When a liar gets you left behind

Chapter Fourteen: Partners and Self-Doubt

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   Marinette had to quickly grab all of her supplies for school, as—because she wasn't near her alarm, she had woken up later than usual.

So she had been forced to quickly get ready, finishing her routine in five minutes.

Jagged and her had ran to the limo, and she arrived in her first period classroom right as the bell rang.

"Marinette, you don't want to start an old habit again," Tikki teased her from Marinette's purse.

Marinette rolled her eyes playfully in response, though she did keep this in mind, as that 'old habit' of hers had made more trouble for Marinette then she would have preferred.

The teacher eyed Marinette as she walked to her seat, but otherwise left her alone and didn't comment on her tardiness.

Good, she thought, this teacher should not be too strict then.

She quickly pulled out her supplies from her backpack as she sat down, making sure to have everything ready.

Marinette could feel someone's gaze on her, burning into her back. She tried to ignore the feeling for a while, but eventually she searched the room for the culprit.

Her gaze went all around the room before it landed on the seat a few chairs away from her in the back row.

Damian was staring right at her, not looking down or away when she met his gaze. Instead he looked directly into her eyes, challenging her silently.

Marinette's eyes narrowed slightly, but she didn't look away from his cold eyes. They silently, unmovingly, continued with this charade until the teacher's voice gained their attention once again.

"So now that we finally have an equal amount of students, I figured we could do a project with partners. Of course, I thought since it's the first time we are doing this, you could get to pick your partner," The plump teacher explained. "You will both have to make a essay on something Gotham is known for, or something in Gotham. You will share notes and will write about the same subject, but I still expect your essays to not be different."

Marinette didn't really have any friends in the school quite yet, so she didn't know who she wanted to have as a partner. Quite frankly, she preferred to work on her own, as she never really ended up having good luck with partners in past experiences.

"Everyone understand?" The teacher asked. When no one asked any questions she continued. "Alright, pick your partners!"

Soon, everyone had a partner but Marinette. She didn't know what to do, but she knew that the teacher had said that their was an equal amount of students, so their had to be someone who didn't have a partner.

Just as she was about to get up, a shadow fell on her desk. The hairs on her arm bristled up, and goosebumps rose on her arms.

She looked up to find Damian staring at her.

" You are the last available student in the class," his stern voice was one key away from a snarl, as if the very thought of working with her was disgusting.

The urge to stick her tongue out and say she did have a partner was strong, in fact, it was right on the tip of her tongue. But she knew deep down that doing so wouldn't help the situation at hand.

So she ignored the urge and looked him dead in the eye.

"It seems so," she said calmly, a slight bite in her neutral voice, not bothering to suppress the the distaste in her voice.

If he was rude to her, she would be rude to him. She was tired of being pushed around by classmates.

"To finish the project in a timely manner, it would be best to meet outside of school. What would be a good place for you? My home?" Though Damian suggested his house, his tone suggested otherwise.

Marinette didn't want to go to his house, quite honestly, she would much rather meet him somewhere in public.

"How about we meet at that ice-cream shop? I can give you directions. It's the one that has pickle flavored ice-cream," Marinette asked smoothly, politely declining his offer.

"Suitable," Damian said.

"How about we meet tomorrow after school, say 4:30?" She said lightly, though her voice was still cold.

He nodded in response and walked off, not sparing her another glance.

{———}

    At the end of school, when she arrived home. Jagged was waiting for her by the couch.

When Penny sat in the back with her, she kept glancing back at Marinette with disbelief in her eyes, so it was obvious she knew her identity.

Marinette did not really know how to react to that.

So Marinette ignored her, as the silence between them was awkward and unsettling.

"So, how was school?" Jagged asked as she sat down in a chair in the living room.

"It was okay, in first period we got assigned a project and we have to have partners," She grumbled.

"Guess what we're doing tonight?" Jagged said with fake enthusiasm, and—for some reason, she couldn't help but feel this was her punishment.

"We're going to the Self-Defense class set up by the Wayne's today! It's to help everyone protect themselves from the Villains."

"A self-defense class?" Marinette asked, furrowing her eyebrows slightly

She felt the urge to feel them that this was a irrational thing to do, considering she had multiple times to 'practice' whenever a Akuma popped up. She also had learned some things from her mother as precautionary measures.

"While I slightly see your point, I constantly practice on Akumas' that I have to deal with on a weekly basis," Marinette argued.

Jagged scoffed in response.

"That's even more of a reason to go. I probably would have made you go even if I didn't know your identity. Besides, the Akumas aren't near as bad as the Villains here," Jagged said reasonably.

That you remember maybe, Marinette thought silently.

But she knew that the villains were still very bad here. It was not a competition,  so whether or not they were worse was not a big deal.

For a moment, Marinette thought of telling Jagged the truth, that only she could remember what actually happened. But she refrained. That was selfish of her, nobody should have to listen to that.

And she really didn't know if the Villains were better at compact here. Though, the Akumas were automatically given some sense  of direction in fighting once Akumatized. But she had  also heard rumors of how bad the Villains were here. Maybe they fought in a way she didn't know. It was the worlds most crime-ridden city, after all.

So in the end, she found herself agreeing to go. She knew she would have to be careful to not raise suspicion to herself. So she would have to tread carefully.

Her main goal, was not to prove herself to Jagged, but to also do so without giving anymore of her secrets away.

Besides, if she could learn something to help her get better at dealing with Akumas', then she would gladly take that chance to learn it.

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