Fridays classes let out at noon to allow everyone time to get ready for formal. Alya and Marinette got ready together in her loft, Alyas Parents, and Nino and his Parents waited patiently downstairs as the girls finished getting ready. Alya wore her hair up for once, and Marinette let her hair down. Alya carefully curled her best friend's hair and her ringletts bounced as she moved. When they were ready they headed down the ladder and finally to the stairs for their big reveal.
The girls came down together, hand in hand as best friends should. Marinette only tripped once on the stairs. Alya was holding the Boutineer for Nino in her other hand and the families got cute pictures of them pinning it on together. After more pictures they headed outside for some more pictures in the park. Marinette had carefully crafted pockets in her dress to hide Tikki and her phone.
After pictures the trio finally headed to their Formal.
Nino walked into the dance with a girl on either arm. When they walked in all of their friends cheered and gushed over Marinette's dresses she and Alya wore. The dresses were compliments to each other and to their wearer. Alyas dress was a soft gold that complimented her eyes with red beading along the neck and trim, while Marinette wore a bright playful red hi-low design with a gold belt and kitten heels to pair with Alyas dress.
The music caught their attention as the live band played. A familiar rift grabbed Marinette's attention and she looked to the stage, but she knew who was playing without even looking up.
"Luka!" Marinette thought sadly. The boy she had broken up with. Why hadn't he told her he would be playing at her formal? Her thoughts swam and she swayed before Nino caught her.
"You okay Marinette Dude?" he asked as he helped right her.
"Yeah" Marinette chuckled, "Heels" she said, lifting up her foot, "I'm just gonna head over here" she said as she scooted to the snack bar.
The band was one of Luka's side projects with other friends that Marinette didn't recognize. They must have been from another school, or older? Marinette couldn't tell, but they were good.
Marinette wasn't about to let her ex and the fact that Adrien wasn't there ruin her formal. She got in the center of the dance floor and danced her heart out. After a while the band slowed down and Marinette excused herself to the bathrooms to freshen up, and hide from all the couples slow dancing.
While she was in the bathroom the music changed and this time it was a DJ playing fun music for her friends. She hadn't made it five steps from the bathroom when she bumped into Luka.
He looked stunned at her "uh, Marinette!" he started "Wow, you look, Wow!" was all he could say.
"I hardly recognise you without your signature pigtails" he chuckled and flashed her a smile.
"Thanks" Marinette stumbled to find something to add to the conversation "Your new band sounds amazing"
"You look amazing" Luka replied with a sigh and the two headed towards the rest of the party. Marinette noticed a few eyes on them but no one approached. The next song was a slow one, and Luka offered his arm to her. "may I have this dance?" he asked "No strings, just a dance, my band has to go back on after this so I really only get…"
"I'd like that Luka" Marinette said as she grabbed his hand and headed to the dance floor.
Luka was not as skilled a dancer as Cat Noir, but he still held her close and they danced to the music filling the hall. As he held her, Marinette remembered why she had liked him in the first place. They fit together so nicely, her tiny hands in his rough palms showing the signs of his extra practices with his guitar. He was just as dedicated to his music as she was her sewing. His Cyan eyes looked into her Bluebell blues and she blushed but didn't turn away.
Luka was silent their whole dance, and he didn't expect her to fill it with words either. She liked that about him, she liked that the silence wasn't awkward and they could just be. Around Adrien she always struggled for words and conversation, tripping over herself when what she said wasn't what she had wanted to say. With Luka, words came at their own pace, she still stuttered and struggled, anyone would with a cute guy. Luka was cute, talented, and smart, and a great friend. She smiled at him and he smiled back.
She leaned forward slightly and he bent down to touch foreheads with her. On the crowded dance floor she felt like time stood still and they were in a world of their own. This is really nice is all she thought when suddenly but slowly his lips moved closer to her own. Marinette bit her lip in anticipation. She was frantic inside. Did she want to kiss him? Well who wouldn't? But was she ready for a kiss? They weren't even dating anymore! Her heart beat so loudly she was sure the whole dance floor could hear it! She took a deep breath and as she closed her eyes she saw a flash of blonde behind Lukas teal hair.
They were suddenly thrown apart by one of Luka's bandmates, the drummer Marinette noted, with spikey bleach blonde hair and eyes so dark they were almost black. "We have a major problem!" the drummer said, pulling Luka towards backstage, but Luka was still holding her hand and she got dragged with him.
Backstage the Redheaded girl who had been their singer was sitting on the floor, crying. Immediately Marinette went to her side to comfort her. "What's wrong, what happened?" the girl continued to sob clutching her phone and leaning on Marinette.
The boys whispered behind them and eventually Luka knelt down and gently pried the phone from the girl. On the screen flashed a picture of a boy with dark hair with red tips obviously on a date with a blonde girl, the two holding hands. Marinette looked up at Luka expectantly and full of questions.
"Mia, I thought you broke up with him?" questioned another boy, tall with dark hair and complexion. The keyboard player.
"I just didn't think he would move on so soon" she sobbed. "I can't go out there and sing those songs like this" the crying songstress motioned to her tear stained face.
Luka pulled out his phone and tried to text and call somebody, but got no response, "I cant get ahold of Juleka" he finally said defeated "Marinette, do you think you could step in? I know you don't like to sing in front of others but I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important"
He grabbed her hands as he asked. His face inches from hers again, and she felt like she was floating.
"Luka, I can't! I don't know your songs or the words or" Marinette started and stumbled on her words
"The rest of the night we only have 2 sets of 3 songs, and we can play whatever you want, whatever you want to sing." Luka said pleading.
"We only have 5 songs so the rest were going to be covers anyway" mumbled the drummer
Marinette looked over the band, thought it out, debated for a moment. Her forehead crinkled and she shoved her hand into the pocket of her dress and was comforted by the feel of Tikki's tiny hand giving her a squeeze. She could almost hear Tikkis voice telling her she could do this. Marinette opened her eyes to see the rest of the band looking at her. She got into her most confidence building pose and said "Alright, you can count on me!" and her smile was genuine. Quickly the band planned their next set, they would worry about the later set afterwards, one song at a time. 3 songs, that was what she needed right now.