I just read that according to Thomas Astruc (the creator of Miraculous), Kwami names have to be short and have a double-letter in them. To conform to this, I'll be spelling "Dono" with a double-N from now on.

Also the yellow miraculous has been revealed to be a bee but let's say the Eagle Miraculous is the Gold Miraculous, NOT the Yellow Miraculous. Heheheh... :I

Golden Eagle

Chapter VI:

Crushing

After a week of living in Paris, attending Collège Françoise Dupont and fighting crime as Golden Eagle, Alicia felt like she was getting into the swing of things. She still hardly talked to her classmates but she wasn't sketching in class rather than paying attention anymore. Of course, she still enjoyed sketching whenever she could and in this occasion, she was sketching Marinette before school began.

"So... you're drawing Marinette to work on drawing people?" Alya asked as she watched over her shoulder.

"Uh-huh," Alicia mumbled, gently dragging the pencil this way and that "People are... people are tricky... to draw,"

"Whoa, nice drawing, Alicia," Adrien said as he and Nino approached them.

Their sudden appearance made Alicia jump and the point of her pencil broke off on the page. Unnerved, she put her pencil case and sketchbook into her school bag and timidly walked off. Alya and Marinette both gave Adrien and Nino certain looks.

"My bad," Adrien admitted.

"Yeah, nice going, dude," Nino said, punching him in the shoulder.

Alicia looked back at them and saw the four of them smiling together. They really were friends but was she? Last time she had a friend, the other person grew more and more superficial until she wasn't the same girl anymore and began bullying her. Thinking of her unfortunate record with making friends, Alicia looked down as she entered Miss Bustier's classroom and took her seat.

Following what had become routine for them, Alicia hid away in the library for lunch so Donno could stretch his wings outside of her bag. But as they ate their food, Donno's eagle hearing picked up on someone asking where Alicia was. He quickly hid under her beanie as Alya and Marinette turned to corner.

"Hey, Alicia, what are you doing eating here?" Alya asked.

Alicia took a bite out of her sandwich before answering.

"It's quiet..." she mumbled "What do you want?"

"Mr. Damocles wants to speak with you since you haven't signed up for a club yet," Marinette explained "We could go with you if you want,"

"N-No, thanks. I can handle it," Alicia said as she got up to go.

She packed her lunch back up and swung her bag over her shoulder. With every step she took, she could feel Donno gripping to the back of her head as the end of her beanie bounced. When they were out of view of anyone, Alicia took off her beanie and Donno shot into her jeans' pocket. He peaked his head out and looked up at her.

"Why'd you have to be in a club?" he asked.

"My grades from my old school weren't the best 'cause I couldn't focus on studying with all the bullying so to help my marks I've gotta join a club for extra credit," Alicia explained "And I have to join one by the end of January or my club credit won't be enough and I'll have to go to Summer School,"

"Oh... and that's bad?" Donno asked "But, wait! What if Golden Eagle's needed during a club meeting?"

"That's why I've been putting it off,"

She pushed him down into her pocket as she reached Mr. Damocles' office and she knocked on the door. The few seconds she had to wait were agonizing...

"Come in,"

Alicia opened the door and sat down in front of Mr. Damocles' desk as he gave her an inquisitive look. She gulped and shied away.

"I thought we agreed you needed to join a club to help your grades, Alicia," he said.

"I... I know, sir... I just... the thought of... the other people..." she stammered.

"Alicia... I know you have- issues- with talking to people but your grades are suffering because of it. You have to join a club or it's Summer School for you," Mr. Damocles reminded her "Here's a list of all the clubs that still have open slots for you. Pick one by the end of the day,"

He handed her a piece of paper and Alicia was let out. She leaned against the wall outside of the principal's office and slid down to the ground. She really didn't want to join a club but she had to. Alicia curled up on the floor with the club sheet crumpled in her hand. Donno poked out of her pocket and flew up to her face. He landed on her knee and she lifted her head to look at him. The Kwami smiled at her and she gave him a little smile back before poking his head.

"Okay, now. Let's pick a club," Donno said and he took the club sheet from her "There's chemistry, dance, acting, cooking, art and the school newspaper. What do you want to do more or which one can you skip out on the easiest?"

"I dunno, Donno," Alicia sighed, taking the club sheet back "Art and the school newspaper doesn't sound too bad. Then again, newspapers have deadlines and pressure to come up with good stories. Papa says that's why he doesn't work full-time for only one paper. The art club seems like my best choice but I don't know..."

