Misdirector

Collège Françoise Dupont: Room 33

Everything was supposed to be fine now. Once Clara Contard had finished her live news report on the film project, there shouldn’t have been any more problems. Nothing was supposed to go wrong today, and then it did in the most horrible way possible.

At first, things seemed to have calmed down. Everyone was at peace and finished the final touches before they were to start shooting the actual film. All they had left to do now was watch the two actresses, Zoé Lee and Mylène Haprèle, rehearse their roles in the movie as the superhero of creation, Kreatika, and the supervillain of destruction, Destroika. The crew had gathered around the front of the classroom as they either sat or stood to watch the two talented young actresses act out the movie’s climax scene flawlessly.

“You may hate me, but I love you,” said Zoé to Myléne, kneeling to her character’s fallen sister, “And I always will—…”

BAM!!!!

“How dare you all!” shouted Chloé as she slammed open the door and caused everyone to jump.

“No,” thought Marc, “Oh no no no no no no NO!!! This can’t be happening! Not today! Not now!!! IT CAN'T BE HAPPENING! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!?!? WHY?!?!”

And with the arrival of this blonde piece of fresh hell, Marc’s anxiety had once again spiked. He felt the pressure in his chest return as it grew tighter and tighter, threatening to cut off Marc’s airflow. His heartbeat grew faster and pounded at his chest as if his heart was trying to break free of his body. And if that weren't bad enough, he felt a pit of worry and panic begin to form in his stomach, making him feel nauseous again. Marc felt like he was going to throw up again, but he also knew that he wasn’t going to be able to.

“Giving the lead role to my half-of-a-sister who just came out of nowhere?! And with daddy's money, on top of it all!” Chloé yelled. During her rant, Sabrina was trailing behind her with a bowl filled with bananas for some unknown and unusual reason.

“Uh, it's not actually funded by me, sweetheart, but by the city,” said André, nervously.

“Same thing,” said Chloé, brushing off her spineless father. Chloé then immediately spots her half-sister Zoé and starts walking towards her. “You! I told you that you'd be sent back to New York if you ever crossed my path,” she yelled at Zoé while jabbing a finger at her sister’s chest, “and now, not only are you on my path but on TV, too!”

Zoé looks down sadly in defeat, too timid to say anything back at her half-sister’s threats. The room is silent for a beat, but then everyone’s favorite bluenette teen fashion designer decided to stand up to Zoé’s defense. “Don't let your sister walk all over you, Zoé!” encouraged Marinette, “You are made for this part, you deserve it!”

“It's true,” chimed in Thomas Astruc, “And we're meeting with the producer tomorrow, so it's too late to change anything now.”

That last statement settled some of Marc’s nerves. He mentally sighed with relief. 

“It’s okay,” he thought, trying to reassure himself, “ She can’t do anything about it this time. Mr. Astruc said it himself. It’s too late! We couldn’t change anything even if we were to give in. It’s imposs-....but she’s the mayor’s daughter….”

Marc’s eyes quickly darted toward the mayor, André Bourgeois. Many Parisians, including the ones who attend Dupont, knew that underneath his facade of presenting himself as a regal and powerful leader of Paris, their so-called “mayor” was a very cowardly and spineless man when it comes to the demands of his daughter or his wife. The mayor would always prioritize appeasing his family over the welfare of the people of Paris. Honestly, it is a wonder how this man is still in office. Oh wait, it’s because he is another deceiving, manipulative politician whose agenda as mayor is solely dedicated to his own political and personal goals.

“But still,” Marc thought, still trying to keep himself reassured, “even if he were to submit to Chloé’s demands, there wouldn’t be anything that could be done, right?Giving Chloé the lead role would only put us behind on production. Mayor Bourgeois must realize this as well and wouldn’t jeopardize the film’s production just to please his daughter, right? Oh, who am I kidding? He would! But he can’t!We don’t have time! Even if he is the mayor, he wouldn’t be able to…..”

Marc was pulled out of his anxious thoughts when he heard Mr. Monlataing speak up. As usual, the kind-hearted art teacher was attempting to use reason to de-escalate the situation while being fair toward everyone’s feelings. 

“Might I remind you that you were offered a chance, like all the students in the school, to participate in the film,” he said. Mr. Monlataing then pauses to pull a blue notepad out of his pocket before continuing. “But you refused because, and I quote, “Mylène's sweater is too ugly, Nath draws like a 2-year-old, Rose is annoying, Marc is lamer than his writing, Alya is useless, and Marinette is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous".”. Mr. Monlataing ended that last line with Chloé’s signature “wave off” hand gesture.

Chloé turns to Mr. Monlataing with a raised eyebrow. “I said that?” She asked.

“Less politely,” answered Mr. Monlataing. He wore an apologetic look on his face after reading Chloé’s previous statements aloud. His facial expression read “Sorry, kiddos. I’m only reading back what she said”.

“That sounds exactly like what she would say,” whispered Alix to Nathaniel and Marc, both of whom silently nodded in agreement with their pink-haired skater friend. 

Everyone remembered that day. It was during the first weeks of writing the movie and recruiting students from both Ms. Bustier and Ms. Mendeleiv’s classes to take part in the film project. As a show of common courtesy despite always being rude and harsh towards everyone, Marc was even kind enough to offer Chloé a chance to be part of making the film with some backup support from Mr. Monlataing. Though how he was able to gather up the courage to even speak to Chloé was beyond anyone from the two classrooms. Chloé was a mean and vicious bitch to everyone at the school, and Marc Anciel was no exception. Her attitude and the way she treats people always intimidated the shy writer, and just her presence in the room alone would be enough to make Marc crawl back deeper into his shell. Whenever Chloé interacted with him, it would typically include her insulting his comic books and his writing, calling him a “lame writer” or “trash writer”, or berating him for being so shy, insecure, and anxiety-ridden. Despite her cruel treatment towards the young writer, Marc wanted to at least try to see the better person in her. Sure, Chloé has been cruel and hateful towards many of her peers at the school for years, but Marc has a feeling that there's more to her than being a spoiled rich vicious bitch. 

Actually, it was more than just a feeling, he had witnessed Chloé do good before. During the Hero’s Day battle, Ladybug and Chat Noir had gathered three superheroes to join the fight against Scarlet Moth and his army of scarlet akumatized villains. Among these superheroes were Carapace, Rena Rouge, and Queen Bee, or as all of Paris knows her Chloé Bourgeois. Prime Queen, also known as Paris’s renowned news reporter Nadja Chamack, was filming the battle that took place between the Miraculous team and the Scarlet Army, and everyone who had access to a T.V. or any kind of streaming device was able to watch the battle unfold at the Eiffel Tower. Although she was never really humble or discreet with her secret identity, Queen Bee was not half bad as a superhero. She fought back against the scarlet villains and rescued the de-akumatized civilians. Additionally, Marc had heard stories (mostly from Chloé bragging about her “adventures” as Queen Bee) that when her father got akumatized into Malediktator she played a huge role in saving him along with Paris from Hawkmoth. For a while, it seemed as if Chloé’s time as an occasional hero was doing her growth some good. Though she was still selfish and rude to everybody, at least she was helping people more than she ever did in her life. Unfortunately, her days of being a superhero couldn’t last forever and neither could her change.

