"YOU WHAT?" Alya shouted loudly the following morning, instantly gaining the attention of everyone in the class.
Marinette turned beet red and lunged forward to cover her friend's mouth with her hand. "Alya! Not so loud!" she hissed, blinking apologetically at her classmates. She had just told Alya about the crazy events from last night, also known as Nathaniel asking her out on a date. To say that Alya was surprised was an understatement.
"Sorry, girl! I'm just, you know, surprised! But what about the guy who you still have a crush on? You do still have a crush on him, right?" Alya demanded, albeit lowering her voice this time.
Marinette couldn't help blushing at the mention of Chat Noir, but she quickly tried to hide it. "I-I...nothing happened with him. I don't think he likes me back. So I...I moved on." This was partially the truth, she told herself. She was positive that he wasn't interested her, at least not in the way she hoped. But that didn't mean that she had gotten over him. At least, not yet.
Alya stared at Marinette in awe. "Wow, girl. Who'd think all this would happen just because you missed one day of school? Imagine all the things that could happen if you skipped a week!"
"Alya!" Marinette exclaimed, feeling scandalized at what the brunette was suggesting.
The other girl let out a laugh. "Just kidding. Seriously, though, girl! But now that you no longer like this other mystery guy, can I finally ask who he was?"
"I...he's no one of importance," she mumbled, turning away. She would rather bury herself in a hole than tell Alya that she had a crush on Paris's most wanted thief.
Her friend waggled her eyebrows at her. "Is he really not that important if you're still blushing? Oh, I know! It's Adrien, right?"
"W-what? Adrien?" Marinette spluttered in shock. She opened her mouth to deny it, but then an idea popped into her mind. She couldn't tell Alya that her crush was Chat Noir - if she did, she would never hear the end of it from her friend - but she could pretend that she had had a crush on Adrien! Then Alya would be satisfied, and she (hopefully) wouldn't keep pestering her about it. Making up her mind, she managed, "Y-You guessed it!"
Alya's eyes grew rounder than the moon. "Aha! I knew it!" she laughed gleefully, sounding more like a madwoman than her best friend. Marinette rolled her eyes at how enthusiastic Alya was for her nonexistent love life. "Don't give up yet, Mari! You still have a chance to see him!" she reassured her confidently.
"A chance to see him?" Marinette echoed. "What do you mean?"
"The alumni project is what I mean! You'll get to interview him in person. Not to mention that design contest you're still participating in, right?" she reminded her.
Marinette's eyes widened. "Oh no, the design contest! I completely forgot!" She didn't dare mention that the reason why she had forgotten was because of everything that had happened to her since her nearly getting kidnapped. It truly had been a crazy week.
Alya smirked at her friend. Sometimes Marinette was too air-headed for her own good. "It's a good thing I reminded you, eh?"
"Yes! Thank you, thank you!" Marinette mock-bowed to show her appreciation. They giggled, continuing to talk until Madame Bustier entered the room and first period started.
But Marinette found that she could hardly pay attention to Madame Bustier when she had more important things to think about, namely her date with Nathaniel that night! How was she going to turn him down and ask him to just be friends without hurting his feelings...?
"Marinette? Marinette!"
She jumped when a voice spoke up from next to her. "Y-Yes?"
Madame Bustier was speaking to her. She blushed in embarrassment when she realized that she hadn't been paying attention, and to her teacher no less! "I'd like to speak to you after class about the alumni project."
"Yes Ma'am!"
The class laughed at her response, and Madame Bustier rolled her eyes before turning back to the class.
For the remainder of the period, Marinette made sure to pay extra attention to avoid any further incidents.
Oh no, oh no, oh no.
The thought repeated over and over in Marinette's mind as she dashed madly back to her house after school.
After speaking with Madame Bustier about the alumni project, the thoughtful teacher had explained that she had stepped in and scheduled an interview with Adrien for her, which would be taking place at her bakery that afternoon! Her teacher had apologized profusely, saying that she would've asked Marinette for a better time, but Adrien had informed her that this was the only time that worked for him for the next few weeks. He was a model, after all, and models had especially busy schedules. Marinette couldn't blame him.
