"All right, class! It's time to get busy with our next assignment!"

Mr. Monlataing stood in the middle of the room, waving a wet paintbrush in his hand. He reminded Kat of a conductor leading an imaginary orchestra. The students all sat with similar paintbrushes at their easels.

"Today, we are going to be listening to music."

"Then what's with all the paint?" Asked a boy.

"Good question, Antoine," Mr. Monlataing declared. His imaginary orchestra directing reached a crescendo as he pointed his brush at the boy. "The goal today is to paint how the music sounds."

"How can you paint sounds?" asked one kid.

"Yeah. It's not like sounds have colors," said another.

"Aha!" Their teacher exclaimed. "That is only partially correct. Logically, sounds do not have colors. But sounds can be associated with colors! Does the bass feel yellow? Or blue? Or is it black? It's completely up to you! Personally, I think that the bass is a very very dark blue."

"I think it's stupid," muttered Antoine, just loudly enough so that everyone could hear.

"I'm sorry you think that," said Mr. Monlataing. "But this is still an assignment, and you might just enjoy it."

"I'm sure we'll all enjoy it," Kat piped up. "I took an art class one time and my teacher had us do this exercise. I really liked it."

"Ah, another artist is among us!"

"Well, I-I don't know about that…"

"Let's get started!" Mr Monlataing started the music.

"This'll be a piece of cake for you, music man," Kat laughed. Luka, who sat next to her, laughed as well.

"I do like music."

Kat listened and painted, though she didn't necessarily paint exactly what she heard. She could imagine individual sounds as colors, but when they all went together, her thoughts got as muddled as if she mixed all the paint together. So, mostly she just chose a color and built on it. A few minutes later, Luka groaned in frustration.

"Having trouble?"

"Yes! I can make tunes out of anything, and I'm having trouble with this, of all things."

"Try this," Kat said, turning to Luka. "Hum a middle C."

He did.
"Now, how does that feel?"

"Fine, I guess."

"All right, so we'll assign that the color green. Now, think about how sound and light correlate. Both travel in waves. The color green has a medium light wavelength, just like middle C has a medium sound wavelength. More or less, anyway. The lower the notes go, the more blue it gets. The higher they are, the more red."

Something seemed to click, and Luka leapt into his work. Not long after, Luka had a beautiful symphony of color on his canvas. Kat nodded appreciatively at his work.

"Looking good, Luka."

"Thanks. Yours looks awesome, too."
"Aw, thanks."

"Ah!" Exclaimed Mr. Monlataing. He had snuck up behind them to observe their work. "We are in the presence of two geniuses!"

Kat rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Well, I don't know about me. I'm not what you should call a genius. But Luka is!"

"I'm not really a genius, either," said Luka. "Kat had to help me."

"Oh, you two. So humble. These–" Mr. Monlataing turned their canvases to face the class. "-are perfect examples of what this assignment is all about. Capturing the feeling of song!"

Kat couldn't help but feel a little guilty at the praise. All she had done was choose a color and make a pretty picture. If she were honest with herself, she hadn't even been listening to the music for the last half an hour. From the look on Luka's face, Kat suspected he felt the same. At least class was nearly over. The bell rang and a small stampede of teens exited their classes. Kat and Luka chatted amiably until Marinette walked by.

"Hey, Marinette," the blue-haired teen greeted.

"Hi, Luka. Oh!" Mari noticed Kat trying to sink into the background. "It's you! Um…Kat, right?"

"You know each other?" Luka asked.

"You could say that," Kat replied in a quiet voice.

"Yeah, we've met before…" Mari paused thoughtfully. Kat couldn't stop her heart from hoping that maybe, just maybe, Marinette might remember her. Disappointment set in when Mari shook her head and smiled. More students flooded into the hall, including a boy with cherry red hair. Nathaniel stopped in the middle of the hallway. Kat smiled shyly at him.

"You're that girl that ran into me," he said. Kat nodded, not sure if she could trust her voice. Luka looked from her to him to Mari.

"Miss Kat!" A voice came from behind them. It was Principal Damocles. "I'm so sorry. I didn't realize until just a few minutes ago that I sent you to the wrong grade. If you'll come with me, I'll help you get everything sorted out."

Kat looked from Luka to Marinette to Adrien to Nathaniel. Cicily's words echoed in her mind. It hurts to lose, but love heals. The girl came to a decision. Even if it hurt, she was going to be with her friends again. She didn't care what it took, or how it happened, she wasn't going to abandon these amazing people.

"Actually, Principal Damocles, I'd like to stay in this grade after all."

"Your aunt said you might. Let's just go to my office and sort everything out."

"Yes, sir."

Hello, my wonderful readers! As promised, I am updating a little more often. And now there are more scenes with Luka (you're welcome, Luka fans). I hope you liked it!