Blamed for Murder | finished

Ch. 12 Back In The Saddle

Alya and I really had a lot of fun. We played Ultimate Mecha Strike 3, listened to Clara Nightingale's latest album, talked about girl stuff and watched TV. This awesome evening made me feel like a normal girl with a normal life for a few hours and I badly needed this. It was 9 P.M. as Alya's parents picked her up, because we had school the next day.

I still thought about how I should approach Adrien. I couldn't just walk up to him and say: "Hi, I'm Ladybug and I know you are Chat Noir. Also, I'm madly in love with you." There was no chance this was going to work. I needed something to open the conversation and this shouldn't be about me. Chloé always did that and even I noticed how much this annoyed Adrien. I was so out of my mind that I failed to come up with something, so I asked Tikki for advice: "Do you know something I could talk about with Adrien? I need something to start a conversation."

Tikki sighed, as she probably saw this coming. "You're not the first Ladybug to ask me about this Marinette. It's all about common ground, you find one thing you both like or hate. So what do you have in common?"

Tikki was such a wise problem solver. "Yeah, I could talk to him about fashion, or Ladybug, or video games! Wait, no! Everybody talks about Ladybug or his modeling and his father's fashion! He will think I'm a superficial freak, hate me and we will never have 3 kids and a hamster!"

At this very moment, Tikki facepalmed so loud, that probably all of Paris heard it. "Marinette, just calm down. Ask him about his opinion on Chat Noir. Most people don't talk about Chat Noir without bringing Ladybug into the conversation. You have a nice opportunity to start talking to him, know your facts and both of you can talk about him, without Adrien being suspicious. You really need to learn how this works."

I knew Tikki was wise and had some experience in life, but this suggestion was extremely smart. I also noticed the smug expression on her face, which nearly mocked me. I decided to give her some cookies and go to bed.

I wanted to talk to Adrien before school, but I was late as always. The thoughts of talking to him and having to confess that I was Ladybug kept me awake at night. Class had already started several minutes ago, as I walked in. Madame Bustier found some suitable words. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng! You literally live across the street, so what's keeping you from being on time for class? Anyway, it's nice to have you back at school. Please sit down. We all missed you." Her Voice went from strict to nice in a matter of seconds. No one could deny it, she tried her best to be a great teacher. She was strict to maintain order, but also was understanding, caring and nice. Every one of us really meant something to her.

The whole class started laughing as I pulled off my signature move of being late. Even Chloé laughed a little...and looked like she wasn't even thinking about saying something mean. What happened during my absence?

The bell rang and class was interrupted for a recess. I got to my locker and wanted to speak to Adrien afterwards as somebody talked to me from behind. "Hey...uhm...Marinette. I know we aren't friends and you dislike me, but I need to ask you about something."

I knew this voice but I doubted my ears, so I turned around. This couldn't be, she would never speak to me alone while not making threats or insults, but there she was. Chloé Bourgeois was standing right next to me, without anyone else being in the room. "Marinette...are you okay? I can send you a photo of me if you want to keep staring."

I gasped for air as I wasn't expecting this to happen. "What's the catch? Since when do you want to talk to me? It's my first day being back at school, so I'm not interested in any of your schemes." Okay, let's be honest, this was mean.

"I totally understand that you hate me and I won't tell you that everything between us is fine. But the recent events got me thinking and maybe you could understand me. I know you liked Ladybug. I mean come on, your best friend is hosting a blog about her and you always try to act heroic and do the right thing, just like her."