But that led her to her current predicament.
How was she going to prepare for such an important event, not to mention in addition to having her date with Nathaniel set for later that night? And what was she going to wear for his interview?
Think, Marinette, think! She begged herself, racking her brain for ideas. Thankfully, an idea flashed in her mind. She could wear the same dress she had for planned for the date! That should solve that problem, right? It would be two birds with one stone.
Once she had gotten home and informed her parents that Adrien would be coming, she stood in front of her closet for a long time, debating what she should wear. Finally, she decided on a flowy, pink dress that fell to her knees. It wasn't too formal, and it shouldn't give Nathaniel any ideas. That was good enough for her.
Now that that issue was sorted, she had a more important question to think about, namely what questions she was going to ask Adrien that would be beneficial to her project. And the problem was that she had no time to plan for the interview. Oh, if only Alya was there, she would know what to do in her situation! Wait a minute. If Alya couldn't be there in person, maybe she could call her...
"Alya, please pick up!" she prayed to the gods as her phone rang and rang.
Finally, after what felt like forever, she heard Alya's voice greet her from the other end. "Alya, thank goodness! I'm going crazy over here!"
"What's wrong, girl? Are you worried about your date with Nathaniel tonight?" Alya guessed.
"No!" Marinette denied quickly. The date was the last thing on her mind. "I mean, not yet. Adrien is coming to my bakery for an interview. Like, RIGHT NOW. What am I going to do? I don't have any questions for him!"
She could almost hear Alya laughing. "Calm down, girl! You asked the right person for help, that's for sure. Don't worry, I can send you a list of questions. I'm sure you'll like them."
"Thank you, thank you, Alya!" Marinette exclaimed. "I'll bring some treats from the bakery for you tomorrow!" She used her arm to prop her phone to her ear so she could zip up the dress she was putting on at the same time.
"Alright, I'll send them to you now. You got this!" With that, Alya ended the call.
Marinette took a deep breath before quickly finishing her preparations, and then she headed downstairs into the bakery. She glanced around the room, looking for the perfect interview spot. She decided to pick the cute, circular corner table for the interview and hurriedly wiped it down.
Thankfully, there weren't any customers at this time of day, so she poked her head out the door and switched the open sign to closed. That should give her the time and privacy she needed for her interview with Adrien. With the remaining time, she packed some macarons that she planned to gift to Adrien as an appreciation gift. Finally, now that she was done setting everything up and having nothing else to do, she decided to clean some dishes to pass the time and wait for him to arrive.
The familiar, delicate chime of the doorbell announced Adrien's arrival barely a few moments later.
"Hi Marinette!" He greeted her cheerfully, giving her a wave as he walked in. Marinette looked up in surprise - she hadn't expected him get here at four on the dot - and promptly dropped the plate she was cleaning. She winced when it shattered into a thousand pieces.
"A-Adrien!" She stuttered in reply, hastily kicking the broken plate out of the way to hide the mess she'd made. She made a mental note to clean it up after he left. "T-Thank coming for you! I mean, thank you coming for! Ah, no, thank you for coming!" she amended, hating how just one piercing look from those gorgeous green eyes could turn her into a pile of mush. She wasn't even into showbiz, or liked celebrities that much! But there was something about Adrien that dazzled her. Not just her. He seemed to have a mysterious power that dazzled everyone.
She chased the thought away. What was she thinking? The boy she liked was Chat Noir, not Adrien! Not that Chat Noir liked you back, a voice reminded her dryly. She groaned inwardly. Sometimes even her mind seemed to be against her.
"Don't worry about it! Anything to help yo - my Alma mater! And sorry for scheduling the interview for today without asking you first. My schedule is pretty packed for the rest of this month," he explained sheepishly, his expression looking so adorable that it made Marinette melt inside. She could only shake her head to tell him that she didn't mind the sudden interview. "Besides, your bakery has the most delicious macarons. I wouldn't miss them for anything!" he winked conspiringly.
