The next morning I got up on time and took a shower after brushing my teeth, thinking back to last night's hallucination. Her face looked so much like his had, that it was burned into my brain and refused to leave. Ladybug wasn't him though. He was in another country, six feet underground and quite possibly rotting in the deepest pits of hell or maybe even rotting away in Tartarus from the Greek myths. Either way, he couldn't touch me here. He couldn't touch me again.

I sighed and grabbed the pill bottle from the sink as I stepped out of the shower, not looking in the mirror. If I did before taking my pills, I would see him instead of my reflection. I take my pills and gulp them down with water, keeping my eyes away from the mirror as I brushed my hair with Neeks' help.

"Jasper, I want you to be careful, okay? Hawkmoth can't target you because I'm here, but I don't want you to be depressed or so lost in thought over why you hallucinated him anyway. I don't like seeing my special pup sad." He bumped his head against my cheek and I smiled, cradling him close before letting go and walking out of the bathroom. I pulled on some clothes, my necklace, and some black converse, before grabbing my bag and walking out of my room.

"Good morning, sweetie. Do you want some breakfast?" My mom asked as I walked out of my room, her head poking around the corner of the hallway. I nodded and walked closer, frowning when I saw her frown. "Jasper, your hair is still really uneven. Come here and let me brush it for you." I nodded once again and went to her, closing my eyes as she grabbed the comb she kept in her pocket and started to brush my hair out as evenly as she could.

"Are you having fun at school?" She asked, running her hand through my hair as she looked for any knots. Her touch was warm and comforting. She was safe. I shrugged, a scratchy noise leaving my throat as I tried to express my happiness and thankfulness as she continued to fix my hair. I could make some sounds. I really could. But most days I figured that if I can't talk, I may as well stay eternally silent. It hurt to make sounds, anyway.

"Have you made any friends?" She stopped fixing my hair, giving it a gentle ruffle to make it a little unruly but not as crazy as it had been before she fixed the terrible job Neeks and I had done. I thought long and hard about her question, following her into the kitchen where she began to make me something to eat. Once again, I shrugged.

Did I make friends?

Is Nathanael my friend?

What about those four kids?

I grabbed my notebook, beginning to write a more solid response for mom.

"The boy who sits next to me is really nice. He gives me space when I need it and doesn't push for questions. He's a really good draw-er, mom. I bet you would get along with him."

I tapped the pencil in my hand on the counter to get her attention, letting her read it. She laughed ever so slightly and smiled in that way only mothers can. "Draw-er isn't a word, baby. They are either artists, illustraitors, or painters."

"But the word "artist" applies to many creative things, so why can't draw-er be one? Because that's what they do; they draw." I wrote.

"I think it'd probably be because it's a little awkward to say and its spelled exactly like drawer. I don't think people would understand as much as you hope they would. Also, I'm fairly sure that illustraitors cover that category of art."

I pouted a little at her words before shrugging, "Whatever. Either way he's crazy good at drawing and even has his own little story drawn out with him as a superhero! It's really cool!"

Mom set the plate of pancakes down in front of my and I began to eat as mom read what I wrote, and she nodded. "Bring him over some time. Maybe I could give him some pointers!" She smiled brightly and ruffled my hair again, before walking towards her room. "You have fifteen minutes to finish eating, unless you want to be late!" She called with the goodbye wave she always gives me before getting another hour or two of sleep and then jumping right into her work.

Neeks came out from his hiding place once the door to mom's room closes, and I cut away a small piece of chocolate chip pancake to give to the Kwami. "Thanks, Jasper!" He laughed happily as he eats the piece in a few bites, happy whines much like a dog's escaping him as his mouth fills with the melted chocolate. His tail was wagging like crazy, causing me to let out a silent, breathy laugh. I swear I saw him blush when he realized how he was behaving.

"Hey, don't laugh! Your mom makes the most amazing pancakes!"

I smiled and shook my head lightly, lightly tapping the Kwami on his nose as I went to work cleaning my dishes. Silly Kwami.

