Bustier's class goes through their gift exchange, and fun times are had by all.
Despite the winter weather, the air seemed warm as Marinette all but skipped to school, bundled in her scarf and hat with a box in hand. Humming a tune, she smiled, adjusting her bag full of presents.
"Morning, 'Nette!" Rose chirped as she met her outside. "You're cheerful today!"
"Of course I am, I can finally give people their Christmas gifts!" She laughed, bumping the blonde playfully on the shoulder as they made their way inside.
The building was thankfully warmer, and as a puff of warm air hit their faces, both girls visibly breathed a sigh of relief and pulled at their hats and scarves.
"Morning, Jules!" Rose greeted the taller girl with a hug as they went to the locker room.
Juleka's face pinkened, but she shyly smiled and hugged back. "Rose, Marinette. Hi."
"Oh! Juleka." Raising a hand, Marinette rummaged in her bag. "Hang on, gotta find- aha! Here."
Pulling out a little wrapped box, she handed it to the goth. Pulling out another, she gave that to Rose.
"Oh, Marinette!" The blonde girl squealed, hugging her tight. "Thank you! I'm sorry I don't have anything for you yet..."
"No sweat! I just wanted to make sure I could get it to you before winter break began. I'm not going to have a lot of free time."
Stuffing the box into her locker, Juleka slyly commented, "Does this mean Luka's getting one too?"
"I- I, uh, hey," Marinette's face bloomed red as she began to stumble over her own words. "I mean- n- not that I planned anything special special, but I- uh..."
Both of her friends chuckled.
"We're just teasing you," Juleka reassured with a shoulder squeeze. Then, leaning in, she grinned. "But between us, he's been talking about how much he's anticipating the box you give him..."
"O- ohhhh...!" Covering her face, the pigtailed girl moaned, "You're horrible, Jules!"
Rose giggled, clasping her hands together. "I think it's romantic! A dreamy upperclassman, the childhood friend's mysterious older brother... that's the stuff romance novels are made of!"
Juleka huffed in thinly-veiled amusement as Marinette finally got her things and shut her locker, perhaps a little louder than she meant to. It turned a few heads, and she sheepishly uttered a "Sorry!" to the other girls in the room.
"Hey, girls!" Alya and Alix met the group, all smiles. Alya brought her best friend in for a hug. "It's finally gift exchange day! I really hope one of us is paired up..."
"You never know!" She sing-songed, pulling out a couple of boxes. "For you!"
Both of the newcomers took their gifts eagerly. Alix gingerly shook it and Alya admired the bright paper.
"You shouldn't have," the pink-haired girl said. "Thanks, 'Nette!"
"I'm so opening this during break," Alya added.
"What's the point if you don't open it on Christmas?" Juleka jokingly gasped. "C'mon, Alya, you can't just ruin the surprise!"
"Oh, you're right," the brunette groaned with a playful eye-roll. She made a big show of putting it in her locker. "Fiiiiine, I suppose I can wait."
As the girls exited the locker room, they quickly fell into a excitable chatter.
"I can't wait to see who everyone got," Juleka commented. "I know Felix looked awfully put-off by whoever's name he has."
"Yeah..." Alya shivered. "Ugh, I just wanna get it over with. It was extremely hard finding something nice."
The other girls in the group murmured agreements. Marinette gripped her bag a little tighter as they approached Aurore and Mireille.
"Hey!" Aurore's face visibly brightened when she saw the girl. "Marinette! I have something for you."
"So do I," Mireille echoed.
The dark-haired teenager beamed as they both handed her little bags. "Aw, thanks! Here - I know your presents are in here somewhere too..."
Rummaging through the bag, she peeked in and let out a triumphant noise as she pulled out two boxes. "Here, Aurore, Mireille."
The blonde hugged the box to her chest. "Thank you! Uh, hey, if you see Nathanael, tell him Nurse Sissi wants us for a quick meeting during lunch. He's not answering texts."
"Will do!"
