"Stop right there, don't move your pretty mouth." Marinette said with a smirk, poking her finger at Chloe's chest as the music began to play. "Doll, you won't get an inch under my skin." She started to sing, perfectly adding a melody over the jazzy tune. "You can try to seduce me, dunk me and use me, but you won't get a word in."

"Excuse me? Who do you think you are? Thinking you can rock up and be a star?" Chloe harmonised, sneer adorning her face. Marinette folded her arms and leaned on her back foot, expression amused. "Think you'll take my place, well no you won't!"

"Shut up and listen before you miss a note." Marinette trailed her finger up Chloe's arm and flicked her chin up, twisting and walking away, arms outstretched. "We were born stars, it's who we are, no time for messing around. So stop trying to push me down, I'll just get back up again and go back to watchin' you pretend to hate my every step. Girl, you can't hate me, just accept that I'll never be your enemy and we can go back to being friends."

"We'll never be friends, never again." Chloe lifted her nose in the air just the slightest, perfectly portraying a stuck-up Queen Bee. Wonder how easily she did that.

"Oh darling, you're only just reaching the deep end." Marinette placed a hand on her hip and twisted her body to look back at Chloe, winking and smirking. Practically everyone in the theatre loved it when Marinette was being seductive, she often got lead roles for her body alone. "Stop trying to torture, depress and enrage. I'm here 'til the end of my days, I ain't going away. So baby, appreciate my stay."

"You're failing at earning my affection, tone down the love and join the collection of people rejected by the one and only, yours truly, Dione!"

"Chloe, it is pronounced die-oh-knee, not die-own." Alya cut through the scene, handing a water bottle to Marinette as she passed. "We've been through this."

Chloe scowled playfully, gulping down a bottle of water. "At least I don't say die-one, that would be even worse." The three girls laughed as Nino came onstage, closely followed by a new actor named Adrien. Nathanael came from the other side, eager to take this opportunity to fix up the painted backgrounds, paintbrushes and buckets of paint in his hands.

"Sup, ladies." Nino announced as Nathanael went to get a ladder, intent on putting more detail on his clouds. Marinette turned around, waving to Nathanael and grinning at Nino before allowing herself to glance curiously at the blond behind Nino.

"Who's the new guy?" She asked the question that were in all three girls' minds. Nino smirked as he jerked his thumb to point at the young man behind him.

"This here is Adrien Agreste. Since someone broke Pierre's leg-" He shot a glare at Alya, who simply rolled her eyes. "-we need a new lead. Adrien and I are close, and dude here loves acting, so I gave him the script and bam!" Nino clapped his hands to emphasize the word. "New lead." 

"Well," Chloe drawled, a grin growing on her face. "Guess he'll need the official welcome, huh, Mar?" 

"Sweet! I haven't seen you dance since I joined!" Nathanael called from the top of the ladder. He threw the new guy a smile. "You're in for a treat." 

Adrien, confused, glanced at the blunette who was stretching slightly, grinning. 

Nino clapped him on the shoulder. "That gorgeous specimen over there is Marinette-"

"Call your girlfriend gorgeous, next time, hot shot!" The shortest of the three girls called out, smirking. The brunette nodded.

"I agree with both statements!" She laughed as Marinette hit her shoulder. 

"The brunette is my beautiful girlfriend Alya." Nino threw a smirk towards Marinette, who stuck her tongue out childishly. Alya walked up and offered her hand to Adrien, who shook it. 

"Nice ta meet ya, Adrien. Welcome to the bandwagon!" She grinned before going back to help out Marinette.

"And last but not least-" Nino began, but was swiftly interrupted once more by Marinette.

"Since I know you're just going to say 'Chloe', I'll interrupt. The stunning Chloe!" She held out her hands in a flourish, to which Chloe jokingly bowed. 

"Thank you, Mari." She smiled as Marinette scrolled through her phone's music. "This one is our pride and joy. Did you see 'The Miraculous Ladybug' last year?" Chloe folded her arms with a grin as Adrien lit up.

"Oh yeah. That was the best performance ever! Everyone was really amazing, especially Ladybug!" He said excitedly. Marinette smiled sweetly.

"Thanks for the compliment!" She giggled at his star-struck expression, smirking as she placed a hand on her hip. "The Miraculous Ladybug Unmasked if our sequel. If you're lucky, or rather, unlucky," Everyone stopped to chuckle at her pun, except the confused yet excited newbie, "you might just be cast as her partner." 

