Marinette walks out to the front of the school with her bags prepared to leave only to see it pouring outside. She considers making a run for it to the bakery, but after seeing how hard it's pouring decides to wait out the rain for a bit.

Hearing another student approaching from behind her, Marinette moves to the side of the entrance so she wouldn't block them. Unfortunately for her, it is Chloe's friend, Adrien, who just started.

"Hey," he greets. Marinette turns away, trying to ignore him so he would just go away and leave her alone. A red car pulls up to the front with a young girl in the backseat. The boy sighs and looks at his umbrella, then opens it and takes a step out in the rain. "I just wanted you to know that I was only trying to take the gum off your seat. I swear."

Marinette huffs still not looking at the blond. "I've never been to school before. I've never had many friends outside of my father's associates' kids. Everything here is all sort of new to me." The boy turns around and offers Marinette his umbrella. Hesitantly, she reaches out for the offered umbrella, still not trusting the boy in front of her. Suddenly, the umbrella closes over Marinette.

Not a second later, Marinette hears Adrien laughing at her. Believing he purposefully gave her a false umbrella, Marinette quickly opens the umbrella and gives him a strained smile. "Thank you for the umbrella."

"It was nothing," Of course, it was nothing. He's rich. He probably has a ton of better umbrellas back home and just wanted to get rid of this old one "Well, Marinette, I hope we can become great friends. See you tomorrow!" Adrien waves good-bye, heading into the red car.

"Hopefully not," Marinette mutters.

Marinette's phone rings signaling a message from one of her favorite people.

CN: I think I just met my romantic soulmate…

LB: I think I just met my enemy soulmate

—

One week later

"Class we have a new student joining us this year. Would you like to introduce yourself?" Madame Bustier asks the brunette in front of her desk.

"Hello, my name is Lila Rossi. I'm originally from Italy, but I've traveled all over the world due to my mother being a diplomat," Lila introduces.

"Since Lila has a hearing condition, she needs to sit near the front. Alya would you mind giving up your seat?"

"Not at all, miss," Alya replies. She quickly grabs her stuff and gives Marinette a wink.

Once Alya moves, Lila takes her spot right next to Marinette. The brunette gives Marinette a small smile and takes out her notebook.

"Hi, I'm Marinette. It's very nice to meet you, Lila," Marinette greets holding out her hand, swallowing her nerves.

Lila's eyes light up at the sound of Marinette's name. "Marinette, you say? Well, I hope we can become great friends."

—

"Marinette!" Alya runs from the back and grabs Marinette by the wrist. She drags Marinette out of the classroom and towards the library. Alya spots an open table near the back and leads Marinette to the table.

"I have never wanted class to end sooner," Alya complains as they sit down.

Marinette rolls her eyes. "You just couldn't wait to talk about Lila."

"Of course I couldn't wait! This is your romantic soulmate we're talking about!" Alya shouts. A loud 'shh' is sent their way as the librarian glares at them.

"I don't know, Alya. She could just be another platonic soulmate. Maybe the four tattoos just means I'm destined to be surrounded by friends," Marinette frowns, setting her head down on the table.

"THAT'S BULL-" Another stern glare halts Alya's shouting. "What I mean is, you are a wonderful and talented girl, Marinette. If the universe didn't want you to have a romantic soulmate, then it messed up big time."

"You're right, Alya," Marinette stands up. "I'm going to ask Lila out!"

"That's enough out of you two. Either leave the library or stay silent!" The librarian on duty scolds.

"Sorry, madam," Marinette apologizes. "We were just leaving."

Quickly, Marinette and Alya grabbed their things and dashed out of the library.

"So lunch?"

—

Back in the classroom

"That was weird," Nino comments, watching Alya drag Marinette down the hall.

"Yeah," Adrien shakes his head. Honestly, Adrien thought everything concerning Marinette was weird. Despite all his attempts at trying to talk to her, she seemed to be very scared of him. He originally chalked it up to her being nervous around him, but can't help but think there might be something more.

Perhaps she has a boyfriend and doesn't want to hurt either of us.

A tap on his shoulder brings Adrien out of his thoughts. He turns around to face the new girl, Lila.

"Hi, I just wanted to talk privately for a second," Lila says, double checking that the classroom is empty.

"Sure, what's up?" Adrien gives the girl a smile in an attempt to appear friendly.

"Well, you're Felix Graham de Vanily and I think you're my soulmate," Lila explains confidently.

