Caline straightened her suit and drew a deep breath before she entered the classroom, briefcase of lesson plans and graded pop-quizzes and piping hot thermos of coffee in hand.
She was supposed to be composed. She was supposed to be serene.
Especially in light of her initial suspicions and the continued trend that she now tracked methodically in her lesson plan book, she grew more and more certain of Adrien and Marinette's extra curricular activities by the day.
She grew more and more cautious of anyone finding out their secrets.
Unfortunately, Alya Césaire was nothing if not entertaining - and surprisingly loud.
Alya's blog was rather excellently put together. Caline made a mental note to pull her to the side to see if that exercise could be more appropriately developed into a true resume builder for her eventual career plans.
But what had her struggling to keep her composure was the interaction she was rather strategically attempting to ignore by studiously reviewing her lesson plans for the day, and failing rather spectacularly.
Because the worst kept secret in the classroom (if not the school) was Marinette Dupain Cheng's poorly concealed crush on Adrien Agreste. She knew it was bad the moment that she'd heard even Principal Damocles had heard about it.
Incredibly, Adrien - otherwise clever boy though he was - seemed perfectly oblivious to the fact.
Caline coughed, pressing her hand over her lips, to stifle her own amusement at the sheer absurdity of the situation.
"Seriously?" She had heard Alya speaking as she entered the classroom, plain as day. "You've seen the pics, Marinette. You can't deny that Chat Noir has a thing for Ladybug."
Marinette's eyes rolled hard at that. "They're partners, Alya. Of course, they are going to protect each other."
"Protect nothing, girl." Alya crowed a bit more loudly than necessary. Several of the other classmates were already peering over in their direction. "I'm talking about the way he's looking at her."
Poor Adrien nearly fell out of his chair. His brows rose as he not-so-subtly turned himself around just enough to overhear the whole of their conversation.
When Marinette rolled her eyes and groaned, Caline pressed her lips together, lifting her eyebrows and wondering which one might break first: Marinette's clearly strained patience or Adrien's chair legs.
Her eyes drifted up to the clock on the wall, noting that only two minutes remained before she needed to start her lesson. Surreptitiously taking a sip from the thermos she'd deposited on her desk, Caline waited to see if Marinette might notice Adrien listening in. The moment Marinette noticed, the game would definitely be over.
Was it technically unethical to mentally place bets with oneself in one's own classroom?
Author's Notes:
These chapters should be mostly set up as a continuing drabble series. I have a few projects that I am balancing right now, so I should be able to quickly run with an idea when one pops up.
Thank you all so much for this early burst of support! I'm really glad to see so many of you invested in the idea and I'm loving the opportunity to dive a little deeper into these oft forgotten characters. :)