After getting friend-zoned by Adrien, Marinette begins to wonder if its worth pining after him. Between her duties as Ladybug and her inability to speak clearly around him, she starts questioning what the entire point is. While sulking in the park, she encounters Luka and sparks fly! But how will Adrien take it?

This will have several songs in it. Here's the list, and some if not all of the songs will have either parts removed or lyrics changed.

"A Guy That I'd Kinda Be Into" from "Be More Chill"
"Best Friend's Brother" by Victoria Justice
"Treat You Better" by Shawn Mendes
"He Could Be The One" by Miley Cyrus
"You Had Your Chance" by Mariah Carey

LUKANETTE ALL THE WAY IN THIS STORY WITH A SIDE OF JEALOUS ADRIEN/CAT!

"Marinette's just a friend."

Well... it was progress at the least. But still, hearing Adrien put her in the friend-zone when talking to Kagami was hurtful. Marinette knew what to make of it: Adrien saw her as a friend, and nothing more. Now that she thought about it, what was she even doing?

She was no different than a stalker, and once that realization crossed her mind, she knew that he would be creeped out. He would never talk to her again, probably file a restraining order on her, amongst other things. Then her life would be ruined, she would never become a fashion designer or even become Gabriel Agreste's apprentice.

Thus, realizing that she would probably never be seen as anything more, she took down her pictures of Adrien, changed her computer's screensaver to something related to fashion design without any trace of the blonde, and got rid of the pull-down schedule by crossing everything out in black sharpie, coating it in white-out to play it safe, and then tearing it up into shreds before throwing it out.

After she had done so, she began to think... What was the point? Pining after a guy that was clearly out of her league, to whom she could not get a clear sentence out to, and would never acknowledge some of her best characteristics.

Marinette was now sitting on a park bench in front of the Eiffel Tower, trying her best to focus on her designs in her sketchbook. But her mind was so muddled at being friend-zoned that she could not think clearly.

Out of her purse, Tikki peeked out. She noticed Marinette's current state of emotions.

"Marinette..." Tikki said, trying to help her holder feel better.

"It's no use, Tikki," Marinette said, sighing sadly. "I can't focus like this."

Being her kwami, Tikki would be with Marinette at all times. After all, Ladybug could be needed anytime, anywhere, so she was needed. When they got separated during the whole Princess Fragrance disaster, Marinette could not transform and basically left Cat Noir hanging. Thus, Tikki could tell when Marinette was feeling down, happy, or anything else. Tikki would always remember to make sure Marinette maintained focus whenever akumas would get released. They were unpredictable, the pesky things.

So, to see Marinette feeling hurt at being put in the friend-zone - something Tikki was able to learn about pretty quickly - was painful for the little red cutie.

"Marinette, even if Adrien only sees you as a friend, that doesn't mean that there's no potential for it to grow into something else." Tikki reasoned.

"Maybe so, but I just don't see why I should bother trying anymore," Marinette said. "I might as well just stay his friend and be satisfied with that... As hurtful as it is."

Tikki knew that Marinette had grown in her time as Ladybug, and when it came to her crush on Adrien, she had definitely gotten better with handling her jealousy.

"...That's very mature of you. And you've definitely learned your lesson from Volpina when it comes to Adrien. You actually handled your jealousy towards Kagami very well and didn't take advantage of your powers to keep Adrien away from her." Tikki said.

"You're right, Tikki," Marinette said. "...And yet, it still hurts that I can't be anything more than a friend to Adrien. But I guess it's better than not being noticed at all."

"Well... I don't think that its healthy for you to keep fawning over a guy who doesn't know what he's missing." Another voice said. Male.

Tikki immediately ducked into the bag to avoid being seen.

Marinette looked up and saw a boy with black hair that had been dyed blue at his tips. His skin was a little paler than hers, and he was wearing a blue jacket, a white striped shirt, had black-painted fingernails, black, ripped jeans, and had several bands on one of his wrists. He was carrying a guitar case on his back. He also had the most stunning teal eyes Marinette had ever seen.

"Oh, um... Huh-he-Hi. I-uh..." Marinette awkwardly said, as she waved to the boy. However, he just chuckled at her stammering.

Marinette, seeing his reaction, merely looked down in embarrassment. He immediately noticed this and corrected course.

