A/n- Studying for finals has fried my brain, so this chapter may or may not be good😪

*Chloe looks so good with her hair down! And this art is amazing! So ironic, since we hate her in this fanfic...

**

"I'm ok, really."

Marinette faked a smile at least ten times that day. She had spotted Alya and Nino glaring at Chloe several times, and she hated it. She hated how they were involving themselves in this. Normally, she liked having someone to back her up. But now was different. The less people knew about this, the better. It was so embarrassing, and it was getting harder to walk the halls with people whispering about what happened to her, or without people giving her sad stares.

She found herself blanking in class today. When Mme. Bustier asked her a question (and a simple one), she had to repeat it three times. Everyone had laughed at her. And yes, it usually would have been funny, but her blanking wasn't only because she was tired and falling asleep in the middle of class this time.

Occasionally, Adrien would sneak a glance at her. She smiled every time, so he figured she was fine. He couldn't focus in class either, and when everyone laughed at her for blanking on an answer, he frowned. Aside from smiling, she did look really tired. And it wasn't the normal, goofy, tired Marinette. This Marinette seemed...different. Almost...depressed.

The bell rang for lunch, bringing Adrien out of his thoughts. "Dude," Nino nudged him in the arm. "You alright?"

"Huh?" He blinked a couple times before answering. "Oh, y-yeah. I'm all good."

Marinette grabbed her things and walked with Alya out the of the classroom. On their way out the door, she heard Kim whisper: "Wonder if Marinette's hiding a whole restaurant in her lunchbox? Ya know, for the baby-"

"Shut up!" Ivan whisper-yelled, his arm. "What if she hears you, you idiot!" Too late. The bluenette felt tears in the corners of her eyes. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry. You're stronger than that.

"Marinette," Alya's voice distracted her. "I just remembered! They're giving out free ice cream I. The cafeteria today!" Pushing her feelings to the back of her mind, she forced a smile.

**

"Mmm...chocolate and strawberry swirl is the best," Alya hummed as she walked back to the table Marinette and Nino.

"No, it's vanilla for the win," the DJ argued playfully.

His girlfriend rolled her eyes. "You're so boring."

"Um...no, if they offered toppings, I would've used them."

"They had cherries and sprinkles."

"Well...I don't like those toppings..."

"Hey guys!" Alex waved, Kim, and Ivan by her side.

"Hey!" Alya smiled. "Are you guys getting ice cream too?"

"Yeah," Kim said. "It's an all-you-can-eat kinda day, right, Ivan?" He elbowed him in the shoulder, eyeing Marinette. Once he got it, he snickered.

"I know, right? I feel like I'm eating for two."

Marinette frowned. "I-I don't feel so good," she pushed past her friends, trying to get as far away as possible from the cafeteria as she could.

"Wait, Mari-Kim and Ivan, you assholes!" Alex shoved the both of them.

"Yeah, that wasn't funny. She's not pregnant!" Alya defended.

"Duh, we know that," Kim rolled his eyes. "It's just kind of an inside joke."

"It's not an inside joke if you make it obvious!" Alex shot back. "Besides, Chloe wouldn't stop bothering Marinette on Twitter last weekend. "Give her a break!"

Both boys frowned. As much as they hated to admit it, she was right. They knew very well that Chloe doing it was enough by itself. They were only just making it worse.

"I'm going after her," Alya said, quickly moving past them. "Mari!" Nino followed behind.

Marinette was heading to the restrooms with her cone in her hand, when Chloe opened the door and she ran right into her, spilling her strawberry ice cream all over the queen bee's t-shirt. She let out a loud gasp. "Ugh!! You klutzy, no good loser!"

Marinette glared daggers at her. "I would say sorry, but...it's you." She swiftly stepped past her and into the stalls. The blonde's face went red with fury. How dare she do that to me?! And how dare she say that?!! She spun around, opening the restroom door and marched back in. The bluenette turned the sink on, washing her hands from the remnants of the ice cream.