Marinette almost blurted that he could have anything in the bakery for free before she caught herself. At this rate, if you start offering everything to all the boys you like, your family will go bankrupt, she scolded herself before shaking her head. Taking this as a good sign, she handed the box she had prepared to him. "By the way, this is for you! It's on the house," she explained. "Think of it as, ah, my way of thanking you for doing an interview with me."
Adrien beamed at her. "Wow, thank you, Marinette! They look amazing! And you remembered that my favorite flavor is passion fruit!"
She ducked her head in embarrassment. "Er, I only remembered because one of my f-friends also likes them," she mumbled, an image of Chat Noir popping into her head. Her cheeks flushed as she imagined him smirking at her.
A sly smile danced at the corner of Adrien's lips, as though the model knew something that she didn't. "Oh, do you? Who are they? I'm sure we'd make great friends!" he said jokingly.
She shook her head. "Uh - don't worry about it! It's not like I'll ever see him again," she murmured sadly, averting her gaze. She didn't notice the searching look he gave her.
"What? How dare he make you sad," Adrien declared, his eyes flashing with anger and something else that she couldn't quite decipher.
"N-No! It wasn't his fault! He...had his reasons." Marinette said hastily, wondering why she was even defending him when she didn't know the real reason he'd left. Deep down, she did know, but she didn't want to bring herself to admit that he was right, that leaving meant that she would be safe from Hawk Moth. She did have faith in him, though, knowing that he hadn't meant to hurt her with his decision. She trusted him. He would never hurt her.
She inhaled deeply when she heard her phone buzz in her pocket, telling her that Alya had just texted her the list of interview questions. "A-Anyway! I-I don't want to keep you, so let's get started. Thank you again for doing this interview for my project." She studied the list her friend had sent and picked the first question. "What inspired you to become a model?"
Adrien looked thoughtful as he considered his response. "Hmm. I knew it was what my father wanted for me, at first. But later, it also became what I wanted for myself, if that makes any sense. I'd grown up being surrounded by fashionistas and models, and having a father with his own product line was really the icing on the cake. I started modeling when I was young, and I discovered that I actually really liked it. And it just kind of took off from there."
Marinette was completely engrossed as she listened to his answer. "Wow," she breathed in awe. "I can't imagine growing up with a person as amazing as your father. That's so inspiring."
"Thank you, Marinette," he said sincerely. "I'm honored to hear that."
Compared to other celebrities who loved any and all kinds of attention, Adrien was down to earth and humble. No wonder he had so many fans, Marinette couldn't help musing. If she didn't have a crush on Chat Noir, she would probably fall for Adrien. Chat Noir...
She quickly dismissed her thoughts and checked Alya's questions for inspiration. "Do you have any advice for someone who's looking to go into a similar field?"
"You're interested in becoming a fashion designer, right?" Adrien clarified. Marinette couldn't believe he had actually remembered this fact about her just from sharing one brief conversation. He probably interacted with thousands of fans everyday, and yet he had remembered her dream.
She nodded. "Yes, I am! And wow, you remembered!"
He grinned at her, his bright smile infectious. Marinette found herself smiling back at him despite herself. "I make it a habit to remember at least some facts about all my fans, if I can. It's the least I can do for them for all their support," he explained before continuing, "Anyway, putting yourself out there is definitely a good start, so it's great that you're joining my father's contest! It can get pretty tough sometimes, especially in a field like ours, but one piece of advice is to always keep your head high and don't let anyone bring you down. No matter what, keep fighting and doing what you love, and I'm sure you'll get there!"
Adrien gazed at her fondly, then reached across the table almost as though to pat her head. He caught himself and sat back down hastily, covering his actions with a cough.
Marinette though, was too busy furiously jotting down his advice to notice. "I'll definitely keep that in mind, and I'll try my best. Thank you so much!"
"No big. Do you have any other questions that I can help answer?"
She looked down at the list thoughtfully before deciding on the next question. "Hmm...oh, I know! If you could go into any other field, which one would it be?"
