Last night, I had stayed up with Chat until the sun became visible on the horizon. We talked all night until the stars could no longer be seen, even joked around a little. Well, he joked around, I tolerated it. I really appreciated spending a bit of time with Chat, especially because he needed it. The only problem now is that I'm stuck doing homework, late Sunday night due to the fact I slept until noon. With my body feeling dull and tired, I finally give up on the homework, glancing at the clock. 3:28am? Yikes. It might be a long Monday, I admitted to myself.
"Are you done now?" A yawning kwami came into view looking over at the mess on my desk.
"Barely touched the surface of it." I looked down at the mountains of homework and assessment I had to complete. Battling akumas really kept the work at bay, I considered. Then again, majority of it would have to do with procrastinating. I definitely put the pro in procrastination, that's for sure.
"You can't keep pushing yourself Marinette. You need to care for you mind and body."
"Eehhghmn." That was the sound of agreement.
I follow Tikki, and plop down onto my cosy, snug bed. The moment my head collided with the pillow, I fell into darkness.
"Marinette? Are you still up there? You're going to be late for school," I ignored her mother calling from downstairs. I continued to sleep, a small kwami shifting beside me, stretching.
"Woah- Marinette! Wake up, school starts in 6 minutes!" I sit up, rubbing my eyes groaning.
"Huh?"
"School! 6 minutes, get moving!" Suddenly, my jaw drops as Tikki spoke. I curse, crawling out of bed like a hyper-active zombie and tearing the closet apart to find some fresh clothes- simple red boots to match a cherry red scarf and a long-sleeved shirt with dark jeans. Sprinting downstairs, I grab an apple. Where's my bag? I thought in a panic. In my purse, Tikki pulls herself in a certain direction, leading me to my bag. I can't believe I slept in. Stupid homework.
⥈
I sprint into the class. Ms Mendeleiev will not be happy about this. I look up at my science teacher, her spiky purple hair and small rectangle glasses that sat on her nose. The tattoo on her wrist was small but detailed. It was a geometric tattoo of a limp lily, deprived of all colour. I found it quite funny how her tattoo matched her personality in away, perhaps her soulmate was similar.
"Miss Mendeleiev, I am so sorry. There was uh, traffic." The teacher only sighed, disappointment clear on her face.
"I can only take so many excuses Marinette! Without a late slip from your parents or evidence there was traffic, you'll have to stay after school for detention," her teacher declared, a look of satisfaction and fulfilment on her face. I felt the presence of someone behind me, turning around to find Adrien entering the classroom. Looks like he's back with his old habits of arriving late to school again. The few weeks he had been arriving earlier than me. What changed? As I turned around to face the boy, I noticed something different. He looked...happier? Almost like he found peace within himself. Adrien looked less dishevelled-not that he looked overly dishevelled to begin with. He looked more carefree and healthy. A smile was presented on his face, still looking a little tired. But it was a different type of tired. It wasn't a mentally exhausted and distraught type of tired, it just looks like he went to bed late. Maybe he had to catch up on some homework too, I considered.
"Adrien Agreste, your late again too? It's always you two," the teacher said glancing at the two of us standing in the doorway as if she was trying to decode a secret we were hiding.
"There was traffic on the way here," Adrien said looking between me and the Miss Mendeleiev. Had he over heard my conversation before walking in?
"Well then, I suppose in that case- both stories match up. Marinette, you no longer have detention. One more strike you're both going have to see the principal, alright?" She smiled a bitter sweet smile and gestured her hand to our seats. We nodded and took the offer. I glanced at Adrien, trying to find a way to say thanks which he understood, giving me a wink. At this action a scarlet blush took shape on my face. I glanced away so he wouldn't notice and took a seat next to Alya.
"Ok, listen up everyone. I'm going to have to ask you to pair up with someone nearby. Pick a partner. This will be for the upcoming science assessment." A few groans and murmurs could be heard throughout the room. "Come on now, it's a smaller assignment than the last one. You will finish it over the week, maybe sooner with the help from your partner!"
I looked over to Alya, who wasn't looking back at me. Ouch. Then, she leaned in.
"I have a plan. Go with it," she whispered in my ear over the sound of classmates discussing who they should pair with. A plan? Wha-
"Nino, be my partner?" Alya asked casually, interrupting my thoughts. Nino nodded as Adrien got out of his seat allowing for Alya to sit next to his friend. Adrien's eyes shifted to where I sat. "Uh, looks like Alya stole mine. Partners?" He asked shrugging. Yes! wait that sounded too desperate. I cleared my throat a little.
"Yeah, sure. Sounds good," I said gesturing to the now empty seat where a person I once called my friend ditched me. Alya turned around from in-front of me giving me a mischievous grin.
"Hey Adrien," came a sly voice on her right "Oh, you have a partner already?" Lila approached the boy sitting next to her. This scheming little-
"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you two. It's just- I recalled that one time you offered to boost my grades, remember?" The liar said, staring into the soul of the boy beside her. I noticed her voice, lowering and raising again, full of exaggerated expression, as if she had revised what to say. Lila made weird looking puppy eyes, blinking every few seconds with her hands clasped together. Hah, like that's going to work.
"My bad Lila, I asked Marinette first. Next time- I promise," Adrien said to Lila, rubbing his hand on his neck, looking a little uncomfortable. He's too nice, I admitted to myself. He turned away from Lila to face the front of the classroom, leaving her speechless. While he wasn't looking, Lila shot me the dirtiest look- a glare as sharp as daggers.
⥈
"I hate chemistry," I sighed an out loud thought.
"Really? I don't think it's that bad." I jumped a little. I didn't mean to say that out loud.
"Well y-yeah. It's not bad but you know, it's not great-ish." Mentally slapping myself, I try to say something else in attempt to cover up the stupidity.
"You know- because there are so many branches around chemistry. Uh there's... physical chemistry and organic chemistry and um..."
The boy looked at me with amusement in his eyes, a smile twitching upon his lips. Adrien watched me helplessly ramble on, trying to use my five fingers to count the five branches of chemistry.
"Inorganic, Biochemistry and Analytical chemistry," he finished, saving me from the confusion that crossed my face. I was a little taken back at the quick response. "And I guess I can see why you hate it, it's quite complicated and has multiple in depth areas of study."
Wow that was embarrassing, I thought to myself- not out loud this time, looking down at the assignment instructions while I felt him stare at me. We began to read the instructions together. We took it in turns, reading out each instruction and discussing what we needed to do in order to complete the assignment.
I start zoning out and doodling on the sheet of paper, pausing and playing with my pen before drawing some more. I look over at Adrien's hand that rested just next to the paper of set instructions. I began to reach for his arm, pen in hand. He flinches, clearly taken back by the fact I may lift his sleeve, but he didn't move. I didn't want to invade his privacy or check his tattoo, he clearly wasn't comfortable with it. Reaching for his hand, I drew a smiley face instead, not really paying attention to what I was doing.
After realising I had just literally doodled on the back of Adrien's hand, I looked up at him with a nervous smile.
"Ah, sorry. I didn't mean to. You've just looked so much happier today so, I wanted to remind you to s-stay that way," I glanced back at his hand where a small smiley faced had been drawn. He looked down at his hand and then back up at me. I began to panic. I should've asked, stupid, stupid Marinette! My self-curses were silenced by Adrien leaning in and giving me a quick hug.
"Thanks Marinette- It means a lot to me."
"Oh. N-no problem," I stuttered a little. He pulled away and glanced back at his hand.
"Don't worry, it's washable marker."
☺
A/N: Art credit to funneyLizzie on tumblr