Marinette ran to school like usual Monday morning. When she made it to the front stairs, she was greeted by Alya. The two friends then headed to their classroom and took their seats. The school day went on like usual. When it was 10 am, it was time for their drama class. Marinette and her classmates moved to the theater room. Once inside the classroom, both her and Alya took their seats in the back of the classroom.

As they waited for class begin Marinette could finally ask Alya a question that has been burning since Saturday."Psst, Alya."

"Yes?" her friend replied with a whisper.

"Does Nino know?"

"Know what?"

"About Adrien."

"Oh, yes he does."

Marinette looked worried.

"Relax," Alya said and patted her friend on the shoulder. "He's good at keeping secrets. I wouldn't have asked for his help if I didn't trust him."

Marinette could breath again.

"Then again the whole class probably knows."

"WHAT!?" Marinette shouted and stood up from her seat. The whole class was looking at her.Then there was a clap. Marinette looked toward the front of the room and saw her teacher standing there.

"Bravo, Miss Dupain-Cheng," the teacher spoke. He was a tall thin man. He had blue eyes and blond hair. He wore a pair of thin round glasses and was wearing a typical theater junkie outfit. "Your yell has so much emotion and passion. But please save that for the stage, class is about to start."

"Yes, Mr. Agissant," Marinette replied and embarrassment and took her seat. She then turn her attention back to her friend, when Mr. Agissant started class. "What do you mean the whole class probably knows?"

"It's pretty obvious that you're crushing on Adrien," Alya replied in hush tone. "It's quite funny that Adrien is oblivious to it."

Marinette let out a faint sigh. "As long as no one tells him.."

"I'm sure no one will."

Near the end of class Mr. Agissant showed a picture of Romeo and Juliet on the white board. "Class, this year our play will be Romeo and Juliet." The class groan. "Oh my! What's with the attitude? Romeo and Juliet is a classic! A story about two souls who can't be together because of their differences! How does that excite anyone?"

"Because it's a sappy love story," Alix chimed.

Mr. Agissant just laugh. " It may be a love story, but it does have action in it." He then turned off the white board. "Now, as for the casting. I will pick the roles myself to make it fair. I will place the cast listing outside my classroom after school. If you don't get part you will have to sign up for stage crew. Alright! Class is over! See you guys tomorrow!"

Marinette and Alya left trailing behind their classmates. "I hope I don't get a part. I don't think I can memorize any of the lines."

Alya smirked. "You sure? Romeo and Juliet share a kiss." She then wrapped her arm around her friend's shoulder. "Just picture it. You and Adrien as Romeo and Juliet."

Marientte's face turned red. "Then we would have to practice together."

Alya just nodded her head.

After school Marientte ran to the theater classroom, she found some of the her classmates there already looking at the cast listing. She pushed some of them out of her way. There on the top of the list she saw her name next to Juliet. She then glanced at Romeo and saw Adrien got that part. She kept her joy to herself and ran over to Alya.

"I can't believe it, Alya. We both got those parts!"

"Congrats," her friend said with a smile. Then they heard a scream. They turned and saw Chloe. She was ranting on about how she was casted as the Nurse. "I hope she doesn't make things ugly."

Marientte nodded her head.

Adrien had to keep himself from groaning as their teacher announced the play. He had no problem with Shakespeare or Romeo and Juliet, but practicing any speaking part what-so-ever would have to be crammed into his already packed schedule.  Hopefully, he could just do stage crew. That wouldn't take nearly as much time to practice for.

He and Nino returned to the classroom later to see the verdict of Mr. Agissant's casting. He scanned the list for his name and actually groaned when he saw it next to the title's main male character. Nino raised an eyebrow and he answered the unspoken question. "I'm so busy this week.. No wait.. This entire month. I already got in trouble last night for forgetting some preparation for the fashion show next week.  I don't know how I'm going to fit this in."

"You got in trouble last night?  For going to a movie?" Nino asked. Of course he focused on that one detail.

