TWENTY | GIRL, SO CONFUSING SOMETIMES

INSTEAD OF THE PRISTINE SOUND OF BIRDS CHIRPING, MARINETTE WOKE UP TO THE SENSATION OF BEING SUFFOCATED—AT LEAST THAT'S HOW IT FELT IN HER HALF-LUCID STATE. It took her a few seconds to process where she was (her immediate thoughts being, 'Wow, did someone steal all my posters in my sleep?'). But then, she blinked rapidly a few times (after shielding her eyes from the blinds someone had tore open very rudely) and it was only then did she understand where the suffocation feeling was coming from. Alya, for the last fifteen minutes, had been slamming a thick memory foam pillow across her face in a final attempt to awaken the girl.

The half-Chinese girl groaned, clamping her eyes shut and rolled onto her stomach in a futile attempt to escape.

Alya let out a frustrated huff, dealing one last blow with the thick pillow. "You have a turn," she had barked at Michelle, who was perched on her own bed running a brush through her damp hair. "She sleeps like the dead."

Michelle gently placed her brush beside her and stalked across the room until she was looming over the end of Marinette's bed like the boogeyman. "Hey Marinette, Mr Harrington is talking about giving Peter your spot on the starting line-up," her friend said in a sickly sweet voice.

Similar to the likes of a jack-in-the-box, Marinette shot upright. Her face was flushed and her eyes were wide. "He said what?"

"See?" Michelle smirked, turning to Alya. "Easy."

"Ugh, why didn't you do that twenty minutes ago," the redhead groaned, giving Marinette the once over.

Meanwhile, the girl was still half-asleep and reeling from what Michelle had told her. "Why would he do that?" She demanded, throwing her blanket to the side. "I ought to give Parker a piece of my mind—"

"Woah, woah, woah," Alya blocked the door, waving her hands. "It was a joke."

Marinette scowled at Michelle over her shoulder. "You're not supposed to wake people like that. You could've sent me into cardiac arrest, you know," she huffed (she'd read something about it in a magazine once, she's sure of it), stalking over to the bathroom with pointed shoulder blades.

"It's surprising that Peter hasn't already sent you into cardiac arrest yet," her friend murmured, a playful glint in her eyes.

It was too early for Marinette to be bothered to roll her eyes in response. "Ugh," is all she said as she shut the bathroom door behind her and turned to her appearance in the mirror. She was the definition of frazzled looking. The clock hanging above the toilet reminded her of the time crunch she was under to transform into a functioning member of society (was she ever?).

"Don't take too long in there! It's the only mirror in the room," Alya called out, banging on the door for extra emphasis.

"Yeah, yeah," Marinette called back, stepping out of her pyjama bottoms and into the steaming hot shower. She was hoping to burn away the crawling sensation on her skin thanks to Peter Parker being brought up before 7am (seriously, who does that to a person—let alone their best friend).

It wasn't too long before she was dressed and fighting over mirror space with Alya. "You're gonna make me fuck up my eyeliner," Alya whined, taking to her face with micelar water for the twelfth time in a row.

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Well, I need to cover this zit—what if there's college scouts watching?" She theatrically waved at the angry red lump on her chin.

"Yeah, because a college scout is going to care about your zits," Alya retorted, going in with the eyeliner again, with shaking hands.

"Girls, you've got five minutes—!" A voice, Mr Harrington, called through the chipboard door.

A new urgency overtook them as they scrambled to apply products to their faces. "Crap, crap, crap," they chorused.

They could hear the muffled sounds of Mr Harrington moving to their neighbours door, making them scramble even more frantically. "Ned, Peter—!"

"Okay. Hold on, hold on!"

Watching the chaos unfold, Michelle sat delicately perched at the end of her bed. (She had a very simple philosophy when it came to skincare and makeup: it was pointless and was built on capitalism.) Her book—for in case she got bored between rounds—was tucked under her arm and as for her mustard yellow blazer, it was tied around her waist. She'd been completely ready five minutes after she'd crawled out of bed. . . unlike some people.

The hands on the clock didn't slow down for her friends' makeup routines and there was another, more urgent knock at their door. "This century would be nice," came Flash Thompsons excruciatingly annoying voice.

