Stay by my Side

Stay by my Side - Chapter Eight

Marinette walked into the school gates, head hung low, and her back hunched, trying to make herself as small as possible. She had no way of anticipating how bad Lila's bullying could be. Just a few small lies and now everyone seemed to hate her.

Well not everyone.

As she stepped into the school building, she locked eyes with Adrien. He shyly gave her a small wave and smile, which she dully returned, before Chloe realised what they were doing and yanked Adrien away from her sight. Marinette simply sighed and continued her trek to her classroom.

She passed the seat she used to sit in - which Nino now sat in - and sat in the far back corner of the room. Alya gave her a concerned glance as she passed, while Nino glared at her. She could hear their whispers:

"I hope Mari is okay..."

"Alya! She almost got your entire blog shut down! Lila said-"

"I know what Lila said, and the pictures seem realistic, but... Mari just wouldn't do that."

"You've only known her for a year."

"I've known you less!"

"A - Alya-!"

"Alright class, settle down, and let's start today's lesson." Mrs Bustier chirruped, entering the classroom alongside the few remaining stragglers. None of those students - besides Adrien - paid Marinette any attention, as Lila had wound carefully crafted lies around each and every student in the class, making them believe wrong stories about Marinette through false pleasantries and carefully crafted photographs.

The only people who even begun to doubt them - Lila could be a permanent akumatised civilian if her lies were her power - were Adrien and Alya. Adrien didn't believe them for a second, but everyone surrounding him kept telling him to leave Marinette alone. Alya on the other hand really doubted the claims, but with her blog on the line, and Nino placing small pressure on her to stay away, she's left Marinette alone.

Just as Lila planned.

Lila hid her smirk, as Marinette sat by herself at lunch. She dropped her cutlery while eating, and as she moved to grab it from the floor and exchange it for a new one, her hair band caught on the edge of the table and snapped, her hair falling over her shoulders.

Adrien glanced over, as the hair that fell down Marinette's face, coincided with her tears that had begun to roll down her cheeks - her strands of hair eventually falling over them and blocking them from sight.

He frowned, as he noticed she had begun to shake as she slowly strolled over to the main section of the cafeteria, to grab new cutlery. He moved to stand up and help her, but Chloe grasped one arm and Lila grabbed hold of the other, pulling him back down into his seat.

He wouldn't be able to leave for a while.

Something was wrong with Marinette!

If he couldn't help... If Adrien couldn't help...

Maybe Chat Noir could.

---TimeSkip---

Marinette leaned against the balcony of her bakery, the moon shining in the sky, as the wind flowed against her long hair. She sighed, tightening her grip on the metal railing, taking in the peace the night brings.

"You're up late, Princess." A voice called out.

"Kitty." Marinette smiled, turning around to face Chat Noir. "I was just enjoying the night sky, before I head to bed."

"It sure is pretty, huh?" Chat Noir responded, joining her by the railing.

For a few moments there was silence.

"Marinette..." Chat Noir shot her a glance. "Is anything going on with you... to do with school?"

Marinette jumped. "N - No! I'm fine, great, actually. Good. Yeah." She coughed awkwardly and tried to change the topic of the conversation. Chat Noir simply sighed and brought out his mobile phone - the black one he uses to converse with Ladybug.

"Listen Marinette, I care about you, okay? Please tell me your cell phone number. When you're stressing, you can text me. Anytime. It's only got Ladybug's number on it right now, so the information you talk to me about on there will be safe."

"Chat Noir..." Marinette's heart felt warm. Chat Noir... really cared about her, huh? "Kitty..." She blinked, coming back to reality. "A - Alright."

As Chat Noir - Adrien - watched Marinette disappear down her ladder, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Even if he couldn't do anything as Adrien... he could still do something.

Hi everyone!

There probably won't be an update tomorrow, as I have work! I mean I might update tomorrow but we'll see.

I hope you enjoyed reading, poor Mari D:

Well Lila will eventually get what's coming to her. That's a lie - she deserves death but I'm not that much of a sadist XD

Okay, okay, see you guys again soon!

But for now...

Peachy out! 😊