Harsh Goodbyes & Butterflies {LadyNoir/Adriette}

Chapter 3

Ladybug

Defeating evil? Easy. Performing impossible tasks like jumping from roof to roof and free-falling into the air? Simple. Battling fearlessly while the whole world watched on? No big deal.

The one thing I could not seem to do was show up on time.

It was a regular thing, and everybody knew it. As hard as I tried, and as many alarms as I'd set, I would always inevitably be late to class. Every. Single. Time. For everyone else, it was normal. They would find their seats and begin taking out their books. Our teacher would begin her lecture. Everything would be peaceful and uninterrupted.

And then, me. The awkward, clueless, nervous mess of a girl, who could never get herself together enough to look or seem presentable in front of anyone. I was known for my clumsiness and the general chaos that seemed to follow me everywhere I went. And yet, it never became less humiliating. I would always show up in a flurry, unprepared and flustered, and still would struggle with myself to open the door. I was a ball of nerves to anyone who met me.

But I guess that's why nobody suspected me.

I let my breathing slow as I focused on the front of the room, shooting Alya the dirtiest look I could muster when I heard her giggle next to me. That just made her laugh harder. Even my best friend, who had been with me through thick and thin and had supported me through everything, still thought that my antics were absolutely hilarious, even after years of being a star witness to them. It just made it even more embarrassing, but I would never tell her that. After all, she was the reason I was able to tolerate myself. She lightened my mood with her jokes and ideas, and so I could never bring myself to bark at her. Instead, I quietly and bitterly let her entertain herself with the image of papers flying everywhere as her best friend yet again struggled to look even the least big dignified in front of her peers.

The class went by surprisingly fast. Although I hadn't studied for the test we had, I was good at chemistry, so I felt pretty confident as I turned it in. Alya, on the other hand, had clearly panicked through the entire thing. I could feel her squirming, and I tried not to laugh - I knew that she had studied, since she was one of those kids who wrote everything in her planner and actually did what was in it, but she was absolutely terrible with science in general. She excelled in languages and social studies, while I was more comfortable with the logical studies. In most ways, we balanced each other out quite well. For example, she always showed up to school fifteen minutes early to make sure she had all of her materials ready to go for class. That was just one quality about her that I envied far too much for my liking.

Soon enough, the teacher dismissed us, and I found myself arm-in-arm with a bubbly and excited girl. I stared at her, confused, and she just giggled in response.

I stopped short. "Alya? You want to tell me why you're so peppy?"

My best friend laughed and nodded, her long brunette hair swinging to the side as she turned to me. "He was looking at you."

"What?"

She beamed at me. "You know who! He was looking at you! When you turned in your test, his eyes were following you the whole time. I was late turning mine in because I wanted to make sure I saw everything he did. Oh, this is so exciting!"

I blinked. "You mean...him him?"

She nodded again, and I squealed. We jumped around for a moment, and then she dragged me away to the lockers and commanded me to throw my books in as fast as I could. I did what I was told, but felt curiosity biting my brain. What was she up to?"

Homeroom had finished, and it was time for lunch break, so I grabbed the small box from my locker and glanced around before opening the small flap on the top of my bag. The familiar flash of red flew by me, and Tikki smiled at me before nestling behind my history and math book, her favorite place to rest. I slipped her a piece of bread from my lunch before closing the door and locking it, and then skipped over to our usual meeting place. Alya was already there, perched on the stone bench we always sat at, her laptop open and her eyes darting back and forth. She was clearly reading something. I slid in next to her and quickly shut the computer, making her shriek.

"Marinette!" she complained, leaning back against the brick wall and groaning.

I just giggled. "I'm more important than your blog, remember?"

"Yes, yes, I know. But some really important information just came up, and, as the top Ladybug reporter in the world, it's my duty to receive it as soon as possible!"

I sighed and opened my lunchbox. "Fine. But you won't be getting a sugar cookie if that information is more important than your best friend."

She stuck her tongue out at me and slipped her laptop back into her bag. "You're the worst sometimes. Hit me up with that cookie. As dire as the situation is, I could never miss out on your father's famous desserts. That'd just be crazy."

I handed her one of the cookies and took a bite of another, smiling at her after making sure I had frosting coating my teeth. "Yew loff me," I laughed.

"Mm-hm," she mused, flicking my nose. We both giggled, and then settled into our lunches.

"So?"

She turned and looked at me, confused.

"What's new with you?"

"Ah! Well, I had Nino over yesterday to plan out a history project. I'm really excited about this one - we're going to go around and film different parts of the city, explaining how each little part of Paris would've changed if the storming of the Bastille had been a failure. Basically, it just gives me more opportunities to practice my angles, so that, when I get that perfect shot of Ladybug someday, it'll turn out just the way I dreamed it would."

"So now you're dragging Nino into your fantasies?" I teased.

She choked on her cookie. "Dude, I just lost my appetite. Why would you say that?"

"Oh, c'mon, Al! We both know he's crazy for you."

She kicked her legs up, crossing them over my thighs and looking at me skeptically. "I love you, Marinette, but sometimes you make things so difficult," she muttered.

I threw my hands up. "Hey, don't shoot the messenger!"

She sighed and shook her head, moving her legs back over and standing up. She threw her bag over her shoulder and extended a hand to me to pull me up. "Class starts in a few minutes, and heavens knows you could do without another late, so you should probably get going."

I groaned. "Alya! We have ten whole minutes left!"

"Ten whole minutes you could be preparing for art class!" she laughed.

I pouted. "I hate you sometimes."

"Go get 'em, tiger. Meet me after French in the foyer, okay?"

"Sounds good! Have fun with El Niño in history, girlie."

I turned and began to walk away.

"Don't test me, Mar!"

I just laughed and opened the door to the art history room. Three more periods, and I'd be free.

♡ ♡ ♡

Alriiiiiight, Chapter Three's here! I know I'm so dorky (especially after the craziness that was my last fanfiction a few years back) but I'm honestly still so excited to work on this project. If you can't tell already, I'm a big fan of supporting characters being just as strong as the mains, so Alya captured my heart way back at the start of the show and continued to live up to my hopes for her throughout the episodes that have come out so far. I have no intention to leave her and Nino and the other classmates (especially my personal favorites, Alix and that one purple-haired emo chick I know's name starts with a J but whom I can never actually remember the name of, no matter how hard I try) out in any way.

All in all, I've never been so excited to crack down and keep writing. I'm one of those people who invests themselves full-force into their works, so I naturally have some really big plans for this particular story. Remember that this did promise to be a LadyNoir/Adriette fanfiction, and I will be delivering that promise as soon as I can, but first, action. Strap on your heaviest boots and get the popcorn out, because these next few chapters are going to be pretty adventure-heavy.

See you in the next chapter!

~ RJ ~