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Alix groans internally when Miss Bustier announces that the school will be having a winter formal next week. She groans when the flyer Marinette is passing out makes it to her desk. Normally, Alix wouldn't have that much of a problem. Normally, she and Nathaniel would go to school dances as friends and laugh at people’s awkward attempts at flirting and dancing. Unfortunately for her, Nathaniel has a boyfriend now and will most likely go with him.
Don’t get her wrong, she’s happy for Marc and Nathaniel. She had to put up with them both acting the way Marinette acts with Adrien for the past few months, so for them to finally be together was great... Great for everyone but Alix. Instead of listening to lovesick rambling from Nathaniel, she had to deal with their PDA and flirting.
Maybe she’s a little bitter after all.
Alix looks around the room. Marinette mumbles something to Alya, her face going red. Marinette is probably going to ask Adrien to the dance. Good for her. Alix can hear Max and Kim agreeing to go together from the table behind her. She doesn’t even have to look to know that Rose and Juleka are going to go to the dance together.
“I hope Ivan asks me to go,” Mylene says, reading the flyer.
“Why wouldn’t he?” Alix asks, tilting her head. “He’s your boyfriend, so of course he’d go with you.”
“It’s just cute to be formally asked!” the girl smiles. “With flowers or a card, anything really. It’s just a romantic moment!”
Alix fake-gags. “Whatever you say.”
The rest of the week is filled with so many people asking their crushes or partners to go to the dance with them.
First is Nino asking Alya before school. He brings her a bar of chocolate and a cute little card that reads “Breaking news: Boy asks his girlfriend to the dance! Will she say yes?” Of course Alya says yes. Then during lunch, Ivan brings Mylene a small bouquet of flowers. She also says yes. During Art Club, Alix has to deal with Marc and Nathaniel asking each other to the dance at the same time. Marc with a short poem and Nathaniel with a hand drawn card. Even Marinette asks Adrien at the end of class, though Alix doesn’t stick around to see how that plays out.
The girl leaves the classroom quickly, not even waiting for Nathaniel to pack up his things. She hears Chloe’s muffled “Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!” and sees Adrien take Marinette out of the room, presumably to talk to her without the others. Alix thinks she sees disappointment on Marinette’s face, but she doesn’t dwell on it.
Alix never considered herself to be romance-repulsed. Even though she gags at gushy rambles and rolls her eyes at her friends’ flirting, she was never truly disgusted or putoff. Then again, back then Nathaniel was always with her in the end. He was always there to poke fun at couples with her. They had been best friends for the longest time. Nathaniel fulfilled Alix’s need for non-romantic companionship. Now even Nathaniel had someone. Alix wouldn’t be surprised if one day Nathaniel stops hanging around her. One day, Marc might steal her best friend for good and she would never be able to compete because her friendship with Nathaniel will never be as strong as Marc’s love for Nathaniel.
Speaking of the tomato-haired boy, he never came out of the classroom to catch up with Alix. She had already made it down the hallway to room 33 and he was just leaving the classroom… with Marc. Hand in hand.
Alix was the first person in the room. She gives Mr. Monlataing a quick greeting before setting down her school bag at a table. She immediately goes to her street art supplies and puts on goggles and a mask. She grabs black, white, grey, and green paint cans and starts spraying the colors on the wall. She writes “Anti-Romantic” in a blocky font.
The day of the dance comes a lot sooner than anticipated. Alix isn’t even sure if she’s going to go. Nathaniel kept begging her to, saying that they can go as a group of three. Alix told him that she didn’t want to intrude on their night together. Marc piped in with a “it’s a school event, so you’ll have other friends there.” Alix didn’t have the heart to tell him that everyone else would be busy with their partners to even care that she was alone.
Somehow, Alix is still roped into going anyway. She put on a short dark green a-line dress she found in the back of her closet and pulled on knee-length black leggings. Being extremely underprepared for any kind of semi-formal event, she only had her usual sneakers to put on. At least she decided to leave her hat at home. Her pink hair remained hastily tied and barely brushed. Not that it really mattered. It’s not like she was there to be with someone. Maybe she’ll crack some jokes to herself, drink some juice, then successfully zone out until one of Marc’s parents comes to pick the three of them up.
