Marinette held back the loudest scream of panic. Her hands trembled as she grabbed her phone and texted the bedridden Alya.
Marinette: RED ALERT!
Seconds felt like eternity before Alya finally responded.
Alya: What's going on? Did you get sick too? :( It seems like everyone gets it...
Marinette: No. Adrien!
Alya: -.-
Alya: You don't have to text me every time he walks in a ten meter radius, Mari. I was sleeping, thank you very much...
Marinette: No, no. You don't understand. He asked me - ME - if I wanted to go to Prague with him for a while! To escape from the virus!
Alya: Oh. Let me guess. You stuttered, trembled like a squirrel on too much caffeine, pointed to all sides, and then screamed and babbled out some embarrassing way of basically saying "No thanks Adrien, I have better things to do that hang out with you" and now you are crying about it.
Marinette: No. Worse.
* * * * * * *
20 minutes ago.
Honestly, there was really no reason to go to school that day. No one could blame her for not going,.. More than half her classmates were either sick or had parents that were too afraid to let them out in fears of catching it and even then, the winter winds outside sometimes felt like a warzone, sending her running from cover to cover... and the sweet, soft blankets kept her so warm. Most of their schoolwork was done at home anyways. So again, was there any reason?
Marinette turned around in her bed and looked at her photo-plastered wall. Yes, there is a reason. A very blond reason. She didn't know how many days there were left before... before the schools would close. Again.
And so with a sudden jolt of desperate energy, she flew out of her bed, throwing on her mask hastily.
She got to school a short while later, (on time, actually) and saw her class - (or what was left of it) gathered around the entrance, a bit confused.Oh no, Marinette thought as pushed to the entrance with her heart fearing the worst.
And there it was.
Collège Françoise Dupont - Closed.
Her classmate's reactions were mixed. Kim was thrilled, since his father built him a little gym at home, so he no longer really had any reasons to go to school anyways. Max was thrilled enough at the opportunity to be shut at home, free to explore tech and programming in his little cave-of-a-room to no end with no social judgement attached and Nathaniel drooled over the reality of being able to sleep after his all-nighters of suddenly-inspired jolts of artistic genius that came on him every now and then.
It seemed there was no joy left for Marinette in the group. How can they be so happy...? Sure, Marinette loved fashion, but doing just fashion all day everyday scared her - wouldn't she turn mad or something? Or would she just rewatch Friends and Avatar:The Last Airbender, over and over? Her heart sank harder than the revenues of the restaurant business during the pandemic. She loved her friends and the few weeks without Alya by her side were rough... Marinette loved every moment outside, with those she cared about. She loved going to school, she loved talking with people, she loved doing stuff and she also loved... she loved-
Well. Let's simply say she was crushed by not being able to see her crush everyday. Marinette frowned. I haven't seen Chat in so long that I started making my own puns? What a horrible time to live in. And now... I won't be able to see Adrien either.
Her eyes flew from side to side at the thought of the blond. He was not amongst the celebrating. Oh no, she thought. Not only is school closed but I won't even be able to say goodbye to him. If he was here - this time, she was persuaded that she would have walked up to him and wished him good luck for the hard times they all found themselves in... and she would tell him what she felt. Yes. She would go right up to him, and ignoring that he was with Kagami, she would still tell him what she was feeling all these years. She was sure 100% she would do it, heart on display, no excuses. Shame he was not here-
"Hey, Nino, are you there?" said Adrien a few feet behind Marinette. She froze. All her confidence deflated like a popped balloon and her thoughts vanished.
Nino responded with a few coughs.
"Nino?" repeated Adrien, worry ringing in his voice.
Marinette not-so-stealthily shuffled closer and closer, if just to hear Adrien's voice. OK, it's not really polite to listen on other people's conversations, but as a wise man once said, desperate times call for desperate measures. She wanted to sigh at her own confusing excuses, but she creeped closer anyways, just enough to hear Nino respond on the phone.
"S-sorry dude. I am really sorry I am not there in person. After that week with Alya's relatives, I didn't feel too good-" Nino coughed again.
"It's all right." Adrien's chin dropped slightly as he looked over the cold street ahead, standing to the side of the other classmates almost as an outcast. "I just..." he trailed off. Marinette couldn't quite believe her eyes - she could swear she saw a flash of sadness on his face. The Adrien? The boy with smiles ready at every twist and turn? Just that simple sight twisted her heart.
