Lila's eyes drifted open as tiny rays of weak morning sunlight crept through the window and fell on the bed covers and her face.
Lila sighed a little, turning over in her bed to look at the alarm clock. She saw that she had woken up early today, there was still a few hours left until she really had to get up.
She gave another sigh wondering if she should get up or just burrow back underneath the warmth of the covers. Finally, she kicked the blankets off with all the grace of a new-born foal.
She stumbled off the bed in an unladylike manner, wearing an oversized t-shirt and a pair of shorts.
'Mother would have a heart attack if she saw me now' Lila thought 'Good thing she never really does' Her eyes laced with bitterness.
She shook her head to get rid of those negative thoughts and stretched to loosen her tight muscles.
She walked over to her large bedroom window and plopped herself down on the window seat. She put her feet up as she leaned against the wall, grabbing a circular orange cushion she hugged it to her chest. From her window, she could see many of the buildings of Paris.
She remembered the last time she had just sat and stared out the window. Back then she had thought her new life in Paris was doomed to be a life of loneliness and misery just because she told a few lies and got akumatised.
A small smile appeared on Lila's face 'But I'm glad I was wrong...I'm glad that Nathanael is in my life' she felt a blush appearing. She quickly put her hands on either side of her face as she shook her head.
'No, No!' she thought "Nathanael is just a friend, I only feel friendship for him!" she muttered.
She sighed. It was easy to lie to others but it was harder to lie to herself.
"I have to stop these feelings it'll only end up in one of us getting hurt...I don't want that" She said as she stood up from the window seat.
She went and got ready for the day ahead.
"Admit it Alix, no dare that you give me will I ever fail at!" Kim laughed.
Alix smirked, "Oh, yeah!"
"Yeah!" Kim said, grinning proudly.
Alix looked around the room and observed Adrien walking in with Nino and a mischievous grin spread across her face.
"Okay, I dare you to convince Adrien to throw a party at his house"
Kim raised an eyebrow "How is that in any way hard? but fine I accept"
Alix watched with a smirk as he walked over to Adrien and Nino.
"Hey, Alix what's the smirk about?" Lila asked. She had just arrived to class a few minutes ago. She had waited in the locker area for Nathanael but then she had got bored so she had walked on up to the form room.
"Oh hey, Lila didn't see you there," Alix said "And I'm smirking because I set Kim up for failure"
"How so?" Lila asked, looking over at Kim talking with Adrien.
"I dared him to convince Adrien to throw a party at his huge house but we all know Adrien would never do it in case his father disapproves"
"Why would his father disapprove of a party? My father wouldn't care but that's because he's hardly at the house" Lila said.
"I heard Gabriel is really strict on Adrien or at least Nino was complaining that Adrien never gets a break" Alix explained.
Lila nodded "I see"
Then Lila noticed Nathanael come into the classroom and go up towards the desk. She walked away from Alix and over to the red-haired artist.
"Hey," Lila said as she sat down beside him.
Nathanael smiled, a small blush on his face "Hey, so Um what's going on?"
Lila giggled "Nothing much but Alix dared Kim to try an' convince, Adrien, to throw a huge party"
Nathanael nodded "Oh right"
"You don't seem too interested," Lila said, a small grin appearing on her face.
Before Nathanael could respond a loud and annoyed "What!" brought everyone's attention to Alix as she glared up at a smirking Kim.
Kim laughed "That's right, I'm helping Adrien plan a party at his house and everyone's invited oh except you, Alix!"
Alix folded her arms as she made demon eyes at the tall Vietnamese "How'd you do it?" she looked at Adrien "is he forcing you? Blackmailing? If he his blink once, I'll save you"
Adrien laughed "No, it actually sounds fun and father told me I could have few friends over so he can't mind too much"
"Bro, I don't think he meant you can have a party with all of your classmates," Nino said, raising an eyebrow.
Adrien gave a sheepish grin "Well, Father is meant to be going to some fashion show thing this weekend so we could have it then"
Kim grinned and slung an arm around the blonde model "That sounds great we'll have it on Saturday"
"I suppose I can DJ for you" Nino grinned.
