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Adrien Agreste was, in her personal opinion, one of the most clever boys she had ever encountered. His grades were exceptional, his extracurricular work was extensive, and Marinette was quite certain that he could do anything he put his mind to. Except, as it happened, ask her out on a real date.
“I don’t understand, Tikki. I know the whole flirting thing was just for show but once, just once, I thought, maybe, he was genuine this time.”
“Cat Noir is genuine, Marinette." Tikki's voice, usually full of sweet reason and reassurance, sounded a little tired. This wasn't the first time Marinette had brought it up. "Maybe you’re thinking about this a little too hard.”
Marinette stared up at her ceiling, trying to discern some kind of meaning there and failing, just as she had been the last couple of days. It was certainly not what she thought she'd spend her weekend doing. Two weeks into knowing each other's identity, and she felt like she was back at square one, like she really didn't know anything at all. “He asked me out and when I asked if he was serious, he took off! What am I supposed to think? He’s never reacted like that before.”
“I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding. You’ll figure this out together.”
Alya, on the other hand, had a very different reaction to it.
“Are you talking about Nathaniel? I didn’t know that guy had a confident bone in his body but I’ll take your word for it. Glad to know you’re moving on to better things.”
Marinette slid down her her seat. “No, no, it’s not Nathaniel! It’s someone else.”
“Girl, are you holding out on me?" Alya's eyes practically bugged out of their sockets. "There’s another boy flirting with you?”
“It’s not what you think!” Marinette spluttered, hand splayed in front of her. “It’s for someone else. A friend.”
“A friend, huh.” Alya grinned widely, far too knowing for comfort. “Sure. A friend then. If you say so.”
“Yeah, and my friend has a guy who flirts with her a lot but she doesn’t know if he’s being serious recently.” Marinette tried tucking some of her hair behind her ear in a show of casualty. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Well, assuming that the girl isn’t you,” Alya gave Marinette a keen look, “then maybe he doesn’t expect anything from her at all. This is the first time she’s seriously questioned him?”
“Yes.” Alya raised an eyebrow. “I-I mean, I think so. She made it sound like it was the first time.”
“Then, maybe, he’s not interested and flirts for fun.” Alya must have noticed her crestfallen face because she quickly remedied it with, “or he was caught off guard. Not all boys know how to handle having their feelings taken seriously. Take Nino for example.”
“What about me?” he asked from the seat ahead of them. Thankfully, Adrien hadn’t arrived yet, allowing her to covertly speak about him without any severe embarrassment.
“You know how you kept trying to bug me about scripts for our next film assignment even though it was months away because you liked me?”
“Um, no? You’re going to have to give me more than that.” Marinette held back a giggle as Nino’s face grew more coloured.
“See?” Alya gestured over to Nino with a brief wave of her hand. “Prime example of classic boy denial. You’ve got nothing to worry about, girl.”
“But-”
“Marinette, are you having boy trouble? Is it A-”
“Ni-NO!” interrupted Alya, a firm scowl on her features. “It’s her friend that’s having the boy trouble. Not her. Do you have any advice?”
Nino awkwardly rubbed at the back of his neck, head bowed in apology. “Hard to say. Being direct is the best, I guess. Us guys aren’t the brightest.”
“You’re telling me,” muttered Alya.
“So I ask him straight up?” asked Marinette.
“Works best,” said Nino, “and that goes for most guys, especially the ones afraid of stepping up.”
“I’ll try it then, I guess." Squaring her shoulders a little, Marinette allowed herself a very slight smile of triumph. "I’ll just ask him if he wants to go on a date and if he says no, then I guess he was kidding. And if he says yes,” she flushed and trailed off.
Alya raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry. Who ?”
“I mean my friend. I’ll, uh, let my friend know.” She glanced down at her wrist. “Oh, look at the time! I’ve got to get going. I’ll see you guys at school tomorrow!”
Marinette waved to her as she retreated and flushed as she heard Nino say, “But she’s not even wearing a watch!”