"Sorry for eavesdropping," The boy said. "I couldn't help but hear you talking to yourself."

Marinette turned completely red in the face. She was embarrassed that this boy had thought that she was talking to herself, but she knew it was better than the alternative: if he had discovered Tikki, there would definitely be questions.

"Judging by what you were saying, it sounds like you were just friend-zoned by your crush," He said, before sitting down next to Marinette. "Am I right?"

Marinette merely gave a nod. The boy next to her started looking at her intensely, before his eyes opened up a bit.

"Hey... Aren't you Marinette Dupain-Cheng?" He inquired.

"Um, yes, I am," Marinette said, surprised that she did not need to introduce herself to this newcomer. "How did you..."

"You were in my sister's recent class photo." He said.

"Your sister?" Marinette asked.

"Oh, where are my manners?" He said, chuckling to himself, embarrassed. "My name's Luka. Luka Couffaine."

"Couffaine... As in Juleka Couffaine? She's your sister?" Marinette said, trying to confirm her suspicions.

"That's her." Luka said, with a nod.

"Wow." Marinette said, a smile growing on her face.

"Glad to see you're smiling again, Marinette," Luka said, as he put his guitar case down, and then took the instrument out. "Will you lend me an ear for a song?"

Marinette's smile grew more and then she gave Luka a shaky nod. He started to play a few notes on his guitar. It was a melody that seemed to resonate with Marinette. She was unsure of why, but there was something about Luka's music that made her feel at ease and safe.

The tune started out melancholic, as if expressing Marinette's sadness over her current relationship with Adrien, but after a few more seconds, the music became more cheerful and it seemed to represent how Marinette will feel better and recover from this.

Marinette took in Luka's handsome features, completely enraptured by the sounds his guitar was producing. Unconsciously, she started snuggling up a bit closer to him. Luka did not seem to objet. Rather, he smiled and kept playing.

"That was great," Marinette said, but then she noticed the guitar pick Luka had. It had Jagged Stone printed on it. "Wow, so you're a Jagged Stone fan?"

"Sure am. In fact, he's my favorite musician." Luka said.

"Same here." Marinette said, as she found something in common with Luka. As the two locked eyes, Marinette felt her heart beat just a little faster. She blushed.

Luka gave her a smile and then he put his guitar away.

Tikki peeked out and saw the calm, almost affectionate expression on Marinette's face. Tikki's eyes widened with delight.

"So..." Luka began.

"I um, gor- I eh..." Marinette began, once again stuttering. However, Luka just laughed a bit, before turning back to her.

"You're funny, Marinette," Luka said. "It's very cute."

Marinette's blush grew deeper and she smiled. Luka actually found her incoherent babbling cute?

"Th-Thank you..." Marinette said. Luka gently placed his hand on hers, and gave her a smile. "I was thinking, um... Maybe we could..."

Just when she was about to ask Luka if he would like to pay a visit to the bakery and have a few desserts courtesy of her parents, there was a gigantic explosion noise coming from the other side of the park.

The teens' phones started buzzing. They each took it out and saw that an "Akuma Alert" icon was flashing.

After several attacks in the past, Ladybug and Cat Noir met up with Mayor Bourgeois and the police force and decided to implement safety measures for akuma attacks.

The pair of heroes never got in trouble with the law regarding all the collateral damage because Ladybug's "Miraculous Ladybug" would always put things back to normal like nothing ever happened, so lawsuits against the heroes or the akuma villains was pointless. Also, since none of the victims ever remembered what happened during their possession, no one would press charges against them either.

Regardless, the two teen heroes agreed with Mayor Bourgeois and Officer Roger Raincomprix that mitigating any potential damages towards civilians was a concern.

Thus, they came up with a system to keep most citizens out of the danger zone and to leave the akuma fighting to the heroes. To start with, since almost everyone had a smartphone of some sort, Mayor Bourgeois made an announcement that it was now legally mandatory for all citizens carrying a smartphone to have an app that alerted people to akuma attacks when they are first reported. The app would give the location of where the villain was, and it gave the police an alert to go to the location and evacuate the area until the akuma was stopped. Those who were not near the fight were advised to stay indoors until the danger had passed.

"Uh-oh, looks like akuma trouble," Luka said, as he put his guitar case back on his back. "And it's right near us!"

