Tuesday- three days until the dance...

~Chloe Bourgeois~

Some people hate me. Some people only listen to me because my father is the mayor. Others try to use me, believe it or not.

For almost my entire life, I've been mean to others. I've bossed people around, not caring if I hurt them or not. 

But now...

Secretly, I know how it feels. How it feels to me yelled at, to be shunned, to be hated. I know what it's like to be different. 

Ever since I found the Bee Miraculous, ever since Ladybug gave me a second chance...

I've seen the world differently.

You don't treat people terribly to get what you want. My mother was wrong about that. If your nice, if your kind to others, like Ladybug and Chat Noir, like Marinette Dupain-Cheng... you can make friends.

Real friends, not fake ones.

Adrien has been the only one who wants to be my friend, and Marinette... 

I made her life miserable. She'll never be my friend after how I've made her feel- how I've made her hurt. 

But maybe she'll give me another chance. Like Ladybug did.

Like Adrien.

It's worth a try.

I'm not mean anymore, no matter what that bitch Lila Rossi tells you.

I've changed.

And I'm going to prove it.

-0-0-0-

~Marinette Dupain-Cheng~

I sighed as I closed the trapdoor behind me, falling on the floor and letting out all the stress that had piled up inside me over the course of the school day.

Alya- who had followed me home, the two of us having planned to hang out and work on the dresses today- laughed, plopping down on my bedroom carpet beside me. 

"You look tired," She exclaimed, noticing the dark circles under my eyes.

"I stayed up till four AM working on those," I lazily lifted my arm, gesturing limply towards two mannequins with Rose and Juleka's dresses, which had taken longer then I thought.

"Oh my god! Girl, you must be exsausted! We can hang out later- you should rest, Mari. Seriously!"

I forced myself to sit up, shooting Alya a glare.

"I can't rest, Alya. Alix needs to be measured again and I need to buy more pink fabric because I ended up using it all on Rose's dress, the hem on Juleka's dress is falling apart, I still need to sketch Mylene's dress, as well as Kagami's, and I need to buy a new zipper because the one on Rose's dress got jammed and broke. Not to mention that I have to get all these dresses done by Friday, yours and mine included, which leaves me two days to make eight dresses, because Sabrina asked me to make hers this morning.

"And even if I stay up all night to work on these dresses, I don't think that I'm going to be able to make my dress- so, no, Alya, I can't rest. All I can do is work. My parents are catering the dance and constantly need my help with preparations, and it's not that I don't not like helping them, I just have a lot on my plate. Oh, and I almost forgot-" I was on my feet now, probably looking like a crazy person. "Kitty Section is performing and they all need new costumes to match their outfits, Nathanael asked me to help him and Marc design posters today, and, as of this morning, I'm going to the dance with Adrien freaking Agreste!"

I threw my arms out in frustration, my cheeks puffed out and red from talking so fast and my eyes wide.

Alya stared at me.

And stared.

And stared.

And stared.

And-

"Wait, hold up- you're going to the dance with Adrien?! " Alya looked like she was on the verge of whipping out her phone and interrogating me- journalist style. "You- you asked him?! And he said YES?! "

I sighed, sitting down on my chaise. "He asked me, actually."

Alya shot to her feet, smiling widely. "Adrien asked you to be his date to the dance?!"

"A friendly date," I corrected. "We're going as friends."

"It's still a date!" Alya exclaimed, still grinning. "When did he ask you?"

"Uh... this morning...?"

"Why didn't you tell me at school, then?"

"You were stressing out about the pop quiz Ms. Mendeliev gave us in class. It wasn't the right time. Besides, I was still in shock myself and couldn't believe that he had asked me. I mean, I was planning to ask him myself, but still! Half the girls in school want to go with him, including Lila and Chloe, but out of all of them, he chose me! "

Alya tackled me in a big hug. "I'm so proud of you, girl!"

I smiled, returning the hug.

"Thanks, Alya. I just hope that I don't embarrass myself in front of him on Friday."

"You won't, girl! I promise you!" Alya squeezed me tighter in encouragement. "Now, you have a lot of work to do, girl, but can't you at least rest for a little bit, and say, I don't know, do your homework or something? Then you can work on the dresses. I'd be happy to help as well. Sound good? Because I am not taking no for an answer, young lady."

Before I could protest, I let out a long, tired yawn. I sighed in defeat.

"I guess a little rest couldn't hurt..."

-0-0-0-

Wednesday- two days until the dance...

