Uptown, Downtown (Chat Noir x Reader) - Book 1

6 | Circles

You'd known Adrien for about a month now, and you hadn't made much progress with somehow getting to understand him a bit better. Sure, you two would sit at lunch together occasionally, and chat whilst walking to class, but to you he was more of an acquaintance.

(He probably thought of you as a friend, though, considering his lack of social experience.)

You didn't hang out after school either; you had finally signed yourself up for a shift at Starbucks, which ran from 3—8pm, and he was occupied with his fencing classes, Mandarin lessons… and whatever else rich kids did.

However, today was the boy's birthday, and you had put together a present for him, despite not knowing if he'd even like it. You'd managed to extract 3 pieces of information from Nino, not wanting to ask Adrien himself, and had then organised the perfect gift.

Firstly, a figurine of his favourite anime character, secondly, an edition of Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, and lastly a signed copy of a Jagged Stone album you'd found on eBay.

(The album was a bit tattered, but whatever. You got it on eBay, for fuck's sake, and at a very good price too.)

Needless to say, all three items costed you about four fifths of your savings, leaving you with a grand total of 5.30 Euros, from the original 85 Euros you'd managed to save up since the beginning of your summer holiday.

You felt dumb as hell, for using most of your cash on some birthday presents, but you'd done it now.

So, you took your broke ass to school, and managed to see Adrien, as he was talking with his friends before class. Marinette was hopping from foot to foot awkwardly, hiding something behind her back, whilst Alya was nudging her in an irritated manner.

Oh hell no, you weren't about to give him everything you'd bought him in front of them like a fucking simp.

You held the plastic bag, previously from a corner shop, containing the presents in your hand tightly, and gulped nervously. Peering around, you silently noticed Chloé, talking with Sabrina about something intelligible right at the door of the classroom.

Again, oh hell no. If that bitch saw you with this bag she'd rip it open and make a mockery of you.

What the fuck were you supposed to do now?! Mother of God, you were inbetween a rock and a hard place right now.

You scooched over to the stairwell, then slumped behind it, finally hidden from the prying eyes of your peers. Letting out a sigh of relief, you relaxed, yet didn't dare let go of the gift bag.

"(Y/n)..." you basically shat your pants out of fear, but was instantly put at ease when you recognised Juleka. "Are you ok?" she asked softly, crouching down to be at level with you.

"Oh… uh, I'm fine! Just hiding from society!" you joked weakly.

Over the past four weeks, you and your seatmate had grown surprisingly close, bonding over your shared introverted nature—most of the time you didn't even need words to communicate, just exchanging glances was enough to tell what the other was thinking.

"What's that?" the girl questioned shyly, sliding down next to you.

"A birthday present," you admitted, "for Adrien."