God, another bee got in my room again. I guess that's what living in the attic gets you. The buzzing is all around me, and I can't seem to find where it's coming from. Maybe it's near my window? I try walking over, and see-
"Aha! Got you now!" I say as I spot the yellow blur near my windowsill.
I grab a tissue to catch it with and start to reach up, up, up...
Ouch. I appear to have reached over my bed, pointedly not towards a bee, but the air, and effectively landed myself on the floor.
I look up to see my phone buzzing, my morning alarm blaring to the tune of Kyoto. I turn it off and realize that I'm already running a bit behind. It's the first day of sophomore year, but I'm just so tired. So, so tired. Perhaps missing school wouldn't be that bad?
The rational portion of my mind halts that thought in its tracks . It would be irresponsible, and besides, I have a motive to be on time today.
It's a new school year: tenth grade for god's sake. A new year to prove myself, to become exactly who I've always wanted to be. A composed, pretty, smart girl. I will become her. I already am her, and I just need to prove that to everyone else.
I just hope everyone will believe that façade as well as I do.
"Marinette!" I hear my mom call from the floor below me. "You're going to be late for your first day back at school!"
"Got it mom," I call, my throat scratchy and voice filled with exhaustion. I slump down, now fully laying on the floor. I pull out the bun I forgot to take my hair out of last night before walking over to my dresser. It's fall, a chilly season in Paris, so I pull on some pink slippers. In the mirror I take a once-over of myself: dark circles, dry lips, embarrassingly old pajamas, and of course, bruises all over my body. Whether it's some recessive trait or foreign disease, I can never seem to figure out why I'm so damn clumsy. Yesterday, I fell down a full flight of stairs- in public.
I make my way to the kitchen and give my mom a kiss on the cheek before sitting down for breakfast. "I bet you anything Chloe will be in my class again," I say while pouring some milk for my cereal.
"Four years in a row?" she asks. "Is that possible?". She dislikes Chloe almost as much as I do. Most people do, of course. The blond-haired fashionista, the beautiful mayor's daughter- more like the most pretentious bitch I've ever met.
My mom looks over with an encouraging smile, her crow's feet and smile lines showing off not her age, but her caring heart. "Don't say that, it's the start of a new year. I'm sure everything will be just fine."
I feign agreement with a short nod and quiet chuckle. I set down a container of chocolate powder-flavoring for my cereal milk on the table a bit too hard, and it's a second too late before I realize that my first inept act of the day has taken off.
An orange springs out of our fruit bowl and knocks into a butter knife on the table, causing a chunk of butter to toss into the air. That butter, seemingly with a mind of it's own, catapults into the tub of chocolate power, pushing it over and spilling the chalky substance all over the floor. At the same time, the orange sends an open carton of milk and a stray yogurt container onto their sides. A waterfall of milk hits the floor as I sigh with disappointment, knowing it is going to be a long day.
My mom walks over and brushes my cheek with the back of her hand, cheering me up a bit.
Following the cleanup of the kitchen, I finish my breakfast and go back upstairs to get dressed. Something casual, something trendy. I pull top after top out of my dresser, bottom after bottom until my room is a mess of clothing thrown in different directions.
I go back over to some of the clothes I threw on my bed, sifting through them again. Pink? Sure, pink is a great color. Pink pants it is. I'm too late to be picky about my outfit any longer.
I pair the pants with a grey top I embroidered with flowers, a black blazer-top to show everyone how much I will not deal with their bull, pink flats, and my favorite pink crossbody bag. I try pigtails and they surprise me when they don't look as horrendous as I suspected they would. I thank god I don't have glasses- pornstar is not the look I'm going for.
I'm making my way out the door as my dad stops me. He hands me a box of sage green macarons, knowing my classmates will love them. There's not too many in the box, but I know I'll have enough. The class sizes are quite small at my high school- so much so that I tend to have the same people in all of my classes. I usually don't mind as I get to know them all very well as the year progresses.
