Chapter Seven: The Invitation

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At the Music and Arts upper school, the schedule was significantly less structured than the lower grade. It had been one of Luka's favorite aspects. He was respectful enough of other's time that he made it a priority to be punctual, but when he didn't have a schedule to keep — life was so much sweeter.

He laid back in the grassy courtyard while one of his fellow musicians played the violin for their class— a Mozart medley. Classical music wasn't really his preference, but if he had to choose a musical from the eighteenth century to jam out to— it would be Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. An amused smile spread across his lips at the familiar twinkle-twinkle little star.

His guitar laid beside him, his arms folded under his head and he watched the northern front start to darken the cerulean sky. The fluffy white clouds of a few hours ago were now being replaced by progressively darker versions. He just needed it to hold out until after he got Marinette home. Though, if it rained, he knew Tom and Sabine wouldn't let him leave — so if he timed it just right…

Luka's smile grew broader.

Summer couldn't get here soon enough!

He slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He shot a selfie of himself with his guitar beside him, his blue-black hair fanned out, relaxing on the lush, green lawn. He texted Marinette the image without any words.

Almost immediately she sent back the emoji with hearts in their eyes.

Satisfied, Luka shoved his phone back into his pocket and prayed for rain.

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It seemed that no matter how hard Marinette tried, she and Alya hadn't been able to talk that day. They'd been assigned lab partners and Lyla had immediately been paired up with Alya. Which was fine, Marinette had continued to work with Nate. She got along with the majority of the class and considered almost everyone a friend.

She pulled out her phone during their lab to set a timer for the next step of their experiment. She was immediately treated to Luka's text. The image of him sprawled across the lawn immediately became her wallpaper. Reluctantly, she drew her attention away from the beauty that was her boyfriend and set the timer. Then out of habit, she checked the Akuma App that Max had created a few months ago. It was a huge asset and the need to patrol the streets every night had greatly diminished.

While it was fun to patrol with Chat, it wasn't necessary to do it every single night. It was too hard to manage her regular life with her super life. She was sure Chat had the same problem. But, ever since she'd acquired the power of the Ladybug, she couldn't imagine her life without Chat — Alya was supposed to be her best friend, but really it was the Kitty. And she was a little worried he'd be hurt to learn that Viperion would have his power permanently. Or maybe he would be relieved that a trusted ally would play a bigger role?

Alya and Nino were pretty regularly summoned and it would make sense if she let some of her friend keep a hold of their Miraculous on a regular basis. With summer coming — they'd all be spread out and it would be better response time with so many resources. And they might even be able to help out in places outside of Paris.

"What are you doing?" Nate whispered. He leaned over to glance at Marinette's phone. "Ah, yeah, the Akuma App is really cool."

He scooted his latest sketch towards her and she gasped at the visual of Ladybug and Viperion in Ancient Egyptian robes, bedecked in blue lapis and gold jewelry. The latest sketch showed the two of them pressed together chest to chest, staring into each other's eyes with Ladybug's arms banded around Viperion's neck and his hands possessively settled on her hips. "Pretty hot, huh?"

Marinette licked her lips at the visual. "It's fantastic." The timer on her phone chimed and she silenced it.

Nate smiled faintly at the praise. Then he tucked his journal into his bag. "Time's up, how's the experiment?"

The three vials they'd created during chemistry had all shifted to different colors — red, green, blue. "Looks like we did it right." Marinette sighed in relief. She started to scribble the final results on their paper.

"Ugh!" Chloe cried out in frustration.

Marinette glanced across the lab to see her often-times antagonist visibly upset about her three blue vials. Sabrina began to apologize profusely while Chloe stomped in anger. A quick scan of the rest of her classmates showed most everyone else completed the experiment successfully.

Their science teacher walked amongst the lab tables marking down the results of the students. She paused next to Chloe and Sabrina and frowned.

"Professor Mendeleiev! I shouldn't even need to do this experiment!" Chloe cried out. "I'll call Daddy. He'll tell you it's ridiculous, utterly ridiculous! I'm going to be going to school in London next term anyway!"

Marinette and Adrien exchanged glances at the unexpected proclamation. His expression was grim and hers was sympathetic.

"That would certainly make next year more pleasant," Nate whispered.

"For us and the teachers," Marinette agreed. The teacher had reached Alya and Lyla's project. If Chloe wasn't at their school in the fall, maybe it would make dealing with Lyla a little easier.

As soon as class was over, Chloe and Lyla both rushed off towards the bathroom and Marinette took the opportunity to finally meet up with Alya. They hooked elbows as they walked to their next class together.

