30: Group project

You swung your legs under the table, bored as ever. It was the next day. You were in Literature class with Miss Bustier. She was in an especially happy mood. Apparently, she was worried during your akumatization. Now that you were back, she was peppier than ever. Sort of sweet, to be honest.

Of course, no one still knew you had your powers. They all thought that you had been de-akumatized completely and had no memories. Chat Noir and Ladybug were just waiting for you to put the plan in action... So, for now, you'd just be in normal school.

"Now, I want you all to do a group project. Make a fact file about the topic we've been discussing. Include the key parts, character development, and everything else listed on this sheet," She spoke, giving everyone a couple of sheets paperclipped together. "It needs to be in the form of a presentation, though you won't actually be doing presentations. You'll be partnered with your deskmate."

People started to glance at eachother, and eventually, to the three of you sharing a desk at the back. You hoped that Jaku wouldn't be in your group...

"Ah, you three at the back. You can be a group of three." Miss Bustier smiled.

"Huh? No fair, Miss Bustier!" Someone shouted out.

"Hmm, I guess, to make it fairer, you three can present your work to the class. How does that sound?" She smiled, causing all three of you to pale.

That was fair.

"Ah, also, the worst presentation will also have to present. After fixing up their work, of course, but they'll still need to present in the end. So make sure the work you hand in is good! Put your papers away, please. Have a look at them later." Miss Bustier cheered before continuing with the lesson.

You and Jaku shared a sharp glare, Nathaniel feeling a chill crawl up his spine from the hostile atmosphere. This project was going to ...

You were in the library. School had ended, and you all decided to stick around to work on your group project. The fact you had to present really did suck. You had your workbook in your backpack, but you couldn't get your hands on the actual book you were studying. In classes, you mostly relied on extracts and synopsizes that Miss Bustier made.

You all sat down at a table, bookshelves surrounding you. It was a pretty deserted part of the library. The TV wasn't booked, so you didn't have the distracting sounds of a game playing to annoy you, thankfully. You still questioned why a TV was in the library...

The air was thick. You and Jake stared at each other wordlessly, sharing a glare.

"Did... Did something happen?" Nathaniel gulped. You shrugged.

"No, it's nothing. happened." You grumbled, reading Miss Bustier's sheet. You then browsed your exercise book for the notes and classwork needed for the project. Jake did the same.

"So, one of the main things about this is how [Person] decieves everyone with her character. I bet Jaku has some good notes on that, don't you?" You snarled.

"Oh, yes. I've also got some good notes on the of [Person]'s character. But I never fully understood it, so maybe you could tell me more? I don't doubt thatunderstand him." He retorted.

"Ohhh, but don't forget--"

"G-Guys, please...!" Nathaniel mumbled. You both turned to him, and he seemed surprised that you listened. He continued, panicked, "I don't know what happened, but please, don't argue..."

"Fine, I'll go find the book for references." You mumbled, getting up and walking to where you assumed the book would be. You looked around to no avail. It had only been a couple of minutes, sure, but you had been in the library before, and this book was never in this section. Perhaps you were looking in the wrong section...

You headed back to see Jaku looking to the side, Nathaniel standing with a concerned expression before him.

"I'm fine. I have no idea what you're on about." Jaku grumbled. You raised an eyebrow, confused by this interaction.

"But... You suddenly looked sad..."

"You're seeing things."

"Yeah, you probably are. This jerk can't feel sadness." You smirked, appearing from behind the bookcase. You noticed him flinch at the nickname. He turned to you, his expression angry as ever.

" I know--"

"Jake. Don't." Nathaniel spoke over Jaku's hushed library tone. Jake's eyes widened as he turned to Nathaniel, as did yours. His shyness seeped back into him, "I'll go help Y/N find her book. You work here..."

He walked through the bookcases. You followed.You went to a different side of the library. Class resources... You should have come here earlier.

"Uhm, Y/n... Is there something happening between you and Jake...?" Nathaniel asked in a hushed volume. His eyes were hopeful, wanting you to trust him enough to talk to. Letting out a sigh, you succumbed to his stare.

"...Yeah, I guess there is..." You breathed out. He gave you a concerned expression, prompting you to continue. You hesitated to tell him for a moment before realizing you should be telling everyone everything. But you'd just tell Nathaniel instead of telling everyone, since you were merciful and preferred not to talk about it. "Turns out Jake didn't like me at all. He only tried to use me to get to Adrien, since his parents wanted something to do with his fame. I just know he hates both of us."

"H-huh...?" Nathaniel mumbled out, his eyes wide. He gulped, expression turning to that of worry. "...Did he say anything mean to you?"

"Huh? I mean, I guess... I overheard him say it, at least." You shrugged, seemingly apathetic. He sighed.

"Don't listen to what he says, o-okay?" He mumbled quietly. You had to strain to hear. He glanced away embarrassedly, his cheeks slightly dusted with red. "He was dumb to do that! And anything he said about you isn't true... You're, u-uhm, you're great and he doesn't deserve you...!"

"Eh?"A moment of silence went by as Nathaniel revised his words.

"YOUR FRIENDSHIP! He, uh, doesn't deserve your f-friendship..." He mumbled, his face growing redder at his mistake and sudden outburst. He groaned, "Sorry, I tried to make you feel better, but I just ended up embarrassing myself... Twice..."

"Haha, no, that was nice!" You laughed. His eyes widened.

"Wh- Really...?"

"Yeah! I can tell you stepped out of your comfort zone to say that. It was cute."

"Cute..." He mumbled to himself. You smirked and looked through the shelves, quickly finding the book. He had not yet snapped out his daydream.

"Nathaniel, let's go." You told him. He let out a noise of surprise and followed.

You eventually got back to your table, where Jake sat with lots of sheets spread across the table. He flicked through Nathaniel's notes before stepping to the side, checking a resource sheet that Miss Bustier gave you in a lesson. He took the sheet and quickly jogged over to the other side, starting to scribble things down on another sheet of paper before putting the resource into a binder. As much as you hated to admit it, he was an efficient worker.

"Jake...? What are you doing?" Nathaniel asked, approaching the table. He glanced at your figure that lingered beside the bookshelf and nodded reassuringly, encouraging you to come over. Jake didn't look up from his work. You sighed and went over.

"I'm noting down ideas... Nathaniel, you should label your pages with numbers, or at least the date..." Jake mumbled, preoccupied with his work. 

"Oh, sorry..." Nathaniel mumbled. Jake pulled a sheet from across the table, then put it back into a different pile.

"Does anyone have the sheet about [Character]? Nevermind, we don't need it, I'm sure we can find that online." He mumbled. You sighed. At least he wasn't insulting you every second...