Hi everyone!!  SylveonKwami here. 

I'm sorry that this update is so late.. I went away on Thursday and Friday, and Wednesday I got busy prepping.  But anyway, it's here now, so I hope you like it.

Enjoy!! ^v^

Marinette

"Okay guys, how should we start?" Marinette asked Alya and Nino.  They had come over a couple minutes before for their project. 

Honestly, apart from comforting Adrien last night, she felt well-rested.  She had gotten up about two hours earlier, as it was now ten in the morning, and Adrien had gotten up an hour after- she wasn't surprised, to be honest.  He must've been exhausted from that thunderstorm.

Her heart twisted thinking about it.  Poor Chaton.  I wish he'd told me sooner...

"Well, we already divided the work, right?" Nino checked.  "You'll handle interesting facts, Alya will handle her career, and I'll do the biological information."

"Right," Alya agreed.  "I finished writing about her career- it wasn't hard, considering "In The Stars" is a pretty popular novel."

"I have about half of her basic info," Nino added, "But it won't take me long to finish."

Marinette instantly felt guilty; all she did yesterday was design clothes with Adrien.  "I... I haven't had time to start yet," she admitted.

Alya let out a frustrated sigh, while Nino gave both girls a patient smile.  "It's okay, Marinette.  We came here to work on the project, didn't we?"

"We came her to finalize the project, not take notes," Alya mumbled grumpily.

"I'm really sorry," Marinette said sincerely, hoping her friend would forgive her.

Alya sat down in Marinette's chaise and nodded.  "Let's just get to work," she said simply.

Both Marinette and Nino nodded, Marinette taking her place in her desk chair and Nino sitting next to Alya on the chaise.  "Interesting facts shouldn't be hard, right?"  Marinette asked no one in particular, logging in to her computer.

"Not at all," Nino replied, clearly trying to keep peace in the room.

For the next little while, they worked without saying much to each other.  Marinette found at least ten different facts; Emmy Carlie was really, really famous; almost as famous as her and Adrien (as Ladybug and Chat Noir of course- though Adrien was pretty famous on his own).  A few times, Adrien waved to her a couple times from her bed, where he and their kwamis were hiding out.  

A couple of times, Adrien made funny faces at her, making fun of her for having to do schoolwork.  She stuck her tongue out at him in response, but Alya caught her and questioned her on it.  She quickly responded that she was frustrated with her computer not loading any facts, even though there were now at least fifteen on her page.  Although she was turned away from her friend, Marinette knew that she was receiving a weird look from her.  She sighed.  She hated keeping secrets from Alya; she hated breaking her trust.

"Finished the basic information," Nino announced at one point, smiling.  "Me and Alya can start the presentation, if you want."

"There's a presentation!?" Marinette exclaimed, whipping around in her swivel chair.

"Yeah, weren't you paying attention?" Alya said, raising her eyebrows.

"Uh... you know me, I'm always daydreaming," Marinette responded, laughing nervously.

"Girl, that's because of Adrien, and he's not here," Alya told her, and Marinette pointed at Nino.

"Alya already told me," he admitted, shrugging his shoulders.

"ALYA!"

"I didn't tell him, swear," Nino said, holding up his right hand to simulate a vow.  Marinette let out a fake sigh of relief, because Adrien and her already confessed-

Wait, was she his girlfriend?

Am I his girlfriend?  I never asked him, shoot.

At that moment, she looked back up at Adrien, who had started laughing at her situation.  She shot him another foul look, and he just fell over laughing, just to mock her.

I am SO getting you back later, Agreste.

"Hey, is something up there?" Alya asked, pointing to her bed.  "I could've sworn I heard something," she added, looking at Marinette.

Marinette smiled nervously, her heart starting to pound.  "There's nothing there, Alya," she said quickly, hoping to change the subject.  However, her friend was still pressing the issue.

"Are you sure?  At least let me look for you," Alya said, getting up to climb the stairs to her bed.  "I know how you hate bugs in your room," she added.

"Alya, it's nothing, leave it," she said, more firmly this time.

"Wait... are you hiding something?" Alya said, a mischievous grin on her face.  "In that case, I definitely have to see this," she said, about to ascend the stairs.

However, Marinette was having none of it.  Adrien is going to stay a secret.  With her Ladybug-fast reflexes, she shoved herself in front of Alya, pushing her back a little.  "No," she said, angry.  Meanwhile, Alya was shocked, and Nino remained silent.

"Girl, I-"

"No, listen Alya.  I'm allowed to have my secrets.  Whatever's on my bed, you can just leave it, because it doesn't concern you.  I'm going through a lot right now, and I'd appreciate it if you just backed off.  I have my life and you have yours, you don't have to know everything about me!  Just stay out of it, it's none of your business, and it never will be." Marinette heaved for a breath, all the stress of the past couple days getting to her.  Not exactly stress, but more of an emotional exhaustion.

"Marinette.  I was just trying to help you," Alya said seriously.  "But, if you want me to back off, I will."

"Alya, I-"

"Bye, Marinette."

Taking her things, she quickly left Marinette's room, and Marinette could hear the closing of the door outside, wincing when she did.  She looked at Nino, who had gotten up.

"I'll take care of her," he said, and left without a goodbye.  Marinette was left stranded, tears coming to her eyes.

What did I just do?

Alya

So stupid, she thought to herself.  At this point, she wasn't concerned about an akuma- Ladybug still hadn't purified the last one- so this time, she was free to hate on her friend.  Or at least she thought they were friends.  Why would she say those things to me?  She knows I will help her with anything, right?  I just wanted to help her with whatever is wrong...

Deep in her own thoughts, she didn't even realize when she bumped into someone- which turned out to be Chloe.  She began to apologize, but Chloe stopped her.

"Aren't you supposed to be at Marinette's place or something?" she sneered, but at the same time, looked curious for some gossip.

"I don't think I'll be going back there any time soon," she said crossly.

"Oh?  Why not?" Chloe asked, a smile forming on her face.

"None of your business," Alya stated, crossing her arms.  

"I can help you," Chloe said.  "We can make her pay for whatever she did to you."

That was when Alya did the thing she never thought she would ever do.

She betrayed her best friend.

Shorter chapter I know, but I'm pressed for time here- sorry.  Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed it!!  Not what you'd expect from Alya, I know.

Anyway, the next update should hopefully be on time.  And, if you're a Pokemon fan, and if you're an Amourshipping fan, then check out my newest story, which I will be releasing today, called The Fairy's Cure.  It's gonna be awesome, so be sure to check it out!!

Now, since this update is so late, I wanted to give you all something to make up for it.  Here is a drawing for my upcoming Miraculous OC series, Protectors of the Balance:

Note: This character's hair is not blue in civilian form (I'm not trying to copy Marinette owo)

That's all for now, everyone.  Stay tuned for more updates ;)