The bell on the bakery door chimes as I step outside to walk to school. I make my way over to a crosswalk and wait for the cars to stop; abruptly, I spot a short, older Asian man in a- Hawaiian shirt?- hobbling across the road. A car rounds the corner down the street, and no one seems to notice that it is heading straight for him. I don't even have time to think before I've pulled him out of the way, tripping on the curb and spilling my macarons in the process.
"Thank you mademoiselle," he says. After spying the spilled food, he cringes a bit and says, "What a disaster".
"Don't worry," I reply with a smile. "I'm no stranger to disaster. Besides, there are still a few left."
The man takes one of the remaining macarons and tastes it. "Delicious," he says.
My smile grows a bit more genuine when I hear that. My happiness is short-lasting, though, as I hear my first period bell ring at school across the street.
I curse under my breath as I scramble to gather my belongings. I breathe a quick goodbye before taking off, track-runner style. Wow, maybe I should try running competitively.
I burst into my first period class, just on time.
"Nino, why don't you have a seat in the front row this year?" Mlle. Bustier suggests to a boy sitting in the back row. He's paired the headphones around his neck with an annoyed expression and the most typical teen-boy outfit I've ever seen: jeans, bulky sneakers, and an overly-vibrant band tee. I grab the seat behind him, setting my macaron box down on the desk.
Slowly, a yellow figure fills my peripheral vision.
No, no no no. Please, just one year without her. All I want is one year, Chloe-free.
I look up, hoping for the best.
"Marinette Dupain-Cheng," Chloe sneers in her usual haughty tone. Her hair is tied up in a high ponytail, a pair of white sunglasses gracing the crown of her head. Designer clothes and accessories stick to every inch of her body; I have no idea how that V-neck hasn't gotten her dress-coded already. Even sitting, it is like I'm staring down her bra.
I groan internally. "Not again," I complain, not even deigning to hide my eyeroll.
She appears to take no offense. "That's my seat."
"But Chloe," I start, "this has always been my seat."
A shorter, bouncy figure flits to my side. "Not anymore. New school year, new seats," declares Sabrina. Have her glasses gotten even larger this year, or am I just seeing things as the result of sleep deprivation? Perhaps staying up until two in the morning last night was not the best idea.
"So why don't you just go and sit beside that new girl over there," Chloe points to a girl sitting in the front row. Mom jeans, red plaid shirt, curled hair, black-rimmed glasses. Friendly aura. Nice looking girl in general.
Before I can form a rounded opinion on her, I hear that same annoying, entitled voice fill the air.
"Listen, Adrien's arriving today, and since that's going to be his seat," Chloe says as she points to the desk in front of me, half-filled by the boy named Nino. "This is going to be my seat. Get it?". She slams her hands down on my desk, the same tormentor she has always been.
It takes me a moment to register what she's said. "Who's Adrien?" I ask.
Chloe and Sabrina look at each other then laugh at me in true Regina and Gretchen fashion. "Can you believe she doesn't know who Adrien is? What rock have you been living under?" Chloe jibes.
"He's only a famous model," Sabrina cuts in with mock humility.
"And I am his best friend," Chloe emphasizes with a hand on her heart. "He adores me. Go on, move."
Plaid shirt girl is suddenly standing behind Chloe, arms crossed and eyes glittering in defiance. "Who elected you queen of seats?" she interrupts.
Chloe looks amused, if not offended that someone- the new girl, at that- would dare to challenge her. "Look, Sabrina, we've got a little do-gooder in our class this year. What are you going to do, super-newbie, shoot beams at me with your glasses?"
"Wouldn't you like to know," is all the girl replies before grabbing my arm and hauling me over to the seat next to her. I catch a glimpse of Chloe as I am pulled away and am pleased to see a look of pure shock plastered over her pale features: shock that she has finally been stood up to.
I am so occupied by that hilarious sight that I trip and spill the box of macarons on the floor. "Sorry, sorry," I mumble before sitting down next to the new girl. She doesn't laugh at me for falling- a good sign in my book.
Mlle. Bustier asks, "All right, has everyone found a seat?" as I stare down at my now-empty macaron box. The last sweets fell on the classroom floor, now crushed into the rug.
