Chapter Text
Caline Bustier prided herself in being a good person and a good teacher.
She was attentive to her students, strove to always be positive and kind and right now, it was coming to a huge shock to Caline that this was apparently not an opinion shared by Sabine Cheng.
In the aftermath of that awful assembly, Sabine had demanded to speak once more to Principal Damocles. Caline had kind of invited herself along for the conversation (Marinette was her student after all!) Damocles was far too cowed to even notice her attendance to the meeting and it was quite a sight to behold the small woman metaphorically tear a limb off of Damocles for expecting Marinette to accept Lila’s apology at the assembly.
Caline didn’t exactly agree with Sabine’s reasoning, sure, they’d made awful mistakes with Lila, but Marinette not accepting Lila’s apology was just wrong! Surely Marinette should have accepted the apology. It would have helped her and Lila grow as people.
The words were leaving Caline’s mouth before she really took a moment to consider if it was a good idea or not.
“Accepting an apology is a good thing, if I may, Madam Cheng.” Caline piped up once Sabine seemed thoroughly finished with Principal Damocles, “wouldn’t it be best for Marinette to be the bigger person and accept Lila’s apology?”
Her hopeful words were met with stunned silence. Principal Damocles seemed to just notice her presence and Sabine’s incredulous look at the words that had just come out of Caline’s mouth made the young teacher shrink in on herself a little.
Sabine studied Caline for a long, uncomfortable moment.
“You should seriously consider your future as an educator before you let another child down like you did mine.”
It was said without a lick of maliciousness, which was the worst part. Sabine Cheng might as well have slapped Caline straight across the cheek. It was said without malice, but the cold disappointment in Sabine’s eyes spoke volumes.
“Good day, Principal Damocles.” Sabine nodded curtly, not even acknowledging the devastated woman she left in her wake.
“You should return to your classroom, Caline. Your students are waiting for you.” Principal Damocles cleared his throat a minute later when Caline still had not moved from her spot. Truthfully, although irked Caline had witnessed that terribly embarrassing scolding, he was secretly glad she’d inadvertently taken some of the heat off of him.
“Oh! Y-yes! Of course.”Caline startled, scurrying out of the Principal’s office, accidentally shouldering the doorway on her way out in her haze of shock.
Damocles watched her go and sighed heavily. He and Caline had learned a particularly hard lesson today: hell hath no fury like Sabine Cheng scorned.
__________
Somehow Caline made it through the rest of the school day and then immediately underwent three of the five stages of grief within twenty four hours and she was exhausted.
- Denial -
Her first response was immediately to want to shout and defend herself because how dare this woman tell her that she wasn’t doing a good job? Sabine Cheng clearly didn’t know what she was talking about! Caline always strove to perform her absolute best for her students. She cared deeply for them, was always willing to listen whenever they needed an extra ear...
Soon, the outright denial phase gave way to the second and most potent:
-Anger -
Didn’t parents understand how hard it was to be a teacher? Their kids weren’t always the little angels they made them out to be--oh no--nothing could be further from the truth! Sabine should get in her classroom and walk a mile in Caline’s shoes before she had the right to say something so heinous!
Caline kept a close clamp on her emotions so she didn’t become a tempting akuma bait, but she bustled around her small flat in righteous fury, stress cleaning had always been Caline’s go to when she was upset and right now she’d beat all her rugs within an inch of their lives.
It wasn’t until she’d finished aggressively dusting her sconces the next morning that a poisonous thought penetrated her subconscious:
Was Sabine Cheng...right?
-Bargaining-
All the righteous fury that had fueled Caline’s Friday night vanished instantly. She sank slowly into her favourite chair, sweaty, feather duster cradled close as an even worse thought followed.
Had she... let Marinette down?
Caline prided herself more than anything on being a good teacher. She strove to be the nice, kind teacher she always wanted when she was in lycee. She took care to encourage her student’s interests and always tried to make time for them when they needed a listening ear.
But… Caline had to admit, when it had come to Lila, she’d really dropped the ball. Never in her wildest imagination did Caline believe Lila could be lying about her injuries or illnesses! What reason could she have to lie about that?
But Lila did lie.
Lila Rossi had lied a lot.
And Caline had helped enable it by not following up on all the claimed illnesses and injuries.
