Between Generations

Chapter 21

WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN MARINETTE AND ADRIEN

After Lise left, Marinette immediately turned to Adrien. "Look, I was only nice to you for her. I have no idea what circumstances made you two friends, but I want no part of it. Have a very nice day, Adrien." She got up, and started to leave.

"What did I do that was so horrible to you?" Adrien protested.

"What have you done?" Marinette whirled around. "It's being friends with Chloe, that's what. Helping with her pranks."

"I never--"

"Don't you even deny it," Marinette seethed. "I can't stand liars."

"You're not even giving me a chance to explain myself!" Adrien shouted, standing up so abruptly the world seemed to sway in his vision.

Marinette was taken aback. She'd never heard him shout, not once. "What do you have to explain?" she demanded.

"Chloe is my childhood friend. I could never abandon her. But I never once go along with her awful pranks. When she put the gum on your seat, I was trying to peel it off. When she put plagiarized homework in your bag, I tried to pull it out so you wouldn't get into trouble. When she dumped your textbooks into the toilet, I tried to find new ones for you. You don't understand all of the trouble I went into just to keep you out of trouble. It's not fair for you to blame me for everything when Chloe was the mastermind behind all this, and I tried my hardest to keep you out of trouble. Marinette, I'm sorry that I haven't succeeded. But forgiveness goes both ways."

Adrien didn't wait for Marinette to respond. He turned and walked away towards home, trying to still his shaking fists at his sides.

Marinette was shocked.

Adrien had been trying to help her?

All those times she found him messing with her things...and she'd jumped to conclusions that he'd been helping Chloe instead.

But that didn't excuse him from not standing up to Chloe.

But maybe...

Maybe she'd been wrong.

-----

Adrien couldn't believe he'd said all those things to Marinette. The very girl who'd hated him for the past few months.

Ever since the first day of school.

He shook his head, walking down the street. Shops full of the evening rush crowded the sidewalks. Maybe Lise was right...about it not being worth being mad at anyone.

Because he'd been angry at Marinette for not giving him chances.

But he didn't know the whole story.

Maybe Marinette had a reason for hating liars. For hating Chloe.

There must be a history.

Suddenly, the building beside him started to shake. A cackle rang through the evening air.

Akumas!

Adrien immediately hurried into a nearby alley and behind a dumpster. A second later, Chat Noir came out and used his baton to launch himself onto the roof. He scanned his surroundings for the culprit of the noise, and noticed a silhouette running across the tops of the buildings.

He hurried after it. A second later, Ladybug appeared beside him. The two ran side by side after the akumatized.

"Good evening," she said, a little breathlessly.

"My lady." My voice sounds so stiff.

"Everything all right?" she asked, her eyes still focused ahead of her.

"Yep." Not really. I'm not sure where I stand with Marinette.

"Same."

The two ran on in silence. Chat Noir felt uneasy with the awkward silence that followed. Me and my lady aren't usually like this. She probably has something weighing on her mind, like I do.

I hope it doesn't interfere with the battle.

-----

Lise walked down the block, watching the sun slowly sink behind the Eiffel tower. Her mind whirled with possible outcomes of leaving Adrien and Marinette where they stood in their relationship. Did I leave too early? Is it too late? Would they be able to reconcile and be acquaintances instead of enemies?

Have I interfered too much?

Lise shook her head. She couldn't let these thoughts overwhelm her. She'd done what she'd done. All she had to do was wait for the outcome.

She bumped into someone. She stumbled, taken by surprise. She turned to apologize, but stopped in her tracks.

Zoe!

Lise stopped herself. Because of course it wasn't Zoe, but her mother, Chloe Bourgeois, who had blond hair...

The blond girl scoffed at her, taking in her appearance and messy blond hair. "Watch out," she sniffed, and strolled away.

"Hey, Chloe!"

Lise didn't know why she had cried out, and immediately regretted it when the girl turned around impatiently. "What do you want?"

"Uh...do you have a boyfriend?" Wow, Lise. Great question.

Chloe put a hand on her hip in exasperation. "Of course. Adrien, the model. Who else?"

"Oh." Lise feigned cluelessness. "I thought it might've been Nathaniel."

The look of astonishment and disgust on Chloe's face surprised Lise. "The creep in the back of the classroom? How on earth did you come up with an idea like that?" She sauntered away without another word, her chin held high. Her blond ponytail swung back and forth as if mocking Lise.

Lise bit her lip, trying to hold in a smile. Just you wait, Chloe Bourgeois. Just you wait.

A shove on Lise's back caused her to jolt forward and fall to her knees. A spot on her spine prickled, as if a needle went through it. A jolt of pain spread across her back, then went numb.

"My butterfly."

The voice sent Lise into a shocked spasm. A familiar voice shouted her name from behind her.

The voice changed to an unfamiliar one inside her head, this time, more softer.

"We'll call her Lise."

She screamed, clutching the sides of her head. Her vision blurred and fireworks exploded in her eyelids. Voices echoed around her, and images from dreams and memories melded together in a fast-paced slideshow.

What is happening to me?

-----