Alya
As she walked to school, Alya fidgeted nervously. Why did her father have a file on Marinette? He only has them on his patients who come in for therapy. Why on earth would Marinette even be there? She was about to open the file when the front door opened, causing her to rush out the room. If her dad found out she was looking at patient files, he would be pissed.
Now as she observed Adrien walking Marinette to school, Alya wondered how much the new girl wasn't telling them. Adrien was smitten with Marinette even if she couldn't tell, Alya was worried whatever Marinette was hiding was bad for them. She stopped herself, no, Marinette has been kind and open with them. And if she wanted to take advantage of them she would have by now.
Before she could further drive herself insane thinking over it, Nino snuck up behind her. "Hey! What's got you staring at them this morning? It's only the same thing that has been going on since last week. She talks and he smiles and nods because he is mentally incapable of doing anything else around her." He grinned at his own comment. Making fun of his bro's crush has become one of his favorite pastimes as of late. And Adrien made it way to easy for him.
Alya shook her head clear, deciding it best to keep Nino clear of this mess for now. "It's just sad how obvious he is and oblivious she is. At this rate, we could be watching this painful dance a year from now."
Nino shrugged, "So tell her."
Alya glared at him, "Don't you think it would be better out of Adrien's mouth and not ours?" Nino shrugged, keeping his reply to himself as Alya's latest ship approached them.
"Hey guys," Marinette greeted, with Adrien nodding at them behind her.
"Hey girl, so you and sunshine walked to school together again. Is there something you two care to tell us?" Alya wiggled her eyebrows suggestively as Nino smirked.
Marinette smiled as she shook her head, "No, we are just really good friends." Alya forced a smile as she walked alongside Marinette into the school, careful not to look at the dejected Adrien. He looked so defeated and it broke her heart. Maybe she should record Adrien's reaction next time and show it to Marinette... No, Adrien deserves to tell her on his own time, not forced into by her. That wouldn't be fair to him.
Nino put his hand on Adrien's shoulder comfortingly, "It's okay bro. Things will improve, I'm sure of it!" Adrien shrugged, unsure at the moment. Marinette seemed to only think of him as a friend and at his current rate, Adrien wasn't sure he would ever escape the friendzone. He would just have to try harder.
Marinette
As they waited for Ms. Mendeleiev to come to teach math, Alya chatted with Adrien and Nino while Marinette worked on her design for Adrien's birthday present. After hearing about his not too great home life, she had been planning on making sure he had at least one reason to be happy. Keeping it a secret would be troublesome with all the curious eyes around her, but she would find a way to keep them back.
When Ms. Mendeleiev called the class to attention, she closed her sketchbook and slipped it back into her bag. Two rows behind her, another artist didn't stop drawing. Nathaniel kept gong at his sketch, ignoring the events around him. Alix glanced over at him and gave her friend a nudge, knowing the cranky physics teacher hated it when students didn't give her their full attention. Alix had been in too many of those and if Nathaniel got in trouble, she might end up going down with him. She nudged him again, only to receive a glare before he went back to work. Alix sighed and gave up, deciding to let detention with Ms. Mendeleiev teach him a lesson.
It didn't take long for Ms. Mendeleiev to notice Nathaniel not paying attention in class. "Mr. Kurtzberg, would you come up here to show the rest of the class what is more interesting than my lecture?" Nathaniel's face went red as he shook his head, startled speechless. Everyone looked back at him, both curious and sympathetic to him. Ms. Mendeleiev didn't care, this was mathematics, not art class. "Come down at once and show me your paper."
Reluctantly Nathaniel picked up his sketchbook and slowly walked down the stairs, avoiding the gaze of his classmates. Unfortunately, he tripped over Ivan's bag, landing flat on his face in the aisle between Marinette and Kim. His sketchbook landed open next to Chloe, who immediately picked it up. "Ooooh, what is this?" Chloe sneered, holding up the sketchbook. Everyone saw the almost complete sketch of Marinette sitting on a bench in front of a sunset. "Looks like Nathaniel has a crush on Maritrash!"
Marinette blushed while Adrien felt his hand tightened on his textbook, unsure if he was mad at Chloe or getting defensive over Nathaniel seeming to have an interest in Marinette. Nino, on the other hand, swore he heard Adrien growl like a wild animal.
"Give it back!" Nathaniel tried to snatch his sketchbook back from Chloe, but she moved swiftly out of his reach, laughing as he fell again. Chloe's laughter was cut short when someone else took it from her. Turning around, Chloe met Marinette's ice-cold glare. The designer shot her a cold look before handing the sketchbook back to Nathaniel, giving the shy artist a kind smile.
Adrien growled again as Nathaniel blushed harder, doing his best not to do something he would regret. Nino leaned over to whisper, "Dude, chill out or we will have put you down. And we both remember what happens when Alya gets violent." Adrien felt a chill go down his spine, forcing himself to relax as Marinette sat down again. She glanced at him, wondering what got him so worked up.
Ms. Mendeleiev inspected the sketch, "You have talent, but there is a time and place. See me in my homeroom after school for detention. I hope you will ensure to focus on the subject being taught instead of your sketchbook in the future." Nathaniel nodded, face red with embarrassment. His secret crush on Marinette was most likely exposed by now and he never felt for embarrassed.
Marinette observed the shy artist feeling bad for him, glaring at Chloe again. Looking back at the board, she immersed herself in the lecture. On her desk, her phone lit up with a message from Alya.
