Will o' The Wisps (miraculous ladybug x OC)

Class

"And I have big news!" The teacher's muted voice came through the door while Naya waited outside the classroom, her heartbeat surprisingly calm for how fast she'd thought it'd be racing. "We have a new student joining our wonderful learning journey!"

Muted gasps echoed around, clearing as Naya understood her cue and pushed the door open, revealing a room full of maybe twenty students, all staring at her intently. Many wore welcoming smiles, while a few others looked a little less than friendly.

"Hi. I'm Naya."

The room fell silent.

"Um...it's nice to meet you all! I know we can all become the best of friends in time!"

"Welcome to the class!" A girl with short blue pigtails stood, smiling, and gestured to a seat in the back of the class, next to a shy looking red haired boy. "I'm Marinette, the class rep! Do you want to sit next to Nathaniel there?"

"Dupen-Chang, always trying to be so selfless," a blond haired girl scoffed and Marinette sent a quick glare in her direction.

"Thanks." Naya made her way over to the bench and settled down, giving the boy an open smile, which he returned halfheartedly.

Great.

Class settled down and after a few minutes he seemed to relax, forgetting she was sitting next to him. A few more minutes later he pulled out a small sketchbook and an artist's pencil, making her heart leap.

He's an artist too! Well, I mostly do digital art, but this is definitely something we could bond over!

But how to approach it? The teacher's voice faded out as her brain centered on Nathaniel. She knew how people like this worked, and it was never good to ask something like, "What are you drawing?" It made them freeze up and panic, getting all defensive. She'd seen it a million times before.

But if she didn't say something soon he'd think she didn't want to talk to him. That was true, but for her mother's sake she had to make friends and this was the best way to start.

The bell rang, making her jump, and Nathaniel shoved his notebook into his backpack, sending a worried glance her way.

Shoot! I missed my chance!

"H-Hey..." she tried as the rest of the class packed up and started out the door.

"Huh?" He froze in the act of slipping quietly away from her, looking terrified.

"I just–um... I saw you were drawing–"

His eyes widened and he jerked away, reaching for his bag.

"Wait! I just wanted to say it looked really good!"

He froze again and Naya's heart started pounding.

That was a lie! I couldn't see what he was drawing at all. Does he know? What if it looked terrible?

"Thanks." The boy allowed himself a small smile. "Do you draw?"

Yes! Perfect!

"I do! Mostly digital art but I can still appreciate a good artist like yourself."

"That's so cool!" he cried, then seemed to catch himself and flushed, looking away. "Sorry. I guess I'm just starved for another artist to talk to."

"Same here. Wanna be friends?"

She worried that might've been too forward but Nathaniel smiled through his red hair at her, whispering, "yeah. That sounds nice."