Adrien opens his mouth to explain that she has him confused with his cousin, but she raises her hand to stop him.

"I know you probably get that a lot from people interested in your family's money, but I believe we are meant to be. I already know some of your family. Your aunt Emilie practically taught me everything there is to know about the film industry." Immediately, alarm bells start going off in Adrien's head. If this girl was as close to his mother as she claimed, Adrien would definitely know her, yet he has never seen the girl before. "Oh, I've also met your cousin Adrien too. He's the sweetest thing ever. He even gave me some modeling tips. Oh, I've also-"

"Let me stop you right there. I'm actually Adrien and I've never met you before in my life. I'm not sure who you're trying to fool, but your lies are not working here."

Lila huffs in frustration. "I thought you were supposed to be locked up in that big mansion," Lila mutters. "Well, they may not work on you, but I'm sure everyone else here will believe them."

"Not if I tell them you're a liar," Adrien counters.

"But who's going to believe you?"

Before Adrien can ask what she means, Lila bursts into tears and runs out of the classroom.

"Wow, she's good," Adrien says out loud turning back around to grab his bag.

"Who's good?"

"Gah!" The unexpected voice caused Adrien to jump backwards into Chloe and Sabrina's desk.

"Woah, sorry dude. Didn't mean to scare you," Nino apologizes, reaching out his hand to help Adrien up.

"It's alright."

"Who's good, though?" Nino repeats.

"What? Oh! I was talking about Lila! She's a liar and just ran out of here fake crying," Adrien recounts. "She's probably about to share how I was so mean to her or something."

Nino's eyes widened. "Woah, that's not cool. What should we do?"

"I don't know. I guess the best thing would be to spread the fact that she is a liar," Adrien suggests.

"Yeah, we can go tell everyone now at lunch."

—

"Okay, here's your chance Marinette," Alya half whispers to the nervous girl next to her. "She's alone over there. All you have to do is ask if she wants to hang out. It's that easy."

Marinette looks over where Lila is sitting alone picking at a sandwich. "Easy," she repeats with uncertainty.

"You got this!" Alya lightly pushes Marinette towards the brunette.

Marinette starts walking over to the table where Lila is sitting. Unfortunately, as soon as she is near the table she trips letting out a shout as she falls towards the ground. She closes her eyes and flails her arms in an attempt to stop herself from falling. Instead of hitting the ground, she feels a pair of arms catch her.

Marinette slowly raises her head, silently hoping that Lila didn't see her embarrass herself. The face of Marinette's savior brings an instant scowl to her face.

"Are you okay Marinette?" Adrien asks with faux concern. Though Marinette wonders if the concern could be genuine, she quickly remembers that it's Adrien, someone who is meant to bring misery to her life.

Marinette quickly gets herself out of his arms. "I'm fine. Thank you for helping me up," Marinette moves to brush past him but he grabs her wrist to stop her.

"Wait! Marinette, I needed to talk to you," Marinette turns to face him. She notices that Alya is surrounded by some of the girls in their class, watching the interaction between her and Adrien. Alya makes a move towards them, but Marinette shakes her head, telling her not to come.

"What do you want to talk about?" Marinette crosses her arms and looks at Adrien expectantly.

"Well, uhh, it's um about uh Lila," Adrien scratches his head appearing nervous.

"What about her?" Marinette questions impatiently.

"I-uh I don't think she's a good person. She lied about knowing me and my mom an-"

"Let me get this straight," Marinette interrupts Adrien. "You, Mr. Daddy's Boy Supermodel, think that Lila isn't a good person?"

Adrien frowns unsure of how to respond. "Umm, yes…"

"I don't believe you. For many different reasons, but mainly because I refuse to let you ruin something that could be amazing for me," Marinette huffs and walks away.

A hand pats Adrien shoulder. "Yeah, you probably should've waited to tell Marinette," Nino says. Adrien sighs, watching Marinette go sit down across from Lila.

—

"Mind if we interrupt?" Alya asks Lila and Marinette as her, Rose, Juleka, Mylene, and Alix approach the table the two girls are sitting at.

"Not at all!" Lila exclaims as the girls sit down around the table. "You guys are so welcoming here. I didn't think I'd meet so many people on my first day!"

"Why on earth would you think that?" Alya questions astonished.

"At my old school people spread a lot of rumors about me that caused me to lose most of my friends. I guess I was worried the same thing would happen here, especially after my run in with Adrien," Lila looks down at her half eaten sandwich. Marinette inwardly scowls, cursing the blonde model for causing Lila so much distress.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that here! And you've made friends with the best person at this school! Marinette is really amazing and super loyal!" Rose praises, trying to reassure Lila.

