Over the weekend, everything went smoothly. I finished my homework and my project. I patrolled with Chat, and we worked on his baton net when no one was around. Monday was the usual, get out of bed, check the time, scramble to get ready, run to school, slide into my desk, late, watch Adrien, and gossip with Alya. After school I go 'home' quickly patrol as I go to the Eiffel Tower, then patrol the rest of the night with Chat. Tuesday quickly rolled around and I, once again, woke up late. "Marinette!" I shook my head and looked at the alarm clock, showing first period about to start. I jumped up, eyes wide. "I'm coming!" Tikki flew out of her little house and floated above my head. "Marinette, maybe you should start setting an alarm. Then you might not be so late every day." I sighed as I grabbed my jacket and satchel. "Tikki, I've tried it before and it's never worked. I've been too tired to even set it." I held out my satchel and she flew inside. "Well, have a good day Marinette." I smiled and walked down the steps. "Thanks Tikki, see you later." I started running down the steps, grabbed the breakfast laid out for me, and took off. "Bye Mom! Bye Dad!" The door shut on my parents' farewells. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, wishing I could use my yoyo to get to school faster. Wait..... maybe I can! I smiled but then thought of so many downsides. I'll think about it later. I quickly jogged up the steps, opened the door and once again, slipped into the classroom silently. Some of Ladybug's courage must have been leaking into my everyday life, but I wasn't worried like I should have been. Sure, I couldn't just go around sticking up for everyone or punishing them for doing something wrong, but I desperately needed some self-confidence. I listened to my teachers the rest of the day until after lunch. On the way back to school Alya went off on me. "So....... when are you going to tell me why you are late all the time?" I looked at her, my body frozen. "What do you mean?" Alya laughed. "What? I'm just asking why you're late every day. Is it because of a certain someone?" I blushed at the thought of Adrien, but pushed it away. "No! Why would you think that? I just sleep in." I looked at my feet, sad at having to lie to my best friend. "It's all good girl. Jeez, what's got you so down? You've been really quiet today." I shrugged, starting to walk again. "Come on, we're going to be late to class." Alya ran up behind me. "You know it's ok to have a crush, right?" I sighed. "Yeah, I know. This isn't about that though. I just stay up too late designing sometimes." I felt guilt bang on my heart, but pushed it away. I was only lying for my best friend's safety. If only she knew....... "Cool! Girl, you're going to have to show me them sometime. Maybe I could write about it in my blog." I grimaced slightly to myself, blushing. "N-no. That's fine. I don't think anyone would want to see my designs anyway. They might even unsubscribe to your Ladyblog, thinking you were going to stray from Ladybug." Alya laughed to herself. "You really are something Mari. How about you show me your best design and I write about it on the Ladyblog, one time thing. Please? I bet all my fans would love your designs." I sighed. Acknowledgement would be nice, but then there was a huge potential for rejection. If anyone verbally tore at my design, I don't think my heart would be able to stand it. "Maybe some other time?" Alya looked a bit disappointed, but nodded. "Yeah, sure." I didn't want to upset my friend. "Fine. I'll show you my best one, but you can only do one, got it?" Alya squealed. "Yes! I won't make you regret this Mari! You'll see, it'll be the best thing ever to happen to your kind soul!" I giggled a bit as we walked back into school. "Come on, the bell's about to ring." We both looked at the huge clock tower and our eyes widened. We quickly secured our backpacks and blasted to our next class, sliding into our seats just as the teacher walked in while the bell chimed. We both heave a quiet sigh of relief and shot each other a smile with a thumbs up. I watched Adrien as the teacher talked about some test we would be having next week. Give me a break, I had payed attention in class all morning, the afternoon was for slacking, plus, I still had all A's. At the end of that class, I began to feel anxious. I had been sitting in school so long, it felt like something bad was about to happen. Though I had two more classes of the day, so I decided to run out as fast as possible when the bell rang. My mom would probably have the news on, I'd be able to see if there are any new victims of Hawkmoth on the prowl and where. Let's just hope that it is actually a new villain and not something worse. I couldn't take any chances.

THIRD PERSON POV

Unknown to Marinette, she was right. Something bad had already begun. A lady by the name of Abella Moreau had just been successfully put out of business by Lord Agreste's shop down the street. She was furious as she packed up her designs and materials, wondering what to do now. Just as she was putting away her needle and thread, a black butterfly smoothly flew in and landed on the point of her needle. Before Abella could react in surprise, it melted into the needle and Mrs. Moreau was no more. "You are The Fashionista." A sinister smile. "Yes, Hawkmoth."