Alix glanced back at the two as they passed. Then a half-smile spread across her face. "You've really made friends this year, huh?"
"Hm?" Looking up, Marinette followed her gaze and her own eyes softened. "Well, yeah. This year's been hard on all of us. It's the least I could do, right?"
"Good morning, students!" Miss Bustier chirped as she walked into the room. Instead of her usual, she wore a festively-colored red and green blouse and white slacks. "Today is our gift exchange. I do hope all of you brought your presents to pass out. We'll get that going before class begins. But first!" She turned to Marinette, "Do you have the desserts?"
"I sure do!" She beamed at the teacher and brought out the patisserie box. Flipping it open revealed some delicious-looking cookies, some with fruit jelly and others plain. The class began murmuring excitedly at the sweets.
"Alright, one at a time! You can come down and get your dessert once you've handed over your gift." Waving her hand to settle down the students, she looked over her list. "Why don't we start with... Felix! You're new to the district."
The blond nodded, getting up and carrying a neatly-wrapped little box up to where Ivan was sitting. The larger boy looked surprised, but accepted it with a nod. Felix then made his way down to the front, accepting a plain cookie and one with orange marmalade.
Next, Ivan got up, bringing down a box to Felix - who looked up, equally surprised, before accepting it and watching as the boy made his way to get his own cookies.
"Oh, my!" Miss Bustier scanned the list again. "Um, how about... Alix!"
The pink-haired girl took out a bag, passing it up to where Max was sitting next to Kim. The boy offered her a thankful glance as she rose to get her snacks.
Max got up, carrying a small box over to Sabrina before walking away stiffly. The redhead looked rather bewildered, but she looked at the box with a secretive smile, tucking it away in her purse.
Then she got up, crossing the room and handing a bag to Nino, who accepted it with a quiet thanks.
Then Nino got up, waiting for his seatmate to let him out before heading for Mylene. She smiled up at him, taking the loosely-wrapped box carefully.
Mylene took out a comically-oversized box (one that made a few pairs of eyes grow wide) and moved around Ivan to hand it to Juleka. The girl grinned, setting it on the floor on the other side of Rose.
Rose held her breath as Juleka turned. She crossed her fingers and her toes as the girl brought out a box - and promptly her face flushed pink with excitement as Juleka handed it to her. (A couple of girls let out identical awes. Kim tapped Alix on the shoulder and slipped her a five-euro note.)
It took all of her might not to squeal, instead hugging the girl tight and smiling apologetically as she got out a bag and made her way down the aisles to Alix, who squeezed her hand appreciatively.
"Alright, hm..." Miss Bustier's eyes narrowed. "Kim! How about you?"
He grunted exaggeratedly as he got to his feet, making some of the girls chuckle and Alix and Max rolled their eyes. He handed a box to Nathanael, who accepted it a bit warily.
Nathanael got up, making his way down to the front as he offered a small box to Adrien, who took it with a bright smile.
Then it was the blond's turn. Felix nudged him, shooting him a knowing glance as he got up with a prettily-wrapped box, a bright pink-and-gray ribbon affixed to the top. He handed it to Marinette with a charming grin before accepting his sweets. Felix rolled his eyes at the display, even as Marinette's cheeks blushed a pretty shade similar to the ribbon.
"Way to be obvious," the older of the two murmured in his ear. Adrien soundly ignored him, biting into the cherry-topped cookie with his eyes closed in bliss.
Marinette stopped by her seat, picking out a cute little box and handing it to Kim, who gave her a bright grin and a chipper "Thanks, 'Nette!"
"Is that everyone? Alya, Chloe, neither of you have gone yet." Miss Bustier peered at them curiously. "Alya, since you're a class representative, how about you go first?"
The girl's face fell a little, but she straightened up with a nod and picked up her bag, handing it to Chloe. The girl looked down at her through her lashes for a moment, scrutinizing the bag before breathing a sigh through her nose and pulling out a neatly-wrapped box, handing it to her.
"You don't want any sweets?" Miss Bustier inquired.
