Lovebug

Part 12

That weekend was spent hidden under a pile of books and study materials as Marinette,  Adrien, and all of their classmates prepared for their upcoming exams. For 7 straight days after, all the pupils at Francois Dupont Lycée sat their final baccalaureate examinations before university. Because of this, Ladybug and Cat Noir had not had time to implement their plan and had only seen each other one time since the day of the interview; a day they were called to Master Fu's house because he was now sure of the necessary requirements for the Miraculous merging.

It is now Tuesday. Four days before the miraculous merger and the day that the senior class of Francois Dupont Lycée graduate and move on to university. Marinette and Alya stand in the girl's bathroom wearing their graduation gowns and caps, fixing themselves and chatting.

"God, can you believe it! We're actually graduating!" Alya exclaims, closely applying a coat of lipgloss on in the compact foldover mirror she borrowed from Marinette.

"Alya, I get that you are so excited, but that's your seventh coat of lip gloss. You may want to calm down there" Marinette laughs, straightening out her bangs.

Alya closes over the folding mirror and hands it back to Marinette. "Those mirrors cost nothing, why do you keep hold of that broken one?" she asks as Marinette puts the mirror back in her purse.

"It still works" Marinette protests, "Nothing catastrophic is going to happen because it doesn't shut properly." Alya playfully rolls her eyes and shakes her head. "Besides, it was a birthday gift from my uncle in China, it's very special!"

Sitting beside the sink, Alya's phone buzzes, and she picks it up, quietly studying whatever is on the screen. Out of nowhere, her face twists up into a smile and she screams. "I got in! I got in!"

Marinette's eyes widen in excitement. "Journalism at MUoP?! You got in?!"

Alya nods and the pair hug excitedly. "Alya, that's amazing! I'm so proud of you! You're going to be an amazing journalist!"

"Ahh, I can't believe it!" Alya holds her head in her hands. "Have you heard anything from The Paris School of Design yet?"

Marinette checks her phone. No new messages. "Not yet, but there's still time. Come on, the graduation ceremony will be starting soon"

The girls exit the bathroom and join a clump of their classmates, waiting in the corridor. Alya runs straight into Nino's arms and tells him the good news she just received and the pair share an excited embrace. Marinette walks towards the couple, not realizing that Adrien was standing beside Nino. They haven't spoken since he rejected Marinette's romantic intentions.

"Congratulations Alya, that's really exciting for you," Adrien says

"Thanks," Alya says coldly. She doesn't like Adrien that much anymore, ever since finding out that he rejected Marinette. "Do you know where you're going to university? Maybe somewhere in a different country?" She says the second part quieter.

Adrien laughs nervously, knowing why Alya has been acting like this around him. "I actually just accepted my offer to study History and European Literature at Paris Central."

"That's the one you wanted, right?" Marinette asks and he nods with an awkward smile. "I'm so happy for you."

Ever since her kiss with Cat Noir, Marinette has almost forgotten about her crush on Adrien, her thoughts more consumed with her feline, crime-fighting partner than the boy who rejected her advances. However, Adrien feels guilty. He is deeply in love with Ladybug but feels guilty about rejecting Marinette so harshly. 

Everyone floods into the school gym and takes their seats. The students sit on chairs on a makeshift stage, only around a foot off the ground, facing an audience of proud-faced parents and flashing cameras. Marinette's parents and grandparents are seated in the third row, beaming proudly. Two rows in front sit Nathalie, holding a large IPad that Gabriel Agreste watches his son's graduation from.

The graduation drags on quite a bit with headmaster Mr. Damocles talking for at least an hour overall. After it's done, all the students rush out of the building and gather on the school's front steps for a group photograph.

Among the front row of students, Alya stands with her right arm around Nino and her left arm around Marinette. Rose Lavillant, another of Marinette's close friends, stands on her left side holding up peace signs on both hands. Adrien rushes outside, close to missing the photograph, and squeezes himself into the row behind Marinette without realizing. She senses he is behind her and her shoulders stiffen.

The students stand in various poses, laughing as family snaps pictures on ridiculously large tablets or professional cameras. After shedding their graduation robes, all the students head over to Le Grand Paris Hotel, where the main ballroom and restaurant have been reserved for the graduating class party.

Everyone was laughing, dancing, and drinking a lot of alcohol. By 8 pm everyone there was somewhere on the spectrum of drunkenness, including Marinette who was highly intoxicated for the first time in her life.

Though it was a weird experience, she highly enjoyed it. There is a certain Je Ne Sais Quoi to dancing the Macarena while drinking, feeling yourself get tipsier and tipsier with every arm movement. The music was incredible and the lighting flashy enough to give someone a lethal seizure. Every so often, a couple would sneak off to an undisclosed location, only to return a half-hour or so later, disheveled and red-faced.

"And now a special treat for this year's graduating class..." Someone on stage announced, "Please give a huge huge welcome to... Jagged Stone!"

The crowd went into a frenzy as Jagged Stone strutted on stage and began to play some of his most popular songs. Marinette and her friends jumped about and screamed to the music in a mosh-pit of their peers for hours. By the time Jagged's set was over, they were physically exhausted but couldn't stop grinning.

Marinette, Alya, Juleka, Rose, and Alix collapsed at their table and each threw back a shot of vodka, barely holding down the drink that tasted like hand sanitizer.

"WHOO!" Alix screamed in excitement. "This is the best night of my life!"

All the girls agreed, laughing and falling about, their vision blurring. The DJ had re-taken their place and was now playing older songs from the early 2000s, sending the crowd into a nostalgic frenzy. All the girls, except Marinette, jumped up and ran to the dance floor.

"Arent you coming Marinette?" Alya shouted

Marinette looked to her friend through fuzzy eyes. "I'm gonna go pee" she replied

"What?!" Alya shouted louder in confusion

"I said, I'm gonna go pee!" Marinette shouted louder again, then giggled afterward realizing what she just shouted. She then stood up and fumbled her way to the bathrooms. They were completely empty so Marinette felt no shame in singing along to the music from the other room while she went to the bathroom.

While washing her hands, Marinette caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She looked practically the same as she had at the start of the evening, except her face was redder, her hair a little messier than before and her lipstick had rubbed off completely, leaving only a thin remnant of it around the outer area of her lips. She quickly rubbed it off with the back of her hand.

"All those alcohol awareness videos in school really skipped out the part where drinking was this fun!" Marinette tells her reflection with a giggle.

The door swings open and Adrien struts his way in, he spots Marinette and looks around, his eyes widen. "Damn... I really can't find a men's bathroom in this place!" he whines

They laugh, both in similarly intoxicated states. "There isn't anyone in here, just go quickly. I'll keep watch for ya." Marinette tells him, still in a fit of giggles.

Adrien places his hand, palm down, on top of Marinette's head and looks her in the eyes. "You... are amazing Marinette," he says before running into the stall furthest from the door. Marinette stays waiting for him and after he is done they leave the bathroom together, laughing over nothing.