"So I reckon that thing with Kagami didn't end up that well." said Nino. Marinette perked up at the mention of the Japanese girl, Adrien's first official girlfriend.
Adrien shook his head - not that Nino could see him, but he understood the silence as a good enough answer. "So you split." Nino paused. Marinette nearly gasped, but choked on her mask instead. "But what about your planned retreat? Prague? It's finished then? I thought you were supposed to go soon..."
"No." Said Adrien and huddled in his soft, cute black coat that brought up his best features. "Father insists. I will go there no matter what. I have to continue studying, modeling and fencing and Prague is one of the few places that actually let's me do all that on a high level without restriction. You heard the new French laws, didn't you..."
Nino hummed in agreement before bursting in another series of coughs. "So nothing really changed."
Adrien sighed painfully, frowning.
"I know, I know, but you were so excited about Prague, remember? Romantic, cute and wonderful city in winter? Brilliant! That didn't change, did it?"
"Yes, but I hoped I would go there with someone nice, Nino. I wanted to enjoy it... I thought you could go with me instead of her-" Adrien was interrupted by Nino's cough. "I... I don't know what to do now." Adrien sank to the glacial stairs leading to the school's entrance but paid the cold no mind.
"Well, then invite someone else. What about Sebastian, from the fencing club?" said Nino through the phone. Marinette thought for a while. Sebastian was that nice boy who explained her the rules of fencing while she was watching Adrien and Kagami fight for the first time.
"Sebastian is going to stay in Lyon, with his brothers."
"Well, then someone else..."
Chloe suddenly tapped her high heels close to Adrien and clasped her lips. Marinette closed her eyes. What a nightmare. I should have stayed in bed than see this... Chloe is going to use hurt Adrien and travel with him, and then they will get together, marry, have little blond children and- and-
Adrien did not notice Chloe, though, so she cleared her throat once. Then twice. When that had no effect, she peeped "Hello, Adrien, I overheard your call and-"
Adrien didn't even turn and his voice sounded like he barely registered her presence. "Yeah, goodbye to you too, Chloe."
"No, what I was saying-" Chloe mumbled.
Adrien waved his hand. "Yes, yes, bye, Chloe. See you, well, probably never since this is our last year. Anyways, bye."
Chloe frowned and stormed away, slowly though, careful to not slip with her high heels over the icy steps, so her rage was felt just through the aggression of her movements.
"What about Nathaniel?"
Adrien rolled his eyes. "You are saying that just to spite me, aren't you."
Nino half-chuckled, half-coughed and said playfully. "Yeah, I know what you have against Nathaniel, you jealous dude."
"Silence, Nino." Adrien said and half-looked around. The other classmates were all leaving.
Mylene tapped Marinette on the shoulder. "Goodbye, Marinette."
Marinette gave her a distracted smile.
"Bye, Marinette." Echoed Ivan and Alix with warm nods and smiles and followed suit, leaving.
It was as if Nino overheard... "Well, since you and Kagami are no longer a thing, maybe you could muster up the courage to do what you really wanted to do, but was too afraid to do before..."
Adrien sat there stupefied. "What do you mean..."
"You know exactly WHO I mean..."
Who is he talking about, thought Marinette as she squeezed her purse, but releasing as soon as the little kwami inside protested quietly.
"Nino..." said Adrien weakly. "I don't know. I think it's a stupid idea."
Nino sighed. "Listen, mec. I really shouldn't be telling you this... but...when I was with Alya she told me a few things..."
Alya? Oh no... is there something I don't know?
Adrien perked up. "What... what things?"
"Well she told me- oh darn it, dude, she made me swear not to tell you..."
"You can't just start and leave me like that!" complained Adrien.
"I think she would understand. Well, I am gonna tell it in a way that won't break the promise, just to stay safe. Let's say that... I think she really wouldn't mind if you asked her. Let's keep it at that." said Nino half-cryptically. If Adrien would be using an old school telephone with a cord, Marinette was sure he would be wrapping it around his finger nervously.
"I don't know..."
"I am serious. She will say yes." Nino sighed. "Do as you wish, dude. I am off to reading my daily dose of Alya's blog before she eats me for not commenting on it yet. See- I mean, hear ya later." He hang up.
Adrien looked confusedly over the skies of dark clouds.
Then he stood up suddenly and looked around. When his green eyes met hers, she realized one strange fact.
She was standing close to him, exposed, and completely alone.