As the others start sharing stories of Marinette's good deeds, Marinette blushes not used to the attention.

"Wow, I'm really lucky to have met you Marinette," Lila gives Marinette a bright smile. This combined with all the previous praise causes Marinette's face to turn as red as a tomato.

"Umbrghh," is all Marinette is able to say due to her brain turning to mush.

—

"For homework tonight, finish reading chapter one so we can discuss in class tomorrow," Madame Bustier instructs as the bell rings, signaling the end of class.

Marinette turns around to look back at Alya only to see the bespectacled girl mouthing 'do it'. Marinette shakes her head, trying to signal that she couldn't bring herself to ask Lila over. This causes Alya to huff and quickly gather her things.

Hoping to vent with Alya later about her lack of confidence, Marinette turns back to finish gathering her notebook and pens. Marinette zips up her bag and swings it over her shoulder. She goes to say goodbye to Lila only to see Alya approach the new girl.

"Hey, Lila! This is very last minute, but Marinette wanted me to model some of her designs after school today. Unfortunately, I have to watch my sisters this afternoon. And, well, I suggested Marinette ask you since we're similar in shape, but she didn't want to bother you because it's your first day and all. Marinette is just so sweet like that. I'm asking on her behalf if you would help Marinette out this afternoon?" Alya asks hopefully. Marinette has her head in her palms, silently wishing for the ground to swallow her whole.

"Oh my gosh! I would totally love to Marinette!" Lila exclaims turning around to face Marinette. "I'll meet you by the front entrance!" Lila grabs her things and runs out of the classroom clearly very eager for the afternoon's events.

"How-"

"Magic," Alya jokes, wiggling her fingers as if stuff will magically leave her fingers.

"Got anything to help me not act like a fool?"

"Yeah, it's this potion I like to call Confidence. Just get a little bit of it and you'll be fine," Marinette rolls her eyes, unamused by Alya's crazy antics. "Trust me, girl. You've got this. Just be yourself and Lila can't miss how amazing you truly are."

—

Marinette awkwardly stares at the floor of her bedroom, not knowing what to say to break the tension in the room. After taking a quick trip to her locker, Marinette immediately took Lila to the bakery, where the brunette was introduced to Marinette's parents and given way too many pastries. Once they got to Marinette's room, Lila had immediately started inspecting Marinette's room.

"So what was it that you wanted me to model?" Lila asks as she takes a seat on Marinette's chaise.

"Oh, right! Modeling! Umm…" Marinette quickly glances around her room, trying to think of any projects she could have Lila model. Unable to think of anything, Marinette sighs. "Actually, I don't have anything for you to model. Sorry, I wasted your time."

Lila takes in a slow breath. "It's okay, Marinette. You didn't waste my time. In fact, I was excited to see your work because I sometimes scout out new talent for Gabriel Agreste."

"Really?" Marinette questions skeptically.

"Yup! I have to say I'm very impressed. I plan to pass this on to Gabriel himself. Though he is rather busy, so it might take a while for him to get back to me."

"Wow, thank you!" Marinette attempts to not let her disbelief show. "Uh, if you don't mind me asking, how are you so close with Gabriel Agreste that he trusts you to scout for talent?"

"Well, I actually knew his wife before she disappeared. I got to know him through her and he saw my ability to recognize potential talent," Lila beams.

"Wow, that's really something," Marinette says absentmindedly, the gears in her head turning.

"Yeah," Lila smiles. "Well, I should get going then. I'll see you tomorrow Marinette!" Lila's already out the trapdoor before Marinette can even say goodbye.

Quickly, Marinette grabs her phone and opens her text message chat with Chat Noir.

LB: Quick! What are the odds a 14 year old girl is a talent scout?

CN: Slim to none

LB: *sigh* I thought so

CN: Penny for your thoughts?

LB: I think I have two enemy soulmates and no romantic soulmate

CN: Are you sure? I can't imagine someone as amazing as you not having a romantic soulmate. Purrhaps things got confusing leading to incorrect conclusions

LB: 3/10 delivery on that pun

CN: Meouch my lady that really stung

Marinette rolls her eyes, wondering how she puts up with this crazy cat. He did have a good point. Maybe her and Luka were meant to be, or even her and Adrien. Scratch that. Adrien was nice about warning her of Lila, but honestly she couldn't see him as more than a friend.