2050 words
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  Though Marinette had wanted to watch for Adrien's reaction, Tikki reminded her that homework was waiting, and that her parents might come to check on her. Another absence, one that would basically be unexplainable, shouldn't be found by her parents. So she had left, with the knowledge that she would see him the next morning.

  So Marinette arrived at school, before even most of the teachers had arrived.

  She sat on the steps, shivering in the cold darkness, as she waited. She wanted to be there to see Adrien arrive. Although he wouldn't show up for another hour. But she couldn't just stay at home. The anticipation of catching his first expressions, was enough to kill her.

  She was certain he hadn't guessed who she was behind the mask, but surely he knew that Ladybug had given him the CD and note.

  Bouncing one foot, she found herself fretting.
  What if he didnt see the CD?? He might not use his desk that often!! He might've overlooked it!! Oh no!!! What if the maid cleaned his room and put it away??? Somewhere where he won't notice it for days!!!

  She clutched her face.
  I can't wait that long! I'll have to go back and check!

  She gasped.
  I'll have to search Adrien's ROOM! Then he might catch me!! Wait... Is that a bad thing?

   When Alya arrived, she found an excited Marinette, anxiously watching the road and shivering hard.
  "Girl, how long have you been sitting here? And WHY are you sitting here? In this cold?"

    "W-w- waiting-! To s-see, Adrien! About an h-hour."

  Alya laughed. "Girl, you've lost it! Come on, your face is turning blue! Let's get inside!"

  "A-Adrien-", she tried to protest.

  "Adrien will be here soon enough. Come on! I'm not letting you freeze to death, just so you can watch your cinnamon roll arrive at school!"

  Marinette whimpered, but it was too hard  for her to resist her BFFs strong and insistent tug.

  When Adrien came charging through the class door, Marinette looked up excitedly.

  He appeared flustered. His coat was unbuttoned, his hair slightly ruffled, and some of his school supplies, he carried in his arms. Instead of in his satchel, where he usually kept them.

  Marinette's eyes sparkled and her cheeks flushed, as she smiled with joy.
  Oh, how cute!!! He's excited and I have him flustered!!!

  Nino watched as Adrien fumbled with his books and notepad. "Dude, what's up with you today?"

  "I forgot to do my homework!"

  "Seriously?"

  "Yes! Can I copy?"

  "YOU want to copy??"

  "Just this once! Please??"

  "Dude, it's never just once."

  "Well if I don't turn in my homework, I won't be able to come back to school! And it's not as if I don't already know all of this stuff!"

  "Like your father- wait. Your right. Here! Hurry, before the teacher arrives!"

  Overhearing the conversation, Alya asked, "What made you forget, Adrien? That's not like you. Disappearing and being late, is one thing. But forgetting?"

  "I was busy."

  Nino stated, "Well it couldn't have been because of your father. And I know it wasn't MY fault." Watching his friend, he then added, "Dude. Your penmanship."

  Adrien glanced down at the scribbled answers. "Crap. She'll KNOW I'm cheating."

  He balled up the paper and tossed it into the teacher's wastebin with perfect accuracy. Then he yanked off another sheet and started over anxiously.

  Propping his arm on the back of their seat, Nino leaned back and said, "Well THIS is making for an interesting morning."

  Adrien ignored him.

  "Nothing?", Nino probed.

  "Nope."

  "Curiosity killed the cat."

  "Mmm. Well then, mister cat, you're just going to have to die."

  Marinette snorted with laughter, then hastily covered her mouth. Alya was eye-balling her.

  The brunette leaned over and whispered, "Do YOU know anything, Marinette?"

  "ME?? NO!!"

  "Uh huh. I dont believe it ONE BIT."

  Marinette blushed and Alya pinched her cheek in recognition of it. "We're talking later, girl. You're telling me EVERYTHING."

*Lunch*

  "Come on, Marinette. It's just us girls! Your cheerleaders. Your squad.", Alya urged.

   Marinette, for some reason, was uneasy about saying anything. It irritated and worried Alya, all at the same time.
"Don't you trust us?"

  Alya was beginning to wonder whether it had been such a good idea to involve all the girls. Maybe this was something more private. Something that Marinette wouldn't want to share with EVERYONE.

  She started to take it back, and ease Marinette's discomfort, when her BFF said, "I'm... I'm sending him clues as to who is in love with him. I sent him the first clue last night..."

  "And that's why he's flustered?", Rose inquired.

  Marinette nodded.

  "What clue did you give him?", Juleka asked.

  "Uh- well- um... I told him what some of my favorite things are."

  "Nice.", said Alix.

  When asked why she was doing it this way, she explained the romantic connection, and gave a basic description of what she intended to do.

  "Oh that's so sweet!", Rose exclaimed.

  "Need any help?", Mylene questioned.

  "I think I've got it. But if I do, I'll let all of you know."

  "So, wait. THIS is why you ran out of the school yesterday?"

  Marinette nodded.

  Alya questionably looked over the top of her glasses.

  Marinette shrugged and blushed again.

  "And what did you tell your parents?"

  "That I didn't feel good."

  "You lied to them!"

  Alix was slumped over the table and was using one hand to prop up her head. Nonchalantly, she stated, "No she didn't. She was SICK with LOVE."

  At this ironic comparison, all the girls cackled.

  Alix smiled because of that, but then she switched to a more serious tone. Sitting up, she asked, "But I thought you said he was crushing on Kagami? I know you intended to continue pursuing him, but if you're giving him those hints, won't he mistaken them for hints of Kagami's love?"

