Chapter Text
It took a while, but Marinette was starting to notice things. Things like how Alya would take on more responsibilities as the class vice president, making her life a little bit easier. Or the way Nino would bring her her favorite chocolates each morning. Or when Adrien would constantly complimented her.
Or how Kim made sure to accompany her every morning from her house to school.
It seems like everyone was being extremely... nice. Not like they weren't before, but now, it's like something happened and Marinette, of all people, was out of the loop. The tipping point was when there was a vote to decide whether or not to hold the prom at the school instead of the Bourgeois' hotel, they all turned to her. They were willing to have her decide where it'll be done, regardless of where they wanted.
Considering how vocal and opinionated her classmates were, this shocked Marinette. What surprised her even more was that Chloe agreed to host it at the hotel without a fit and that her and Alya would be in charge of it all.
How could Marinette not be suspicious?
And then Kim went around for a whole week, demanding she makes sure she was free Friday night. He wouldn't tell her why but she did make sure she wasn't doing anything that evening(unless Hawkmoth had nothing else to do in his miserable life).
Finally, on Thursday evening, she cracked.
"Everyone's acting weird, Tikki. What is going on?"
The little creature floated towards her wielder. "What do you mean?"
Marinette flopped on her bed, a sigh escaping her lips. "They're being so nice to me. Not like they weren't before," she quickly added. "But come on! Chloe didn't even put up a fight today when it came to prom! She agreed to have it at the hotel and that's not even the craziest part." She sat up, facing her kwami. "I'm in charge of all events, right? She said she'll take care of everything with Alya."
"And you think this is weird?"
She nodded her head vigorously. "Well, duh! Alya and Chloe hate each other. They didn't want me to put in any work and said I needed to take some time off and relax."
Tikki giggled at her owner's antics and patted her cheeks. "Cheer up, Marinette. It looks like your friends mean well."
"That's the thing! Chloe hasn't said one rude thing to me in weeks and Nino has been bringing all my favorite candies. Adrien has me almost stuttering again with all the nice things he says. " Huffing, she flopped back on the bed. "Even Kim walks me to school everyday and refuses to let me carry my own backpack. Something is up."
Tikki, unbeknownst to Marinette, knew exactly why everyone was acting this way. Only because when Marinette falls asleep in class, Tikki is still very much awake and listening to her surrounding areas.
Which means she heard just exactly why her wielder's classmates wanted Marinette to take the next evening off.
"Why don't you ask them?"
Groaning, Marinette simply buried her face into her pillow. "How would I even ask? 'Hey, why has everyone been so weirdly nice to me? It's kinda freaking me out.' Who would I ask? Alya would probably think I'm overreacting-"
Her frustrated rant was cut short when a knock at her door interrupted it. When she made sure Tikki was out of sight, she turned towards her door. "Come in."
"So, M," the voice called out, the person climbing into the room. Just hearing that person was enough for Marinette to want to tear her hair out. "You're still free tomorrow night?"
Of course Kim would come over and ask her that.
Just like how Juleka and Alix kept asking her that exact same damn question.
Even Adrien brought it up.
Taking a deep breath, she turned towards him. "Yes, Kim, I'm free tomorrow. Might tell me why I need to have the evening off?"
He just grinned and dropped his backpack on the ground. "And ruin the surprise? Why would I do that?"
Marinette narrowed her eyes, not at all trusting him at the moment. Kim always slipped up in front of her. He barely kept any secrets from her so to have him be this close lipped about tomorrow irked her.
"I promise it's nothing bad," he moved towards her bed and started climbing. "Move over, I'm so tired."
Rolling her eyes, she scooted. "You have your own bed in your own home."
He simply shrugged, landing on the bed with a thud. "Your bed is so comfy. Plus," he pointed towards a bag he set on her desk. "You're parents always give me sweets. Why would I stop coming over?"
"For one thing," she jabbed his side. "My parents think we're together. Mama thinks it's weird I keep denying it."
He waved her off. "You act like dating me is a bad thing. You," he pointed at her and winked. "me, dinner. This Saturday."
Marinette snorted, finally laying down next to him. Sure, he was annoying her by not telling her what's going on tomorrow night but Kim always had a way of cheering her up. "My favorite flowers are lil-"
"-lies and marigolds. How could I forget, buttercup?"
