Alya pointed a finger at her half awake friend with a gleam in her eye, "Double date. Get ready to go. There's no backing out!"
Marinette shot up, suddenly wide awake, "What... what??"she looked at the girl perched on the stairs to her bed with a confused expression that slowly turned into one of pure dread as she saw that Alya was half ready. She continued.
"I kept you in the dark on purpose; Nino asked me on a date after that whole thing at the zoo." She climbed down and-- from the sound of it-- began going through Marinette's clothes. "I suggested to make it a double date to make it more fun. Nino loved the idea!"
"No. No, no, no! I know exactly who you set me up with. He and I aren't even dating and... Last night I think I might have gotten a cough while we were shopping and..." The messy haired girl gave her best fake cough.
"I already said you can't back out. Here, put this on!" Alya tossed a salmon colored dress, a white belt, and a white cardigan onto the bed from a few stairs down. "We went shopping for a reason, girl."
Marinette let out a groan and gave in, knowing there was nothing she could do to change her persistent friend's mind. The thought of Adrien becoming the third wheel crossed her mind. I couldn't do that to him... She climbed out of bed with her new clothes in hand.
"Fine I'll go but... What if I get nervous? What if I do something stupid?" Marinette was sat down into her computer chair and pushed over to her vanity. She was a mess.
"Look, don't worry about it-- I'll help you!" Alya began working her magic on the scraggly, sleep-wrecked hair before her, slowly working a brush through the tangles.
***
It wasn't long before the two girls were leaving the house-- Marinette in her salmon dress and Alya in her orange and yellow mid-thigh dress and black leggings. The day was warm with a light breeze, and the two almost forgot they were going on a date. That was, of course, until they rounded the corner of their favorite café.
Alya grabbed Marinette's arm and laughed. The sound of her caused two boys to turn where they were standing. Adrien was the pure definition of perfect. He looked straight at them, his green eyes sparkling. His childish grin could have been deadly when it was mixed with his handsome features. And let me tell you, Marinette could have told you right then and there how nice of a color red was on Adrien, with his casual button down shirt that was cuffed at the elbows (she could have also said how nice his arms looked too, even though they were half showing).
"Help." Marinette choked out while the boys were still out of earshot.
"It's okay, I got you. Just... try not to faint?"
