Hello there, just a quick authors not, firstly thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoy the story! Also, this story contains some self hate, so please don't read if that is something you are not comfortable with. Cool cools!

Chapter 1: Truth revealed

Marinette stood in front of the bathroom mirror, trying to make her hair look presentable. Today was a big day, and she didn't want to let a bad appearance ruin it for her. Everything had to be perfect. She had changed her usual outfit. Now she wore a yellow T-shirt, a white skirt, and a denim jacket. She replaced her pink ballet flats with black high tops, and was even changing her hairstyle. Trying to change her hair style. She had let it out, so it sat just below her shoulders, and was attempting to curl the ends. She had finished the last curl when she heard a loud noise. More like a loud voice.

"Marinette, hurry, you are going to be late for school!" Called her mother, from the bottom of the stairs.

"Coming Mama!" Replied Marinette, as she grabbed the necklace from her bedside table. This necklace held the charm that Tikki had made for Marinette, for her birthday. She hurriedly put it on, whilst running to the car. She grabbed her bag off the table, which she has thankfully packed the night before, and launched herself into the car. With a slam of the door she shouted "Let's go!" And her father took off down the street. The ride to school was stressful. Marinette was so determined to make this day the best, and she really didn't want to stuff it up. She mentally repeated the lines she has practiced over and over again in front of the mirror. They were burned into memory now, she knew the only thing that could get in the way were her nerves. After what seemed like forever, the car stopped in front of the school. "Thanks Papa!" Marinette yelled, as she sprinted to her classroom, not wanting to be late. She flung the classroom door open, just as the bell rang. Heaving a sigh of relief she made her way to her usual seat, next to Alya, who was staring at her quizzically.

"You look nice today." Alya said suspiciously.

"Why thank you!" Marinette replied. "So do you." Alya continued staring.

"Why the new outfit?" The girl said. Marinette blushed.

"Today is a big day. I'm -"

"Marinette. Alya. Enough talking. Save it for lunch." Ordered Miss Bustier. The two girls nodded. The lesson continued. Marinette remembered none of it. She was too busy staring at the golden hair in front of her. She continued revising her speech in her head, and was constantly adjusting her skirt. She started drawing doodles in her margins, which she hurriedly erased when Alya tried to take a look.

And then the bell rang. Marinette felt herself beaming form ear to ear. She was ready. Putting on a confident face, the teen ignored Alya's glances, and made her way to her target. She was careful about how she put one foot in front of the other, ensuring that she wouldn't trip over herself. And then she was there. For once in her life, she wasn't 100% nervous. Because she was happy. And she was excited.

"Hi Marinette!" The boy said. Marinette took a deep breath. Now or never.

"Hi Adrien. There's something that I need to tell you. I have kept this in for a while, but its time for me to let it out. I think you are amazing. Ever since the day you leant me your umbrella, I have never gotten over how wonderful you are. Adrien. I have feelings for you. I really like you!" She ended blushing, but was dancing on the inside. She had done it. She had finally done it. Not one stutter. The classroom roared (except for Chloe). Alya's was the loudest of all. She stared into the boys mesmerizing green eyes. The class quietened down.

"Marinette, you are a really nice girl. And you look really pretty today. But I don't have feelings for you." She felt her heart drop. Did she hear him right? She took her eyes off him, feeling her throat tighten. He continued. "I just want to be good friends with you. Because you are a great friend after all!" She couldn't speak. No words came out. Her hands felt shaky, her legs numb. She couldn't fully process what was going on. Had Adrien just...rejected her? No. This wasn't happening. Surely this was some sort of nightmare.

"Oh." Was all she could make out. She felt like she had fallen on her stomach and was winded. She couldn't do this. She felt the classes pitiful stares, all on her. She walked out of the room, without a word, and headed to the only place where people wouldn't find her. Only it wasn't a place. It was a suit. A red spotted suit.

"Spots on." She told the kwami. In a flash, Marinette was gone. Replacing her, was Paris's favorite hero. Ladybug. She flung her yoyo and caught it on the side of a rooftop. She flew after it, landing on her feet, on the roof of a classroom. She didn't cry. She held back the waterfalls that were threatening to erupt. Now that she was Ladybug she had to be the roll model. She couldn't have people seeing her crying. The students flooded out of the classrooms, all ready for lunch. As Ladybug watched her own class come out, she noticed everyone looking grumpy. Alya especially. Adrien hung towards the back of the group, Chloe hanging onto him tightly. The others didn't seem to want to notice. They just ignored it. Ladybug noticed Alya and Nino coming towards her. The blogger had an eye for the bug, and almost certainly wanted a scoop. But today, Ladybug was in no mood of an interview. Alya waved at Ladybug. The heroine reluctantly swung down off the roof.

"Look." She began. "I'm not doing an interview today. Maybe another -"

"Ladybug I don't want an interview!" Alya sounded distressed. "My friend Marinette just ran out of our classroom. Did you see where she went." Ladybug felt touched by how much Alya cared for her.

"No." She lied. Alya looked nervous.

"Its just, she was really upset, and I'm afraid she might become prey for one of Hawkmoth's Akumas!" Ladybug shook her head.

"I'll make sure she doesn't!" She replied.

"Ok," Said Alya sadly. "I have to go look for her now. Bye Ladybug!" Alya ran off. However Nino stayed where he was.

