The dining hall was about a ten minute walk from our dorm building. I walked on Nino's left, and Adrien took the right, though he trailed just a few steps behind. Nino and I shared our orientation experiences with Adrien making an occasional comment. We saw other small groups of students walking together, many talking about the akuma attack. From what I overheard, it had been the first time seeing one for many students, whether they were international or simply lived on the outskirts of France.

"I can't believe we actually saw them. Ladybug was so amazing!" exclaimed one girl rather excitedly.

"She sure is," I heard Adrien say from his right, as if it were a breath he had been holding in all night.

Nino stopped completely in his tracks and turned around to face Adrien. "Oh my God we have a Ladybug fan here. Glad to see my roommate is a man of good taste," he said as he slapped a hand over the blonde's shoulder.

Adrien paused for a bit, looking flustered. "I mean who wouldn't be? She's probably the smartest girl in Paris, and, let's face it, the city would be lost without her," he said, shuffling around and avoiding eye contact with Nino. He seemed so genuine when he said that. His eyes seemed to light up, and he seemed as if he truly cared about her.

"Oh ho ho," Nino started, "it looks like somebody has a little crush. I guess a rich, pretty boy like you would have his sights set pretty high."

"Nino," I scolded, "stop teasing him. Everybody has a celebrity crush. Plus, Adrien already has a girlfriend, right?"

"Whoa whoa whoa. You have a girlfriend. As your roommate I should know these things, dude," Nino spluttered.

Adrien stood there, looking incredibly confused. "I don't have a girlfriend. Why would you think that?"

"I mean," I paused in shock. Could I not stop making a fool of myself in front of this boy? "I saw you with that girl, the blonde one, the other day. I guess I assumed…"

"Oh," Adrien exclaimed with a look of understanding, "That was Chloe. She's a childhood friend and she can be… a lot. She's super great once you get to know her. I mean, she was my only friend growing up, so we have always been pretty tight."

My eyes widened in embarrassment as I replied, "Oh my God I am so sorry! I just thought since she, ya know, and you were standing there and… oh my God I'm still embarrassing myself and…"

"Hey, don't worry about it," Adrien chuckled, "Chloe can be touchy, so I understand. However, I didn't take you as the type to get flustered."

"I-I'm not…"

"Damn Mari," Nino interjected with a mischievous smile, "not even I could get you to blush like that. Anything else on your mind?"

I stood there confused for a second. What could he be inferring? "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Wait," Adrien interrupted, "are you two dating?"

Nino and I responded by awkwardly looking at each other before bursting out into a hearty laugh.

"No, not currently, at least," I replied. "We used to date, in our sophomore and junior years of high school. We decided we were better as friends though."

"Yeah," said Nino, "plus she couldn't keep this tiger caged. I'm a ladies' man after all. She had to share the wealth a bit," he finished with a wink.

I rolled my eyes and laughed. Just like that, all of the awkwardness passed. As we kept walking we discussed our classes and goals. Adrien seemed to warm up to me, and started to speak up more. He was planning on majoring in business, just like me, though he didn't seem too sure. We both seemed so boring next to Nino, who was planning to major in music, more specifically in digital music. For as long as I could remember Nino loved to mix samples for music, and had even released some of his own, though locally. He was good at it too. Just about our whole high school loved his music, and many students would even pay for one of his CDs.

Though I wouldn't like to admit it, I had always been a little jealous of him. He had this passion, and he was really good at it too. I always had little things I liked, like fashion and rock and roll, but nothing I ever saw myself truly doing with my life. In high school, all I really had was being Ladybug. It was what made me special. In my civilian life, nothing really made me stand out. I was just a klutzy girl with decent grades, but no real purpose. I supposed it was nothing to worry about. After all, I had a lot of time to figure it all out. With college approaching and my month-long hiatus from being Ladybug, my worries returned. It felt like I was just floating through this whole college thing with no real purpose.

Adrien's hesitation about majoring in business provided a bit of consolation for me. It was nice to have someone else floundering through this whole thing just as much as I was. He seemed nonchalant when he said it, but I could sense a hint of worry under his cool persona. Maybe I was just reading too into it, but something about the way he looked down and brushed his slightly too long, messy blonde locks out of the way told me he was at least a little worried about it. Unknowingly, he was able to make me feel just a bit better about not knowing exactly what I wanted. He let me know it was okay.

We each walked into the dining hall and each got our meals. The akuma from earlier was definitely right about the food, it was less than stellar. It was something I expected, however, as nothing could beat Maman's cooking. I grabbed a plate of pasta and a small bowl of vegetable soup with a baguette on the side. We found a booth-style table and sat ourselves down. Nino had gotten almost everything, and wouldn't stop raving about how many options there were. He had even stocked up on desserts and had a big plate of brownies and cookies. I rolled my eyes at him, but let him enjoy his food. Adrien, on the other hand, had the exact opposite. He had a small salad with a slab of chicken as his protein. It seemed lacking for a dinner, especially for a boy his age. I supposed that he did look rather thin. He wasn't unhealthy per se, but a bit gaunt. If Maman had seen him she would immediately stuff his face with our baked goods. Storing the information in the back of my mind, I decided to let it go for now.

