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True to his word, Adrien never forgot Gloria as he entered his teenage years. Everytime he'd get nervous or anxious, he'd fiddle with his bracelet. The same thing would happen when he was uncomfortable.
He'd never take it off. Not even when he's modeling, bathing, eating, or even sleeping.
His friends would wonder about the bracelet he constantly wore everyday, but would never question it. In their perspective, it was just a normal bracelet that helped keep him calm.
But a certain obsessive blue-haired stalker, thought otherwise.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng wanted to know so badly why he always wore it, but she never had the guts to ask. She was always very curious, and would especially be sour about him wearing the bracelet because Chloé wore an identical one to it.
The Bourgeois girl would also never take her bracelet off, and often got bitter and annoyed when Marinette would ask about it, accusing her of trying to copy Adrien since he had the same one.
Marinette would frequently get jealous at seeing the bond Chloé and Adrien shared over their similar bracelets. They'd speak in hushed tones that Marinette couldn't hear, and they'd walk away when they caught her eavesdropping.
There was this one time she caught them in the locker room muttering to one another, and she faintly heard a name that was mentioned a few times in the conversation. The name began with a G, but that was all Marinette could hear.
Ever since then, the Dupain-Cheng girl was obsessed with finding out who this person was that her bully and obsession talked about.
Who was it? The name started with a G, but there were millions of people who had names that started with G!
However, she would not give up.
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Scene: Françoise Dupont High School Courtyard.
Adrien sat on a bench, admiring and playing with his bracelet. He grazed his finger over Gloria's name on the silver plate, smiling slightly.
Meanwhile, Marinette and Alya are nearby looking at him.
"Why does he always wears that bracelet?" Marinette wonders.
"Marinette, I'm so over you asking that question. Just go over and ask him," Alya urges, holding her phone.
"But I can't! What if I stumble over my words like an idiot? What if I-"
As her best friend continued to blabber on, Alya rolled her eyes and put her phone away. She then gives Marinette a hard shove in Adrien's direction, making her shriek.
"You'll thank me later!" Alya shouts.
Marinette came to a stop, almost tripping and face planting in front of Adrien, but she managed to catch herself.
"Hey, Marinette. Need something?" He politely asks, holding his bracelet.
"Um, yeah! Ummm..." Marinette pointed her index fingers together, doing the cringy shy thing. "Your macelet, I mean- bracelet!"
"What about my bracelet?" Adrien raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I-I was just wondering... why do you near, uh, wear it all the time?" Marinette asks, only to panic when Adrien's facial expression turned upset. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to!" She quickly says. "I've just always been curious since you wear it all the time so-"
"Marinette," Adrien interrupted her, standing up.
"Yes?!" She responds.
"I'd honestly prefer not to answer your question," Adrien said.
Marinette was perplexed. "But... why? It's just a question,"
"All you need to know is..." Adrien looks down at his friendship bracelet dismally. "A very special person gave me this bracelet,"
He then walks away, leaving Marinette baffled.
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Scene: Dupain-Cheng Residence. Marinette's Room.
"A special person..." Marinette mumbles, sitting by her desk. "Who is this special person?!" She leans back in her rolling chair, frustrated that she couldn't figure out who the person Adrien had mentioned.
"Marinette, calm down. There's no need to stress over something so little," Tikki says from her desk, holding a pink macaron in her tiny hand limbs.
"This isn't something little, Tikki. When it comes to Adrien, everything is important to me!" Marinette replies. "And if this mysterious person means a lot to him, I've gotta find out!"
"Marinette, Adrien is entitled to his privacy," Tikki says, biting into her macaron.
"Yes, I know, but I love him! I've gotta find out who gave him that bracelet. Was it a girl? A boy? Someone he talks to outside of school? No, he couldn't be talking to anyone outside of school, I know who all his friends are..." Marinette continues to think about who gave her obsession his bracelet. "It can't be Chloé, because she copied him by getting a bracelet identical to his,"
"How would you know that, Marinette?" Tikki asks.
"Because she always tells me to mind my own business when I accuse her. It's obvious she copied Adrien's bracelet because he's her precious Adrikins. Ugh, makes me sick," Marinette scrunched up her face in disgust.
"Marinette, I really think you should stay out of Adrien's business," Tikki frowns.
"I'm not getting in his business, I just wanna find out who gave him that bracelet,"
"That's another way of saying you're getting in his business!"
Marinette groans at her Kwami's words. "I know, Tikki, but I can't help it. I've gotta find out who this person is!"
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Scene: Françoise Dupont High School.
The next day, Marinette arrives at school and notices Adrien and Chloé engaged in a quiet conversation by the entrance.
She smirks and whistles quietly as she walks past them, straining her ear to listen in.
"She won a big fashion contest hosted by her school! I read all about it," Chloé smiles.
"I've gotta check it out then," Adrien replies, also smiling.
Marinette quickly walks inside the school and gets out a small notepad from her bag. "So it's a she," She frowns, writing down the word 'She' in the notepad.
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For the next hours, Marinette tried to find out more about this unknown girl Chloé mentioned, but the blonde, nor Adrien, talked about her for the rest of the day, much to her disappointment.
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