The bus rumbled into the the schools driveway. A uncomfortable silence filled the air as the loud engine was turned off. Marinette dared to glance back again at the girl, who's name seemed to be Lydia.

Lydia was sitting in the very back of the bus alone, in a torn seat. She looked terribly ill, like she would fall to the floor dead any second. Marinette turned her head back to the front of the bus. She tried to distract herself, looking out the window. But there was a sinking feeling inside her, and she couldn't ignore it.

The doors slowly pried open to Marinette's relief. She stepped out first, her steps full of happiness and confidence. She strode down the parking lot into the school. She made her way to her locker, putting away some un-needed supplies and grabbing a textbook. Still feeling gorgeous, she skipped to her homeroom.

She was suprised to see she was the first one in the classroom. She slid her chair out and sat down, greeted by her teacher. He smiled at her before returning to grading some essays.

More students slowly filed into the classroom, one by one. A familiar face came through the doorway.

"Hey Mari!" Adrien have her a big smile and waved. He sat down next to her, staring her down.

"Umm....hey..." she awkwardly shifted, feeling like he could read her act.

"You look very nice. But what's with this?" he gestured to her hair, then to her outfit, lastly to her new bag and lunchbox.

"Oh uh. I was getting to old for that stuff, ya know?" she laughed awkwardly, still trying to break his gaze.

"I thought ladybugs were special to you though." He turned his head to sit in his hand, not breaking eye contact.

"What, no. It's just a child's thing. I needed a new one." she smiled and showed him the neatly designed bag.

"Okay." he sighed and turned towards the teacher, who was starting the lecture.

Lunch

Lunch break had finally rolled around and Marinette's makeup was still fully covering her bruised cheek. She and Adrien were enjoying a nice conversation about their childhood pets. Adrien could tell Marinette was a little off today, but decided not to say anything else.

"Hey Marinette." Brooklyn and her crew came bounding over. Her makeup wasn't so bad today and she actually looked quite nice.

"Hi." Marinette tensed up a little, terrified of being punched again.

"Since you got rid of those ladybugs, you're starting to look more like one of us. Finally done with the childish toys huh?" Brookyln smiled.

"Uh yeah, I'm too old for that." Marinette answered her, relaxing a bit.

"How about you sit with us at lunch?" She gestured over to a table in the corner. It was completely clean and shiny.

Marinette hesitated for a moment before looking to Adrien, who just shrugged.

"Sure!" Marinette smiled and jumped up, but couldnt meet the girls level because of how long her legs were.

"You can join too Adrien!" Brooklyn smiled at him, offering him a hand.

"I'm fine, thanks though." Adrien pushed her hand away.

"Ok." the group walked off to the table, the girls offering Marinette a seat.

"This can't be good..."Adrien sighed and watched from a far.

Brooklyn during homeroom

"Look at her. She's trying to win him over!" Brooklyn hissed at her crew.

"She changed her entire outfit." one blonde pointed out.

"She's trying too hard." a red head with too much eyeshadow scoffed.

"Girls. I've got a plan....." Brooklyn grinned, laced with wicked ideas.

"What is it?" a brunette asked, eager to fufill whatever her leader had in mind.

"If she wants be with us, that's what she'll get." Brooklyn glared at Marinette with evil eyes.

"What? I don't want. that in our group!!" the blonde nearly yelled.

"She would be for long. If we can get her trust, we can embarrass her even more." Brooklyn grinned.

"She's going down."

Present time.

Lunch was over, and Marinette couldn't believe her luck. The most popular girls in school asked her to sit with them!!!

Bubbling with joy, she hadn't even notice the rest of the day flying by. Last period had rolled around and it was time for gym.

Marinette made her way towards the crowd of people entering the locker rooms. She skipped in the direction of the girls locker room, skidding to a stop as a hand gripped her arm.

She spun around to see the pig nosed Brooklyn staring down at her.

"Hey Marinette, wanna skip gym today?" Brooklyn smiled down at her

"But won't we get in trouble?" Marinette looked around at the gym coaches, who weren't paying much attention.

"What? no!! We don't plan on getting caught." Brooklyn yanked her along with her, pushing her out of the gym doors.

Adrien PoV

Marinette had been acting very strange today. Though he didn't know her very well, he new something was up.

Yeah, it's hard to move to a new school, but come on. Marinette wasn't like this, and he could tell. Why was she hiding who she was?

Adrien sighed, grabbing his bag and making his way down the hallway. The gym wasn't too far from his last class, so he walked slowly. He didn't pay attention to the girl being slammed against a locker, or a boy being pushed to the floor. He watched his feet as they moved.

Left
Right
Left
Right

His boots were crusted up with mud, peices flaked onto the floors. The toes of his shoes were worn and cracked.

His clothes told stories of who he was. His boots, worn and torn from hard and laboring farm work. His shirts soft and faded. His jeans ripped and ragged.

He found himself in the gym in no time. The first person he saw was Marinette, who was making her way toward the girls locker room. Her curls still bouncy and full of volume. She looked like no one in the world could drag her down.

Yet.

Brooklyn made her way over to the cheerful girl, and began speaking. Adrien couldn't tell what she was saying, but he knew it couldn't be good.

Within seconds, Marinette was being yanked by her arm out of the room. Her heels basically being dragged across the sleek floor.

Her small body disappeared out the door.

This can't be good.....