Chapter Text
Alya Césaire didn't know what persuaded her to wear the earrings in the abandoned house, but she did because that's what the letter wanted someone to do. It was the current owner's wish. She only did the right thing... Though, she will have to keep her explorations a secret to her family. Anyways, she finally arrived to her new school Collège Françoise Dupont. She honestly hoped she'd make new friends in this new school since she'll be staying here for quite a while.
However...
In the end, she sat all alone at the front. No one bothered to come near, much less talk to her. During break, she stood up to defend one of her classmates (Mylène was her name) against the biggest douche that ever existed: Chloé Bourgeois. Unfortunately, this blonde is the daughter of the current mayor of Paris and the queen of fashion.
The mayor is the one who hired her mom to work in his hotel (which is why she transferred to this school for easier travel) while the fashion critic is one of her idols for her skillful persuasion to improving blooming business lines - These two adults made a kid as evil as that?! Alya needed to reevaluate her life, seriously. She should also be careful towards Chloé because Alix (who Mylène introduced) tells her the blonde has a knack of firing people. Chloé's attempt to mimic her mother. She doesn't want her mother to lose her job or get targeted by this snobby brat.
Thankfully, by the second half of the day, Chloé was too busy showing this new kid around. Not just any new kid, but Adrien Agreste. The child model that's gaining a large fan base with each passing day. Alya didn't really know the model so much, but if he's best friends with Chloé then maybe Adrien is either a doormat like Sabrina or as evil as Chloé herself.
'At least I got some friends.' Alya thought, walking back home all by herself.
Mylène was pretty informative on the environmental issues in Paris. The current issue is the Mayor's decision to disposing the trash near forest areas, affecting the ecosystem. Mylène is also very talented in the acting department, the Haprèle becoming a reoccurring last name within the theater. Her other friend, other than Mylène, would be Alix. Alix may be always bumping heads against Kim, but she's knowledgeable in history and science. The name Kubdel are known for their presentation to artifacts found in various parts of the world (whether by themselves or by others).
"Hm?" Alya stared at her phone when a ladybug landed on her phone's screen. "Hey. A ladybug."
"Aren't you cute?" Alya carefully moved the ladybug to fly off into the air, unaware of a blue-haired entity trailing right behind her.
It's been a week since she started school and Alya decided to research about the bakery. It got burned down a year ago. It's most likely the earrings belong to the baker's daughter when the current owner talked for five minutes about the death of her fairy in an hour long interview. Now it makes sense why her classmates are so quiet or why no one sat on the front where she was sitting. Marinette always sit at the front. Marinette looks pretty in her pictures, wearing an original attire. They would have been great friends..
"Etta! Ella! I told you not to play with the AC." Alya called out, sitting up from the couch. The living room is starting to get chilly.
"But we didn't do it!" Both her twin sisters cried, actually coming out of their room and very far away from the AC.
"Wow! It's so cold." Etta cheered, running back in to come out with her pillow. "Yay!"
"Wow! Thanks sis!" Ella cheered, also running back to get her own pillow. "So cold!"
"But I didn't..." Alya turned to stare at the AC. It's not on. The blogger dropped her phone, searching for what's causing the temperature to fall. Windows are shut. Fridge is closed. Doors are locked.
"Is something wrong?" Etta asked and Alya is holding one of the earrings attached to her ear.
"N-nothing." Alya smiled back at her sisters, trying not to panic because she's being ridiculous. The world is facing climate change. 'These earrings aren't cursed right?'
'It's not like ghosts are real.' Alya wondered, sitting back down on the couch. She scanned the room, seeing picture frames of her family, locations and talismans. 'And I should be safe from any haunting with my dad's juju right?'
"Can we sleep here, Alya?" Etta pleaded, hugging her pillow with Ella beside her.
"To save electicity!" Ella added.
"Oh I'm not falling for that again. You just want to watch TV. Now go to bed." Alya pointed back at the bedroom.
"Aww..." Both twins sighed and went back to their room. With the door slammed shut, Alya returned to her phone to see yet another barrage of nothing.
'How am I going to make my blog unique?' Alya sighed, closing her eyes. Falling asleep, Alya slept soundly and the lights turned off.
Waking up to the scent of her mother's cooking, Alya woke up to see her father asking where she got the blanket. Sitting up, Alya stared at the ladybug-spotted blanket covering her body. Instead of telling the truth, Alya stayed quiet. The ladybug earrings are cursed. It has to be... but she can totally blog about it!
Like a switch turned on, Alya spends her weekend researching about ghosts and cursed items. Contrary to popular belief, getting haunted is a very slow process... She'll need to prepare for anything.