Due to Hawkmoth knowing Chloé’s secret identity as a superhero, which was her own fault to begin with by transforming in front of Nadja Chamack, being Queen Bee would have been too much of a risk to her and her family. As a result, Ladybug stopped entrusting her with the Bee Miraculous and in retaliation, Chloé turned her back on Ladybug and the Miraculous team. A couple of months ago, Chloé got akumatized into Miracle Queen and used her swarm of wasps to brainwash the people of Paris….and everything gets a bit hazy from that point onwards. Nobody remembers or knows what happened before Chloé was de-akumatized by Ladybug and Chat Noir since almost everyone was brainwashed at the time. All that the students of DuPont can understand as the outcome is that Chloé will never be Queen Bee again after she betrayed the team, she has gone back to being the hateful spoiled rich bitch they’ve known her as for so long, and whatever character growth she had going on was as dead as her superhero career.

Even with knowing all that has happened during the Miracle Queen event, Marc couldn’t just get over the fact that she was once a hero, maybe not the type of heroic hero one would expect but a hero nevertheless. Perhaps she felt rejected when Ladybug wouldn’t let her be Queen Bee anymore? While it is a well-known fact that Chloé doesn’t take rejection very well, this time it may have hurt more for her, especially since she was finally doing some good for a change. Chloé’s actions as Miracle Queen will never be justified, but if that were the case, Marc just couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for her. Of course, many of his friends have a different opinion on the matter and while they respect his perspective on the Chloé situation, they still choose to stand by their own opinions and perspectives. 

Nathaniel, along with the rest of their friends, had warned Marc that including Chloé in the film would only end badly. Ms. Bustier’s class had filled Marc in on the last time the students tried to make a movie together, including the parts where Chloé weasels her way into the role of “Agent Smith” after she made Myléne cry for being too scared, didn’t even bother to read through the whole script, and that her acting was almost as bad as herself as a person.

Regardless, Marc advocated for offering Chloé a chance to participate, claiming that it wouldn’t have been fair to exclude Chloé from being part of the project, even if she hasn’t always been the nicest person. Marc knew how badly it ended when Chloé was rejected as Queen Bee, and though he wouldn’t have expected the outcome to be as bad, he did know that rejecting Chloé from the film project by not even offering her a chance to join would do more harm later on. Mr. Monlataing agreed with Marc’s decision and stood by him to help give Marc the courage to ask Chloé if she wanted to join. The art teacher was a strong advocate for allowing students to be a part of large group projects if they wish to do so, which is one of the many qualities that made him such an amazing teacher. 

When Marc and Mr. Monlataing first approached Chloé at the time, she was in the middle of working on her latest “masterpiece”, which was just another collage of selfies but that didn’t stop Mr. Monlataing from praising her work to break the ice as well encourages her creativity. Though Marc was reluctant to speak up and started mumbling, something that did not go without a harsh remark from Chloé, he managed to finally spit out his question about if she wanted to be part of the film project. As expected, Chloé refused and hurled a bunch of insults disguised as crap excuses as to why she didn’t want any part of the film project for everyone in the art room to hear before gathering up her collage project and leaving. Marc had to admit that he was a little disappointed, although he was more upset with the insults towards his friends, but he was also relieved since he didn’t have to worry about Chloé causing any problems while they worked on the film project. That is….until today.

Even though she was reminded about the insults she said to her fellow students, Chloé, however, remained unfazed. “Well, I still mean all of it,” she said, “But if this stupid, childish film actually gets released in theaters and turns someone into a star, that someone should be me! So, you're gonna give me the part my half-of-a-sister is playing because everything she owns is mine!”

With a quick “Hmph!” Chloé turned and started walking away.

“Ch-Chloé, we c-can’t do that…..” A mumbling voice spoke up.

Chloé immediately stopped in her tracks. She turned around and scanned the room for whoever dared to speak out of turn. Instantly, she noticed that the “lame writer”, Marc Anciel, was now standing up, looking down at his fingers as he fidgeted with them to avoid making eye contact with the blonde. Chloé stormed up to the writer, seething with anger. “Um, excuse me?!” She exclaimed, “What did you just say to me, Anciel?”

Chloé roughly jabbed her index finger at Marc’s chest, causing the young man to flinch back from both pain and intimidation. He regretted speaking up, but there was no going back from it now, especially with an irritated Chloé in his face. Still fidgeting with his fingers and looking down anxiously, Marc started to speak again. “L-Like Mr. Astruc said, i-it’s too late to ch-change anything,” he mumbled, “W-We d-don’t have enough t-time-.....”

“Ugh, here you go again with the mumbling! What are you even saying?!” Exclaimed Chloé, causing Marc to flinch again and shrink back, “I swear, it’s like every single time you’re talking to me if it’s not mumbling then you’re stuttering! Do you have any idea how ridiculous you sound when you mumble and stutter?! Utterly ridiculous! Not to mention so annoying that I can’t even understand a word you’re saying. If our so-called writer of those ridiculous “Ladybug and Chat Noir” comics is so talented, then shouldn’t you be capable of talking like a normal person?! Now then you “Stuttering Disaster”, if you have something to say then just say it! And this time, SPEAK UP!”

Marc flinched back as Chloé yelled out the last part. Not since earlier today when Clara Contard was doing her news report did Marc want to so badly run away, but he found himself frozen in place despite the intense heat that he felt throughout his body. All eyes were on him, waiting for him to respond. He tried to speak up again. Marc tried hard to find the courage to tell Chloé that she couldn’t just steal the lead role that her half-sister, Zoé, had earned through her talent and hard work. He didn’t care that Chloé was mocking him or his writing, but she had no right to just swoop in and snatch away the part that her sister rightfully deserved more than her. However, when Marc opened his mouth, there was only silence. He tried to speak again and still no words escaped from his lips. He gave it one more try, but there was nothing but air. Marc then closed his mouth and looked down sadly in defeat. 

“That’s just what I thought,” sneered Chloé. With a smirk, Chloé turned on her heels and triumphantly started walking out of the art room.

“Banana, Chloé?” Sabrina offered, holding out her bowl of bananas. Chloé simply walks past her without a word and Sabrina starts trailing behind her as both girls leave.

Everyone in the room was silent about what had just transpired. The emotions that everyone felt were mixed or different. Some of them just stood or sat speechless, too in shock to say anything as they were processing all that had just occurred. Others were feeling sorry for the way that Chloé had treated both Zoé and Marc, and regretting that they couldn’t say or do anything in their defense. And the last couple of students, specifically Alix and Nathaniel, were feeling anger towards the type of bullshit that had just taken place. Well, Alix was feeling more annoyed than angry, but Nathaniel was definitely seething. 

Chloé was doing it again! Making others feel like crap and trying to take away whatever they have that she wants, Chloé will always be a selfish little bitch! How could Marc ever think that someone like her could ever change into a better person?!

“Marc!” Nathaniel suddenly thought, casting his gaze onto his comic book partner. The poor boy was still looking down in silent defeat from Chloé’s berating, and anxiously fiddling with the strings of his favorite red hoodie. While Nathaniel was once again reminded of his anger towards Chloé for how she treated his friends, especially with the way that she had just humiliated Marc, he decided that now was not the time to stay angry. He was still pissed and wanted to march out the door to catch up to Chloé to give her a piece of his mind, even though he would never really be able to do that in a million years, but Nathaniel knew that there were other people to be concerned about other than Chloé. After all, Marc was going to need him. “Err…and Zoé, of course!” Nathaniel's thoughts corrected himself urgently, “Marc and Zoé! But then again, I think Marinette has already got Zoé covered….”

“Don’t worry, kids,” said André, slowly and nervously walking to the door, “I'll go talk to her. Everything will be fine tomorrow!” André immediately closed the door and bolted after his daughter.