"So," Nino started in between bites, "what classes are you guys signing up for tomorrow?"

There was a long silence as Adrien and I awkwardly glanced at one another. It was pretty clear that neither of us were completely sure. I decided to break the silence.

"To be honest I'm not completely sure. I mean, there are some requirements I'm going to try and get out of the way like Econ 101, but other than that…"

"Come on Mari," Nino exclaimed, "there has to be something that has piqued your ever refined interests."

"Well," I began, "I did run into some of the art studios while I was touring the library's media center. A really nice guy showed me around and got me thinking that I might try a sculpting class."

"Oh so we have an artist," Nino replied with a big, goofy grin.

"It's just an elective," I replied with a huff. "Adrien, what are you thinking of taking?"

"I'm not really sure either. I've always liked Physics though, so maybe I'll give that a try."

"Oh no," Nino gasped, "my roommate is a brainiac!"

Adrien gave a sigh and continued to eat. Looking closely at him I noticed a small hint of a smile on his face from Nino's antics.

After Nino somehow managed to finish all of his plates, we returned our dishes and headed back to our dorm building. The night had a nice breeze, and with my full stomach I was finally able to look at the place that was now my home. It was bigger than my suburb, with huge skyscrapers surrounding us. From the distance, I could see the Eiffel Tower, and my mind was brought once again to Chat. I was glad to see my partner again, and was excited for our next patrol. It was also nice actually living in Paris now. Though swinging into the city wasn't too difficult or time consuming as Ladybug, it somehow felt like I was closer to Chat. I had always assumed he was from Paris as he had seemed pretty familiar with its layout from the beginning. A part of me was wondering how close he was and what he was doing. The more rational part of me, however, knew that knowing that would only endanger him. Nevertheless, I was happy just knowing that he was nearby, somewhere.

After saying goodbye to Nino and Adrien, I entered my hall. As I was walking to my dorm, I noticed Alya and Juleka's dorm was open with a large group inside. I knocked on the door to announce my appearance, and saw Kagami, Rose, Mylene, and Juleka watching as Alya showed off something on her laptop.

"Marinette!" Alya pretty much shouted, "You'll never believe this. Look at these pictures I got for the Ladyblog! I was actually able to get a shot of Ladybug and Chat on the Eiffel Tower, plus it looks like they're pretty cozy together!"

I put on a smile, but silently cursed myself inside. I had put my head on his shoulder as a friendly gesture, and Chat knew that. I'd be stupid to forget his old crush on me though. He was never exactly subtle about it. I didn't want Chat to see these pictures and feel awkward about it. It's not like he would get the wrong idea; we were long past that. It just felt like rubbing salt in the wound. In between my senior and junior year, I had confronted him about it, and had to let him down for both of our safety. I couldn't let him keep pining for me, it had only been a matter of time before Hawkmoth used it against him. I couldn't bear to see Chat get hurt. I knew that articles like the one I was looking at on Alya's computer would only serve as a reminder of my rejection. I hated it. I hated it all. Chat was such a great guy, and though he could be a little goofy, he was the most caring person I think I had ever met. Outside of his nasty habit of risking his life for me all the time, he would always notice if I were down or upset, and would go out of his way to make me feel better. I had always felt happier after seeing him. I just didn't want him to hurt.

"That's a really good shot Alya!" I said. "Isn't that kind of a private moment though?"

Alya looked down for a second, and I worried that I had offended her. "Yes, but maybe they wanted us to see? Maybe this is them making it official. After all, they were on top of Paris's main attraction."

I wanted to face palm, but I just smiled and let the rest of the girls talk and keep gawking at the screen. Alya seemed to be a hardcore journalist. Great, my neighbor is hell-bound on revealing all of my secrets. Nevertheless, it seemed like Alya really respected Ladybug. She was critiquing her work, saying that it didn't quite do Ladybug justice. It was nice to see someone so grateful for all my secret identity does. She didn't just focus on me defeating the akuma, but had many articles on the individual citizens I helped. It was nice to see.

As it got later, I decided to go to bed for the night. As I settled into the sheets, however, I found myself worrying about how many credits I should take with being Ladybug. After all, I wanted to keep my GPA up, but I couldn't neglect my duties. Plus, I wanted to see Chat more. I wondered if I'd even have time for sculpting. As I was drifting off, I decided I'd take the class and drop it if it ended up being too much.

Chapter 4 is up! (On the day I promised!) So yes, chapters will now be posted on Sundays. As I move forward, I want to hear more from you guys! I'll post a question for you at the end of each chapter. This week's question for the readers: What are your favorite MLB ships? I hope everyone stays safe and has a wonderful week!