Marinette is a new student at a high-end boarding school for talented students with advanced skills. In her case, fashion design, complex/abstract thinking, and creativity.
One of her new classmates is former teen model Adrien Agreste with whom she gets off on the wrong foot. But normal is subjective, and that certainly applies to Adrien...
As usual, there will be an attempt to put song lyrics in here, with/without modifications. Nothing in this chapter, mind you, but I still wanted to put my stamp on it.
A high-end building heavy with vertical foresting in the center of Paris, France, designed and built with the latest in sustainable architecture, technology, and infrastructure.
In front of the building was a girl of about seventeen, with black hair in pigtails, bright blue eyes, fair skin, wearing a white shirt with a pink flower appliqué under a dark gray blazer, pink pants, and flat shoes. She had a large, rose gold, wheeled suitcase in hand.
Behind her were her parents - a petite, Chinese woman with grey eyes and wearing a cream cheongsam, and a large, bear-like man with brown hair, a mustache, sideburns, and green eyes.
"This is it... Miracle Lycée for the Arts and Sciences!" She said, impressed. "It's even more beautiful in person!"
She turned to her parents and she said, "Papa, maman, thank you so much for letting me come here instead of putting up with François-Dupont for much longer."
"You're welcome, Marinette. If the school wasn't going to hold Chloé accountable, then it was the least we could do to keep you from suffering anymore." Tom, her father, said.
"And you're still in the city, so if you ever need to come by for a visit, you can." Sabine added.
"A fresh start, and hopefully Zoé and I are roommates, or even in the same class," Marinette said. "If Zoé's happy here, then it has to be good."
"Tell her we say hello if you see her," Tom said. "Now, shouldn't we get inside to help you settle into your dorm room?"
"Let's!" Marinette said as she took her suitcase and made a beeline inside.
Immediately, they were in the "lobby" of the school, which was where most of the homerooms and shared spaces were (dining facilities, bathrooms, library). There were multiple wings and levels to the building, including going above and beyond the minimum universal accessibility standards. Marinette looked down and saw the floors were made transparent glass. The basement floor was a bullet monorail system that had several mini, solar-powered bullet trains that would bring students and faculty between campus and other parts of the city.
"Wow..." Marinette said, looking around at the entire building with awe, like a child who'd seen snow for the first time in her life. "It's just as impressive on the inside!"
"Here's the directory... The dorms are upstairs on the next floor." Sabine said.
Marinette and her parents made their way into the dormitory wing of the school. It was coed with the standard boys' only and girls' only rooms, as well as gender-neutral rooms. There was even a large, shared space for gatherings. Marinette looked at the slip that had her room number on it. She looked back up and saw the door to the room.
"There it is." Marinette said as she led her parents over to the door. She took out her key card and scanned it, unlocking the door.
Marinette opened the door and stepped inside. It was a larger room, about a half-size larger than her room back at the bakery. The walls were a basic, neutral cream color. Instead of a loft bed like Marinette had at home, there were two extra long, full-size beds, one on each side of the room. There were desks, outlets, a mini fridge for snacks, the usual basic furniture and furnishings a dorm room would have, including a common area for the students to share.
Half the room was furnished with a lot of superhero merch, Majestia in particular, as well as some kawaii fox-themed trinkets. There were encyclopedias and standard school-issued textbooks, too.
The other half didn't have any furnishings or personalized decorations to it, but Marinette saw it as a blank canvas for her work.
"Hi there!" A voice spoke, and Marinette looked over to the occupied desk.
There, Marinette saw a girl with dark red, wavy hair, tan skin, and hazel eyes behind glasses. She'd stopped what she was doing on her laptop and turned around in her spinning chair to give them a smile.
"You must be my roommate," Marinette spoke as she approached the girl. "I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng."
"Alya Césaire, head of the school blog and newspaper," Alya responded as she put her hand out to shake. "As well as a big Majestia fan. I've been waiting for you."
"Really?" Marinette asked, smiling.
"Yeah! I've had this room all to myself. Don't get me wrong, I like having the extra space and privacy, especially when I want to be alone with my boyfriend, but I've been looking forward to having a roommate I can be gal-pals with." Alya responded.
