For the past few days, I was having a pretty good friendship with Nino...despite his weird insecurities of Natalie and psychopaths. He sometimes invited me over to do homework, or to ride bikes along the dirt roads that surrounded the endless fields, or hang out in town, or to play video games. And once we even got a baseball game going with a few guys from school. 

One uneventful Sunday afternoon, we were sprawled on his gray living room couch lazily binge-watching Voltron on Netflix when the phone suddenly rang from inside the kitchen. After grabbing the remote and pausing the episode, Nino leaped off the couch to see who was calling. 

I remained on the couch, my elbow propped on one of the couch pillows and chin resting in my hand as I waited for Nino to finish talking to whoever was on the phone. 

He came back a minute later, scratching his head absentmindedly with a yawn. "That was Alya," he told me. "She asked if we wanted to hang out at her place with her and Marinette."

"Really?" I asked. Though Alya and I had talked to each other a few times in school, we weren't exactly that close yet. 

We were cool, but our friendship hadn't exactly reached the "best buddies" status yet. So I thought it was a little weird that she would invite me over. 

And Marinette? For some reason, I always had the feeling that I made her uncomfortable whenever I was in her presence. She would always stutter if she said something to me or try to leave immediately if she saw that I was walking toward the same setting she was in. 

And she would always give me this look. As if she was afraid of me or something. 

    But I figured it wouldn't hurt if I accepted Alya's invitation and hung out with them for the day. Maybe this would be another chance for me to make some more new friends. 

Before we left, Nino went around the house making sure every window and every door was locked. "Just in case," he told me, but that didn't stop me from wondering why he kept checking the locks on the doors and windows at least three times. Bellthorn seemed so quiet and mundane compared to New York, which made me slightly doubt if someone would actually want to break into Nino's house. 

But I guess it couldn't hurt to stay safe. 

We were just about to head out when a knock sounded on the door. 

      Nino and I peeked out the window. We saw a young man who looked about 18 or 19 years old standing on the front porch. He had wavy brown hair and was wearing a tye-dyed shirt with a pair of loose ripped up jeans. I noticed that he had his hands in his pockets and seemed embarrassed or nervous. 

"Does he look familiar?" I asked Nino.

He shook his head. "No, I've never seen him before." He ran a hand through his hair before adding, "I hate it when strangers come to our house because one of them could end up being a complete psychopath or serial killer."

I rolled my eyes. "Do you want me to answer the door since you're being so paranoid?"

Nino took a deep before puffing his chest up confidently. "We'll both answer it."

We went to the door and Nino opened it before saying 'hello' in a voice that could've made you think that both us 15-year old boys were the only ones who occupied the house. 

"Uh...hey," said the stranger uncertainly. "Is this 488 Oaknut Road?"

 "Yes," answered Nino. "Is there something you need?"

"So...then this house belongs to the Lahiffes, right?"

"Yeah..."

The man just stood there, shoving his hands deep in his pockets while shifting from one foot to the next anxiously. 

Finally he said. "So...I'm looking for Mrs.Lahiffe. Is she here? Do you think it'll be okay if I talk to her?"

"Uhhhh..." replied Nino, shooting me a worried glance. I didn't blame him. This guy looked pretty sketchy. Especially when he kept looking left and right from one side of the street to the next...as if he expected someone to catch him trying to see Mrs.Lahiffe. 

"Is she here or not?" the guy suddenly snapped. 

"No...she's not," I told him. She actually went to go run errands an hour ago and wasn't home yet. "Do you want to leave a message or something?"

 The man shook his head quickly, his cheeks turning a bright pink. "No, I don't think so. No..." Biting his lip, he slowly turned around and walked down the porch steps and down the road. Once we were sure that he was gone, we ran to Alya's as fast as we could. Nino expressed how he felt that the stranger was serial killer in disguise who was investigating his house to report back to his gang so they could raid it later. Even though he sounded like he had lost a few marbles, I actually wanted to believe him, since my brain failed to provide any other explanation.

As we neared Alya's house, Nino said, "I think I should warn you about Alya's family."

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"They can be...insanely crazy and off the hook sometimes."

"How?"

"You'll see."

