A Miraculous Tale: Peacock

Ch. 1

Adrien sighed gloomily as he sat at his desk. He still had a few moments of peace before Chloe came barging in, and he was savoring every minute of it. He pulled the hood of his black jacket down low, hoping to stay inconspicuous. Usually if his classmates spotted him they glared; he had found staying unnoticed was the best option.

A few kids walked in and took their seats; a short while later Nathaniel walked in with his sketch pad. Then Marinette and Alya walked in. Adrien gazed at Marinette with a smile, noticing that she was wearing her favorite outfit with her hair in her favorite hairstyle. She didn't notice him which disappointed and relieved him at the same time. The two girls took their seats as Nino came in with his headphones on. Alya tapped him on the shoulder once he sat down, so he slid off his headset and smiled at her. They started talking about everything and nothing, and it wasn't long Marinette joined in on their conversation. Adrien sighed because he wished he was talking with them.

Chloe walked in with Sabrina. The blond girl flipped her ponytail as she sat beside Adrien. At that moment he wished he could sink into the desk.

"Hey, Adrikins!" Chloe said in a sing song voice.

"Hey, Chloe." Adrien said.

"You should take off that ridiculous hood, Adrien. It doesn't..." She was cut off as Ms. Bustier walked into the classroom.

"Good morning, class."

"Good morning." The class replied. Ms. Bustier smiled.

"Today we are starting a new project." The class groaned, but the teacher pretended not to hear them. "The project will be about your family. You need to know your heritage, your parents jobs, the people in your family, a family tradition, and one interesting fact that doesn't fall into the other categories. You will be working with a partner."

The students started making eye contact to their wanna-be partners while whispering to each other, but Adrien sank farther into his desk. Ms. Bustier continued.

"I want you to write a small paragraph about your partner's family. It should include what you thought was interesting about their family as well as some similarities and differences between your two families. The information you find will go on a poster board, and you will present it to the class. The paragraphs will be turned in separately, but they will be due on the same day the presentations take place. Now, I know this is a lot, so I've decided to give you two weeks to work on it. Next week and today will be dedicated to working on it in class. Any questions?"

Nino raised his hand.

"Yes, Nino?"

"Can we pick our partners now?" He asked. Ms. Bustier pursed her lips.

"Actually, I'm picking your partners." The whole class groaned. A flutter of hope rose in Adrien's chest. Maybe I'll be with someone besides Chloe. Not that I don't like her, but I miss hanging out with everyone else.

"I'll go ahead and announce your partners. Let's see." She picked up her clipboard and read off a list of names.

"Ivan and Mylene. Juleka and Rose. Nathaniel and Alix. Nino and Alya. Marinette and Adrien..." The class cut her off with a loud gasp.

Then three things happened at once:

Marinette stood up. "What!"

Adrien smiled and sat up straighter. "Really?" He asked hopefully.

Chloe stood up as well. "This is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous! There must be a mistake!"

"I hate to agree with her, Ms. Bustier, but I think Chloe is right. I can't possibly be paired with Adrien!" Marinette cried.

"Well, I could've read it wrong, I suppose. Let me look again." Ms. Bustier looked at her list. A few seconds passed as the class held its breath.

"Nope, no mistake. Shall I continue?" She took a breath to continue, but Marinette cut her off.

"But, Ms. Bustier!"

"No buts, Marinette. Now let me continue." She said firmly. Marinette closed her mouth and sank down into her chair. Alya put her arm around Marinette's shoulders. Chloe sat down with her arms crossed, and she leaned over to Adrien.

"Don't worry, Adrikins. I'll fix this." She whispered. Adrien hardly noticed her. He was still trying to process what had just happened. With a start Adrien realized Ms. Bustier had finished.

"Now class, go sit with your partners so you can begin brainstorming on your project." The classroom was filled with noise as the class stood and started walking around to find their partners. Adrien decided to just stay put. No use in bringing more attention to myself.

Marinette trudged over to where he was; tossing her bag down, she sat down next to him with a huff. He smiled at her.

"Hey, Marinette. How have you been?" He asked. He didn't get a response. "Well, I was thinking that we could start researching at my place tonight. I have a lot of research to do."

Marinette didn't respond.

"Well, you wanna come over after school?"

"Fine." She said curtly.

Adrien nodded. "It's a date then." He said with a smile. Marinette could only scowl.