Chapter Text
Running into class, Marinette lets out a sigh of relief as the bell rings after she entered the room instead of before. She really didn’t want to be late today. Today was the first day of her last year of lycée. She could practically taste the freedom that the end of school would bring- well, that is, if she could defeat Hawkmoth before graduation. Otherwise, she’d be stuck in Paris with the rest of Team Miraculous. And yeah, Paris was her home, but she wanted more. She wanted to travel, go somewhere else. Be a normal college student.
“Nettie! There’s my favorite class rep.” Nino cheers as she takes the seat behind him. She snorts, rolling her eyes.
“I’m the only class rep. Have been for like, four years.” She points out, pulling out her school tablet and pencil. “Where’s Adrien and Alya?” She asks, frowning at their empty chairs. Nino nods towards the screen at the front of the room, and Marinette grins- noticing two of her best friends.
“Hello and welcome back for what’s sure to be a fantastic year. I’m Alya Césaire-”
“And I’m Adrien Agreste.”
“And this is Lycée Carnot News. Your hub for any and all information at Lycée Carnot.” Alya says with a grin. “The number of akuma attacks decreased drastically over the last week, but the akumas that were sent out were more dangerous. Reminder, stick to the breathing exercises taught in Wellness, and if you see an akuma, don’t engage.”
“Really Alya, don’t engage?” Adrien teases, before looking back at the camera. “Here’s your friendly reminder that if you haven’t installed the Ladyblog app that launched over the summer, you should do that as soon as possible. It’s the most convenient way to stay up to date with the heroes and villains of Paris.”
“Thanks for the promo, Agreste. And good luck students! Have a great new school year.” Alya grins before the screen goes dark. Marinette leans over her desk to grin down at Nino.
“How long do you think the morning news will last this year?” She asks. Nino snorts.
“Depends on if we can get Als to keep the conspiracy theories out this year.” He replies. Marinette just shakes her head and laughs. Every year since they’d started lycée, Alya and Adrien had attempted to do the morning news. It never lasted long, but who knows. Maybe this was the year that it would stick.
“I’ve seen our script for tomorrow. Chances of us lasting past the week are low.” Adrien jokes, dropping down into the seat next to her. Marinette laughs, shaking her head fondly.
“She does realize that she does this to herself, right?” Marinette asks.
“Of course I do. But I will not let my creativity and inspiration be stifled by a corrupt system such as this one.” Alya declares firmly. Marinette just rolls her eyes and sits back in her seat, frowning as she scans the classroom. Where was Mme. Blanchard? She was never late.
“Good morning class!” A familiar voice calls. Marinette’s eyes widen as the woman walks in and drops her bag on the table at the front of the room. “I’m not sure if you recognize me, but I’m Mme. Bustier and I will be your teacher again this year!” Marinette purses her lips together, resisting the urge to groan. What had happened to Mme. Blanchard? Sure, the woman rarely assigned challenging work, but she was still a lot better than Bustier. Marinette had been certain that when she moved on to lycée, she would never have to see that woman again. Apparently, fate liked laughing in Marinette’s face. Barely suppressing the urge to scream, Marinette lets out a short breath. It would be fine. It’s not like Lila’s back from her ‘exchange program’, right?
“Hello! I’ve missed you all so much. I am so, so happy that my exchange program is completed.” Lila cheers, walking into the room. Marinette drops her head down and lets it fall against the desk, the sound echoing throughout the otherwise silent classroom. This day just kept getting better and better. Marinette keeps her head on the desk, ignoring Adrien’s attempts to get her attention. She simply wasn’t in the mood now. Barely listening to Lila’s subtle takeover of the classroom, Marinette doesn’t bother to pay attention until Bustier clears her throat and announces a ‘big, big surprise’.
“Now, as you all know, every year one class is selected to be the ‘host’ for an exchange class. This year, for the first time ever, we’ve partnered with Wayne Industries and Gotham Academy in Gotham City, New Jersey!” Bustier declares. Everyone begins chattering excitedly, and even Marinette perks up. She’d been looking into both the design and business programs at Gotham University. Well, if she could ever beat Hawkmoth, that is. And then it clicks. Gotham. Batman. Detective. Marinette starts shaking her foot up and down, a million possible plans flooding her brain. She had to see if one of the Gotham Academy kids knew how to contact Batman. If she could get some outside help, an outside perspective, maybe she could finally end this whole nightmare. Everything could start going right for once.
“Oh I adore Gotham! You know, I have quite a few friends there. Richard, Timothy, and of course my lovely Damikins.” Lila gushes. Marinette puffs out her cheeks, repeating her mantra to herself. Do not engage, she’s not worth it. Do not engage, she’s not worth it.
“I know, I know, this is exciting! But there’s more. They’ll be arriving in the spring, but before then, we’ll be participating in a pen pal program with the class that was selected to come to Paris. That way, when they arrive, we’ll already know each other and they can settle in easier.” Mme. Bustier claps her hands, a wide smile on her face. Marinette nods, thoughtfully. This was definitely one of the better ideas from her former- well, no longer former- teacher. And who knows, maybe something great could come out of this.
---
Marinette just blinks at Mme. Bustier, willing herself to go back a week and transfer classes the second she saw Bustier walk in so she wouldn’t have to deal with any of this. When she’d walked into class, Bustier had given her the same look that had haunted her all throughout collège. The one that let Marinette know that something impossible was about to be asked of her. So she wasn’t surprised when she’d asked her to stay after class to talk. And though she’d gotten better about saying no and standing up for herself, she couldn’t condemn this mystery student to writing to Lila. Which was their other option, according to Bustier.
