Miraculous... Gone

Chapter 2

Adrien's POV

Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I'm not sure what to think of her. She's always sort of awkward around me. Plagg is convinced she likes me, but I'm not so sure. She was my first real friend, Chloe doesn't count. She is kind. She is compassionate. Around her friends, she is actually quite talkative. Anyways, I was glad to get the chance to get to know her better when she sat next to me, but we got off on a rough start. She was always a stuttering, stumbling mess when she talked to me and I couldn't figure out why. I looked at her face. After she really screwed up asking me how my day was, she buried her head in her hands, clearly embarrassed. I told myself that today is the day. I am going to have an actual conversation with Mari.

"Class," Miss Bustier began the morning announcements, "It's been really stressful lately with all the Akuma attacks and such, so I've decided to give you all a free, relaxing class period!" The classroom erupted with cheers as people began to talk to one another. I turned my head sideways to try talking to Mari, but she had already turned around to talk to Alya. I sighed. There went my opportunity to get to know her. Mari turned her head around and swung her right arm over the chair behind me. I noticed her hair was down and how it seemed to fly across her shoulder in slow-motion as she turned her head. The way the loose strands of hair framed her face made her look angelic, gorgeous even. I couldn't believe it had taken me this long to realize how beautiful Mari was.

Mari must have caught me staring because she looked at me with a puzzled expression and tilted her head slightly to the left. "Umm... Adrien? Are umm, are y-you okay?" She looked genuinely concerned and her eyes were filled with worry. A weird feeling rose in my chest and I suddenly felt self-conscious about every word that came out of my mouth. "Yeah... I mean yes. Yes. I-I-I'm fine." I inwardly cringed. What was I saying? And why the heck was I stuttering?! Mari giggled, which didn't help my pounding heart at all. I could feel my cheeks heating up every time she spoke. Alya and Nino burst out laughing behind us.

"Now look who's stuttering!" Alya was cracking up.

I gave her a 'shut up right now' look "Haha Alya. Real funny."

The rest of the class went by quickly. It was a study hall period so Mari and I chatted for a while and got almost no work done, but it was worth it.

The bell rang, so I started to pack up my things. "It was nice talking to you, Mari! See you at the next class." I closed my bag and stood up from the desk.

"Bye Adrien!" Mari gave a small wave and a smile before she began to walk away.

I couldn't let her go. At last, I had worked up the courage to ask her out. Most people think I'm confident and bold, but in reality, I'm a little insecure. I was nervous that she wouldn't like the real me. Most people get scared off once they see that there is a real person underneath my handsome, confident exterior. I reassured myself with the fact that I knew Mari was different. She even seemed to find the good in Chloe and that was hard to do, so she couldn't possibly dislike me, right?

I quickly slung my bag over my shoulder and jogged up to Mari. "Wait! Mari, I have to ask you something." The pink blush from earlier returned to her face. "Would you... maybe like to go to the park and get ice cream or something?" I rubbed the back of my neck with my hand, a nervous habit of mine.

Once again, her dazzling smile appeared and she screamed, "Yes! Of course!" She realized how loud she was talking and attempted to recover. "What I meant to say was... um sure?"

She said yes! It felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. "Great! After school tomorrow?"

She nodded and ran off towards Alya. I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to find my best friend with a smile on his face.

"Hey, Nino!" I greeted my best friend.

"Hey, dude! How did things go with Marinette?"

"Great! We're going out for ice cream tomorrow. Thanks for sitting with Alya today. It means a lot."

Nino gave me a grin. "What are friends for? Plus, you know I like Alya. It was great for me to sit next to her."

The bell rang and we both ran off towards science class in a frenzied rush. We were about to enter the classroom when I heard a shrill scream from outside. An Akuma. I had to go.

"Umm, I have to go to the bathroom." I ran off as fast as I could and called back over my shoulder, "Bye Nino!"

I locked myself in a stall and opened my bag. Plagg came flying out with a piece of cheese in his mouth.

"Plagg, I thought I told you to save that for later. You know how hungry you get after I de-transform and that was the last piece of cheese." I sighed. What was I going to do with him?

Plagg looked at me with a guilty face before swallowing the entire piece of cheese. "I just couldn't resist the smell of my lovely Camembert!"

"Ugh. Fine Plagg, but don't come crying to me when you get hungry later. Claws Out!"

I transformed into Chat Noir and ran out of the bathroom to find Mari running towards the girl's bathroom. "Mari!" I called out to her. "Why don't you go back to the classroom. There's an Akuma attack going on and it's safer in class than all by yourself in here." I couldn't risk her getting hurt without me there to protect her.

She tapped her foot impatiently like she was in a hurry to get somewhere. "I'm fine Chat, but thanks for your concern." She ran into the bathroom where I couldn't follow. I just sighed. Mari was a stubborn girl! I'll just add that to the growing list of things I like about her. Speaking of people I like, I needed to find Ladybug and help her fight.

A/N: So, I'm really bad at making up chapter names/titles so any ideas for what to call my chapters would be great! I have a serious issue when it comes to naming things. I have the same username for every account I have because I don't like the pressure of inventing multiple names. As if that's not bad enough... that username also happens to be my dog's name because THAT is how bad I am at coming up with names for things!