"Adrien!" Marinette called. "Hi!"
Adrien said, hiding his thoughts, "Hey, Marinette."
Marinette saw past Adrien's acting. "Is something wrong?"
"Remember Felix?" asked Adrien.
Marinette grinned with satisfaction. "The poser that Ladybug socked in the face?"
Adrien snickered softly. "Yeah. Him. My father was talking to him this morning. Privately."
He spat the last word with hatred, envy, and disgust.
"How would that involve you?" asked Marinette.
Adrien whispered, "I. . .my father never talks to me. Privately or at all."
Marinette stopped Adrien before they walked into class. "Listen, I know your dad's. . .stiff. . .but he still loves you. I do, too."
She kissed him on the cheek and walked into class, face flushed with the pink that matched her jeans. Adrien followed, unsettled.
Miss Bustier clapped. "Class, we have a new student with us! Meet Felix Graham de Vanily!"
Adrien groaned as the class gave him an ovation.
"We also have a new seating arrangement," said Miss Bustier. "Marinette, will you pass it out?"
Marinette nodded and proceeded to pass out pamphlets. The seating was :
Front Row : Nino and Alya, Felix and Adrien, Marinette and Nathaniel.
Middle Row : Juleka and Max, Rose and Ivan, Kim and Alix.
Back Row : Chloe and Mylene, Lila and Sabrina.
Adrien screamed to himself. He was next to his evil cousin, and Marinette was next to a guy who got akumatized because he loved her? Great. Just. Great.
"Hello, Adrien."
And there stood Felix. He just was there, twisting his ring.
Adrien growled, "Well, why don'tcha sit down?"
Felix sat down and twiddled on with his ring.
"I know you stole that," hissed Adrien. He wore a scowl worthy of his father.
Miss Bustier continued the lesson and Felix fidgeted on.
Soon it was break. Chloe practically dove into Sabrina's arms.
"Oh, Sabrina!" she cried dramatically. "I'm so, so, so, so, so sorry!! I'll never be mean to you again! Where's my tea?"
Marinette saw Adrien from her bench. "Adrien!" she called. "Over here!"
He walked over hesitantly.
"Something up?" asked Marinette. "You don't seem happy to sit next to your cousin."
Adrien sat on Marinette's right; he plopped down wearily. Marinette frowned and laid her head on his shoulder. Adrien clutched her hands in a ball. Marinette blushed.
"Okay," she said. "What's wrong?"
Adrien looked at her, puffy-eyed. "You're not replacing me with Nathaniel, are you?"
Marinette flashed back to Carapace's first mission. You're not replacing me with a turtle, are you?
"No. You know you're irreplaceable, Adrien."
