The next day both girls woke in a rush. "Twelve forty-one pm?" Both girls read sleepily, before realising the time. Cassandra rushed out of bed, grabbing her towel from her room and rushing straight to the shower.
On the other hand, Alexandra lazily stumbled out of bed, closing her door with a slam and picking up her clothes that she had thrown to the side the night before. She took a sniff of her clothes, releasing the smelt of sweets, and wondered how in the world they got like that, but before long she was half asleep and fully ready for school.
Cassandra, who may have been ready later than Alexandra, left a lot later, but was fully awake thanks to her shower. When she headed downstairs, she noticed a small note. She picked it up, reading it out loud.
"To Cassy, noticed you were up late chatting away on your phone. Decided to let you sleep in. Don't make it a habit. With love, mum."
She smiled, before grabbing the food set out for her and the keys, closing the door to the house behind her as she set out for school.
By the time Alexandra was stumbling half way up the hill, Cassandra had speed walked to her side. Seeing Alexandra, she scoffed, but a small smile tugged the corner of her lips. She slammed her hands on her shoulder, pulling her in closer.
"Hi nerd, thought you'd be at school by now," Cassandra said, pulling Alexandra closer, purposefully making it uncomfortable for her to walk. She pushed Cassandra away violently.
"Great, it's you," Alexandra muttered, the sarcasm dripping in her voice. Cassandra stumbled slightly.
"Yes it's me, your favourite girl," Cassandra snickered, causing Alexandra to roll her eyes.
"What do you want Jordan?'
The slight smile grew on Cassandra's face. "Keep calling me by my last name, Rodriguez, and maybe I'll let you take it."
Alexandra stopped walking suddenly, watching as Cassandra stopped as well, her smile turning to a smirk. A moment passed, before the gears clicked in Alexandra's mind, and the blood rushed to her face suddenly.
"In your dreams," Alexandra muttered, suddenly finding the energy to walk away.
"Well life has a habit of making my dreams come true."
Alexandra shoved Cassandra onto the road, watching as she struggled to walk from laughter. Her face flushed red, embarrassed.
"Alright I'll stop," Cassandra admitted, receiving an exaggerated thank you from Alexandra.
They walked in silence up the hill, before reaching the entrance. Outside, a strange figure paced up and down, steam seething from her ears. Alexandra grabbed Cassandra's wrist, pulling her back and out of view of the strange figure. They simultaneously felt a wave of uncertainty, so Cassandra signalled to take the back entrance. Alexandra nodded, and they both hurriedly crossed the street, walking into a suburban street. Once they were out of sight, they paused for a second, looking at each other.
"Who was that?" Cassandra asked, leaning slightly to see around the corner again.
"No clue, but she seemed like trouble," Alexandra replied, playing with her bracelet. Taking notice, Cassandra pointed it out.
"Hey, nice bracelet, have you always had it?" She asked, pointing at the bracelet.
A wave of panic hit Alexandra. "Uh- yeah, yeah I have, how have you never noticed it?" She panicky laughed, suddenly noticing Cassandra's necklace. "What about that necklace, have you always had that?"
Cassandra nodded, putting the necklace under her shirt. "I usually just wear it under my shirt."
Alexandra accepted that answer. "Say," Cassandra started, as they stood still. "Why were you up so late?"
Alexandra looked confused. "How did you-"
"Oh, I just assumed you slept in. You look like a mess."
Alexandra slapped Cassandra on the arm, causing her to rub her arm. "I'm sorry geez."
"None of your business."
"Hmm okay," she replied, satisfied with her answer.
"What did you stay up doing?" Alexandra asked.
"I was messaging someone," Cassandra admitted.
"Oh, who's the lucky guy?" She smirked.
"Now that's none of your business," Cassandra smirked, flicking Alexandra's nose. Her face dropped from a smirk to a frown, feeling a tiny of blush appear on her face.
Alexandra took a deep breath in, shaking her head. She then stepped forward, pulling her chin up, so she looked directly up to her. "Or was it a girl?"
