Sixth-grade language arts had a group project. Partners were chosen by the teacher. Some friends were lucky and were grouped anyway. Most started talking as soon as they sat down, some balanced socialization and work relatively evenly. In a group of three, one did work, the other watched a show on their phone, and the third couldn't stay focussed.

The teacher had to partner Reid with two other girls. They couldn't have put him with someone he had at least talked to in the past. All he could do was look at his paper and scribble. The instructions made no sense and his sweaty palms had trouble cooling off despite the freezing room. Her friend appeared intimidating, and she looked uninterested.

"Hey, uh…"

Reid looked up. The intimidating friend needed his name. "R-Reid." He stuttered. He spoke in front of her. Did she notice? Did she hear him? She still watched TV. She still didn't know he existed.

"Do you have any ideas for the project?" The intimidating friend asked.

He made a quick glance at her, which made his words jumbled and his letters shuffled. He cleared his throat to stop himself and stayed quiet. The intimidating friend raised an eyebrow.

"Uhm, what about you, Kaetlyn? Kaetlyn."

With a soft shake on the shoulder, the girl on her phone looked up and took out an earbud. Her eyes glimmered a beautiful hazel and her long hair had a rich shade of chocolate brown.

She shrugged, waving off her workload. Her friend kept persuading and urging her to do otherwise. Reid sat still, not realizing he stared until she glanced at him. He quickly went back to his scribbling, his hands slightly unsteady.

Students were allowed to go outside for lunch. Reid stood in one spot, scanning the yard for them. A hand waving at him caught his eye. Tucker. He hurried to the picnic table with his tray of food.

Sam hadn't finished her argument with Tucker about meat versus plants. Danny stayed quiet in the corner. Smart. Kaetlyn had her earbuds in and watched a TV show. Reid decided to sit across from her.

"What's this about?" He asked her. No response. He then lightly tapped the top of her phone. She looked up, realized he found the group and paused the show.

"What's the show about?"

"Bit of thriller. Bit of supernatural. I started watching it a few days ago."

He continued to ask questions about it. She continued to answer with each response getting her more excited. Her eyes lit up and her voice grew louder. Her lips quickly curved into a stunning smile. He couldn't help but stare.


She walked with her friends to each class. They always seemed to be around. It would be awkward and too embarrassing to show up with them around. Reid didn't want to follow, so he only kept an eye out for her when walking to class. She seemed to only have the intimidating friend and two other guys. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad to greet them, but they only had one class project together. Did she remember him?

He walked to his locker, spotting Kaetlyn talking with one of her friends with dark skin and a yellow shirt. They were at the friend's opened locker. He stared in their direction as he walked by. He played out how things might go in his head. If he said a simple "Hello!" or maybe just a wave? Should he walk up and properly introduce himself or call out her name? No… He'd slip up or come off as creepy!

Someone ran into him. An eighth grader? He almost fell on impact. Eyes were drawn to the scene. To him.

Dash. Another sixth-grader. He had an obvious height advantage compared to most other peers. He snickered as he waltzed off, making the eyes stay glued on longer. Everything became bigger and towered over Reid. Shadows created a dark pit that he couldn't hide in. He shrank into a little mouse that couldn't even squeak.

A white glow shined in the pit. It walked past him and waved him to follow, so he did. It took him to the side of the hallway on the corner where all the shadows couldn't find him. Kaetlyn stood in front of him, but she never bothered with anyone outside of her three friends.

"Learn to speak, for once." She said with cold eyes. No matter how she felt, they were always prettier than he remembered.

"You're annoying. All you do is look. Stop staring at me, stop staring at the ground, and talk."

Reid's eyebrow creased. Annoying. Stop staring. His chest suddenly ached, but he nodded. Kaetlyn still glared at him and froze him in place. The last instruction! But his words could barely come out as anything other than random sounds. He stuttered before he would say his first words. So many things he could say and they all crashed into each other and raced around in his mind.

"Forget it. Leave me alone." Kaetlyn said and returned to her friend. The friend had gathered all of his books, so they headed straight to their next classes.

Leave me alone. The words echoed. He gripped his shirt over his chest.


Dinner tasted good, but now the house fell silent. Everyone scattered throughout to do their own things. Reid sat on the side of his bed, looking through his phone to find something to occupy him. He thought about texting Kaetlyn. If anything, he would be interrupting a movie.

That meant she had her phone on silent. He sent her a quick text asking if she had time to talk. He stared at the screen for a short while before placing it on his bedside table, charging it, then leaving his room. He just made it to the doorway before his phone dinged. He lunged for the phone and fell on his mattress, snatching the phone and reading Kaetlyn's text. She had some free time!