He wasn't kidding. When we arrived at the Cesaire's, there were dolls and other various toys scattered all over the front yard. A huge trampoline was sitting right in the middle of the yard where two identical 4-year old girls with almond brown hair and golden brown skin were jumping up and down vigorously. I looked up and saw a man who I assumed was Alya's dad on the roof...but he wasn't fixing it or anything. He was literally lounging on the roof with a pillow reading a newspaper. 

A girl who looked a few years older than us was busy boxing a grey punching bag that was tied to a giant oak tree. Nino told me that that was Nora...Alya's older sister. 

Apparently, Nora and the punching bag were not on the best of terms, because a moment later she tore the bag completely off the branch and threw it to the ground before yelling, "Hey Pops! This one's no good too!"

"Hey Nora!" Nino waved. 

"Hey, Shrimp" Nora grinned when she noticed us approaching. She nodded in my direction. "Who's Mr.Golden Boy over here?'

"I'm Adrien," I said. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise, Goldy-locks. You two looking for Alya and Marinette?"

Nino and I both nodded, and Nora told us that she was probably in the basement, and that we could go ahead and check. After thanking her, we walked up the porch steps and to the front door, and from the way Nino opened the door and walked into the house with ease, I guessed that this wasn't the first time he was allowed into the house without knocking. 

We actually found Alya in her room, where she and Marinette were cleaning up thousand of papers off the floor, some littering the tops of her dresser, some spilling out the opening of her closet, and a pile resting on her bed. 

"What happened in here?" I gasped. 

Marinette, who had her back turned and didn't see me enter the room, yelped when she heard my voice and tripped on a sheet of paper.

Luckily, she landed on Alya's bed. 

"Well, we kinda had some difficulty with the printer..." Alya chuckled. 

"It may not look like it, bro," Nino told me, "but this happened on a regular day basis. I can't even remember when she didn't have paper lying around in her room."

After giving Alya a hand and making her some somewhat clean, we all headed down to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat, Nino meanwhile telling Alya all about the mysterious 'psychopath' who came to his house earlier. 

"Yikes," said Alya as she opened the refrigerator and grabbed a jug of apple juice and handed it to Marinette. "That sounds beyond creepy." Her eyes suddenly lit up. "Do you think I could use that story to put in next week's issue?"

"No way!" Nino told her, placing red plastic cups onto the counter in a row. "I don't want the whole school knowing that I have creeps coming to my house and asking where my mom is."

Marinette remained silent during the exchange, busying herself with filling each cup with juice. But she accidentally filled the last one to the brim, causing it to knock over and spill everywhere. 

Unfortunately, most of it ended up covering my entire shirt. 

"Ohmygosh!" Marinette shrieked. She set the jug onto the counter and raced around the kitchen trying to find something to dry me off with. 

"Typical Marinette," Alya chuckled knowingly, reaching into a bottom cabinet and pulling out a roll of paper towels. She offered me some, but Marinette immediately snatched the entire roll out of Alya's hands and began drying me off. 

"I'm so so so so so so so sorryyy," she said, her cheeks flushed and her eyes filled with humiliation. 

"Don't worry about it," I reassured her with a smile, feeling bad that I made her so flustered. "It's fine, really."

Marinette managed to smile back nervously before ripping off another paper towel from the roll. 

(A/N):

Okay sooooo this chapter wasn't supposed to be this long...but I hope you've enjoyed it anyway!

(Haven't wrote a chapter this long since 'A Miraculously Tangled Tale' lmao)

Hello again my marvelous readers :-D

So my exams are FINALLY OVER (yassss) which means ya gurl is on her spring break XD

Which also means that you guys can look forward to another new chapter coming very soon. 

Lemme know what you guys thought of this chapter...drop a comment, leave a vote, share with a friend...you guys know the drill ;-)

Oh! and also I'm working on a short fanfic called 'Torn and Conflicted' that I plan to post very soon. And the best part is that it's gonna be much more well written that anything I've published on Wattpad lol. I'm talkin' serious editing and revising, not to mention some fancy writing techniques and serious drama ;-)

Really looking forward to hearing you guy's thought on that.

Annddd yeah that's it. See you guys next chap and STAY MIRACULOUS!! <3<3<3