But… it was always good to believe in the best of people! Caline sat up, feeling a bit better, but that feeling slipped away when she thought about how Lila’s lies had hurt a lot of people, Caline included, but the one to suffer most was Marinette. What good was Caline if she could not protect her students? Had she been going about this all wrong?
Caline realized she had to talk to someone. She wasn’t sure why yet, was it to confirm that she was a good teacher? To confirm her doubts that maybe she wasn’t as quite an awesome teacher as she thought? To clear her conscience?
What Caline needed was honesty. She didn’t need someone to try to help her feel better (at least not this moment). She needed to know.
That left one contact in her phone. With a glass of wine in hand, Caline debated for over an hour before she finally steeled herself.
Ms. Mendeleiev, if you are not busy tomorrow morning, could you please meet me for coffee?
Tipsy texting Ms. Mendeleiev was not Caline’s proudest moment, but she had to do it while she had the liquid courage. She hit send on the text.
Caline waited only one agonizing minute before her phone dinged.
I am available. 10:00 AM at the La Belle Cafe. Sincerely, Ms. Mendeleiev.
Caline let out the breath she’d been holding and quickly texted her response back.
I will be there. Thank you.
She finished the last sip of her glass of wine and decided that was quite enough for her tonight. She would retire early to bed, though it was sure to be another sleepless night.
--------
Caline arrived five minutes early to Le Belle Cafe, but Ms. Mendeleiev was already there, reading a book with coffee in hand.
Ordering her own coffee at the counter, Caline quickly joined Ms. Mendeleiev.
“Thank you for meeting with me, Ms. Mendeleiev.” Caline said awkwardly. As much as she respected Ms. Mendeleiev as a colleague, she could honestly say she’d never pictured having a Sunday morning coffee with the stern woman.
“My pleasure,” Ms. Mendeleiev said in a tone that implied she was merely saying it out of politeness, “now why have you asked me here today, Caline?”
Caline winced. Ms. Mendeleiev never was one to beat around the bush. She’d been hoping to ease into the conversation a little more tactfully, but she should have realized that Ms. Mendeleiev was not one for faffing about.
“I need to ask you a question, and please give me your most honest answer.” Caline began shakily.
Ms. Mendeleiev raised an eyebrow, clearly taking offense that she would answer any question within anything but brutal honesty.
“Do you think I am a good teacher?” Caline asked, the words tumbling out of her mouth before she could lose courage.
Ms. Mendeleiev’s lips tightened. “I take it this is about the Ms. Rossi incident.”
“Among other things, yes.”
“I believe you are a good person, Caline, but your teaching style is… not adequate.”
Caline blinked in surprise. She had expected a lot of things, but to hear how her colleague believed that her teaching style was not good enough?
“You would have me be more like you?” Caline shot back, indignancy rearing its ugly head
Ms. Mendeleiev looked unsurprised by the burst of pride, taking a brief sip of her coffee as Caline collected herself, shamefaced.
“I’m sorry, that was uncalled for. Please continue.”
Ms Mendeleiev nodded curtly. “Caline, I can appreciate that you only want what is best for your students, but you give them too much responsibility over holding each other accountable. You are the teacher. You are the one who should be holding your students accountable for their actions.”
“What do you mean?” Caline asked, startled.
“Take, for example, an incident you told me about a while ago now. On your birthday, the entire class was kind enough to present you with thoughtful gifts, until a certain incident led to your akumatization.”
Caline’s shoulders slumped. She hated being reminded of her failure.
“The akumatization was not your fault, Caline,” Ms. Mendeleiev said sharply, “I am not focusing on the acts of a terrorist taking advantage of your very human emotions. I am talking about the events preceding your akumatization. When you stated that the entire class had prepared those thoughtful gifts for you… except Chloé Bourgeois.”
“Yes?” Caline said quizzically, not really understanding Ms. Mendeleiev’s line of thought.
“Did you ever have Ms. Bourgeois apologize to Ms. Dupain-Cheng for vandalizing her work?”
“Vandalizing?” Caline gasped, “I wouldn’t go that f--”
Ms. Mendeleiev’s diamond hard stare cut her off.
“Chloé’s act was not a contribution done out of the goodness of her heart. It was a malicious act designed to cause Marinette upset. Instead of confronting Chloé about her actions, you told Ms. Dupain-Cheng to forgive her bully, when she’d done nothing to earn that forgiveness.”
“Chloé apologized!”