"Don't worry, Alicia, think of it as a test of courage. You're afraid of people so joining a club will be good for your anxiety issues and maybe you can make some human friends too," Donno said "C'mon, let's go sign up before lunch is over!"

Alicia got up and Donno hid under her hat again but in a more comfortable position. She folded the crumpled piece of paper up and put it in her messenger bag's front pocket. The information said the art club met after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays and that the art room was open to them during breaks between classes. In her week of attendance, Alicia hadn't seen the art room yet so found herself turned around a couple of times trying to find it.

The art room was in one of the more obscure locations of Collège Françoise Dupont that wasn't accessible through the courtyard. Before opening the door, Alicia looked through the narrow door window to see a red-haired boy from her class listening to headphones while painting. She cautiously turned the handle and stepped inside.

"Uhh... hello?" she stammered "This is the art club, right?"

The boy took his headphones off and turned around to see her standing there. He put his paintbrush down and turned off his iPod to speak to her.

"Uh, yeah, this is the art club. I'm Nathanaël and you're Alicia, right?" he asked "We're in Miss Bustier's class together,"

An embarrassed blush rushed into Alicia's cheeks and she shied away, nodding.

"I, uh, I wanted to- to- maybe... join the, uh, art club? But... no one else... is- is here..." she stammered.

"Oh, yeah, well... there used to be more people but there are different kinds of art, y'know? Anyone in the art club for photography left to join the school newspaper and anyone who joined for graphic novel illustration switched over to the comic book club and so on. I'm the only one actually interested in drawing and painting," Nathanaël said "What are you interested in?"

"Uhh... I like... to draw," Alicia stammered "I can't bring myself to- to talk about my feelings very often so... I, uh, I try to draw them so... other people would understand... how- how I'm... feeling,"

For some reason, Nathanaël's face turned red too and he embarrassingly turned away. He picked up his headphones again and pointed to an empty desk.

"You can... draw there... if you'd like..." he said "Our faculty advisor... is Mrs. Lécuyer. She only comes in on Tuesday and Thursdays due to budget cutbacks, which is also why the art club doesn't get its annual trip to New York this year... again,"

Alicia politely nodded before sitting down at the paint-covered desk. She took out her sketchbook and pencil case and began drawing. Normally, sketching would be an escape for her but the silence weighed heavily in the air. But then, Nathanaël began singing!

"[I say crier! I say liar! I say rise in hell, I stand gazing down at death as they say... war! I'll wage war! I hate war... They say fight for peace but what is that?]" he sang in English.

Alicia found herself blushing as she was unable to figure out what to do. Did he even realize he was singing? Should she tell him? He could get embarrassed... her heart began racing when Nathanaël's voice cut through the fog of anxiety.

"Hey, uh, you don't mind me singing, do you?" he asked "I just really like this singer and I can't really help but sing along. I know, I suck but it's fun,"

"I- I don't mind... you could put it on speaker if you want... I recognize the lyrics and I like her too," Alicia said.

"Heh, thanks, then we can sing along together karaoke-style," Nathanaël said, rubbing the back of his head as his cheeks became as red as his hair.

He put his iPod into the dock and selected the next song on the playlist.

"[All this time I never meant you harm...]" he started then pointed at Alicia.

"[So come what may, it is you I have sworn to protect...]" she sang the next line, her voice scratchy.

"[So don't take all of the blame, we're all at fault. Ah wait, don't take all of the weight, you always do. There will always be something you cannot control. We will set you free, your salvation has begun!]" they sang together.

They both laughed and looked at each other. They blushed and shied away from each other to work on their own art projects. Alicia found her heart was racing, her face was burning and yet... she was smiling? These were all the symptoms of a panic attack and yet she felt... excited! What was this feeling? She was embarrassed and yet she was happy about it? How was that possible?!

Aww, Alicia's developing her first crush! How cute. Sorry for the amount of song lyrics. I just found them singing together to be just adorable! I wanted this chapter to be more about Alicia's everyday life rather than her superhero one. This chapter ended up pretty fluffy, huh? Oh well, it was still cute with Nathanaël finding Alicia's shyness so-sweet and Alicia liking Nathanaël's openness.

Two more things!

1. Who was the singer they both like? I know, but do you?

2. If anyone reading this is on DeviantArt, will you please draw me some fanart of Alicia/Golden Eagle? That would be awesome!

'Til next time, TTFN!