"I think I've got it, Kiismet!" Ella cheered, waving the music sheet high. The kwami smiled, flying up to Ella. This was a great improvement from this morning, one Kiismet was happy to witness.
"Got what?"
"That music assignment honoring Paris' heroes. I finally finished it! The problem is I wanna have a guy sing the Cat Noir part, just to make it more realistic." Ella pouted, tapping a finger on her chin. "But who can I ask? I mean- obviously it has to be someone who can sing and portray the same confidence as Cat Noir..."
"Why not just ask him?"
"That's cheating, Kiis! For now, I'll get the actual music recorded and then worry about the vocals."
Ella spent the next few hours in the music studio of the school, arranging the score. She played out the entire score on piano and then added some synthetic tracks to make it sound more modern- it wasn't easy but eventually she created something she was happy with.
"That really does sound great!" Kiismet praised, once Ella finally downloaded the finished track to her phone.
"Thanks, Kiis. Now it's time to lay down some vocals!"
The teen moved to girls bathroom, which had to best acoustics for the preliminary test. Ella still didn't have all the lyrics down pact but practicing them without headphones and recording was going to be so much easier.
Shutting the door and putting her bag down, Ella pulled out her mini speaker and connected it to her phone.
"Here goes nothing!" She hit play.
Alya didn't really wanna still be at school but she needed a book for her journalism class, so she came back. But as she walked by the locker and bathrooms, she heard a voice coming from inside.
Slipping quietly in, she followed the voice more clearly in the bathroom. She tiptoed over to the door and pushed it open a crack.
"(Ah, ah, ah)
Life's got me spinning round
(Ah, ah, ah)
My feet are off the ground
(Ah, ah, ah)
And when the sun goes down
You'd better hang around
It's Ladybug
Jumping above
The power is on when things go wrong
It's Ladybug
The lucky charm
The magic is on always so strong"
It was Ella singing. The girl didn't notice Alya, as she stopped singing to jot something down on the papers resting on the counter. Alya watched as she rewound the music before continuing with a new verse.
"They look at me
And think I'm cool
I'm Cat Noir
At night I rule
I'm always charged with energy
My claws are out just watch and see
(Ah, ah, ah)
Oh no you never know
(Ah, ah, ah)
My force will always grow
(Ah, ah, ah)
And when the moon is out
You'd better hang around"
Once again, Ella stopped and jotted down whatever before restarting the song. Alya couldn't help it but she pulled out her phone and decided to do an audio recording.
The next day, Alya couldn't wait to share what she recorded yesterday with her friends. Running up to the building, she saw Marinette hiding by the bushes again as she watched Adrien and Nino talk.
"Marinette, girl! No time for hiding! I've got big news to share!" Alya grabbed the blunette by the hand and dragged her over to the boys.
"Hey guys! You'll never guess what I recorded yesterday!" Alya didn't waste any time, pulling up the recording on her phone and playing it for the three others to hear. Once it ended, the trio were amazed.
"Who is that, dudette? They've got some awesome pipes!"
"That can't be anyone at our school, right?" Wow Marinette, finally a full sentence in front of Adrien!
"You'll never guess it!"
Adrien stayed silent; he recognized the song. Ella had sent it over to him last night, asking if he'd be willing to help her with her project (luckily he had already finished his own, a simple piano piece), and sing the 'Cat Noir' section. He had agreed and was gonna meet her at the music room during break to help.
"Alya, maybe you shouldn't have recorded that." He spoke finally, drawing all the eyes to him.
"Why not? It's awesome and I would love to use it on the 'Ladyblog'!"
"Yeah but what if it wasn't meant to be shared- like in public?"
"Adrien, dude, you know who's singing that?" With a sigh, Adrien nodded.
"Just- don't go playing it for everyone. It's not finished, and I'm sure-"
"Hey Ella!" Alya interrupted him, spotting the person she was gonna find after all this. Said girl looked up from the journal in her hands and spotting who called her, shyly waved. Alya motioned excitedly for her to come over and join them, and once she did, Alya pressed the play button again.
"Can I use this song for the 'Ladyblog'? Please girl!?"
Ella felt her heart stop. How did Alya get a recording of her singing? When did that happen!? That song was just an assignment- not something meant to be shared with the world! Oh god, this was not happening! This is why she should've had someone else sing the song- oh god, where was the air going..!? Why couldn't she feel her hands?! Was she standing or was the world always moving sideways...?