"That's great, me too!" Marinette said, smiling.
"So, want me to help you make your part of the room your own?" Alya asked as she stood up with a smile.
"I'd love that!" Marinette said.
"Then let's get started!" Sabine spoke.
Once the family, with Alya's assistance, was finished furnishing Marinette's part of the room, the upcoming fashion designer's style of pink and neutral tones was on full display. They brought in a folding shelving unit for Marinette's fabrics, trimmings, and tools. They set up another desk for Marinette's sewing machine, too.
"This is perfect!" Marinette said as she and her family looked at her new setup.
"So... You think it's time for us to go?" Tom said, sounding choked up.
"It is. Let's give Marinette her space to get acclimated," Sabine agreed. Marinette turned to her. "Honey, make sure to call or visit us whenever you can or if you need anything."
"Since you're still in Paris, we expect you to come by for Saturday night dinner every week!" Tom insisted, putting his hands on her shoulders.
"Okay, okay, I will!" Marinette laughed.
"And I almost forgot!" Tom said as he let go of Marinette and he gave her a huge box with their bakery's logo on it. "I think you'll need these in your classroom tomorrow: mini boxes of assorted macarons!"
"Thanks, dad!" Marinette said as she took the box and put them on her desk. "This is perfect! I'll be sure to give them out to my classmates tomorrow!"
She hugged her parents again. They stayed there for a few minutes.
When they left, Marinette and Alya immediately started talking to each other.
"So you're here for the fashion program?" Alya asked, looking interested.
"I sure am!" Marinette confirmed. "What about you?"
"I'm in the journalism division," Alya told her. "I can't wait for you to meet the rest of the girls! Rose, Juleka, Myléne, Alix, Zoé-"
"Wait, Zoé? As in Zoé Lee, Mayor Bourgeois's stepdaughter?" Marinette asked, a smile growing her face.
"Yeah, that's her. Why?" Alya questioned, quirking an eyebrow.
"What a coincidence! She and I are already good friends. In fact, she's the person who recommended I transfer here." Marinette responded.
"Really?!" Alya asked, smiling in surprise.
"Yep! I met Zoé before I learned she and Chloé are maternal half-sisters. Once I got her to open up to me about why she was acting like... Well, like Chloé, she and I became friends, and we both began standing up to that sister of hers." Marinette explained.
Alya laughed, her arms around her stomach.
"So you're the friend that Zoé mentioned was transferring here! Any friend of Zoé's is a friend of mine." Alya said, before holding her hand out for a fist bump.
Marinette returned the gesture. They bumped fists and said, "Pound it!"
One restful sleep later, and Marinette was up and at em', ready for her first class. And the best part? She, Alya, and Zoé were in the same homeroom!
The girl changed into a homemade outfit resembling a private school uniform in her usual color scheme. It consisted of a dark grey, waist-length Eton jacket similar to her earlier blazer. It was worn over a white pullover blouse that had fitted bracelet sleeves with French cuffs, and her standard appliqué on it. The blouse was tucked into a pink, banded knee-length skirt. Finally, Marinette was white knee-length nylon stockings and dark grey flat Mary Jane shoes. As always, her hair was in its pigtails.
"Girl, did you make that ensemble on your own?!" Alya asked, examining Marinette as she looked in the mirror to make sure nothing was off.
"Sure did," Marinette said as she turned to face Alya. "I thought that since I'm in the fashion division, why not show off a little bit?"
"That's the spirit, Marinette!" Alya said as she went to the door of their room. "The rest of the girls are going to be happy to meet you."
"I can't wait! Let's go!" Marinette said.
"Hold on, girl, aren't you forgetting something?" Alya asked, pointing out the macaron boxes that sat at her desk.
"Oh, that's right!" Marinette said as she grabbed the macarons before leaving out the door.
They left their room to get to their homeroom class for attendance - and just Marinette's luck, she shared her homeroom with Alya, too!
