Another Thursday, another chapter! And only ONE WEEK until season two airs in France! I'll try to refrain from including any spoilers in my fics, because I know that finding spoilers from a game or show via fanfiction stinks.

"You're lucky," Paige grumbled over her peanut butter sandwich during lunch. The two girls sat side-by-side at a picnic table in the park by school. They'd rather stick close-by than go all the way home just to eat and go back. "I've already got a crap-ton of homework. You've already read all of the Les Mis volumes along with just about all of the teen fiction books in the library, so you're more or less off the hook."

Holly nodded, not really paying attention to her sister as she turned the page in her book. "It's not like you have a lot of trouble with homework."

"That doesn't mean I like it." She took an angry bite of her sandwich before laughing. "Although, you're right. It's really not that much, actually."

Holly's lips lifted in a knowing smile. "I figured. You were always one for theatrics."

Paige grinned. "Hey, there's that Holly Patented Smile I rarely see anymore! I knew I could bring it out somehow." She narrowly dodged as Holly tried to swat her arm. "Really, though, what's got you down so often that you never smile anymore?"

Her shoulders lifted and slumped down again. "I don't know. I really miss Amelia, for one. Maybe it's just living in this life instead of the perfectly imperfect worlds of fiction books. I can name twenty reasons why living inside any one of these books will be better than this life." With that, she continued reading, shutting down the conversation.

Opening her mouth to respond, Paige halted and closed her mouth, watching someone behind Holly. Not interested, Holly continued reading, not looking up until she heard her name.

"Hey, Holly, having a nice lunch?" She looked up, noticing for the first time Adrien standing next to her and Paige. She had no idea what he was doing there, as she had seen him go home for lunch. Maybe he was on his way back? Huh. She must've lost track of time.

"Yeah, thanks." Pushing a lock of hair out of her face, she noticed Paige's slight glare at her, knowing exactly what she was prompting. "By the way, this is my sister Paige."

Adrien smiled at her. "It's nice to meet you, Paige. Holly's told me about you." He was about to say more when a boy called him from across the park. Adrien looked over and waved with a smile. "That's my friend Nino. I should go, but I hope you both enjoy your lunch."

Paige's eyes were trained on him as he walked away. When she turned back, her eyes were gleaming. "Holly, how do you know Adrien? Tell me everything."

Holly blinked and adjusted her glasses. "I don't really know what you're talking about. He's in my class, and our teacher asked him to show me around earlier today, that's all. I didn't think he would actually come talk to me."

Closing her chocolate brown eyes for a moment, Paige took a deep breath. "Holls, I know you don't pay a lot of attention to anything that's not fiction, but that was Adrien Agreste. The model. And he is in your class."

"So?"

"Do I need to spell it out for you? You are in class with someone who is paid for being good-looking, and he chooses to check in on you." She stopped, looking into Holly's eyes and waiting for her to put two and two together.

"I don't follow." And at this point, her attention was wavering, too, slipping back down to the book in her lap and her sandwich. "I don't see what this has to do with anything."

Paige rolled her eyes, snapping her fingers to keep Holly's attention. "I think you should try to be friends with him. He's obviously nice, and is nice to you. If the universe is trying to get you to make friends, this is the way to do it!"

Holly shook her head, taking a bite of her now-soggy sandwich. "I'm not becoming his friend just because he's famous. I would never take advantage of anyone like that."

"And I'm not telling you to. Even if he wasn't famous, I'd still tell you the same thing." Paige had completely given up on her sandwich, pushing it aside and starting in on her granola balls. "Come on, you don't seriously want to follow me around like a koala on my leg everywhere I go for the rest of our lives, do you?"

"No, but I'm interested in where you heard of that analogy." Out of all of the analogies Holly had read in books, never once had that one been brought up, and she knew that Paige wouldn't have come up with it on her own. As much as she loved her sister, creativity wasn't her forte.

A shy smile crept onto her face. "I saw a GIF on it a while back. It kind of reminded me of you and Amelia, actually. It was so cute, the koala-" She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. "Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, you need to branch out and make a few new friends. Socialize. It's not that hard."

"For you, maybe," Holly muttered, closing her book and stuffing the remains of her lunch into her bag. "I'm going to the library. See you after school."

She got up, stalking out of the park and into the school, finding herself eventually in the school's large library. Finally she could be alone with her book and no nagging sister! Still, she should maybe work on checking her temper every once and a while.

There weren't any beanbags in the room like her old school's library had, but the chairs around the tables were comfortable enough. Luckily for her, there wasn't anyone else in the library other than the librarian, who was behind his own desk reading. She really only noticed him because of his bright red, floral shirt. There was no noise other than the sound of turning pages. Pure bliss.

"Hey, you're Holly, right?"