"Chillax girl, no biggie," my new seatmate assures me.
I quickly size her up again, now noticing her soft curves and wide smile. "I so wish I could handle Chloe the way you do," I confide.
She grins up at me. "You mean the way Majestia does it," she corrects while pointing at a cartoon superhero on her phone. "She says all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing." She points over at Chloe, "Well, that girl over there is evil, and we are the good people. We can't let her get away with it,". She says all of this in a light, airy tone, but her mouth is perked up in a slightly devilish grin.
She's right. We are the good people- or at least I have now got confirmation that she is.
"Well," I disclose, "that's easier said than done. She likes to make my life miserable."
"That's 'cause you let her, girl. You just need more confidence," she retorts.
A true smile overtakes my face along with the feeling that maybe, just maybe, this school year won't be so bad after all. I look down at the macaron box again and realize that there is, actually, one left. It's seemingly untouched. I break it in half and hand one piece to her.
"Marinette," I offer.
"Alya," she grins back.
My attention is drawn back up to the front of the room as Mlle. Bustier starts the lesson.
-----
The school bell rings and Mlle. Bustier prompts us to either head to the stadium or library. I start to gather my work into my bag when I notice something off about Chloe. She still has her usual smirk on, but her eyes are dark and exude disappointment.
Before I can start to wonder the reasoning for this, I hear a commotion break out behind me.
"Ivan, what are you doing?" Mlle. Bustier cautions.
"It's Kim!" Ivan, a large, intense boy exclaims. He clenches his fist at his side. "I'm so going to get-"
"Ivan," Mlle. Bustier interrupts, looking nothing but done with his bull. I can't blame her. Ivan is usually a good student, but an outburst on the first day of school? Really? "Go to the principle's office."
"Hmph," Ivan grunts, clearly frustrated by the whole situation. Poor boy, I think, he needs some anger management classes.
It doesn't help that I can hear Sabrina and Chloe snickering in the back of the classroom. What absolute snakes.
I make for the library, Alya at my side. She goes down the stairs two at a time, and though I'm tempted to do the same, I know not to push my luck. For how well the day has been going so far, I'm bound to end up falling or doing something embarrassing soon enough.
We snag an empty table in the corner and lay out our new textbooks: grade ten history, French, and grade eleven math, my strongest (and apparently hers, too) subject. Just as we get settled in, a large crash sounds above us. The impact throws me from my chair onto the ground.
Well, there's that fall I predicted earlier.
Alya pulls me up within seconds. "Come on," she urges as we run to the nearest security monitors.
Our eyes settle on the screen showing the front of the school where a- a... a giant thing is yelling something I can't quite make out. It's clearly alive, but it's also- stone?
Now I'm really starting to believe that I'm hallucinating.
It's only after a couple seconds that I am able to recognize the voice of that stone creature. "What's going on? He had Ivan's voice?" I ask.
Alya's eyes light up. "It's as if he's been transformed into a real-life supervillain!". She takes out her phone and reads off, "GPS, check. Battery, check. I'm so out of here!"
Before she can get out the door, I yell, "Hey, wait, where are you going?"
"Where there's a supervillain, a superhero is not far behind."
-----
Back in my room, I watch the news broadcast following the villain around the city. It seems to grow in size and strength every time it is attacked; how it will ever be controlled, I have no idea.
A flash of black on my desk catches my eye. With a closer inspection, I see that it's a small, hexagonal black box with intricate red designs dancing over the top. I know for a fact that I have never bought anything remotely similar to it, but it intrigues me, so I pick it up and open the top. My eyes are able to distinguish two small, red-and-black spotted earrings before a bright flash of red light explodes from the box along with a giant... bug? Mouse? Bug-mouse?
I shriek before stumbling out of my desk chair, eager to get away from whatever that thing is.
As if things couldn't get more strange, it starts to talk. My hallucinations must now be in full effect.
"Don't be scared, everything is okay!" the creature says in a high pitched, friendly voice.
In response, I throw a trash can at it.