Adrien shrugged, "Don't worry about it. I pushed it with the ice cream. I might have made it in time if I left right after the movie."

Nino shook his head, "Dude, your father needs to lay off a bit. All you did was see a movie and get ice cream. Like a normal teenager. He needs to give you time to enjoy yourself."

Adrien shrugged and looked back to the cast list. "Looks like you're going to have to be part of stage crew. I bet you could handle the audio stuff.  And Juliet is..." he paused as his eyes skimmed over the other names and landed on Marinette's. 

"Marinette," Nino finished for him, accepting Adrien's change of subject. Nino looked strangely satisfied by this.

"Yeah. I guess I should talk to her about practicing," Adrien said. He could just feel what seemed like a blush creeping onto his cheeks as he thought about it; though, he didn't understand why.

Adrien and Nino separated after school so Adrien could call Nathalie and work practice into his schedule and Nino could get home early for a cousin's birthday party. Once Nathalie had told him she'd clear a couple hours each week for whichever day or days he wanted, Adrien looked for Marinette to talk.

It didn't take too long to find her. She and Alya were headed home at this point. "Hey Marinette. Alya." he said as he approached them.

As they walked home Marinette and Alya were talking a show they watch. They came to a stop, when Adrien called out to him. Marinette felt her heart skip a beat, when he called out her name.

"Hey, Adrien," Alya said with a small smirk on her face. She then looked at her friend. "I just realized I forgot something in my locker. I'll talk to you later, Marinette." She then ran off heading back toward the school.

"Ah, Alya!" Marinette cried out to her friend. She then took a deep breath and looked at Adrien. "Uh, hi..What's up?"

Adrien smiled as she turned to face him. "Well, I noticed we were going to be Romeo and Juliet in the play so I thought we should talk about practicing together. I should be able to practice two or three hours a week until we perform.  We could practice at my house if you want.  It's pretty big, so people will probably leave us alone.."

Adrien trailed off slightly as he realized he was proposing that Marinette come to his empty house a few hours a week to practice a play about two lovers, complete with a kissing scene, most likely in his bedroom. Part of him was wondering if that was a bad idea, but it was too late now.

Marinette felt fluster. She was trying so hard to contain herself. Adrien just invited her to his house and they would alone in his room. Anything could happen..

"Sounds great," Marinette managed to say somehow. "Just tell me the days you can practice." Adrien just smiled at her answer and told her goodbye. Marinette said goodbye as well and continue her walk home. 

When she got home, Marinette entered her room. Tikki flew out of her school bag. "Well that was an exciting school day."

"I know!" Marinette grinned. She then sat down at her desk was getting out her homework. "Adrien and I as Romeo and Juliet." She sung it.

The little Kwami giggled at her owner. 

Marinette was opening up her math book. "I can't wait to see what his room looks like." She then turned the page to her homework. She read question one and tried to answer it. However her mind kept thinking about being alone with Adrien. 

"Marinette," Tikki spoke. "You need to focus."

"I know. I know," she replied. "I just kept help it, Tikki. We'll be alone in his room... Practicing the kiss scene." She then felt her cheeks turn red and zoned out. "Our first kiss.."

"Hmm technically you already had your first kiss."

"Huh? When?" Marinette snapped out of it and looked at the Kwami.

"When you kissed Chat Noir, to break Cupid's spell."

A horrified looked appeared on Marinette's face. She then buried her face in her text book. Tikki just patted her on the head.

The next day in drama class Mr. Agissant was handing out the script for the play to everyone. He then explained that for the rest of the week they'll read the play in the class. Then next week they will practice everyday after school for next two weeks. "During practice the stage crew will be working on the sets. Cast members are encourage to help. Now, I need volunteers to help make the costumes. It's been awhile since our school has perform Romeo and Juliet. The costumes we have now are old and worn out."

An idea then hit Marinette so she instantly raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss Dupain-Cheng?"

"I would like to volunteer," she replied. "But I was wondering if I could design the costumes?"

