Wanted ✘ Luka Couffaine

chapter seventeen

Except everything is not fine.

I make my way through my morning classes and break with a refreshing calm about me. When lunch comes, I find my way to the usual spot our friend group takes up and prepare to give Marinette Luka's hoodie to return later.

As I find them though, I realise Marinette is nowhere to be seen. I down at the table where everyone is currently eating lunch. Nino is feeding Alya some gummy sweets while the others make group conversation. Rose is animatedly retelling her dream from last night and Juleka admires her, chin resting in her hands. Adrien is resting his head on the table with his eyes closed, attempting to make up for missed sleep. Kagami is seated next to him, which is a nice surprise since she doesn't always hang out with us at lunch. She plays with his hair with soft touches as he lies there. The unspoken interaction between them is admittedly very cute.

Still, none of that explains Marinette's absence, which is why I sit down next to Mylene. Ivan isn't here either, but that's normal as he spends the majority of his Monday lunchtimes in the art club writing songs for her.

"Hey, Mylene," I say, sitting down with Luka's hoodie in my hands. Turning away from the story, her eyes dart to it before returning to mine. I don't know why but the action makes me feel slightly self-conscious, like I need to explain myself.

"Hey, (Y/n)," she says. The warm smile painting her lips proves my suspicions wrong.

"Uh, do you know where Marinette is?" I ask, a little disappointment surging through me due to the fact she's not with us right now. The others are always making me feel part of the friend group and I'm really grateful about that, but Marinette always makes me feel more than included, more like I have my own voice.

"She stayed home today," she says. "Miss Bustier said she wasn't feeling well."

"Oh, I see." I fiddle with the strings of the hoodie absentmindedly to distract me from my nerves. "Luka let me borrow this. I was going to give it to her so she could return it."

"Why not ask Juleka?"

"Oh, right," I say, heating up at the realisation that I could have done that all along. I doubt she would get the wrong idea since I was with both Marinette and Luka at the time, and they were both perfectly okay with it. Juleka's brown eyes are a stark contrast to Luka's blue, but they share the same black hair and styles to an extent. Their features are quite similar as well.

I don't want to bring everyone's attention to me, especially since Rose is getting into her storytelling and they're all laughing at the strange scenarios. Instead of stealing Juleka's attention away from her girlfriend, so I make a deal with myself to speak with her afterwards.

In the meantime, I think about checking Mystic Messenger as I'm replaying Jaehee's route and am particularly craving her affection, but the school rules clearly state we aren't allowed to use our phones except for special occasions like texting our parents or taking pictures of homework questions from textbooks. I tune into the rest of Rose's dream and find myself having fun just listening.

~

As lunch is about to end, I wander up to Juleka and tap her on the shoulder. We are at the lockers and she's putting her lunch bag into hers. She looks over her shoulder to see who it is and a small smile tilts at her lips. She never shows much emotion so this is normal for her and I can tell she's happy to see me.

She nods for me to speak.

"I was wondering if you could give this back to Luka," I say with a requesting lilt to my tone.

Juleka's eyes grow round and apologetic instantly and I wonder what she's going to say. In an incredibly quiet voice, she says, "I'm sorry but I can't. I'm going to Rose's tonight and I've got to carry my bags. I won't be able to take it as well."

She moves to the side to show the two big bags consuming the majority of her locker space. Presumably, one of them contains a change of clothes and some things for Rose's.

"Ah, don't worry," I say, now feeling bad for even asking. "I'll give it to Mari when she comes back to school." I can keep it in my locker instead of bringing it back to the car again so this isn't too worrying, just inconvenient. I don't know if I'd be able to face that nightmare again, even if I know Gorilla's on my side. There's always a chance Father could find it even if it did return to its hiding place in the glove compartment.

"Actually," she continues and my eyes light up at the uplifting sound of her voice. She rubs a strand of her hair between her fingers. "You could go to my house after school. I won't be there but Luka will."

This is definitely not what I thought I would hear. On the one hand, I'm not going straight home but to Adrien's photoshoot instead, so I could probably sneak off and come back in time. On the other, what if I'm caught? These two sides argue in my mind for less than a second before reaching the conclusion that I can decide when I get there.

"Thank you! Could I have your address, then?"

"Mhm," she hums, reaching into her locker for a stray piece of paper. She slips a pen out of one of her bags as well before writing it down neatly. "It's a house boat, by the way."

"You live in a house boat?"

Juleka nods, looking to the side timidly. She brings her hand back up to fidget with her hair and I catch the details of the nail polish on her nails. Hers is a little chipped, but not obviously. Her fingers are long and slender, perfect for playing an instrument of some kind. I don't know if she actually does, but I wouldn't be surprised seeing as Luka does.

"Can't wait to see it," I say. "Thank you, Juleka."

In response, she meets my eyes and smiles again. She definitely doesn't have the easiest time speaking. Her silences are more natural and comforting rather than cold though, so she's easy to converse with. In a world that never stops talking, it's alright to be quiet for more than a second.

~

The rest of the day passes by quickly. I'm ahead in my classes because of excessive studying at home so I don't stress about them and instead play out various scenarios of stories that I'll never put down on paper as I mindlessly complete textbook work.

Before I know it, the bell rings, signalling the end of class. I pack up my things and find my way outside to where the sleek black car waits as usual. Adrien is already there this time and looking drained. They'll just cover up his dark circles with makeup so he doesn't have much to worry about, but he'll have to at least try to look alive while posing.

The car journey to the park, where this photoshoot is taking place, is quiet and I can barely pull my gaze from the window the whole way there. Gorilla pulls in and Adrien steps out with his bag. I wave goodbye as I do the same and Gorilla drives away. The makeup artists drag Adrien away and he doesn't have the energy to protest. That leaves me to contemplate what I'll do on one of the benches as I watch people brush powder onto Adrien's face.

Standing up, I make my choice.

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a/n: word count: 1311

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thank you for being patient with these updates,, it's the summer holidays for me now so hopefully they'll be more frequent :)

what's your favourite season and why? (mine is winter because I prefer cold weather and you can wear warm clothes and have hot chocolate and it's really festive and exciting but I'd love to hear your opinions)

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P.S. I'm obsessed with 'Your eyes tell' rn <3