From Superhero to Cinderella

Chapter 6

Marinette scowled at the sidewalk as she walked to school. Her dad had only been gone for a couple of days, but she couldn't wait until he got back. The longer he was gone, the bossier Audrey got and the less Marinette felt like her home was hers. Audrey kept finding excuses to make Marinette do chores. Last night, Audrey had made Marinette make her dinner, as well as breakfast for today. She had also made Marinette clean the guest room because Chloe was coming and was going to be staying the night for a couple of days. Marinette had hardly gotten any homework done yesterday evening and had woken up early to finish it. She was exhausted and kept yawning on her way to school.

When she got to school, it seemed louder and busier than usual. Students were talking amiably to each other. She was surprised to see that both Chloe and Lila looked extremely upset. She spotted Nino and Alya and made her way over to them. They both looked sad.

"Is everything alright?" Marinette asked them as she reached them. Alya looked up at her and her sadness seemed to increase.

"Marinette, I would wait until later to tell you this, but it can't wait. Otherwise you're going to find out some other way and it'll be worse," Alya said, taking her by the shoulders. Marinette's eyebrows drew together in worry.

"What happened?" She asked. "Did something happen to Mrs. Bustier?" Alya shook her head.

"No, it's worse than that. Adrien..." she trailed off, seeming to find it difficult to speak. Marinette felt the blood drain from her face.

"Is he alright? What happened to him? Please tell me he's alright," Marinette said, looking frantic.

"He's fine," Alya assured her. Marinette let out a breath of relief.

"But Marinette, Adrien...he...asked Kagami to...be his girlfriend," Alya said, her voice heavy. "And Kagami said yes." Marinette felt the blood drain from her face again and she swayed unsteadily. Suddenly, everything seemed thousands of miles away.

Adrien asked Kagami to be his girlfriend? she thought in dismay. I'm really too late, aren't I? she thought. She felt numb with shock, and was devoid of any other emotion. And not just Adrien, but Cat Noir also told me he was going to miss patrol to ask a girl to be his girlfriend, Marinette thought. She was suddenly glad that Alya was holding her by the shoulders. If it wasn't for Alya, Marinette might have fallen over or collapsed.

"Are you okay?" Alya asked, looking concerned.

"Oh," was all Marinette managed to say. The bell rang, but it sounded far away. Alya helped guide Marinette to class. Adrien was already seated at his desk. He grew concerned when he saw Marinette.

"Are you okay?" he asked Marinette. Marinette managed a nod before sitting in her seat. She pulled her tablet out of her backpack with shaking hands. She turned it on and stared at the screen while waiting for the teacher to come in and start class. A couple minutes later, Mrs. Bustier walked in and the bell rang. She smiled at her students before starting class.

All throughout the duration of class, Marinette took notes, but she didn't hear a word. She was still shocked.

The love of my life has a girlfriend who isn't me, she thought in despair. The numbness she had been feeling suddenly receded and was replaced by sadness. Tears pricked at her eyes. She abruptly raised her hand.

"Yes, Marinette?" Mrs. Bustier asked.

"May I please use the restroom?" Marinette heard herself ask.

"Of course," Mrs. Bustier said. Marinette shot out of her seat and walked quickly to the door, exiting the classroom. Once she was out of the classroom, she bolted to the bathroom. She fled into a stall and sat on the toilet, shaking all over. Tears started to pour out of her eyes.