SO! Fresh start! For those of you not in the know, this is a re-write of a previous work (which I actually intend to finish this time), but it won't be exactly the same. There are some things that have bothered me and things I've learned that I want to use to make this fic better.

Chloe was at it again. Adrien had just gotten out of his car when he heard the unmistakable shrill of her screaming at someone. He looked up to see who the unlucky soul was and sighed.

He was earlier than normal today. The sky was just shedding the last vestiges of the pink dawn. Really, there shouldn't have been too many people at the school, but there had been a string of projects assigned lately so students had been at the school at all sorts of odd hours all week to use the library when it wasn't too crowded.

His childhood friend had gotten into another shouting match with Marinette. He couldn't tell what it was about from this distance, but knew Chloe had probably started it. Marinette was too nice to pick a fight with anyone, even a person she so clearly disliked. Adrien sighed again and started to make his way over to the two yelling girls, intending to diffuse the situation as best he could. Chloe may not listen to anyone, but she was unlikely to keep fighting like that in front of him.

"…. don't see what the big deal is," the blonde girl said as Adrien came into earshot. "I was just being honest. That's what nice people do, isn't it, Sabrina?" She turned to her ever-present shadow, who had been nodding emphatically before Chloe had even finished her sentence.

"Of course, Chloe!" the smaller girl agreed. "You're the nicest person I know! You were just trying to help!" Marinette visibly bristled. Uh-oh. Adrien didn't know what this 'nice and honest' thing Chloe did was, but it seemed like a good idea to cut in now before Marinette blew her top and let loose on the other girl. He could say from experience that it was not fun to be on the receiving end of one of the freckled girl's death glares.

"Hey g-" Unfortunately, his interruption came just a second too late.

"Excuse me?! You aren't being honest, you're just insulting people to make yourself feel better!" Marinette's face was growing red and her fists were clenched at her sides, trembling in anger. Maybe he should try again.

"Uh-"

"You have no right to talk to her like that! You have no right to talk to anyone like that! I don't care if you're the mayor's daughter, that doesn't make you any better than the rest of us!" Well, Adrien was being steadfastly ignored. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. BUT he should really do something to calm the girls down before….. wait. Her? Who was Marinette talking about?

"Psh. Of course I'm better than all of you losers. The only person at this school even near my level is Adrien." Adrien, who was still being ignored, begged to differ. Chloe continued anyways. "Besides, someone had to tell the poor thing how awful she looks. If her so-called 'friends' weren't going to, I might as well do it."

There was a soft whimper from behind Marinette, and for the first time Adrien noticed someone standing there. It was a girl from their grade, Mireille, if he remembered correctly. She was one of the sweetest girls in school, up there with Rose and Marinette herself. She usually had a soft smile on her face, but now her soft eyes looked like they were holding back tears as she gently tugged on Marinette's sleeve.

"Marinette, it's okay…" she murmured. The quiet girl looked like she wanted to be anywhere but there at the moment.

"No, it's not!" the other noirette countered. "Chloe thinks she can just walk all over people and it's not right! People need to stand up to her!" Adrien agreed, but was still looking for a place to cut in to keep this from escalating further.

"But-" Sorry, Mireille.

"Hey guys!" he finally said, a bit louder than he needed to. He walked a bit closer and put his hand on Marinette's shoulder. "What's going on?"

"A-Adrien!" the girl squeaked, tensing up under his hand. He tried not to be hurt at her obvious discomfort with him. "Wha-what, I mean how-no, when-"

"Adrikins!" Chloe interrupted, throwing her arms around his neck and dislodging him from Marinette. It was only through massive amounts of self control that he managed to keep from choking on the cloying scent of her perfume. "You won't believe this! I was just being nice-like I always am- and telling that girl over there how her outfit was totally clashing, when Marinette came up and started yelling at me!" The blonde quickly fell into fake sobs against his chest and Adrien groaned inwardly. Oh, boy. Outside, though, he kept his featured schooled into bemused curiosity.

Adrien took a closer look at Mireille. She was wearing her normal outfit of a sweater and whit jeans. The only difference from normal was an elegant comb tucked into her hair. True, it didn't technically go with the rest of her outfit, but there was nothing really wrong with it.

"I don't see the problem. You look really nice today, Mireille," the boy said. Said girl blushed and came out a bit from a still flustered Marinette.

"Y-you know me?" she asked.

"Of course I do!" Adrien replied. "You're the Kidz+ weather girl, right? I voted for you." He gave her a warm smile and she flushed deeper.

"O-oh. I mean-well- uh… th-thank you Adrien," she said quietly. During the exchange Chloe had stopped 'crying' and was now glaring daggers at Mireille.