“To you, Caline.” Ms. Mendeleiev barked, out of patience. “How do you think Marinette felt when you prioritized her bully’s feelings over her own?”
Caline gaped, unable to say anything in her defense. She’d opened this can of worms and Ms. Mendeleiev seemed determined for her to see it all through because she kept going.
“Ms. Dupain-Cheng must have put a lot of thought and time into her gift for you. You counted Chloé’s malicious act as a part of the gift, and yet again held Marinette to a standard higher than that of Chloé. As far as I understand, you even pulled Ms. Dupain-Cheng out of class not to reprimand her, but to reaffirm that Chloé’s “contribution” was a good thing and that she should just do a better job at being patient. Do not think no one else has noticed the bullying that Ms. Bourgeois has plagued Ms. Dupain-Cheng with for years. I always assumed that you were doing your best to negate the bullying, and after this conversation I see that you were only enabling it.”
Caline gasped, her hand flying to her mouth in horror, completely at loss for words.
Ms. Mendeleiev took a deep, calming breath before she continued. “This is where it comes back to responsibility. You are the one who should be holding your students to a high standard, Caline. Instead, you’ve foisted that duty off onto your students, particularly Ms. Dupain-Cheng. You have held her at a higher standard, while not expecting the same from her bully because it’s her responsibility to set a good example... Isn’t that what you told me?”
The tone was challenging Caline to disagree, but she did not take the bait. Instead, she sat there in a stunned, horrified silence.
Ms. Mendeleiev’s face softened just a fraction, realizing how hard this must be to hear, but it also needed to be said.
“Your intentions are good, Caline, but you are their teacher, not their friend.”
Finally, Caline sucked in a harsh breath and stood a little wobbly on her feet. “Thank you for your time, Ms. Mendeleiev. You have…you have given me a lot to think about.”
Ms. Mendeleiev didn’t try to stop Caline, who looked as though she’d seen a ghost. She’d given Caline exactly what she’d wanted after all, brutal honesty. It was up to her what she did with it now.
-Depression-
The walk home was a blur. Caline vaguely remembered stumbling up her steps and unlocking her apartment door and it wasn’t until she was home and ensconced in the safety of her favourite chair that she finally let loose and cry.
Not petite, quiet sobs either. Caline wailed. Ms. Mendeleiev’s words burrowed themselves through her heart. She’d failed her students. Ms. Mendeleiev was right. Sabine Cheng was right.
She let herself mope around the apartment for the better part of the day, not even her favourite telenovela could cheer her up today. It was just after dinner when Caline realized enough was enough.
-Acceptance-
She could do better. No. She would do better.
All the moping in the world could not change her past mistakes, but she could take steps to learn and grow and hopefully never let something like this happen again. She would start by apologizing to Marinette and go from there.
-------
It turns out, the first step is more familiar than Caline imagined.
The instant Chloé Bourgeois walked into the classroom that morning, Caline could tell she was in one of those moods.
Chloé complained loudly about Sabrina being late this morning, how her driver didn’t drive quite fast enough for her liking and finally, her sights narrowed in on her familiar and favourite target: Marinette.
Marinette had just walked into the classroom with Alya, completely absorbed in their conversation.
“Ugh,” Chloé groaned loudly, drawing Marinette and Alya’s attention, “school was going to be so much better without you Dup—"“
“Chloé,” Ms. Bustier interjected sternly, “that is enough.”
She wasn’t sure who looked more gob smacked, Chloé--who gaped at her like a comically large black and yellow fish, or Marinette, who stared at the teacher as though she’d never seen her before. Even the rest of the class looked startled.
Caline’s stomach sank.
When did that happen? When did they realize they couldn’t count on her?
How long had she needed this wakeup call?
Caline decided to push those thoughts aside for now and focus on the issue at hand instead.
“What--”
“Sit down, Chloé. One more word and you’re out to the principal’s office.”
Chloé sat. Like a very confused, scolded puppy she sat down into her seat, unsure of what else to do.
Ms. Bustier did her best to smoothly turn back to the board, but she couldn’t help but sneak a look at Marinette out of the corner of her eye. Gone was the completely shocked look, and in its place was a quiet wariness that looked so out of place on a child her age.