He immediately stood up and took Marinette's hand, standing her up. He told her, "Come on, we gotta get out of here!"

The pair started running out of the park to get to cover. However, Marinette was more focused on the boy leading her away from the akuma villain than trying to figure out a way to get away from Luka to transform and stop Hawkmoth's latest prey.

Her silly smile grew across her face and her heart kept pounding. Granted, the running was factored in.

Luka kept his eyes in front and was looking around, trying to find shelter. They were a decent distance away from the park, but still not quite out of the danger zone yet. The blue-haired boy soon caught sight of an open building that had other civilians inside.

"In there!" Luka shouted, as the pair dashed for the door.

However, a blast from the akuma all the way back in the park must have misfired. The energy ray hit a chimney and started to fall onto the pair.

"Luka!" Marinette shouted, as she took her hand away from the boy's and shoved him out of the way of the chimney. He stumbled and fell onto the ground in front of the door.

The large pile of bricks and concrete fell onto the ground between the teenagers and broke. Luka was breathing heavily, trying to see if Marinette was okay.

"Marinette! Are you alright?!" Luka shouted.

"I'm fine!" Marinette hollered in reply. "I'll take shelter elsewhere and see if I can alert Ladybug! You get inside and wait for the danger to pass!"

Luka nodded and then he scrambled inside the door. As it shut, he muttered out loud, "Please be safe, Marinette..."

Marinette ran down the street perpendicular to Luka's location and then she ducked down behind another building.

"That was so brave of you, Marinette," Tikki said. "You saved Luka without transforming."

"Right, but we have an akuma to stop. Tikki, Spots On!" Marinette declared.

In a flash of pink light, and a few poses, Marinette was now wearing a red suit with black spots, a matching mask, and had a yo-yo on her hips. She took it out and started to swing into action.

One akuma attack and Miraculous Ladybug later and Marinette was right back where she started.

The poor soul who got possessed this time was an architect that found the classy buildings in Paris to be outdated. Thus, he wanted to start replacing them with more modern-looking buildings to fit the time period. His peers belittled him for his lack of attention to the classics and disrespect for the artistry in the buildings. While they were correct, they could have been more tactful.

Once again, Marinette was in the park. This time, however, she had something else occupying her mind, and it was not Adrien.

"Come on, come on..." Marinette said, as she kept looking at her phone.

She had texted Juleka, explaining to her what had happened and asked for Luka's number. Juleka was a big help, sending Marinette her brother's digits. Marinette sent Luka a text, telling him that she had gotten the number from his sister and told her that she was back at the park.

She heard hurried footsteps and then her name was called out.

"Marinette!" Luka shouted, as he soon found Marinette and caught up to her. "What a relief. I'm glad you're okay."

"I'm glad you're safe, too, Luka!" Marinette said. "You got my message?"

"I did," Luka said, before taking her hands into his own. "I just wanted to be absolutely sure that you were alright."

Marinette blushed, a smile forming on her face. She was happy that Luka was concerned about her to the point where he would have rather come and seen her in person to check on her instead.

"R-Really?" Marinette asked, as she relished the feeling of Luka's hands holding hers. Tikki, while still hiding, could see how smitten Marinette was with Luka.

"Yeah. You were so courageous, Marinette," Luka said, as he started to stoke Marinette's cheek with his hand. "You could have gotten seriously hurt when you pushed me out of the way of that chimney. You thought of others first."

Marinette's heart accelerated more, with all of the praises that Luka gave her.

"Your parents run the Dupain-Cheng bakery, right?" Luka said. "I'm sure you're shaken up by everything that's happened. Let me walk you home?"

"I-no - I'd love that!" Marinette said, as she managed to collect her thoughts.

Luka gently held her hand as the two teenagers started walking out of the park and back to the Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie. Marinette managed to shoot her parents a message that she was on her way back.

It took about ten minutes, but Marinette and Luka soon made it back to the bakery without any incident. Since the akuma alert had been ceased a while ago, Marinette was sure her parents' concerns were eased a bit.

Opening the door, Marinette said, "Mom, dad, I'm back."

"Welcome home, Marinette." Sabine said, as she came out from behind the counter.