The classes were set up as follows: students would be organized in a traditional homeroom format with one teacher, but once homeroom was done, everyone would split off and attend the classes specific to their program, but they would be required to come back to their homeroom for general education courses. Another plus to how the school was structured, there wasn't any rush on assignments, pressure to achieve good grades, or tight/strict deadlines for certain projects. They were encouraged to learn at their own pace and do their assignments in ways that they learned the best, playing to their strengths. This included the option of repeating assignments multiple times if necessary. This was to accommodate any outside factors beyond the students' control, their individual learning styles, and to make sure their experience wasn't stressful or traumatic.
When Alya brought Marinette to the room, she opened the door and said, "Morning, everyone!"
"Morning, Alya!" The rest of the class said with big smiles.
Marinette followed Alya inside and she went right to their teacher - Mlle. Caline Bustier - who was standing in front of the class. Alya went to her seat, which was at a shared, empty bench. She was sitting behind a somewhat taller boy with tan skin, golden eyes behind glasses, wearing a red cap. He turned around and put his hand on hers.
'So that must be Alya's boyfriend.' Marinette thought, smiling.
"Alright, class, we have a new student joining our homeroom today," Caline said before gesturing to Marinette. "Please, introduce yourself if you feel comfortable doing so."
Marinette gave a nod before turning to her classmates and saying, "My name's Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and I'm here to study fashion design. I'm happy to be here, given this school's reputation."
"Well, welcome, Marinette," Mlle. Bustier said with a smile. "Now, let's see if there's an open seat somewhere..."
"Before that," Marinette said before presenting the macaron boxes. "Courtesy of my parents' bakery, I brought everyone mini variety boxes of macarons!"
Everyone started chattering in delight, and Marinette began passing the small boxes out to everyone's seats. When she got to a seat further in the back, she smiled at a familiar face: Zoé.
"Hi, Zoé!" She greeted as she gave her blue-eyed blonde friend a macaron box.
"Same school and same homeroom? What luck!" Zoé commented with a smile as she received the box.
"I know!" Marinette giggled.
When she came over to Alya's boyfriend, she saw the seat next to him was empty.
"Hey, does anyone sit here?" Marinette asked.
"Right, dudette," He spoke with a smile. "The name's Nino Lahiffe. Head of the school radio."
"Nice to meet you." Marinette greeted as she put a mini box in Nino's hand and one in the seat next to him.
Once all the macarons were passed out, Marinette looked around to see if there was an empty spot for her to sit in. Alya pat the spot next to her with a grin. Marinette took this invitation with a smile, sitting down next to Alya.
After another two minutes of chatting up her new bestie, the door opened again.
"Sorry I'm late!" A masculine voice said, sounding apologetic.
"No worries, Adrien," Caline spoke. "Just make sure you manage your time a little better."
"Y-Yes, Mlle. Bustier." He spoke.
Marinette wasn't paying attention to him, still talking to Alya.
"Hey, dude." Nino said as he did a fist-bump with his table mate.
"Thanks for waiting for me." Adrien said as he went to sit down.
"Dude, wait! There's-" Nino spoke, but there was a crunching sound interrupting him as Adrien sat down.
He shot out of his seat with a yelp and looked at the crushed macaron box there.
"Hey, who put this here?!" He said as he picked the up box.
"I did." Marinette said, breaking her face away from Alya to look at who sat on her goodwill gift.
Blonde hair, green eyes, sun-kissed skin, and tasteful, yet casual clothes. Instantly, she recognized him.
"Wait, aren't you Adrien Agreste?" Marinette questioned, more surprised than anything to see him at her new school.
"Yes," He responded, sounding bored, like he'd been asked that a million times. "You put this box of macarons here? That's a new one."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Marinette asked, standing up with her hands on her hips, as she watched him taste the crushed cookie.
"I've never had a fan transfer to school just to give me macarons before," He commented, acting like it was an everyday thing. He smiled at the flavor. "Especially passion fruit macarons. My favorite."
'What the hell is with this guy?!' Marinette thought, irked.
"In case you hadn't noticed, I put macaron boxes at everyone's seats." Marinette said as she gestured around the classroom.
Adrien did a brief once-over at his peers, and a look of embarrassment passed over his face.