"I'm on a diet, I can't be binging on unhealthy things like that." Chloe snorted, tucking the bag under the table.
"Well, at least she didn't insult you this time," Alya snarked in her friend's ear. Marinette let out a quiet little chortle of a laugh in response.
"Okay! Now that everyone's had their share, I think it's time we got started." Miss Bustier took the box of leftover cookies and set it on her desk.
"Thank you, Jules, thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you-!" Rose squealed as soon as first period ended. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself - but I love the necklace you got me!"
Juleka's face burned like a furnace as the smaller girl clung to her, babbling her gratitude all the while the dainty gold necklace hung around her neck. The cute little pink heart shimmered in the light.
"You got her that necklace?" Marinette gasped, cupping her hands over her mouth. "Juleka..."
"That's so sweet!" Mylene squealed. Her hands clasped together and she bounced in place. "Let me see!"
Peeling away from her flustered friend, Rose proudly tilted her chin up so the other girls could see the necklace. On a gold chain was a metal heart - and in the center was a single cloudy-pink stone.
"Rose quartz," Alix slyly commented, nudging the goth.
"I- it's because Rose loves pink," she defended, wrapping her arms around herself.
"And because it's got her name," the skater sing-songed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"I really, really, really love it," said girl reassured her, taking her hands in her own and smiling up at her. "I'll wear it every day! I'll never take it off! Well- maybe I will take it off - but only for things like bathing!"
"You should wear it for the Valentine's dance in February," Marinette spoke up, giving the girl a wink.
Rose gasped. "You're right! I completely forgot about the dance! It'll go perfectly with my dress!"
Alya knocked elbows with her friend, and the two exchanged sly glances.
"Speaking of Valentines," Alix spoke up, centering her attention on Marinette, "I think somebody's gonna ask you to be their date."
"Did Luka ask you already?" Juleka whipped around, staring openly at the pigtailed teenager.
"N- no, no, he hasn't," she insisted, raising her hands. "Why do you say that?"
Here, the skater rolled her eyes. "Come on, have you seen the way he looks at you?"
"Uh...?" Blinking, she saw Alix tilt her head in the direction of the front. Turning slightly, her gaze fell on where Felix and Adrien had been sitting. Only Felix was there now, seemingly engrossed in a book.
"Who, Felix?" She tried.
"No, no, not Felix. Adrien," Alix insisted, glancing towards the boys' row again. "Come on, you saw the way he smiled at you when he gave you your present. That boy's smitten as a kitten. He's totally gonna ask you to the dance."
"Adrien likes Marinette?" Rose murmured in surprise.
"Oh... he does?"
At the girl's dumbfounded tone, Alix nearly facepalmed. "You haven't been paying attention at all?"
"Sorry I haven't had the time to think about that with school, and the bakery, and akuma attacks occupying my time lately," the girl sarcastically retorted. "I've barely even had time to think about talking to Luka, much less think about other boys."
"Wait, wait, hold the phone, Adrien. Sunshine. That boy likes 'Nette?" Alya stared at her owlishly. "Oh. Oh no."
"Looks like Luka's got competition," Juleka sighed. "I'd feel more sorry for you if the situation wasn't so weird. First Nathanael, now Adrien? What's next, Felix?"
"Well, Kim had that crush on her the year before last," Mylene murmured uncertainly.
"He did?" Marinette balked.
"You didn't notice?!" Several girls exclaimed at once, drawing the attention of some of the other students in the room.
(In Marinette's bag, Tikki stifled her giggles. "Even now you remain a beacon, don't you, Marinette?")
(In the Cat's bag, Plagg rolled his little eyes fondly. "You just can't help yourself but attract people, can ya, kid?")
A/N: MORE JULEROSE! MWAHAHAHAHAHA. And now Marinette is privy to our sunshine's little crush. Whoops!
I had to put more fluff in this chapter. I just love writing the kids all getting along and being friends. It really soothes the soul after the fustercluck that the past few seasons have been, let me tell you.
