SLOWLY FALLING FOR YOU (α∂яιєηєттє)

Chap. 17

I realized. . .if I wanted to convince Marinette that I was an absolute different person, I had to keep adding lies onto my first lie. My stomach did a summer-sault just thinking about it, so I just cleared my throat and shrugged. She didn't say anything either, but she dragged me over to where her bakery was. I stepped inside, instantly breathing in the delicious and fresh smell of pastries. No wonder this was known as the best bakery in Paris; even the smell of each pastries could get you addicted. If Father had not created the super harsh rule of me not being able to eat unhealthy food, I would come here every single day. Maybe this was another reason why I wanted a disguise: so I could eat as many pastries as I could without being spotted by Father or anyone else.

"Hold up," Marinette stopped walking and turned around to face me. "I just remembered what I had promised myself I'd do once I get home. I can't believe I forgot." She looked over at the door leading inside the kitchen. "You could go in there and help yourself to as many pastries as you wish. My parents aren't home, but even if they were, I'm sure they wouldn't mind this. Just wait for me. I'll accompany you once I send the package to a friend." When she said that, I couldn't help wondering if she was talking about me, but before I could ask her, she turned around and started heading to her room.

•

I walked out of the kitchen holding unto a plate of some croissants. When I closed the door and turned around, Marinette was sitting on the couch, a package on the table in front of her. I walked over to her and sat down next to her, wanting to ask who the package was for, but just kept my mouth shut as she worked. She took a black sharpie and scribbled on the package. "From M. DC." I gasped a little, but didn't say anything else, and neither did she. She placed the sharpie down and stared at the words she had written, then I heard her mutter something that made me stop short, "I wonder if he'll like it."

I couldn't help my curiosity then. I had to ask. "Who is it for?"

"Oh, it's. . . this boy from my class. I sent him a package with chocolate inside of it and he didn't say anything against it, so I thought I'd send him another one," she said, and her words got me to widen my eyes a bit. "He says he likes chocolate, but telling from how harsh Gabriel is, I doubt he's getting any yummy goods, so I thought I'd help him out." She then furrowed her eyebrows into a frown. "But maybe I should stop. If his father finds out he's been getting chocolate from me, he'd get into trouble, plus he might even be so mad with me that he'd do something unforgivable-"

"No, wait!" I placed my hands on her shoulders, turning her around to face me. "Adrien will be very careful with this, so don't stop. You're doing a good thing, you know, helping a classmate out just so he could be happy, despite the rules been given to him." I wasn't just saying this as a random man on the streets Marinette found, but I was saying it as Adrien being grateful for such an amazing friend like her. I then saw her raising her eyebrows at me, and I quickly realized where I messed up a bit. She never said she was giving the package to Adrien, yet I had said his name. "Oh, I. . . um. . . You said Gabriel, so I assumed you meant his son, Adrien. Was I wrong?"

She chuckled a bit as she shook her head. "No, you aren't wrong. I'm just. . . I mean, I'm sure there are a lot of harsh Gabriel's out there. How were you so sure it was Adrien?"

I cleared my throat. "Uh. . . you kissed him!" Seeing her eyes grow wider, I quickly realized what I had just said and looked away in embarrassment, my face growing red. I covered my face, looking down at the floor as I felt my heart pounding faster. I wasn't supposed to say that. Heck, I had even told myself not to mention the kiss in front of Marinette before I walked inside her bakery. What was she going to think now? I was supposed to be a broke man who had nothing but a sign that said 'help'. What device would I have used to watch the video of me kissing her? Where would I have heard the news from?

"Hey, it's. . . it's fine. I get it. Everyone now knows about that." Marinette let out a short laugh as she stood up, picking up the package. "I kind of hoped those people wouldn't post anything once they saw us kiss, but I mean. . . it's Adrien, isn't it? Who wouldn't post anything that had Adrien in it?" I couldn't quite see her face, but she sounded upset all of a sudden. I opened my mouth to ask, but I was instantly interrupted with the door suddenly banging opened. I turned around and gasped.

Lila! What was she doing here?

"Oh, you. . ." Lila looked down at me, a little surprised. "Oh sorry, Marinette. I had no idea you had a visitor."

Because Marinette was close to me, I could hear her gulp, but she tried to cover her sudden frightened face with a smile. "No, it's okay, Lila. Um. . . what is it that you want?"

"I want to talk to you. Listen, I need to know. . . Ever since that happened, I've been a bit confused." Lila didn't seem to be bothered that I was here. Even though I was in disguise, wouldn't she want some privacy before speaking to Marinette about something like that? I wasn't sure whether to listen or just walk away to somewhere else, but I just sat there, staring at the floor. It was as if my butt was stuck to the couch and I couldn't move my body.

"Lila, I-"

"No, Marinette, I want to know!" Lila sounded eager to hear the answer to the question she wanted to ask. "You didn't push him away or anything, even after that conversation we had. It obviously means something, and I want to hear it from you! Do you. . .?" Lila seemed to pause for a while, but I didn't dare look up to see what she was doing. "Do you really like him?"

I bit my lip at the question, remembering when Chloe had asked Marinette the same exact thing. Even Felix had said Marinette may have liked me back. I wasn't sure, but if three people thought so and were curious to know how she really felt about me, then did that mean it was true? Did Marinette really like me back or was that just my wishful thinking?

Marinette didn't say anything, and I couldn't see her face since I still had my eyes staring at the floor. Lila spoke up when the room got too quiet. "Marinette, you have to answer me honestly. I thought I was your best friend. Since when did we start keeping secrets from each other?! Have I ever kept something from you?!"

When she asked that question, I quickly remembered what Alya, Nino and Nathaniel had told me back then.

"Lila got a 100% on that test, and we all thought it was because she was extremely smart, but then it turned out that she had cheated. Even worse, while no one had been around, she had broken into the teacher's classroom and changed our test marks, including Marinette's. All throughout the day, Marinette was wondering how she had gotten a 64% on her test, because she believed she was smart when it came to math. Us three knew who did it, but we didn't have the guts to tell Marinette because we were afraid she wasn't going to believe us. We didn't have proof."

"It doesn't surprise me, because she's known Lila ever since they were young. She sees Lila as her own sister, in fact, so proving to Marinette that Lila is a bad guy is insanely hard. . . Lila had already managed to get away with whatever she does."

Lila has been keeping a lot of secrets from Marinette, have been using her, knowing that Marinette was always going to be on her side. Yet, she expects Marinette to tell her the truth, she expects Marinette to be a faithful and kind friend to her. How can she be like this?! Lila isn't a good friend, and Marinette doesn't even know that because she's too blinded by the friendship she thinks is real. Someone is going to have to tell and prove it to her soon or else she's going to get seriously hurt!

Maybe. . .

I then looked up, seeing as Marinette still hadn't opened her mouth and answered the question. Lila was still waiting, her arms now folded and her face molded into a look that seemed to say, I'm not going anywhere until you answer my question!

Maybe I can be that someone who opens her blind eyes.