Marinette's POV

"Marinette, what's wrong?" The brunette blogger continued to bug me as we sat on my bed on a Saturday afternoon. She wanted to hang out, and after the whole thing with Chat Noir, I wasn't really in the mood to explain everything about Adrien being his alter ego.

"I'm fine," I reply instantly, "There's nothing wrong." If I was to even consider telling tell her about the whole Chat Noir incident, she'd freak out and possibly hunt Adrien down and kill him.

As much as that sounded pleasing at the moment, there was no way I was going to allow her to kill him.

She continued to urge me. "Marinette, I know you're lying."

"I'm not!" I protested but Alya frowned.

"Girl, I wasn't born yesterday! I know when something is bothering my best friend..."

Was Alya stubborn or what? I sighed as I tried to think of something I could beat around the bush with. Telling Alya about Chat Noir was not an option.

"Well," I began. This was harder than I thought. I took a deep breath and continued, "It's just that... you were right... about... Adrien getting me that gift..."

"Really!?" Alya exclaimed, and I frowned when I realized she was actually excited about it. "I knew it!"

I didn't say anything. Did I care? Not really. The gift meant nothing to me now, especially now that I knew Chat Noir/ Adrien was a liar and was just playing with my feelings.

"So, what's the problem then?"

I looked back at my best friend who stared back at me curiously.

"I don't want a gift from him." I said. Simple as that. There was nothing else to it. But Alya continued to pry.

"You don't want the gift from him? Why not?" She questioned, urging me to spill her all the details.

"I just don't want anything from him. That's all." I replied. It was technically the truth, there was no lying about that part.

"Are you sure that's really it. That all that's bothering you?" She continued to pry.

I took a deep breath. Darn I really did hate lying to my best friend, or at least not telling her the whole story. But technically I didn't lie... right?

"Yeah I'm sure." I replied calmly, giving her a reassuring smile.

She smiled back and embraced me into a warm hug.

"You know you can tell me anything... right Mari?" Alya murmured as she hugged me tighter.

I nodded against her shoulder. "Of course."

"But, if you didn't accept the gift from him... what happened to it? Did you give it back to him? You should've given it to me! I would've gladly volunteered since I am the one who shared all the important info."

I started to laugh at Alya's persisting, yet rambling self, and she soon followed into a fit of giggles after me. She really knew how to lift the mood.

But before I could even brush off her question with an excuse, my trapdoor to my room swung open and Nathaniel's head appeared inside. Alya and I both released our hug and jumped in surprise.

"What the heck?!" Alya complained as she stared daggers at him. "Ever heard of knocking?!"

"Sorry, I was told I could come up..." Nathaniel chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.

"What do you want?" Alya asked, a little annoyed at the interruption. "And where did you even come from?" She murmured more to herself, which I clearly heard.

"I came to give this to... Marinette." He stuck out his other hand towards me, and in it was a piece of paper, folded neatly.

I looked at his hand, confused. What was that? I jumped off of my bed and climbed down the ladder to him. I took the paper from his hands.

"What is this?"

He smiled, "I was told to give it to you."

"From whom?" I questioned.

"Nino." He replied.

Nino? From Nino?

"Nino," I repeated out loud, "What for?"

Nathaniel shrugged his shoulders. "No idea."

"Awkward..." Alya trailed off as she too climbed down the stairs of my bed to meet me down below.

"Anyway," Nathaniel broke the silence, "I'll talk to you both later." And with that, he shut the door, leaving the two teens alone.

"That was odd..." I trailed off, until Alya grabbed my shoulders and began to shake them.

"Read it! I wanna see what it is!"

I grabbed her hands, coaxing her to calm down. I began unfolding the note until it was flat again.

I cleared my throat and looked at the words...

   Hello Marinette. This is not Nino who wrote this if that's what you're wondering. As a mater of fact, I am considered an 'acquaintance' of yours. A little bird told me there is something waiting for you. If I were you, I'd follow the clues.

"What clues?" I added until I saw more writing at the bottom of the paper.

The person this speaks of admires you well.
You don't really talk much, and if you do its not swell.
But even with her downfalls,
And even with her flaws,
The girl behind the bully is sorry for all.

Who am I?

_______________________________

Oooooooooh
Can you guess?
(Btw I made these riddles and I can say it wasn't so easy ;)

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