Of course there had to be someone there to ruin her mood. Again. She turned her face towards the quiet voice, discovering the boy who sat behind her in class, the one who was too busy drawing to pay much attention to class starting. "Yeah, I am," she answered, setting her bookmark in her book. "You're in my class, right?"

The boy nodded, his shaggy scarlet hair covering his left eye. His arms were full of sketchbooks and pencils, which he deposited on the table next to Holly, sitting down beside her. "My name's Nathaniel. It's nice to meet you." There was nothing said for a few moments, but he started again. "Um, is this going to become a spot for you to spend your lunch?"

Holly thought about it for a moment. She would definitely prefer to stay in here, where there were only a couple people, than out with Paige, where anyone could overhear their conversations and such. "Unless my sister forces me to socialize, then probably. Why? Is that a problem?" Maybe the touch of sassiness in her voice wasn't needed, but at this point, she was in no mood right now.

Nathaniel's cheeks blushed a pale pink. "No, that's not what I meant. This is usually where I spend my lunch, too. It's nice and quiet in here, and this way I don't have to worry about Chloé."

The name captured her attention. Pushing a lock of her hair out of her face and behind her ear, she asked, "Who's Chloé? Is she in our class?"

"Yeah. I'm surprised you haven't run into her at all today, to be perfectly honest. She usually makes it a point to torture anyone who isn't her, even if they're new. Especially if they're new." He started reorganizing his belongings. "She's Mayor Bourgeois's daughter, so she thinks she can get away with just about anything, including mocking someone for a drawing they dropped and showing it to the entire class."

Holly lifted an eyebrow, her mind whirring. "That sounds. . . personal. Did she do that to you?" If this girl was that big of a brat, she would need to know when to steer clear.

"She did, and it ended pretty badly. I was akumatized after that incident. . ."

She held up a hand to stop him. "Whoa. What does 'akumatized' mean?"

His teal eyes bore into her, a front of questioning within them. "Do you not have akumas where you're from in France? Or superheroes?"

"Okay," she laughed out. She liked fiction, but not this much. "There's no such thing as superheroes in real life."

"But there are," Nathaniel argued, flipping open his sketchbook. "See, I drew some pictures of them!"

Surveying his work, Holly could tell that he put a lot of thought and time into his art. The girl in the ladybug-like costume and the boy with cat ears looked real enough to the point where she expected them to come to life. She could almost even see the emotions they were experiencing in the moment. Handing back the book, she said, "Sorry, but drawings, however amazing they may be, prove nothing. You're going to need more concrete evidence to convince me."

He cracked a grin. "What, are you a judge examining trial evidence?" he joked, closing the sketchbook. "I have more than just this, though." He fished his phone out of his pocket, bringing up a website. "This girl in our class, Alya, runs a blog about the superheroes Ladybug and Chat Noir. It's called the Ladyblog, and she posts pictures and videos of all the sightings and akuma battles with them. It's really amazing."

With the phone's screen tilted towards her, she skimmed over the many articles and posts on the student-run blog. Post after post of pictures, videos, and links to other people's own blogs about these two superheroes littered the page. Curious, she tapped on one of the videos, watching the girl- Ladybug, she figured- along with the other, Chat Noir, swing around Paris, with Ladybug using what looked like a yoyo and Chat Noir using an extendable staff thing.

"Wow," she whispered, handing the phone back. "They're legit."

"Very," Nathaniel said. "Believe me now?"

The bell rang, signalling the end of lunch. "Yeah, I believe you," Holly admitted after picking up her bag and book. Nathaniel left with a smile, disappearing into the sea of people in the hallway. Holly lingered back a moment, taking a small glance at the librarian, who was still reading his book. She recognized the cover as Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment, the first book in one of her favorite series. "Good choice," she commented as she passed his desk. "That's a great series."

The librarian smiled sagely at her. "It's one of my favorites as well, child. Now, I believe you may want to get to class before it starts, yes?"

"Oh! Yeah, you're right." It was unlike her to be late to any class, but then again, it was totally like her to get distracted by a good book. "I'll be back here tomorrow for lunch as well." With that, she scurried out of the room, bracing herself for the workload that was chemistry.

X-X-X

Paige stayed back at school to find out about extracurriculars, so Holly was alone on her walk home. She didn't know the route like the back of her hand yet, having to use visual landmarks in order to find her way home even though it wasn't far. One earbud was stuck in her ear, listening to an audiobook from her phone. She would be listening to music normally, but that was only when Paige is sharing the earbuds with her and forces her to do something other than read. She had to take this chance when she could; she didn't know when she would next get it.

"It's like a sea of people," she muttered under her breath, glancing around the busy area. Cars and people were littering the roads and sidewalks, respectively, and Holly was very keen on not becoming a human pancake. She would much rather get home, complete her homework, and take a nice, long soak in the tub to clear her mind. Maybe a bath bomb to complete the work. . .

