Superstar (The Elites Book 2)

Tick Tick Tick

"Hello?" Marinette was surprised hear her mom's voice on the other side of the line, not Adrien's.

She could have sworn the caller ID said Adrien. Had someone changed his name as a prank? Marinette didn't have long to wonder about it because her mom started talking.

"Marinette, sweetie. I didn't want to bring this up over the break but... I'm going to have to close the bakery."

"What?" Marinette practically screamed.

The bakery was her parents' legacy.

"I just can't afford to keep running it," Sabine said. "Besides I'd rather have some money for you to come home."

"Don't worry about me," Marinette said. "I'll figure out a way to earn money. Just don't close it down without me."

"All right," he mom agreed. "We'll discuss this over spring break."

Marinette hung up with a sigh.

"What happened?" Chloe asked. She had abandoned her lunch during the phone call.

"My mom can't afford to run the bakery anymore. She wants to close it down and get a regular job."

"I'm so sorry, Marinette." Alya knew how much the bakery meant to her.

Marinette pursed her lips. "I'm not going to let it happen. Mom gave me until spring break. We've got to come up with an idea to save the bakery!"

"That's only six weeks away," Chloe said. "How—"

"Also, who did this?" Marinette interrupted. She held up her phone which had Adrien's name over her mom's number.

Did that mean... Sure enough, Marinette scrolled to the contact called Mom and found Adrien's number underneath it. If she'd tried to call her mom, Marinette would have inevitably ended up speaking to her ex.

Chloe glanced over Marinette's shoulder. "Not me. Why would anyone do that?"

Alya shrugged innocently. Marinette glared at her. "Stop trying to set me up with Adrien!"

"But you're perfect for each other!"

***

Kagami stared at the university acceptance letter on her desk. She wasn't even aware that she had applied for Tokyo University, among many other prestigious schools. This was probably because her mother had done all her university applications for her.

It irked Kagami to no end. The night before she'd been on a call with Mother and hadn't been able to say anything.

"Tokyo University is the best," Mother had said. "You'll have a full fencing scholarship and will still be able to compete in the circuit."

Kagami had just gritted her teeth. "That's wonderful, Mother."

She hated it. She was sick of fencing.

Kagami leapt from her chair. She quickly changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top. Running would help her burn off some of her angry energy, especially since she didn't have any friends to talk to now.

As she headed for the door, Alix came inside. "Oh, are you going for a run?" she asked.

Kagami nodded. "Why aren't you at lunch?"

"Already finished. I have a free block next period so I thought I'd get in some practice time. Want to run together?"

Kagami gave her a weak smile. It was better than running alone.

Once Alix had changed, they headed down to the track. At first, Alix and Kagami took off at different paces. Kagami didn't try to keep up with her roommate. She jogged far behind the track star.

The kiss with Adrien kept coming to her mind. What had she been thinking? Kagami didn't know why she'd done it. She only knew any chance of a friendship with Adrien was ruined.

Kagami was almost grateful she'd be going to university in Japan. It was as far away as she could get from her old friends. But she also hated the thought of starting over again.

Kagami hadn't realized she'd slowed until Alix lapped her.

"Are you okay?" Alix stopped. She reached into her pocket and offered Kagami a piece of gum before taking one for herself.

Before she knew it, Kagami found herself telling Alix everything. How she'd had a crush on Adrien since they'd first met and thought she was finally making progress until Marinette started at school. It was clear Adrien was interested in her from the beginning. She tried to keep Adrien on her side but had failed.

Her cheeks flushed with shame when she got to the part about blackmailing Lila because of her secrets. Kagami had told herself it wasn't wrong because Lila was a liar, but her actions were no better.

Alix smacked her gum but didn't say anything.

Then Kagami admitted she'd always known Adrien was in love with Marinette and nothing she'd done had been able to keep him from breaking up with her. She'd only succeeded in making a fool of herself.

Alix stared at her for some time.

"I suppose you hate me now." Kagami hung her head.

"I don't hate you. At least you realize what you did wrong," Alix paused. "So, I guess the next thing you need to do is talk to your mom."

"What?" Kagami's head snapped up.

"If you don't want to go to University of Tokyo, then don't. She can't control your life forever."

Kagami had never thought about defying her mother. Yet, she so hated to idea of going somewhere new where she would be isolated.

"As for your old friends, you may not get their friendship back, but maybe you should think about apologizing to them."

Kagami nodded. She couldn't even hope that any of them would be friends with her again, but she needed to make amends.

Y'all really thought Adrien was calling Marinette, didn't you? I know I tagged this fox as Adrienette and Lukloe and I promise it's on the way. Don't worry, Adrienette is in the works👀. I finally figured out my ending. I'm also going panning to finish this fic in august since school is starting soon. I won't have time to write once that happens.