"What is going on?" Alya hissed.

"Luka and I are back together. And Adrien and I are — good," Marinette explained.

Alya's eyes were large behind the lenses of her glasses. "There has to be more to it than that!"

There was a lot more to it than that— a lot of mixed up feelings and stubborn obsessions on Marinette's part. "We talked it out and it works." They sat next to each other in their homeroom and while Alya clearly had more to say, their attention was quickly diverted towards two of their classmates.

"We have decided to run for class representative, Ms Bustier!" Chloe proclaimed as she and Lyla stood at the front of the class.

The teacher dropped her chalk and stared between the two girls and Marinette. "There is less than two weeks of school left and there is already a class representative."

"I need it to boost my resume," Chloe insisted. She held up her jewel encrusted cell phone threateningly. "Need I call the Mayor?"

"Ms Bustier," Marinette said holding up her hand. "I'm okay resigning. I already submitted everyone's preferred areas of study for next term last week. It's just a pretty title at this point."

The look of pure hatred that Lyla shot Marinette was hard to ignore. If she'd been planning to torture her by taking away her elected position, then Marinette would take away that power by relinquishing it voluntarily.

Chloe stared at Marinette with her mouth gaping open in shock, eyes wide. "Dupain-Cheng? You're just going to resign?"

Marinette smiled. "Sure, Chloe. I'd rather you have the title because you asked your fellow classmates, not because you called Daddy to whine."

Chloe's expression hardened and she shoved her phone into her purse.

"So, all in favor of Chloe taking over the role of class representative until the end of the year?" Ms Bustier asked.

There was a general confused consensus amongst the class, save one vote of dissension.

"I want to go on record as being against this," Adrien proclaimed.

For a moment, a look of genuine hurt flashed across Chloe's generally contrary face. And Marinette actually felt sorry for the entitled, pretty, spoiled new class representative.

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Luka stared out the window while his teacher continued to lecture about the principle laws of Physics. While his school was mostly focused on the arts, he did still have to take core curriculum. He made occasional notes, but otherwise, he enjoyed the scenery, it would rain within the hour. While some people had photographic memory, Luka enjoyed a phonographic memory. It was an incredibly useful talent for a musician. It came in handy when a day-dreamer needed to pay attention to lecture as well.

There was only nine more days of school and then it would be summer break. The idea of going on tour with his dad seemed even more exciting now that he was pretty sure he could convince Marinette's parents to let her tag along.

He glanced down at his phone. Mari and Juleka's friend Max had created an App that allowed the tracking of Akuma attacks. There hadn't been one in several days and he knew the streak was too good to last.

The bell signaling the end of class and Luka inwardly cringed at its cacophonous screech. He quite eagerly shoved his notebook into his backpack, hurried to his locker to grab his guitar, and headed out of the building. After securing his guitar, he drove over to the other school campus to wait for Marinette.

He looked down at the time on his phone, only about two more minutes before the bell rang to conclude the school day. As he was looking at the time, he received a call. It was his grandmother in Scotland. He frowned, normally they would chat on Wednesday evenings. Why would she be calling on a Monday afternoon?

"Seanmhair?" Luka greeted calmly, using the Gaelic term his grandmother preferred. "How are you today?"

"Luka! Thank God, you answered!" Maisie Hurley — whose surname meant "sea tide"— greeted from across the channel. "You're always such a good boy!"

"Of course, I answered. I'm picking up my leannan (Gaelic for sweetheart) from school. But her class won't release for a couple of minutes," Luka said.

Maisie gasped from the other end of the phone. "My dear Luka has a sweetheart! Is it that Marinette you told me about?"

"Yes, Seanmhair. But that's not why you called me. Is everything okay?" Luka asked, smiling at the enthusiasm in his grandmother's tone. He knew it was the anniversary of his grandfather's death — his mother had spent the previous evening draining a bottle of expensive liquor.

"I want you to see me this summer," Maisie explained. "I'm feeling haunted in this big ole castle all by my lonesome self and if you don't want me to join your seanair (Gaelic for grandfather) in the grave anytime soon, I suggest you make arrangements."

"I would love to see you, Seanmhair. However, my father was hoping that I would join him for his tour this summer," Luka explained. "And I was planning to spend time with Marinette."

"I just ask for a week or two of your time, my ogha (Gaelic for grandson). Don't you have two months?" Maisie pointed out. "You can bring your leannan. I was hoping your mother and sister would want to come too."

"I'll talk to them," Luka promised. The door to the school opened and he could see the dark hair of his girlfriend rush through them. "If I bring Marinette, then it's only fair if Juleka brings Rose."

