AVA

     IT WAS NO SECRET that Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste had a messy breakup. Everyone at Françoise Dupont knew, everyone in Paris knew! Ava wondered why. From an outside perspective, Marinette and Adrien looked like they were in love, and as much as it hurt Ava to admit, she thought they were a perfect match. Ava scrolled on Zoo, her FYP flooded with videos speculating about the breakup.

It felt wrong to watch the videos. She's in the same class as Marinette and Adrien, she's friends with them! She should just ask them what happened, but then she remembered how Marinette blew up at Kim when he asked why the two were acting weird, and that happened a week before they officially broke up. She was afraid of what the ex-couple's reaction would be now that it's official.

"Stop doom scrolling," Nathaniel remarked as he looked over her shoulder. Ava turned to her best friend, her cheeks turning red in embarrassment as she had been caught.

"Sorry, sorry-"

"It's only been a few hours since they broke up, and every person in Paris already knows," Nathaniel sighed as he was sketching something on his tablet.

Ava slumped back in her seat, letting her phone drop into her lap. "It's kind of insane, right? Like, they broke up this morning and people are already making breakdown videos with dramatic voiceovers and sad edits."

Nathaniel nodded, "Sometimes I forget exactly how famous Adrien actually is."

Ava crossed her arms and stared at Marinette's empty seat in the cafeteria, "I feel so bad for Marinette, she'd been head-over-heels for him all of last year! They were barely together for six months. She must be so heartbroken."

Nathaniel paused his sketching and glanced up, "Marinette is strong, she'll be okay..." He pushed a strand of hair behind his ear, his fingers softly grazing his miraculous. "I'm more worried about Adrien, though. This year has been a lot for him. When his dad passed, Marinette was the only person he'd let in."

Ava bit her lip. She doesn't like to admit it, but Ava has always been jealous of the blond model.

Ava had been in the same class as Marinette Dupain-Cheng for the last four years, ever since she was twelve, when her parents went through a messy divorce and her mother forced her to leave America. Marinette was a shy girl, but despite her quiet nature, Marinette made sure that Ava felt welcomed. When everyone else treated Ava like the new girl with the weird accent, Marinette had walked up to her with a bright smile and sat with her at lunch. Ava and Marinette weren't friends. Well, they were but not really. After a couple of weeks at Françoise Dupont, Alix and Nathaniel adopted her as a friend and then Marinette met Socqueline and then slowly, they only talked in groups rather than one-on-one.

Ava can't recall the exact moment that she realised she had a crush on Marinette. Maybe she always knew. Or maybe it was the first time Marinette smiled at her, when she felt her heart flutter as Marinette's bluebell eyes stared into her own.

The truth is it doesn't matter when she realised she had feelings for Marinette because she waited too long to act on them.

Marinette fell for Adrien.

She dated Adrien.

And now she's heartbroken because of Adrien.

She knows that it's not fair to blame Adrien, maybe Marinette was the one who broke his heart but it doesn't matter.

What matters is that they're both hurting.

And she doesn't know how to help.

"Solana, I don't know what to do," Alya Césaire said as she and Solana Calloway walked into the cafeteria. Alya and Solana are Marinette's best friends, the two girls were Adrien and Marinette's biggest supporters.

"I visited the bakery earlier... Tom and Sabine said that Marinette hadn't left her room all day and when I asked if I could see her they told me to give her time," Solana was playing with her curly brown hair as she nervously explained.

Alya frowned as she sat down at a table, usually Alya sits down with Marinette, Solana, Rose, Juleka and a couple other kids in their class but today, Alya was sitting on the edge of the cafeteria— which just so happened to be where Ava and Nathaniel usually sit. "Adrien and Marinette were all lovey-dovey up until a week ago, I don't know what soured the mood so quickly."

Four months ago when they got together things went south quickly, only a month later Adrien's dad died and he refused to talk or even mourn his father. Gabriel Agreste, Paris' hero and even his own son had nothing nice to say about him. Marinette was the only person who could get Adrien to open up about his father's passing and even then, Adrien never seemed to properly process it.

Less than two months after Gabriel's passing, Adrien was hosting pool parties, game nights and date nights. Marinette and Adrien would walk around school holding hands, giggling and sharing stolen kisses.

Ava didn't understand.

But then again... how could she?

She'd never had to grieve like that. Her father was still alive, halfway across the world with his shiny new family in America. Sometimes he called. Sometimes he sent a fifty-dollar note in a birthday card. But she'd never lost him. Not the way Adrien had.

"Hey Nate," Marc Anciel grinned as he carried a tray over to their table. Marc slid into the seat next to Nathaniel, placing a soft kiss on his boyfriend's cheek.

Next to Marc were his two best friends, Anastasie Clare and Zoé Lee. Aka, the blondie twins as Ava likes to call them. "Hi Ava, Hi Nath," Zoé waved as she sat next to Ava. There was a faint frown tugging on her lip, her usual cheerful expression dulled with concern.

Anastasie plopped her tray down beside Zoé, her bright pink nails tagging against the metal table. She looked around, "Still no sign of Marinette or Adrien?"

Nathaniel shook his head, "Marinette's at the bakery, I'm not sure where Adrien is but he wasn't with Sid or Nino earlier."

Anastasie nodded, "I have a shift at the bakery tonight, maybe I can convince Tom and Sabine to let me check on Marinette."

"You can try but I just heard Solana say that Tom and Sabine aren't letting Marinette see anyone," Ava explained, if her own best friends can't see Marinette, she doubt anyone else can.

Anastasie shrugged, "I'll try."

