It would be an understatement of galactic proportions to say that Alya was a conniving, manipulative little monster, particularly to Marinette's puppy-dog crush on Adrien. On one end of the spectrum, she genuinely wanted Marinette to crawl out of her shell and actually make contact with him once in awhile, but there was no denying there was some sort of illicit thrill from watching Marinette blush, stammer, and squirm whenever Adrien glanced at her immediate vicinity. On more than one occasion, Alya had informed her friend that, in all probability, Adrien reciprocated her feelings, but Marinette promised to end Alya's life in the most painful manner humanly possible if she informed him about the status of her crush. So, with that knowledge in mind, Alya concluded that fate would have to engineer an 'accident', and the perfect opportunity presented itself when Adrien released a series of partially shirtless photos, one of which was just the right resolution for Marinette's phone.
"Oh, drat," Alya made sure to not charge up her phone the previous night. "Dead battery. Can I steal your phone?"
"Sure." Marinette presented the prize, completely unaware of what was about to happen. A click of the button, as Alya predicted, revealed the exact picture of a shirtless, relaxed Adrien that Alya had been cureteous enough to deliver straight to Marinette's phone via text message. Just had to infiltrate her screen settings, stand up, 'accidentally' trip and fling her phone over to the love of Marinette's life, and the gears of destiny would spin on their requisite path.
"Oh, clumsy me!" Alya's mastery of the art of deception was instantly validated as Adrien, the perfect gentleman, retrieved Marinette's phone from beneath his seat. "Sorry, Adrien, I just threw Marinette's phone at you."
The fruits of her work were indeed sweet. Adrien's initial neutral expression instantly transformed into a curious mix of bewilderment and a vague remnant of genuine surprise as his eyes became fixed upon the screen. As soon as she was able to deduce the magnitude of what was happening, Marinette's cheeks flushed a pale white and she looked as if she was desperately hoping that the universe would allow her to slip beneath the floor.
"Here you go, Marinette." Adrien, sweeter than a basket of puppies in a sugar refinery, brandished his classic, radiant smile as he returned the phone to its owner. Her only sentiment of gratitude was a barely audible 'thank you' squeaked out of Marinette. Alya had wondered if Marinette would indeed attempt to end her miserable existence in the most painful and arduous manner possible, but she was far too occupied with the universe-shattering level of embarrassment presenting flooding her being. She would be grateful, eventually, Alya was certain.
Adrien didn't want to be too obvious about his elevated mood; a curious warmth flooded his chest and he felt like dancing, but he preferred to be as inconspicuous as possible, especially in immediate proximity to his crush. But, really, there was no denying it: Marinette thought he was hot.