Marinette and Zoé looked at each other, both were uncertain about André's promise but Marinette still tried to put on her best reassuring smile for Zoé. As for Marc, Nathaniel stood up and walked over to his side. He put a comforting and reassuring hand on his friend’s shoulder, bringing the young writer out of his state of distraught. Marc turned to face Nathaniel, who was trying to wear the best smile that he could under the circumstances to help reassure his friend.

“It’s going to be okay, Marc,” said Nathaniel, though there was still a hint of doubt being masked in his words, “Just like you said, it’s already too late for changes. Besides, I doubt that the producer, Mr. Bob Roth, would agree to let Chloé into the film even if she tried to use her threats and intimidation to try to take over Zoé’s role. He knows that we don’t have time for any big changes in the movie like recasting the lead role. There’s nothing that Chloé can do.”

Marc tried his best to smile back at the redhead. Nathaniel’s reasoning may have provided a little bit of comfort for the writer, but the overall feeling of anxiety and dread still lingered. Nathaniel must have picked up that Marc’s smile was somewhat forced as his smile began to falter, and he immediately regretted doing so as his friend’s smile soon followed suit. One thing was certain between the two boys, this didn’t feel like the end of the Chloé situation. As a matter of fact, this felt like only the beginning.

————————————————————

Today was going to be difficult. Marc knew that for a fact, especially considering the long night that he just had. Marc couldn’t stop thinking about everything that occurred that day and despite being reassured by not only Nathaniel but all of his friends as well, his mind was still not put at ease. 

Throughout the night, his mind was racing with worried thoughts about how Chloé could ruin this film for them, even if she couldn’t steal the lead role from Zoé. She could still find a way to sabotage the production of the film if she doesn’t get her way. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time that she had resorted to such methods. And if she did somehow manage to weasel her way into the movie as the new lead role, Marc was plagued by the thoughts of everything that could go wrong. 

For starters, Chloé was a terrible actress and everybody knew it. She wouldn’t be able to make a good portrayal of the superhero of creation, especially when considering her original personality. Even more so, she would completely butcher the character entirely. And if that weren’t enough, Chloé was also a diva with ridiculously high maintenance demands. If things weren’t to her liking or go her way, she would throw a huge diva fit and refuse to cooperate. Just the thought of having to deal with that already made Marc feel a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach.

These anxious and dreadful thoughts gave Marc no peace throughout the night as he suffered from insomnia. Insomnia was not anything that Marc was unfamiliar with. Marc’s anxiety has plagued him with excessive worry and anxious thoughts that would keep him up throughout the night many times before. Though his therapist, Dr. Moreau had taught him some sleep-inducing techniques to help him whenever he had anxiety-related insomnia; none of them were working this time. At some point in the night, Marc had somehow managed to drift off to sleep for about an hour before his alarm clock went off and woke up the poor sleep-deprived writer. Marc let out a tired groan as he reached his arm out to shut off his alarm clock. This day was going to feel like hell.

Today, the crew was supposed to meet up at the school. Once everyone had arrived at the agreed-upon time, they would then be riding the bus to meet with the producer at his office. Most of the crew members had arrived before the designated time, but there was a certain student in pigtails who was a couple of minutes late though that hardly surprised anyone. That didn’t stop her from apologizing profusely as the students and adults boarded the bus, despite many of them reassuring her that they weren’t upset with her.

The bus ride felt long and tortuous for Marc. Not only was he sleep deprived from the night before, but the vibrations and motions that the bus was making as it drove were only making him feel more tired. If Marc wasn’t sitting next to Nathaniel right now, he would have at least tried to take a nap during the bus ride. Not that he was complaining since Nath was his best friend, but he didn’t want to make him worry about him getting almost no sleep last night. He would probably never let Marc hear the end of it the next time Marc had to lecture Nathaniel about not abiding by the sleep schedule that he had helped set up for him because otherwise, he would have spent the night drawing in his sketchbook or scrolling through his phone instead of sleeping. 

Nathaniel knew something was wrong. The minute that Marc had sat down next to him, he knew that something about his friend was off. For some time on the bus ride, the two boys were silent. Nathaniel pretended that he was sketching in his sketchbook while analyzing Marc’s body language and facial expressions. One of the first things he noticed about his friend was that he had dark circles underneath his eyes. While the circles may just be smeared mascara, Nathaniel also took notice of how Marc’s eyes kept opening and closing along with his head starting to fall before bobbing back up. And if these facts weren’t proof enough that something was off with Marc, the fact that the writer had not said a word to Nathaniel since the bus started moving should have been proof enough. These analyses led Nathaniel to conclude that Marc was sleep deprived.

“Did Marc not sleep at all last night?!” Thought Nathaniel. While Nathaniel was still concerned about his friend’s well-being, he was also in disbelief at Marc’s audacity. “Oh, hell no! I am not letting this one slide! Always on my case about my sleep habits and you can’t even follow your own damn sleep schedule- ....”

Just then, something clicked. Nathaniel had seen this before. More than once, he had seen this just about every single time they had meetings with their editor to present the latest issue of their comics. Even though their editor had always been cool to the two boys, Marc would still get anxious whenever their next meeting was coming up and as a result, be kept up all night with anxiety-fueled insomnia. And then it hit Nathaniel; Marc was up all night with insomnia because he couldn’t stop feeling anxious about Chloé and what she might do. This revelation made Nathaniel rethink his initial thoughts about reprimanding his friend for not getting any sleep despite always being on his case about his sleep habits.

“Okay, fine,” Nathaniel thought, letting out a small sigh, “I’ll go easy on him….this time.”

“Is everything okay, Nath?” Asked Marc, tiredly. Having heard his red-headed friend sigh, Marc snapped out of his nodding-off pattern and turned to face him.

“Marc, I know that you didn’t get any sleep last night,” said Nathaniel. Marc opened his mouth to deny Nathaniel’s claim, but the artist continued to speak. “Marc, you and I both know that there’s no use in denying what we both already know. Listen, I’m not going to get on your case about it-…”

“Even though you would be totally justified doing so,” Alix interrupted. The two boys turned their heads toward the back of their seats and saw their pink-haired skater friend looking over their seats.

Nathaniel frowned. “That’s not important right now, Alix,” he told her annoyedly.

The skating gremlin smirked at her two friends as she started to sit back down in her seat. “I’m just saying,” said Alix, “who knows when the next time the roles will be reversed again?”

Nathaniel rolled his eyes. “Hey unlike me, Marc has a more valid reason for being up all night!” He argued back, “And don’t act all smug because you’re on my case about my sleeping habits, too! You helped him make the sleep schedule.”

“All I did was tell him your daily routine, Marc’s the one who created the schedule to help you manage your time better,” Alix countered. She then smirked, although neither of the boys wouldn’t have been able to see it on her face. “Besides, you know that we only nag you because we love you, right?”

That last statement made Marc’s face flush red like his partner’s red hair. When he felt the heat on his face, he immediately turned away to hide his face from Nathaniel and scrambled to put his hood up. These actions had gone unnoticed by the artist, who was preoccupied with exchanging banter with the pinkette gremlin. Their exchange became white noise to Marc’s ears as he tried to recompose himself after Alix’s last remark. This proved to be easier said than done since his thoughts kept racing as Marc tried to suppress the secret feelings that he had towards Nathaniel.