Ava sighed, she looked at her friend's face, Nathaniel was frowning, his eyes focused on his food, Marc holding his hand, every now and then giving it a reassuring squeeze. Alya and Solana were lost in thought, until Solana's face paled, "What if Marinette or Adrien get akumatised?"

Ava froze, that idea hadn't even crossed her mind. The new Hawkmoth is relentless, she akumatised less frequently than Monarch but her villains are always more powerful and aggressive, she also seems to be targeting people who hadn't been akumatised before, like Marinette and Adrien.

The moment Solana said it, the cafeteria seemed to get cold, the air thickened. The second the idea entered Ava's mind, the moment she realised how likely of possibility it was. "No, Marinette's strong, she would never let—"

"I'm strong," Ava remarked, "So is Nate, so are you, Marc, Zoé— Solana and Anastasie are the only two here who haven't been akumatised."

Anastasie picked at her food, her eyes glazed as she muttered, "Not without struggle," her voice barely above a whisper.

Ava cursed under her breath, remembering the day Anastasie told her how she almost got akumatised. Ava remembered sitting in disbelief, envy and admiration flooding her mind as she listened to Anastasie talk about how she resisted an akuma. A feat that not many others share.

Alya shook her head, panic clear on her face, "No, Marinette can't get akumatised, she can't!"

Ava couldn't help but feel suspicious at Alya's panic.

It's not like getting akumatised is the end of the world. Sure, it's not the best feeling ever. Ava remembers her own akumatisation like it was some fever dream, she was there but she had no control, it was like she was watching a movie but with a missing remote. Most people in Paris have been akumatised at least once.

You get sad, you get akumatised.

You get mad, you get akumatised.

It's just... how it works.

So why was Alya so hysterical about Marinette possibly getting akumatised? She didn't seem to care much about the possibility of Adrien getting akumatised.

Maybe it could be because Alya's a good friend but it feels like more.

Ava went to ask why Marinette couldn't get akumatised but then Alya stood up—

Her eyes searching the crowd, she let out a sigh when she found Nino. "I'm gonna go sit with Nino," she told Solana.

The girl nodded, "Okay—"

"Bye, guys."

SIDNEY

"Dude, I'm just saying, it makes no sense," Nino started as he took off his hat, rubbing his eyes underneath his glasses. "Marinette and Adrien were total goals! Marinette had been pining over him for like over a year and Adrien was down bad for the girl, why would he break up with her?"

Sid's ears perked up, "He broke up with her? I thought she broke up with him?"

Nino shook his head, "No, no way. Dudette would never!" Sid shrugged, he had always known that Marinette had a crush on Adrien, even back when Nino had a crush on Marinette and Adrien had convinced him and himself to wingman Nino, Sid knew that it wasn't going to happen the way that.

And then Adrien started dating Kagami, now Sid had many restraints about that relationship, one of them being their own feelings but every time they saw Marinette look at the couple they saw how her heart shattered into a million pieces. It was difficult to look at. Like witnessing a kicked puppy or a child drop their cone of ice cream.

And the Marinette and Luka started dating, which was something that not even Sidney could predict because she still looked at Adrien with the same puppy dog eyes.

Flash forward a year, with the most exhausting relationship olympics, Marinette and Adrien finally got together. And to everyone else it seemed like a match made in heaven— but not to Sid. Sid has always prided himself in his ability to tell a secret to a lie, he'd even go as far as to say he was an expert at it. His mother would occasionally teach them how to bet, she preferred slot machines but Sid— They preferred Poker. He could always call a bluff and make an even believable one.

And Marinette? Marinette was always bluffing, always hiding something. Sid had noticed that she was hiding something even before she and Adrien had started dating but since they did it got even worse, like she was living a double life with all the lies she kept from Adrien.

They had given the relationship three months, and it lasted just a bit less than that.

"Hey Sidney," Alya said as she waved hurriedly at Sid as she walked up to the table, grabbing Nino's shoulder, "Nino, I need to talk to you." Nino turned to his girlfriend, a confused look on his face, he went to ask for more details but instead was ripped out of the chair by Alya, "Come on," she ushered as she grabbed him away.

Sid watched the scene play out as they took a bite of their sandwich, he always wondered if Alya knew about Marinette's secrets. Maybe she knew some, but Sid was sure that she didn't know all of them.

Nino turned to Sid, "I-I'll see you later," Sid nodded, not really caring if he sees Nino later or not. Sometimes Sidney prefers being alone to having company.

Nino and Alya were having a heated conversation on the edge of the courtyard, they didn't look like they were arguing but Alya was on the verge of having a panic attack as she shakily explained something to Nino.

Sid turned his attention back to his sandwich. Mustard and scrambled eggs, he eat it slowly, his appetite fading with each bite. With every second bite, he found an eggshell, he'd made the sandwich in the morning, quick and rushed, he didn't have enough time to get the eggshell out of it when it fell in, they just scrambled it and hoped for the best.

Now, Sid had wished that they took the extra effort and just picked the shell out, even if they missed the bus. Around them. Everyone's phone started to ring, the familiar thrill went down his spine, an akuma alert.

Sid flipped his phone over and looked at the screen. The akuma had purple hair and red eyes, she had a superhero-esque mask which was a velvet colour with black dots just like Ladybug. The akuma had red and black earrings, exactly like Ladybug.

The headline read: Ladybug akumatised? Who will defeat Lady Chaos.

Sid doubted that Lady Chaos was in fact Ladybug, akumas have been akumatised to impersonate Ladybug many times before; Antibug being the most famous of them.

Just like always, the school broke into chaos. People hiding, others leaving the school, many turning into a sobbing mess. No matter how many akumas there has been, people still freak out.

Sid wasn't one of them. He continued eating his unpleasant sandwich.