Apparently, wearing a cursed accessory isn't an instant death nor is it very frightening. Other than the chill in the air, Alya has yet to see any shadow or smell any bad scent or even hear any noises.
I wish I got a sign from the ghost. Alya sighed. After a day or so, her dad got paranoid and called in a friend to cleanse the house while everyone is out. Alya is half-glad and half-scared on what would happen if her dad's friend saw the earrings. Her dad rarely jokes when it comes to the paranormal.
...
"What the?" Alya blinked, staring at her desk littered with ladybugs or what others call lady beetles.
"Haha. Very funny, Kim." Alix scowled when she too arrived into the classroom.
"I didn't do that. I swear!" Kim denied, standing instead of sitting in his usual place with Max. "You know me, I don't prank newbies. I'm not that evil."
'Is this it?' Alya took a step back, pulling out her phone. She never thought it would be this blunt but it's something.
"This is Alya, staring at what's supposedly my desk." Starting a new blog on the paranormal, Alya took a video of her desk as she slowly walked towards the desk. "Apparently, ladybugs are a thing."
"Why did I see this coming?" Alix sighed.
"Be careful. Ladybugs don't usually bite, but they might pinch you if threatened." Mylène warned and Alya used her notepad to carefully move the ladybugs into the plastic Ivan offered her. They scurried back to a huge clump as if hiding something. "Hold up guys. (Alya gave her phone to Alix, prepping her fingers to touch the infestation.) Something's wrong."
"What's up guys?" Nino wondered, the student wearing the cap and surprisingly friends with Adrien, came into the room. "Wow. What happened there?"
"Ladybugs are attracted to her desk for unknown reasons." Max adjusted his glasses, staring at the bizarre sight at a distance.
"I heard ladybugs are considered to be good luck." Rose stated, hiding behind Juleka but not scared to be close at the scene. "Maybe they see your table warm? Ladybugs love warmth."
"I doubt that, Rose." Juleka took a step forward, flicking one of the ladybugs towards the bench. She smiled, "This is pretty cool."
"Got it!" Alya grinned, cleaning the item from the little critters trying to fly back onto the charm? Alya stared at the bracelet, showing it to her phone. "A lucky charm?"
"Dude! This is Marinette's charm!" Nino walked closer to take a look of the charm. The DJ looked at Alya, searching for answers. "Did you play Ouija board of something?"
"No." Alya told the truth. 'But I did take her earrings.'
"So Marinette's haunting you?" Juleka raised an eyebrow. "Because you're sitting at the front?"
"That can't be right. Marinette's too nice to haunt someone!" Rose defended.
"Yep. This is hers all right." Kim nodded, looking at the lucky charm after Nino's done staring at it. Alya got her phone back, recording her classmate's reaction. He returned it to Alya, "Just... (Kim told her in a serious and sad tone.) Just take care of that, okay?"
"Be free, ladybugs!" Mylène cheered, dumping the plastic bag containing ladybugs outside the window. Ivan did the same, but he's more amused at his classmate's expression of awe.
"You think people find us weird tossing Ladybugs outside?" Ivan asked Mylène, staring down to see students looking up at their floor.
"At least we didn't kill them." Mylène encouraged.
"What's going on here?" The familiar bratty voice of Chloé caused Alya to keep the lucky charm. Chloé is holding Adrien's arm, walking inside. "Well? Speak up losers."
"Chloé." Adrien berated and Chloé merely rolled her eyes.
"Marinette is haunting Alya." Sabrina, the silent traitor of the group was sitting at the second row the whole time. Alya found it peculiar how Chloé grew tense at the mention of Marinette's name. "She gave Alya her lucky charm."
"Enough. That's utterly ridiculous." Chloé scoffed, letting go of Adrien's arm. She walked away from Alya, "It's just a prank. Marinette is dead."
"Uh..." Nathaniel entered the room, confused why everyone is standing up and mostly at the front. "What did I miss this time?"
"Hurry along, Nathaniel." Ms. Bustier caused all of the students to scramble back to their seats. The Homeroom teacher entered the classroom, smiling at all of them. "Good morning, class."
"Good morning teacher." Everyone greeted back. Alya glanced down at the lucky charm she kept in her pocket. A bracelet with eight beads - blue, pink, yellow, black, red and green. The bead most notable would be the green bead with a five-petaled flower stitch which also reminds her of a clover. A five-leaf clover.
'Now the big question is whether Marinette's an evil spirit or not.' Alya thought, keeping the charm once more to focus on the lesson. 'I'll research.'