Ring Ring Ring. I awake to Pluto tapping my nose trying to get me up "Wake up Caleb you slept through your alarm" jolting up I check my phone for the time and see I have ten minutes till school starts. Throwing clothes on and rushing out the door with my bookbag I only have five minutes to get there "Time to Play" transforming I run and jump over everything in my way arriving at school in record time. With only three minutes to spare I hurriedly look for a place to detransform finding a nook and cranny I about to detransform when I hear a voice "Ruff Rider is that you" looking towards the voice I see Arien has spotted me I hide my bookbag from view hoping he won't see it "Hey, you wouldn't mind not telling anyone that I go here" "Don't worry i'll keep your secret safe" with that he leaves. Checking for anyone around me I finally detransform and make it to class with only a few seconds to spare walking past Adrien and Nino I overhear a bit of their conversation "Hey dude who were you talking to" "No one I thought I saw a dog but it was just the wind." Sighing in relief that Adrien will keep his promise I take my seat at the back of class and get my notes out when I hear a whisper "Hey Caleb where is the Angry Birds app" I lean over to my bookbag and whisper "I deleted it" and with that I zip it up only to hear muffled complaining. Suddenly the intercom clicked on " I can not fire a teacher because you said so" "Do you know who I am one of your teachers treated Chloe badly and I want them fired this instance" "I understand but I can't fire a teacher without just cause now if you please calm down maybe" "Fine if you don't fire the teacher who treated my little princess badly then you're fired" "Sir that is highly unorthodox" "You're fired get your things and leave" "I understand i'll leave, oh I didn't mean to press that button." With that the intercom shuts off, did our principal just get fired that's kind of unfair "Okay class just read your textbooks i'll go see what that was about" when the teacher returned she didn't say anything and the rest of the day was filled with tense silence. After class me and Adrien meet up for French lessons "So that was insane what happened today" I say awkwardly when we meet up "Yeah I hope he is alright" "Yeah so what am I learning today" "Today I figured I would teach you descriptive words" it was going pretty good until halfway through the lesson we both got a text 'Emergency there has been an akuma attack please keep inside' "I have to go" we both say at the same time and rush out the door in different directions.
"Time to Play" transforming I run outside and jump up to the school's roof for a better vantage point only to find Cat Noir "Why hello there what brings you to this fine roof" I ask walking over to him "Looking for the akuma what about you" "Oh me, I was in the area and decided we should have a guys night out" "Me and you without M'Lady, that would be cat-astrophic" "Speaking of LadyBug do you know where she is" "No, wait do you see that" Cat Noir points off to the east at LadyBug fighting, my principal "Guess he took being fired pretty badly" Cat Noir mumbles "Wait, do you go here" I ask overhearing him "Well guess the cat is out of the bag" he says jumping off the building to go and assist LadyBug. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop I get there a few moments behind Cat Noir "Hey LB have you figured out where the akuma is" Cat Noir asks swiftly dodging an attack "No, but I think it's in his old class ring" the Principle at that moment turns his attention to me shooting a blast from his ring, rolling to the right it narrowly misses me and hits a man nearby turning him into...a highschool student. Turning my attention back to the principal I see LadyBug use her Lucky Charm which takes the shape of handcuffs "Ruff Rider I need you to get him in a headlock" LadyBug yells over to me, running over to the Principal he points his ring at me and fires off a shot. Sliding underneath of it feeling it pass a few inches above me I slide underneath of him and take out his leg, with him now on the ground I get him into a headlock while LadyBug handcuffs him so she can get his ring off his finger. "Cat Noir can you destroy this" she asks handing him the ring "Anything for M'Lady" he retorts using his cataclysm to destroy the ring "Time to deevilize" standing up releasing the principal from his headlock I look towards the duo "I think we should pay the person who did this a visit and try to change his mind on the whole firing him thing" "Agreed" they both answered at the same time. Arriving at city hall we walk inside and ask to see the mayor "Ah LadyBug and Cat Noir how are you doing this is a fine surprise" the Mayor says as he descends the stairs "We're doing fine but we have come to try and change your mind" LadyBug cooly replies "On what matter might that be" "Firing the principal of Collège Françoise Dupont with unfair reasoning" "Ah yes that small matter maybe I was a bit rash i'll hire him right away" the Mayor looks at me "And who are you" "Ruff Rider" I reply coldly. I can tell already I don't like this guy, looking at LadyBug and Cat Noir I can see by their expressions this might be the first time they saw me be rude. "I see well thank you all for coming around i'm a very busy man so please next time schedule an appointment" the Mayor says ushering us out the door "How about next time don't get a principal akumatized and we won't have this problem" I say before turning around and heading out the door. "Hey Ruff Rider what was that about" LadyBug asks catching up to me "He's only out for himself saying firing someone was just a small deal, it disgusts me" I say throwing my hands in the air to prove my point "I can tell you're leaving cracks in the ground with every footstep" Cat Noir says falling in step next to LadyBug. Looking down I see that I have in fact been stepping so hard that the cement started to break whenever I step "Don't worry i'll be alright you guys should leave before you detransform" I say pointing out they both only have about two minutes before their kwamis need a break and they have to detransform. "Okay just don't do anything rash" "I won't, I promise" with that they both go their separate ways leaving me by myself.
