Dead

Visiting

  We made our way up to Jagged's room and I knocked on the door, Marinette and Chloe on either side of me. The door opened to reveal a pretty, dark skinned woman with pink hair and a clipboard. She smiled when she saw us and stepped aside, welcoming us and complimenting Marinette on her dress.

  Out of nowhere, someone swung Marinette around and dipped her. I watched as Jagged smiled down at her and pulled her back up, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. He complimented her dress before leading us all to the sitting area, where we found a balding man waiting, lounging in one of the chairs.

  "You remember my girl, Marinette, don't you, Bob? I had Penny invite her over."

  "Yeah, yeah. I remember. Now, can we get back to the deal? If you just agree to this interview..." Bob said, standing up and holding out a piece of paper towards Jagged. Jagged Stone glanced at it and wrinkled his nose in disgust, backing away.

  "Are you kidding, Bob? Can't you ever find a good deal that's, you know!"

  "Rock and roll?" Marinette suggests. Jagged's mouth broke into a huge grin and he wrapped his arm around her again.

  "See? Marinette gets it. Say, Marinette. You don't have any ideas on how I can boost my image, do you?" Jagged asks. Marinette's eyes widen and I can see the wheels turning in her head as she looks down at her feet, considering.

  "Well, you could try doing a collab with other artists. I know you've tried with XY and that turned out to be a disaster but I have a friend who's really into your work who'd be stoked. You wanted to reach out to the younger generation, right?" Marinette asks, looking at Bob, who looked at her thoughtfully.

  "What did you have in mind, Miss Dupain-Cheng?" He asked, putting a hand on his hip and letting the other fall to his side. Marinette, getting more confident, smiled and continued.

  "Well, I have a friend who's killer on guitar who's around my age so it would reach out to the younger generation and still have your style. What do you think?" Marinette finishes nervously, glancing between Jagged and Bob. They exchanged glances and grinned.

  "Killer idea, Marinette!" Jagged exclaims. "Penny?" She came from the other room with her clipboard and gave Marinette a small wave.

  "Yes, Jagged?" She said, holding up her clipboard and clicking her pen.

  "Schedule a time and date to do a collab with-... uh..." He turned to Marinette. who smiled.

  "Luka Couffaine." She replied and I smiled. I wasn't super close with him but I knew Marinette used to have a crush on him and that he was a pretty cool guy. I didn't know he was into Jagged Stone but it made sense. 

  They must have talked a lot about him together, I thought, my mood darkening. I looked up to find a startled expression on Jagged Stone's face and turned to find Penny scrambling for her pen, which she had dropped on the floor.

  "Luka Couffaine?" Jagged repeated. Marinette, not noting their expressions, nodded happily.

  "He's your biggest fan, and I know he'd be stoked to do a collab with you. I-if that's okay with you..." Marinette trailed off, finally noticing how they had reacted.

  "Totally rock and roll!" Jagged replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "Tell him I'd love it." Marinette smiled widely and her smile seemed to calm Jagged a bit, bringing him back to himself.

  After Penny left, Bob said he had to leave to take care of some other meetings. He left with his phone in his hand, holding it up to his ear and walking briskly. Jagged invited us all to sit down and he ordered room service after finding out neither Marinette nor I had eaten.

  "It's an honor to meet you in person, sir." I told him, leaning forward a bit in my seat, trying hard to contain my excitement. Being a model, I got to meet a lot of important celebrities, like Laura Nightingale, since my father designed her outfits ever since she started. However, Jagged wasn't the kind of person to usually be at my father's events.

  "Don't mention it. It's an honor to meet anyone who's friends with my girl, Marinette. She's really talented. She designed these killer shades for me and my album cover." Jagged said, enthusiastically. I glanced at her and found her blushing.

  "I know! I got her to sign my copy. It was amazing! Did you know she also won my father's derby competition? The whole world got to see how talented she is." I glanced at her again and smirked when I saw her tomato face. She caught me looking and brought up her hands to hide it.

  "Aw! Don't be shy, Marinette! You should know how killer you are."

  "Yeah." I agreed. I hear Chloe huff and, for the first time, I remember she was there. She leaned forward and tried joining the conversation but Jagged dismissed her and turned to Marinette again, pissing Chloe off.

  "So, what have you been up to, girl?" Jagged asked, leaning back in his seat with his drink. 

  "W-well, I've been working on this dress ever since you invited me so I'd be done with it in time for our visit. I finished it yesterday and I had some fabric left so I decided to make you a present!" Marinette said, growing more sure of herself as she went on. Jagged's eyes lit up at the mention of a present.

  "A present? For me? What kind?" Marinette giggled and winked at him.

  "Can't tell you. It's a surprise. You'll just have to wait until it's ready." Jagged grumbled and set down his drink.

  "Just a hint?" He pleaded, but Marinette shook her head, smiling. "Awh. I hate surprises." Jagged pouted, leaning back in his seat. Marinette laughed out loud and soon, Jagged and I joined her.

  "I don't get what's so funny. He's acting like a child." Chloe mumbled, crossing her arms. I felt bad for her. She had planned this for us and Jagged was making it all about Marinette. While I had no problem with that, I didn't like the fact that Chloe was being left out. She might be a brat but something she tried being nice about got ruined.

  "If you want to leave, you can. I'll... go shopping with you tomorrow. How about that?" I whispered to her, leaning in close. Her eyes lit up and she nodded her head vigorously. Standing up, she announced she remembered she promised she'd hang out with Sabrina and had to leave. Waving goodbye, she rushed out of the room.

  As soon as she was gone, Jagged breathed a sigh of relief. Marinette and I turned to him, questioningly. He shrugged sheepishly and jerked his thumb in the direction Chloe just walked off.

  "Sorry, but that girl was starting to get on my nerves, always being rude and interrupting." Jagged said, annoyed. I knew Chloe was annoying but that didn't give him a reason to talk about her like that. He didn't even know her. I was about to come to her defense but Marinette beat me to it.

  "You shouldn't talk about people that way, even if they deserve it. I was sitting here and Chloe never interrupted once. Jagged, you were the only one who interrupted and you always did it when Chloe was talking." Marinette said, sounding disappointed.

  "Sorry. You're right." Jagged admitted, rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously. Marinette sighed and stood up.

  "Apologize to Chloe next time." Marinette says, grabbing her purse.

  "You're not leaving? Already?" Jagged asked, standing at the same time I did. Marinette nodded.

  "It's not you, Jagged, I just have to get home." Marinette tells him and he nods in understanding.

  "Of course. I'll make sure to have Penny send some tickets for my next concert to your place. I'll also give one to that Chloe girl." Marinette gave him a pleased smile and waved goodbye. I bade him goodbye and walked out after Marinette, both of us waving goodbye to Penny on our way out, who was in the middle of a phone call.