"Come on, Adrikins," Chloe huffed, tugging him away. "We're going to be late for class." They really weren't. And even if they were, he doubted Chloe would really care. He still let her lead him to the classroom, though, thankful for the opportunity to leave without anything blowing up into a real fight. So as he, Chloe, and Sabrina made their way into the building he turned over his shoulder one last time and gave a quick wave to the two girls still standing at the entrance. Mireille still looked a bit dazed but Marinette quickly snapped out of her stupor with a small squeak and waved back stiffly. Adrien chuckled softly as he turned back around. He didn't exactly like that Marinette wasn't comfortable with him, but he couldn't deny that she could be pretty cute.

Meanwhile, two dark-haired girls were trying- unsuccessfully- to compose themselves on the school steps.

"He touched my shoulder."

"He said I looked nice."

"Oh, Adrien," the girls sighed in unison. Then, somewhat surprised by the echo, looked up at each other before dissolving into giggles.

"So, I guess you like Adrien too, huh, Mireille?" Marinette asked the other girl, still smiling.

"Y-yeah," her companion replied. "He's just so…so…" she sighed again dreamily, putting her hands over her heart. "You know?" Marinette chuckled softly.

"Don't I ever." The blue-eyed teen thought back remorsefully to her past less-than-stellar interactions with her crush. "I just wish I could get a sentence out around him." Mireille nodded sympathetically and smiled.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Mireille looked up and considered Marinette for a moment before continuing. "Though honestly, I think it's kind of strange that you have trouble talking to him."

"What do you mean?" Marinette said quizzically.

"Well, it's just… you're so awesome and confident and smart…it kind of feels like you're the only girl in the school that has a chance with him." Marinette blushed profusely.

"W-what? You-I-Adrien-huh?" Mireille gave an amused smile at the other girl's reaction.

"I mean it, Marinette. You're a great person. If I had to lose Adrien to anyone in the school, I wouldn't mind if it were you."

"Noooo, I mean, that's sweet of you to say, but I'm just so clumsy and awkward and… me." Marinette stared at the ground dejectedly, studying her shoes.

"But it's so true! I mean, just look at how you deal with Chloe! No one else can do that, not even the teachers. They get so scared of her calling her father, but you…" Mireille trailed off and suddenly found her shoes very interesting as well.

"Speaking of Chloe," Marinette said, remembering exactly what had led to this conversation in the first place, "you shouldn't let what she says get to you. You're really pretty, Mireille." Said girl blushed and nodded.

"Thank you, Marinette."

The two teens shared another giggle, a small bond forming over their shared crush. But alas, school had to start, and the moment was inevitably broken.

"Hey, girl!" a familiar voice came from the bottom of the steps. The two girls turned to see Alya making her way up to her best friend and waved in greeting.

"Well, it was nice talking to you like this. And thanks again, Marinette."

"No problem. See you later?"

"Sure!" and with that, Mireille went into the building towards class.

Alya came up just as she was leaving and threw her arm around Marinette's shoulder.

"Hey, Alya. Good morning," the dark haired girl said with a smile.

"Morning to you, too," the brunette replied as she began to lead her friend into the school. "You're here early." Alya gave her a pointed look, as if trying to remind Marinette of every time she had rushed into class without a second to spare.

"I got here early to work on a project for Mme. Mendeleiev," she said defensively, pouting.

"Did you get it done?"

"No…" the noirette said sadly. "I was going to, but then when I got here…." She let out a frustrated groan.

"Does it have anything to do with why you were talking to Mireille before I showed up?" her friend asked. "I mean, she's nice and all, but you don't really hang out with her that much."

"I know, and yes it does," Marinette responded as they came into the classroom.

Both girls scrunched up their noses at the sight of Chloe standing in front of Adrien's desk, practically leaning over him. Said boy was slanted back a bit, his distaste not quite obvious but still there. Marinette hated seeing him uncomfortable, but there was nothing she could really do for him in this situation. Even if she didn't get tongue-tied around him, she had no real right to tell Chloe to back off. It wasn't like she was his girlfriend (yet). So she simply scowled and made her way to her seat. She gave Alya an 'I'll tell you later' look before glancing pointedly at Chloe. Her friend got the message and nodded in understanding.

Marinette made her way to her desk, pouting, but was soon saved from watching the love of her life being fawned over by the arrival of Nino.

"Hey, dude," the young DJ said.

"Hey, Nino! Morning," Adrien replied. His voice was neutral, but Marinette could see the way his shoulders relaxed just a bit and she smiled. The boys began talking about something inconsequential, probably another one of Nino's mix tapes, as other students began to filter into class. Marinette busied herself with sketching absentmindedly in her notebook while letting the sound of Adrien's voice wash over the background noise. Alya, realizing her friend was out for now, busied herself on her phone checking her blog.

"Alright, class, time to start!"