Yes, Marc Anciel has a big gay crush on Nathaniel Kurtzberg! When Marc first felt these feelings towards the artist, he thought of them as simply feelings of admiration or close fondness to a friend, but lately, he has been realizing that those feelings may be attraction towards his partner. As much as Marc wanted to embrace these feelings, he knew that it was better just to keep them to himself and not say anything to Nathaniel or anyone for that matter, although he is pretty sure that most of his friends already knew about the writer’s crush on his comic book partner. Thankfully, most of them have enough respect towards his feelings to not tease him about it constantly or pressure him into confessing his feelings to Nathaniel (that ain’t going to happen in a million years anyway). However, a certain pink-haired demon will not hesitate to make a subtle remark here and there that would typically go over Nathaniel’s head but will easily get picked up on by Marc. Seriously, the pinkette skater just wouldn’t stop taunting him. It is not his fault that he is a huge gay disaster!

Regardless of how much of a disaster the boy was, Marc knew that he had to stick to the status quo of being “just a friend” and nothing more. Becoming Nathaniel’s boyfriend was a nice thought, but that is all it could ever be. Marc wasn’t even sure that the artist was interested in guys, though what he did know was that the artist had a huge crush on the black-spotted heroine of Paris, Ladybug. Even before he formally met Nathaniel, it was pretty obvious from the drawings that he drew of himself as Mightillustrafor and Ladybug that the young artist was infatuated with the spotted heroine. 

As if you could ever compete with a superhero!

Ladybug is a superhero! All you will ever be is a super nervous wreck!

Nathaniel already knows how pathetic you are!

He’s only friends with you out of pity!

Why would he ever waste himself with a pathetic, talentless, socially insecure wreck of a person who can’t even function without him to hold your hand?!

Marc started shaking his head, trying to shake away the harsh, but somewhat truthful insecure thoughts that plagued his mind. He knew that he would never have a chance with Nathaniel and he did not want to risk his friendship with Nathaniel by trying to be bold for once in his life. Marc knew that if Nathaniel found out about his feelings for the redhead, nothing would ever be the same again between them. Nathaniel would probably either be disgusted or creeped out that his writer and friend has a big gay crush on him, and if that wasn’t his reaction, he would definitely laugh at the writer for thinking that Nathaniel would ever make a pass to the most anxious and second clumsiest student at Françoise Dupont! Okay, maybe that last statement was a bit of an exaggeration, but regardless, Marc was sure that the only outcome of Nathaniel learning about Marc’s feelings would be a rejection and making things extremely awkward for the two boys. Besides, the comic duo had a great friendship together and Marc didn’t want to mess it up just because he couldn’t keep his feelings to himself. This is why Marc had made the ultimate decision since he first realized his true feelings that he would keep said feelings bottled up inside him forever and never tell Nathaniel how he feels about the young artist, even if it kills him a lot on the inside. It was for the best for everyone anyway. 

When Nathaniel had finished his banter with the gremlin-….er Alix, he immediately turned his attention back to Marc….and then he became more concerned. Within the two minute span of his verbal exchange with the pink-haired skater, Marc had put up his hood and was now shaking his head like he was trying to shake something out. “Uh, Marc? What are you doing?” He asked his friend, concern laced into his tone.

Marc immediately stopped shaking his head and looked at Nathaniel. He wasn’t sure if he was still blushing from Alix’s comment or because he was embarrassed that Nathaniel just saw him shaking his head rapidly like a wet dog trying to dry off, but he was still red in the face. He looked into Nathaniel’s beautifully brilliant gentle turquoise-colored eyes that were as blue as calmed ocean waters...

“Stop it!” Marc thought to himself, slapping himself mentally, “Just friends! Just friends! Just friends, and no more!”

“I-I was…just trying to keep myself awake!” Marc finally answered though he was lying through his teeth, “Y-Yeah, I-I…was starting to n-nod off…”

Nathaniel knew that Marc was lying or at the very least, not being completely truthful with him. Though he wasn’t certain what the head shaking was about, the fact that Marc had his hood up right now was an indicator that the writer was still feeling anxious. It wasn’t unlike Marc to sometimes wear his hood up just for the heck of it, but Marc would most often put up his hood whenever he was feeling anxious or nervous, especially in social situations or whenever he was around a crowd of people. It was like a shield or a security blanket Marc would try to hide inside whenever his comfort zone felt threatened. 

For now, Nathaniel decided to put a pin in the whole “Marc shaking his head randomly” thing and just chalk it up as Marc having anxiety thoughts again. “Anyway, about that Marc,” he said, trying to get back to their earlier topic, “As I said before, I’m not going to get on your case about not getting any sleep last night-…”

“A-Actually…I did get at least an hour of sleep,” said Marc, fidgeting with the drawstrings of his hoodie, “I-If that helps any….”

“It really doesn’t,” Nathaniel replied, “but again, that’s not what I’m going to focus on right now. I just want to know one thing. Are you still worried about Chloé?”

Marc didn’t even bother trying to deny it. His eyes already shone with defeat as soon as Nathaniel asked him that question. He wanted so badly to put the whole Chloé drama from yesterday behind him, but he just couldn’t stop himself from worrying about what she was going to do next. He knew that Chloé wasn’t going to let this go; she never lets anything go so easily. Her history of pettiness and schemes when things don’t go her way was proof of that. As much as he wanted to not have others bother themselves by worrying about his well-being, Marc knew that the damage had already been done and nothing he could say would convince Nathaniel otherwise.

Finally, Marc nodded in confirmation. Then he lowered his head and averted his gaze away from Nathaniel’s. “Sorry,” he said.

Nathaniel tilts his head slightly in confusion. “Marc, why are you sorry?” He asked, “You haven’t done anything wrong.” Nathaniel reaches out for Marc’s hand and gives it a gentle, comforting squeeze, bringing Marc’s eyes back to him. “I understand why you’re worried and I know that you’re trying so hard to not worry because you don’t want to make others worried, even though that tends to only make things worse for you and gives you more to stress about. It’s okay. You have nothing to apologize for.”

Marc’s eyes dove down to his hand, the one that Nathaniel was holding. He didn’t appear to be reassured. “I just want to put Chloé out of my mind,” said Marc, “but I can’t stop thinking about all that went down yesterday. I just know that it’s not going to be the end. I have this feeling that she’s going to do something that will either prevent us from doing the movie or force us to give her the lead role. A-And I know that I sound p-paranoid, but it’s Chloé! One way or another, she’ll get her way! It doesn’t matter who she crushes in the process, she’ll derail anything or anyone to get what she wants! E-Everyone’s hard work will go to waste, the film will be a disaster, a-and-….”

Marc stopped when he felt another gentle squeeze in his hand and the rubbing motion that followed as Nathaniel used his thumb to rub circles around Marc’s palm. These actions seemed to help the writer settle a bit.

“Marc, you don’t need to keep your worries bottled up from me or any of our friends. It’s not healthy for your well-being,” said Nathaniel, continuously rubbing circles in his partner’s palm, “You have just as much right to have your worries and anxieties as anyone else, and you know that you can talk to me about what’s bothering you.”

Marc looked up at his red-haired friend. He felt a bit more reassured and Nathaniel’s words gave him some comfort, but there were still hints of guilt resting in his eyes. Regardless, Marc tried his best to put on a small smile, hoping that it would put the artist at ease. “Thanks, Nath,” he said.

Nathaniel smiled back. “No problem, Marc,” he said. Although he knew that Marc was still feeling anxious as well as feeling guilty for being anxious, he felt that he was starting to get through to his partner and helping him relax. To help remedy these anxious and guilty feelings, Nathaniel decided to pull out the one trick that always helps Marc feel better; pulling him into a warm hug. 

Nathaniel wraps his arms around the writer’s frame, interlocking his fingers together as they secure the latter in a warm and comforting embrace. Marc’s entire body becomes relaxed and slacks in the former’s hold, and he doesn’t hesitate to accept the hug along with giving Nathaniel one in return. After the night and morning that Marc had been having, he needed a good hug right now. When it comes to lowering stress and anxiety levels or expelling the blues, nothing beats a hug! Well, at least for most people. Marc does have a classmate in his homeroom that had a “teeny tiny but actually mega huge” problem with hugging, and/or all manner of physical contact in general. However, that is a story for another time.