Adrien saw the panic attack before the others. He had read up on them after Nino had told him about Ella's panic attack on the first day of school, just in case. So when he saw Ella's color was pale and her breathing was coming in quick gasps, he knew what was coming. She began shaking and all of a sudden pitched sideways. Adrien caught her, lowering her down carefully.
"Oh god what's happening!? Ella!"
"Guys, back up- the crowding around isn't helping!" Adrien stressed, waving his hand to try and keep his friends and the growing crowd back. He moved his eyes back to Ella, her own eyes unfocused and teary. Her hands shook as they grasped at her chest, a sign she wasn't getting enough air into her lungs.
Gently, Adrien rested a hand over Ella's own, to give her a focus point.
"Ella? Ella, it's Adrien. Can you hear me? Can you focus on my voice and my hand on yours?" He spoke softly, but loud enough for Ella to hear while carefully squeezing her hands. It took a moment, but the girl barely nodded, her eyes darting around, slightly more fixed than earlier.
"Good, can you squeeze my hand? Yeah, just like that." It was a light squeeze, but better than nothing.
"Ella, I want you to picture what makes you happiest in your mind. Think hard on it- whatever makes you happy. Think of all the details, focus on the smallest thing about it."
A small clink drew Adrien's gaze to the ground beside Ella's hip. A small bottle of lavender oil laid there, still rocking from its landing. Picking it up and opening it, Adrien carefully positioned it under Ella's nose for her to smell; he remembered her mentioning that she carried it around because the scent calmed her. So maybe it would work in this situation too.
After a few minutes, Ella's eyes were able to focus solely on him. The shaking was slowing and her breathing was a lot deeper.
"Ella? Are you back?"
A moment, then she nodded. Adrien smiled, the nervous tension flowing out of his body.
"Can I pick you up and take you to the nurse? So you can rest?"
Another small nod. Adrien handed his bag to Nino before carefully picking Ella up, his arms under her shoulders and knees.
"Excuse me, coming through." Luckily everyone moved and Adrien quickly made his way to the nurse.
Marinette and the others watched as Adrien vanished into the building.
"..maybe you should hold off on posting that recording, Alya." Nino spoke first, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I-I didn't know she'd have a panic attack about it..."
"Let's get to class. There's not much else we can do standing out here."
The trio went inside, sitting at their seats. The rest of the classroom was ablaze with gossip about Ella, but Marinette, Alya and Nino stayed silent.
"Are you sure you'll be okay? You could stay and rest a bit longer." Adrien asked, wringing his hands. Ella nodded, slowly sitting up.
"If either of us miss classes, they'll call our parents. I doubt either one of us want to be on the receiving end of that..." Ella shakily exhaled, pushing all thoughts of what her father would do to her if that happened. She did not need an anxiety attack on top of the post-panic remnants.
"But you're still shaky- I mean, I-"
"Adrien."
The teen stopped, his green eyes meeting grey and that soft smile.
"Thanks again for everything. But getting back into things after a panic attack help me recover quicker. At least, in my case it helps. If I wallow and let the afterthoughts affect me, I'll never get out of this bed." Ella stood, letting her legs get back under her before she reached down to collect her bag.
"Can I at least carry your bag? Please?" The blond asked/begged, rubbing the back of his neck. The girl met his gaze, watching for a moment before relenting. Adrien smiled, (with the energy equivalent to a puppy, Ella noted with a smile) and slid her bag onto his shoulder.
He led the way back to the classroom, his hand clasped firmly around Ella's to make sure she was steady (his reasoning, not her own). When the door slid open, Alya was on her feet, rushing over to Ella.
"I'm so sorry, girl- I had no idea-"
"It's alright, Alya... it was just surprising, that's all. That song is for a music class assignment and it's not done yet, so um... if you wouldn't mind deleting it?"
"Yeah sure, girl, no problem!"
"How about this? After the assignments done and graded, you can use it on the 'Ladyblog'? Just don't say where you got it?"
Alya cheered and hugged Ella, the girl flinching but hesitantly patted her friend on the back.
"Thanks so much, Ella! This is gonna blow up the blog even more!" Alya went back to her seat, basically bouncing with excitement.
"You're really amazing, you know that?" Adrien whispered, knowing Ella wouldn't hear him. Maybe one day, he'd tell her that... along with 'I love you'...