La Magie est Perdue à Minuit

Part One, Chapter One

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AUGUST

Marinette Dupain-Cheng brushed her dark midnight blue hair out of her eyes as she carefully finished dusting the dishes. She hummed a light melodious tune from her Papa as the 17-year old danced across the freshly polished floor, pretending to dance with the mop. Lost in her song, she didn’t notice as two girls her age stood in the doorway, snickering.

“Look, Chlo! Servant Girl thinks she can sing!”

Sabrina, a shy redhead looked up to her laughing stepsister as Marinette spun around in shock to see her adopted sister, Chloe Bourgeois, a made-up blonde girl sporting a vintage yellow bouffant dress and white pumps to match her purse and overpriced sunglasses. She snapped a pic on her phone and sashayed out the open doorway, Sabrina on her heels like a reliant puppy.

Marinette sighed and put away the cleaning supplies and treaded to her room, up five flights of stairs, lugging the bucket and mop behind her. She opened the trapdoor to the room, left the junk in a corner, and climbed up the ladder to her loft bed, jumping onto it with a satisfying breath. She laid on her bed and looked up at her ceiling, where pictures of a model were plastered all over.

Marinette observed his bright green eyes staring back at her. Eyes that complimented his tanned skin and long bedhead of light blonde hair... which further complimented his white t-shirt he was wearing under the expensive designer jacket, which even further complimented his defined muscles.

She loved seeing the expensive stitching, the extraordinary materials and care put into Agreste’s designs. Gabriel Agreste was one of the most famous fashion designers in all of France, maybe even the world. He put precise, exact measurements in every individual piece, and each was unique and special. But even more there was his son, the model and teen celebrity, Adrien Agreste. Marinette’s crush since entering secondary school at age 14 has remained this flawless blonde model. They met in class, but after that year, he dropped out of school and toured Europe as the model all over billboards and parfum ads.

In school with him that year, Marinette saw something there that wasn’t common. She saw leadership and a vulnerability to open up, and also respect for others around him even when circumstances were hard. She looked up to him as much as she looked up to his father, Gabriel.

When Marinette just turned fifteen, her parents went on a business trip. Owning a professional bakery, they headed to cater for a very wealthy family’s wedding. But a tragic accident occurred on an overpass.  Long story short, there was an accident and both of them were tragically killed.Marinette was placed in child services. The Mayor of Paris, Chloe’s father, requested to adopt Marinette as a way of returning the favor for all the times her parents baked delicious goods for their family. Mayor Bourgeois was kind to Marinette, yet he placed his own daughter and stepdaughter’s opinions and needs first. For some reason, Chloe had a hatred for Marinette since grade school, so the girl was usually stuck doing chores and homework for the other girls. Marinette put up with them, her dreams of becoming a famous fashion designer and marrying Adrien being quite an inspiration in her extensive detailed work.

~~~~~

SEPTEMBER

Adrien Agreste snapped awake as his father’s assistant, Nathalie shook his arm. He looked around and saw that he was still in his father’s limousine. He was flanked on one side by her and on the other by his long-time best friend (and junior manager), Nino, asleep and drooling against the cold car window. “Wha- What’s up?” He rubbed his eyes and yawned, checking his pricey watch his father bought him. 2:17 A.M. “Why am I being w-woken up at this hour? It’s two in the morning!”

As Adrien yawned again, Nino snorted in his sleep. Nathalie quietly explained to Adrien. “You took a year off of touring with your father’s company, Adrien. This will be an enormous toll on the industry, as your father explained to you already, but it is still your choice. Therefore, we have decided that you will attend the local secondary school by your father’s downtown house in Paris, where I will be staying with you to manage your life and security. You will have Nino to be your comrade during school and leisure activities, while your guard-”

(“You mean Gorilla,” Adrien interrupted,)

“Yes, 'Gorilla' will chauffeur you places and keep the car safe. Got that?”

Adrien nodded, his messy blonde hair shifting with him. He bit the strings on his dark sweatshirt and smoothed his “simple” jeans, thinking it over. “And you’re sure that I will have a normal senior year... a normal life like everyone else?”

“If things come out as planned, yes. M. Gabriel does plan on hosting a formal event with the students at your school, but we will get details later. Do you still remember anyone from your school year as a freshman?”

Agreste shook his head. He didn’t remember anything. The year felt like a blur leading up to his tour and unexpected fame. The young model was nervous and anticipated going back to school. Would people swarm him? Would girls hold up signs and scream when he stepped out of the car, like an even younger singer he heard of in North America? Or would they ignore him and treat him like an outsider? Adrien shuddered as he thought about it, then couldn’t help but grinning as Nino moved in his sleep onto Adrien’s shoulder, grabbing it like a pillow and singing unrecognizable words sleepily.

Adrien laughed as the long limousine pulled to a stop in front of a white-trimmed lavish house nestled in the heart of Paris. It stood out from the rest of the street as it was still so dark out in the streets. He pushed Nino out. The DJ-turned manager face planted into the sidewalk. Adrien’s turtle green eyes shot upwards as he climbed out of the car, stepped out onto the streets, and surveyed his new home, for the while at least.
Welcome home, Agreste.