Kim looked at the furious Alix with a wide grin "See, I really can't fail"
"Eugh, you're so annoying!" Alix exclaimed as she stormed up to her desk.
Kim laughed.
"So Adrien is throwing a party" Lila muttered and then turning to look at Nathanael with a smile.
"Don't even think about it!" Nathanael said as he opened his sketchbook to start his usual day of sketching in class instead of paying attention to the lesson.
Lila pouted "I didn't say anything yet!"
"Yeah, but you're going to say oh we should totally go!" Nathanael smirked as he imitated Lila.
Lila glared "I don't sound like that!"
"You do" Nathanael smirked.
"Anyway, I was actually going to say, that it would...be a great idea for us two to go to Adrien's party" Lila said
Nathanael laughed "That's basically the same as I said you were going to say"
"No, I used different words!" Lila smirked, "So are you going because I'm not going alone!"
Nathanael sighed "Parties aren't really my thing"
"Nathy!" Lila whined.
"Hang out with Rose or Juleka" Nathanael suggested.
Lila dramatically collapsed on the table, her head on its side as she looked at Nathanael with large sad eyes "Nooo!" she cried "It won't be fun if you don't come!"
Nathanael rolled his eyes "Stop being dramatic!"
"Not until you agree to come!" Lila whined.
Nathanael gave a loud sigh "Fine, but I'm not going to stay long"
"Yay!" Lila cheered, sitting back up straight in her seat.
The rest of the day passed in a boring blur and soon Lila was headed down the steps of the school on her way home, Nathanael walking beside her.
All of the class was excited for Adrien's party tomorrow. He had gone home at lunchtime and asked Natalie if it would be okay to have a small party on Saturday after some convincing she had finally agreed as long as it didn't get too rowdy. He had come back to school excited to share the news. He was looking forward to getting to hang with friends on Saturday instead of doing photoshoot after photoshoot.
"Lila, Nath wait up!" a voice shouted behind them. They stopped and turned around to see Rose running up to them, Juleka a little bit behind her.
"What is it, Rose?" Lila asked.
"You two are both going to Adrien's party tomorrow, right?"
Nathanael nodded as Lila replied, "Of course, you and Juleka going as well?"
Rose nodded "Yeah, we can hang out!"
Juleka smiled and nodded her head.
"Great, see you tomorrow," Lila said as she turned and continued on her way down the steps.
"Bye," Nathanael said before turning and walking quickly after Lila.
Rose smiled and looked at Juleka "It's nice to hear Nath is going, he usually hides away at his apartment"
Juleka gave Rose a suspicious look "You're not fooling me"
"What?" Rose asked.
"Your planning something, I know you're matchmaking smile," Juleka said.
Rose gave Juleka an innocent smile "I haven't the faintest idea what you mean, my dear Juleka" then she skipped on down the steps.
Juleka shook her head and followed.
Saturday arrived and Lila was busy preparing her outfit her bed was a mess of clothes she had thrown on a pile.
She sighed as she glanced at the large pile of clothes and the clothes still left in her wardrobe "I have literally nothing to wear!" she complained.
Then her phone sitting on her desk buzzed notifying her of a message. She walked over and picked it up. After putting in her passcode she clicked on the message which was from Nathanael.
SuperNath: do I really have to go?
Lila rolled her eyes as she typed out a reply message.
Rossifox: Yes!
Nathanael quickly sent a reply back.
SuperNath: fine. It's just I'm not really a fan of parties but I'll go
Lila bit her lip as she realised she hadn't really been taking Nathanael's feelings into consideration she knew he got easily anxious.
Rossifox: I know parties aren't your thing but please just come and if you don't like it you can leave at any moment I won't mind.
SuperNath: Okay that sounds better.
Lila smiled and put her phone back down on the desk and went back to the terrible task of choosing an outfit for the party.
A few hours later Lila was walking up the stairs to Nathanael's apartment. She had finally chosen an outfit that consisted of a red crop top, Black ripped jeans and red converse. On top of it, she had a light black jacket and her hair was up in a bun, with her sides still in bands.