She sat in the front of Mrs. Anciel’s car while Marc and Nathaniel audibly flirted in the back. Alix tuned them out, staring outside the window. Once they pulled up in front of the school, she thanked Marc’s mom and walked out of the car, skipping a bit to catch up with the two boys.
The dance was being held in the courtyard. They had an actual DJ and lights hung around the space. Alix quickly located the tables of drinks and snacks. She’ll spend most of her time there, she thinks. Groups of students are chatting and dancing, enjoying the night. She scans the area for her classmates then looks back to where Marc and Nathaniel were… Where did they go? She looks back up at the dancefloor, where she finds that Nathaniel had dragged the taller boy to dance with him, leaving her alone. Great.
Alix sighs to herself and begins walking to where she sees Alya, Nino, Mylene, Ivan, Rose, and Juleka. They are all standing together, mostly talking and laughing, dressed nicely. Even Ivan is wearing a button down and slacks. Juleka looks amazing in her suit. Alix starts to feel a little underdressed around them.
“Good to see you here, Alix!” Rose says a bit too loudly.
“I thought you weren’t gonna come,” Mylene adds.
Alix shrugs. “Marc and Nath wanted me here, but clearly they want to go off on their own.”
“I never really thought either of them would be into this kind of thing,” Alya thinks aloud.
“I didn’t think Nath would be, but clearly I was wrong,” Alix can barely hide her frustration, and she knows that the others are picking up on it. Shoot. Change the subject. She glares around and realizes that a certain pair are missing-- not that them missing was anything new. “Where are Marinette and Adrien? Didn’t Marinette ask him to come?”
Alya and Nino both inhale sharply. Nino rubs the back of his neck. “They’re both here but… Marinette didn’t come with Adrien.”
Alix’s eyes widened at the news.
“Adrien rejected her, but he did it gently according to Marinette,” Alya explains. “So Marinette brought Luka.” Alya vaguely guesteres to the crowd of students. Alix gets on her toes and catches a glimpse of dyed blue hair and Marinette’s dark pigtails. She looks happy. Good for her.
“So where’s Adrien? Why’d he come?” Alix questions.
“He’s in the bathroom,” Nino answers. “He wanted to come since it’s one of the few times his old man is letting him out.”
As if on cue, Adrien walks out of the doors leading to the lockers and bathrooms. He doesn’t look so happy. Alix isn’t too close to him. She knows a lot more about Adrien than Adrien knows about her, but that’s because of Marinette’s gushing and rambling about him. Maybe this will be a good opportunity to get to know Mr. Teen Model a little better.
Alix ignores her friends’ conversation and starts heading over to Adrien. Perfect timing too, as a slow song starts playing. Maybe not perfect timing, actually. She realizes how approaching him might look during a song like this. Alix shakes that thought away. She’s already nearly there.
“Hey, Agreste,” Alix waves a little. Adrien makes eye contact with her and pauses for a second before waving back.
“Hi, Alix.” He wipes his hands on his pants, clearly a little awkward. Understandable. The two of them hardly ever talk to each other.
“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna ask you to dance with me,” the pink-haired girl rolls her eyes. “I’m not into that kind of thing.”
“That’s a shame,” Adrien chuckles a little. “I actually kind of like dancing. So, um, do you want to go sit somewhere?” He gestures to the stairs, which are a little far from the activities of the dance.
“Sure.” The two of them head to the stairs and sit a few steps up. They watch the other students slowdance. “So I heard Marinette asked you out.”
Adrien tenses. “Yeah. She did.” The romantic song is drowned out by the atmosphere between them.
“I thought you two had a little something,” she tries not to pry, but she can’t help it.
“I, uh,” the blond boy stops to think for a moment. Alix can see the distress on his face.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up. It’s none of my business.”
“No, no, it’s okay,” Adrien shakes his head. “It’s just when she asked me she also mentioned having a crush on me, which was… weird. N-nothing against Marinette! She’s a really great friend and an awesome girl, but I’m not sure that I like girls…”
Oh, interesting.