"We heard you were in the park when the attack started," Tom said, as he came out from the kitchen. "I'm glad you're not hurt."

However, the two adults soon noticed Luka, and their daughter's body language towards the boy.

Tom cleared his throat, and said, "Young man?"

"Luka Couffaine," Luka said, introducing himself. "I walked Marinette back home. In fact, you certainly raised a brave girl."

Luka blushed a bit as he saw the questioning looks from the Dupain-Cheng family.

"If not for Marinette, I would've been hit by a collapsed chimney. She pushed me out of the way before running for shelter herself." Luka explained.

The two parents gasped in awe and shock at hearing their daughter's brave actions.

"Marinette!" Sabine scolded. "That was very reckless of you, young lady! You could have been seriously hurt!"

Marinette's face fell at getting scolded by her mother, but then Tom spoke up.

"Regardless, we're proud of you for being so courageous and helping someone, especially during an akuma attack." Tom said, a smile quirking up on his mustached face.

"You should be," Luka said, as he approached Marinette and placed a hand on her shoulder. "She not only saved my life, but I can tell that Juleka really appreciates Marinette's friendship."

"Oh, you're Juleka's brother, then?" Sabine said, realizing that Luka was not only a gentleman for escorting Marinette home, but a family member of one of Marinette's friends. "Well, welcome. And no need for formalities with us."

"Thank you for looking out for Marinette today," Tom said. "She's been depressed lately."

Marinette sighed. Her parents had picked up on her melancholy as of late, so she was a little embarrassed.

"It's no problem," Luka said. "So, since I'm here, I might as well buy a few things."

"You're free to anything here, Luka," Sabine said. "What catches your fancy?"

"I'll take a baguette and a dozen of the raspberry macarons, please." Luka said, and as soon as he placed his order, Tom and Sabine gathered up the bread and the cookies for the young man.

Tom handed the bread bag and the cookie box to Marinette, and winked at her. Marinette blushed, realizing that her dad must have picked up on her newfound affection for Luka.

"Here you go, Luka." Marinette said, as she gave Luka the box.

"Thanks." Luka said, as he took out his wallet to pay for the baked goods.

"Not today, young man," Sabine gently said. "Think of this as our thanks for being there for Marinette."

"Really? Thank you so much!" Luka said, before turning to Marinette. "I'll see you around, Marinette."

"Sa-su-ma - Um, yes, I'll see you again soon, Luka!" Marinette said, inciting a chuckle from the guitarist.

He left out the door, and once he was gone, Marinette let out a long sigh, a wistful smile floated onto her face, and then started to twirl around, as if she were dancing on air.

"It looks like our daughter's found a new crush," Sabine whispered to Tom. "And if my eyes aren't lying, it seems like that boy might like her, too."

"Adrien had his chance, and now Marinette's moved on." Tom chuckled.

"I'll be in my room if you need me..." Marinette dreamily said, as she walked out of the bakery, into the house, and made her way up the stairs to her trap-door bedroom.

Once she sat on the chaise, she took up a pillow, buried her face in it and squealed with joy and delight. Tikki flew out from the bag and approached Marinette.

"Wow! Luka certainly seems to have a thing for you!" Tikki said, happy for her holder. "And if I'm not mistaken, it looks like the feeling is mutual!"

"I know, Tikki! A boy actually has interest in me!" Marinette said, bouncing like a rubber ball.

"Don't say that. You had Nathanaël and Nino for a bit," Tikki said. "And then there are all your fans as Ladybug, but I don't think that counts."

"Yeah, my Ladybug fans don't apply to this situation. Anyway, I gotta call Alya!" Marinette said, taking out her phone. "Girl Code Emergency!"

Within minutes, Alya had dashed from her house and ran all the way to the Dupain-Cheng house and then she came in through the trap door.

"Marinette! What's going on?! You said it's a Girl Code Emergency!" Alya frantically said as she sat on the chaise with Marinette.

"Well..." Marinette said, before blushing and shuffling her legs a bit, and humming a little.

Alya knew that body language anywhere: it was a tell-tale sign of something boy-related.

"Did Adrien ask you out?! Or did you ask him out and he said "yes?!" Come on girl, spill!" Alya asked, anticipating Marinette's answer.

"Alya, who said anything about Adrien?" Marinette said with a smile. "Take a look around."

