"Marinette, are you awake? Your alarm clock has been going off for a while!" Sabine opened the trap door to find her daughter still asleep in bed. "Marinette, sweetie," she whispered. "It's time to get up. You're going to be late for school."

The bluenette groaned and slowly opened her eyes, yesterday's incident being the first thing she remembered. "I don't feel so good, maman. Can I just stay home today?"

With a sad smile, her mother gently touched her forehead. "Hmm...no fever. Are you throwing up?"

"No...I just have a really bad headache and a cough." It wasn't entirely a lie. She did feel pretty miserable to say the least.

"Alright, sweetie. I'll be downstairs if you need anything. Just get plenty of rest." Marinette nodded and watched as her mom carefully shut the trapdoor.

Tikki, waking up to hear the whole conversation, frowned and flew next to her owner. "Is there anything I can do to help you feel better?"

The bluenette let out a deep sigh. "I'm not really sick, Tikki. I can't show my face at school after what happened yesterday."

"Marinette," the kwami said. "You can't let Chloe control whether you go to school or not."

"It's only for one day," she argued. "Besides, today's Friday. After the weekend, no one will remember what happened."

"But wont you get get behind in classes?"

"Don't worry," she smiled. "I'll have Alya come over and help me catch up sometime during the weekend."

"I'm not sure if this is such a good idea..."

"Tikki, if I go to school today, everyone will stare a me and Chloe will find a way to make me feel like a total freak in front of Adrien. I'm pretty sure he never wants to speak to me again anyways."

"I doubt it, Marinette," The Kwami reassured. "He's your friend. He would never make fun of you for something Chloe did. If anyone's getting stared at today, it's her."

**

"Dude, where's Marinette?" Nino whispered as Mme. Bustier came in and began taking role.

"She's probably late again," Alya answered with a small laugh. But when the first half of the day went by without a sign of the bluenette, she got out her phone. It was lunch by then.

"I'll call her and see what's up."

"Why do I get the feeling that it has to do with yesterday?" The DJ asked worriedly.

"Oh no..." she flinched. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that?! But...it's not like Marinette to avoid her problems. Sure, she's ran away from them before, but she never avoids them intentionally. Alya dialed her best friend's number and held the phone up to her ear.

"It's Marinette, leave a message. Beep! He he."

"Of course she doesn't answer," Alya sighed, almost tempted to go to the bakery and drag her to school. "It's not like anyone would be making fun of her. Chloe's the one to blame."

"I don't get why we don't just go and tell Mme. Bustier or Principal Damocles about what happened yesterday," Nino stated. "I know she doesn't want anyone else to know, but wouldn't it just make the situation worse?"

"Well...she only wants to feel comfortable. Marinette's a really optimistic person. She'll bounce back by Monday and will probably find some way to kick Chloe's butt and look nice while doing it."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"Hey guys," Adrien sat next to them with his lunch tray. "Any news?"

"Nope," The reporter answered with a small frown. "I tried to call her but it went straight to voicemail. I'll have to go over there after school."

"I hope she's ok..." the model said, looking over at Chloe, who was sitting with Sabrina on the other side of the cafeteria. "I don't know why she hates her so much."

"I don't know, dude," Nino started. "It's been that way since kindergarten, but never this bad."

"Doesn't surprise me at all," Alya retorted. "That brat wouldn't know what the word nice was if it hit her in the face."

**

"Marinette," Tikki scolded as her owner laid in her bed, cuddling her small white pillow. "Alya has called you three times. You should answer. She's probably worried!"

"What am I supposed to say to her? If I tell her the truth, she'll tell my parents that I'm not really sick they'll and make me go to school."

"But maybe that's a good thing. Think about what Ladybug would do."

"She'd probably be so much more confident," Marinette pouted.

"But you are Ladybug. You just need to embrace your inner hero. Remember when you stood up to Chloe at the beginning of the year?"

"Yeah, but...this is different. She took my desk, not my shirt."

"Then let this make you stronger," the kwami said. "When you're Ladybug, you fight all these villains that are far worse than Chloe Bourgeois."

"They don't embarrass me in front of the love of my life, though," she mumbled.

"I'm sure Adrien wouldn't make fun of you."

"But what if he does? What if I'm just seeing him as a nice person when in reality he's laughing his head off at my lame attempts to speak to him?! Oh no, this is a disaster, Tikki!"

"No it's not. Think positive, Marinette. Everything will be fine." The tiny ladybug snuggled up next to her owner.

"I hope you're right..." The bluenette cuddled her pillow tighter.