"However, that play is not until next year. As of right now, as I'm sure you're aware, we're doing 'Dance With Me.'" Alya cut in, watching as the blond nodded. "But, before we start practicing again, we have a tradition here."

"Every time someone joins, whether it's performance or backstage," Nathanael started from the ladder, watching everything below. 

"Our best actor, dancer and singer puts on a little performance for them," Chloe continued, tapping Marinette on the head.

"It's different every time, but she always has something prepared." Alya slung an arm around Marinette's shoulders, smiling. 

"So? You ready to officially become part of the troupe?" Nino patted his back as Adrien grinned.

"Hell yeah."

~*~

Marinette stretched once more, back in her denim shorts and crop top. "So, Nino, DJ, bro, play 'Better When I'm Dancing' if you please." She threw a grin down at her friends, now seated at the foot of the stage. Nino, using Bluetooth, connected his phone to the two speakers at the sides of the stage, and began the song. 

She tapped her foot to the beat for a second before beginning to sing and dance. A devious plan formed in her head and she stepped off the stage to bring Adrien to his feet, to the sound of her friends' whooping, as she began to sing.

"Don't think about it
Just move your body
Listen to the music
Sing oh, ey, oh!"

Right from the very beginning, Marinette knew how to capture an audience. This particular song was lively and quick, which meant lively and quick dancing. Facial expressions also mattered, and including the audience. Oh yeah. Audience was involved.

"Just move those left feet
Go ahead, get crazy

Anyone can do it
Sing oh, ey, oh!"

She smiled at Adrien, noticing how he quickly matched her style and speed, and let him spin her as they continued to improvise. 

"Show the world you've got that fire,

Feel the rhythm getting louder

Show the room what you can do
Prove to them you've got the moves
I don't know about you..." 

To improve the dance, and make it seem more like a practiced partner dance, she began to incorporate him into her dance. Moving around him, leaning against him. He seemed to catch on with a grin, supporting her.

"But I feel better when I'm dancin', yeah, yeah,
Better when I'm dancin', yeah, yeah

And we can do this together
I bet you feel better when you're dancin', yeah, yeah."

"Bet he's feeling better now that he's in close proximity with one of our best." Nino whispered to Chloe, Alya and Nathanael, who all snickered. 

"When you finally let go
And you slay that solo

'Cause you listen to the music
Sing oh, ey, oh
'Cause you're confident, babe
And you make your hips sway
We knew that you could do it
Sing oh, ey, oh."

Marinette filled him with a confidence he didn't know he had. The way her body moved with his, the way she smiled at him with pride and encouragement, it all fit. He felt like if she wasn't his partner, he wouldn't be able to do this. 

"Show the world you've got that fire,
Feel the rhythm getting louder
Show the room what you can do
Prove to them you've got the moves
I don't know about you..."

She let out a laugh as he spun her again, righting herself before continuing her Latin-style dance. 

"But I feel better when I'm dancing, yeah, yeah
Better when I'm dancing, yeah, yeah
And we can do this together
I bet you feel better when you're dancing, yeah, yeah

I feel better when I'm dancing
I'm better when I'm dancing, aye, oh ey oh."

Adrien was thoroughly enjoying himself, forgetting about the small audience (who were snickering and scheming in front of them) beside this miraculous girl.

"Feel better when I'm dancing, yeah, yeah
Better when I'm dancing, yeah, yeah,
Don't you know
We can do this together
Bet you feel better when you're dancing, yeah, yeah

You got the moves, babe!"

Marinette pointed at Adrien as she sang these words, successfully gaining a laugh out of him as they swung and twisted together.

"I feel better when I'm dancing
I'm better when I'm dancing, hey
Feel better when I'm, yeah, yeah."

As the music ended, Marinette grinned and excitedly hugged Adrien. "I call him!" She yelled, grinning at Chloe's groan of annoyance. Adrien raised an eyebrow.

"What?" He asked the girl next to him. She smirked.

"You're my partner now, buddy." She held out a fist, expectantly waiting. He eyed her playfully for a moment before meeting it with a fist of his own. "Bien joué!" She exclaimed as the rest came back on stage.

He chuckled, meeting her stunning blue eyes. "Bien joué."

I originally planned this to be dirty af but then I started listening to 'Better When I'm Dancin'" by Meghan Trainor and I'm like 'Nah, cuteness will do.' Profitex, mes amis!