite part about me? Hmm?" She said. Marinette was silent. "Is it when I'm mean to you? Or how about how loud I am? Or how I take advantage of people? Oh I know, it's how I get to do whatever I want because I'm rich and my daddy is the mayor." She said, her voice growing angrier as she continued. Marinette stared, but didn't know what to say. "Yeah, didn't think so. There's nothing to like about me." Chloé said, sitting back in her chair and crossing her arms over her chest. She turned her head away from Marinette.

Suddenly Marinette was angry. "Well if you know that then why do you act the way you do. You know that you're a raging bitch and yet you don't change." Marinette said and even she was shocked by the venom in her voice.

"Because you're the nice one! You get good grades! You do good things, and I can't beat you!" Chloé yelled back. Chloé pulled at the hair on her head undoing her perfect ponytail. "I've tried..." she concluded in almost a whimper.

Marinette was frozen in her seat. The air in the room felt thick and Marinette felt that if she took a breath she might drown. The tension was broken by Miss Bustier opening her office door. Marinette looked around her chair to see her teacher standing there holding the door open.

"You two may go." She said in a gentle but authoritative tone.

Marinette jumped up from her seat and practically ran for the door. She couldn't stand one more moment in that room.

Marinette was bounding down the stairs when she suddenly heard a booming cackle from above. She paused to look up, but just as she did so she felt someone grab her by the wrist and drag her back up stairs.

"There's been an Akuma alert! Back in my office now!" Miss Bustier said as she shoved Marinette into her office and closed the door behind them.

Chloé was cowering in the corner of the room farthest from both the window and the door. Marinette ran to the window and saw a super villain zip through the sky at lightning speed. She could already tell this would be a hard job.

"Marinette, get away from the window." Miss Bustier said, guiding her to sit by Chloé. Marinette sank to her knees and watched the other two women in the room. Yup, this was going to be hard. How could she save Paris if she was stuck in here?

Miss Bustier made her way to the window to gauge the damage outside. She couldn't quite tell what was going on, but the villain didn't seem to be near.

Marinette could tell that Miss Bustier was anxious. Akuma alerts were helpful in telling you when an attack was happening, but they weren't always so useful in establishing when the coast was clear.

Marinette couldn't figure out how to get out of this situation. She couldn't just leave unless she wanted to face even more wrath from Miss Bustier. Maybe, Tikki could cause a distraction. No, that wouldn't work. Ugh! She was running out of time!

Her thoughts were interrupted by a whimper beside her. Marinette turned to look at Chloé who she had nearly forgotten was sitting right next to her. Chloé had her knees up to her forehead and was clutching her arms around her legs so hard that her nails were pulling apart the fabric of her jacket.

Marinette reached her hand out to touch Chloé but quickly pulled it back. She scooted in closer to the girl and leaned her head against the wall. "Are you ok?" She asked while still staring up at the ceiling.

"No!" Chloé said. Marinette could tell that she had tried to add her usual venom to the statement, but her word had just come out panicked and shaky.

"It's ok. Ladybug and Chat Noir will save us." Marinette said.

"Ladybug hates me." Chloé mumbled. Marinette felt guilt, shame, and embarrassment rush over her body at Chloé's words.

"W-what?! I'm sure that's not true!" Marinette said, knowing damn well it was more than true.

"She does. Even before she stopped giving me my miraculous she hated me." Chloé said, and though her usual entitlement was annoying, Marinette was just relieved she could distract her.

"You know it's not yours right?" Marinette couldn't help but bite back.

Chloé sighed deeply. "I know… I know that it's not but-!" Chloé caught her voice before it became too loud. She shot a glance at the door before continuing. "I guess I just felt like I could be who I've always wanted to be when I had the suit on. You wouldn't understand!" Chloé said once again slapping her hand over her mouth and looking toward the door.

Unfortunately, Marinette did understand. She knew how good it felt to be admired and respected. She knew what it felt like to put on that mask and let the worries of everyday drown out because somehow fighting villains was easier than math homework sometimes. She knew…and she knew she had messed up.

Chloé was volatile on a regular basis, and she was even worse as, Queen Bee. If Hawkmoth akumatized her again there was no guarantee that they would ever get the bee miraculous back again. Even worse, Chloé might be seriously hurt, but…

Suddenly, they heard the loud cackling booming through the halls of the school. The two girls and Miss Bustier, who had been silently watching the two of them from the other side of the room, huddled together.

"I need every girl in Paris! Then I can capture the miraculous!" A voice echoed through the halls.

"Great." Marinette said while rolling her eyes.

They could hear doors flying off their hinges and windows to classrooms being shattered. It was impossible to tell when the villain would be upon them.

"Girls listen to me!" Miss Bustier said urgently. She grabbed Marinette and Chloé by their shoulders and forced them to face her. "I'm going to go out there and lead him away from here. I want you both to run as soon as you think it's safe. Ok?" Their teacher said.

"But-" Marinette began to object to her teacher's plan.

"No "buts" Marinette. I'm serious. I want to protect you two and we're out of time." With that she gave both girls a hug and went to the door. She didn't even turn back before she ran out screaming at the top of her lungs.

Marinette led Chloé nearer to the door so that if anyone looked into the office through the small window in the door they wouldn't be seen.

They knew when the villain ran through that hall because either entire building shook with the speed. The door to the room which had been left slightly open fluttered before landing in a heap at their feet.

Marinette knew he would be back. They couldn't stay here. "Chloé, look at me!" Marinette said grasping Chloé's hand. The blonde looked back at her with teary eyes.

"What if you had another chance to prove yourself?" Marinette said determinedly looking into Chloé's pale blue eyes.

"I wouldn't let her down!" Chloé said so seriously that Marinette knew she could trust her.

"Then I need you to keep a secret."