Chloe slammed her hand on the counter, making her jump a little. "So you think something so stupid like that and just get away from it?!"

"It was an accident, Chloe," Marinette rolled her eyes. "Get over yourself."

"Why don't you get over yourself?!" She got closer. The bluenette backed up, facing her.

"Ok, what is your problem? Why do you hate me so much?!"

"Because you're the little slut that took Adrikins away from me!"

"Adrien doesn't even like you!" She clapped back. "In fact, I don't think anybody does!"

"Oh, that is so it!!!!" She screamed. "You are so dead, Marinette Dupain-Cheng...so dead!" Without thinking twice, Chloe shoved her to the ground. She landed right on her back, wincing in pain. The blonde laughed mockingly, stepping right beside her. "Oh, and by the way, I know you probably slept with Adrien because you have his shirt. You probably forced him."

Well all of that was lie, Marinette thought, but didn't say out loud. All she could do was lay there in pain and listen to the bully talk down to her. "And I bet that if you were pregnant, Adrien wouldn't even stay with you. I mean, who would? You're so ugly and pathetic. It's really sad that you think he actually likes you. One day, he's gonna laugh in your face and tell you that he hates you. In fact, I think everyone's gonna do that at some point." She laughed again, kicking her in the side. "Oops. Muscle spasm."

The bluenette bit her lip as searing pain went though her ribcage, and curled up into a little ball. "Anyways, since you never listened to my warning about staying away from him, you are so getting what's coming to you next, Maritrash." With that, she turned around with a hair-flip and left the bathroom. Seconds after, Alya came in."

"Marinette!" She gasped when she saw her friend lying on the floor in pain. She bent down beside her. "What did she do to you?!" The bluenette didn't answer, breaking down in tears, her whole body shaking. Alya lifted her up a little, giving her a comforting hug. "Come on," she whispered. "Let's get you home."

"Whoa, Marinette, dudette...what happened?!" Nino looked conceded as they came out. 'I'll tell you later,' Alya mouthed, giving him a stern look. "Oh, ok," he nodded quickly, giving her a thumbs up.

**

When they got to the bakery, Marinette's parents weren't there, so Alya helped her upstairs to her bedroom. She let her sit there, crying it all out for the next few moments, until she caught her breath, wiping away the remaining tears right under her eyes.

"Do you need anything?" The reporter asked.

Sniffle. "No. I'm good."

"You sure?" A nod.

Alya took in a deep breath. "Marinette...you really need to tell someone about this."

"I've told you already, no. Things will just get way out of hand."

"It's already gotten way out of hand! We need to do something about this!"

"I said no!" She snapped. "Y-you're not my mom, Alya. You're my best friend. You're supposed to be helping me fight back, not trying to tell an adult like a little kid!"

The ombré-haired girl blinked in shock. "Are you serious? Marinette, you can't let Chloe keep doing this to you!"

"I'm not letting her do anything to me!"

"Well from the looks of it right now, it seems like you are!"

"Just go." She retorted.

"...Excuse me?"

"Just go! Now! There's the door!"

"Fine. If you're just gonna have a crappy attitude about this, I will!" Alya huffed, marching over to the trapdoor and harshly shutting it. Marinette flinched ya the sound.

"Marinette!" Tikki hastily flew out of her purse. "What in the Kwami world are you thinking? Alya's just trying to help you!"

"That's not helping! She doesn't understand what it's like to constantly be teased and constantly get put down by someone! If she did, she wouldn't want anyone knowing either!"

The Kwami frowned, taking a deep breath. "Marinette, if you're going to tell your parents, at least calm down. "We don't want Hawkmoth getting any ideas." Suddenly, the bluentte's eyes widened.

"Oh my gosh...you're right, Tikki! What am I doing?! Stay positive, Marinette. Stay positive. "I need to get back to school!"

"You probably shouldn't...maybe just stay home for the rest of the day and eat cookies?" For the first time that day, Marinette genuinely smiled.

"That sounds good."