Like Nobody's Watching

1b: in which marinette kicks chat noir's ass

Alya flashes me a knowing grin as I drop onto the bench next to her and begin untying my sneakers.

"Are. You. Ready. To. Kick. Some. Ass?!" she yells, causing Chloe and Sabrina to turn and glare at us. In response, Alya flips them off and looks to me. "Seriously, girlfriend, you've been building up to this for almost a year! Tonight marks the unveiling of the one, the only, the incredible - "

"Ladybug," I finish, showing Alya a flash of red-and-black cloth peeking out from my leotard. "And remember, you don't know who I am. I'm just some random dancer that showed up."

Alya grins, whipping out her always-handy phone and showing me the new designs she has for a blog. "I call it the LadyBlog, and it'll be exclusively dedicated to Ladybug."

"Come on, Al. We don't even know if I'll do anything other than embarrass myself! That's why we're going with the secret alias, remember? If I fuck up, then no one will know that it was ME who fucked up." Alya just smiles and ruffles my hair, which I quickly shake out and pull up into my signature bun.

"Girl, you know you can't wear your hair like that during the contest, right?"

I shrug, tugging on a loose, silvery white top with a metallic golden crown on it and matching gray sweatpants. The straps of my black sports bra show on my shoulders. "Why not?"

"For one, everyone knows Marinette Dupain-Cheng wears her hair in a single bun. And second, that style just ain't gonna fly! Nah, girl, you gotta let me fix you up right. Trust me, it's gonna be spectacular."

I shrug, zipping my bag up and stashing it in my locker. "Yeah, yeah. Let's go to class, okay?"

We stroll into the studio talking and laughing, and I almost miss him. But then, the blond boy bouncing on the balls of his feet turns to me and smiles, and sunshine fills the room. Birds sing and he flats on air as he walks over to me. Instead of a leotard, athletic shorts, tights, and either ballet or pointe shoes, Adrien Agreste wears a neon green t-shirt, navy blue sweatpants, and orange sneakers with black butterflies on the sides.

"Hey Alya! Hi Marinette! I didn't know you guys took this class too!" He's beaming from ear to ear, and I realize (through my crush-induced haze) that he's the happiest I've ever seen him. He radiates energy, eyes shining like emeralds.

I fall about seventeen miles deeper in love with him at that moment.

Miss Bustier commences the class by saying, "I would like to start by welcoming our newest student, Adrien Agreste." Nino and Adrien fistbump as the class claps politely. "Now, then, Mr. Agreste, perhaps you would like to demonstrate for us some of the moves that landed you in this advanced class?"

Adrien shoves a few bangs from his eyes and nods. One of the other boys in the class, Kim, laughs and mutters something to Max, who covers his mouth with his hand and snorts. "Gentlemen!" Miss Bustier calls. "Would you like to tell me what it is you find so humorous?"

Max looks embarrassed, but Kim's face has a clear, malicious smirk on his face. "We were just saying how odd it is that this skinny little fairy is in our class. He's a feather, and he does ballet! He must've bought his way into this class the way Chloe buys her way into all the solos this studio offers, even though she's not as good as people like Marinette or Alya." I blush at Kim's compliment, but his teasing of Adrien ruffles my feathers. Adrien himself, however, looks completely unfazed.

"I'll show you!" he smiles, looking to Nino. "Can you pull me up a song, disc jockey?"

"You got it, bro," Nino calls, clicking his tongue and making finger guns. He plugs his iPod into the room's stereo jack, beckoning Adrien over, and they scroll through songs for a few seconds before Adrien stabs his finger at the screen. Nino nods and Adrien strolls over the the center of the floor.