The Paragon

Chapter 2

As Alya walked up to her school through the falling drizzle, rubbing her eyes and trying to stay awake, she was met by a concerned-looking girl with short blonde hair. "I heard you got akumatized again," the girl began. "Are you all right?"

Alya nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired. It just had to happen in the middle of the night, didn't it?"

"Anything you need me to get you? A croissant? An apple? Cup of juice?"

Alya put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Thanks, Rose, but I think I'm all set for now."

Rose nodded. "Don't hesitate to let me know if there's anything you need. We're here for you."

With a nod and a smile, Alya entered the school and walked up the stairs to her classroom. Class had already started. Alya carefully opened the door, trying to make as little sound as possible, and sat down next to a very tired-looking girl with bluish-black hair.

"Morning, Marinette," she whispered.

The girl blinked a couple times. "Morning, Alya," she whispered back. "You look exhausted."

"Not nearly as much as you do," Alya replied. "What were you doing last night?"

"I was, uh..." Marinette stuttered for a moment. "There was a problem with the plumbing. It started hissing and clanking in the middle of the night, and woke my parents up. They were worried, so they had to call in a plumber, who ended up actually being—"

"Marinette!" the class's teacher interjected. "If you want to talk to Alya, the place for that is outside the classroom."

Marinette nodded. "Sorry, Ms. Bustier."

After waiting a few minutes to ensure Ms. Bustier wasn't looking, Alya leaned over to Marinette and pointed at the blond-haired boy sitting in front of them. "Adrien looks pretty tired too, did you notice? I'd thought at first that maybe he'd been doing something in the middle of the night and you'd been spying on him."

"Me? Spying?" Marinette drew back, seemingly affronted. "I don't spy on people."

Alya stifled a laugh. "I'm pretty sure that at some point you've spied on every person in this room. And on Adrien more than everybody else combined."

Marinette put her head in her hands. "Is it really that obvious?"

"Excuse me, Ms. Bustier?" a shrill voice called out. "I can't concentrate with those two chattering away over there."

Both Marinette and Alya turned their heads to look at Chloé Bourgeois, who flashed them a smug look from the front seat.

Ms. Bustier turned to look at Marinette and Alya again. "That's enough, you two! Go to the principal's office."

Rose stood up in the back of the classroom. "Excuse me, but Alya was akumatized last night, so perhaps you could go easy on her?"

Ms. Bustier sighed. "Thank you, Rose, but the school's policy only states that as a victim of akumatization, Alya was not required to attend classes today. The policy does not excuse disrupting class, and I fail to see how even an akuma would justify her doing so. So, Alya and Marinette, go see Mr. Damocles."

Alya sighed and picked up her backpack, walking toward the door. Marinette followed behind her.

"You too, Chloé," Ms. Bustier added.

Chloé stood up, looking shocked. "Me?! But I was helping you enforce the school rules. You should be grateful!"

Ms. Bustier shook her head. "Chloé, you do this all the time. You need to learn that it's unacceptable to constantly cause other students to be disciplined."