Jerk in Sheep's Clothing

Prologue

Marinette's feet felt as heavy as stone as she trudged up the sidewalk towards the school.  A month ago, her feet felt light and airy whenever she started walking to her first class.  She used to look forward to girl talk with Alya and the others, mooning over Adrien, and what other wonderful surprises the day had in store for her.  But ever since Lila had returned to school and gotten the class under her spell, Marinette never knew whether she would spin another tale and make everyone mad at Mari.

It was taking all of Marinette's strength to keep things as calm and neutral between her and her friends as possible.  She had been trying desperately to relieve some of the tension with only some success.  But no matter how tense things were between them, they were still her friends.

Besides, Marinette could not blame them entirely for believing Lila's wild tales.  As much as she hated to admit it,  the Rossi girl had had a valid point—people believe what they wanted to believe.  After all, Marinette had only seen through her lies because of her most infamous fibs of being besties with Ladybug—who was secretly Marinette.  If Lila had not unknowingly lied about Mari, would the pigtailed girl have been onto her in the first place?

At first, she had been upset at Adrien for not helping her expose Lila.  But soon, she remembered Gabriel, and how he had raised his son to obey without protest, to always been seen and not heard.  Marinette could not blame Adrien for following his upbringing, no matter how abusive it was.  Victims of those things applied that knowledge to everyone they came in contact with.

As such, Marinette knew that all she could do was hold on and hope, hope, hope with all her heart that sooner or later, the class would see through Lila's ridiculous stories.  Because that's what friends did, even if things had been rather one-sided lately.  She believed in them.  And nothing could deter her from that belief.

In her deep trance of thoughts and fears of what drama the day might bring, Marinette did not notice a rock in her path, not until it was too late.  The next thing she knew, she was jerked from her train of thought and went stumbling forward.  She shut her eyes tight, preparing to feel the hard slap of concrete against her face.  But it never came.

It was only moments later that she felt two strong hands on her arms, holding her up.  Slowly, she opened her eyes to see a handsome face.  The features were chiseled, coated in smooth, tan skin.  The eyes were a rich cocoa brown, matching the color of his smooth, shiny hair, slicked back into a feathered style.  The half-smile he wore on his face, showing his pearly white teeth, would make any girl swoon.

After a moment, he spoke, his voice deep and charming.  "I know we just just met, but no need to fall for me."

Marinette laughed, half at the joke and half at their awkward meeting, as she pulled herself to an upright standing position.  "Sorry about that.", she said, tucking some stray hairs behind her ear nervously.

The boy waved it off.  "No problem.  I'm flattered.  Its not everyday that I literally bump into a pretty girl."

That made Marinette's face turn red as her Ladybug costume.  They had only just met less than a minute ago, and he had already made a pass at her, and called her pretty.  And she thought Chat Noir was forward.

The boy thrust his hand out towards her.  "Henri LeRoi."

She smiled and shook his hand.  "Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

His brown eyes grew wide.  "Marinette...lovely name.  Just rolls off the tongue."

He said it again, slower and softer this time.  "Marinette...its beautiful.  But hey...I can't expect less from a beautiful girl."