Chapter Text
The icy chill of December hit Marinette Dupain Cheng a little too hard this year. It was really a pity, since the Christmas holidays have always been her most cherished time of the year. But this December, everything was different - it was all so much worse than the year before.
Last Christmas, she remembers cozying up to the fireplace with Tikki, sharing hot chocolate with Alya, and scouring the snowy streets at night with Cat Noir. But best of all, she remembers the time she spent with Adrien Agreste, Paris’s one and only golden boy.
Now, she fears she’s gone and messed it all up. It happened last week, one blissfully cold Friday afternoon, in the cafeteria, right in front of her entire class.
She was merely sitting at her usual table with her usual friends: Alya, Nino, Juleka, Kim, Rose, and of course, Adrien. Then came the text messages.
“What in the heck is this?” Alya questioned.
“It seems like all of us got the same message,” Rose added.
Marinette scrunched her eyebrows together, “Everybody except me.”
The entire group - no, the entire cafeteria - was already glued to their phones. There were a few gasps of shock as well as a few grotesque laughs here and there, the incessant chatter of Marinette’s peers took over anything else she tried to hear.
Nino’s eyes widened as he read the text message. Alya was clearly mortified. The rest at the lunch table were already staring at Marinette with a certain sort of pity on their faces.
But Adrien, on the other hand, had turned red. Very visibly so. His nose, ears, cheeks, neck - all red. He immediately faced downwards - avoiding the gaze of his friends at the table.
Marinette, already grown impatient, snatched the phone from Alya’s hands.
“What message could possibly have sent this much of our class into such a frenzy?!”
Now, it was Marinette’s turn for a breakdown. Upon realizing what the message actually was, she felt like she was going to throw up.
The text message itself was from an anonymous source. This source did not actually say anything themself, but only sent a few photos. Screenshots of the personal text messages between Marinette and her dear Alya. Detailing her immersive, enthralling, and all-consuming love for Adrien Agreste.
Phrases like, “My heart belongs to him and only him!” or, “...three kids and a hamster…” or even, “Every time I think of Adrien, I start to smile. I don’t think I’ll be able to ever stop,” were included.
Marinette’s throat started to clench up and tears started to well up in her eyes. She felt the strong need to bolt out of this godforsaken cafeteria, away from the deep-seated humiliation she was facing. The type of humiliation a teenage girl would never forget. But it was too late! From across the cafeteria, Chloe’s boisterous, over-the-top, taunting laughter was heard. Marinette looked up in her direction and saw the nightmarish blonde sashay towards her table. Marinette sighed to herself and promptly sat back down. To her, running away now would just look pathetic.
“Oh, Adrikins!” Chloe shrieked.
“Oh great,” Adrien muttered quietly.
Chloe, now at the table, patronizingly patted Marinette’s head as she chuckled.
“Oh, Adrikins, isn’t it just so funny how Marinette has a crush on you! Everybody already knows you’re mine, Adri-boo,” she wrapped her arms around Adrien.
“Yeah, it’s so embarrassing Chloe,” Sabrina quipped from behind her. No one had noticed the auburn-haired girl but it wasn’t a surprise. Where Chloe goes, Sabrina follows,
Marinette glanced up and with the sight she saw, she just couldn’t take it anymore. Chloe’s long arms enforced upon Adrien’s neck. Alya and Nino with their arms crossed. Juleka with her eyebrows furrowed. Rose with her eyes of pity. Sabrina with her face hidden behind a chemistry textbook. People all around them, laughing, gawking, enjoying the scene.
But what stood out the most was Adrien’s reaction. Or more specifically, Adrien’s lack of one. He couldn’t even bring his bright, charismatic green eyes to Marinette’s panicked blue ones. He was simply staring at the ground, like he was completely zoned out. It was clear that Marinette’s feelings were not reciprocated.
Okay, screw “pathetic.” Marinette had to leave. She could not stand to be there with all of these people anymore.
And so, she bolted. She bolted out of the cafeteria, past the school doors, and into a dark, musty alleyway.
Resting her head against the brick wall, she sighed out, “Tikki, spots on.”