Beep... beep... beep...

Marinette groggily opened her eyes to the sound of her alarm. It couldn't be morning already, it just couldn't. She reached over to her phone to turn off the annoying sound. Ten more minutes, that's all she needed. She pressed the button to silence the phone and pulled the covers over her head.

The covers were pulled away, exposing her eyes to the daylight streaming in through the windows. She quickly turned over and buried her face into her pillow.

"Marinette!" her kwami, Tikki, exclaimed. "You have to wake up. It's the first day of school!"

"Ughhhhhh," the girl replied.

The new school year was starting. Not that she minded school, it was the fact that now she had yet another commitment to occupy her time.

School meant five days each week of classes, plus homework, plus studying. All she had to do was add all of that to her busy schedule.

Her schedule, filled with helping her parents out in the bakery that they owned, making time to see her friends, oh, and saving Paris from a deranged supervillain that terrorized the city with butterflies.

Her superhero alter-ego Ladybug had to fight akumatized victims, go on patrol with her partner Chat Noir, and learn to be the new Guardian of the Miracle Box.

No wonder she didn't have time for a boyfriend. Some sparks flew between her and Luka during the summer, but nothing ever materialized. It didn't help matters that she was still trying to get over her huge crush on Adrien.

The summer. Back when she had some free time. The good old days.

Marinette finally sat up in her bed and stretched. She looked over at Tikki. "This is going to be a long year."

************************************

The pretty blunette quickly made her way to her school, not too difficult when you literally live next to it. Her best friend Alya was on the front steps chatting with her boyfriend Nino. He had his arm around her shoulder. They were clearly in love.

Alya smiled at seeing her friend. "Hey girl, you actually made it on time!"

"And on our first day, too," Nino chimed in. "This is a brand new Marinette we're meeting."

"Ha ha," Marinette deadpanned.

"We're just messing with you," Alya said, winking at her. "Now, for the serious stuff. What do you want to hear first? The good news or the bad news?"

"Give me the bad news first."

"Chloé is in our class again," the redhead told her.

Marinette groaned. She still had a perfect record of getting stuck in the same class as the spoiled brat. "And the good news?" she asked. She could really use some good news right about now.

Alya beamed at her. "Adrien is in our class too."

Marinette was hoping for something that would make her feel better. Another year of being in the same class as the boy she loved. Another year of being constantly reminded of the fact that he didn't love her back and probably never would.

At least one good thing had come from her busy summer. She didn't have a lot of time to obsess over him. It had been a nice break.

"Awesome," she said lacklusterly.

Alya and Nino glanced at each other at hearing her reaction. This really was a new Marinette.

At that moment a silver towncar stopped in front of the building. Adrien got out and walked up to the group.

"Dude!" Nino shouted, seeing his best friend. "Seems like you're stuck with us for another year!"

"Awesome!" Adrien replied back, fist bumping Nino. "Hey," he said, turning to Alya and Marinette.

"Hey Adrien, how was your summer? I feel like we barely saw you," Alya said.

"You can blame my father for that. He's still as overprotective as he's always been."

"At least we'll get to hang out here," Nino said.

Adrien smiled that perfect smile of his. Last year Marinette would have melted into a pile of goo after seeing that smile, but right now she felt like breaking down and crying. That beautiful smile would never be for her. He was in love with someone else.

"Hey Marinette," she heard him say, shaking her from her thoughts. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Oh, I'm a little tired," she answered, adjusting the straps of her backpack.

Adrien nodded at her, but he was confused. It wasn't like Marinette to look so down, she always seemed so happy and full of life, even when she was tired.

It was time to go inside, so the four students made their way to Miss Bustier's classroom. After a couple of minutes of greeting their classmates, everyone settled into their seats.

Marinette sighed. She was sitting right behind Adrien again. All she wanted to do was forget about him and his gorgeous blond hair.

Shutting her eyes, she took in a deep breath. What was she doing? This wasn't her. With all of her new responsibilities she had let herself get too stressed out. And with the stress came the sadness. She exhaled and opened her eyes.

What she didn't expect was for Adrien to have turned around to face her. She jumped slightly at seeing his green eyes staring into hers. He gave her a small smile, which she returned. Then he turned back towards the teacher.

Adrien might not ever love her, but that didn't mean that they couldn't be friends. He was sweet and caring, and Marinette still wanted him to be a part of her life. Just not in the role she originally wanted for him.

It wasn't his fault anyway. She had multiple chances to confess her feelings to him, but it never happened. Who knows, maybe they would be together if she had said something.

But that was in the past. There's nothing she could do about that now. He was dating Kagami, and they were perfect for each other.

She had to let this go. It was eating her up inside. It wasn't good for her, and it wasn't good for Paris. She had to focus on what was really important. Life isn't about getting what you want. It's about doing the right thing.