Mr. Agissant looked thrilled. "Of course! I will put you in charge. Anyone else want to help Marinette? I already have three volunteers from the other class." Two other kids raised their hands. "Excellent!"

Marinette was happy that her teacher was letting her design the costumes. It's been awhile since she has gotten to make anything. She got a notebook out of her bookbag and a pencil. She then glanced at the script saw her teacher had the cast members on the second page. She wrote down everyone's names in her notebook. She was going to have to get everyone's measurements. She then whispered to Alya asking her for help. Marinette's friend agreed. 

Throughout the rest of the day Marinette was able to get everyone's measurements expect for Chloe's. She was dreading it. Chloe was not happy about her role at all. In the beginning of drama class she whined about it. Heck she whined about it whenever she got a chance. So Marinette had a feeling that Chloe was going to be difficult. After school, Marinette approached Chloe at her locker. She was talking to Sabrina as she was fixing her make up.

"Chloe," Marinette spoke up.

"What it is?" Chloe replied in harsh tone. She faced Marinette and crossed her arms.

"I need your measurements for the play."

"Ha!" Chloe laughed and flipped her hair. "There is no way I am wearing anything made by you. I'll just buy my nurse costume."

"But it can't modern day."

"So who cares? Come on, Sabrina." Chloe then just walked away with her lackey following right behind her.

Marinette sighed. 

"I'll get it," Alya spoke up. She was standing behind her friend this whole time. She grabbed the tape measure from Marinette and went after the rich girl. She soon returned and handed Marinette a piece of paper. "Boom!"

"How did you..?" her friend looked puzzled.

"Sometimes you have to play by Chloe's rules," Alya grinned and showed an embarrassing picture of Chloe from her birthday party last year. 

Marinette laughed. "Thanks, Alya."

"No prob, girl. Well, I need to get going. I have something I need to do for my mom. See you tomorrow."

"Bye," Marinette said as she waved goodbye to friend. She went back to her locker and put away her books that she didn't need for her homework. When she was walking down the school's front steps, she saw Adrien waiting for his ride. This would be a good time for them to figure out, when they should practice. She walked over to him and took a deep breath. "Hey, Adrien. Since we're practicing after school every day next week, maybe we should practice on the weekends? I looked over our roles during lunch time today and we have a lot of lines to remember."

Adrien watched as cars passed, waiting for the limo to pick him up.  He hadn't gotten a chance to talk to Marinette about practice all day. She was so busy getting measurements for everyone between classes that all he could do was tell her his own measurements before she was off again. He smiled at the thought. Her passion for the job was great.

He turned when he heard her voice.  "Hey. Weekends sound good for me too," he said as he took his phone from his pocket to look at his schedule.  Nathalie had told him to pencil in practice when he knew what time it would be.  He would have to talk to his father about the after school practices, though. He was not looking forward to that.

"I should be good this Saturday between 3:00-5:00.  Does that work for you?" he asked.

Marinette nodded, "That works for me."

The limo pulled up as they were agreeing on the time. "Well, I'll see you later," Adrien said before getting into the vehicle and heading home.

He arrived home and scanned the large foyer for signs of Nathalie or his father. Thankfully, Nathalie was walking by, so he wouldn't have to go find her. "Hey, Nathalie.  I scheduled practice with Marinette for Saturday from 3:00-5:00, but our instructor is also requiring practice after school. Do you know where my father is? I think it would be better for me to talk to him about it."

Nathalie nodded looking more than a little grateful that she didn't have to break the news to her boss.  "He should be in the main floor study working on some designs," she answered.

"Alright. Thanks," Adrien said as he walked towards his father's study. His father had two studies in the house. The first floor study was where his father worked on nearly complete designs. His second floor study housed all of his concepts and early work.  It was completely off limits to everyone, including Adrien and Nathalie to keep away prying eyes. His father had even installed an intercom so he knew when someone needed to talk to him.  It seemed a little overly paranoid to Adrien, but that's just how it was.

Adrien arrived at the study and knocked on the door.  A distracted voice answered from within. "Who is it?"