Nathaniel released Marc from his hold, feeling confident that the hug had helped the latter relieve his stress and anxiety. “Marc, you should know that you are never a bother when you need to talk to me or any of us about anything that is making you feel anxious,” he said, “We may not be expert therapists like Dr. Moreau, but you’re our friend and we will always be ready to listen and help you through whatever is bothering you.” 

Marc nodded his head in understanding. A feeling of warmth and contentment washed away his remaining anxieties and stress. 

“With that being said,” Nathaniel continued, “I can tell that there’s still something on your mind. Something that you didn’t want to bring up at first because you didn’t want me to be worried.” 

Marc sucked in a breath through his teeth. Nathaniel always seems to read him like an open book, never missing any subtle hints that something might be off with the former. 

“Marc, it’s okay,” Nathaniel reassured, “Like I was saying earlier, you can tell me when you have something on your mind that is bothering you. I’m not going to force you to tell me, but I think we both know that talking through it will do you a lot better than keeping it inside.”

Nathaniel had Marc there, and he knew it. Seeing no other options than just getting it off his chest, Marc finally spoke. “It’s just…do you think that Chloé will try to pull something that would sabotage the film’s production?” He asked, “I mean, I know that she’s definitely going to try something that will either ruin our film’s making or she’ll pull some strings to steal the lead role from Zoé, but what do you think? After all, you’ve known her longer than I have.”

Nathaniel took a moment to think about it. This was Chloé Bourgeois they were talking about. The mayor’s selfish, spoiled rotten little bitc-…er, brat of a daughter. The blonde brat was accustomed to getting what she wants by any means necessary, and any repercussions that she would have to face for her actions were minimal in severity and considered a slap on the wrist compared to what she could have faced. Nathaniel wouldn’t put it past Chloé to pull a stunt today, even with all the reasonable barriers that would prevent her from succeeding if this were a normal situation. Regardless, Nathaniel at least had to try to say something about his take if he wanted to help Marc feel reassured. 

“I’m not going to lie, Marc. Knowing Chloé, it is to be expected that she will have something up her sleeve,” said Nathaniel, “After all, it’s just like you said, we’re talking about Chloé. The same girl who treats her “best friend” like a slave, harasses many of the student bodies daily, had Juleka locked in the bathroom on picture day so she could stand next to Adrien, sabotaged Marinette’s great uncle’s soup during the finals of that cooking competition, got Alya suspended for a week due to a technicality over the invasion of privacy when she caught her taking a picture of her locker, made a false call to the fire department to get out of Mr. Dupain’s pastry lesson and got the whole school punished for it, and many counts of humiliating people, all of which has led to many people getting akumatized because of her.”

Nathaniel cringed and shuddered a little bit after the last statement. Marc had a knowing look on his face. He knew that Chloé was the one responsible for getting Nathaniel akumatized into “Evillustrator” a while back before he met Marc. Though Nath never really shared too many details about what exactly had happened because Marc could see right away that talking about it made his friend uncomfortable and decided not to push for details if he wasn’t ready, he did know that it had to do with Chloé humiliating him. And it was not just Nathaniel who has been akumatized after being humiliated by Chloé. 

His classmate Jean Duparc had been akumatized into the “Magician of Misfortune” after being bullied by Chloé. Jean Duparc is one of the school’s most talented and devoted thespians (next to Myléne that is). He also had an amazing knack for performing magic tricks that would even impress the most serious students. At the time before he was akumatized, Jean was performing his card tricks for a group of students when “lo and behold”, Chloé steps in and starts bitching about how Jean’s magic tricks were “so lame”. Against his better judgment, because Jean thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to one-up the blonde mean girl stereotype, he invited Chloé to be part of his next card trick. Chloé agreed to do so, though suspiciously a little too quickly than expected. With confidence and showmanship, Jean opened the deck of cards in his hands and told Chloé to pick any card. Without any hesitation, Chloé picked the Queen of Diamonds card and she didn’t show it to anyone other than Sabrina. Chloé then put the card back in the deck and without looking, Jean began to cut and shuffle the deck five times, making it seem impossible for Jean to pick the right card out of the deck. Once the deck had been cut and shuffled enough, Jean began his trick. Three cards that were spaced apart in three different places of the deck started to seemingly move by themselves as they inched towards the top of the deck. Without looking again, Jean pulled the three cards out of the deck and tossed them in the air. Before the cards could hit the ground, Jean snatched one card out of the air while the remaining two fell to the floor. Jean opened his eyes and turned the card to the audience so that everyone could see that he had snatched the Queen of Diamonds.

“Is this your card?” Jean said with a confident smirk on his face.

“No,” Chloé simply said, unimpressed.

Jean's eyes widened and his pupils shrank with shock. “What?!” He spoke in disbelief.

“I said, that’s not my card, loser!” Berated Chloé.

“T-That's not possible…” Jean stuttered, “This is definitely your card! I know this is your card! I’ve done this trick dozens of times and I am never wrong!”

“Well, this time you are,” Sabrina spoke up as she bent down to pick up the two cards on the floor. “Chloé showed me her card just before she put it back in the deck and that is not her card.” Sabrina then flips the other two cards that she picked up, revealing them to be two jokers. “And I can confirm that these two are not her cards either.”

“Obviously my card was the Ace of Hearts,” said Chloé with a smirk, “I guess the true joker around here is you, Duparc! It’s clear that you’re not as good a magician as you thought. You and your pathetic magic tricks are just ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous!”

As Chloé and Sabrina walked away, Jean stood frozen in disbelief. There was no possible way that Chloé’s card was the Ace of Hearts! Jean was sure of it! This wasn’t amateur hour, he knew what he was doing and the outcome should have been the same as it did the many other times he had performed that trick! Many of the audience members tried to console him by saying that not every trick has to be perfect and even the best magicians make mistakes sometimes, but that did very little to help Jean feel better as he swears that the Queen of Diamonds was in fact Chloé’s card. Others who knew that Chloé was bullshiting kept quiet and didn’t say anything, not wanting to risk the ire of the mayor’s daughter or because they thought it was obvious that Chloé was lying and that Jean would soon connect the dots. Unfortunately, Jean needed a little help with making that connection. 

When Jean relayed what had happened to his classmates in Ms. Mendeiev’s class, many of them were hesitant to speak up. A couple of them thought that maybe Jean was having an “off day” with his magic tricks and that he had simply made a mistake, while the majority knew that Chloé obviously lied about what her card was to humiliate Jean but they were reluctant to tell Jean the truth, worried that doing so would only make the thespian feel even worse. And then there was Devin Nolan, one of DuPont’s wealthy members of the student body. The young solemn and mostly socially withdrawn heir to the Nolan family fortune did not hesitate for a moment to set the record straight.

“Jean, are you that naive or just plain stupid?” Said Devin, looking up from his book and closing it. Many of his classmates shot glares at Devin for being harsh but he remained unfazed and continued. “Whichever is the case, you should have realized by now that Chloé has been bullshitting you. She obviously picked the Queen of Diamonds and then said that her card was different just to make a fool out of you. Didn’t you think it was weird that she only showed the card to Sabrina, the one person in this school who would willingly lie on Chloé’s behalf? If anything, you should have made her show everyone that was in the crowd the card before she put it back in the deck. At least then she wouldn’t have been able to lie about what her card was without a dozen other witnesses calling her out. You acted rashly and without thinking because you were overconfident and eager to put Chloé in her place that you made such an amateur mistake. Correction, not an amateur mistake. Because even an amateur would have known better than to make such a mistake. You made a very stupid mistake, simple as that. With that being said, your mess is more of your fault than Chloé’s.”