It dodges the trash can in surprising deftness, and offers, "Listen, Marinette, I know everything may seem a bit strange to you-"
Gotcha. The creature is cut off as I trap it under a glass cup.
It looks up at me with sympathy and what I can only distinguish as understanding- complete understanding, as if it has been in this exact situation before, given this speech a hundred times over.
"Okay," it starts up again, "if that makes you feel safer-"
"What are you, and how the hell do you know my name?" I spout.
"I'm a Kwami," it replies, as if that explains everything. I give it a questioning look, and it seems to understand that I need more information before trusting it or calming down in the slightest.
"My name is Tikki. Now, just let me explain-"
I panic and try to yell, "Mom, dad!-"
The crea- Kwami- shushes me furiously before somehow escaping the cup. "I'm your friend, Marinette. You must trust me. You're the only one who can stop Stoneheart!"
The pink Kwami starts explaining something about powers and me being a superhero, but my mind trails off immediately at the word "superpower".
I don't have superpowers. If I am "super" anything, it's clumsy. Or awkward.
"This has to be a mistake," I start, but then remember the cartoon superhero Alya showed me earlier at school and her obsession with following that supervillain. "Alya would know what this all means! Well, at least I think she would. She loves superheroes! She'd totally be up for the job. You should go see her-"
"Marinette," the Kwami pleads, getting closer to my face, "You're the chosen one."
-----
After some careful coaxing and a whole lot of explaining by the Kwami, I agree to do what it is asking.
"Okay, so all I have to do is break the object where the whatchamacallit is hiding?" I ask as I put on the red earrings that came in the mysterious black jewelry box.
"It's called an Akuma, which you must capture."
"Got it. Capture it. And what's that charm thing again?" I question, longing to know more about what this Kwami creature wants me to do.
"Your lucky charm, it's your secret superpower!"
I sigh, my mind scrambling to absorb all of this new information. "This is all going too fast, Tikki. I- I won't be able to pull this all off."
Tikki looks up at me with her gleaming blue eyes. "Trust yourself, Marinette. All you have to do is say, 'Spots on'."
"Spots on?-"
Woah woah woah what is happening oh god what is happening??
In less than a second, I am wearing the most ridiculous outfit I have ever laid eyes on. I scan over myself in my mirror, every red and black inch of myself. It's a red bodycon suit covered in black spots, paired with a matching mask and- yoyo? Weird. At least it makes my boobs look fantastic, though I wonder how this thing comes off...
"Tikki, if you can hear me, I want my normal clothes back! I'm not going anywhere like this."
Nothing.
Well, I guess doing something is better than just sitting here is this hideous costume. I unlatch my skylight-style door and hop onto the roof.
Time to kick some supervillain ass while looking like a giant ladybug.
-----
After a minute of standing around, confused, I pull out the yoyo that's strung to my hip. I give it a hesitant throw, expecting nothing to happen, until-
"Aaaahhhh!"
I fly through the air while being pulled along by the yoyo, which seemingly attached to the top of a very tall building. After I clear the high point of the ark, I take a moment to look around and realize I'm falling. And not just falling, but falling onto someone.
Before I can react, I find myself tangled up with the boy I spotted, our bodies pressed together, hanging upside down from my yoyo string.
"Well hey there," he says, just centimeters from my face. I can feel his breath ghosting the tip of my nose. "Nice of you to drop in."
"Ah- I'm sorry, I didn't do it on purpose." We drop onto the ground, free of the yoyo string. It's only then that I notice that he is dressed like a cat, just as I am dressed like a ladybug.
"I bet you're the partner my Kwami told me about," he says, a smile growing on his slim face. "I'm... hm, Chat Noir. Yeah, Chat Noir. And you?"
"I'm uh-"
The yoyo I had been trying to reel back finally gives in, smacking the boy on the top of his head of golden hair in the process. How fucking embarrassing.
"Madly clumsy. I'm so clumsy," I stutter.
"No sweat, Clumsy-girl. I'm learning the ropes, too." He is cut off by a large crash in the distance, perhaps near the thirteenth arrondissement of Paris. We both look up in time to see one of the tallest buildings in the skyline come to a deafening fall.