She reached the apartment door and knocked. It was soon opened by Nathanael.
"Wow, you clean up nicely," She said with a smirk. She took in what Nathanael was wearing, black jeans and a light purple button-up shirt, He had left the top 2 buttons unbuttoned.
Nathanael's face turned red "T-thanks um you look r-really great as w-well Lila," He stuttered out. Lila giggled with a slight blush on her face.
"So you ready to go?" she asked.
Nathanael nodded and walked out, shutting the door behind him.
"You never said you were coming to collect me," Nathanael said.
Lila smiled "I thought it would be easier for you to go into a large crowded area if I was already with you and it saves you having to search for me"
Nathanael nodded "Yeah, Thank you, Lila"
Lila looked at Nathanael with a gentle smile "It's no problem, Nathy"
Nathanael glanced at the Italian girl before looking away quickly when he felt his face heat up from a deep red blush.
'Lila looks really pretty tonight, well she always looks pretty but she looks Really, Really pretty right now' Nathanael thought as he glanced at Lila as they walked along the pathway, the moon was coming out and the streetlights were on making Lila's green eyes sparkle. He quickly looked away again 'It's really quiet maybe I should say something...but what?' he panicked and suddenly he blurted out the first thing that came to mind
"S-so...You like ducks?"
'Wait, why I said that! Out of anything! I'm such a loser!" Nathanael looked at the pathway as he cringed at his question. He wanted to disappear.
Lila looked at Nathanael strangely, with a raised eyebrow she answered "Um they're okay I guess"
"R-right" Nathanael responded quietly.
They continued their walk in somewhat awkward silence. Lila finally spoke up again it seemed she couldn't take the silence anymore
"So you have any plans for tomorrow?"
Nathanael glanced at her "Oh um No...Nothing planned, um do you?"
"No, just read a book or something" Lila replied.
And then once again their journey to Adrien's house was plunged into silence, except for the noise of traffic or other pedestrians.
Lila looked at Nathanael and wondered why he was acting so weird around her.
'He doesn't know about my feelings, does he? Rose said she didn't tell but was she lying?'
Then Nathanael glanced at Lila and their eyes locked, Forest green crashing with Ocean blue. They quickly looked away from each other Blushes blossoming over their faces.
'Things are really awkward lately...maybe Lila's picking up on my feelings...Juleka was right things are just going to get more awkward maybe I should say something'
Before Nathanael could even say a word. Lila exclaimed with a voice full of relief: "Ah! There's Adrien's house, we're nearly there"
Nathanael looked up and saw Adrien's house, Lights were flashing in it as streams of teens were rushing. His eyebrows furrowed in a confused glare "I thought it was just classmates?"
Lila nodded "So did I, oh well we're here now" she looked at Nathanael with grin "Let's go in"
Nathanael looked at the crowded House with loud music blaring. He felt nervous but nodded.
Lila noticed Nathanael's anxious face and she took his hand in her hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze "It'll be fine, Nathy I'm here for you!"
Nathanael looked at her with wide eyes as a blush appearing on his face, he smiled gently "Thanks"
They walked through the gates and up the steps to the door.
Lil pushed open the door. She and Nathanael stepped into the chaos that was meant to be a party.
They looked around with wide eyes as people they didn't even know and they were sure didn't go to their school were rushing about doing different things.
Nathanael nudged Lila and nodded his head in the direction of some boy who was currently throwing up in an expensive looking vase.
"Seems we're a little late..." Lila said.
"Lila, Nathanael you made it!"
They looked and saw Kim racing over to them.
"This is some party, huh" Lila smirked.
Kim grinned "it's wicked, I'm sure this party will be the best party anyone has ever gone to"
"I thought it was classmates only," Nathanael said, sidestepping as two boys who had started fighting nearly crashed into him.
A sheepish smile appeared on Kim's face "Oh well I told a few mates who aren't in our school and they must have told their mates and um basically the whole of the teenage population of Paris"
Lila laughed "it's okay I've been to crazier a party in Italy"
"Really?" Nathanael said, looking at her in shock.
"Uh yeah...my memory of some is hazy though" Lila laughed.
