When You Switch Upon a Star

Chapter 18

Marinette dressed herself in a pair of black pants, a black tuxedo jacket, and a white dress shirt underneath for this occasion. Her outfit was finished off with a black bowtie around her shirt collar, and her long hair had been tied into a pair of low pigtails. All around her, hundreds of chefs have gathered in the massive room, talking amongst one another with wine glasses in their hands. Solo violin music sounded from the front of the room, just barely loud enough to project above the drowned out conversations even with the help of the microphone.

Two hours. Marinette had been playing for two hours straight, and already had her arm began to grow sore. Her shoulders ached painfully, her right arm might as well have been replaced with a bowl of wobbly jello, and her left hand cramped tightly in its palm.

Luckily unnoticed above all the chattering, Marinette released her bow mid piece. Grunting under her breath, the violinist lowered her instrument and rolled her aching shoulders. However, it wasn't long before a certain woman cleared her throat by her side. Marinette turned to see her mother standing above her, arms folded across her chest.

"When did I say you could stop, Marinette?" Sabine muttered.

"I'm sorry, Mother," Marinette sighed, "But I just need a quick一"

"No buts," Sabine interrupted, "You do as I say. Now get back to playing."

The sound of her mother's ungodly demands caused steamy anger to boil up inside her. With her eyes burning, Marinette straightened her posture and looked her mother straight in the eye.

"Do you really expect me to play for four hours straight without a break?" Marinette snapped.

"I practiced three hours a day when I was your age," Sabine countered.

"That doesn't mean you should make me play an hour longer than your usual practice time!" Marinette yelled.

"Marinette, lower your voice this instant!" Sabine hissed, "We are in front of world famous chefs right now!"

Sabine's command only added more rage to Marinette. Her fingers loosened around her bow, making it drop to the floor with a clatter. Marinette didn't bother picking it back up and continued with their conversation.

"I will not lower my voice until you listen to me," Marinette stated, raising her voice slightly, "If you think I can play this god damn instrument for four hours straight, then you need to think again. I doubt anyone can play for that long, at least not without taking a break in between! Do you realize how tiring it is to play a violin?"

Marinette bent down and set the violin on the floor before continuing on with her rant.

"Having to keep my back straight, tucking my elbow underneath the instrument, the hand postures, I can't hold that position for such a long time! And I can go on about all your other stupid expectations for me, but that's for another time," Marinette ranted, "So unless you'd rather have bad quality music due to me losing focus or growing tired, be my guest."

Without another word, Marinette pushed past her mother and stormed down the room. The teenager shoved through the crowd of people, ignoring any commentary regarding her behavior that had been thrown at her.

She wished she was able to show emotions like anger without it being seen as "bad behavior" or "unladylike". She hated this life that she was living.

All she wanted was to be herself.

~

Adrien stood on his balcony, looking out at the city lights below him. Underneath the speckled sky, a shadowy figure sprinted from down the street. Adrien leaned his upper body over the railing, squinting to get a closer look. Once the figure came close enough, their features matched none other than his crush Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Adrien watched as she darted right past his house, her long pigtails trailing behind her.