The boy- Chat Noir, I suppose- springs up with the help of a... magic baton? Stripper pole? Something similar to my yoyo, I think.
"Wait, where are you going?" I shout after him.
He only looks back at me with a goofy grin on his face before shouting back, "To save Paris, right?" and scurrying across the rooftops.
-----
I swing myself onto the top of a stadium where I have a perfect view of my partner, Chat Noir, dancing around that same giant stone monster I saw on the news earlier.
The same monster that has Ivan's voice.
"Where are you, partner?" I hear Noir shout from below, looking around for me frantically.
I can't- I won't be able to do it, any of it.
I'm not a superhero. I'm just a clumsy teenage girl! I can't save the entire city of Paris. Oh god, what have I gotten myself into- oh god, really, how will I fix this?
I spot a girl at the other end of the stadium- Alya? Alya?
"What are you waiting for, Super Red-bug? The world is watching you!" she shouts from far away, clearly not recognizing me as the girl she sat next to in school just hours ago. My eyes flit over to my partner, trapped in Stoneheart's oversized hand of concrete.
Something clicks in me, and I'm off.
I chuck the yoyo across the stadium, dragging myself under the giant stone monster while tangling the string around it's legs.
"Animal cruelty? How shameful," I chide and pull my yoyo string, knocking the monster on his back and releasing Chat Noir from his grasp.
"Yes!" a small part of my mind hears Alya shout from across the stadium. However, most of my mind is occupied on this fight, on surviving- on winning. It feels like I was born for this.
I rush over to my partner and apologize for my tardiness.
"It's okay, Wonderbug. Now, let's kick some rocky ass!" he yells before he tries to run off, but I catch him by the tail- or belt, maybe?
"Wait, haven't you noticed? He gets bigger and stronger with every attack. We have to try something different." I reason.
"Different how?"
"I, uh- I don't know..." I reply, trying to think.
"Okay then, let's use our powers," he beams. "Cataclysm."
One flash of black light later, and my partner's hand is swallowed in shadows. "Apparently," he says, "I can destroy whatever I touch."
"I don't need a superpower for that," I mumble. I look over and see him go to touch the soccer goal post. "Wait, don't do-"
But it's too late, and the post crumbles under his hand. "Time to rumble, soon-to-be rubble," he shouts as he makes a beeline for the monster, his hand- paw- outstretched as if he is holding a hot coal.
He makes contact with Stoneheart, and I brace myself for an explosion, a boom, a something, but nothing happens.
Noir looks up in fear, fumbling for what to do now that he and I have both realized that he can only use his power once. He is thrown back over to where I am standing, oblivious to much how he has just screwed up any plan I had been trying to form in my head.
I guess I only have one choice.
"Lucky Charm!"
A bodycon suit drops into my hands like the one I'm wearing. Tikki said my Lucky Charm would give me something to help me get out of whatever predicament I'm in, but I thought it would be some sort of fancy gadget or huge weapon. Not some piece of fabric.
"Some superpower," Noir chuckles.
"My Kwami said I have to break the object the- the Akuma is hiding in," I explain, trying to buy myself some time to figure out what I can use the suit for.
"Well," he observes, "He is made entirely out of stone. So..."
"His hand!" I exclaim. My eyes lock on his right fist. "His hand, it's closed. He never opens it; it's like those creepy Russian nesting dolls. The object isn't actually him- it's hidden somewhere inside of him."
"So, what's your plan?" Noir asks.
I scan the stadium, that same switch I felt flip earlier turning on again, but to a whole different level. Wheels that I never knew existed start turning in my brain, and my eyes are now able to see things they weren't able to previously. It all fits together like a puzzle, each piece- or person- somewhere around me. I just have to be the one to put it all together.
"Don't resist," I assure Chat Noir as I string my yoyo around his legs. "Just trust me." I throw him as hard as I can in Stoneheart's direction, managing to catch a string of expletives on his breath as he hurtles through the air and is caught in the monster's left hand. I stick the nozzle of a nearby hose into the suit and prepare to do something that's either incredibly stupid or incredibly smart- or perhaps both.
