Alter

6

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It was another rough morning for Marinette, especially with the lack of sleep. She almost face-dived into her bowl of cereal this morning if it weren't for her "mother" yelling at her to stay awake.

The bluenette felt completely exhausted and miserable, wanting to return back to her original dimension. She missed her parents, hanging out with Alya, and Tikki. She hated scheduling, being yelled at for doing normal teen stuff and just feeling utterly useless as a hero.

"I didn't know what I had until it was all gone," she thought. It was as if her whole life just slipped passed her fingers like sand then the rest blew away before she could grasp what was left.

The door of the limo opened, meaning Marinette had arrived at school. The teen slid out of the vehicle and forced a tired smile to her chauffeur. The chauffeur, or her bodyguard, gave a sympathetic look before returning back to his duties. Once the limo was gone, Marinette just stood there and stared at the school.

She didn't know why but her hands trembled for some reason. The bluenette began to slowly walk towards the school with her head down until feeling a presence nearby coming closer. There was a weird itchy sort of feeling that she couldn't scratch, telling her to look up.

Marinette didn't have to think twice to see who was nearby. Her eyes widened, frozen on the spot as green eyes barely two feet away stared back just as surprised. The two stared, some sort of recognition forming within their heads.

This made Marinette feel all the more uncomfortable being near Adrien. She was getting close to figuring out something she wasn't supposed to know. Everything was pointing fingers at her crush. The biggest of them all was Adrien having her lifestyle and her having his. Yet, she continued to deny it.

   She didn't want to believe it!

   But...at the same time...

   ...she hoped it was miraculously true.

   "No!" Marinette yelled within her head, "It's too good to be true! Plus, we can't know each other's identities! It's for our own safety!"

   The bluenette finally looked away and began to walk into the school in a hurry to get away from Adrien. The worst part, she could still feel his eyes on her. Marinette hurried towards the locker room to grab some of her books (which she noticed that Adrien's locker was now hers. Yet, kept denying the obvious clues).

Marinette hurried to class but was stopped by her "best friend," Nino. He smiled at her until a frown twisted his face when noticing the war and urgency in her bluebell eyes.

   "What's wrong, dudette?" Nino asked, "I know you're always going to class early but never this early."

Marinette pulled a forced smile, trying to think of a good excuse. Yet, her mind was filled with many thoughts spinning in circles. The bluenette tried so hard to put on a practiced brave face but it was slowly falling apart once her lip began to quiver. Her eyes grew misty as her mask broke in two. Marinette couldn't take it anymore.

   First, she hurt her parents and Chat Noir for no reason. Secondly, she was getting blamed for doing normal teen stuff by her other-dimensional "parents." Finally, she wasn't any help with crime-fighting, becoming useless to Paris. Now, she was trying to hide all the pain under some facade from her friends.

Marinette felt like a true mess.

The bluenette shook her head before letting her walls fall down, letting out quiet sobs. Bubbly tears fell from beautiful bluebells eyes and tiny sniffles came from her nose. Nino's frown deepened before quickly glancing around to make sure no one was looking.

The DJ wrapped an arm around Marinette's shoulders and guided her to somewhere private to cry. He knew Marinette would feel all the more embarrassed and uncomfortable if people started to stare at her. Yet, the scene didn't go unnoticed by a particular blonde boy.

   Adrien had lost sight of Marinette after she ran into the school. He wanted to talk with the bluenette to figure out all the familiar scenarios that had been taken place since arriving in this other dimension. Once he finally caught sight of her again, the blonde teen's heart shattered at the broken sight of the girl.

   Marinette was crying.

   Adrien just wanted to walk over and give the girl a hug. He hated seeing her look so defeated and miserable. It wasn't like Marinette at all.

   The fashion designer was always confident, smiling in the face of danger. She is strong, brave, outstanding...

   Adrien felt his face flush and let out a dream-like sigh. He ached for her but adored her all the same.

   "She is so wonderful..." he thought. Then, the emerald-eyed boy realized what he was thinking and shook away the feelings, confused. Adrien had never felt that way towards Marinette before. Lately, these foreign feels began to blossom.

   He even felt slight jealousy when Nino wrapped an arm around Marinette and guided her elsewhere. Adrien didn't know why but he wished to be in Nino's place.

   Adrien wanted to be the one to comfort her, make her smile and laugh, and so much more. Yet, he was left standing and watching from the sidelines.

   "Excuse me, why does your face look like that?" Alya teasingly questioned. Adrien jumped in fright by the sudden appearance of his ombré friend. He must have been deep within thought to have not noticed her presence.

   "W-What?" Adrien asked, raising an eyebrow.

   "That face you were making just a moment ago," Alya repeated, "You're not allowed to make those kinds of expression."

   "I don't understand," the blonde replied before asking, "What's wrong with my face?"

   "Jealousy," Alya answered, plainly and crossed her arms, "You seriously need to get over yourself. Nino isn't interested in Marinette anymore!"

   "I...I know...it's just..." Adrien trailed off, unsure of what else to say. Alya seemed to grasp onto what her friend was trying to say and sighed.

   "I know you're worried for Mari, but as far as she knows, you're just a good friend," Alya laid down the hard truth. That actually hurt Adrien when hearing those words and mentally flinched.

   "That's why you need to put your big boy pants on and tell her how you feel towards her," the reporter continued. Adrien nodded, finding encouragement in his friend's words.

   "Yeah, you're right," the blonde spoke, smiling a little and knew just what to do, "Thank you, Alya."

   "No problem, buddy. Now, let's get to class so you can copy off of my homework. I have a pretty good hunch you didn't do it," Alya said, making Adrien sheepishly scratch the back of his neck and laugh nervously.

   Alya was right once again.

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