A Miraculous Tale

Chapter 3

"Aww, come on, Marinette!" whined Alya. "You can't just skip every single social event! You have to come to the celebration!" She grabbed Marinette's shoulders and looked into her eyes. "It's special. It will be fun. The entire city is going. The entire city except for you. Come on, you need to come!"

Marinette shrugged Alya away. "Alya, I'm not going. We've discussed this."

Alya scowled. "But why not?"

"I've got too much work." Marinette shrugged. "Sorry."

"No!" Alya protested. "You absolutely have to come. Ladybug and Chat Noir will be there because it's in their honor. Can't you just come and show some appreciation for them? Half of us would probably be dead if it wasn't for them. They're the reason Paris is safe. Aren't you grateful for that?"

Marinette shook her head, feeling guilty. "It's not that I don't appreciate what they do; I'm glad that they're here to protect us. I'm thankful, I really am. But I'm not going. Besides," Marinette put on a look of fake innocence. "I'd be all alone, since you'll be with Nino the entire time."

Alya put her hands on her hips. "Don't play dumb, girlfriend. It's not that hard to get a date. Look, there's Adrien over there. Go ask him."

"Adrien's not going, remember?" Marinette shrugged.

Alya furrowed her brow thoughtfully. "Oh, yeah. I forgot. But what about..." She scanned the room desperately in search of a date for her friend. "Nathanaël! You can go with Nathanaël!"

Mari wrinkled her nose. "Alya, seriously? You know I'm not really into Nathanaël. I went on a date with him once, but it was because I had to. It wasn't great."

"Well, duh." Countered Alya. "Because he was a villain at the time. That wasn't the real Nathanaël. That was the Evillustrator! Totally not Nathanaël. Well, technically it was Nathanaël, but he wasn't himself, really. I have a video of him talking about it on my blog. Maybe you could try to get to know the real Nathanaël a little bit better."

"Alya, please." Marinette begged.

"Fine. You don't need a date. Just come and have fun!" Alya pleaded.

"Alya..." Marinette apologized. "I really am sorry. I just can't make it this time. Maybe another time. I just have too much that needs to be done."

Alya sighed as the bell rang, and the girls began walking to class. "Fine. I'll stop bugging you for now. But I really wish you would come."

Marinette did feel bad. She wished she could go and have fun with her friends. But she had to be Ladybug this time. The job definitely took a toll on her. Always late, always lying, always missing activities and classes. Always struggling to be two people at once without clashing. Always feeling guilty as she worked to keep her secret. This was just another instance where she would have to put aside her life as Marinette in order to perform her duties as Ladybug.

She wished she could tell Alya. She knew she could trust her, but if she told Alya now, Alya would lose trust in her because she'd waited so long to spill. She could lose her best friend. And even if they were able to stay friends, it'd be weird what with the whole blog thing. Plus, she couldn't put that burden on Alya, even if it would make life easier for herself.

Marinette sighed sadly and glanced at her disappointed friend from the corner of her eye. Being a superhero was hard, but it was a life that she had to accept.