Chapter 17

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Mom stared at me over the rim of her coffee cup while she sat at the dining table, not for the first time this morning. I had the creepy feeling that I had some sign that said "LOOK AT ME" taped to my forehead.

I set my empty bowl of cereal in the sink and turned to stare at Mom, gripping the kitchen counter. "Is there something on my face?"

Mom tsked into her cup of coffee and shook her head. "Don't take that tone with me, young lady."

I almost blurted out an awful comment— a clear sign I'd been spending too much time around Adrien.

"Okay," I said. "sorry."

"How is school going?"

Now it was my turn to stare at her like she had something sticking out of her head. "Uh... school is fine, I guess? There's really not much too it."

"How's that physics grade?" Mom continued, sipping primly at her cup of coffee.

"It's an 78%," I answered dully. "I got an A on my last test, though."

"You'd better keep an eye on it," She said knowingly. "It could drop down to a D if you're not careful."

I was very well aware of my physics grade, thank you very much. I wasn't stupid. Mom obviously didn't want to talk to me about school. This was probably about something totally different.

I downed my glass of water and gave an awkwardly polite smile in Mom's direction before making my way to my room.

"Not so fast, Marinette!" I scrunched my eyes closed, help back a groan, and turned back around. "Yes, Mom?"

"About you and that boy..." Mom trailed off, looking just the slightest bit embarrassed.

"You mean Adrien?" I hinted, trying not to sound too rude. "You're employee..."

Mom nodded, clearing her throat.

"What about him?" I asked.

"Are you two... you know... dating?"

Fortunately for me, but unfortunately for Mom, I'd heard this so much these past three days that I was able to keep the shock and horror off my face.

"No," I said as calmly as I could manage. "We're not. Just friends."

It stung a little at how easily Mom believed the horrible lie coming out of my mouth. Adrien and I really weren't dating, but we did sort of have... a thing or whatever. And my parents didn't even know enough about to me to realize that I was obviously head over heels for "some guy".

"Well, then," Mom said, blowing out a sigh. "Have a good day at school then."

I stared at her for a moment before I managed to wipe the shocked look off my face. "Thank you. Have a good day at... home?"

I turned and sprinted back to my room before Mom had a chance to say anything else. So far this morning was turning out to be pretty weird. Dad was still locked away in the bathroom, so that was nothing unusual. Mom, though, never bothered herself with chitchat. A long time ago she used to ask me how my day went when I got home from school and she'd help me with my homework. Once I hit to high school things changed. Whether for the worse, I wasn't sure.

I tried to keep Mom's awkward behavior out of my mind while I showered and got ready for school. I had bigger fish to fry today. I was hoping with crossed fingers that my involvement with Adrien was old news now, but that was probably wishful thinking. This was high school we were talking about, so one could never be too sure.

Mom and Dad were both gone down to the bakery by the time I dragged myself out of my bedroom and out the back door. My mind was mostly in the clouds as I made for the bus. This was nothing out of the normal. Zoé was already waiting on the bus stop bench when I finally arrived and she instantly started babbling at me about anything and everything in her typical Zoé way.

𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐑, miraculous auWhere stories live. Discover now