Music for the Soul: Book 2

Chapter 1

Marinette

"Clara! We gotta go, school starts soon!" I shouted up the stairs. "School starts in half an hour!"
Clara came running down the stairs. She had on a pair of jean shorts, a light pink te-shirt, and slip ons.
"Mom, have you seen trig textbook?" She asked, rummaging through the stack of items on the coffee table.
"You mean the scary looking thing in the kitchen?"
"Yes."
"It's in there. Hurry up!"
I heard her walk away, and I grabbed the remaining things I needed.
Phone?
Check.
Keys?
Check.
Purse?
Check.
"Mom, I can't find my history notes!" Clara cried
"They're on the computer stand." Ohh, I gotta tell her. "Hey, Uncle Jagged is coming by with Aunt Penny after school today. Should we do Pizza and games?"
"I thinks that's good. We can order from Pizza City."
I laughed as Clara rushed in. We did finally checks before walking out the door.

"Soooo, are you ready?" Clara asked
"Ready for what?" I was insanely nervous.
"You have that big meeting with a client today, for your designs!! Are you ready?" She was practically bouncing in her seat.
I sighed and grabbed her hand from the drivers seat.
"Yes I'm excited!" I faked enthusiasm.
"Do you mean it?" She asked give me a skeptic look.
I shook my head, "I'm insanely nervous. Nauseous to the point of vomit."
We laughed as I pulled into Claras school.
"Meet me at the studio after school. We're meeting Uncle Jagged and Aunt Penny there today. Don't be late."
"I won't." She leaned over and kissed my cheek. "Love you."
"Love you too." She got out of the car, so I rolled her window down and shouted "KNOCK EM DEAD KID!"
I saw her laugh before walking inside.

One Tree Vally. It's a small town about three hours away from Gotham. We have the craziest holidays, funniest people, and regularly scheduled town meetings. So I drove to my favorite place to get tea.
Burts cafe. Burt is the owners father. The current owner is Jack. Burts is famous for their coffee and Tea, along with their burgers and fries.
I got three feet into the door, before Jack handed me a cup of tea.
"Thank you. Did you have this on the burner waiting for me?" I joked
Jack shook his head. "No, I saw you coming. It was like a disturbance in the force." He gasped dramatically before continuing, "oh no, Marianne is coming......tea. She wants tea."
We both double over in laughter. Me being carful if my tea. Ok, so normally teas not a bad thing, but the way Jack makes my tea is special. It's tea and Coffee mixed. Twice the caffeine, twice the sugar, it keeps me going. I sat down at the bar and waited for my breakfast.
"How is Clara?" He asked
"She's good. She's got her first crush, but she is too concerned about school to pursue it."
Jack looked at me like I grew three more heads. But I reassured him that she told me she wasn't ready to pursue that yet. When I finished my food, and got a to go cup of my life line, I headed to work. I had three clients coming in before the mystery person came. Clara has three tests today, Trig, Biology, and a Shakespeare test. I hope she gets a good grade, she'll be devastated if she doesn't.

~~~~~~~~~~~Time Skip~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Marianne, your two o'clock is here." Gina said
"Thanks Gina. Send them in. I just have to get a few things from the back." I said and stepped into the hall, to find some extra pins.
"I wonder who's going to design our suits."
"I don't know, but your really loud."
"Am not! I'm just excited. Their local and very talented."
"Tsh. I doubt that." That voice sounded familiar. I grabbed the pins and was about to head back inside when I got a phone call.
"Hello?"
"Yes, Marianne, it's Gretchen, Claras Principle."
"Hello Gretchen, what can I do for you?"
"Well, Claras not in School. We were calling to make sure she was with you."
I nearly dropped my phone. What?! Taking a breath I lied.
"Yeah, she's with me." Panic set in.
"Ok good. Have a good day."
"And you."
Ending the call, I dropped the pins and raced out of the building. Telling Gina to cancel all my appointments and to give them to Freddie.
I got into my car and drove home. Hoping she was there.

"Clara? Clara?! Answer me please."
"I'm in my room!" She called.
I raced up and saw her laying on her bed.
"Oh, sweetie what's wrong?" I asked as I crawled up next to her.
"I got a C on my Biology test." She said into her pillow.
Oh no. "Oh, I don't think it was that bad. You told me you wanted to do this class cause it was challenging."
"It is, and no matter how hard I study, I can't get a good grade in that class."
"Honey, I don't think it's you. If your doing everything you can, asking questions, studying, asking for help, then I think it's your teacher."
"Mrs. Harvey is an excellent teacher."
"Then let's figure it out." We gotta meet Jagged and Penny soon, and I know you've been wanting to see them. And we're suppose to watch Definitely, Maybe."
"I want cake. Did Chloé make any?"
"I think so. Let's go see." Clara groaned inside protest. "Come on you, up."
I grabbed her hand and pulled her up. She whined, but got up. Her raven colored hair falling behind her shoulders.
"We can go to Burts and grab some Coffee-tea after we hit Chloé's."
That perked her up. She jumped up, grabbed her shoes and waited patiently for me at her door.
"Next time I'll start with that."
Clara laughed and we headed out.

"Jack, 2 Coffee-Teas!" I said as we took our seat. A few minutes later Jack set down two cups of our desired drink and stared at us.
"Your gonna milk yourselves if you keep this up." Jack stated bluntly.
"And if you frown like that, you will definitely get wrinkles." I shot back.
Jack and I stared each other down, before we burst out laughing. He looked at Clara and sighed.
"What happened?" He asked
"I got a C on my Biology test. Mom took me to Chloé's for cake and now we're getting Coffee-Teas. Uncle Jagged and Aunt Penny are coming over later so she's trying to cheer me up." Clara said and drank her drink. Jack gave Clara a side hug and sis fro keep pushing. I chuckled and stated that's what I said.
After we finished our drinks, we said goodbye to Jack and headed to the studio. We walked there, and it was nice.
"Marianne, Dear, how are you?" Flora asked, believe it or not, she owned a flower shop.
"I'm good, Flora. We're just going to meet my Aunt and Uncle. The tulips look amazing."
"Thank you, see you later."
"Bye!" Clara and I said at the same time.
We were half way there when I remember something.
"Crap. Clara, why don't you go on ahead and meet up with Jagged and Penny, I'm going to go grab the pizza. Meet back here, with them."
"Alright, just don't be late." Clara said, and kissed my cheek before taking off.
Smiling, I changed corse and headed for Pizza City.

Inside, I was hit with the warmth and smell of Pizza.
"Marianne! My best customer! What can I get you?"
"Well, Frank, I'll take my usual."
"Cheese Pizza with peppers, bacon and pineapple on it." He rang me up. "I still don't know how you can stand eating this."
I laughed "it's a gift. One I picked up when I moved here."
A few minutes later, Pizza was done and I was leaving. And as I left, I swear the guy I walked past looked familiar. But, One Tree Vally is a small town, everyone knows everyone. That is until he spoke.
"Marinette?"