At the sudden touch, Cassandra froze, only watching as Alexandra softly traced up her right arm. Her eyes trailed down to Alexandra's lips before she pulled her own eyes up and felt a hand on her chin, moving her whole face forward. She got pulled in closer, feeling her heart flutter at every touch. Alexandra grinned, tilting her head slightly. She chuckled quietly.
"Tell me to stop and I will," Alexandra whispered, softly tracing down her arm again until she reached her hand before she picked it up and placed it on her shoulder. She reached to her side, pulling her close again, till their bodies almost touched and she slowly moved her arm up from her waist to her face, touching Cassandra's arm, neck and up to her face. She now had one hand on Cassandra's waist, leaning her forward, slowly lifting up her shirt to touch her skin, and another cupping her face. Cassandra was frozen, feeling the heat travel to her face as she felt stuck in her position, every touch sending electric shocks through her body.
What was happening to her?
Alexandra leaned her face in slightly, till she was close enough to feel Cassandra's staggered breath and she smiled, tilting her head slightly in the opposite direction.
"Are you okay, Jordan?" she whispered, still only a finger away distance from Cassandra's face.
"Mmm," Cassandra managed to get out, before she pulled Alexandra closer, to just a few centimetres away, holding onto her neck.
"Are you about to kiss me right now?" Alexandra whispered, now looking down at her lips. A smile tugged on the corner of her lips. Cassandra tilted her head slightly.
"Alexandra!"
Cassandra pulled back instantly, pushing Alexandra off her. She looked away from the girl she just almost kissed.
"Come on, you'll be on time for the next class if you come now," a short dude shouted.
"Coming Mason!" Alexandra shouted back to her friend. She looked at Cassandra for a second, watching as the blush died down on her face and she fixed herself. "See you later Jordan." She grabbed her hand, behind down to kiss it. She winked at her, running to Mason.
And for the first time, Cassandra stood, flustered, almost unable to move. Alexandra's touch lingered long after she left, the moment replaying over and over again in her mind. Tikki pushed Cassandra's jacket open, the sudden air reminding her she wasn't alone.
"Is that your girlfriend?" Tikki asked, looking up at a frozen Cassandra. She cleared her throat, shaking her head.
"Alexandra? No. She's not my friend either. She's just a girl I'm not supposed to engage with," Cassandra stated.
"Is it normal for non-friends to act like that in this world?" Tikki asked.
"No…I don't know what that was," Cassandra admitted, rubbing her neck. "I've never seen her act that way."
She took Tikki's silence as solidarity in her thoughts.
Plagg only got a chance to mention Alexandra's actions when she was at her locker, alone.
"So, who was that?" Plagg asked, sitting in front her books.
"Cassandra? Oh, she's this girl who constantly picks on me," Alexandra explained, pulling her book out. It phased through Plagg.
"And you just let her?" Plagg questioned.
"Yeah, I mean she's never hurt me or anything. It's harmless, and she stops when she sees she's gone too far. Plus, I like our interactions, she actually talks to me, when she's not messing with me," Alexandra continued, closing the locker door. She picked up her lock from her pocket, sliding it through the hole that blocked the locker door.
"You should be fighting back! Show her who's boss," Plagg encouraged, flying into Alexandra's pencil case.
"Trust me," Alexandra started, locking eyes with Mason. "I'm gonna be the one messing with her now."
By the second bell, Cassandra sat by her friends in the back of the class, distant from their conversation. She faced in their direction, but her eyes pondered in the direction of Alexandra. From the countless times she messed with Alexandra, teasing, and flirting with her, she never reacted in such a way.
A rush of serotonin washed over her every time she made eye contact with Alexandra, who only smiled back in response. She yearned to be back a few minutes ago, flirting relentlessly with the girl who she was specifically told not to mess with.
But when did she ever follow the rules? Plus, Alexandra never explicitly told her to stop, so it didn't seem like she was pushing any boundaries. Then again, neither did she. She froze in the place at even the slightest touch, no one had ever acted like that. The worst part was that she enjoyed it, and she was ready to kiss her. But that would never happen.