The teachers had, apparently, been coordinating to try and match students up. This particular student was labeled as “angry”, “trouble socializing”, and “rude” among other things. Marinette was 99 percent sure that her teacher wasn’t supposed to tell her about it, but Bustier had never been great about the whole ‘student privacy’ thing. Anyway, Bustier had confronted her and asked if she was ‘up to the task’ as class rep. Followed by her reassuring her that if she couldn’t handle it, Lila would be able to. Yeah right. Marinette already disliked that some random kid was going to be stuck with Lila. She wasn’t about to let someone who already didn’t like people be stuck with that liar. Besides, maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as the teachers thought.
“I’ll do it.” Marinette says, working hard to suppress a sigh. One week into school and she was already more tired than she had been last year, despite having no akuma attacks yet and no commissions. A big change compared to the start of school last year.
“Wonderful! Everyone will be receiving their final pairings after lunch. I trust that you’ll do your best to bring a little Paris sunshine to this grumpy Gotham student.” Bustier says cheerfully. Marinette smiles weakly before turning and walking out of the class, letting her shoulders slump. Glancing towards the cafeteria, she decides her best course of action is to just go home and grab lunch. The walk was slightly longer than when she’d been in collège, but she also didn’t feel like dealing with the drama that was inevitable every time Lila came back to school. The girl had left at the beginning of their last year of collège, and didn’t show up again until halfway through the first year of lycée. Marinette had assumed when she didn’t return last year, that that was the end of it. But apparently, her luck didn’t stretch outside of the suit. Walking in the back door of the bakery, Marinette takes the stairs two at a time and grabs a sandwich before going up to her room and dropping onto her chaise.
“This is so exciting!” Tikki chirps, flying out of her bag. Marinette raises an eyebrow.
“What is?” She asks.
“The pen pal program! Who knows who you’ll be paired with.” They say dreamily. Marinette snorts.
“Their file literally came with warning labels, Tikki. I seriously doubt it’s going to be as good as you’re thinking.” Marinette points out. Their face drops slightly, before they smile again.
“Just stay positive Marinette. I have a good feeling about this.” They say. Marinette just smiles at her friend.
“Okay, I’ll try.” She promises. Would she go into this with a positive attitude despite the warning labels on the file? Oh yeah. She knew that sometimes, things weren’t all that they seemed. But would she also hold onto the realistic expectation that this person was against the idea of the pen pal program? Also yes. Who knows, though. Maybe Tikki was right.
---
Marinette stares at her blank laptop screen, the cursor’s blinking taunting her as she struggles to come up with anything to write. Bustier had at least been smart enough to not give out the students’ entire files, just their email address and (if provided) a name. Everyone else had a first and last name for their partner, and lots of them had immediately taken to social media to follow them so that they could connect outside of school emails. So that they could be friends. Marinette, however, just had a first name. Damian. And she didn’t blame them. She was some random girl halfway across the world. Stranger danger, and all that. But it definitely wasn’t making her first email come out any easier.
“I just don’t understand why Jon won’t accept my follow request.” Lila loudly exclaims. Marinette resists the urge to roll her eyes. Again, stranger danger. And also, smart move, Jon whoever you are. Better to not give Lila access to every little part of your life. It never ended well. Marinette lets out a breath, deciding to just start with the basics.
Bonjour!
My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng and I use she/her pronouns. I’m excited for this project, and hope that it helps to bring my class and your class closer before you arrive in the spring. Here’s a little bit about me. As you may have guessed, I’m in my last year of lycée. I’ve been looking into several universities abroad to continue my education after graduation. My hope is to double major in either fashion or design, and business administration. If you have any questions about me, feel free to ask! I’m an open book.
Sincerely,
Marinette Dupain-Cheng
Marinette lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding as she hits send. She sneaks a glance around the room to gauge the reactions of her classmates and friends. They all seemed pretty happy, except Lila who looked annoyed. Marinette made a mental note to shake Jon’s hand when she met him in the spring. A sudden ding on her computer makes her raise an eyebrow. That was fast. Glancing at the reply, she can’t help but frown.
Hello.
My name is Damian. I use he/him pronouns. I am not looking to make a friend, and will only be communicating when required by the teacher.
Regards,
Damian
Okay, so this isn’t going to be the fairytale that Tikki had expected. That’s fine. At least he wasn’t straight up hostile. More…. Cordial. Cordial, she could work with. Hostile, not so much.
“Nettie! Any reply yet?” Nino asks, looking back at her. She plasters on a smile and nods.
“Yup!” She says. Nino raises an eyebrow.
“No more info, dudette?” He asks. She shakes her head.
“Don’t really have any.” She admits. He grins apologetically.
“That’s rough. But if anyone can bring some grump out of their shell, it’s you.” He says happily. Marinette suppresses a laugh at the unintentional (she assumes) joke. Carapace had become basically a regular, at this point. His shield was the only thing that saved them some days. Not that Nino knew that she was his teammate. He couldn’t. Not yet anyway.
“Hey, who has Damian?” Alya asks, glancing around the room.
“Why?” Marinette asks, suddenly worried that someone from GA was about to try and start drama. She’d honestly expected Lila to be the one to do it. Not someone from the other school.
“My partner, Ashleigh, said to tell whoever has Damian ‘good luck’.” Alya laughs, and Marinette’s frown deepens. That was definitely not right. Damian deserved the students at Lycée Carnot to judge him based on his actions towards them. Not based on hearsay from his classmates. “No one gonna own up to it?” Alya adds, her voice was teasing, but the words rubbed Marinette the wrong way. Gritting her teeth in determination, Marinette makes a silent promise. She would get along with Damian, and they would at least become acquaintances by the end of this. If he didn’t want friends, that’s fine. But she was determined to prove the girl from his class wrong.