Alya: that sucks for Nathaniel, now he has detention on his B-Day
Marinette frowned, it was Nathaniel's birthday? But no one even mentioned it. Sure he wasn't very talkative, but he should still get some kind of recognition for his birthday. A plan started formulating in her head, one that would take up her entire lunch hour.
Alya
It was weird seeing Adrien jealous. It was just something Alya figured he was incapable of, only getting angry at Chloe. Now the blonde model was glaring at Nathaniel across the lunchroom as if waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Marinette had disappeared after class, saying she had to work on something at home. That left Adrien without the distraction of Marinette to keep him from doing something stupid.
"Adrien." He didn't even twitch, glared locked on the artist across the room. "Adrien!" A few eyes looked over, but they soon looked away. Adrien still didn't even acknowledge her, both frustrating and worrying Alya. Nathaniel looked up and spotted Adrien glaring at him, fear written on his face. Fed up with his behavior, she slugged him. Nino jerked back, fearing a fight breaking out.
Adrien turned his glare onto Alya, "What was that for?"
Alya raised an eyebrow, "You were ignoring us and putting the fear of Agreste into Nathaniel. Seriously, Adrien, you need to take a chill pill and relax."
"How am I supposed to do that when he is trying to steal my princess?"
Alya's jaw dropped while Nino stared at him wide-eyed, "Dude, since when did you start calling her that?" Adrien rubbed the back of his neck, staring at the table.
Alya rolled her eyes, "Doesn't matter, Marinette doesn't belong to you until you man up and tell her to her face that you like her. Until then no threatening Nathaniel, at all." Adrien didn't meet her gaze, still staring at the table. Alya sighed, "If you are going to do something stupid, think this first: What would Marinette think?" With that, she left the boys to join the girls headed to the computer lab.
Nino nudged him gently, "What she said, bro. I headed to make some new mixes, wanna come with?" Adrien shook his head, still not looking up from the table. "Okay dude, stay cool!" As Nino walked away, Adrien returned his glare to the exit Nathaniel slipped out a few moments before. The artist clearly noticed the model's glare and knew he did something wrong so he left. What could a little follow up warning hurt?
Adrien immediately shook the thought out of his head, Alya words coming back to him. Marinette would not approve at all, especially after she had been bullied at her old school. She definitely would not speak to him if she heard he threatened Nathaniel in private. Adrien sighed, he would just have to hope he still had a chance. Not for the first time that day, Adrien banged his head into the table. "Ow."
Adrien
He was headed to the locker room, intent on collecting his textbooks when he spotted Nathaniel head into there as well. Adrien groaned, knowing what he had to do. He entered the locker room and located the artist. Nathaniel didn't notice him, trying to pull his physics textbook out of the bottom of the stack of textbooks. "Hey, Nathaniel." The other boy jumped, surprised by Adrien's sudden appearance. Adrien saw the flash of fear in Nathaniel's eyes and his hands up, trying to keep him calm. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to say sorry for glaring at you like that."
Nathaniel regarded him suspiciously, still tensed up. "Then why were you staring at him like you wanted to murder me?"
Adrien hesitated, then explained, "I thought you had a crush on Marinette and felt threatened, I guess. But I think I overreacted and I am sorry for that."
"But I do have a crush on Marinette."
Adrien's blood froze as his thoughts of threatening Nathaniel came back to him. Then he caught himself, knowing it would only make things worse. "Swell, good luck I guess." And he walked away before he could say anything more to the artist that might ruin things with Marinette and make it worse than it already is.
As he opened his locker door, Adrien heard a familiar voice that made him freeze up, "Nathaniel! You got a second?" He peered around the corner cautiously, spotting Marinette holding a bag next to Nathaniel. Forcing himself to stay put, he listened in. "I heard it was your birthday today, so I made this for you. I designed it a while back and I hope you like it. She handed the artist a brown leather messenger bag, with what appeared to be pockets made for sketch pencils. "Happy birthday!"
Nathaniel's face lit up, "Tha-thank you Marinette." He looked down at the ground embarrassed, "So-sorry for drawing that picture of you."
Marinette's smile brightened the whole, making Adrien temporarily forget that he has a rival. "That's okay, I actually thought it was pretty good." She blushed a little, "Do you think I could have one sometime?"
Nathaniel grinned, "Of course!" The first warning bell rang, prompting Marinette to say goodbye and get her books. Adrien banged his head against his locker, yep he was screwed.
Alya
As a journalist, Alya rarely missed anything. Such has Nathaniel's new bag and the small smile on his face. The huge smile of satisfaction on Marinette's face. The look of disappointment and fear on Adrien's face.
Explanation? Marinette made Nathaniel a new bag for his sketchbook during lunchtime and Adrien saw her give it to him. She observed the designer, who was now chatting with Rose about the band she was starting with Juleka. Clearly, Marinette meant well and whatever she was hiding, it probably wouldn't hurt anyone. Alya would wait for Marinette to tell her the secret and not read the file, the girl deserved that much at least.
Nino entered the room, stopping at the sight of miserable Adrien. He glanced at Alya, who shook her head at him not to ask. He shrugged, depressed Adrien.
Marinette
Despite Rose's invite to come over and watch the band, Marinette declined. She had finished the design for Adrien's present in the remaining breaks and was eager to start making it. A big smile on her face, Marinette pulled out her blue fabric to start measuring and cutting.