Check Mate

Chapter 4

Marinette liked Claude, she decided. After the initial (and very awkward) discussion about Marinette's.... odd... idea's of self defense in a school that was very well secured, they sat down and ate the cookies she made and talked.

Well, Claude did a lot of the talking. He seemed nice, but he was very eccentric. And loud.
Very, very loud. And talkative.

"These cookies are amazing! Where did you learn to bake? Can you teach me? Can you make croissants?! Can you cook too? Are you studying culinary arts? What are you studying? When did you transfer here? Why did you transfer? What was your old school like? Is this your first time in a dorm?"

She answered as many questions as she could to the best of her ability, leaving some things out. She didn't want to drag her memories of Dupont into Jeanne.

"I wouldn't say I can cook, but I do know how to bake. My parents taught me everything they know, they own a bakery. I can teach you a bit if you want, but I don't think I'm as good of a teacher as they are. This is my first time in a dorm, and I'm not here for culinary arts. I'm here for Fashion and Designing."

She noticed Claude's eyebrows furrow into a frown, as he mumbled to himself, pulling out his phone, forgetting that he had a cookie still in his mouth.

"Why is that familiar... if I could just- HOLY SHIT!" His sharp exclamation had him choking on his cookie, worried, Marinette quickly stood next to him and started hitting his back lightly until he dislodged the cookie.

"Are you okay? You really need to be more careful when you're eating! Choking could kill you!" She scolded as she got a bottled water from the fridge and plopped it down in front of him.

When she looked at him again, he was just staring at her, stars in his eyes and his jaw dropped slightly in awe.

Warily, she leaned back a bit, "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"You're Marinette Dupain-Cheng." He said, almost as if he didn't believe it.

Now she was just confused, "Yeah, so what?"

"You're freaking Marinette Dupain-Cheng. The Marinette Dupain-Cheng!" He repeated, as if that explained everything.

It didn't.

"I mean, that's my name, yeah. It's not a big deal." She remarked, not sure what he was getting at.

Claude scoffed in disbelief, "Not a big deal? Not a big deal?! You're the one who designed Jagged Stone's album! And his sunglasses! And didn't you also design the clothes he wore for his last concert?! How is that not a big deal? I knew your name sounded familiar!" he practically screeched, pointing a finger at her.

Marinette blinked, "How did you know about that?" She was fairly certain that the only ones who knew about those accomplishments, or at least the first two, had been her old classmates and her parents.

He gave her a look that she couldn't quite read, "Are you serious? There are at least a dozen articles about it online! It was all anyone here could talk about for weeks! And you were on T.V. with him! He said it himself! In that one show, what was it, Fill my Shoes? Wait a minute..." If possible, his eyes went even wider as some unknown realization hit him, "They filmed that at the Tom and Sabine Patisserie... your parents own a bakery... OH MY GOD YOUR PARENTS OWN THE TOM AND SABINE PATISSERIE! YOU'RE PARENTS OWN THE BEST BAKERY IN PARIS! NO WONDER YOUR COOKIES TASTE LIKE PARADISE! YOU'RE THE DAUGHTER OF THE BEST BAKERS IN FRANCE!" he screeched, his finger pointing at her again as he practically buzzed in excitement.

Marinette blushed at the praise and hid her face in her hands with a muffled squeak. She was going to explode at this point if he didn't stop.

"This is the best day of my life." She heard him declare, a mix of conviction and awe in his voice.