Marinette yawned as she sleep-walked up the stairs, her eyes barely open.

It was six am when she walked into school early Wednesday morning, and she had had to get up early to help her parents in the bakery and then meet Nathanael at school to help him work on posters for the dance.

(A/N- I tend to switch from a character's point of view to the third person pov sometimes, so, if you're confused, sorry. -T)

Pushing the door of the art room open, Marinette waved hello to Nathanael and Marc, Nath turning red and hiding behind his sketchbook.

"Good morning, Nathanael! Morning' Marc," She smiled, trying to hide the fact that she had been up until one am working on Mylene's dress (with Alya's help she had finished the sketches and her homework in under two hours. They even had some spare time to watch a movie. #Teamwork!) and had only gotten three hours of sleep (three hours that felt like only five minutes). "Sorry I'm late. It's hard for me to get up early,"

But Marinette couldn't hide anything from her friends.

In fact, a lot of them would tell you that she was a bad liar.

If only they knew...

"Hey, Mari," Nathanael said, Marc waving shyly from beside him. "You look tired. Did you sleep well?"

Marinette sighed, sitting down. "Not that much, actually. I was up all night working on Alix and Mylene's dresses, and this morning I was helping my parents with preparations for the dance, and I helped get the bakery ready for today's sales, too. Wensdays are busy for us..."

Marc's eyes went wide as Marinette gestured towards the giant duffel bag that she had put by her chair- the bag with the dresses.

"You're a busy girl, Marinette. I don't know how you manage to do all that and still have time to help us!"

"I love helping people, even if I'm a little busy. Now, what ideas did you two have in mind for the poster?"

Halfway through us designing the posters, Marc nudged Nathanael, whispering something in his ear. Nathanael turned red, elbowing Marc, who laughed playfully.

Marinette raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't ask.

-0-0-0-

Later that morning, it was Alya who nudged Marinette.

"The posters look awesome, girl! Good job!"

"It was mainly Nath who did the drawings. Marc came up with the idea. I just helped with the lettering and pieced it all together."

"They still look incredible,"

Marinette laughed. "Alya, hold up, I need to grab something from my locker.

Opening her locker, Marinette grabbed the duffel bag with all the dresses, as well as her copy of Romeo and Juliet, the book that Mlle. Bustier's class had been assigned to read and write an essay on.

When Marinette closed her locker and turned around, however, she did not expect to see Nathanael holding a rose out to her. He held a poster that read "Mari, you are the stars to my sky and the moon to my sun. Will you go to the dance with me?" and had a drawing of her and Nath.

"W-Will you go to the d-dance with me, Marinette?" Nathanael stuttered, his face red as he hid behind the poster.

People started to crowd around them, some whispering, others taking out their phones to record and a few even going "Awww!"

Marinette was kind of glad that Adrien wasn't here to see this, Alya biting her lip from across the room.

Marinette looked at her feet. "Oh no..."

She didn't want to hurt Nath, but she was already going with Adrien, so she had to say no.

This was going to be hard...

"Oh no? That's a bad sign, isn't it? I knew I shouldn't have asked. I'm sorry-"

"No, no, it's not that! It's just... urgh, how do I say this... I'm kind of already going with someone...?"

It broke Marinette's heart as she watched Nathanael deflate like a balloon.

"Oh," Was all he said.

"I'm really sorry, Nathanael, but if you had asked earlier, I definitely would've said yes-"

"It's okay, Marinette. It was a silly idea anyway..." Nath smiled, but Marinette could tell it was fake.

"I... I have to go," Marinette pushed through the crowd, unable to get the image of the heart broken look on Nathanael's face out of her head.

She didn't see Lila in the crowd, but she could feel the eyes of everyone following her as she ran, Lila the only one glaring at her.

Alya was about to run after Marinette when Nino came over to her.

"What, uh... what just happened?"

"I don't know, Nino." Alya watched Marinette's retreating figure. "I don't know..."

-0-0-0-

Marinette's thoughts ran wild, hating how she had to say no to Nathanael.

She wasn't paying attention to where she was going, because if she had, she probably wouldn't have ran into that wall.

Marinette groaned as she fell on her back, her head hurting. She heard someone call her name and shake her lightly.

"Marinette! Marinette, are you okay?"

Marinette opened her eyes to see Chloe Bourgeois leaning over her.

"You okay, Marinette? You ran into the wall pretty hard."