Maisie sighed heavily on the other end of the phone. "So, it's not a phase," she said quietly.

"No, Seanmhair, it's not a phase," Luka agreed. "It's part of who she is and if you're going to make a big deal about it, I won't be able to visit you."

"I love you and your sister, Luka. I just want my oghaichean (Gaelic for grandchildren) to be happy. And your mother, she needs to remember what it's like to stay on dryland for a few weeks. It's not right for you all to be living on that riverboat," Maisie chided.

"Okay, I'll have Mom give you a call later. Tha mi gad ghadh (Gaelic for I love you)," Luka said, before ending the call.

"Who was that?" Marinette asked, catching up to him, breathing heavy and smiling big.

"Just talking to my grandmother in Gaelic," Luka explained. "She wants me— us — to visit her for a few weeks this summer. Are you interested?"

"Where does she live?" Marinette asked.

"Invernes, up in the Highlands," Luka answered. "It's a beautiful place to go hiking. Tons of waterfalls." Luka held out his arms and Marinette rushed into them and he held her close, enjoying the feel of her snug against him. "I'd like to take you to Fairy Glen Falls. Juleka and I used to hike there every summer when we were kids."

Marinette pressed a kiss to his cheek and smiled up at him. "If my parents are okay with it, I would love to go with you to Scotland. I've never been."

Luka smiled and squeezed his arms around her. "Hop on, let's get to your parents' place before it starts to rain."

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After classes were released, Adrien caught sight of Marinette and Luka riding off campus on the guitarist's motorcycle before Gorilla drove him to the gym. He spent the next hour doing cross-training before the fencing team even brought out their swords.

Forward foot, parlay, thrust, back up. Adrien went through the motions and danced around Kagami in their match.

In an unexpected development, he actually beat her.

"You're distracted," Adrien pointed out when they stashed away their swords afterwards.

"Is it true? You're moving to London?" Kagami asked. "Mother said something…," she trailed off.

Adrien sighed. "Unfortunately. Father has enrolled me in boarding school for the Fall."

"I see." Kagami zipped up her red bag and secured it over her shoulders. "I — should probably tell you before you learn it from someone else, but — I'm seeing someone."

"You are?" Adrien asked, surprised by the change of topic. Maybe she just didn't want to talk about him moving across the pond in a few weeks.

"Yes. So feel free to pursue Marinette. I know the feelings between you two are strong," Kagami said with an encouraging smile.

Adrien gaped at her. "I'm not pursuing Marinette. We're friends. She is back with Luka and I'm really glad for them." He scrutinized Kagami— her stiff posture, the tension in her shoulders and the frown on her face. "She and I talked and decided we made better friends. I'm not boyfriend material, Kagami. You more than anyone know that. But, who are you dating?"

Her dark eyes darted left and right, then she ducked her head close to his ear. "Your cousin, Felix."

Adrien's eyes grew wide. "I didn't even know he was here! How did that happen?"

Kagami shrugged. "We ran into each other at a charity a couple of weeks ago. He can be charming."

"You should be careful not to trust him completely," Adrien warned. Felix attended the boarding school that Adrien would be starting. He usually could only deal with his cousin in small doses. Felix had assumed his identity and done cruel things to his friends too many times over the past year.

"I don't think you know him as well as you think you do." Kagami's dark eyes shown with affection as she thought about her boyfriend. "Are you really okay with Marinette and Luka?"

"I have enough to worry about with my father and boarding school," Adrien pointed out. He gestured towards the gym behind them as they stood in the front foyer of the gym waiting for their rides. "I'm going to miss this place. And I'm going to miss being part of Kitty Section and hanging out with everyone on The Liberty."

"I will speak to Mother. I could transfer to the boarding school in London if you'd like a friend. It would hardly be different than the boarding school here in Paris," Kagami pointed out. "We could visit Paris together to see Marinette and Kitty Section." She pointed towards their cars, next to each other in the parking lot. "Your fencing will become abysmal without someone like me to spar against."

"It might not be a bad idea," Adrien mused. "Currently, Felix and Chloe will be the only people I would know at the new school." At least he wouldn't have to deal with Lyla anymore. Though, he was already pretty stressed about how his change in geography would affect his superhero life. He could travel pretty vast distances fast these days with some of the modifications he and Ladybug had made to their Miraculous. And the Akuma App made physical patrols less necessary.

It began to sprinkle. With a casual wave, he started towards Gorilla. He'd hoped to go on patrol that night, just to clear his head. Unfortunately, his cat-like persona wasn't a big fan of getting wet.