Marinette let out a small squeal, beating her pimple one last time with a discoloured beauty blender before messily screwing the cap onto her worn out concealer bottle (it was definitely expired). Flinging it at her open suitcase, she dived for her book bag that lay on her bed. Army rolling off the bed, she flung the door open with a much calmer Michelle and Alya on her heels.

They were immediately met by the stares of their teammates, who were neatly congregated outside their room. And not a single one of them carried a trace of yesterday's late night swim (not Marinette though, she couldn't quite get the smell of chlorine out of her hair—even after two washes) (she really needed to stop using the Walmart brand stuff her Mom kept buying, even if it was cost efficient).

Liz, looking as perfect as ever, led the pack like usual. It'd seemed they'd walked out just as she was giving the team a motivational speech. Her passionate look faded and she halted her words to give them a once over and a polite nod.

At the same time Ned slunk out of the next door room, quietly shutting the door behind him. Marinette raised an eyebrow but the larger boy ducked his head and went around to the other side of the group. Rude.

Mr Harrington clasped his hands together impatiently. "Alright, that's everyone? Let's go."

"Wait. Where's Parker?" Marinette asked, looking at Nino who looked equally confused.

Mr Harrington halfheartedly looked around. "Nevermind that. Principal Morita will fire me if we lose the competition on top of losing another student."

There were some low murmurs amongst the team as everyone filed behind their teacher and team captain. But no actual reactions to the fact that they were quite literally missing a teammate (where were the search parties? This was quite literally child endangerment). Marinette was floored as she watched Ned cling to the front of the group, refusing to meet her or Nino's questioning looks (clearly he knew something they didn't know).

The girl didn't move for a moment, confusedly glaring at the hotel door he should've emerged from.

"Mari, are you coming?" A voice—Adrien—called out, tone slightly concerned.

The girl looked up in a daze. Normally, Marinette would've had a brain aneurysm at the fact that Adrien had just given her a nickname but her mind was too cluttered to even compute the fact (but she would later, just before she fell asleep and she'd kick herself for being so nonchalant about it).

"Um. Yeah, let's go. . ." She murmured, lightly jogging to catch up with the team. She looked over her shoulder at least twice on the way over, still waiting for Peter Parker to emerge. He was egotistical and annoying but he showed up when it mattered (right?).

"Nervous?" Adrien inquired, rubbing his arm awkwardly after a moments silence.

The girl shrugged, still only half paying attention. "Nah. Are you?"

The blonde smiled, swooping some hair out of his face to get a clearer look at the shorter girl. "A little. I like your confidence, though. It's comforting."

Again, Marinette was too distracted to properly hear the words Adrien was saying. His compliment flew right over her head as she continued to analyse their surroundings, half expecting Peter to randomly jump out of a dark corner. "So, has no one seen him this morning?"

Adrien blinked, confused. "Seen who?"

"Peter," Marinette said blankly, not even bothering to look at Adrien (even though he was looking gorgeous that day—another thing she'd think about before bed that night).

"Oh, um. I don't think so? Nino tried calling before and his phone went straight to voicemail. Plus, his Snap-Maps say he hasn't been active since last night," the blonde told her, looking up at the ceiling with flared nostrils.

"Weird," she hummed, tapping a finger against her cheek.

"The running theory is he was sneaking out last night, not studying," he added, watching her reaction closely.

"Sneaking out where, though?" She pondered.

Adrien shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe he met a girl out here."

Marinette scowled at that. "As if he'd miss the Decathlon for some Washington hoe," she said bitterly, not quite hearing herself.

Her language made Adrien falter. He'd never heard Marinette speak like that before. "Uh. . . yeah, I dunno," he mumbled, looking around at the signs to see how far off they were from the auditorium.

Unbeknownst to Marinette, who continued to scan every room they passed through, Adrien watched her with heavy eyes and a slight frown.

"Just this way, guys!" Mr Harrington called out, bouncing with every step like an excited kid on Christmas. Marinette was beginning to think this meant more to their teacher than the actual students.

The decathlon venue was vast with a packed out audience (why so many people had come to watch nerds duke it out, she did not know).

