A Few Notes

Mr. Right

Clamping his hands down on his textured, wooden vanity, Luka stared deep into his reflection. A vase of dried irises took up the left corner of the mirror, their indigo petals turned frail and brittle. "Today's the day," the boy whispered to himself, "I'm going to do it!"

I'm going to ask Marinette out.

He was due to pick her up from school in ten minutes. Not one to prolong his own suffering, Luka turned from his self-made pep talk and, rushing out of the bathroom, scooped up his yellow helmet from his bed. Strapping it on, he sped out of his room and up onto the deck of his mother's houseboat, sprinting to his bike.

The engine revved easily, and he zoomed down the street toward Francois-Dupont.

Marinette growled as she fiddled with her black combination lock, twisting the dial for what seemed like the seventh time in a row. The code was supposed to be easy. 9, 1, 15. The first day of school, the day she had met Alya, her best friend. It all seemed so long ago.

"Why do you even have that thing?" Alya asked, pulling her locker open with ease, "It just looks like a pain."

"It is," the girl smirked, letting out a murmur of triumph as the lock finally popped open, "But this way, no one can plant false evidence in my locker and use it to get me expelled, yeah?"

Alya gave a silent nod, unable to look Marinette in the eye, and pulled her backpack over her shoulders. The topic of Lila was still a sore subject between them, and aside from a mumbled growl here and there, they had ceased talking about the girl altogether. It was a struggle for Alya to pick a side when Lila had still never publicly attacked her friend. Until the event of Marinette's almost-expulsion, the reporter never really had cause to doubt the Italian. Now she didn't know what to think.

It was high time for a change of subject.

"Luka's driving you home again, huh?" Alya put on a playful smile, nudging her friend, "How cute."

It was Marinette's turn to grin. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Gathering up her things, she walked with Alya out the doors, finding Luka waiting for her on his bike. He appeared breathless.

"Mari!" Two voices called from two separate directions, confusing the girl. She looked behind her to see Adrien, his blond hair glowing in the light, running towards her.

Adrien had made up his mind. It took all night to convince himself, but he was ready. He was going to jump the gun and ask Marinette if they could be more than friends, or best friends, or really, really good friends. He was going to ask her out.

She appeared confused, standing halfway between him and Luka as he waited on his running motorbike. Her head flipped between the two boys, seeing Luka set his kickstand and begin walking towards her, just as Adrien appeared by her side. Luka closed the distance in record time, and soon both of them, blue and blond, were in front of Marinette, panting and struggling with words.

It all became clear seconds later. Adrien and Luka said in unison, "Will you go out with me?"

Marinette's shiny bicycle helmet dropped from her hand and clattered onto the bleached cobblestone ground. She watched, vision fuzzy, as the two boys at once gasped and turned to glare at each other.

Plagg was groaning in Adrien's jacket pocket, furry head held between his paws.

Tikki was shell-shocked, covering her mouth as she giggled wildly in Marinette's purse.

The girl in question slowly backed up. A crowd of their classmates was amassing in a circle, and they absentmindedly parted for her as they watched Luka and Adrien, two of the most pacifist, calm people known to man, begin to argue.