"But still, how'd you know passion fruit is my favorite?" Adrien questioned, looking between the busted box in his hand and at Marinette. He still seemed skeptical.
"That's just it: I didn't," Marinette stated, sounding exasperated. "My parents just sent me in with a bunch of mini variety boxes, and I passed them out at random. Hell, I didn't even know you attended this school!"
"Y... Really?" Adrien asked, sounding surprised.
"Of course! I've got no control over what flavors my parents put in the boxes!" Marinette responded, looking at him with major ire. "Don't act like you're above us all! It was bad enough I had to deal with Chloé Bourgeois back at my old school, I don't need a male version of her hassling me here!"
Adrien looked taken aback, and he was stunned silent. Marinette kept her eyes on him as he fidgeted a bit, looking unsure of himself. Still cautious, Marinette watched him, anticipating his next move.
Adrien opened his mouth and said, "I think-"
"Alright, that's enough." Mlle. Bustier interrupted as she started taking attendance, marking Adrien late.
Adrien gave her one last look, a hurt expression on his face, and he merely sat down next to Nino.
'Good. That ought to put him in his place.' Marinette thought, satisfied.
She sat back down in her seat next to Alya. Marinette turned and watched her new bestie chew the macaron in delight.
"Too bad you sat on the cookies, Adrien. They're da-YUM good!" Alya teased as she popped the last of the lemon-poppy seed macaron in her mouth.
Adrien gave Alya a petulant expression before looking at Marinette for a second. He turned to face the blackboard and sighed in dismay.
"Sorry, dude. I was about to warn you those macarons were there," Nino said in a rueful tone. "Hopefully, she gets over it."
"Me too. But calling me a male version of Chloé?" Adrien muttered. "That's low. She's no friend of mine."
Nino looked at his box of macarons, and he saw a passion fruit one. He handed it to Adrien. The blonde gave a grateful smile to Nino before taking a bite. He brightened in delight.
"Hey! Marinette, right?" Adrien asked, trying to get the girl's attention.
Marinette looked at him with a scowl.
"Listen, I'm so-" Adrien began, but Marinette put a hand up to stop him.
"Just enjoy the macaron." Marinette interrupted in a terse tone before turning back to talk to Alya.
'Not even ten minutes in, and I already know who's friend and who's foe,' Marinette thought, side-eying Adrien in caution before looking at Alya and Zoé with a smile. 'It's great to share a homeroom with Zoé. And Alya will be a great BFF and roommate. M. Conceited Blonde aside, everyone else in this classroom seems nice, too.'
After attendance was taken, Marinette got to talking with the rest of the class, mainly the girls.
"So, you transferred here on Zoé's recommendation, right?" Myléne asked to confirm.
"Yeah," Marinette explained before turning to their blonde gal-pal. "You're so lucky you attend this school, Zoé. I've heard great things about it from you."
"At my last boarding school back in New York, I was forced to play a part. Being someone I wasn't," Zoé confessed. "But soon enough, I couldn't keep the act up anymore, and then I found roaches in my locker."
"And Chloé did the same thing to me once, too!" Marinette said, empathy on her face.
"What a bitch," Alya said, disgusted at Chloé. "So glad you two started coming here."
The girls laughed. Marinette felt eyes on her, and she turned to look where they were coming from. Sure, there was Adrien, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, looking at her as if trying to figure her out. She rolled her eyes before going back to talking to her new friends.
"What's his deal?" Marinette asked under her breath, a sour tone.
"Oh, you mean Adrien?" Alix questioned. Marinette gave an annoyed nod.
"Don't worry about him. He's popular with the girls, and quite a few boys, too." Alya said, waving it off.
"Comes with the territory of being a former male model, I guess." Juleka mumbled.
Marinette scoffed and said, "That figures. Explains his ego."
"Marinette, you've got him pegged wrong," Rose said. "He's one of the most humble and understanding guys in school. Maybe you just caught him on a bad day?"
"Caught him on a bad day, huh?" Marinette repeated, sarcastic. "Doesn't matter as long as he leaves me alone."
The girls gave Marinette pensive looks.