He sat up and leaned against the wall, trying not to pull the plug from the wall socket while he texted her. Their conversation lasted for hours.


Despite her eyes being glued to the phone, Kaetlyn easily made her away around students to get to class. Sam followed her, having to stop her at a corner to talk to Danny.

Kaetlyn leaned against the wall nearby a turn in the hallway. The world around her had vanished and became only the characters on screen. The hall's chatter became muffled, the slamming of lockers diminished, but a shadow quickly grew over her then shrank back down. Kaetlyn looked up to see a boy with black hair and brown eyes. She had seen him somewhere.

He seemed to have been trying to walk away, but his startled eyes locked on to hers. She took out her earbuds.

"S-sorry! I didn't mean to bump into you. I didn't bump into you, but I didn't mean to come across you? Eh… I mean-"

"Okay? Bell's about to ring." She said while putting in her earbuds. He apologized again then ran off.

Before she could press play, Sam said, "I thought you didn't like him."

"Oh yeah." He was that annoying quiet kid. "That was a while ago. He's always staring at me. It's weird."

"I think I know why."

"Hm?"

"Why he stares at you."

"I don't care why." Then she pressed play.


He pressed play. Reid's sister, Natalie, popped a big bowl of popcorn for herself and a smaller one for Kaetlyn. Reid had to get his from the microwave.

He came back and sat next to Kaetlyn on the floor. From the couch, Natalie threw a pillow between them.

"Really?"

"I need to make sure she doesn't get cooties."

"Mom said you need to go to college." He tossed the pillow back to her.

She glared at him, throwing a handful of her popcorn at him. Reid sighed with agitation and started picking the pieces off that were stuck to his clothes.

He looked to Kaetlyn. Her eyes were glued to the screen. The world around her had vanished. The movie had started. No one could take her from her trance until it ended.

"Quit staring." His sister threw the same pillow at him again. Reid turned to her with a displeased expression.

"I don't care." Kaetlyn said without taking her eyes away from the movie, "You get used to it when's he's been doing it since middle school."

"Kaetlyn!"

"What?" She chortled.

"I prefer not remembering that…"

She smiled, staring into his brown eyes. She tossed a small handful of popcorn at him. He sighed and slid down to lie on the floor. Kaetlyn giggled more and threw the next handful into her mouth.


A new trilogy series Kaetlyn had found kept her up all night. Science would be horrible…

She sluggishly walked to class, staring at the ground and accidentally hitting her head against an opened locker door. She rubbed the sting on her forehead.

A boy closed the door, quickly apologizing with a loud voice. He looked at her, then shrank in size and volume. His words became stuttered and soft.

"It's fine. My fault."

A group of jocks walked by them. They greeted the boy with smiles and waves. One gave him a thumbs up. Kaetlyn glanced between the boy and the group. He had a nervous smile but waved back.

"You have friends?" She asked.

"Uh… Uhm… Th-they're from my track team…"

"So it took you a year to make friends?"

"N-no. I knew a few people last year. ...Most of my friends went to different middle schools, so…" He trailed off.

Kaetlyn stared at him, squinting her eyes. "What's your name?" She thought she froze him for a few seconds, then he started stuttering.

Finally, he managed to say, "Reid."

Her eyes stayed on him a little longer. No, he wasn't shy… Nervous? He could easily talk to others. Split personalities? No… Far from it.

"Cool," Kaetlyn said before leaving.


Kaetlyn and Reid walked down the hall together. They stayed to the side and out of the way of others.

She noticed a group of boys walking past them. They laughed and made idiotic insults at them. Nearby students directed their attention on the couple, making things a little too uncomfortable. The group walked away and the hall went back to its own business.

"Let them be. They're only trying to get me to feel bad." Reid told her.

"I know. You had some bad friends back then."

"They're not bad… Just-" He paused to think, "Not fond of you."

"Wow. Thanks." Kaetlyn sarcastically replied.

"Th-that's not what I-"

"It's alright." She said, "We've grown up as the 'losers' in school. Even in France, I had to deal with Chloe."

"Who?"

Kaetlyn informed him about Chloe and her attitude. She told him about being the Mayor's daughter and recklessly revealing herself as Queen Bee. And she slipped in a good amount of venting before they reached her class.

They stopped, waved their partings, then Reid continued to his class.


Friday had to have the loudest lunch periods. Staff had to hush the cafeteria multiple times before Reid got his food from the lunch line. Threatening students with a silent lunch helped somewhat.