Alya looked around and saw some things that were definitely different about Marinette's room: all of her Adrien posters were gone and she even noticed the pull-down calendar was missing, too.

"You're... Over Adrien?" Alya asked.

"Well... I overheard him putting me in the friend-zone when talking to Kagami," Marinette explained. "And I started to think about whether or not what I was doing was worth it."

"So let me get this straight: you've decided to stop going after Adrien and all of a sudden another boy shows up and you're smitten with him?" Alya asked.

"That pretty much sums it up." Marinette began.

Marinette then stood up and music started to play in the background. She turned to Alya and began to sing.

"Say there's this person that you only met today! You've known him for just one day!" Marinette sang, as she turned to her best friend.

Alya quirked a brow as she listened to Marinette. She only met the guy today and she's already fawning over him? Sounded like what happened to Anna when she first met Prince Hans in "Frozen."

"There was a boy you obsessed over every day, 'cause of something he'd do or say. But then something has changed... Your feelings have changed..." Marinette sang, before doing a spin and hop in delight.

"Now the guy you are currently into isn't the guy that you used to be into!" Marinette sang, before blushing and gushing over Luka. "Now the guy I am currently into isn't the guy that I used to be into! Is he worth it, Alya? Is he?"

Unknown to either girl, someone was eavesdropping on them, and it was not Marinette's parents. Up on the trap door that was above her bed, someone was listening in on the conversation. It was Cat Noir. After that day's attack, he decided that after feeding Plagg, patrolling around Paris solo might be a good idea.

He was on his way back to the Agreste Mansion when he caught wind of Marinette's singing. He knew that she had feelings for someone after talking and spending some time with her before the whole Glaciator attack. However, he was unsure as to whom it was.

From what Cat Noir could glean from Marinette's song, apparently she had moved on from her crush and is now thinking about someone else. He had no idea why, but he wanted to know whom she was talking about.

'Well, you know what they say: "curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back." I'll keep listening.' Cat Noir thought.

"Say there's this boy that you really don't know that well." Marinette sang.

'She must be really into this dude.' Cat Noir thought, unintentionally thinking along to the music.

"You thought your feelings were pegged, but you can tell," Marinette sang, unaware of someone else overhearing them. "You feel that now the guy that you're currently into isn't the guy that you used to be into! The guy that I'm currently into isn't the guy that I used to be into!"

Marinette turned back to Alya and gently held her by the shoulders before singing, "Is he worth it? Alya?"

"Not sure, Mari." Alya honestly sang, not able to help herself.

"I sometimes can't relate to other people my age, especially when it comes to change. There are new transitions that I'm going through, and I'm glad I can tell all this to you!" Marinette sang, as she kept singing to her best friend.

Cat Noir was still up on the roof, listening to the girls. As Marinette kept singing, he had to wonder: who was this new guy that caught her attention? Must have been someone quite special if she was already going nuts over him after only meeting him once. As much as he wanted to pop in and ask, he had a feeling that if he did, he would be the one who had to come up with answers. After all, a superhero barging into a girl's room was definitely the epitome of bad etiquette.

But for some strange reason, the black cat had a prickling feeling wash over him and his chest tensed up. It was like someone had given him some bad news and he was not liking it. He got goosebumps, too.

"Back to the topic at hand. I know this is weird, but it's totally true," Marinette sang, and Cat Noir continued to listen to Marinette and Alya. "The guy that I'm currently into..."

"The guy that you're currently into..." Alya sang back.

"Yeah, that guy that I'm/you're/she's currently into..." Alya, Marinette, and Cat Noir sang, albeit the latter girls were unaware of the singing cat that had heard the whole thing.

"His hair's..." Marinette began, as she started to gush and swoon over the new boy in her life.

Cat Noir pricked up his attention to hear this detail about Marinette's new crush and his breath hitched. She took a deep breath.

"Blue!" Marinette sang, finally hitting the last note.

What the...? Blue hair? Well, yeah, Jagged Stone had dyed some parts of his hair purple, as did his assistant Penny Rolling, and then some of the akumas that they had fought in the past had hair in wacky colors. But still, who would have blue hair?

Just hearing that this new boy had blue hair was a confusing clue to Cat Noir. He was unsure of why it was bugging him, though.

