Collège Françoise Dupont

The bell rang, releasing students for the day and the weekend. The entire classroom heaved a sigh of relief. Mme. Mendelev clapped her hands briskly.

"Okay, you're free to go," she said over the rustle of students stuffing things into their bags. "Have a safe weekend."

Adrien didn't know about "safe," but he was certainly looking forward to his weekend.

"We still on for that movie?" Nino asked eagerly.

"Looking forward to it," Adrien replied, rising with his friend. They looked up at Alya and Marinette expectantly. Neither of the girls were paying attention. Alya had her arm tight around Marinette's shoulders and was glaring into the other girl's eyes.

"You have to!" Alya hissed in an undertone. "I went to all the trouble to get us invited and everything!"

"Alya, I can't. I really can't! I'm sorry," Marinette kept saying.

"What's going on?" Nino asked. "We were all going to see Star Wars this weekend. 3D IMAX and everything!"

Alya turned around without releasing her grip on Marinette. Adrien noticed that Marinette looked like she was in serious distress, though he couldn't tell if it was from the headlock or something else.

"Is something wrong?" he asked. Marinette stiffened up and blushed. She struggled harder against her friend's grip and popped free, arms flailing.

"It's nothing! I mean it's something but it's nothing! You're fine. I mean it's fine! Not that you're not fine, you're very fine, but…" Marinette babbled. As usual Adrien only caught about one word in five, but it seemed like something was actually wrong.

"This girl says she can't come," Alya translated. She shot Marinette a disappointed glare but it didn't seem like she was actually angry at her friend.

"But I already got the tickets!" Nino protested.

"I know, Nino. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Marinette said, looking dejected. "I have to help at the bakery for a few days. Just until my dad is better."

"Aw man, that sucks," Nino said. "Is your dad okay?"

Marinette smiled reassuringly. "He'll be fine. It's just a cold. He should be better in a day or two."

"Which is why I'm saying it wouldn't be a big deal if she just came to the movie with us. It's only a couple of hours," Alya said. She turned to Adrien with a gleam in her eye. "Come on, Adrien, tell her she has to come!"

Adrien looked over at Marinette. Her face had frozen in a tense smile and her eyes were as big as saucers. There was a sort of panicked urgency in her expression, but he couldn't tell what it meant. He glanced between the two girls awkwardly.

"Well, I mean… Er. We already got the ticket and everything."

Marinette waved her hands in front of Adrien as though fending off his words. "No no no no no no, really it's fine! Give my ticket to Max, I'm sure he won't mind seeing it again. I have to run sorry again Nino bye!"

With that the black haired girl turned and sprinted for the door. She tripped on the riser and Adrien saw her limbs windmill as she went down. There was a terrific crash from the hallway and Alya hurried to the doorway. By the time she reached it Marinette's footsteps were already fading down the hall.

"Marinette you better text me, girl!" Alya called after her friend. "Geez," she muttered, turning back to her other friends with a shrug and a sigh.

"Is everything really okay?" Adrien asked, shouldering his bag.

"I mean, M. Dupain is definitely sick, but it's not like he's dying or anything," Alya replied. "I don't see why Marinette can't get a few hours off to come to the movies. She was really looking forward to it, too," she added. She and Nino shared a look, but it went completely over Adrien's head.

"Yeah, it's too bad," he said. He caught Max as the shorter boy was headed out the door and told him about the suddenly available ticket. Max was thrilled at the chance to see Star Wars for the sixth time, and agreed to meet the others at the cinema the next day. He turned back to Nino and Alya. "Well, I should get going too. See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow!" Alya said with surprising sweetness. She waved at the two boys as they took off and immediately bent her head over her phone. Adrien frowned at her as Nino led the way out the door.

"Did she seem a little weird to you?" he asked.

"Who, Alya? No, not weird at all. Why?" Nino smiled at Adrien brightly.

Something was up with the two of them but Adrien couldn't put his finger on it.

AUTHOR NOTES - It's official: I'm Ladybug trash now. Please pray for me. Also I'm looking for a beta if anybody is interested.

- Not gonna lie, I mostly wrote this because of a nagging irritation at people romanticizing working in a bakery.

- Go see a star war. It's really good.

- "Mme" is "Madame" and "M" is "Monsieur," in case you didn't know.