"It's me.  I need to talk to you about my schedule," Adrien answered. He heard shuffling from the room before his father told him to come in and he entered.

Gabriel sat at his desk, watching as Adrien entered.  "What is wrong with your schedule?" He asked, sounding rather unhappy already.

"Well, our school is putting on Romeo and Juliet. I was cast as Romeo, so I have a really big speaking part and need to practice as much as possible.  I already spoke with Nathaie and cleared some practice time this Saturday, but our teacher is also having us practice everyday after school for the next two weeks. This is a big part of my grade, so I need to attend..." 

Adrien watched his father's brow furrow in frustration from this information, and he wondered what exactly was going through his father's mind.  Probably some conflict between keeping his strict schedule and allowing to time to practice so he got a good grade in the class.

Finally, Gabriel sigh and answered unhappily, "I guess we'll have to make room for the practice times.  I'll look over your schedule and have Nathalie reschedule some things.  Who are you practicing with on Saturday?"

"Her name is Marinette. She won that hat designing contest," he answered, wondering if his father was making sure it wasn't Nino coming over. Ever since his birthday, his father seemed to hold some grudge on Nino that wasn't going away any time soon.

"Oh, her." Gabriel didn't say more on the subject; instead waving his hand in dismissal. "That's fine. You can go now. I assume you have homework to do."

Adrien nodded. "Are you eating dinner here tonight?" he asked somewhat hopeful. It had been a while since his last meal with his father.

Gabriel shook his head. "I have a meeting with one of the hosts of the international fashion show being held in New York this year."

"Oh.  Alright.  See you later," Adrien said. Gabriel nodded while turning back to his work, and Adrien headed upstairs to do his homework and watch Alya's blog for any signs of an akuma attack.

Marinette was sitting at her kitchen table tweaking her costume designs while her parents were finishing making dinner. They were having chicken fricassee tonight. She heard her mother placing the plates on the table. That was her sign to put away her sketch pad. Marinette pushed her sketch pad to side.

"It smells great," she said. "Is it ready?"

"Yes," her father replied. 

Marinette grabbed her plate and went to help herself to some food.

"So when does your practice start for your play?" her mother asked her, when everyone sat down for dinner. Last night her daughter told her and her husband about it.

"Next week," Marinette replied. "Everyday after school for the next two weeks." She took a bite a food before continuing. "This Saturday I will be going over to Adrien's for practice. Is that okay?"

"Of course," her father replied. "I'll bake some cookies to take with you."

"What role is Adrien playing?" her mother asked. Marinette only told she was playing Juliet.

"Romeo," Marinette replied and looked down at her plate and blushed. Both her parents looked at each other with a grin. She could see their reactions in the corner of her eye and she blushed more.

That Saturday Marinette was walking to Adrien's house. She had her school bag with her and was carrying a bag filled with chocolate cookies in her hand. Her father freshly made them this morning. When she arrived at Adrien's house, she rang the bell at the front gate. A camera popped out and looked down at her for a moment. Before she could say anything it went back into the hole. The gates then opened up. Marinette walked over to the front door and opened it. She was then greeted by Nathalie.

"He'll be down shortly so wait right here," the woman said and then headed back upstairs leaving Marinette all alone in the foyer.

Marinette glanced around and was surprised. The foyer was bare and dark. You would think a world renown fashion designer would live in a bright and vibrant place. Adrien was taking his time so she decided to peak around a little bit. She walked around the foyer looking to see of anything of interest. A painting caught her. It was Adrien and her father. She frowned. It looked quite morbid. She then heard movement coming down the stairs. Marinette quickly moved toward the window to it make it look like she was staring out it.

"Your flight leaves at five, sir," Nathalie spoke. Marinette glanced back the staircase. She saw Adrien's father walking beside Nathalie. There was a large man following behind them carrying a suitcase. 

"Right," he replied. He didn't look too thrilled about his trip. "While I'm gone see to it that Adrien doesn't fall behind in his schedule."

"Of course, sir."

