Miracle Box - an MLB rewrite

Misery of a Troubled Artist

"Can you like... try to be a bit more cheerful? You're making this class unbearable."

It was Thursday, and Marinette was in her anatomy class again. Ms. Mandeleev had everyone super busy with work, and Marinette could hardly even think about anything else. Alya seemed to have no problem multitasking, easily blabbing Marinette's ear off which got on Ms. Mendeleev's nerves. In the back of the class, Lila Rossi was pestering Nathaniel, a quiet, reserved kid who most always was drawing.

"I'm sorry Lila," Nathaniel mumbled. Lila was in no mood for putting up with anyone's behavior. Even the littlest things, like Nathaniel being quieter than usual, seemed to bother her immensely.

"You really think the world revolves around you, don't you?" Lila rolled her eyes.

"Um... what?" Nathaniel responded.

"You look like an anime protagonist," Lila sneered.

"I-I'm sorry?"

"Lila, you're being disruptive," Ms. Mandeleev barked.

"Am I being disruptive?" Lila asked innocently, "I am so, so sorry!"

"Enough, Lila," Ms. Mendeleev sighed. "Now, I will be assigning group projects for your digestive system presentations. So- Nathaniel!" she snapped. Nathaniel jolted upright in surprise, "What are you drawing?!"

The woman had suddenly materialized directly behind Lila and Nathaniel's desk. Nathaniel's cheeks went bright red in embarrassment, the eyes of the class now glued to him as if he'd been placed under a spotlight.

"And these artistic endeavors are clearly going to get you an F in my class if you don't learn to shapen up!" Ms. Mandeleev remarked, picking up his sketchbook forcefully.

"I'm sorry..." Nathaniel said, trying to get his sketchbook back. She slammed it back on his desk furiously.

"I will not allow you to draw such inappropriate things in my classroom!" Ms. Mandeleev said, "Is this going to be a problem?!"

"N-no ma'am-"

"You draw weird things," Lila commented.

"They're n-not weird!" Nathaniel stated.

"I've asked you time and time again to put that sketchbook away, at this point, I ought to send you to Mr. Damocles!" Ms. Mendeleev sharked on him.

"I won't do it again!"

"That better be true! I'm not kidding around!" With that, Ms. Mendeleev clicked her heels all the way to the front of the class again. She certainly was quite an irritable woman. "Now, your assigned groups will go as follows: group 1, Adrien, Nino, and Alya. Group 2, Sabrina, Chloe and Marinette."

"Oh no," Marinette groaned, flopping her head onto her desk in anguish.

"Ms. Mendeleev?" Chloe raised her hand, "Can't you add her to another group? Sabrina and I work much better on our own."

"This is a group presentation, not pairs. Deal with it," Ms. Mendeleev replied.

"I hate dealing with it," Chloe muttered under her breath.

"Group 3, Juleka, Ivan, and Mylene. Group 4, Max, Alix, and Rose. Group 5, Nathaniel, Kim, and Lila," Ms. Mendeleev announced, "Are there any questions?"

"I can't believe I'm with Chloe!" Marinette groaned.

"I'm sorry girl," Alya said sympathetically.

"This is going to be the worst!"

"Maybe you and Sabrina can get along?"

"As if," Marinette complained.

The end of the day had come and Marinette felt her brain was already in shambles just thinking about this anatomy project she'd have to grind through with Sabrina and Chloe. It was as if her day had to be ruined. Bad luck even.