Lilanette: Love at Second Sight

Chapter Three: Partners + 1

-Marinette-

It's been three weeks since the start of school and so far everything is going great. Well, I may have gotten a C-, but how can you blame me? It's not my fault Adrien is so incredibly handsome. And this year I get to sit above him and stare at his luscious blonde locks all day...what was I saying?

"Hey, Marinette!" calls a voice. I see Alya and the others sitting at a table. "Come on, girl!" Alya beckons me over for lunch.

"Hey guys," I say. "What's up?"

Alya starts talking excitedly, "Okay, so you know how Ladybug and Chatnoir did that tv interview with Nadia?"

We all nod.

"Well," she continues, "They've decided to start doing more interviews and guess who was first on the list?"

Everyone gasps in unison. 

"Omg Alya that's so AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!" says Rose. 

"Can we see it?" Nino asks.

Alya smirks. "Sorry guys, you'll have to wait with the rest of Paris until I post it on the Ladyblog."

"Awwwwwwww..."

We keep talking and eating until the bell rings. I'm laughing at something Alix said until my laughter is put to a halt. 

What the hell is Lila doing, hanging out with Adrien like that?

"Hey, Marinette, you coming?" Mylene asks.

"Umm...you go ahead," I say, squinting at Adrien and Lila, "I'll catch up," I creep up a little farther and hide underneath the steps.

"What about the others?" I hear Lila saying. "I doubt they'll forgive me as easily. Especially since I tried to turn them against Marinette too."

Then Adrien starts talking with a reassuring tone, "Don't worry. Our class is one of the best. They'll understand, and maybe over time they can become your friends too."

What? I think. Why is Adrien being so nice to Lila? She lied behind his back and bullied me! Does Adrien really not care about me that much? No. I can't let Lila get to me. She has to be lying, and I'm gonna make sure she doesn't get away with it.

"Alright, class, listen up!" Ms. Nuñez orders. After lunch, we have drama, one of my favorite classes. "Today, we're going to do something a little different. You'll be paired up with one other person to write a script for an infomercial about one of the places here in Paris and then perform it." She holds up a stack of papers and says, "As soon as you find your partner, come get a paper and take notes on any ideas."

"Hey, Nino," Adrien says, "Do you wanna be-" 

"Nino!" Alya interrupts, a mischievous glimmer in her eye. "Let's be partners!" she hooks her arm around his.

"Uh, sure!" Nino accepted. "Sorry, dude."

As they walk by, Alya mutters something into my ear, "Your welcome." Then she pushes me into Adrien.

"Huh?" he asks. I blush furiously. Stupid Alya. "Oh, hey Marinette. Do you wanna be partners?"

My jaw almost drops. The Adrien Agreste wants to be partners with me! I look over at Alya and she winks.

"U-uh...I mean, I-umm, y-you...? Schrmph?" I stutter. He tilts his head to the side with a confused look on his face. "Uh, s-sure?" I squeak.

"Great! I'll go get us some paper."

We sit down at a desk and start working on an idea. 

"Umm, excuse me everyone!" Ms. Nuñez shouts. "We need a group to volunteer to take in Lila. It seems like there's an odd number of students."

Everyone glances around the room, waiting for someone else to volunteer. I glance to the right and see Adrien standing up.

"Me and Marinette can take Lila! The more, the merrier, right?"

"Thank you, Adrien." Ms. Nuñez replies. 

"WHAT?!" I whisper shout. "Lila?!"

Adrien looks at me sympathetically. "Aw, common Marinette. Lila's not that bad. She's changed. All she wants is some friends, and I think you two could actually get along really well."

I sigh. "Alright..."

Lila walks over, looking--flustered? 

Wow. I've never seen Lila look so nervous before. I think. Maybe she really does feel bad about what happened.

"H-hey, Marinette." she mumbles shyly. Her cheeks are flushed and she stares at her feet. 

"Here," Adrien geusters to his chair. "You can have my seat. That way Marinette can catch you up on our idea. I'm just gonna go to the bathroom."

Lila smiles a faint smile. "Thanks, Adrien. You're too kind."

I squint at her. 

Or maybe not.