Gabriel came to a stop, when he saw Marinette. 

"Good afternoon, Mr. Agreste," Marinette spoke and slightly bowed. A habit she picked up from her mother.

"Hello, Miss?"

"I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

"Yes, that's right. You won my hat contest."

Marinette smiled a little.

Gabriel glanced back at his assistant. "Have her stay for dinner." She just nodded her head. He then looked back at Marinette. "I must be going. It was nice meeting you, Miss Dupain-Cheng." He was quite please with Marinette's manners. Unlike Adrien's other friend.

"Nice meeting you." Adrien's father then went out the front door with his two workers following him. Marinette just stared at the door.

"Wow," Tikki whispered peaking of Marinette's school bag. "He seems like a fun person."

"Tikki, shh!" Marinette whispered and looked back at her friend. "Hide before Adrien comes down."

The little Kawmi just giggled and went back in the bag.

Adrien looked up at the knock on his door. A muffled, "Your guest is here" from the other side of the door confirmed it was Nathalie who knocked. 

"Thank you!" he called back to her.  He didn't hear a reply and assumed she was already gone. His father was about to leave for a business trip, after all.  That would mean Nathalie would be busy helping him prepare.

Adrien stood and walked over to the mini-fridge on the far side of his room.  "Plagg," he said as he opened the door to the fridge. Plagg headed straight for the fridge as the strong smell of camembert cheese escaped the open door.

"Yes, Adrien?" the kwami asked, his attention more focused on the cheese than on anything else. Adrien rolled his eyes but reached for a large piece of the cheese anyway and put it on a small paper plate that he grabbed from the top of the mini-fridge.

"Remember, I'm having a friend over and need you to stay completely hidden. She can't see you. Is this enough cheese to keep you happy until she leaves?" he asked.

The kwami eyed the cheese before giving him a quick glance and then returning his gaze to the cheese. "Yeah. Sure."

Adrien had a feeling his words did not completely reach Plagg, but hopefully there was enough cheese to keep his kwami busy.  Besides, he needed to get downstairs. Marinette might already be wondering where he was.  "Good. Now go up to the library and hide somewhere with your cheese."  Plagg nodded and balanced the plate of cheese on top of his head as he flew up and out of sight.

Adrien took the time to put his computer on sleep (no need for Marinette to see three different pictures of Ladybug on his monitors) and plugged in a rather strong air freshener he received for modeling in one of the company's advertisements (to hide the smell of the cheese). A quick glance of his room assured him everything else was in place and presentable for Marinette.  One second and last quick glance, and Adrien decided he was ready to bring her up to his room.  He exited the room and headed down the hall to the stairs. 

Adrien smiled as he saw Marinette waiting for him. He walked quickly down the stairs and stopped in front of her. "Hey. Sorry for the wait. I was finishing up a few things.  How's your day going?  Are you ready for practice?"

Marinette returned Adrien's smile when he greeted her. "It's going good. I've been looking forward to seeing you all day.. I mean practicing!" She then quickly handed him the cookies. "My papa made chocolate cookies. Fresh out of the oven this morning." Adrien looked thrilled when she handed him the bake goods. They then went upstairs to his room. Like foyer the place seem dark. 

When they entered his room, Marinette was in shock. The room was huge. You could probably fit her whole apartment in it. She gazed at all the stuff he had. Basketball hoop, skateboaring ramp, rock climbing walls, computer, TV, arcade machines, foosball table, library, and a freakn DDR machine! "This is amazing! You have a DDR machine!" She glanced back at him.

Adrien chuckled at her reaction to his room before taking a bite of one of the delicious cookies. He would have to stop by the bakery sometime in the future and get more.  "Yeah, it took a while to convince my father to get me the DDR machine.  He didn't see the point since he surprised me with one of the arcade machines for Christmas the previous year.  We can play after practicing if you'd like."

Adrien watched her expressions as he said this.  He didn't want to come off as the spoiled rich snob that bragged about his wealth.  The fact was, his father gave him big gifts on occasion. He wasn't sure if his father was trying to distract him with the occasional large gift or if his father was actually trying to spoil him.