Guess i'll walk home, no I need to stop by the school and get my bookbag and phone. As I was arriving at school my necklace beeped indicating I had five minutes till I need to detransform looking around I find a janitorial closet entering in it I detransform, about to open the door and leave I hear two voices outside "Nino I think Ruff Rider just went into this closet" "Alya if he did do you really think he would want you exposing his identity" "No, but I have to put the blog first" Alya declares sounding really unsure about something she used to be so sure about. "Alya, listen to yourself are you sure you want to do it" "I don't know Nino it's just what kind of reporter does that make me if I don't" "It doesn't make you a reporter it makes you a friend, I have to go Alya so see you tomorrow." Hearing Nino walk away I try and listen for any sign that Alya is still there, not hearing anything I ask a question through the door "Alya, are you still out there" silence, but I hear someone move outside the door. "Alya is that you" "Ruff Rider you can come out I have my eyes closed" "Okay I trust you" walking out of the closet I brace myself ready to be exposed but all that awaits me is Alya with her eyes closed exactly as she said. Walking over to her I start talking "Thank you" "So we go to the same school" "Yes" "Why didn't you deny it" taking her hand I steady my voice and say "Because I can't lie to you, why don't you take your chance and finally find out who I am" "Because I would rather be your friend than be a reporter." Reluctantly dropping her hand I say "I have to go but if you ever want to hang out post something about a bakery and i'll meet you at that one bakery with the good macarons, deal" "Deal, Ruff Rider my phone is by the door recording this" taking her phone I stop the recording and put it back. I head to the classroom to get my bag, I exit through a side entrance to avoid Alya.
(Alya POV)
Hearing Ruff Rider leave I slowly open my eyes once his footsteps are gone, taking in everything that just happened I pick up my phone. I see the recording was stopped, but he didn't delete it. About to hit play I stop myself my mind going back to a previous conversation. "You know you don't have to act the hero when you're around me" "Are you sure you would still want to hang out if I acted like anything else." Deleting the video my phone automatically shows the next one, a video of me jumping on top of Ruff Rider and him promising to answer five questions. Swiping left there is another video, Ruff Rider saving LadyBugs life. Swiping left again, Ruff Rider answering questions right after defeating Dragon. Swiping left again, Ruff Rider personally coming to me and telling me his name. All the videos I kept on my phone even though they are already on the LadyBlog I couldn't get myself to delete them. Heading home I can't stop thinking about what I said, maybe I don't want to be his friend. Maybe I want to be a bit more.
(Caleb POV)
Walking home Pluto asks me "Why didn't you delete the video" "I don't know, maybe I want Alya to find out" "She can never find out you know that" "I know, but sometimes I want to call out her name when I see her but I can't because she doesn't know Caleb. I mean everyone likes Ruff Rider, but will she still want to hang out if she knows that underneath Ruff Rider is someone who keeps to himself and has no friends" "Caleb you have friends, what about Adrien" "I guess you're right Pluto. Only time will tell then" Getting home I check the LadyBlog to see if she posted the video, seeing she didn't I go to bed.
My thoughts stuck on Alya.
(Ha, I don't know if you guys wanted it or not but I just wrote some drama. Caleb dealing with a double life as he gets closer to Alya, also as he doubts himself and whether Alya would like who he is instead of what he is. Alya having to choose between the blog and Ruff Rider. While both of them try to sort their feelings out with little to no success. This chapter took a lot longer than usual to write as I felt it needed to be perfect if I am to get the story ball rolling. And yes this will be what some people call a slow burn. I don't like the idea of them getting together because they think they have something. So please leave your opinion on the story and tell me how i'm do so far)