  All the girls turned to look at Marinette uneasily. None of them had considered that before.

  Marinette, herself, hadn't considered it. All she had been seeing was Chat's flirtations, and his declaration of love.

  But first off, she couldn't just up and say this to her friends. And secondly, she was facing a wave of doubt. It didn't make sense. He was still pursuing her, still interested in her. And yet, he wanted to date Kagami? He had a crush on her? Who did he REALLY love?

  Marinette's jaw dropped, and a touch of envy kicked in. She didn't like this AT ALL.

  A small stab of pain spread through her chest and she frowned. There wasn't anything she could say to her friends. So she shrugged, instead.

  Alya gave her BFF a small shoulder squeeze and a hug. "Don't worry, girl. Adrienette will survive this iceburg!"

*After School*

  Marinette hurried home. She had a lot of school work to do, and her mind was consumed with thoughts of CHAT NOIR being in love with Kagami. Somehow, that was more heartbreaking than Adrien being in love with her. Even if they were the same guy...

  Chat Noir would probably be out, in hopes that SHE would be out patroling too. They didn't always have evening or night patrols together. But he would more than likely expect her. Her stomache swirled anxiously as she felt the cold pain in her again.

  Marinette sat nibbling on her pencil and stared blankly at a piece of paper.

  During class, she hadn't been able to focus on the lessons, so Alya had told her where to study. But her mind STILL couldn't focus. She could probably go see Chat RIGHT NOW. And she really wanted to. But her emotions were so conflicted at this moment...

  And how could she find the truth? How could she find out who he REALLY loved? As much as she hated it, she didn't really feel any trust for him now. Yes, she could trust him with her life. But her heart? Her love? He suddenly seemed again like the flirtatious cat she had previously seen him as.

*at a Drama Theatre*

   The play "The Nutcracker", was currently being held at this Theatre. And with it being so close to Christmas, the place was crowded.

  A little girl named Alma, of the age of seven, was standing in a line that consisted mainly of children. Like the others, she wanted one of the free wooden Nutcrackers that were being passed out as souvenirs.

  It was her birthday today, and this trip was a part of her gift from her parents. She was a die-hard fan of ballet, and this particular Play was one of her favorites.

  She tugged gently at the hem of her dress. It was a special one she had picked out for this event. A soft white ruffle ran around the edges of the dark evergreen background. Scattered across the dress, were multiple gingerbread men. Then to match them, plastic gingerbread men were attached to the elastics that held up her two pigtails.

  Sighing happily, she glanced up to see how much longer she had to wait. There was just the one girl in front of her.

  When THAT girl got her souvenir, Alma bounced on her toes and hurried to the gentleman.

  He glanced up at all the children and said, "My apology, folks. But that was the last Nutcracker."

  A few children mumbled in disheartment and left. Others went back to their parents without a sound.

  Saddened, Alma glanced at the lucky girl who was now running to HER parents.

  Alma went back to her own, who were still waiting to buy tickets.
  Her mother asked, "Did you not get one, dear?"

  The little girl shook her head and felt tears beginning to burn.

  "Well, it'll be alright. You still get to watch the show.", the lady said, in hopes of cheering her daughter up.

  Alma looked back at the other girl. She was repeatedly tossing her souvenir up into the air and catching it. But on the fifth toss, she missed and the Nutcracker's arm broke off.

  Alma gasped as she watched this. The other girl was picking up the pieces, then shrugged and threw them in the waste bin.
  She doesn't CARE!! She didn't REALLY want one!!

  Angry tears fell, as she thought:
  It's not fair!! I would've taken better care of it!! And now it's broken!!

  A few miles away, Hawkmoth stepped into the pale light that fell through his window. An evil smile lit up his face as the butterflies around him fluttered.
  "The injustice ways of life... I feel your pain, dear child."

  Shortly afterwards, a purple shape glowed in front of his face, as the akkuma had found it's hiding spot.

  "Feah Sucreah. I am Hawkmoth. Life is not fair. But I give you the chance to have your wish, and to live your dream. All-"

  "I can be a beautiful fairy???!", Alma interrupted while dancing excitedly.

  Gabriel flinched, as it wasn't often that someone disrupted him. "Uh- yeah. You can be a beautiful fairy. And you can have your prince. All I ask is-"

  "Yayyy!!!", she squealed. "Turn me into a fairy!!!"

  Gabriel pinched his nose in annoyance. "Fine. But get me the miraculouses!", he exclaimed hurriedly.

*Marinette's Room*

  Her phone buzzed.

  Picking it up, Marinette saw the symbol for Alya's Ladyblog and a grimace crossed her face.

  When it came to akkuma attacks, it was possible to learn of them through the Ladyblog. Alya kept connections to all the local news stations, and any reports on Twitter. In this way, Marinette was usually able to learn of attacks before the destruction became too bad. It was helpful, but she always felt a sense of looming problems at the sight of the symbol. Although that wasn't necessarily true...

  Clicking on the link, an amature video pulled up of a villian.

  Marinette sighed. "Welp, here we go... Spots on, Tikki!"

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Authors note:

  Feah Sucreah: Sugar Fairy

  Its basically the french word for it. That is, i took out "le". I know they're actually called "sugar plum fairies", but imagine a name like "Feah Sucreah Prune" 😆😂😂 oh boy!!!

  Oh, and i spelled it that way, so you could read the pronunciation properly. 😉😊