The Life of Marinette Dupain-Cheng: Book One

Chapter Nine - Copy Who?!

It was nearly the end of my first year at high school. I had made some really good friends and somehow Alya had found out I had a secret crush on Adrien Agreste. I didn't mind though because I knew she would always be on my side and I would be on hers. What surprised me is that she had started her own blog. The Ladyblog. She was a huge fan of Ladybug and posted updates and videos of her/me on there.

Chat Noir and I had defeated a total of five villains up until now. A lot of them seemed to be from my school! Alya was one of them. She had turned into Lady Wi-Fi and had tried to reveal Ladybug's identity. It hadn't worked though because I found something out that day. My mask cannot be taken off while I'm Ladybug. She didn't remember anything from that day and she also felt really guilty for trying to expose Ladybug.

I still didn't know who Chat Noir was. It annoyed me so much because if I was going to trust someone, I should at least know their real name. His Miraculous was a black ring with a green paw print on it. He wore a black leather-type suit with a black mask and a bell at the front of his neck. He also seemed to have little ears on his head and a tail that hung down behind him. I started to notice he made a lot of puns that I thought were not at all funny and he started acting quite flirtatious around me. Although, I had no feelings towards him whatsoever. He was just my friend and I was in love with Adrien.

The last day of the school year had come and as I was walking to school, I noticed something very strange. People yelling and the usual bangs and shatters that symbolise someone has been akumatized. I won't tell you all the little details but it was a sculptor named Theo Barbot who wanted to meet Ladybug at the opening of a Ladybug and Chat Noir statue that he had made. Me being late to everything, couldn't be there in time and Theo turned into Copy Cat. He looked exactly like Chat Noir and I had to find out who the real one was and return everything back to normal.

I was late to school that day. As I was running into my classroom, the teacher shouted at me to wait outside the classroom so she could finish the lesson and then come and talk to me about why I was late. I waited for a few seconds before Adrien came running past me and into the classroom, just like I had done. Why was he so late too? Was he caught up in all that commotion by the statue? The teacher shouted at him to wait outside next to me. My heart stopped.

'Hi,' he said nervously. 'Were you late too?' I looked at his big green eyes and replied, 'Yep.' He smiled and said, 'Why were you late, Marinette?' What should I say? 'I was trapped by the big crowd on my way to school. I think someone was akumatized there.' Good. That should sound true. 'Really?' He said. He looked confused. 'I was there too. I didn't see you there though.' I didn't see him there too. I had a very good look at everyone in the crowd when I finally got there to thank Theo for building the statue. 'I must have been at the back' I said, looking at my feet. The class was dismissed and the teacher stood before us. 'Care to tell me why you were both late at the same exact time, huh?' We both looked at each other and Adrien said, 'We were both stopped by Copy Cat, Miss.' The teacher frowned. 'Copy who?' Adrien straightened his back. 'Copy Cat. Theo Barbot, the sculptor, was akumatized into a villain, Miss' How did Adrien know so much about akumatized villains? Was he a big Ladybug fan? Just like Alya? The teacher gave us a firm telling off and walked away, leaving Adrien and I standing next to each other. 'Thanks' I said. 'No problem' he smiled and blushed slightly. I felt my cheeks getting warmer.

In the parking lot, I watched as Nino and Adrien walked home together. Adrien turned to look behind him and we both made eye contact. I quickly moved my eyes away but turned them back to find his eyes still on me.