"Blue hair?" Alya asked.

"Well, actually his hair is black, but the tips are dyed blue," Marinette explained. "And it matches his beautiful, teal eyes..."

Hearing a wistful, romantic swoon coming out of Marinette's mouth, Alya giggled before saying, "Alright, alright, you definitely think he's a looker, girl, but I need more deets! Come on!"

"Well... he plays guitar." Marinette said.

"Go on..." Alya prodded.

"He's a fan of Jagged Stone, just like me," Marinette said, blushing. "And he even played me a song that reflected what I was feeling in my heart."

"OOH!" Alya said, getting delighted. "Any more? Like, say, his name?"

"His name is Luka Couffaine!" Marinette said, before squealing in delight. "And he's so cute!"

'Couffaine? Where have I heard that name before?' Cat Noir thought, as he was still listening. He recognized the surname "Couffaine" from somewhere, he just could not pick out where.

Marinette went on and on about Luka for a little while, and Cat Noir was getting more and more curious about him and who on earth it was that Marinette had been crushing on before meeting Luka... Albeit the black cat had no idea why he was getting so emotionally invested in it.

"How about we get out on the roof for some air?" Alya asked.

Cat Noir panicked and immediately leaped off the balcony to go home. For some reason, he wanted to think about this newfound information and try to figure out why the name "Couffaine" was so familiar.

Once Cat Noir leaped in through the window of his bedroom, he said, "Claws in."

Plagg came out of the ring and the catsuit disappeared.

"So, you went on patrol, eavesdropped on your Princess, and now you're thinking about her instead of Ladybug?" Plagg asked. "Humans are so fickle."

Adrien did not focus on his kwami. Rather, his mind was stewing over Marinette's admission of her feelings for this Luka Couffaine character.

Adrien was unsure as to why, but being a fly on the wall, or rather a cat on the roof in Marinette and Alya's conversation was stirring some odd feelings in his gut. Was it the fact that he was upset at her former crush for not recognizing how great Marinette was? Or was it because he did not know who Luka was and was concerned about what could happen if something went wrong? On the other hand, the familiarity at hearing the name "Couffaine" was niggling at him, so if he figured out where he recognized the name from, he could be put at ease, or on edge.

"I'm confused about what I just heard." Adrien said, unsure of what else to tell Plagg.

"Okay, kid, let me get this straight: you're head-over-heels for Ladybug, and only think of Marinette as a friend, and yet you're wondering what's going on in the love life of the latter because you don't know who her former crush is, and you're also trying to figure out who this "Luka Couffaine" kid might be?" Plagg said. "You're confusing me."

In all honesty, Plagg had a sneaking suspicion Adrien was starting to fall for the civilian side of his partner. But the last thing Plagg was going to do was spill the beans and tell Adrien that he knew that Marinette was Ladybug, after finding out during the "Dark Owl" incident.

"Sorry, but... That name... I've heard it before, I just wish I could put my finger on it." Adrien said.

Plagg sighed, before sneaking into the camembert compartment and started eating the smelly cheese again. Meanwhile, Adrien flopped onto his bed and tried to think through this new conundrum.

Adrien tried his best to wrack his brain for an answer. Couffaine... Couffaine... Why did that name ring a bell, and not the one on his suit?

Adrien hoped that he would get some clarity about this mystery soon. The thought of Marinette hanging out with a boy he did not know made him feel really... Off. There was no other way to describe it. If it were Nino, that would be one thing, but Adrien's best friend had gotten over Marinette a long time ago. Now Nino was in a solid, happy relationship with Alya. Now that Adrien thought about it, those two fit together like a glove.

But this "Luka Couffaine" dude was a total stranger to Adrien. He wanted to believe that his curiosity and his irritation was because he was worried about Marinette... But was it really?

The next day in class, Adrien was still trying to sort out everything he had learned from Alya and Marinette's conversation. He had his face propped up against his hand and was leaning his arm on the desk, trying to glean some insight into this new situation.

To start off with, who was the fool that failed to notice Marinette's feelings for him? Well, it was his loss at this point. He felt that any guy would be lucky to be the crush of one of his friends. But the real thorn in his side that was bugging him at that moment was: who on earth was Luka Couffaine, and why did it feel like he had heard his surname before?

