Despair in Paris

Chapter 3

Marinette woke up to find herself laying face first on a desk. She yawned, blearily blinking away the fuzziness that blurred her vision as questions began to flood her mind, startled at being in a random room she had no recollection of ever entering.

Where was she? Why was she sleeping here? It would make sense for her to doze off during a boring class or something but she didn't recognize where she was at all.

Looking around, she noticed heavy steel plates covering the where the windows should be, blocking any sunlight from coming in. Why was that there? It made it look like she'd been kidnapped and brought to a prison or something.

She spotted surveillance cameras out of her peripheral vision. Was she being watched, or was it for some weird authoritarian educational purposes? The small girl shook her head and rubbed her temple. 'You know what, I'm probably overthinking all of this. The world's a dangerous place and it's probably just for security reasons, after all this is a world famous academy,' she contemplates, sighing heavily.

She sensed what felt like paper under her clammy hands. Tilting her head back down, she opened the folded material. It seemed to be some sort of welcome card, but the words were scribbled and haphazard, like the person who made it was in a rush. Clicking her tongue, she read the note.

Hey there, new kid! The new semester is about to start. Starting today, this school will be your entire world :)

This letter kind of creeped the already anxious girl out. 'What do you mean this school will be my entire world? Maybe this whole thing is just a prank or a weird entrance ceremony?' She crinkles her brows.

Scanning her surroundings, she noticed a clock. It read 8:29. She was late for the ceremony all because of some stupid prank! She jumped out of her seat and scurried out of the room, only to be welcome by hallways that look like demented disco rooms. This doesn't look like a school at all!

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After a few minutes of checking rooms and listening for voices, she heard some chatting in this one gated room. She creeps near the doorway. Carefully, she opens the door only to be welcomed by a ton of other students, including Alya.

"Oh my goodness girl, I was so worried!" Her brunette friend ran up to her and pulled her in for a hug, concern eminent as she refused to let go until Marinette started squirming.

"I'm so sorry I disappeared, I don't know what happened! Last thing I remember was walking into the school with you and the next thing I knew, I woke up in some random classroom!" Marinette exclaims, her pupils shrinking as she realized how scared she really was.

"That happened to all of us, actually," a voice said from behind her. There was a girl with pink short hair and a funky pair of rollerblades. She looked pretty badass, if Marinette said so herself.

"We've been trying to figure out what happened, but we have no results. I wonder if anyone's still not here yet," said a well-built boy. He was pretty good looking.

"Who cares! Might as well get to know each other and go on from here instead of standing around here like idiots, just waiting for something to happen!" a pretty blonde girl complained, face pulled into a scowl. Marinette recognized this girl from earlier. Chloe Bourgeois, the ultimate politician. Marinette could already tell this girl was going to get on her nerves.

"I guess I'll start," A short black kid sporting a pair of glasses sighs. "I'm Max Kanté, the Ultimate Programmer!" He declared, pushing up his glasses up the ridge of his nose, radiating with confidence.

"I'm Ondine Syrn, the Ultimate Swimmer." This girl had short ginger hair and a cute smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks, and crosses her arms in a shy manner. She was pretty plain and generic from what Marinette could tell.

"Names Alex Kubdel. Nice to meet you guys. I'm the Ultimate Skater if you couldn't tell," drawls the badass chick from earlier. Marinette hoped they would be friends. 'I mean, this girl's pretty cool.'

"I don't get why we're doing this, but I'm Kim. I'm the Ultimate Athlete. I can't believe they have other athletes like Miss Swimmer and Skates over there, but as long as everyone knows I can beat them in anything it's fine."

Alex kicked him in the balls, knocking the wind out of him and sending him crumpling to the floor.

"Um, anyways, I'm Alya Cesaire, the Ultimate Social Media Influencer. Right next to me is my bestie, Marinette, the Ultimate Fashion Designer!" she squeals as Marinette stands awkwardly and gives a little wave.

"Names Lila, I'm, like, super famous. You all should know me," this girl hugging a tall blonde, who Marinette recognized as Adrien, said. "And this is Adrien, my boyfriend."

Adrien shoved her off. "She's not. I haven't actually met her before." he said, shaking his head. "But yeah, I'm Adrien Agreste, the Ultimate Teen Model. I hope we can have a good school year and get along!" he beams, stunning the room with his award winning smile.

"Hey, um, quick question..." a boy in a rainbow hoodie with short black hair mumbled "Isn't this the entrance to the school? Why is the entrance blocked by giant metal doors and lock?"

"Didn't we agree to go with my amazing plan to get to know each other a bit first? Hold on a second!" Chloe huffed, annoyance burning in her eyes.

"Oh, well, I'm Marc. I write fanfiction and sometimes my own stories. I'm the Ultimate Fanfic Author," The boy mumbles, prodding his fingers together shyly.

"Hey, I'm Nathaniel Kurtzberg, the Ultimate Artist," he said, staring at Marinette and making her totally uncomfortable. He was totally staring at her boobs. She maybe wouldn't mind if he was cute, but he was ginger, and gingers are definitely not her type.

A taller boy scooted in front of the perverted boy, blocking his view of Marinette's chest. "What's up dudes and dudettes, I'm Nino, the Ultimate DJ," he whistles, grinning from ear to ear. He winked at Marinette, making her blush. He seemed to be a nice guy. Maybe a little too nice.

"He's kinda cute," Alya whispered into Marinette's ear. The blue haired teenager eyed her and scoffed. "Yeah, right," she whispered back. "Adrien is way hotter though." Both of them burst into a fit of giggles.

"I'm Luka, the Ultimate Guitarist," he smiled. He was all decked out in Jagged Stone merchandise, a guitar hanging low on his back. Now this guy could definitely compete with Adrien. Marinette loved the blue tips of his hair.

"I'm Kagami Tsurugi, the Ultimate Fencer." an Asian girl with short dark hair breathed, voice monotone. She looked serious and annoyed. "This whole thing is immature, we should be in class, not goofing off."

Everyone collectively rolled their eyes. They all turned to the small ginger girl in the corner. "Oh, I'm just plain old Sabrina, Chloe's friend. I don't specialize in anything," she frowns, staring down at her shoes.

Marinette looks around at the class. This looks like the beginning to a memorable school year.