Please, Don't Leave Me

Chapter 8

The next morning Marc was awakened by Marinette's alarm so he got up and got dressed in his usual outfit before the girls could actually wake up and get up. He then went to the bathroom to pee and brush his hair. This resulted in Marc looking in the mirror and he realized how oily his hair looked so he undressed and hopped into the shower, letting the heat envelope him and ease away all the tension in his muscles. He took in a deep breath and exhaled, relaxing as he remembered feeling his mother's warmth last night for one last time. He knew that she would want him to try to be happy so that was exactly what he planned to do.

He grabbed Marinette's lotus scented body wash and his Lisa Frank rainbow pouf he got from an American store called Hot Topic. After bathing, he washed his face with the same body wash and then squeezed some strawberry scented shampoo into his hand and lathered it into his hair, letting the excess suds trail down his chest, abs, and eventually his groin, which he always kept shaved smooth. once satisfied with the amount of lathering he did, he rinsed his hair out thoroughly and squeezes a small amount of conditioner that was the same scent as the shampoo and massaged it into his hair, all the while humming to himself.

Once he rinsed his hair of the conditioner, he got out of the shower and massaged some lotion into his skin before getting dressed again. This time when he looked into the mirror, he smiled; he was back to looking so cute. He exited the bathroom and went over to Marinette's vanity, determined to do his own makeup. He blended his foundation into his skin and concealer to hide the bags under his eyes. He then decided on his usual pastel pink and he applied some sparkly black liquid eyeliner and his magnetic lashes. Upon completion, he smiled happily, having finally done everything correctly. Eventually the girls finally got up to get ready.

They got dressed in their usual outfits and did each other's makeup. Marinette looked over at Marc and saw that he did his own makeup this time. "Guess you don't need me to do your makeup anymore, huh?" she giggled. Marc smiled, very pleased with himself. "Not for this look," he said before giggling a little. Marinette smiled when she saw that while sitting cross-legged on her bed, he was still holding onto the bear Nathaniel gave him. "You really like Nathaniel, don't ya, Marc?" Alya teased, having noticed it, too. Marc blushed bright red and hid his face. Alya giggled as she got her glasses on. When they were ready, Marinette, Marc, and Alya went downstairs to eat breakfast before school. This morning the menu was cereal with fruit pieces in it and, of course, juice. Marc was the first one to finish eating so he had time together his notebooks and such that he needed for classes. His last class ends before the other classes so he planned to sit under the stair and work on writing his book.

The girls soon joined him, and they walked to school together. It took them about fifteen minutes to walk from the bakery to the school, and when they did all of their friends ran over and each hugged Marc, showing him they were there for him. The last one to hug him,of course, was Nathaniel. He held Marc close and when he released him, he lingered just a bit. He then smiled charmingly at Marc, which made him blush and look away shyly. He was going to say something about his blush being cute, but the bell caught him so they went to class before anyone said anything else. However, when class started, he was hearing and doing work like any good student, but his mind was elsewhere. Did anyone read his diary? Could he stay emotionally stable enough to get through this tragedy? Did he even have a chance with Nathaniel. Marc froze; did that thought really just cross his mind? Well, shit. He was just admitting to himself that he had a crush on the redhead artist. Marc sighed, earning a look from his neighbor, but kept working.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he actually jumped when the bell rang. His next class was history so he quickly gathered his things and went to his next class. He could never remembered his instructor's name,but he didn't care. He just wanted this class over; history was never his favorite class. He sat next to the classmate he'd only met once. His name was Max, and apparently he was a technical guru. He was nice, but Marc was too shy to really talk to anyone apart from Marinette and now Alya so he didn't talk to Max as he focused on the lecture and jotted down notes. This took the entire class period so when the bell rang he sighed and finished his last note before going to his science class. He expected some lecture like usual,but his instructor had other plans. He walked in the classroom and was told they were studying how people react to certain stimuli. He wasn't sure he liked where this was going, but he had no choice.

The first test was the instructor told they class they had a pop quiz. When everyone groaned, the class rep wrote the reaction down. She used several other examples,each one being recorded. Then Chloe raised from her seat and sashayed over to Nathaniel and whispered a stimulus idea to him and then to Kim and even to Marinette, even if she can't stand the girl. "Well, it is for the class so this one time I'll go along with your idea," Marinette said, "Kim will go first. Marc, can you stand by one of the walls?" Marc looked confused but did as told. He had barely leaned against the wall when Marinette recited the scenario of Marc having just gone to lunch and just put his notebook in his bag when Kim came and slapped a hand onto the wall next to Marc's head, earning an adorable squeak from Marc. Marc looked up and blushed but only because he wasn't expecting this. The class rep recorded this scenario. Kim smiled and straightened up before going back to his seat. Next up was Chloe. She didn't give any scenario for hers and Chloe pretended to ask him out, sounding legitimate. Marc blushed and looked away, "I'm sorry, Chloe... b-but my heart already belongs to someone else...." Chloe winked as that response was also recorded. Marc caught on to the experiment but he lost all confidence left all once when he saw Nathaniel speed-walking toward him. He had a determined bad-boy look in his eye just like at the party, causing Marc to freeze.

Nathaniel got to him and the sound his hands made against the cold brick wall resonated in the classroom. Marc stared into Nathaniel's eyes in shock. As Chloe suggested he smirked and lifted Marc's chin to the perfect angle to kiss. However, Marc turned so red and got so shy that he looked away. "U-um.... uhh..... hmm.... i-i....." Marc just couldn't get his mind to work enough to form sentences. Nathaniel decided to end his test there. Besides, after that approach, any shy kid would give that reaction, right? He took a step back before smiling and going back to his seat. The class rep did their thing and Marinette pretended to be like Jagged Stone, but neither of them could keep a straight face, Marinette being the first to laugh. Marc, however, stood speechless before puffing his cheeks to contain laughter, only to burst into laughter anyway. He laughed so hard he fell to his knees clutching his side's and eventually wheezing, as was Marinette. The laughter proved contagious because everyone was soon laughing, even the instructor and class rep, who recorded this hilarious reaction. Ah, it felt nice to have a really good laugh. Marc eventually calmed himself enough to where he was only giggling before returning to his seat next to Kim. Right as he sat down, the dismissal bell rang so he gathered his things and left with Marinette, ready to tell Alya about today's experiment.