Once homeroom was let out, Marinette made a beeline to her first class on her schedule: color theory. This class had an intersectional vibe to it - students from other programs were in the class too, ranging from graphic design and book illustration to digital character creation and embroidery. Even culinary/baking students were in there with food colorings/ingredients as their mediums. And Marinette shared this class with Nathaniel Kurtzburg, one of her classmates from homeroom.
"So you're in the visual arts program?" Marinette asked as she worked on organizing fabric swatches into different color schemes - analogous, complimentary, split complimentary.
"Sure am. My focus is on comic books." The blue-eyed redhead said as he sketched out a few new characters for his comics, while showing Marinette a few examples of his past works.
"Wow!" Marinette spoke as she looked over his sketches. "This is professional-level work!"
"Merci," He spoke, a red tint in his face. "Maybe you could help me out on sketching clothing movement? That's one of my weaknesses."
"Okay." Marinette said with a nod as she started using the color schemes she came up with to sketch some new outfits for the project.
Art history class was another fun one, especially since her classmate, Alix Kubdel, was an expert on the subject. And she'd been paired with Alix for a little exercise.
"So, let me get this straight: the Archaic Period of ancient Greece came about as a consequence of increased trade and cultural influences from surrounding regions?" Marinette summarized as she and Alix sorted the images of different pottery and sculpture pieces from different art periods from Greece.
"Yep. Greek artwork had more realism in their human figures because of the advances in technology. Two major art styles, black-figure and red-figure pottery, emerged from it, too. Most pottery pieces had the same side handles, wide centers, and long necks, but the shape of the piece indicated its use." Alix explained while pointing out the pictures.
"That's incredible!" Marinette spoke. "You're good at this!"
"My dad's the curator at the Louvre Museum, so I've been taught by the best." Alix said, thumb-jerking at herself in pride. Marinette laughed at her pink-haired peer.
Between classes, Marinette was walking the halls, looking at her surroundings with delight. There were balconies at some of the windows that had space for the vertical forest, including native flowers and trees.
'The atmosphere's so peaceful,' Marinette thought, smiling at such a happy contrast. 'It's such a wholesome environment. The teachers are so patient and they encourage interdisciplinary learning in these classes.'
Several other students walked by and waved hello to her, which she returned.
'My peers are so friendly here, too!' Marinette thought.
Back at François-Dupont, if anyone even so much as smiled at Marinette, Chloé would not let it slide. They'd be targeted by the brat, and Marinette would suffer even more. And every time she filed a complaint against the school, M. Damocles would either ignore it, or if he tried to hold Chloé accountable, she'd pull out the "mayor's daughter" card and get away with murder.
She spent so much energy trying to fight for what was right, but it didn't take long for her to get burned out from it. Constantly walking on eggshells, nobody willing to be her partner on school assignments, But minus that little hiccup with Adrien earlier, Marinette was all but certain her time at this new school would be smooth sailing.
Marinette made her way to the locker areas of the school and found her assigned locker. Next thing she knew, her foot caught on something, she screamed and flailed her arms, and she landed on her stomach. She groaned and looked behind her to see she'd dripped on a duffle bag strap.
"Sorry, that's mine!" A familiar voice spoke. Marinette looked up and saw Adrien was looking down at her in concern. He held his hand out.
"Oh, it's yours, huh?" Marinette griped as she pulled her legs up underneath her and stood up.
Adrien protested, "I didn't put my duffle bag there to trip you on purpose!"
Realizing nobody else was in there and Adrien seemed to be minding his own business, Marinette took a deep breath to calm herself down.
'He must've assumed that nobody else was going to come in, or at least thought they'd watch their feet...' Marinette thought, realizing she hadn't done so.
She said, "...Okay. I'll give you a pass this time, since I wasn't watching where I was going."
Adrien gave her a shocked, almost disgusted expression as Marinette made her way to her assigned locker, which was only two lockers down from his own. She opened it and saw it hadn't been tampered with. Smiling, she made her exchange before shutting the locker door.
"Marinette, listen, I-" Adrien began, but once again, Mairnette put a hand up to silence him.
