Because He Loved Me First

4

Marinette got out of the shower and changed into the clothes she had picked out for herself. She then walked up to the mirror in the bathroom and stared at herself from up to down, turning around and pressing her stomach in, in hopes that she might just look skinnier than she actually looked. She then sighed, giving up and started walking towards her bed.

"It's her parents! They're ruining her. With all those pastries they sell, of course she's going to look that fat!"

Marinette grabbed her laptop from her desk before sitting down on her bed, trying to get rid of all the words students had spoken about her in school, trying not to remember, hoping that maybe the more she tried, the more she would lose her memories.

"She came to this school looking like that. What did she expect, for us to be all nice to her? Ha! She wish!"

"There are some rumours that she may actually be adopted, but yesterday Chloe started telling everyone that her parents are planning on sending her to the adoption center. It kinda makes sense. I mean, I don't know what kind of adults would want a child like her! I definitely wouldn't!"

Marinette pressed her palms against her ears. She tried focusing on something else, anything else that would make her not think about school. Then her mind came over to Adrien. Although he reminded her of school, he was a good distraction. Just thinking about how nice he'd been, how he hadn't listened to the others when they told him to stay away from her, it made her feel relaxed. He really made her feel like she wasn't alone, both at home and in school.

Her phone then suddenly buzzed, and although she was afraid to go see what it was, she still placed her laptop on the bed beside where she was sitting and went over to her desk to pick up the phone she'd left there. Looking at her phone, she could see it was a new notification. With a tap of her finger the notification led her to somewhere else.

* Chloe has invited you to this group chat. Do you want to join?

Yes              No

Marinette tried to relax on her seat and was just about to click 'no' with her index finger when her thumb accidentally hit the 'yes' button. She yelped in surprise as she tried to unjoin the group, but a bunch of messages were already coming in about her joining the group.

- you have the audacity to join. Haha, you much not really be ashamed of yourself!

- I can't believe you actually clicked yes, Marinette. How pathetic. I guess you really enjoy being bullied, huh?

- Just because Adrien is on your side, you think you can get rid of us now? Ha! You wish, you pathetic brat!

Marinette was about to unjoin when a message caught her eyes. It was a message from Chloe, and although she knew she shouldn't have, she still glued her eyes to it and read what it said.

- Marinette, to have Adrien be on your side without even getting to know you: how amazing that is for you, huh? But let me just tell you, Adrien cannot be ruined because of you. If you know what's good for you, you'll leave him alone. Tell him that you don't like him, tell him that it was your own fault that you became like this. Tell him it was because you humiliated me first and then people started hating you. And Marinette, if you really cared about your parents' business and don't want it to be torn down, you'll do as I say. Make sure to put in a good word for me to Adrien.

Marinette could feel her heart pounding in her chest. This was why Chloe had invited her to the group in the first place, just so she could warn her about Adrien, to threaten her with her parents' business. Marinette clenched her fists. This was exactly why she didn't want Adrien around her. Now he had brought more trouble unto her plate. She was better off without him, better off alone. She had always been better off alone. How could Adrien think he was doing a good thing by sticking by her? How could he even think it was going to resolve all problems.

Adrien, you jerk!

- Marinette, I know you're still there. You better reply to me and agree to do as I say, or else!

Marinette grabbed unto her phone and threw it against the wall, the screen of the phone shattering in pieces but her not caring any less about it. Why had she even thought getting a phone would be a good thing? Why had she begged her parents to get it for her when she was just going to end up breaking it? She hid her face in the palms of her hands and tried not to cry, but the tears came rolling out before she could even hold them all in.

And she sobbed for the entire night.

In the morning, she awoke due to the ring of her alarm clock. She took a breath, wiped her eyes, seeing that there were a few more tears from last night, then she headed over to her calendar.

"Marinette, wake up! You're going to be late for school!"

Then let me be late! Marinette muttered to herself. But she quickly replied back to her mother with a "I'm coming down soon!" Grabbing a pen from her drawer, Marinette eyed the calendar, before she put a large 'X' on the date which had been yesterday. She turned to the back of her calendar and crossed out '15', before changing the number to '14'.

Just 1̶5̶ 14 more days to go.

I can't wait to disappear, she whispered to herself inside her head. I can't wait to get rid of all this torture. I can't wait. I can't wait to finally be over this world and be at peace wherever I am. She put her pen back and hid her calendar like she always did, afraid her parents might find and see it. She then headed straight for the shower, wanting to be as slow as possible. Maybe she could skip school today, go somewhere and enjoy some time on her own. Maybe.

After she was done, she headed downstairs. Breakfast was already set on the table, but Marinette grabbed a toast and a glass of milk, not wanting to eat too much as she was now watching her weight. But it wouldn't matter if she got skinnier anyway. No matter what happened, she was still going through with her plan.