"I'm fine, Chloe." Marinette got to her feet, a little dizzy. Why is Chloe so worried about me? I thought she hated me!

"Look, Marinette... I... I've wanted to apologize for being so mean to you in the past... I've made some mistakes. And I know that I'm not exactly the greatest person ever, either. I was just... jealous, that's all. You have friends- real friends, and I think I was jealous of that. You also have parents that don't fight, a dad that doesn't spoil you rotten, and a mother who knows your name. I just wanted attention. So, if I've hurt you in the past, I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry, and I hope you can forgive me."

Marinette was at a loss for words. "Chloe, I..."

Chloe winced, waiting for Marinette to yell at her.

But it never came.

"I'm proud of you, for wanting to change. That's a hard thing to do. And, yes, Chloe- I forgive you. Everyone deserves a second chance."

Chloe smiled, blushing a little. "T-Thanks, Marinette."

As the two started walking to class, Marinette had an idea.

"Hey, why don't you come to the dance with me, Alya, Adrien, and Nino? We were gonna do a double date, but maybe this time we could do a triple date- oh, wait, never mind, that sounds dumb..."

Chloe giggled, grinning wide. "That sounds awesome, Marinette! But I don't have a date... or a dress, for that matter."

"I could help you with the dress part, if you want." Marinette explained how she had made dresses for some of the girls in class already. "Sabrina even asked me to make her one."

"Sabrina was talking about that... Okay! If you want to, than that's alright with me. Thanks for offering,"

"Any time."

"But I'll save you the trouble of buying the fabric. Just tell me what you need."

"Chloe, you don't have to do that!"

"It's the least I could do, Marinette. You're helping me so much already, so I'll help you." Chloe grinned, but her smile then turned into a smirk. "I can also help you with make-up. I know how much you want to impress Adrien."

Marinette choked on air. "C-Chloe!!!"

Chloe laughed. "Just kidding. But seriously. I could help with make-up, if you'd like. I know Adrien's favorite color..."

Marinette's cheeks went pink. "You still need a date yourself, Chloe. What about Kim?"

"Ew, no. I mean, he's nice and all, but he's also kind of loud. And I think he's going with Alix..."

"What about Max? Marc? Nathanael?"

At the mention of Nathanael, Chloe's ears went pink.

"Aha! You like him!"

"N-No, I don't! He... I... uh... ugh, fine, you got me! I like Nathanael. I can't help it, he's so sweet, and nice. And he's so talented..."

Chloe got a dreamy look in her eyes that Marinette knew too well.

Chuckling, Marinette elbowed Chloe playfully. "Just ask him!"

"I'll think about it. Besides, he already asked you, remember?"

"Oh... right." Marinette said, shoulders drooping. Chloe sighed.

"Sorry. Say, do you want to sit next to each other in science? Sabrina is out sick today and I know that Alya has to leave early for her sister's tournament, so we're both kind of partnerless."

Marinette smiled. She liked the idea of sitting next to Chloe. They were finally friends, after years and years of hating each other. "I'd love that."

Chloe gave Marinette a small hug. "Thanks, Mari. For forgiving me..."

Marinette returned the hug, chuckling lightly. "Of course. We're friends now- it's the least I could do."

Chloe went and sat in her seat, Marinette smiling as she sat next to Alya. Adrien must've noticed her and Chloe hugging, because he turned around and touched her hand with his, his cheeks a light pink color.

"It's nice to see you and Chloe getting along," He whispered, smiling. Marinette turned red.

"U-Uh, heh. She's being really nice to me. I think she's a changed person."

Adrien grinned, rubbing the back of the neck with his hand as he turned around.

Alya looked from Adrien to Marinette, confused, but clearly noticing their chemistry. Chloe smirked from across the room, Marinette glaring and pouting at her, making the blonde laugh.

Mlle. Bustier started the lesson, explaining how she would be assigning projects for the second part of their Romeo and Juliet lesson. 

But Marinette wasn't really paying attention. She was kind of busy staring at Adrien...

Who kept sneaking glances back at Marinette.

Suddenly, Alya nudged Marinette.

"Mlle. Bustier called your name, girl!"

Marinette shot to her feet. "Uh, yes?!"

Mlle. Bustier smiled as the class laughed, Mari smiled awkwardly. She was used to Marinette not paying attention.

"I just said that you and Adrien will be partnered up for a project together,"

Marinette blinked, turning red. Adrien looked back at her, the two meeting eyes...

...and quickly looking away.

Uh oh.