Spots [UPDATED COVER]

Chapter Nineteen

MARINETTE POV

Alya raises in eyebrow at me, her lips pursed.

"Girl, you good?" she whispers into my ear as Ms. Mendeleiev struts into the room. Before I can respond, I notice a paper in her hand that seems very familiar. 

Frighteningly familiar.

Ms. Mendeleiev stares at each of us in turn before she begins speaking. "Almost all of you did considerably good on the science test last week..." she began. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Except me. I've never liked Ms. Mendeleiev, but now I have a bad feeling I'm about to discover how bad she can be. 

She picked up my test paper, waving it high. "Except for one of you. Specifically Marinette Dupain-Cheng." 

No no no why now why now?!

She begins to read the paper, reading each question, then my answer, and then she corrects it with the proper answer. 

Everyone is silent, even Chloe. In the beginning she exchanged smirks with Sabrina, but her orange-haired friend was unresponsive, so Chloe got the idea and went quiet. Adrien is stiff in his seat.

I wish I could see his face, understand what's going on for him. 

I hold my head in my hands, tears falling from his face, dripping onto the desk. I've had my fair share of humiliations, but this has earned first place. 

I stand up, dashing out of the class for the second time in two weeks. I hear Ms. Mendeleiev say: "No, don't follow her!" which makes me assume that Alya or another friend stood up to comfort me. 

I run towards the park, tears blurring my eyesight. When I step on the street, I notice a car zooming towards me, but it's too late.

Just as I expect collision, something grabs me, pulling me to the roof of a house. I open my eyes slowly, seeing a familiar boy with blond hair. "Chat?" I sob. 

He nods, stroking my hair and holding me close. 

I tell him what happened, and he nods, listening quietly, rocking me in his arms. 

When I calm down, he jumps towards my house with me, placing me gently on my bedroom chair. I sit on the chair, quiet, still sniffling now and then. 

I know why I'm so upset. 

No matter how angry he makes me, I still love Adrien Agreste. I also love Chat Noir. I love two boys, and it's killing me. 

Chat sighs, interrupting my self-pity moment. 

"Ladybug, Marinette. I need...I need to tell you something." he kneels in front of me, looking into my eyes. 

"I love you. And I'm about to do something that might make you not love me. And...I want to tell you this while...still care..." Chat's eyes fill with tears, and he brushes them away. "There's nothing you can do that will make me stop loving you." I tell him gently, kissing his head. 

He doesn't look convinced. 

Then, Chat closes his eyes and whispers: "Plagg, Claws in."