Devin went back to reading through his book, ignoring the scowls and shocked expressions of his classmates. Jean was at a loss for words and seething with anger as the information sunk in. Two of his classmates, Aurore Beauréal and Mireille Caquet, started scolding Devin for being too brutal with Jean, though the latter didn’t seem to care at all, their voices soon became white noise to Jean’s ears. As harsh as Devin was, he was right about everything. Jean should have had Chloé show her card to the audience before she put it back in the deck. That’s like the main rule of doing magic tricks. Now that he thinks about it, Jean began to realize how much of a fool he must have looked when he lost his poker face after Chloé lied about her card. Even if Chloé did lie and Sabrina backed her up, he shouldn’t have faltered so easily. He should have maintained his confidence and kept insisting that the card he pulled was her card. Magicians should always have confidence in their skills and never let some heckler convince them of thinking otherwise. Now he felt like an even bigger idiot! Jean would have immediately stormed out of the room if Ms. Mendeleiev had not arrived at the last second and told the students to take their seats. And then some time after class, Jean got akumatized into the Magician of Misfortune. Unlike before, Jean had real magic in his new form and was going to use it to show all of Paris his skills as well as finally one-up Chloé by making the Eiffel Tower disappear. He also planned on sawing Chloé in half, but he decided to save that trick for his grand finale. Good thing Ladybug and Chat Noir deakumatized him before that could happen.

Of course, all of this happened before Marc started attending DuPont but he had heard what had happened to his classmates who had been akumatized before. Turning his attention back to Nathaniel, the artist seemed to have shaken off his disturbed thoughts and started to focus back on their conversation.

“Anyway, Marc,” he started, “my point is that even though the chances are very high that Chloé will try to ruin our movie’s production, I know that whatever she has planned we will all figure it out together. You’ll see Marc. Everything will work out in the end. And yes, I know it’s a bit cliché way of thinking given that we’re producing a film where most of them end with that concept, but I think having that mindset today will help you feel better.”

Marc smiled and giggled at Nathaniel’s previous comment. He then inhaled a deep breath in and closed his eyes as he let the breath out.

“Everything will work out in the end. Everything will work out in the end. Everything will work out in the end,” Marc repeatedly thought. Marc then opened his eyes and looked at Nathaniel, patiently awaiting his friend’s response. 

“Okay, Nath,” Marc said calmly, “I’ll give it a try.”

Nathaniel smiled, feeling confident that he had finally put his anxious friend at ease. Suddenly, the bus came to a complete stop. The bus had arrived at its destination at the building where the crew was expected to have their meeting with the producer, Bob Roth. Mr. Monlataing was instructing the students to exit the bus in a single file line. The two boys stood up from their seats and made their way off of the bus, following the line inside the building. 

As the crew walked through the building, Nathaniel slipped his hand inside Marc’s, causing the young writer to look at the red-haired artist. Nathaniel’s eyes emitted a comforting message that didn’t need to be spoken. Marc smiled at Nathaniel and gave him a knowing look that told his partner that he understood the message.

“Everything will work out in the end.”

“Everything will work out in the end.”

“Everything will work out in the end.”

“Everything HAS to work out in the end!”

————————————————————

Bob Roth’s Office

It wasn’t long until the crew finally reached the office of the producer, Mr. Bob Roth. Thomas Astruc had given the group a quick tour showing the highlights of the building before the group took an elevator to the top floor of the building and were led towards the office.

“And here's the office of the producer, Bob Roth,” said Thomas Astruc. The film director opened the doors and led the group inside.

As the group entered the office, the brown leather office chair that had its back turned suddenly spun around, revealing a certain blonde whose appearance many of the students had dreaded.

“SURPRISE!” Exclaimed Chloé, as she dramatically threw her arms in the air. She then rested her chin under her hands with a devious grin on her face.

Everyone in the group gasped with shock. Well, almost everyone since Alix was the only one in the group who didn’t seem the least bit surprised by her sudden appearance. She rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Of course, she would be here,” Alix thought to herself, “Not like we already know she would be back.”

Marc felt his blood run cold and his hands started to tremble. He knew it! He knew that something like this was going to happen! He knew that what happened yesterday wasn’t going to be the last of Chloé! He knew that she was going to do something to ruin everything! The only question was what fresh hell had the blonde brought this time?! Marc’s breath started to become shaky as he felt pressure starting to build up inside his chest again. His breathing became more rapid and uneven, and he could feel his heart racing to burst out of his chest. Marc then began to feel himself getting warmer and sweat building up. Unconsciously, Marc removed his hand from Nathaniel’s grip and started fiddling with the drawstrings of his red hoodie, desperately trying to distract himself from the panic that was building up inside of him.

Nathaniel felt Marc remove his hand from his own. He turned to the anxious writer and noticed that he had started fiddling with his hoodie strings; a telltale sign that the writer was starting to spiral. Nathaniel knew that Marc had begun to panic and if nothing was done soon to help him calm down or if things start getting worse, the writer was going to have another panic attack. Attempting to try to calm his friend, Nathaniel reached for Marc’s other hand and tried to hold it, but the writer unconsciously batted the hand away with two fingers. Nathaniel was taken aback by this action. Marc had never rejected Nathaniel’s hand from holding his hand before. From Nathaniel’s perspective, it appeared that Marc was very focused on trying to control his anxiety by himself but ultimately failed to do so. Despite this, he could tell that Marc was trying to shift his focus somewhere else and ignoring anything that would disrupt his focus, including Nathaniel. Under usual circumstances, Nathaniel would have already led Marc out of the room to calm down, but there were too many people around and Chloé was here. Marc had always felt guilty for making others worry about him while he was having a panic attack, and Nathaniel didn’t want to add any more emotional fuel to that fire by having Chloé witness Marc’s panic attack and giving her ammunition to berate him yet again. 

“Chloé, what are you doing here?!” Marinette asked as she ran over to the desk to confront the blonde.

Suddenly, Marc was snapped back into reality. He became freshly aware of his surroundings and his present situation again. Nathaniel noticed this and took the opportunity to take hold of Marc’s hand again and start rubbing comforting circles into the writer’s palm. Marc immediately took notice of these sensations and turned to Nathaniel. The artist’s eyes were filled with worry that instantly made Marc feel a hint of guilt.

“Are you okay?” Nathaniel’s eyes read with concern.

“Y-Yeah, I-I’m…okay,” read Marc’s eyes.

From the look in Nathaniel’s eyes, Marc could tell that he wasn’t fully convinced. “I don’t think so,” the artist’s eyes read, “But we’ll talk about it later.”

The boys’ silent conversation was broken when the producer, Bob Roth, suddenly walked in with the mayor. The group turned around and faced the two men when they heard the producer begin to speak as he walked in with a hand on the mayor’s shoulder and led him into his office. “My old friend André told me you'd be okay making a few small changes in the script so that his daughter could be part of the film,” he said, unaware of the mayor nervously avoiding eye contact with the group.

“B-But w-we…we never agreed to that…” Marc stuttered softly. His voice was barely above a whisper so no one heard what he said except for Nathaniel who was standing right next to him.

“But it's impossible, we've prepped and gotten everything set!” Marinette tried to argue.