“... Or guys. Or anyone. Romantically, at least… I don’t know, I thought it was just because I’m a little new to these social things, but talking to Nino about romance and love just confused me. I don’t think I’ve genuinely thought of anyone that way.”
Alix tries not to audibly gasp. Could Adrien be aromantic like her? It would be the first time she met someone in person that’s also aromantic.
“Sorry, I probably shouldn’t have said that,” Adrien blinks away a few tears. When did he start crying? “I don’t know, I haven’t really talked to anyone about this. I-it’s kinda weird. I’m sorry.”
“No, dude, you’re not weird!” the girl says, probably a bit too enthusiastically, as Adrien jumps a little. “I mean, I’m like that too. I’m aromantic.”
“Aromantic?” Adrien wipes away a stray tear. He visibly perks up at the mention of a new word.
“Yeah,” Alix sits back a little, leaning on the stair rails. “It means experiencing little to no romantic attraction. In my case, I don’t experience any. I just don’t do romance. I don’t get it, really, but that’s something to dive into another day.”
“Little to no romantic attraction,” Adrien repeats. “I don’t know, I still like holding hands and kissing and stuff, but I don’t get why those are romantic things.”
“Still sounds like aromanticism to me. Of course, I can’t tell you what you are, but if you want to talk more about this, you know where to go.” Alix holds her fist up for a fist bump that’s hesitantly reciprocated.
“Thanks, Alix,” Adrien smiles for the first time that night. “Really.”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re welcome.” The slow song ends and another just-as-romantic song starts playing.
“I assume you’re here alone, then?” Adrien asks, hugging his knees.
“Well,” Alix looks at the crowd of dancing students then back at Adrien. “Nath and Marc dragged me here. Then left me. It feels like since they started dating I’m just an afterthought. It’s whatever, though.”
“It’s not ‘whatever,’” the blond tilts his head a little. “You’re allowed to be upset about that. It sucks to be left behind.” Alix can tell he’s looking at Alya and Nino, who are holding each other close.
The two sit in silence for a little. The awkwardness comes back.
“I thought I had a crush on Ladybug,” Adrien suddenly says. “Which is… a little embarrassing. But after thinking about it, I think I just thought I liked her like that. It’s a lot easier to say you have feelings for someone in a mask than have feelings for someone for real.”
“I get that. I’ve only ever made myself ‘crush’ on cartoon characters,” Alix chuckles a little. “I don’t think I’ve ever thought of anyone in real life in a romantic context. Not even Nathaniel. He liked me when we first met… Don’t tell him I said that!”
“My lips are sealed,” Adrien pretends to zip his mouth shut. “Honestly, I did think I liked Marinette. Turns out I just wanted to get closer to her as a friend. I, uh, also had this thing with a girl in my fencing class, but that ended badly. I thought I just wasn’t ready for a relationship, but I really just don’t feel for people romantically.” The boy groans and throws his head back a bit. “Why is this so hard? I kind of liked this boy for a little. Turns out I just thought he’s pretty.” Adrien blushes a little.
“You can be physically attracted to people without it being romantic,” the girl explains, fidgeting with her shoelaces. “I still see some people and think they’re extremely attractive, but I don’t want to, like, marry them or anything.”
Adrien hums in response, nodding a little. The slow song finally comes to an end and an upbeat song plays next. Alix stands up and holds a hand out for Adrien.
“Since I’m here alone and you said you like to dance...” she cringes a bit, realizing she sounds a bit like a cheesy romance story. “Wanna go... as friends?” She tilts her head towards the dance floor.
“Sure,” Adrien smiles warmly and stands up, putting his hand in Alix’s smaller one. “As friends.”
Nothing could have prepared Alix or Adrien for the waves of questions their classmates had for them on the next school day. Alya even took pictures of the two of them dancing together, which was a little creepy. Alix never realized how weird the blogger could be about things like this.
Alix and Adrien insisted that every dance they shared that night was only as friends. Even the slow dances. It took a few tries to get the others to drop the topic, but they did eventually, leaving the two alone.
Alix’s forced stern expression melted away when she thought of that night again. She finally met someone she could relate to.