This was an idea I had after reading Samantha-Girl Scout's Fire and Gold, where Ladybug wore a Marinette dress to a party and Chloe admired it. I thought this would be fun to write as a short story.
I do not own the characters in here. Just the story.
Chloe was amazed by what Sabrina had brought her.
It was only a few days until the school's annual fundraising ball, and Chloe didn't have a perfect dress yet. However, Sabrina said that she got in touch with a designer who would make her the perfect outfit for the night, for free. Chloe had sent requests for different styles, and every single one was amazing.
She finally decided on a dress that would reach her ankles. It had a slim, golden yellow skirt with a slit down the side and a fade to black at the bottom. The bodice faded from solid golden at the base to glitter at the top, with a faint hexagonal pattern in the glitter, and the short sleeves were nearly transparent. Chloe thought it was magnificently shiny and fashionable, and would surely catch some eyes at the ball. Especially Adrien's handsome, green eyes.
Sabrina would wear a more modest, knee-length, dark teal dress with a faint purple embroidered diamond pattern at the bottom of the skirt and silver lace along the neckline.
"Sabrina, this design is just the best! Are you sure you can't tell me who it is?" Chloe pleaded as her friend left to deliver the requests and sizes.
"The designer told me that they only want their identity revealed after the event. It's a surprise because this designer knows that you might not want the dress if you knew who made it," Sabrina regretfully replied. She then left Chloe's room, where they had been looking through the finalists. Chloe watched from her window as her closest friend walked out the front of the hotel and got in her dad's car.
As soon as they were out of sight, Chloe opened her FindMyFriends app and tried to check if Sabrina's location would give anything away. However, it was blocked and had a message reading "No peeking!" Chloe sighed and decided to touch up her makeup while she waited for her friend to return.
On the night of the ball, Chloe looked stunning. She had replaced her usual blue eyeliner with black, to compliment the dress better. Her hair was tied up in a bun and secured with a black-and-gold scrunchie. She got compliments from nearly everyone, most of which said it was much less over-the-top than most of her other fancy dresses. Even Marinette came over from her corner with Alya with a large smile.
"Where did you get that amazing dress? How much did it cost?" To Chloe, it looked like she was holding back a laugh.
"I'll have you know that Sabrina found an anonymous designer who made it for me for free! If it weren't free, I doubt you could afford it," Chloe remarked, glancing down at Marinette's dress. It was a ruby red knee-length with small, glittery, black spots on the sleeves and bottom of the skirt that faded into the red. Secretly, Chloe admired the craftsmanship on the Ladybug-themed design, but she needed to keep her high-class attitude to show that, at least in money, she was more important than the rest of her classmates.
When Adrien found out that a single designer had made Chloe's dress, he asked if she knew who it was.
"Only Sabrina knows. She said that the designer wishes to keep their identity secret, just in case I didn't like it. I can't see why anyone would want to do that, because I could really help their business!"
"Once you know, please tell me. I sent my father some pictures, and he said he might want to see if the designer will be willing to help him," Adrien offered.
For the rest of the night, Chloe just enjoyed herself, but in the back of her mind, she still wondered who the designer might be.
The next Monday, at school, Sabrina had promised that the designer's identity would be revealed. Chloe was waiting in her seat, while Sabrina was almost smirking. If the nervous smile could look like a smirk.
Chloe hadn't been paying attention, and someone dropped a folder on her desk. Without looking up, she opened the folder to find the designs that she had seen before choosing her dress. The only difference was that now, each drawing had a signature. At the back, Chloe found one design that hadn't been with the others when she first saw them. It was a red dress with spots on the sleeves and skirt.
Chloe finally looked up to meet Marinette's waiting stare. "You... made these?" she asked, still in disbelief.
"If you're still not sure, check the bottom of your dress, by the front of the slit. You'll find my signature," Marinette responded.
"Sabrina, is this some kind of joke?" Chloe demanded. Her friend shrank back slightly at the yelling.
"She contacted me and said that she wanted to help. I've seen her work before, and I thought you would like it," Sabrina defended. Chloe took a deep breath and counted to ten.
"Marinette, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have doubted your work when you shoved it in my face. But next time you make me a dress, I expect the same high quality!" she said, crossing her arms.
"Alright Alya, she apologized, you can stop filming now," Marinette told her best friend, laughing.
"Bourgeois, you are never losing that footage!" Alya exclaimed, also barely able to stand with laughter.
"I'll have my daddy-"
"What, make sure I never make you a dress again? Play nice, or I'll make it happen," Marinette interjected.
Chloe just sat down in her seat and finally accepted the fact that her rival had made her new favorite dress. As class started, she only thought about it more. Maybe Marinette would eventually make a good friend...