Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous or its characters.
Chapter 43,
"So, Marinette. Have you decided on your costume for the dance." Nino asked and Marinette couldn't help but blush.
"I, um... I was thinking about doing this whole masquerade thing, but I really don't feel like wearing another mask for a while." Marinette admitted bashfully.
"Aw, that's ok. You still have some time." Alya said.
"Um, 'some time', but not much. Maybe we could help you figure something out." Nino said and Adrien smiled.
"And do you know who you would like to dress up as, Mr. Lahiffe?" Adrien asked and Nino nodded.
"I'm gonna dress like Wes Craven, complete with a Freddy Kruger knife hand- like in my favorite profile pic of the dude." Nino said and Adrien chuckled at him. Though why Nino wanted to have the glove was beyond him. Nathalie looked so terrified when Freddy cut through the car and kidnapped her. Maybe Nino didn't see any of the horror icons if he was by Chris' side the whole time.
"Well, just be kind to Marinette, ok? I still haven't decided what I'm gonna be." Adrien said. The bell rang and the teens gethered their bags and exited the cafeteria. But on their way back to the classroom, Adrien noticed Nathalie coming in the school... There was something different about her.
"Nathalie?" Adrien asked, and she stopped.
"Oh, hello Adrien." Nathalie said. Was she smiling?
"Did you leave?" Adrien asked and she nodded.
"Just for a moment. Armand wanted to show me his favorite food truck." Nathalie stated. Was she blushing?
"What about father?" Adrien asked and Nathalie shrugged a little.
"I would have asked your father if he'd want me to bring him something, but he wanted some alone time to rethink the choices for the contest." Nathalie said.
"Do you know who he's gonna pick?" Adrien asked and Nathalie bit her lip.
"Honestly, I don't really feel like I know your father anymore." Nathalie admitted and Adrien blinked. Why was Nathalie being so honest with him? Everyone returned to their seats as Nathalie grabbed the Ipad and called Gabriel.
"Alright class. I hope you've had a good lunch, but before we continue with our math lesson, I believe it is time to hear the winner of our little contest." Ms. Bustier said, before turning her attention to the screen.
"After some consideration and reviewing the various ideas you have presented to me, I decided to take the creative outlook of Ms. Dupain-Cheng. It's original and it shows promise to make a big impression on the Americans." Gabriel paused to adjust his glasses and Marinette smiled lightly at the news.
"As she discussed earlier, her idea shall involve the rest of you, and in the coming days, I expect you all to be measured and practicing regular vocal exercises as to not strain your voices. Marinette. Seeing as though you're the brains of this operation, I expect to see you at my residence an hour after school ends. We shall go over the finer details of the show and with a little hard work we'll be ready to air the show live by the end of the week." Gabriel said and Marinette blinked. Wasn't that a little fast?
"Now, considering that I now have a tremendous amount of work to be done, I shall take my leave. Keep in mind that I still return and/or be in contact with the rest of you on a later date for measurements and dress rehersals. Thank you for your time." Gabriel said and Nathalie turned towards the teacher.
"Well congratulations Marinette and thank you Mr. Agreste for the opportunity." Ms. Bustier said and Nathalie exited the room. For a brief moment the class started talking about what they could wear and the songs they'd want to sing. It was exciting.
"Congratulations Marinette." Adrien said and Marinette looked down at him. He was smiling, but his eyes were a little sad. He must have really wanted to win his father's contest.
"Thanks Adrien." She said.
"If you'd like, my bodyguard and I could give you a ride to my place. Seeing that you're gonna be there too." Adrien said and Marinette blushed a little.
"Uh, no. I mean, I think I can make my own way." Marinette said bashfully and Adrien nodded.
"Well, maybe tomorrow. It sounds like you'll be spending a lot of time at my house, and I'm sure my body-... uh, Armand wouldn't mind." Adrien said and then he turned back to the teacher and she started her lesson.
"Oh man." Alya whispered to Marinette.
"Not only do you win the contest, but you win a one-way ticket into Adrien's house; and quite possibly some good old fashioned quality time with the boy. You must be so stoked." Alya said and Marinette nodded.
"I am rather excited." Marinette said and this slightly muted response got Alya's attention.
"Is something wrong?" Alya asked and Marinette shrugged.
"Well, I just didn't think all this was gonna happen so quickly. I mean, I'm glad to help the orphans and spend all of this time with everyone... It's just... I'm a little sad because I've been hanging out with someone and I'll probably be too busy with the fashion show to see them." Marinette said and Alya blinked.
"Is this new friend a boy or a girl?" Alya asked and Marinette smiled lovingly.
"Does it matter?" Marinette asked and Alya gasped as quietly as she could.
"You've been hanging out with a boy and failed to tell me about it? Why would you do that to me?" Alya said. And even as quiet as she was being, Adrien still caught her words.
"I didn't do anything to you, I just wanted to keep us private." Marinette said and Alya could barely contain herself.
"What? You two are an 'us', and you didn't tell me? I feel so betrayed." Alya said and Marinette rolled her eyes.
"We aren't an 'us' us." Marinette said in defense.
"Well, if you like him so much, maybe you should invite him to the dance." Alya suggested and Marinette bit her lip.
"I don't know if the little kitten would be interested in the dance. It's like tomorrow, wouldn't it be a little strange to invite them at such short notice?" Marinette said and Ms. Bustier cleared her throat.
"I know you just had lunch, but I'm sure your conversation can wait a few minutes while we have the lesson." Ms. Bustier said and the girls apologize.
However Adrien was still rather distracted. He knew Marinette and Cat Noir had been close to kissing, but was she really falling in love with him? Is she falling for both of them? Is that why she keeps avoiding kissing him? Both of him? Is this better or worse...? Great... now he had a headache.