"Catch me if you can!" I declare as I spring into the air, forcing the monster to drop whatever was in his right hand and catch me instead. Of course, he won't be holding me for long.
"Alya, the tap!" I call. I suddenly feel the bodycon suit I'm holding fill with water from the hose. It becomes too large for the creature to keep his grasp on, so I am able to slip onto the ground. I run over to the purple stone that dropped out of Stoneheart's hand and hesitate for a second before stomping on it. I was half-convinced that I would shatter my ankle in the process, but I suppose this whole superhero thing comes with super strength, too.
A purple and black butterfly squeezes out of the stone and flies away. The Akuma.
"This girl is awesome. She's crazy awesome," I hear my partner say from a few feet away, somewhat in awe.
I look over to see no one else but my classmate, Ivan, sitting on the stadium ground in place of the giant stone monster that was there just moments ago.
"Wha- What's going on? What am I doing here?" he stutters, having no recollection of the past few hours.
Cat Noir ignores him. "You were incredible Miss, uh... Bug Lady. You did it!"
"We both did it, partner," I comment, finally able to stop and look at this boy for a moment. He looks to be about as old as I am although I couldn't be sure. His hair is topped off by two black cat ears, and he wears a mask, much like mine, except his is fully black. A beautiful black and green ring graces one of his fingers- his miraculous, I realize, just as my earrings are my miraculous.
He's... he's quite attractive, I must admit.
We bump fists just as his ring beeps frantically. "You should get going," I point out, "our identities must remain secret".
He takes a deep bow. "Farewell, milady. Let's do this again soon, okay?"
And he's gone.
I go and try to comfort Ivan a bit, but I hear Alya pad over to us and remember her obsession with superheroes from earlier.
"Uncanny. Amazing. Spectacular!" she says while filming me on her phone. I start to walk away, hoping to avoid an impromptu interview session. "Are you going to be protecting Paris from now on? How did you get your powers? Did you get stung by a radioactive ladybug? Oh, I've got a ton of questions, uh, Miss..."
I stop and straighten my back a bit, considering. I don't turn around, but just look over my shoulder. "Ladybug. Call me Ladybug."
-----
Back in my room, I re-watch the news for the tenth time. Nadja Chamack points rapidly around the screen to different videos and pictures of the battle, all taken by Alya. That girl is going to be a star reporter some day.
"I did it, Tikki," I whisper, still in shock of the whole evening.
"See, I knew you could do it, Marinette. You were chosen for a reason," Tikki assures me with a smile.
I go down to eat dinner, partly convinced that my parents will figure out that it was really me who defeated Stoneheart. Luckily, they seem none the wiser to the whole situation.
After dinner is finished, I overhear my mom gasp in the living room. I rush over to see her staring at that same news broadcast I was watching in my room with my dad.
"... Paris is about to celebrate our two new superheroes, Ladybug and Chat Noir, a new wave of panic is sweeping across the capital as dozens of people are mysteriously transformed into stone monsters..."
Oh fuck. No no no.
I knew I was forgetting something. I didn't capture that damned Akuma!
I run up to my room, realizing my predictions were right all along. I'm not cut out to be ladybug. I'm too young, too clumsy, too forgettable, too untrustworthy.
Tikki tries to reason with me as I fight back tears of frustration and disappointment in myself, attempting to explain how vital it is that Chat Noir has me as his partner. I cannot bear to listen to her any longer.
"If Chat Noir can't do anything without me, he can find another Ladybug. I'm sorry Tikki. I'm quitting."
"Wait!" the little Kwami starts. "Don't-"
But she is too late. I take out the earrings and she disappears. It is almost as if she was never there in the first place, as if this was all just some crazy dream. I set the earrings back in the black box they appeared in and throw it into a random vanity drawer.
"I'm really sorry, Tikki," I whisper, so quiet that I am not even sure if I said it out loud. I slump down under my vanity, hoping that when I get up again, everything will be the same as it was before.
That's the problem, I suppose. Nothing will ever be the same for me again.