SLOWLY FALLING FOR YOU (α∂яιєηєттє)

Chap. 34

< 2 M O N T H S L A T E R >

I walked out of my mansion with Nathalie waving me goodbye from behind as if I was leaving forever. I climbed the stairs down, and walked over to the rest of my friends who were waiting for me. For once in my life I was finally walking to school, and although that may not sound at all exciting for most people, it just felt good to be out of that limo, knowing that I'd made friends to walk with. Father had agreed, of course. He's been agreeing to almost everything; to let me stay after school, to participate in a party the class was having, and even to go with the rest of the class on a field trip.

I took Marinette's hand as we started to walk, not forgetting to peck her cheeks before that. It just felt like our lives were back on the road again, smooth and calm with no one to come in our way. After Marinette had felt devastated from the recording she got from Lila, we'd helped her move on from that. We've all moved on from that, and now looking back, we felt kind of dumb that we had to constantly fight over that. School was just the same: same old teachers, same old classes, same old homework and texts and quizzes, but minus the drama part, which feels really good now that I really think about it.

At lunchtime, we all gathered together at the park with all of our foods and drinks we'd brought for a picnic. Marinette had brought over enough pastries for all of us, while some of us had also either brought food from home or bought them from the cafeteria. We all sat down on the large blanket Alya had brought along with her, and didn't waste time at all to dig into the food placed right in front of us. It felt so good sitting here, enjoying our food without having to worry. Before, I would have been so stressed out with all the drama happening, but now we could all just finally relax. And it wasn't because Lila was out of the picture. No, it was because all the problems we had had finally come to an end.

Marinette shifted over towards me, and even though we'd been together for more than a month now, I still sometimes got my face flushed red whenever she was close by. I wasn't used to having a girlfriend at all, and to be quite honest, I was still adjusting to it, but I was just glad there was nothing else to worry about anymore. I lifted my hand and placed it on her shoulder, then leaning in, I pressed my lips against her cheek gently. The others sitting in front or beside us started cooing, and I could just make out the small blush tinted on Marinette's cheeks. It always felt so good to see her blushing at times like this.

After lunch, we all walked back to school, carrying all our things with us. Stepping inside our next class with our bags with us, we could see some others had come in quite early and were waiting patiently for class to start. We weren't late though, and even if we were, I don't think the teacher would have cared much because she was still working out some papers over at her desk while the door opened and closed, students walking inside. It was when I sat down at my seat and looked up that I saw a completely different looking girl whom I'd never seen before throughout my entire time in this school. The teacher lifted her head up and immediately grinned to see the girl, before standing up as well and walking over.

"Class, may I have your attention?" The teacher smiled brightly as she placed a hand gently on the girl's shoulder. It was as if she was amazing friends with the girl according to the way she acted. "I'd like you to meet Stella. She's a new girl in school who's going to be joining your class. I hope you treat her kindly and make her feel welcomed here. Anyone who wants to show her around is welcomed to." The teacher then turned over to the girl, telling her she could pick wherever she wanted to sit at. The girl seemed to look around for a bit, but I already knew where her eyes were on. She made it so obvious.

"That seat is already taken," I spoke up when she neared me, wanting to take the seat right next to me. "Nino is sitting there. He's in the bathroom, but he'll be back shortly."

The girl looked a little surprised to hear me say those words, maybe it was because I raised my voice a little too high at her. She turned over to the teacher, and as if she didn't believe me, she asked the question, "is it true? Is someone else already sitting here?"

The teacher chuckled. "I was going to make a new seating plan anyway, and I was planning on putting you at the front, Stella, so there's no problem sitting there. When Nino comes in, he can sit at the back. Punishment for coming to class late!" I was so shocked with her words, but telling from her face, it looked like she absolutely meant it. Stella took the seat, a look of victory all over her face like she'd won a battle or something. I wanted to protest, but I was just a student, and nevertheless, I didn't want to act like I was on top of the food chain or something like that. When Nino walked inside class, looking confused as he stared at the new girl, I felt bad. The teacher told him his new seat was at the back, and although still confused as to why, he went to the back and sat down.

"Say. . . maybe you should show me around after school? I barely know anyone here, but I know you. Then again, who doesn't? You're literally Adrien Agreste!" She giggled as she said the name, acting as if I'd already said yes. I only ignored her, slightly moving away whenever she got closer. It looked like she took the hint because a few seconds later, she gave up and looked over at the teacher to listen to what ever she was saying.

When the final bell rang, it was like a wave of relief washed through my entire body. I couldn't bear sitting next to Stella, even though I barely knew her yet. She always seemed to try to find a way to come close to me, if not sitting next to me, at least sitting close enough to be able to tap me on the shoulder countless of times, trying to talk to me. I stood up from my seat as I started making my way out of class, the rest of my friends following me out as well. Looking over at Marinette, I knew she was uncomfortable with everything that had been going on, but had refused to say anything, possibly afraid of saying the wrong thing. I took her hand and squeezed it gently, trying to show her there was nothing to worry about. The only thing she gave me was a small smile before walking off to her friends, no words spoken between us.

We got outside of the school. Nathalie and Gorilla hadn't come with the limo today to pick me up as I had wanted to walk with my friends. Without even making it far from the school, I got someone yelling my name from behind, and when I looked, it was none other than Stella herself. That annoyed me; it was already quite obvious that she was following me around, trying to hit on me when she barely even knew something about me. All she knew was that I was Adrien Agreste, the son of Gabriel, one of the most famous models to ever exist in Paris. Even though I had wanted to walk away, possibly even ran, the others still stood and waited for the girl to catch up. Chloe folded her arms with a frown, asking the question nobody else wanted to ask but wanted the answer to:

"What do you want?"

"Oh, I. . ." Stella gave Chloe a somewhat disgusted look before turning over to me. "I was just wondering if I could join you guys. It's my first day here anyway, and you guys seem cool enough to be my friends. So. . . can I join you?"

I felt her eyes on me, without even having to look at her. All of a sudden, Marinette had grabbed my head, leaned in forward and grasped my lips into a hot, short make-out session. I was taken aback by what happened, but couldn't stop the grin from rising up on my face. Marinette then pulled away, but not after she gently bit my lower lip. She snapped her head towards the new girl, and gave Stella a look, already knowing she'd won. "Sure, Stella. You could join us. I'm sure my boyfriend and the rest of my other friends wouldn't mind having you around?" And after those words, she had taken my hand and started walking me away. Shortly after, the others followed us, leaving Stella in her shocked position, probably still not wrapped over what had just happened.

"You guys wanna go for ice cream?" Marinette asked, ignoring Stella, who had turned around and started heading the other way.

"Heck yeah!" My reply got them to laugh out loud as we started heading over to the ice cream shop closest to our school. I couldn't stop staring at Marinette as we walked over there, knowing that somehow, I'd managed to get her as my girlfriend, and just having that thought inside my head made my body shook with excitement at what other great adventures this relationship was going to lead the both of us through.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

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