'Can we-' Marinette broke off, taking a shaky breath 'Can we- we speak outside for a minute, Adrien?'

'Uh, sure.' He replied, standing up and following the shorter girl outside into the hall, being careful not to step on any of the books. As soon as the door clicked shut behind them, Nino turned in his seat to face Alya.

'Dude, what just happened?' he said. She glanced down, scooping up her phone and staring at the black screen. She had locked it long before now, but the photos were seared into her mind.

'I… uh….' Alya fumbled. 'Nino, you did see that, right?'

'The-?' Nino motioned to his face. Alya nodded in response.

'So he's-'

Another nod.

'Which means that she's-'

Another nod.

'I think so.' Alya's mind was spinning too fast, trying to make sense of the events unfolding. How hadn't she caught on sooner? Why was it now that it all became clear?

Alya took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment. As she opened them she locked her phone and placed it face-down on the desk. The awkward and silent tension that had filled the room moments before was slowly lifting.

'Did you see Adrien's face?' Kim said.

'Most of us sit too far back;' Nathaniel said in return, pushing his hair from his eye and leaning back in his seat. He jabbed a thumb at Ivan. 'Plus, I sit behind Ivan. If they can't see me, I can't see them.'

'Do you want me to move?' Ivan mumbled, turning to look at Nathaniel.

'N-no, sorry, I like it here.'

Ivan shrugged, turning to the front again. He hunched over the paper on his desk again, scribbling down a couple of words. Alya assumed Ivan was writing a song in his spare time.

'And before you ask Kim, no, I didn't.'

Kim let out a sound of disappointment, folding his arms. 'That's boring.'

'So what was it?' Alix demanded. She was sitting on her desk, facing her rival. He laughed.

'Not even you saw?'

'I was too busy thinking up another way to whoop your butt!'

Kim tsked, shaking his head. 'Never gonna happen, Al. What about you, Chloe? Sabrina?'

Chloe's head shot up at the sound of her name, having been distracted by filing her already perfect nails. 'Pardon?'

'Did you see Adrien's face?'

Sabrina shook her head. 'We saw him this morning, but he had his scarf up to his nose,' she said, glancing at her friend. 'I think he's got a cold or something.'

'And as much as I love Adrien, I'd hate to catch his germs!'

Kim rolled his eyes. 'Mylene?'

'I don't pry into other people's businesses, Kim!'

'Alright, alright. Jules?'

She shook her head. Rose did the same. 'The poor thing, he shouldn't come to school when he's sick.' Rose said.

'He misses a lot of lessons because of modelling and stuff,' Juleka pointed out. 'He probably doesn't want to fall behind.'

'I suppose…'

'This is getting nowhere;' Kim announced, throwing his hands in the air. 'Alya and Nino, you must have seen that, right?'

Alya cursed under her breath. 'He's onto us,' she muttered. Nino snorted at the prospect.

'Bro, it's Adrien's business, okay? Just let it drop.'

'So that means you did see!' Alix chimed in, turning from her seat to grin at the two of them.

'I never said that!'

Kim and Alix exchanged glances, before the girl slid around Mylene and crossed the room to Alya's desk in a smooth movement.

'Alya, Alya, Alya…' she sighed, shaking her head. Kim leaned back in his seat and folded his arms, smirking as he did so. 'You're the most observant person in our class, always holding your phone in case something needs documenting.'

'I put it away as soon as we walked into class this morning, Alix.' Alya said slowly, making sure to keep a neutral facial expression.

Alix didn't buy it for a second. 'It's right on your desk.' She deadpanned.

'Yeah, Alya! What did you do, just put it on the seat next to you?' Kim added.

'Don't pretend you guys don't do it either!'

'We don't.' Kim frowned as he said it, and his best friend cleared his throat.

'Actually, I use mine as a secondary timer.' Max said.

'And I keep mine on in case of updates on Twitter from Prince Ali!' Rose added.

'Art reference!' Nathaniel chimed in, before once more ducking out of sight behind Ivan.

Sabrina nodded, pushing her glasses up her nose. 'Deadline markers!'

'Just in case I need to call my daddy!' Chloe said, momentarily pausing in her nail filing.

Alya looked back to Kim smugly.

'…okay, okay. But only to keep a check on game scores.' He admitted. 'So what's your point?'

'Nothing;' Alya shrugged, picking up her phone and wiping some non-existent dust off the screen. 'Now I just have evidence to use on the teacher if I ever get in trouble for having it out.'

She quickly input her passcode, tilting the screen away from everyone else so they wouldn't catch the incriminating images on her blog. She knew most of them followed the Ladyblog, but if they put two and two together about Adrien…

Alya cast the thought away, quickly exiting her browser and instead opening her messages to Marinette.

Girl, I need an explanation when you get back.

'Kiiiiiiiiim!' Alix whined, slumping over the desk in front of her. He looked at her innocently.

'Yes, Al?'

'Just tell us what the deal with Adrien's face is!'

He chuckled. 'Okay, get this. You all keep up with Alya's blog, right?'

Alix rolled her eyes. 'Once a fortnight or so, when I have time. It's not like I check with every new update.'

Kim raised an eyebrow.

'Of course I do!' Chloe said, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

'Her secret identity and the discussion threads.' Juleka added.

'The interesting theories about her superpowers!' Max said.

'Art reference.' Nathaniel said idly, adding a spot to Ladybug's mask in his latest comic.

'Anything to do with her and Chat Noir being made for each other!' Rose sighed dreamily.

Mylene smiled. 'The stories from the people she's saved.'

'Everything.' Nino said. Nobody doubted that; the guy was smitten for Alya.

'… Okay, fine. I like the videos of them in action.' Alix mumbled.

Alya wondered silently if she should be proud of herself or slightly embarrassed that all her classmates kept up with the Ladyblog. She decided on the former, giving appreciative grins to them all.

'So you've all seen the latest post.' Kim continued. A chorus of 'yes' filled the room, before Alix shrieked.

'You're kidding!' she yelled, going to lean back on Marinette's desk but missing and slipping to the floor. 'He's—'

'Keep your voice down, Alix.' Nino scolded, casting a nervous glance to the door. 'Him and Mari are still out there!'

The rest of the class seemed to be putting the pieces together, Sabrina pulling out her phone to check the post again. Max was deep in thought, working over it in his brain. Nathaniel erased Chat Noir's mask, staring at the finished product in barely contained surprise.

Nino glanced back at Alya grimly, obviously thinking the same thing as her. Alya winced, mentally counting down.

3

2

1

Chaos erupted.