It was only when they were passing through security did reality really begin to unfurl its sharp edges and, with every breath, Marinette felt the weight of their impending failure settle like a stone in her already heavy chest. The competition inched closer at every passing second, a vast ocean of expectations (from her teammates, the school, her parents—everyone; they all expected greatness from her) and she was sinking beneath its tide. The weight of the victory felt like it all fell on her shoulders—Peter was her rival, her equal. Filling the void he'd left by fleeing felt like her responsibility (and who else was going to be able to do it, really?).

His face, so punchable, dances across her mind (as it so often did, unfortunately). How dare he leave them hanging like this. Her fingers tighten into fists.

"Please be sure all cell phones are turned off," said one of the security officers, eyeing the iron-clad grip she had on her phone during her fit of rage.

Embarrassed, she nodded sheepishly and shoved the device in her back pocket.

Inhaling sharply, she nods slightly—at no one in particular. They could do this without him (they had for all of their training!), it's not like he was the sole person holding the team together. They would be fine. They'd win without his freakishly extensive knowledge on physics and obsolete technology.

Even in her head, it didn't sound sincere.

The competition itself starts off in a blur, she can't quite pinpoint exact moments in hindsight—she'd been too blinded by adrenaline. The order of events was jumbled everytime she looked back and there were so many blanks.

Question after question. Right answer after right answer. As the saying goes: they were on a roll.

"We have now entered sudden death," the moderator had said at one point, in a voice so clear and crisp it could slice through flesh. "The next correct answer wins the championship."

Every competitor leant forward in their seat, anticipating eating away at them as they anticipated the question.

Marinette doesn't remember the question. She racked her brain for hours afterward but drew a blank (and she was too embarrassed to ask her peers what it was).

All she remembers is that she hesitated.

She remembers the sound of the bell ringing, even though her hand hadn't moved. She remembered, as if in slow motion, turning her head to look at the perpetrator of the sound.

Michelle, looking like she'd walked out of the dictionary definition of cool and collected, cleared her throat as she made intense eye contact with the moderator. No one exhaled for that brief second, choking on the anticipation.

"Midtown tech?"

"Zero?" Michelle said, although it came out more like a question.

It was silent for another moment (it felt more like an hour). The adjudicators fave was solemn, giving away nothing. . . until it wasn't. "That is correct! Midtown takes the championship!" She declared, a smile slipping onto her face.

Marinette, still frozen, didn't jump in the air with the rest of her team right away. All around her bodies mashed together in triumph. But she stayed motionless. She knew there were cheers and squeals but she couldn't quite hear them; her ears were ringing, the sound of that bell playing over and over again.

Suddenly there had been hands around her waist, lifting her out of her chair and about a foot into the air. She blinked rapidly, looking up at Adrien in a daze. His face was lit up by the euphoric smile he wore, she was sure he shone brighter than the sun in that moment. Her sweater had rode up slightly and he'd been holding onto her bare skin. His touched basically scalded her.

In his excitement, Adrien spun her around a few times. He'd said something in her ear but she hadn't heard him, her mind had gone into overdrive trying to process everything else.

It was when he finally set her back down on her own two feet did she look back at the crowd. A lot of the audience—probably there to support other schools—had left. Before she even realised what she was doing, Marinette found herself scanning the rows for a particular brunette boy once again.

🐞 karla yaps!     (crowd boos) omg hi?? i'm alive...
so like,,, apology video for disappearing for two months coming soon. i genuinely had only meant to take december off to recuperate & get unburnt out but that didn't quite go to plan. there's something about the washington section of homecoming that burns me out in every spider-man fic, idk why. i've genuinely never written past the elevator scene in a fic before (benefits mention). saur be excited for the portion after this arc because it's new territory for me & it's Drama And Action Packed. we have about 10-15 chapters left of this act (depending on how i revise my planning) & im so happy that we've gotten this far.

i know this chapter was major filler but it felt necessary for character & relationship developments. i love exploring the inner workings of marinette's chaotic mind. this was a short chapter but the next one is the washington monument segment so it'll be a big one (& hopefully won't take 2 months).

i'd also like to thank you all for 15k reads, it genuinely means so much to me that so many eyeballs have read my fic & enjoyed it <33 DOUBLE ALSO peep the new cover made by ash , it's genuinely so gorg & i can't stop staring at it !!!!