Why I Shouldn't Have Done It | ✔️

Chapter 3

I wasn't sure what reaction to expect when I revealed my biggest secret. However, all I got in return were blank stares and silence. Those few seconds of emptiness, I immediately regretted my choice. I realized that they were waiting for me to laugh and dismiss it as a joke, but all I had done was glance around at everyone nervously.

"Tikki, transform me," I broke the silence. A red light washed over me, breaking through the room with a flash, then the spandex ladybug-themed costume and mask appeared upon my skin, like a second layer.

Everyone erupted into screams and fangirling, while I smiled nervously. I scanned around to see reactions. Alya had a huge smile plastered across her face, Nino panicked and flipped out, Adrien's face completely became entrenched in a redness.

"Ladybug is my best friend! Oh my god!" Alya screamed. I gave her a hug, only causing more fangirling from her.

Well, I thought, at least she isn't mad at me for keeping the whole thing a secret. I had hoped she would be supportive, and she sure was. Alya was happy that I was Ladybug, and I had known, it would probably take some time to get used to it, so I believed that her fangirling would only be temporary. I thought maybe one week or two weeks maximum, and we would be back to normal, but it wouldn't turn out to be like that. Not in the least bit.

As for Nino, I wasn't sure if he was fearful or excited. Maybe a mix of both? I saw how his eyes bulged, his eyelids practically nonexistent in the case that his eyes were completely round.

"Nino, are you okay?" I asked him, hoping he would reply in a more natural way.

"My... friend... is... a... superhero? What... is... life?" He mumbled incoherently.

I felt this wouldn't be everlasting. However, sweat produced itself in beads under my bangs, starting at the top of my forehead, a little into my scalp. My palms began to sweat as hopelessness took its form in dryness of my parched throat. Was this regret? Should I be this nervous about how my friends were reacting? I should've expected them to be surprised, but I hadn't known it would be this awkward for me. I thought it would be something I could just laugh off; a little silly reaction like a shriek and a hug.

"I think I broke Nino," I laughed, hoping to lighten the mood and break away the awkwardness I had produced.

No one had replied naturally as they would have before the reveal. Instead, Alya forced herself to laugh hard at my joke, a little more quickly than I would've anticipated. Adrien's face was still submerged in a red blushness, something I hadn't ever seen him do while looking at me. Nino hadn't even replied. Instead, he still sat and questioned all existence.

As for Adrien, I knew he may have had a small thing for me as Ladybug, but I hadn't expected him to turn into a complete Marinette around me now. I thought maybe revealing my identity as Ladybug could be a helping factor so I would feel more confident talking to the one I secretly loved. Instead, I receive less words than I had even had in a previous conversation with him. If I could barely talk to him now and he could barely talk to me, how in the world would this ever work out between us? Maybe this was just a temporary reaction, I thought. Maybe time could fix this.

I had little doubt that my true friends would have such a difficult time coming to terms with my secret identity, but I didn't know what I was in for. I didn't know that the three words I spoke in my confession would change the entire establishment I had built for my life.