Betrayal

Chapter 9

(Marinette POV)

I wake up, a headache pulsing through my head. Ow, where am I? Suddenly, the nurse walks. "Hello, I see you're up," she says. "You fainted because you put a lot of stress on your mind, so after we release you this afternoon take it easy."

"O-okay," I say. That's going to be hard with me being Ladybug and all. After the nurse runs through a few more tests with me, my parents take me home- back to the bakery. They've taken me off bakery duty until I recover. There was one thing on my mind: where was Adrien? I guess it got late and he had to go home.

"Marinette, sweetie, how did you get so hurt?" My mother asks.

"Oh, uh-" I can't tell her it's Chloe. That would make things worse.

"Just fell down the flight of stairs," I shrug. When we arrive home, I plop down on the bed as Tikki comforts me.

"It's ok Marinette! Everything will be fine!" she pipes.

"I sure hope so," I sigh. Suddenly, I realize it's time for patrol with Chat.

"You're not thinking about-" Tikki starts.

"No, Tikki. It's my responsibility- I still have to go on patrol."

"But Marinette! You need rest!"

"No time!" I say. "Tikki, Spots On!" Pink lights dance around my body as I transform into Paris's beloved superheroine, Ladybug. Still feeling a little lightheaded, I jump off my balcony and meet Chat on the Eiffel Tower. "Heeeey, Chat!" I greet, a little wobbly.

"Uhhh... M'lady? Are you ok?" He asks, concerned.

"Just fine!" I assure him. Suddenly, and pang of pain strikes my in my stomach. Gasping, I fall to the floor.

"Ladybug!" He yells, coming over to assist me.

"I'm fine!" I snap. A hurt look crosses over Chat's face. I didn't mean to snap- I hope he isn't mad. "Sorry, I just- ah!" I wince, doubling over.

"You don't look good," he says. "Go home, I can take over tonight." I start to protest, but remember that I might pass out. I wouldn't want Chat to find out my identity. Sighing, I take out my yoyo.

"Fine," I say. "Thank you, Chat." Latching onto the nearest building, I swing all the way home to my bakery. When I arrive, I detransform and go into the bathroom. My face is pale, and a hint of blood is on my shirt where I must have pulled out a stitch. Groaning, I clean myself up and fall asleep, still on the bathroom floor.

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I wake up, the wound from last night dried up. After I get ready for school, and yes I woke up on time thanks to Tikki, run downstairs to get a croissant to eat. I wave goodbye to my parents and start walking to school. I'm a little slower than usual because of my injuries, but still manage to get there on time due to waking up early. As soon as I sit in my seat- scratch that- as soon I walk into the room, I am crushed by an ombre- haired girl squeezing the living daylights out of me.

"OMG GURL! I HEARD YOU WERE IN THE HOSPITAL! WHAT HAPPENED?!" She yelled, shaking my shoulders.

"Calm down Alya!" I say, laughing. "Just, you know, tripped down a flight of stairs. How clumsy of me." Alya sighs, shaking her head.

"You gotta be more careful!" She laughs, pulling us to our seats. As I sit down, I risk a glance at Chloe. She sends me a glare, which I guess was meant as a warning. I knew that if I told anyone about what she was doing, my friends and family would all be in danger- and Paris too.

The rest of the day was normal. People asked me if I was ok, and I gave them the same response- I fell down a flight of stairs. When Adrien heard this, he had this weird look on his face but I shrugged it off. On the bright side, I actually managed to blurt out a conversation with him. As I walked to my last class, Chloe suddenly pulls me against a wall.

"Stay away from him," she hisses, grabbing my arm too hard.

"He doesn't belong to you!" I snap back.

"I'm surprised you dared to do that," Chloe smirks. Suddenly, my blood runs cold. "I'm warning you." she sends one last glare before heading back into the classroom. With shaky hands, I follow her in.

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"My life is a mess," I groan, collapsing on my chaise. I find myself without Tikki's encouraging words- she had fallen asleep in my purse. As I drift off to sleep, I wondered why Chloe hated me so much.

After dragging myself to school the next day, I decide to work on some designs during lunch. Hmmm... I adjusted the length of the dress. I should probably extend the measurements for seam allowance. A small ruffle at the hems would make it look nice. Maybe I'd buy the fabric today, afterschool! My thoughts are interrupted as someone snatches the sketchbook from under my hand, making me drag the pencil across the page, and leaving a long mark across the design.

"Ugh! You call this a design?" Chloe snorts, practically crumpling the paper. "An animal could make a better design than THIS!" She laughs shrilly.

"I bet YOU couldn't do half as well as that! You don't know anything about fashion!" I say, putting my hands on my hips. "After all, just look at what you're wearing!" I fire back. A round of ooooohs and burrrrrnnnns echoes the room as I stood my ground.

"Humph!" she grunts. "But maybe they don't know that you're just copying these designs off the internet!" she says, smirking. A gasp travels through the classroom.

"That's not true!" I protest.

"Yes it is! Look!" she says, holding up her phone for all to see. It was a picture of my bowler hat which she definitely stole, formatted to look like it was from a website. Murmurs swept through the crowd.

"Y-you just photo shopped that!" I yell. A single tear trickles down my cheeks, cheeks that were already burning red with embarrassment.

"Ha! Don't even try to cover that up!" She laughs. "Would you like everyone to know your OTHER secret?" she asks. I freeze.

"No...no, please," I whisper, shaking.

"Oh, are you begging? That's what I thought. You're pleading like the pathetic person you are. You're just a plain, stupid girl! No one cares about you!" she snaps, ripping a page from my sketchbook to small pieces.

"T-that's not true!" I mumble, tears building up in my red and swollen eyes.

"I beg to differ!" She smirks. "Even your lame best friend, Alya left you!" I couldn't take it anymore. I just take off running, out of the room, not caring what anyone thought or what belongings I left behind. Leaning against the wall in the bathroom, I slide down and sob. I keep sobbing until suddenly I hear a crash, a crash that shook every bone in my body.

I am back from the dead! Sorry for not updating. So I realized that I won't be updating more than twice a week. Srry bout that. I'm so happy I got to 300 views! I know that's not a lot but it still makes me excited! Anyways, BUG OUT!