MARINETTE WOKE UP to her alarm blaring as usual. The small pink clock vibrated annoyingly in the super heroine's ear. She squawked as she rolled out of bed, her kwami giggling, sighing and rolling her eyes at the same time. The blankets were still on top of Marinette's head so she had to peep out and blow a piece of hair out of face. After several failed attempts, always ending in the strand of hair still in her face, Marinette gave up with a groan. She crossed her arms.

"Marinette!" Tikki smiled at her current holder. "You got up after only five minutes!"

The girl scoffs, "Come on, Tikki, I always do!"

Tikki shakes her head. "Fifteen."

Sabine calls from below Marinette's room. "Marinette?" The sound of footsteps becomes louder as Sabine approaches the trapdoor leading to Marinette's room.

"Tikki!" Marinette hisses quietly, jerking her head in the general direction of her mirror. "Hide!"

Understanding the point that Marinette was trying to make, Tikki flew through the mirror and floated behind it.

Sabine popped her head up through the trap door, her arm supporting the door above her head as she talked to her daughter.

"School is starting soon," she notes. "Come down and have some croissants. Papa and I baked a few extra for you to bring to your classmates."

Marinette, meanwhile, was beginning to brush out her hair. Tugging through the knots, she said, "Thanks, mama!"

Sabine smiles and disappears down the trapdoor once again.

Marinette smiles and whispers to Tikki, just to be safe. "Hey! Maybe I can catch Alya before she gets to class."

Marinette grabs her bag and runs down the stairs. Grumbling at the way her laptop kept bumping against her back, she forgot to tie her hair back up again. Tikki flew next to Marinette's hips, only flying into her small purse as Marinette paused at the bottom of the steps to catch her breath. Luckily, Sabine and Tom were downstairs in the bakery, opening it for some early bird customers.

Before his daughter could run out the door, Tom halted her by grabbing her shoulder. "Whoaaa!" He laughed, grabbing a box from off a shelf. "Don't forget the croissants!"

Marinette gasped, "How could I?" she turned to grab the box but Tom held it higher up, making Marinette jump.

She pouted, "Papa!" She couldn't quite reach it. Sabine sighed.

"Tom! Let her be early to school for once - or - on time." She handed a box of bagels to a regular, who smiled and waved as they walked out the door.

Tom smiled, "Just fun and games, just fun and games." He handed his little girl the box and patted her on the back. "Go, go, go!" he cheered.

Marinette kissed her father on the cheek, then rushed to do the same for her mother.

The ravenette opened the door, hearing the familiar tingle of bells. A sleek grey car pulled up in front of the stairs of Francois Dupont High School; Marinette gasped. "Adrien!"

Tikki peeped her head out from her hiding spot, "If you hurry, you might be able to catch him, Marinette!" Tikki quickly ducked back down into Marinette's purse as a civilian walked by, crossing the street.

Marinette nodded to herself before rushing across, successfully getting to the other side of the road before the time allotted for pedestrians to pass ran out.

"Adrien!" Marinette called, this time louder. The blonde model stepped out of his car, just to see his just a very good friend running towards him. She bent her knees and placed her hands on them, panting and breathing heavily. The car drove away, but not before Marinette could see somebody with blue and red hair watching her as it drove away.

Nathalie.

He smiled, "Hi, Marinette!" she looked up and immediately blushed, regretting the decision to run over. Adrien didn't know why she was blushing so hard, but he chose to believe that it was because she had just done a twenty yard sprint.

"Hi, A-Adrien!" Marinette stuttered lightly. "Funny seeing you here! I mean - Funny being here?!"

The green eyed blonde laughed. "Funny seeing you here! You're usually running in at the last minute." He held out a hand, "Want me to take something from you?" He motioned his head in the direction of the box she had in her hands, ever the gentleman.

She nearly choked. "Y-Yeah sure!" Marinette handed him the box. "Don't drop it - there's cr-oissants in there!" She saw Adrien's eyes widen.

"Who are they for?" He asked, not so secretly hoping he would get one. If he had one in class today, he could surely work off the calories by being Cat Noir later. If they were for the class, that was.

Marinette inhaled and began walking towards the stairs of the school, slowly at first, waiting for Adrien to get the hint that she was walking in the school. He walked along with her.

Marinette jerked her head up and down vigorously, the best nod she could muster, even if she heard her neck snap once or twice while doing it. "The class - to celebrate that I'm on time for once, I guess?"

Adrien smiled so wide, Marinette melted inside. His smile was something so very precious - even though he smiled often with his friends, Marinette was always running away before she truly got to burn the image into her mind.

"Awesome," he whispered under his breath. Marinette turned to face him, giving him a 'huh?' look. Doing so caused her to nearly bump into the door.

"Watch out!" Adrien turned her a bit so she saw the door in time. His just a very good friend waved her arms around a little, trying to balance herself.

After a few moments of good flailing around like a flightless bird, Marinette stood up and resumed walking. "Thanks," she muttered. Adrien nodded.

They walked in a very comfortable silence until they reached another set of stairs, the stairs that lead to the second level of the school.

"Do you think Mrs. Bustier was serious about that project?" Marinette asked him, keeping her eyes on the stairs. It wasn't that she didn't want to look at him - okay, maybe it was partially for that reason - but she really didn't want to lose her footing and fall down. How utterly embarrassing would that be?

Adrien chuckled, "I don't think so. It seems kind of weird at this time in the year - we're only in the middle of term two, so having a big project doesn't make sense. Maybe she meant for term three or four?"

"Term four is final exams," Marinette shook her head. "Term three."

"Term three," Adrien agreed.

They walked in a comfortable silence again until they reached the door. Marinette held it open for Adrien as he was the one now holding the box of croissants. "Oh -" he handed her the box back and she took it with a smile. He reached his arm across her head to hold the door open, making Marinette blush a deep red. Adrien, once again didn't notice, or if he did, he was oblivious to or ignored the real reason why.

Marinette waddled over to Alya, deciding that she would give out the croissants after roll call.

"Ooooh," Alya smirked, fulfilling the teasing of the day of her best friend. "Someone's got a cru-u-sh!" She eyed the box with a happy smile, remembering the time when her friend had (( attempted )) to bring macarons for the class. Who knew that half of a $0.50 macaron could lead to something so priceless?

Marinette fake glared at her friend, "Alya! We already established this!"

The ombre-haired girl laughed. "Have we, though?"

Marinette lightly smacked Alya with the back of her notebook before the lesson started, resulting in both of them giggling, just as Mrs. Bustier pulled out the attendance list.