The door flew open and in scrambled Marinette, who beat the bell just in time. Adrien chuckled at how flustered and exhausted Marinette seemed. Homeroom had not started, but it was still endearing to see her like that. He stifled a chuckle.

Marinette breathed to relax and then she took her seat next to Alya.

"Hey, girl, you're just barely on time this time around," Alya said, giggling. "Were you up all night dreaming about Luka?"

"What? Luka? Who said anything about Luka?" Marinette said, blabbering on, but Alya just gave her a look that said, "Don't bother covering it up, girl."

There was that name again, and the familiarity was still poking at Adrien.

Noticing her best friend's body language, Marinette sighed, resigned, before saying, "Okay, a little."

Just then, Madame Bustier walked in and started to take attendance.

"Alright, then, I'm taking attendance. Agreste, Adrien." The teacher said.

"Here." Adrien said, raising his hand.

As he absently listened to the names of the rest of his classmates get called, one jumped out at him.

"Couffaine, Juleka." Madame Bustier said.

"Present." Juleka quietly said from her seat.

The lightbulb in his brain went off when he heard Juleka's name get called. No wonder it sounded familiar. Juleka must somehow be related to this Luka guy.

After literature class had ended and they were in the middle of their break, Adrien stuck around and started to listen to Marinette and the girls - sans Chloé and Sabrina, obviously - and Adrien was making sure Juleka was in the conversation.

"So, you ran into my older brother yesterday before the akuma attacked?" Juleka asked Marinette.

"I did. That's why I asked you for his digits after the whole thing settled down." Marinette said, almost swooning over the thought of Juleka's brother.

'Okay, so we've now established that Luka Couffaine is Juleka's big brother.' Adrien thought, pretending to tune the girls out, but he was listening intently.

"Speaking of Luka," Alix piped up. "Isn't he coming to pick you up today, Juleka?"

"Yeah," Juleka said with a nod. "But it's very unlike him to offer to come and get me after school out of nowhere like that."

"OOH! Do you think it has something to do with you-know-who?" Rose squealed, as all ladylike eyes in the room turned to Marinette. They all had teasing looks on their face.

Marinette looked around at her female peers, blushed heavily, and then said, "What? Why would he want to come to see me?! I mean, not that I don't want to see him again. I do, but for him to go out of his way to see me, is, well...!"

The girls giggled in response and Myléne spoke up, saying, "Come on, Marinette. From what Juleka has said, it looks like Luka's into you, too."

Marinette, feeling a boost of confidence, smiled wistfully and said, "Maybe..."

"If you ask me, you should definitely take a chance and get to know Luka. Especially since you're getting over..." Alya began, but then she soon met eyes with Adrien. She then cleared her throat. "Since you're getting over that guy."

The girls got the hint that it was probably best not to mention the name of a certain someone, especially since he was in the room. They did not want any pot-stirring.

"Break time's almost over," Marinette said, noticing the clock on her phone. "We'd better get going."

The girls nodded in agreement as they stood up and left the classroom to go to Madame Mendeleiev's room for their science class.

Plagg peeked out from under Adrien's shirt and said, "So, it seems now you've fully identified your competition."

"What competition? Marinette is only a friend." Adrien said, as he stood up to try and make for the next classroom.

"Yeah, well, then why did glasses girl over there filter her thoughts out when you two looked at each other just now?"

Adrien paused, realizing Plagg had a good point. Why did it seem like Alya filtered and rearranged her thoughts before speaking when they made eye contact earlier? It was like his name was poison in that conversation.

"I don't have anything to do with Marinette's love life, especially when I'm having bad luck in my own." Adrien insisted.

"But what if you do, or rather did, and now she's not even bothering anymore?" Plagg inquired.

Adrien once again stilled. The thought of such a thing never crossed his mind. Was he somehow related to Marinette's love life, or was it just Plagg teasing him again?

"I'm going to be late for class." Adrien said, changing the subject and leaving out the door.

And the story starts! This isn't the last we'll see of a jealous Adrien, but keep in mind that in this story, Lukanette is the endgame.

I hope that everyone is enjoying how this story is playing out so far. There's more where this came from. Also, keep an eye out for an upcoming story, "The Little Merboy." I'm sure you can guess what I'm doing with that title. ^_^