To Be a Hero | MLB

19: The Idea

The next day at school, Lila somehow manages to ignore me for six hours straight.

Even though our seats are right next to each other, she barely even glanced my way, even when my pencil rolled under her chair, and I asked her to get it.

It felt almost like I was invisible to her, which is a feeling I should be used to by now. But coming from her, my friend of two days... it was a lot harder to deal with, for some reason.

Now, as school lets out, and my classmates stream out of the building around me, I realize I'm lonelier than ever. No one in my family wants to talk to me, none of my classmates want to acknowledge me—even after I exposed Lila for lying—and I have no way of talking to Antoine, now that I don't have my phone. I can't go home, I can't stay here...

I don't know what to do.

But then I remember hearing a few of my classmates talking about Pinion—talking about me—and I remember that I have a foolproof way of getting myself seen. Maybe I can build up more of a reputation for myself as Pinion, then reveal my secret identity and force all the people of Paris to finally give me the recognition I deserve. And who knows, maybe I'll even reach celebrity status.

Confident in my new plan, I head outside and duck into an alley, then open my bag to let Lorri out. Crumbs litter her mouth, and she looks up at me guiltily.

"You had a bag of chips in there, and, I'm so sorry, but they looked really tasty, so I had to try some! And they were so good that I ended up eating the whole bag, and... Please don't be mad at me." Then she covers her eyes with her tiny kwami hands and whimpers.

I reach out a cupped hand for her to rest in. "Lorri, it's okay. I left them in there for you."

"Oh, thank you! You're the nicest owner I've ever had!" She flies up to hug my cheek, and I smile. "What are we doing over here, anyway? I thought it was time to go home."

"It is, but I think I have a plan to finally get people's attention. And I need Pinion to do it."

Lorri's eyes grow wide. "Tori, you can never use your Miraculous for your own gain. And besides, if it's in your plan to reveal your true identity, you'll have to give your Miraculous back."

"Well, by then, I won't need it anymore." Lorri starts to protest, but I cut her off. "Now, I need to transform before Jakob starts looking for me." So I do, then take off and soar above the roof of my school. Jakob and Jaxon are just little specks of color below me, and I grin for a moment before gliding in the direction of the Eiffel Tower. I'm halfway to it when something winds itself around my waist and yanks me down onto a hard rooftop.

I barely feel the impact and rise to my feet, searching around for whatever had pulled me down. When I find my answer, I can't help but roll my eyes.

"Ladybug."