marinette x felix // APPREHENSION

crowd

Soft rain rolled off the glass of the cafeteria window with the utmost gentleness. It was far too early in the year for there to be a nip in the air, but Felix could see his breath when he walked out of the house. Above, the skies were gray, the sun hidden behind the clouds. Cars drove by with their headlights on, as fog filled the streets. It was something straight out of a painting.

His eyes turned to the girl sitting in front of him, her blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail and her cellphone in her hand. He couldn't believe Chloé had managed to convince him to sit with her during lunch, but it was far too early in the morning to argue with the girl, and he would prefer to not make a scene in front of the entire student body. She was complaining about her hairdresser or something like that. Felix had tuned her out ten minuted ago. He pretended not to notice some of their classmates watching them, and looked down at his food in an attempt to distract himself.

The meal in front of him sat on a metal tray, in the center lay some steamed cauliflower with cheese melting off, accompanied by a single piece of pan-seared chicken. A... 'fruit cup', as Chloé had called it, also sat untouched on the tray, along with a glass of orange juice.

"Is this what students eat every day?" he muttered to himself and felt the table shift. He looked up from his food and was greeted by a girl he'd never seen before. She smiled, fixing her thick glasses. Her auburn hair, which was chopped off at shoulder-length, faded into a bold orange at the tips, "Hey, can we sit here?"

Next to her stood the girl who he'd spoken with yesterday, her short dark hair resting on her shoulders, tied into twin tails. She held her lunch tray with both her hands, waiting for Chloé's response.

"Can't you see Felix and I are having lunch together? You absolutely may not." Chloé remarked, "Don't think I've forgotten what you and your little friend said to me."

"You don't own this lunch table, Chloé." Marinette reminded her, "The seats aren't assigned, either. We can sit wherever we'd like."

"Fine, but don't speak to me or my boyfriend," she said, and Felix almost choked on his drink.

"I'm not her boyfriend," he corrected, "We're childhood friends."

He would never admit this to anyone, but for the last sixteen years, she's been the only friend he's ever had. Before Chloé's mother left to work in New York, and before his own mother passed, they would often have brunch together. Because of this, it became convenient to let Felix and Chloé spend time together.

Chloé huffed, putting her fork down a bit too hard. What had she expected to happen? Felix would never go along with something like that.

He managed to make himself try the cauliflower on his plate, and was surprised as to find out it wasn't half as bad as he thought it to be.

"So, Felix, was it?" asked the girl he didn't know. "Like Felix Agreste?"

"Yes! He's the son of the famous fashion designer Gabriel Agreste. He's a model and my best friend. He adores me." she said before he could say no, grabbing his hand. Marinette looked up from her food, looking genuinely surprised.

How could she not know who he is? He'd seen his own face on at least four different billboards while driving to school.

Though, he didn't appreciate people treating him as if he were an exhibit at a zoo.

"You're a model?" Alya asked, a big smile on her face, "What's that like? Do you do photo shoots every day? How do you balance your modeling career and your schooling at the same time? I bet you're swimming in girls who want to date you."

"Alya, you're making him uncomfortable." Marinette pointed out, and Alya gave her a sheepish grin. How she'd been able to read him, he didn't know. He'd kept a deadpan face the entire time.

"I don't model on the daily, and I assume my schedule will have to be built around my schooling. Though I only follow what is on my schedule, someone else is in charge of managing those kinds of things." Felix explained, choosing to ignore the last bit.

"You didn't deny the 'swimming in the girls' part." Alya pointed out, and he shot her a glare. "I'm kidding," she said with a smile and downed her iced tea.

"So, since you're new and all," Marinette started, "Do you want me to walk you to class? I know this school can feel like a labyrinth sometimes."

He considered her offer for a second. Why would she take time out of her day to help a stranger? Felix would have turned her down if it weren't for him helping her the other day. She must feel like she owed him and wished to pay back a favor. That was the only logical explanation he could think up.

Chloé's face hardened, "I could walk him to class—"

"I would appreciate that, Marinette, thank you."

____________________

"I know that we're only on the second day of school," Ms. Bustier started, and Felix immediately knew she wasn't going to say anything good, "But I thought I would tell you all beforehand that a project is coming up."

The entire class groaned in unison, "It's alright, it's only a short assignment you'll be able to complete in an afternoon. But, it is a group project." she explained, and several students perked up, "These will be groups of three, though there will be one group left with only two students. I'm handing out a sheet with the project instructions. Any questions?"

A boy with red hair raised his hand, and Ms. Bustier nodded at him, "Do we get to choose our own groups?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered, finishing up handing out the sheets, "If you can't find a group, I'll assign you one. You have the rest of the class to choose your groups and work on the project, but, be mindful that today is the only day I'm letting you work on this during class. You will have to work on this outside of school, so exchange phone numbers. Your presentation will be in three days, so... Friday."

The moment she went back to her desk, the class erupted in chatter. A certain blonde girl looked back at him as if expecting him to beg to be apart of her group. He turned to his left to ask his seatmate, but he had already stood up to join another group. He felt a tap on his shoulder, and when he turned around he was greeted by Marinette and Alya.

"Do you wanna join Alya and I's group?" she offered, "Or are you going to join Chloé?"

"I'll join you two," he answered, not considering the second option for a second.