Then they heard a shout from another room "Put that down! Adrien get your friends out of here!"
Kim gasped and went rushing into the room. Lila followed a smirk on her face. Nathanael sighed before following after them and stepping around a heap of people and awkwardly looking away when he saw two people making out against the wall.
"C'mon Nath!" Lila said Grabbing his hand and pulling him into a room. Nathanael saw that the party was in full swing in this room.
Nino was up front spinning discs as music blasted out through large speakers. Many people were dancing and Nathanael saw that most of their classmates were in this room.
Lila went to follow Kim into a separate room but was stopped by a shout.
"Lila! Nath! You came!"
Rose came rushing up, dragging Juleka with her.
Lila smiled "Yeah and this party is crazy!"
"It was just meant to be classmates but then all these random girls and boys started pouring in, one of them tried to hit on Juleka!" Rose pouted.
Juleka laughed "It's okay, Rose he knows we're a couple now"
"Yeah, he was pretty rude about it!" Rose frowned.
"What? You need me to hit him, where is he!" Lila said, anger rising in her voice.
"No, its fine" Rose said.
Lila nodded. The turned to Nathanael with a grin "We're here now so we may as well party!"
Before Nathanael could protest Lila had grabbed his arm and was pulling him out to the dance floor.
Rose and Juleka laughed at Nathanael's shocked face. They followed them out.
"C'mon Nath, you have to dance!" Lila laughed.
Nathanael felt his face go red as he said "I don't really dance"
Lila pouted "Aw, why not?"
"I'm no good, I just can't!" Nathanael said.
"Stop worrying, it's not like anyone cares!" Lila laughed "take a look around you, no one is dancing seriously!"
Nathanael glanced around and saw she was right, seeing how everyone was either dancing offbeat or just plain out being silly.
"But if it bothers you that much, just copy me!" She said as she began to dance easy dances. He copied her and found it to indeed be easier than he thought it was.
"There you go, you got it!" She cheered.
Nathanael felt a smile reach his face as he laughed and became more confident.
Then the music was cut short and they all looked in surprise to see a figure standing angrily over the DJ booth.
They were clothed in a black jumpsuit over this was a long blood red cloak which swept the ground, the hood of the cloak was up and cast their face in shadow. Red ankle boots and lace black gloves completed the look. They clutched a Mace on a long chain.
"The party is over!" She hissed.
"Put the music back on!" A random boy shouted.
"There will be no music!" she shouted, "There will be annoying parties!"
"Is that Nathalie?" Juleka muttered.
"I think it might be" Lila answered.
"She must have been akumatised, we need to get out of here!" Rose exclaimed. She grabbed Juleka's hand and started to make her way through the crowd.
"We should go to!" Nathanael said as he made his way through the crowd.
Lila looked at the akumatised Nathalie and sighed. She started to make her way through the crowd of teenagers. It was hard as they pushed and shoved and she realised she was losing sight of Nathanael.
She pushed her way through the crowd and came into a clear patch. She wildly looked around "Nathanael?" she shouted.
Nathanael was nowhere in sight. She grew worried. What if he was hurt! She hated to admit it but they needed Ladybug's help, so where was she?!
"Hey, Party crasher, over here!" A heroic female voice called out, it was Ladybug. The crowd of teenagers cheered for Paris's hero in red.
"Out of my way, my quarrel isn't with you!"
"Oh you won't attack me but you will attack innocent civilians?!" Ladybug snapped back.
"A means to an end." Party crasher hissed out coldly as the ground began to shake.
Lila gasped as she felt the ground shake. 'I need to get out of here, or else I'm in real danger...I know for a fact Ladybug doesn't care about my safety'
She wasn't allowed to think about the situation anymore because Party crasher tried to aim a sonic blast towards Ladybug who gracefully dodged it. However, the force from the scream managed to crash into the walls of the building causing it to crack as it spread causing chunks of debris to start falling down like hail.
"Lila, get down!" Before she could react she was tackled down to the ground pushed out of the way from the falling debris. It took a while for the dust to clear but once it was she was able to stare into the blue eyes of her saviour.
"N-Nathanael!"