It was a miracle that Ms. Bustier had put them in different groups. It wasn't that Marinette was suddenly freaking out about Adrien. It was just that she was having a hard enough time functioning while she was only staring at the back of his head. She wasn't sure she could have handled sitting next to and talking with him.
Marinette was not freaking out. She wasn't. Everything was okay. So what if Cat Noir was really Adrien? That's okay. This was fine. She could be normal in class... as long as she couldn't see him. She could walk around like nothing was wrong. Because nothing was. Really.
As soon as the bell rang, she raced for the safety of the crowded hallway, where it would be so much easier to avoid him. Unfortunately, there was no escaping Alya.
"Girl, what is going on with you and Adrien today?"
"Nothing!" she said too quickly, and opened her locker mechanically. There were things in her locker. She needed to take some of those things home. These things had to do with school, not Adrien. Adrien was Cat Noir.
"Really? Why are you avoiding him, then?"
So that means that Adrien fought all those akumas with her. Adrien had saved her life multiple times. That was normal. This was okay.
"Hey, Marinette?" Alya leaned toward her and whispered. "He's coming over." After a few more seconds, she stepped away, not that Marinette noticed.
But if Adrien and Cat Noir were really the same person... She could feel her brain start to melt with this new realization. If they were the same person, that meant it was really Adrien who constantly flirted with her. THIS IS NOT OKAY!
She felt a sudden tap on her shoulder and spun in place as Adrien said, "Hey, Marinette." She jumped backward in surprise, knocking her elbow into the door of her locker and spraying her papers everywhere. Be normal! It's just Cat Noir, who is also Adrien!
Adrien stopped short at her reaction, but she refused to look at the papers floating lazily to the floor around them, so he took that as a sign to keep going. "Sorry," he said, leaning against a neighboring locker and smiling broadly. "Didn't mean to startle you."
Quick. Say something normal. "Good, thanks!"
Behind Adrien, Alya facepalmed. Nino had come to stand next to her and gave Marinette an encouraging smile.
"Uh..." Adrien dropped all pretense of trying to be cool and instead just looked kind of confused. "Are you okay?"
"Oh, s-sorry," she said. "You stuck up – SNUCK up – on me." They stared at each other for several seconds before she had the sense to fill up the awkward silence by picking up her papers, which had puddled around her feet. Adrien quickly bent to help her.
She could handle this. She was friends with Cat Noir. She was also friends with Adrien. This shouldn't be too hard to talk to them – him – normally. She just had to focus on her words instead of her pounding heart and the army of butterflies in her stomach.
"So, you are how?" She cringed, and Alya managed to make it worse by snickering at her misfortune. Some friend.
"I'm fine." He looked up at her and winked. Winked! "How are you?"
"You're fine. I'M FINE. How are you?"
"I'm... still fine," he said. He open his mouth to say something else, but after a quick glance at her face, he shut it again. The last paper fluttered in the wake of all the passing students. Adrien snatched it out of the air and handed it to her.
"So... how'd you do on the assignment? I bet it was really easy for someone as smart as you," he said.
He had come over here to talk to her. He was putting in the effort to keep the conversation going. He was complimenting her! She wasn't going to let this opportunity slip away. Cat Noir liked flirts and puns, right?
"Not as smart as you! You're as smart as scissors!"
"Thanks?"
In the background, Alya covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking with the effort of holding in her laughter. Nino pulled his cap down over his face, obviously embarrassed on her behalf.
"Yeah, like, scissors are really smart," she continued.
Adrien nodded his agreement even though he clearly had no idea what she was talking about. Her face started to get warm. How did he make this seem so easy?
"Scissors are sharp, and sharp means smart." Her palms started to sweat. "And... and rock, paper, scissors." She gestured to the papers haphazardly piled in her arms and almost dropped them. "So I thought, you're sharp like scissors, and uh, you picked me up- helped me pick up..." Never mind. She couldn't do this. "I just remembered I have to help in the bakery today," she blurted out, face shining with embarrassment. "Bye!"
Before Adrien could respond, she slammed her locker closed and dove into the throng of students heading for the doors. She knew there weren't enough people to hide her from view, so she moved quickly, narrowly avoiding backpacks and elbows. Ms. Mendeleiv stepped out of her classroom suddenly, and Marinette was lucky to step around her at the last second, saving herself from an embarrassing collision that would have ended with her papers all over the floor again. She could still feel Adrien's eyes on her. A glance over her shoulder confirmed that, yes, he was still watching her. She had to go home. She picked up her pace and faced forward, just in time to walk into a wall. The papers exploded from her hands. This time, she left them and fled, ignoring all the stares. Behind her, Alya started cackling loudly.
"That was hilarious." Marinette heard Alya's voice echoing down the hallway after her.
"Is she okay?" Adrien's voice was quieter, and she only just managed to pick out his words.
"She'll be fine." Alya had to catch her breath between her bellowing laughs. "You should flirt with her more often. Oh, my gosh." Another gasp for breath. "I'm crying."
Marinette turned a corner, and Alya's voice was muffled by the shuffle of feet and the end-of-school buzz of voices. She barely remembered leaving the building, instead replaying what was probably the most mortifying conversation of her life.
She fervently hoped that Adrien, Cat Noir, would never find out that she was Ladybug.
Author's note: Apparently, I accidentally tagged this story as Andre/Mari instead of Adrien/Mari. Oops! Ha ha. It's fixed now. Next chapter will be up on Saturday night. I'm hoping to keep to an update every three or so days.
To my guest reviewer, thank you! Here's the answer to your question. ;)
Thanks for reading!
Incorrect Miraculous Quote
Nooroo: Why do you want to fight?
Hawk Moth: Because I can't sing or dance.
-Rocky