Marinette looked excited at the idea. "Sure! I've only occasionally been able to play at the arcade."

"Alright. How about an hour of practice, some DDR, and then more practice until dinner?" he asked.  Marinette agreed, and they got down to business practicing their lines.

They were about 30 minutes into practicing when Adrien heard something crash.  He stood quickly and scanned his room to find Plagg on the floor near the foosball table. "I'm going to check on that noise,"Adrien said and quickly headed over to scoop the kwami up, hoping Marinette wasn't watching.

"What are you doing?!" he asked, barely above a whisper as he tried to walk calmly towards his closet.

"I ran out of cheese," Plagg replied as if there was no problem with him almost compromising Chat Noir's secret identity. 

"I told you to hide and not come out," Adrien muttered while opening the closet door and forcing Plagg inside.

"I know.  But I ran out of cheese," the kwami whispered again, impatiently.

Adrien sighed and acted like he was looking through his closet for the thing that feel, "Well, you're going to stay in the closet without cheese until Marinette leaves. She can't know my identity."

Plagg was about to say something, but Adrien just as quickly shut the closet door and headed back to his guest. Hopefully, Marinette hadn't noticed him supposedly talking to himself.  "Sorry about that.  Something in my closet fell.  So, where were we again?"

Marinette was curious about the noise, but didn't think of much it. When Adrien, returned to her side she just nodded at his explanation. She looked back at the script. "We were about to practice the balcony scene." Before she could look over her lines, Marinette saw Tikki heading toward the closet. Out of panic she quickly she stood up to block Adrien's view. "Why don't we stand and practice?" She glanced back and saw Tikki was gone. " I could um." She looked back at him. "Use your library as the balcony."

Adrien nodded and answered, "That sounds like a good idea." He waited as she headed up the spiral staircase to the library. Once she was in position, Adrien began reading his lines from the script. 

Meanwhile, Plagg nodded at Tikki as she flew through the door into the closet. "Hello, Tikki. It's been a little while hasn't it? We really picked an interesting team this time around, huh? They're so completely clueless."

Tikki giggled and sat down on top of a hat. "Very." She glanced around the closet and saw a very fast collection of clothes. She looked back at Plagg. "Lycca has changed quite a bit since we last saw him. He's hiding himself from us which worries me. His owner could be close by. We better make sure Lycca can't sense us."

Plagg shrugged, slightly unconcerned.  "Yeah.  He used to be a stickler for not using his powers selfishly.  Maybe the owner before this one loosened him up a bit.  We've all had owners that have used our powers for their own gain.  I've had at least five Chat Noirs who decided my powers would be more fun when used to destroy lives.  If Lycca enjoyed his previous owner, he might have decided to forget his own rules and have a little fun.  It happens.  That's why Ladybug's power is so important.  It keeps the rest of us in check.  You sure do know how to pick them.

Anyway, you're probably right about hiding ourselves from him, though.  For all we know, he's already made progress with finding our location.  There are a lot of akumatized students at Adrien's school.  Teenagers make great akumas, but you can't tell me it's a coincidence that no other schools have been hit as hard as theirs."

Plagg looked back to the door as he finished speaking.  All of this serious conversation was making him even hungrier for some cheese.  He'd have to suck up to Adrien tonight before his owner would forgive him and let him have more of the good cheese.

It bothered Tikki that most of Marinette's classmates have been victims. It might a good idea to investigate her school. Tikki stood up. She would need Plagg's help, but she could tell if he asked him now he would say no. She would have to bribe him. So Tikki flew over to the door and peak her head through it. Adrien and Marinette were over by the couch again discussing which scene to do next. Tikki flew out of the door and kept low to the ground. She quietly made her way to the mini fridge and went inside. She saw a piece of cheese and grabbed it. Tikki then returned to the closest safe and sound.

"Hey, Plagg," she spoke holding up the cheese in front of him. "I'll give you this if you help me investigate their school."