She picked up her bag and walked right past him, this time walking around his duffle bag and leaving to get to her next class - back to their homeroom for physics. Internally, she groaned. Not her strong suit.
She was sitting next to Alya and trying her best to read the equations up on the board, but to her, it wasn't any different than reading a language she couldn't understand. In her eyes, the symbols and numbers came to life, turned into stick figures, and started dancing a tango. She was scratching her head in confusion.
"Having trouble?" Alya asked.
"Yeah," Marinette said. "I can't make sense of these equations."
She craned her head behind her to look at a shorter, dark-skinned boy wearing green and had glasses on his face. There was a small robot hovering next to him. The little machine had a small screen with eyes and a robotic arm.
Marinette turned back to Alya and whispered, "Maybe I should ask Max for help? I know I've only met him today, but I get the feeling that STEM concepts are his niche."
"You're right, STEM is his forté. But you know, Adrien's pretty good at physics, too," Alya commented, jerking her head to the blonde in front of them. "Why don't you ask him to tutor you?"
Marinette gave her best friend a look that said, "Don't even think about it."
Alya shrugged with a "whatever" expression before turning back to the chalkboard to look over the formulas.
During lunch, Marinette sat with the girls, eating a great meal with them. Marinette looked up and saw the menu was well-balanced and high-quality. And a few students were bustling in the kitchen, too.
"So the culinary students take turns cooking the meals and desserts here?" Marinette asked while eating a bite of Colombo. "Tastes great! They're going a good job!"
"Yeah, and get this: my mom comes in as a guest chef instructor sometimes." Alya responded.
"Awesome!" Marinette laughed.
She looked at her surroundings, amazed at how beautiful her new school was. But as she scanned the cafeteria, she saw Adrien - who was sitting with his group of guy friends - was looking at her with a blank expression. Once he realized she was looking at him, he gave a wave. In response, she puffed out her cheeks in annoyance before refocusing on her food.
Adrien's expression deflated, he gave a snort before turning back to his group, continuing to eat.
"You okay, dude?" Nino asked.
"No. I'm still replaying what happened in homeroom in my mind," Adrien muttered. "And when she tripped on my duffle bag earlier, it only got worse."
"Have you tried talking to her?" Marc - a boy with black hair and green eyes, wearing a bit of makeup - asked.
"I want to, but she won't give me the time of day," Adrien added. "I can't process this... One mistake and she's already looking at me like I dumped a bucket of garbage on her head."
The boys looked at Adrien in worry, but Ivan got that "lightbulb" look on his face.
"Hey, I just remembered: she sits behind you in homeroom, doesn't she?" Ivan asked.
The boys looked at each other, and an idea started forming...
That evening, Marinette was at her sewing machine in her dorm room, working on some of her assignments for one of her fashion courses. She was humming and singing along to one of her favorite Clara Nightingale songs.
Her phone started going off, and she saw she had a video call from her mother.
She answered it and said, "Maman, great to see you!"
"Hi, sweetie. How was today?" Sabine asked.
"Maman, today was almost perfect!" Marinette laughed.
"Almost?" Sabine asked, sounding a bit confused.
"What do you mean, almost?" Tom questioned before pushing himself into view.
Marinette gave an abbreviated recount of her encounters with Adrien, deliberately leaving out his name and description.
"Honey, it doesn't seem like he was actively going out of his way to antagonize you," Sabine reasoned. "Yes, he was acting full of himself, but calling him a male Chloé? Wasn't that uncalled for?"
Marinette scoffed before telling her parents, "Calling me a fan that transferred to Miracle Lycée just to give him macarons was uncalled for."
"Also true, but I think you should still talk to him about what happened and apologize to him." Tom said to her.
Marinette went silent for a little bit...
"Hey girl, you at a good stopping point?" Alya asked as she came up behind Marinette.
"Sure, why?" Marinette questioned, turning away from the sewing machine.
"Everyone's outside, waiting for us. We have something for you. Come on!" Alya said as she gave Marinette a "come on" motion with her arm and went over to the door.
"Okay," Marinette said before turning back to her phone. "Sorry, I gotta go."
"Have fun, honey." Sabine said.