His friends from the track team called him to their table. He joined them and quickly jumped into conversations. He noticed Kaetlyn in the corner of his eyes. He fell into the trap and didn't realize he stared until his friend beside him poked him with their plastic fork.

"Why do you like her? She's with all the other losers." He asked.

Reid's eyebrows furrowed, "I wouldn't call her a loser."

"That girl doesn't even like you." Another friend said.

He recalled their last encounter. "I don't think she hates me that much."

The group burst into laughter. They didn't act the way they did until Kaetlyn came up. It got annoying.

Reid stood up and stomped away, ignoring his friend's confused calls. He approached Kaeltyn's table in the corner of the cafeteria. Her other three friends were with her. He stopped in front of their table and let a stream of air escape his lips.

"Can I sit with you guys? The other tables are packed."

The four of them exchanged shrugs and unsure looks. Kaetlyn turned back to him and said, "Sure."

His heart raced. He picked a chair between the intimidating friend and the one with black hair and blue eyes. Kaetlyn sat across from him. She didn't acknowledge his presence, but she didn't hate him enough to tell him to leave. That meant something, right?


Stomachs growled, but they had only just ordered food. The group found a booth to sit at with Danny and Tucker on one side and Kaetlyn and Sam sitting on the other. Reid found an empty table and dragged one of the chairs back to theirs. He sat at the end of the booth

Tucker started the conversation with a new video game coming out. Sam commented, then Danny. Reid noticed Kaetlyn using up more battery power on the TV and attempted to get her to join. Topics popped up, then were almost immediately thrown away with another.

The cashier called out their orders, hushing the table. Reid took initiative to retrieve their food. He stood up, but had his food behind a chair leg and fell with a loud bang and clatter when moving.

Danny, Tucker, and Kaetlyn burst in laughter. Sam asked about his well being. At least someone cared…

"And that's why you're with us, loser!" Kaetlyn shouted between gasps of air.

"What? Shouldn't you be worried about me?" Reid asked as he stood up and placed the chair back.

"But it was funny!"

He couldn't help but start laughing too.


"Smile!" Sam held up her phone and took a picture of Danny and the new ghost portal his parents built. They were in his parent's basement that had been used for inventing and testing ghost-hunting machinery. Tucker recorded everything on his phone. Reid stood next to him. Kaetlyn had left for Paris thanks to her Dad's new job, so they agreed to send any videos or pictures when Danny's parents' latest invention had been finished.

"Okay, I showed you the portal. Can we get out of here now? My parents could be back any minute." Danny said while walking back to the group.

He held a black and white jumpsuit with a sticker of his father's face on the chest. A large octagonal hole in the wall emitted a soft blue glow. It had large black cables slithering inside and a box with dials next to it that did something with the settings. No one understood how it worked.

Sam approached the portal built to admire it. "Come on, Danny, a ghost zone? Aren't you curious?"

He stopped next to her, gazing into the portal. "You know what, your right."

Reid then brought all of the attention to himself, "Hang on, you're going to walk inside a portal to another dimension? What if something happens?"

Tucker placed his hand on Reid's shoulder, "At least he would have died a genius. Hey, Danny, think you could help me with my homework after you die?"

"I don't think walking through a broken ghost portal makes me a genius." Danny replied as he put the jumpsuit over his clothes and zipped it up. Sam paused him to take the sticker of his dad's face off of the chest, then let him go. Reid watched with more concern than Sam and Tucker.

Danny stared inside the portal, then cautiously walked inside the deep tunnel. He didn't get far when he placed his hand on a button. The portal exploded with pale green light and Danny's agonizing screams. Sam ran to the dials to try anything that could stop it.

The blinding light suddenly vanished and someone collapsed onto the metal flooring. Reid rushed in and dragged him out.

"Why would you do that?!" Tucker exclaimed.

"Andyou said he was being reckless?" Sam asked.

Reid gently placed him back on the floor and said, "Those weren't my exact words. And you were being reckless too since you came up with the idea. That's not the point- We should be worrying about Danny!"

"Are you sure that's him?" Tucker asked.

They stared at the unconscious boy. He had tanner skin than Danny and white hair instead of black. His jumpsuit was mainly black with a white belt, boots, and collar.

"Either he got replaced or that's him." Reid responded. He stepped back and started pacing. Tucker stopped recording. Sam stared at Danny, thinking.

Tucker paused, then called back to Reid, "How are we going to tell Kaetlyn?"

"I think we need all four of us awake to decide that." Sam said.