Yet her eyes lingered over the girl, longer than they should. Alexandra didn't seem to mind, she often turned around and smiled at her. Her friends, Aibi and Tiara, hadn't seemed to notice, or care, that she wasn't engaging in their conversation. She finally turned to face her friends, only to see they were lovingly staring at each other, grabbing each other's hand under the table. She rolled her eyes, not wanting to comment on the obvious.
The teacher walked in not even a second later when Alexandra picked her stuff away from Mason, who was happily chatting along with Ethan. Ethan was both a friend of Mason's and a close friend of Noah. He was quiet, reserved and often wanted no attention on himself. Alexandra quietly placed her stuff on the table, taking a seat next to Cassandra. They didn't greet each other or talk.
But as the teacher started to talk, Cassandra felt a weight on her knee, feeling a hand slowly and carefully move to a more comfortable grip. She knew instantly that it was Alexandra's hand, and when the teacher turned around, she felt another hand on her face.
"Is this okay?" Alexandra asked. Cassandra nodded, terrified to open her mouth and fuck up. Alexandra cracked a smile. "Now I understand why you've teased me all these years," she started, moving her hand up higher. "It's fun."
Cassandra coughed loudly, grabbing the attention of all the class. Alexandra retracted her hand, and both Aibi and Tiara noticed Alexandra's presence.
"Are you okay Cassandra?" The teacher asked, and she nodded her head in response.
"Since when was the nerd sitting here?" Aibi whispered, causing Cassandra to look back at Alexandra. She shrugged.
Tiara, on the other hand, saw Alexandra sit down and whisper to Cassandra. She looked at the two, confused. Narrowing her eyes, she shook it off and turned back to the teacher.
The moment that Cassandra returned home, she threw her back in her room and slammed the door shut. Her dad was out and her mum wouldn't get home from work until late. Tikki flew out, hovering beside the distracted girl.
"Cassandra?" Tikki asked, snapping the girl out of her trance.
"Yeah?" She turned to the kwami beside her.
"Are you okay?"
Cassandra hesitated, sitting on the bed's edge. "Today was weird."
Tikki giggled, flying closer. "I thought so too."
"Alexandra, she's…" she trailed off. Tikki paused, unsure what to contribute. "I don't know what to think…I don't know how to think with her."
She looked at Tikki, who stayed silent. "I think I'm going crazy." Tikki smiled at her. "I'm gonna wash my face, I'll be right back."
Cassandra walked out the door. "I think you're falling for her…"
In the bathroom, Cassandra splashed her face with water. She turned off the tap, looking at herself in the mirror. Sighing, she dried her face with a towel. As her vision went black, the moment played in her mind from the morning. She kept thinking of Alexandra, her touch, her words. She was fully prepared to kiss the girl, but that was only in the moment.
Because she knew, that given the chance, she would never kiss Alexandra Rodriguez.
Ever.
Alexandra got home to her mum not being around. Usually, she'd see her mother for an hour before she left for her second job. The moment the door closed, she let Plagg know to come out.
"Hey Plagg," Alexandra greeted.
"Hi Alexandra," Plagg responded. "So, are you going to tell me how you know about me?"
Alexandra chuckled, walking towards her TV. "How about I just show you?"
Plagg flew close by, thumping down onto the couch, as Alexandra opened YouTube. Suddenly, hundreds of videos of Miraculous related videos flooded the screen.
"What…is that?" Plagg asked, intrigued.
Alexandra smiled. "Welcome to the Miraculous fandom, home to one of the most hated and loved, at the same time, cartoon."
She scrolled through the videos, with video and video appearing on different things. Animations, skits, comics, analyses, memes, episodes and more. "We're a show?"
"In my universe, yeah."
"…How?"
Alexandra laughed. "You know, I'm not sure. You'd think that this would be a safety risk considering there is so much information about the miraculous' out there, but oh well. "
Plagg's attention was consumed by the screen, his eyes darting from video to video.
"I am going to leave you to it. I have an English project to start, but if you hear a car pull in, I'll be in my room."
Alexandra stood up, carefully placing the remote in front of Plagg. It was hand-sized, so small enough for Plagg to be able to control it. He selected a video, one with his face on the thumbnail.