Moviemaking, kid, is the art of compromise,” rebutted Bob, unfazed by Marinette’s complaint, “To protect your-…I mean, the interest of the film, you gotta be flexible. Therefore, André's daughter will play the starring role.”

Marc stood frozen in disbelief. “This isn’t happening! Why is this happening?!” He thought to himself. His eyes darted frantically around the room to catch a glimpse of how the others were reacting to this revelation. Some of them, mainly the adults, were looking almost as shocked as Marc did, while others either looked annoyed or angry with Chloé getting her way yet again. One person, in particular, looked more disappointed than angry or shocked. Marc laid his eyes on the discouraged Zoé Lee. He immediately felt sad for the poor girl. This was not fair! Zoé was the perfect actress for the lead role and then here comes her evil half-sister swooping in like a harpy and snatching away the role that Zoé rightfully earned just because her father was a coward!

Marinette remained undeterred by Both Roth’s attempts at reasoning and stood her ground. “That's not in the best interests of the film!” She argued angrily. Marinette then places her hands on Zoé’s shoulders, trying to present her as the better choice. “Zoé is perfect for the role of the superhero of creation.”

As Marinette tried to argue her point, Chloé was laying back in the chair with her feet on the desk and scrolling through her phone. “The next plane for New York leaves in 30 minutes,” she threatened.

Marinette growled at Chloé’s threat. The crew felt the impasse they were stuck in. On the one hand, they could just quit and decide not to do the film, but then that would mean that all of their hard work would have been for nothing and they had all been very excited to take part in the filmmaking process and make a movie together. On the other hand, if they refuse to let Chloé play the lead role in the film, then she’ll have her sister sent back to New York and no one will be able to say or do anything to stop her, especially her father who was again a coward. Then there was the third option of letting Chloé play the lead role. If they just let Chloé have her way and play the role of the superhero of creation, she would definitely butcher the character and turn the movie into a total disaster of a film. There was just no solution to this situation that doesn’t involve a loss! 

Zoé, wanting to mediate the situation before it got any worse, finally decided to make her choice and speak up. “Marinette, no big deal if I don't play the main role,” she said, placing a hand on the bluenette’s shoulder, “There are lots of other positions of the non-act crew.”

Marc felt his heart sink to his stomach. “Zoé, no!” He thought, “Don’t let her take this from you! You were meant for the role of Kreatika, not her! We just can’t let her get away with this! It isn’t fair!”

If it’s not fair, then say something for once, idiot!

Oh but that’s right, you can’t.

You’re a total loser who can’t even speak up for himself! 

How could you even think about speaking up for Zoé?

Everyone would just laugh at you anyway because you are so pathetic and lame!

The sound of Chloé’s obnoxious voice brought Marc out of his thoughts. “Perfect!” Said the blonde, setting her feet back down on the floor and resting her chin on her hands again. “As long as she's not on-screen, it's fine with me.”

Many of the crew members stood in defeated silence. The younger crew members wore mixed expressions of frustration and disappointment. They wanted to speak out against the injustice towards their friend, but they knew that any argument that they would try to make would be in vain. The producer clearly didn’t care about the unfairness of the situation, the mayor was no help at all as he was practically his daughter’s doormat, and they knew that Chloé would make good on her threat to send her sister back to New York if they didn’t give into her demands. Even Mr. Monlataing and Thomas Astruc were at a loss for what to do at this point. Both men knew that what Chloé was doing to Zoé was wrong and they can tell that the students were becoming increasingly discouraged, but aside from letting Chloé take her sister’s role, the only other option that they had left was to stop production on the film project altogether. However, they realized that doing so would not only disappoint the students as they were all very enthusiastic and excited about making the film as a team but would also allow Chloé to have her way again since not finishing the film would mean that Zoé still wouldn’t be able to play the role of Kreatika anyway. Given no other choice, the crew was forced to accept that they had to comply with these changes, much to their displeasure.

“Then it's a deal!” Exclaimed Bob Roth. The large man placed a hand on one of Marinette and Zoé’s shoulders and pulled the girls closer to him. “See you all tomorrow morning on set!”

Defeated and disgruntled, the crew turned to the doors and started walking out of the office. With satisfaction, Chloé waved away the group. “Bye-Bye, losers!” She said mockingly as they left. 

“Now get out!” Yelled Bob Roth, as he rudely shoved Marinette and Zoé out of his office before closing the doors behind them.

Quickly regaining her composure, Marinette was fuming with anger again. “This is totally unfair!” She exclaimed in frustration.

Zoé looks down with sadness and the bitter feeling of defeat. Her sadness was clear enough for the crew to pick up on, many of which felt sympathy for the poor girl. With everyone’s attention directed toward how Zoé was feeling, Marc’s own internal conflict went almost undetected. To say that Marc was struggling wouldn’t even begin to cover how hard he was trying to hold himself together. His entire body was trembling, he felt his stomach tied up in the tightest of knots, and his breathing felt like lifting heavy weights. Chloé had gotten what she wanted once again, though why he was so surprised and thought that this time would be different was something he couldn’t even fathom. The whole film project is practically over now! Chloé’s going to ruin everything they have worked for so long! She was going to be terrible as Kreatika, he just knew she would! Not to mention that she would also probably be difficult during the whole process! She’ll act like a complete diva and bitch about every little thing that doesn’t meet up to her standards! A disaster is coming for them. Marc knows that nothing good will come out of this situation that they have all been forced into. He tried to repeat his mantra in his head over and over again.

“Everything will work out in the end.”

“Everything will work out in the end.”

“Everything will work out in the end.”

“Everything will NOT work out in the end.”

“Everything is a mess!”

“Everything is a disaster!”

“Everything is horrible!”

“Nothing is okay!!!!”

Marc’s anxious thoughts began to fuse with his mantra, creating more negative thoughts that repeated in his mind over and over again. Despite his best efforts, Marc just couldn’t shake these thoughts away and he felt himself getting worse and worse.

Nathaniel’s attention immediately went to Marc after the crew was kicked out of Mr. Roth’s office. Sure he was also concerned about how Zoé was feeling because of the mistreatment her sister was giving her, but Nathaniel also thought that the one who seemed on the verge of an anxiety attack should take priority for now. The young writer was shaking like a leaf and his breaths sounded shaky and heavy. Nathaniel could tell that his friend had retreated inside his own head, seeming that he was desperately trying to keep himself from falling apart and blocking out the environmental stress factors. Unfortunately, Marc’s mind wasn’t always the safest place to hide in, and would sometimes even turn against him. While Nathaniel could have spoken up to the group that Marc was nearing an anxiety attack or at least taken Marc somewhere private so he could help him through it, he knew that wouldn’t have been the best decision. Both of these choices would have drawn attention to the two boys and Nathaniel knew that Marc could easily become overwhelmed if too many people got involved. In addition, Nathaniel highly doubted that he would have been able to sneak Marc away from the group without someone noticing them, and even if he was able to sneak away with the writer unnoticed, someone in the group would have eventually noticed that the pair was gone and that would cause a panic amongst the crew, and that would lead to everyone bombarding the two boys with questions about where they have been. Thus, brings the two boys right back to the problem of not having too many people get involved to keep Marc from becoming too overwhelmed.

With no further reasons to be here, the group started to make their way out of the building and back to the bus. Nathaniel reached for Marc’s hand to help the zoned-out writer walk with the group, but Marc had already started following behind them before Nathaniel could grab his hand. The redhead noticed that Marc was walking as if he were set to automatic mode, with his body still functioning as if he were still aware of his surroundings despite his mind being preoccupied with his anxious and negative thoughts. Nathaniel grew more concerned for his friend, but he kept on walking with the group and keeping his pace up with Marc. The sooner the two boys were back on the bus, the better it would be for Nathaniel to help Marc since the artist was certain that they wouldn’t be bothered on the bus.