Rolling her eyes once again, she shoved him. "Whatever." She hadn't exactly expected him to remember such details(she was obsessed with flowers as a kid) but it was nice to know that people were paying attention to what her favorite things are. "What about that new Chinese place that recently opened up?"
He grinned. "Ah, you know no one beats your mom's cooking. Why would I insult her by going somewhere else to get Chinese food?"
And just like that, Marinette forgot about what her friends might have in store for her.
Until after Kim had left and she finished her phone call with Alya.
Groaning, she tugged on her hair. "Tikki, what do I do?"
The little creature giggled and patted her master's head. "Maybe you're reading too much into it. Just go to sleep and let's see what happens tomorrow, yeah?"
Grumbling her agreement, Marinette slipped under her cover, determined to rise early the next day.
-
She did actually wake up early.
Only because this time, it was Alya and Nino who made it their mission to haul her ass out of her house by some ungodly hour. She hadn't been up that early in years.
At least Kim was a bit nicer in waking her up.
So in her defense, she has every right to be a bit cranky.
"It's 6:30am, why are we walking towards a cafe before school?" She muttered, her hands in her jacket pocket as she leaned into Alya.
The latter simply snorted and threw an arm around her. "Come on, it's not that early. Besides, Adrien got permission to meet us there!"
"It's still too early." She whined but quickened her pace towards the cafe. It wasn't often that Adrien got a chance to hang out with them and despite the bitter cold snipping at her cheeks, Marinette wasn't going to miss out on this chance. "Why are two walking so slow? Let's go!"
But that wasn't the only unusual thing that happened throughout the day. Chloe was the first one to greet her as she walked into class, with her first name. Nathaniel and Marc showed her a comic where the hero was based of her. Even the teachers didn't berate her as she stumbled into one of the afternoon classes late. Adrien sat next to her instead of Nino during lunch.
By the end of the day, Marinette was sure she stumbled upon an alternative reality. One she was home and Tikki has flown out of her purse, she through her hands up. "I thought everyone was acting weird before, but today takes the cake. Is there an akuma attack I don't know about?"
The little god only laughed. "Maybe you'll find out later today?"
She stared at her kwami, her voice deadpanned. "Oh yes, of course."
Marinette sighed and decided the best way to distract herself was to start sewing that prom dress for Rosé. She had already finished Alya's and Chloé's (that's a story for another day) and once Rosé's was done, all was left was her own dress.
A few hours in and she was pretty proud with how far she gotten when suddenly her trap door was slammed open.
"Alright, I am here to drag your ass, M."
Marinette stared at the girl in front of her, her heartbeat erratic as she wasn't expecting such an abrupt interruption.
"You gonna put that scissor down or are you gonna actually throw it?"
It was only then that Marinette realized she had the said odject in her hands, arm pulled back as if she was about to throw it. Yelping, she quickly set the scissors down before turning to her intruder.
"You know better than to scare me like that, Alix. Remember the skating ring?"
Alix rolled her eyes, walking towards the bluenette. "I called your name like three times before I came up. Figured you were sewing. Now," grabbing her friend's hand and tugging her up, Alix grinned. "We don't wanna make everyone wait. Let's go!"
Marinette barely had any time to gather her stuff before the shorter girl forced her out of the room and out the front doors. "Where are we even going?"
"Secret. And," she held up a piece of cloth. "I'm gonna put this around your head- you can't see where I'm taking you."
Pausing in her steps, the bluenette gave Alix and exasperated look. "That sounds very suspicious. Especially because no one would tell me what's going on."
The next thing that happened really made Marinette feel like the alternative reality theory was a totally crazy thought. Instead of the usual sassy replies she associates the girl with, Alix gave her a soft smile followed with a 'I promise it's nothing bad, trust me'. That was enough to get Marinette to agree but it was still weird. Alix never really let anyone see her like that and to see it now-
Just what did her classmates do?
Gripping the shorter girl's hand, Marinette couldn't think of anything she's done recently to have the class change their attitude towards her.
Maybe something Lila said? But the girl hasn't been seen in a couple of weeks(apparently the prince of Achu asked her to accompany him on a safari trip- yeah, right) and so Marinette was back to square one.
But she was quickly yanked back from her thoughts when they suddenly stopped and the cloth was untied.
Right in front of her was her entire classmates, other students, and it was very clearly a celebration. But her birthday isn't in months and-
"Hey, Marinette." Adrien spoke up, a gentle smile on his lips. "Welcome to the 'Marinette Appreciation Party'."