"That's an interesting question," he remarked bemusedly, taking his time to answer. "Hmm. Maybe I'd be a thief," he said, almost jokingly.
"A-A thief?" Marinette squeaked, instantly thinking of Chat Noir again. She hated that stupid cat for always sneaking into her thoughts at the most inopportune times. "Why would you choose be a thief, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Doesn't it sound thrilling?" Adrien responded, a smirk dancing at the corner of his lips. "Why, do you not like thieves, Marinette?"
His question made her blush. "I-I do like them! They're c-cool. And handsome. No, ah, I mean, just cool!" she stuttered, clearing her throat when she wasn't able to form a coherent response. Why did she have to become tongue-tied at a time like this?
She had to change the subject before she said something even more embarrassing."A-Anyway, moving on to the next question..."
She glanced back at the list, snorting when she saw how ridiculous some of the questions were, like the one that asked if Adrien had any deep, dark secrets that he could share (not that he would have any, she guessed). Besides those, though, she had to admit that the questions Alya had shared were pretty good. She made a mental note to thank her best friend for saving her on this project.
That was when she spotted one of the remaining questions, and she smirked as she read, Ask him if Nino is single! This would be the perfect way to repay Alya for her kindness. "This question isn't really related to the interview, if that's okay," she said. "I'm asking this for a friend, but is uh, Nino single?"
The model raised an eyebrow at her. "You're not interested in Nino, are you?"
"O-Of course I'm not!" Marinette said quickly. "I...I actually have a date in an hour with another guy who's not Nino. But a-anyway, this is for my friend!"
Adrien's frown deepened at those words. "You have a date with another guy, eh?" he muttered, more to himself than to her. He sounded almost...bitter. But he was a celebrity, and he couldn't, no, shouldn't care about her love life. Right?
Marinette blinked, and his strange expression was gone, so sudden that she thought perhaps she had imagined it.
"Your friend...oh! Alya, right? Nino mentioned her to me before, and judging from his body language, he's definitely interested in her. Just between us, he's very single." He winked at her, changing the subject back to her friend.
"That's great!" Marinette beamed at him. She couldn't wait to tell her friend the good news. "Those were all the questions I had, so we're good to go. Thank you so, so much. I don't want to take up too much of your time, so please feel free to leave when you're ready!"
"You never take up too much time of my time, Marinette," Adrien murmured softly, gazing at her imploringly as he stood up. His words and intense gaze made her breath catch. This was only the third time they'd met, but sometimes his actions seemed like he saw her as a close friend, not just another fan. She longed to know what he truly thought of her, but she didn't dare ask.
"I like your dress, by the way," he added in a louder voice to change the subject.
She blushed at his compliment. "T-Thank you! I designed it myself."
"That's amazing, Marinette! I'm sure you'll do just fine in our design contest," he praised, making her cheeks burn even more.
She didn't know why she was reacting this way around Adrien, when her feelings were reserved only for Chat Noir. She swung her head from side to side to clear her thoughts. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about that. She had a date with Nathaniel. It wouldn't be fair to him if she was thinking about two guys who were both out of her reach.
Why did her love life have to be so messed up, anyway?
She sighed in frustration before turning back to Adrien.
"Well, thank you again! I hope I'll get to see you around?" she asked hopefully as she walked him to the door.
"I hope so too," Adrien agreed, but Marinette couldn't help noticing that his eyes looked sad. "And good luck in the contest!" With that, he waved to her in farewell and left, leaving Marinette standing by the door in a daze.
She'd somehow managed to survive her interview with Adrien, but could she survive her date with Nathaniel?
A/N: Wow, I can't believe we're already at 100 reviews! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, and thank you for all your support! I wouldn't be here without all of you beloved readers! :)
Actually, I lied in the last chapter preview! I decided to add one more part before the date with Nathaniel, hehehe. Hope it's worth it! Please look forward to it in the next chapter! :)
Hope everyone stay safe and take care of yourself in these rough times!
Next chapter preview - Marinette goes on her date with Nathaniel, but things don't go exactly as planned and someone crashes their date...