"Have seen Marinette at all today?" He asked. Ladybug shook her head.

"Then how did you copy her new hairstyle that well." She froze.

"There was this...tutorial. Yes on...the internet, on how to do this hairstyle. We must have...looked at the same one!" She blabbered. Nino shrugged.

"Ok. It looks nice! See ya dude!" He called out, as he ran after Alya.

"That was a close call." Ladybug said out loud. She knew that Alya would be running to her house, looking for her. Groaning to herself, she realized that to avoid suspicion, she had to change back. Annoyed, she slid down the rooftop and behind a classroom, out of sight.

"Spots off." She whispered as the transformation faded away. "Let's go find Alya!" She said softly to Tikki. The kwami nodded in agreement. Marinette ran out from behind the classroom, trying not to be seen. She looked down, avoiding eye contact with anyone who came past. Unfortunately, it also meant avoiding any spacial awareness. She bumped into 2 students and fell on her butt. One offered to help her up, but she didn't take the hand, rather lifting herself off the ground with her own arms. She looked up to see who it was and almost threw up. It was the 2 people she wanted to see the least.

"Eww! Mari-trash, you ruined my shoes!" The blonde brat shrieked.

"I didn't even touch your dumb shoes Chloe!" Marinette shot back.

"But you breathed on them!" She whined. Marinette rolled her eyes. Her white skirt had a brown smear on it, from the patch of dirt she fell in. The curls were all gone, and her high tops were all muddy. Trying not to look at the brat or the model, she hurried off towards her house, once again choking back tears. She ignored the laughed from Chloe, and the stares from other students. Most of all, she ignored Adrien's attempts to get her to talk to him. She power walked towards her house, still keeping her eyes on the pavement. It was all good and well for 10 minutes. She had 2 more minutes until she finally arrived home. But Marinette forgot about constantly looking up so she wouldn't fall again. She bumped into someone and braced for impact, but it never came. Two sets of firm hands steadied her, and helped her stand back up. Marinette didn't want to look at the two, but she knew they didn't deserve that. After all, Alya and Nino were her best friends.

"Mari!" Alya cried. "I've been looking for you everywhere!" She grabbed the bluenette and wrapped her in a bear hug. "I'm so sorry, Adrien was such a jerk for saying no. As if anyone could say no to you!" Marinette remained quiet, knowing that speaking would make the tears flow. She just nodded, and enjoyed the warmth of Alya's arms around her. "Let's get you home girl." She said comfortingly. Marinette walked between Nino and Alya. They avoided the topic for the time being. They kept telling Marinette how good her macrons are. Alya told her about how Ladybug was at their school. Nino told her that they had the same hairstyle, which Marinette acted surprised at. Eventually they reached the Dupain Cheng bakery. They entered, and saw Sabine working at the counter. She looked up and saw the three.

"Hello you three!" She said. "I wasn't expecting you here today. Marinette, dear, there are some croissants that you can give your friends, just in the fridge there."

"Ok Mama." Marinette said as she pulled out a box of goods from the fridge. She inclined for her friends to follow her up to her room where they sat up on her bed.

"Um, can I asked you guys a question?" Marinette said. The two nodded. "What happened after I, well, left?" Alya and Nino exchanged worried glances.

"Well," Nino began. Alya cut him off.

"There's no way to put this nicely. I flipped out at him." Marinette's eyes were wide with shock.

"You did what now?" She yelled.

"Well, I told him that I didn't understand how he could say no to someone as awesome as you, and then I kind of ranted about how you are so nice to him and how you had been planning this forever and so on." Alya said sheepishly.

"And then Rose started crying!" Exclaimed Nino. "And she was upset because you looked upset and then Chloe started bullying Rose and then Juleka stood up for Rose and then Alix started yelling at Chloe and then Kim started yelling at at Alix and Alya and Adrien were arguing and I was telling people to shut up and -"

"It was a big hot mess!" Admitted Alya.

"And it was all my fault!" Whispered Marinette anxiously.

"No, no girl it was...everyone's fault." Said Alya.

"You're just saying that to make me feel better!" Marinette fired back. Alya was about to reply when a scream cut them off. The three instinctively ran up onto the balcony. It seemed like Hawkmoth has found another Akuma victim.

"At least its not you Mari." Said Alya. "I for one was seriously worried!" Marinette managed a half smile. "I'm going to get some live footage for the Ladyblog!" Called Alya, already running back down. Marinette looked at Nino awkwardly, trying to figure out a good excuse to leave abruptly. He winked at her.

"Go save Paris!" The boy said.

"See you soon...wait what did you just say?" Asked Marinette, mildly terrified.

"I would advise you to put your hair back in signature pigtails, while you're Ladybug at least." The boy offered. Hurriedly grabbing two hair ties and fixing her hair, Marinette stared at Nino in shock.

"We are having a thorough conversation when I get back!" She told him. He nodded, laughing slightly.

"Ok sure. But can I please see you transform?" Marinette waved her finger at him.

"Fine. But as a one off. You hear me? One off." She rolled her eyes. "Spots on!" Nino gasped. The whole room filled with blinding pink lights, he could only see the outline of the girl, but it was enough to tell that something magical was happening. When the transformation was over, there stood Ladybug. "See you soon!" She said, before jumping off the balcony, and swinging through the streets of Paris.