"We don't even know if the fourth one is human!" Reid tugged his hoodie strings, silently listing what he knew, but too many questions.


Their spring break vacation in Paris would be over in a few days. After an Akuma attack earlier in the day, Reid had some issues with Lune. It seemed she thought that since she had powers, no one else could help themselves and had to depend on her. The petty argument did leave some guilt, however.

Reid scrolled through websites about Paris' superheroes. One called "Ladyblog" mainly had info on Ladybug. Chat Noir and Lune had their own pages, but with not as much information as the main hero in spots.

His eyes started to feel heavy after so much reading. Going to sleep crossed his mind a few times. His family had fallen asleep and the hotel room surrounded him in shadow. Natalie's snoring somehow didn't wake up their parents.

Something lightly knocked on the window at the far end of the room. Reid looked up and saw a girl dressed in a white wolf costume. Lune. He used the light from his phone screen to help him cautiously get out of bed and walk to the window. He opened it and expected Lune to say something, but she only stared.

"What are you doing here…?" Reid asked coldly. He had lost enough sleep already and didn't feel like putting up with superheroes.

"Uh….." Her brain left her head. He rolled his eyes and closed the window.

"No, wait!" Lune exclaimed hushed. He didn't realize he smashed her hand between the window and windowsill. Her yip altered him and he quickly slid it open.

"Sorry!" He apologized while she rubbed her injured hand.

"I-i-i-it's fine."

The shock left him. He rubbed the back of his head, looking back at his family sharing two hotel beds, then back to Lune and sighed, "Why are you here?"

"I...I wanted to say s-sorry for what I said earlier today…." She glanced up at him for only a second, then fell silent. Hours ago she could get mad and talk without stuttering. "Is that it?"

"W-well…" She looked up at him and spoke slowly, "..I saw you were heading to the Eiffel Tower. The Akuma must have interrupted that..sorry.."

Then he remembered himself only a few years ago.

"I was thinking...mmm-maybe...I could take you up there..? It's okay if you don't want to go...It's just..." She gradually spoke faster, "I-i-it's not as busy this late at night, a-a-and- In fact, there's probably no one there at all. The view is nice at night, you know? All the...lights and the lights and- I-I already said that...um..."

He chuckled with cringe, giving in, "I would love to see Paris from the tower. It's really the only reason I agreed to the trip."

Lune's hazel eyes twinkled. It could be the soft yellow lights from the hundreds of other buildings around. It could be something else.

She moved on the windowsill to give him room. Reid climbed over and sat beside her. He awkwardly wrapped his arm around her shoulder, not entirely sure how to go about being carried to the Eiffel Tower. Lune wrapped her arm around his waist and leaped from rooftop to rooftop.

Buses and taxis and cars sped through the Parisian streets. People still crowded the sidewalks and filled shops and other buildings. Amity could never be so busy.

They arrived at the top of the tower. Lune let go of Reid and let him walk to the edge of the platform. He gazed through the chain-link fence in awe. The moon's pale light contrasted to the warm yellows of the city. The chill breeze blew against him and made things more dream-like. The perfect view of Paris…

Muffled breathes dragged him back into reality. Lune had fallen asleep near the elevator doors of the tower, her head leaning against the fence. Reid had lost track of time, but it had to be around midnight. He shook his head with a genuine smirk.

He stood up and approached her, crouching down to poke her shoulder. When that didn't rouse her, he gently shook her.

"Lune." He said.

She opened her eyes and saw Reid up close in her face. She jumped back, her face exploding with bright red.

"I-I-I-I-"

"It's okay!" Reid chuckled, "It's okay. I would've fallen asleep too." He almost yawned, his body starting to feel sluggish.

Maybe he was too tired, or maybe such a beautiful sight of Paris excited him, but Reid gave Lune a tight hug. She had some familiarity to her.

"Thank you so much"

She accepted his hug, returning it. "Je t'aime beaucoup.." She whispered.

"Eh..what was that?"

She pushed him away. Suddenly, he realized how rude he could have come off. He looked away from her while she frantically apologized.

"L-let's just get you back to your place! P-pretend that never happened!" She begged. She carried him back to his hotel room.

Familiar… Her eyes looked familiar and her voice sounded familiar. She could speak with a perfect American accent. She stuttered so much like him. He examined her face on the way back. Her long ponytail whipped in the wind, her cheeks were still pink.

His parents had repeated the words to each other countless times ever since they arrived in Paris.

"I love you so much."

He would have done the same thing, assuming the other person didn't know what it meant. Reid only knew one person who knew him long enough to develop such feelings, and Sam definitely didn't feel that way about him.