It wounded Caline that Marinette’s response was so guarded, but she was quick to remind herself that it was entirely her fault. As a teacher, she was in a unique position of authority, but one that should come with earning the trust and respect of her students. She should be a pillar on which they could rely, she was here to uplift not only their education, but their confidence and spirits.
And she had failed. Miserably.
Caline could not change her past actions. What’s done was done, but she could change now. She would be a lot more careful in monitoring Chloe’s actions. She was sure to get an earful from the mayor later (judging by the sour look on Chloé’s face), but somehow Caline preferred that. She was done letting Chloé throw temper tantrums and bully her students.
"Alright class," Ms. Bustier began, "let's go ahead and get started..."
At the end of the day, Caline asked for a moment of Marinette’s time.
“Marinette, may I have a word?” Caline asked once most of the class had left for the day. It was only Alya, Nino and Kim who remained.
Alya gave Marinette a look, searching for her okay to leave them alone. Marinette nodded just slightly.
“I’ll wait for you in the courtyard.” Alya, Kim and Nino shot Caline a curious look before leaving the classroom.
Marinette turned around, and yet… Weirdly, Caline didn’t feel like it was Marinette in front of her. While her facial expression was carefully blank, Marinette’s shoulders were squared and her posture strong, immovable, and powerful and nothing like the normally shy, timid Marinette.
“How can I help you, Ms. Bustier?” Her tone was polite but wary, and Caline could not blame her.
Caline cleared her throat nervously. Her heart felt as though it would beat itself into oblivion, but she had to do this.
“I am sorry, Marinette.” For the first time, Marinette looked thrown off. “My actions have been inexcusable for a long time, and I have utterly failed you as a teacher. I held you to a level of responsibility above those who hurt you, and I was wrong to do that. I can only try to express to you how sorry I am, I see now how my actions or inaction was hurting you too.” Caline’s wavered a little at the end, but she powered through. There would be no tears from her, she had to be professional about this.
“I want you to know I am going to do my absolute best to never ever let something like this happen again.” Even if Marinette did not forgive her, Caline wanted her to know that she was going to do her best to never let this happen again. And in truth, Caline did not feel deserving of forgiveness even if offered.
And forgiveness was not offered.
Marinette was quiet for a long moment before saying, “thank you for your apology, Ms. Bustier, but I trusted you for so long and I don’t know if I can do it again. At least not now.”
Oh. It was the most horrible, crushing mixture of disappointment and hope that Caline had ever experienced, but she appreciated Marinette's honesty.
“I understand, Marinette.” Caline meant every word.
“Is that everything Ms. Bustier? I really should get to Alya.”
“Yes, that’s everything. Have a good afternoon, Marinette.”
Marinette nodded and left the classroom, leaving Caline to her hurricane of mixed emotions.
Her apology was out there and Marinette hadn’t accepted it, and that was okay.
Caline finished tidying up her classroom and headed to the teacher’s lounge, she had work to do.
----
It was nearly 7’ o clock by when Caline decided to take a break and brew a pot of tea.
As expected, the mayor had a lot to say to Caline for her “inexcusable treatment of his darling daughter” today, but Caline had held her own.
Surprisingly, Principal Damocles had her back in the matter, though she did expect it was because he feared Sabine Cheng more than he feared the mayor, which… fair.
She’d been using the computer in the staff room for hours after the meeting with the mayor, searching for various learning opportunities and teacher training. There was a lot out there, but she wasn’t sure where to start. A part of her was tempted to sign up for all of it, but the wiser part of Caline realized this would be how she would burn out.
\
Caline had just sat down again when the staff room door opened, and Ms. Mendeleiev appeared.
“Oh, Caline, I didn’t realize you were still here.” Ms. Mendeleiev said in lieu of greeting.
“I had a few things I was working on.” Caline explained, gesturing to the computer screen. Ms. Mendeleiev’s gaze lingered on the screen for a moment, nodding thoughtfully.
“Thank you again for meeting with me, yesterday.” Caline said.
Ms. Mendeleiev waved off her thanks and instead fished something out of her pocket and held it out to Caline.
It was a pamphlet.
“I’m attending a seminar next weekend that offers training for teachers on recognizing and preventing bullying in the classroom, among other interesting topics. I thought it may be something you would be interested in attending. We can carpool.”
Caline recognized an olive branch when it was offered.
“I would like that very much, Ms. Mendeleiev.”
She had a long way to go, but Caline was determined to uphold her promise.