After cleaning the dishes I packed a good handful of candies for Neeks and grabbed my bag, Neeks hiding himself away in my jacket pocket once again, and together we headed for school.

As I reached the steps of the school I hear the sound of a car pull up and stop. Curious to see who was just arriving, I turned and watched as the blond boy in that group of four get out of the limo. What was his name? Oh, yes, Adrien!

Adrien sighed as he got out, quickly closing the door and walking towards the boy he sits next to in class. Nino, right? Oh, it's going to take me forever to remember all their names...

"Oh, hey, Jasper." I jumped slightly at the sound of Chat's voice, looking around to find the source.

"Sorry, did I startle you?" The voice spoke again, making me wonder just where that dang cat was before realizing that, wait a minute, Chat doesn't know me. Instead, it's Adrien and Nino, Adrien looking a little sheepish. Oh, he was the one talking to me.

I shook my head quickly, scrambling to get out a pencil to write in my notebook.

"No, no! It's okay, I just... Thought I heard someone else's voice. I got confused."

"Really? I'm sorry I wasn't that person then." Adrien smiled and I gave him a reassuring smile in return. Why did I think he was Chat? Why are their voices similar? I couldn't understand my own thoughts. Maybe I'm tired.

"It's okay." I showed them after I flipped to the page with the words on it. I flipped back to a blank page as we started walking to the classroom, and Nino started talking. "So, Jasper, do you play any video games?"

I nodded and began writing, "Yes, I play some video games... Why do you ask?"

"Well, Adrien and I were planning to hang out and play some video games tomorrow at six if he's free, and I figured maybe you'd like to come too? We'd like to be your friends, and what better way to do that than hang out together?" Nino sighed and crossed his arms behind his head, resting his head in his hands.

I stared in shock, blinking a few times as I tried to process what he asked. I slowly began writing, "You... Want to hang out with me...?"

This time it was Adrien who spoke. "Yeah! You're really interesting, and you seem like a nice person to be around."

"But aren't you freaked out by me?"

"Why should we be? Dude, you look cool! Your hair and eyes are so rad!"

"I can't talk." As I showed this to them, I tapped the paper as if to make a point that talking would be rather important to the situation.

"That's no bother to us! Right, Adrien?" Nino grinned and looked at Adrien, who smiled and nodded quickly. "Yeah, it's okay that you can't talk. You have your notebook, and we can even come up with a way for you to talk to us without it if you want. We won't leave you out of the conversations or anything, promise!" Adrien made the criss cross motion on his heart, which made me smile and giggle ever so slightly.

I began to write once again, "I get it. You really want to be my friends. Thank you, I think I'll join you if you want me to. But you have to let me know whose house it is and where that person lives, because I don't know where you guys live."

"It's most likely going to be at my house unless Adrien's dad suddenly decides that he likes me." Nino said, a slight tone of annoyance in his voice as he spoke about Adrien's dad. I looked at Adrien to see a sad look in his eyes, before looking down at my notepad and starting to write again.

"Do you... Have problems with your dad?" I showed them hesitantly, hiding my face behind the notebook except for my eyes. After a few minutes I lowered the notebook without meeting their eyes, quickly writing, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to!"

Adrien laughed nervously and moved the notebook away. "Hey, it's okay. Yeah, my father... He can be a bit controlling."

"'A bit'? Adrien, he didn't even want you going to a public school to make friends! You snuck out to come here at least once!"

Adrien looked a bit surprised by what Nino said, and he laughed nervously. "Oh yeah, I guess you are right about that... But he's really not that bad."

I watched them talk quietly, my hand going up to my throat as I thought about what Adrien said. That motion seemed to catch Adrien's eye and he turned to me. "Hey, are you okay? You aren't in pain, are you?" He asked, worried, and he placed a hand on my shoulder. I nodded at his first question, then shook my head at the next one. I once again flipped to the page that said, "I'm okay," and showed it to him. I tapped a small spot in the corner, showing the message "No pain."

Adrien smiled and sighed in relief. "That's good. Shall we go to class then?" At this, Nino and I nod, and together the three of us head to homeroom.