A bright flash of red and white caught her eye. Her head whipped around to see the librarian from her school stumble, dropping his book into the busy crosswalk. He went to grab it, standing right in the middle of an oncoming car's path.

Without thinking, Holly ran forward, grabbing the man's arm as well as his book, and pulling him out of the road. She had no idea where the speed or the daringness had come from, as she had never been athletic or daring a single day of her life. Really, she was just glad the librarian was safe.

"Are you okay?" she huffed out, doubled over to catch her breath. She made a note to herself to start working out a little more often. . .or at all. At least her skirt hadn't flared up while she was running blindly into a busy street. Jeez, if Paige or Amelia had been there, Holly would be a dead girl from their lecturing.

"Thanks to you, yes," the librarian said with a smile towards her. "You saved my life without a second thought."

She waved her hand, straightening herself. "Hey, us book lovers have to watch out for each other, right?" She managed a small smile, still breathing more heavily than normal. "As long as you're alright, then I guess everything is fine."

"Thank you again, child," the man acknowledged before walking off in the direction he had originally been headed. Holly watched him go, just to make sure he really was alright. Once she was sure that he was gone, she continued on her own way as best she could without knowing the entire route.

Those events having occurred, she was more than happy to find herself in front of her apartment complex. Yeah, she would definitely add that bath bomb.

Climbing the stairs instead of using the elevator would be the first part of her new fitness regime. Three flights was a small-ish amount, but that was alright for her.

Opening the door to her apartment using her new key, she found that she was the first one home, beating her mom and dad as she expected. She turned on the television just for background noise, hearing the news detail what appeared to be an akuma attack. Nathaniel really hadn't been lying, then.

With a sigh, she trudged to her bedroom, this being the first time she didn't have to share with Paige. She was grateful for the privacy, as well as the space for her personal library. She dumped her messenger bag on her bed, glad that the school day was over. Sure, she had conversed a bit with Nathaniel, but she didn't really want to make it a regular occurrence. It wasn't that she didn't like him; she didn't know him well enough to not like him. It was just that she was sick of being pushed away by people for being "weird, strange, and obsessive" about her writing, so she did the pushing instead, distancing herself from everyone else. Well, everyone except Amelia, who was one of the few people in her old school who loved how nerdy she could be at times.

Starting the bathwater in the bathroom, she returned to her room to get her book so she would have something to do while she was soaking. She also wanted to grab one of the bath bombs in the stash she kept far away from Paige, who she knew would sneak in and grab one if she knew where they were. The bath bomb was grabbed first, the lilac scent already filling her nose as she breathed in the air around it. She shoved her hand in her bag, searching around for it while also trying to take her glasses off so they didn't get fogged up in the bathroom. Instead of her book, her fingers closed around a small object that she was pretty sure wasn't her Eos lip balm. Out of curiosity, she pulled it out, revealing a black box with red detail on it.

"What the. . ?" She turned it on all of its sides, sure that she had never seen it before. Setting the bath bomb on her bed, she slid her glasses back on so she could examine every detail of the box. The top had the most detail to it, and there was a small hinge on one of the sides, signifying that the box opened.

Placing the box on the palm of her left hand, she carefully pried the lid open. The first thing she could see was a yellow hair comb with a little bee in the center. She could only see it for a moment, however, because the next thing she saw was a large amber ball of glowing energy in front of her, nearly blinding her. She fell back onto her bed with a yelp, watching the energy die down and take the form of an abnormally large bee. It was large and fuzzy, yellow with black stripes on its head and stinger. It blinked its large blue eyes, surveying the room as Holly had done to her school earlier that day.

Holly tried to say something, anything, but no words came out. Lucky for her, the bee thing did all the talking.

"Hi," the bee greeted in a small, shy feminine voice. "I'm Cierr, and I think you're my new holder."

Again, no words came out of Holly's mouth, but the bee continued based on her expression. "Holly- that's your name, right? You know Ladybug and Chat Noir?" Holly nodded, her mouth still agape. The bee- Cierr- flew closer to her. "You're going to be a superhero, just like them."

Cierr is my name for the bee kwami, because frankly, Pollen is kinda predictable. Nobody could ever guess from Tikki and Plagg's names that they're the ladybug and cat kwami, respectively, but then Pollen comes along and it's like "Oh, yeah, you must be the bee kwami." They could have at least made it a little more unique.

But I digress.

Also

Gee, I wonder who that librarian is? I certainly have no idea who it could possible bee (Ay, pun. Also sarcasm).

Shoutout to DDillonT44 for reviewing, favoriting, and following; Rosey-Mage for favoriting and following; and Blaurgen for following. Thank you guys so much!

See y'all next chapter, and don't forget to leave a review please!