Though it felt like they had spent hours walking through the hallways and taking the elevator down to the lobby for Nathaniel since he was in a hurry, the group had finally made their way out of the building and were now all seated back on the bus. As soon as the two boys had sat down, Nathaniel immediately turned his attention toward Marc. The writer still seemed out of it as the boy’s body was still trembling with nerves and his breathing still sounded heavy and uneven. He could also tell that the boy’s mind was racing with thoughts about everything that had gone wrong today and things that he suspected will go wrong tomorrow when they begin production on the film. Not being able to stand watching Marc suffer any longer, Nathaniel took hold of Marc’s hand and immediately pulled his partner closer to him, allowing his head and body to rest on the red-headed artist. He then moved a hand toward the writer’s head and started twirling some of his hair, which was one of the things that Marc would typically do whenever he was feeling anxious and trying to calm himself down. Nathaniel had also done this with Marc a couple of times before when he was having a panic attack. The twirling motions always seemed to relax Marc just as much as the circle rubs and they gave his body a new sensation to focus on. Nathaniel continued to twirl his friend’s hair, hoping that the motions would be enough to bring the boy back from his head.

Marc instantly felt the change. One minute he was being tormented by negative thoughts that were repeatedly telling him how everything was a disaster and nothing right now was okay, and then the next minute (or at least he thought it was a minute. How long was he zoned out for?) he felt a sudden warmness that pulled him straight back into reality. Confused for a moment, Marc looked around at his surroundings and saw that he had somehow managed to get back onto the bus. He also felt himself leaning against something warm and what also felt like someone playing with his hair. As Marc looked to see who that person was, his face immediately blushed red. His body stiffened.

“N-Nath…?” Marc managed to stutter.

Nathaniel looked at his partner with a relieved smile. “Hi Marc,” he said.

“I-I…Wh-Why….H-How…W-Wha-…?”

“Marc, it’s okay,” reassured Nathaniel, “You kind of zoned out for several minutes after we left Mr. Roth’s office, but you’re going to be fine now. Everything will be okay.”

Marc’s eyes shifted away from Nathaniel’s, avoiding eye contact with the redhead. “No, nothing will be okay,” said the writer dejectedly, “Chloé had no right to take away the lead role from Zoé, but she did it anyway and there is nothing that any of us can say or do about it without someone suffering!”

Seeing the dejected look on Marc’s face, Nathaniel wrapped both of his arms around his friend’s body and gave the boy a comforting hug. Marc’s body started to relax in the artist’s embrace. After a moment had passed, Nathaniel released Marc from his hold and lifted his arm up, making space for Marc to lean against the artist on his left side. Though he hesitated for a second, the writer then scooted closer to his partner and leaned into Nathaniel’s side. Nathaniel then wraps his left arm around Marc’s frame and starts rubbing circles on the writer’s arm.

“I know that things haven’t been working out the way we had hoped,” Nathaniel started, “In fact, we both knew that something like this would happen, but it doesn’t have to ruin our movie. Even if Chloé is a total pain on set or her acting is almost as terrible as her personality, we could still make this work. Filmmakers have to deal with diva actors and actresses all the time and even some great movies have bad acting in them. Working with Chloé will be hard, but we can still make the great movie that we all thought up together even with the changes that we have to make, especially since we have such an amazing team of talented people, including our amazing script writer, to work with.”

Marc’s face immediately went red when he heard Nathaniel compliment his writing and he tried to hide it by burrowing his face into the redhead. However, Nathaniel knew fully well that this would be the type of reaction that Marc would have if he were to compliment his partner’s writing and didn’t even try to suppress his chuckles. Honestly, sometimes it seemed as if Alix’s gremlin-like tendencies were starting to rub off on the artist. But then again, Marc really should learn how to take a compliment without having his face trying to put Nathaniel’s red hair to shame.

Once Marc had recovered from his bashfulness, he dug his head up from Nathaniel and looked at the redhead, his face had returned to its original color. “Y-You know,” the writer began, “The film does have more than one lead role. Zoé may have had the protagonist role, but a good story also needs an antagonist role.”

Nathaniel’s face lit up, understanding where the writer was going with this idea. “Marc, that’s actually a great idea!” He said, “Chloé may want a lead role, but that doesn’t mean that she has to be the superhero of creation. She would do so much better as the supervillain of destruction! She’d be a natural at portraying a supervillain so her acting won’t be a stretch like it would be if we had her playing the superhero of creation! Brilliant idea, Marc!”

Marc’s face blushed red again and he smiled bashfully upon hearing his partner compliment him again. “T-Thanks N-Nath,” he said sheepishly. The writer then shook off his bashful state and continued. “One of the things I was concerned about with this idea is that I am not sure that Chloé would be into playing the role of a supervillain. I mean even back when she was still Queen Bee she would always try to promote herself as a superhero whether she had the miraculous or not, and I know that she’s no longer on Ladybug’s team since she betrayed her and her team when she chose to side with Hawkmoth, but I think that she might feel a bit offended or at the very least be petty about being cast as a villain instead of a hero.”

“That is a possibility,” Nathaniel agreed. Knowing Chloé, the artist has a feeling that she wouldn’t be thrilled about playing the role of a supervillain, but then again it was at least worth a try, wasn’t it? “But if I know Chloé, I’m sure she would sooner jump at the chance to be mean and cause trouble for others rather than play the role of someone who is so kind-hearted and helpful, especially after she actually reads Kreatika’s dialogue. I mean if this was Zoé that we are talking about then the role of the superhero of creation would be a perfect fit for her, but for someone like Chloé, the role of the supervillain of destruction would be much more natural for her. Even if she doesn’t like the idea of playing the villain, I’m pretty sure she would get bored with being the superhero and would rather be the villain instead.”

Marc thinks for a moment, letting Nathaniel’s explanation sink in. The red-headed artist was making some very good points, which helped make the writer’s decision easier. “Okay,” he finally said, “You’re right, we should do this. When we get back to the school, I’ll ask Myléne if she is okay with switching roles. It shouldn’t be too much of a problem if she is okay with switching to Kreatika’s role. She knows the role just as well as Destroika’s.”

Nathaniel smiled at Marc, happy to see that his partner was finally relaxed and feeling better about the whole “Chloé taking over the lead role” situation. After their discussion, the two boys sat in silence for a while during the bus ride. During that time while Nathaniel was scrolling through his phone using his right hand and still rubbing circles on Marc’s arm with his left hand, Marc, who was feeling completely relaxed and at ease for the first time all day, had fallen asleep on Nathaniel. Finally noticing how quiet Marc had been for the past few minutes, Nathaniel looked up from his phone and turned to look at his now sleeping friend. If Nathaniel didn’t want to risk waking up Marc from his well-needed nap or wasn’t self-conscious about letting his friends hear his reaction, he would have unleashed the loudest “AWWW” to express the sheer adorableness of the sleepy writer. After everything that has happened this week so far and given the fact that the writer had not slept very well the night before, the redhead knew that his partner needed this more than ever, even if it was only for just until they arrived at the school. Letting his friend get some much-needed rest, Nathaniel went back to scrolling through his phone with a smile on his face, failing to notice when a certain pink-haired gremlin decided to seize the opportunity to snap a quick picture with her phone of the two boys.

Satisfied, Alix looked at the picture of her two adorable friends on her phone with a smirk. “Glad that I decided to sit in front of them this time,” She thought to herself, “I am totally sharing this pic with our class!”

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