Marinette gave a smile before hanging up, getting out of her seat and following Alya.
Alya brought Marinette out to the shared space in the dormitory area. Their entire homeroom class was there, as well as some other faces Marinette didn't recognize - Marc was there, along with a girl with short, dark hair, brown, almond-shaped eyes, and wearing a Japanese school uniform. She was holding hands with a boy who could easily be Adrien's identical twin brother, but his clothes were more formal and his hair was slicked back heavily.
"Hey guys, we're here." Alya called to the group.
"So, you're Marinette?" The Japanese girl spoke, approaching. "I'm Kagami."
"Nice to meet you! And are you Adrien's twin brother?" Marinette spoke before addressing Kagami's companion.
"Actually, Adrien is my maternal cousin," Félix said, his tone a bit forced. "Our mothers are identical twins."
"Oops, sorry." Marinette said, feeling awkward.
"Don't worry, we get that a lot." Félix said, still holding Kagami's hand.
"So, what's all this?" Marinette asked as everyone gathered around for something.
"This school has a tradition for new students, whether they come up from the collége or are transfers," Rose spoke."Initiation time!"
"I-Initiation?" Marinette asked, sounding nervous. Her body went stiff and her eyes went wide.
"Don't worry, it's nothing dangerous or illegal." Alya assured, coming up next to Marinette with her arms crossed and a smile.
"School's always had a strict policy against hazing," Juleka mumbled. "Principal Fu's ahead of his time like that."
Marinette gave a relieved sigh before asking, "Then what's my task?"
"It's just an escape room game. Usually, it's three rooms at most, sometimes at opposite sides of the building." Ivan explained. Hearing this, Marinette's face changed from trepidation to excitement, her smile growing.
"The areas of the school that get turned into the escape rooms is selected at random, using Markov's AI random word generator," Max continued, gesturing to Markov. "This way we keep things unpredictable and interesting."
"And each room has a time limit of ninety minutes without any rollover. We just reset the clock every time you clear a room." Alix added.
"Doesn't matter whether or not you finish on time, though." Juleka murmured.
"You know how escape rooms work, right?" Nino asked Marinette.
"Yep. I've done a few," Marinette confirmed with a grin. "This should be fun."
"That's the spirit, girl!" Alya said as she and Marinette did a fist-bump. "Now, as for your partner..."
"A partner?" Marinette asked, a brow quirking.
"It's a safety precaution. Whenever it's only one new student getting initiated, the rule is that the student that sits in front of them is their partner." Sabrina explained.
"That would be me." Adrien said as he approached Marinette, with that same blank look on his face.
She returned the expression, but there was a subtle tension in her eyes.
'Why did it have to be this guy?' Marinette thought, trying to keep her discomfort and anxiety under wraps.
"Okay, so your escape room challenge will be in the library," Zoé spoke. "It's one of the bigger facilities at the school."
"Once you get there, Adrien will text Nino to let us know and then we'll start the clock," Myléne instructed. "Keep us updated, and text us pictures every time you think you've solved a clue, then we can tell you if you can keep going or if you have to try again."
"If we think you're taking too long on a clue, we'll drop a few hints via text." Alya added.
"Got it," Marinette said before turning to Adrien with a cold expression. "Let's get going."
She started walking away from the group to get to the library, all but ignoring Adrien's presence. Adrien took a deep breath before following after her.
"...You think it'll be okay?" Félix asked, leaning in closer to Nino.
"I'm sure, dude," Nino responded. "Once those two clear the air, I'm sure they'll get along fine."
"That's not what I meant." Félix spoke, giving Nino a knowing look.
"Then what... Oh." Nino said, realization coming upon his face.
Alright, that's it for chapter one! Sorry for the hiatus, I've been busy and I couldn't figure out a good plot for a story. Even now, I'm still trying to figure out how this one is going to go, even though I have a few pieces put in.
Anyway, coming up, now that she's forced to work with him for her initiation, Marinette finds out a little more about her new classmate...
The more comments and kudos this story gets, the better, and don't be afraid to drop plot ideas in your comments, either. Hope you enjoy!