In the courtyard, a crowd of students had gathered around the school's resident rivals; Alix and Kim. Kim had challenged Alix to a blowing bubble gum challenge. Whoever blows the biggest bubble, judged by Max, wins and the loser has to do whatever the winner wants for a week. Alya, Nino, Marinette and Adrien were among the crowd watching.
"Hey Mari, when was the last time we did this," asked Alya.
"Two years ago; one of the reasons for my short hair," answered Marinette.
"What happened," asked Adrien.
"Mari's bubble was so big it popped all over her face and her hair. It used to be in longer pigtails," answered Nino. "We tried to get as much of the gum out of her hair but Mari's mom had to cut it."
"So you've never let grow out since then," asked Adrien to Marinette.
"More or less," she shrugged.
"I think you look great with longer hair," he commented.
Marinette blushed while Nino and Alya snickered. The contest began with Alix and Kim constantly chewing and blowing bubbles. Kim got close but it popped prematurely. Alix got a good rhythm and her bubble was pretty impressive. Kim had one shot to beat her bubble; so he blew and blew and blew. It got bigger and bigger and Alix was getting worried. Max took his measurements and did the calculations and the results; Kim's bubble was .02328 inches bigger than Alix's. Kim pumped his fists in victory and began to gloat.
"That's it? I was expecting more out of that," said one student.
"Hey! Marinette! Didn't you used to hold the record," asked another.
"That was long ago," she shrugged off.
"I'd like to see you beat Kim," said Alya.
"No, I got my win against Alix. Someone else go," said Kim.
A moment of silence came over the crowd till, a certain blond boy spoke up.
"I'll give it a shot; might be fun," said Adrien.
"You sure about that," said Marinette raising an eyebrow.
"Absolutely," he smirked.
"What are the stakes," she asked.
"Same for Alix and Kim; loser does whatever the winner wants for a week. Scared, Princess?"
"Not a bit, kitty."
"I swear, the nicknames you two use," sighed Alya. "Ok, anyone got some gum?"
"No need; I got some," said Marinette pulling out some bubble gum. She gave a piece to Adrien.
"Alright, I will be judging the size of the bubble to determine the winner. Contestants, start chewing," cried Max.
Marinette and Adrien popped the gum into their mouths and began to chew. The key to a good bubble was how much chewing of the gum takes as well as how flat the gum is and to make sure it's not too thin once you push your tongue through. Marinette was the first to start blowing; a few good sized ones but not nearly big enough for her. Adrien tried to follow suit; he was new to it since he was never allowed to chew bubble gum. Nino gave him a piece once and showed him to blow a bubble and he was hooked. He kept a stash of gum in his room so Nathalie wouldn't find out. His bubbles were fairly decent but not good enough. Marinette blew one really big bubble; almost as big as her head. Max managed to measure it and they all waited for Adrien to get his best bubble blown. He began to blow; it was getting bigger. He was getting confident that his would be the biggest one. Just as Max was about to measure it, Adrien got greedy and blew one more time and then, pop. The gum went all over his face, but thankfully not in his hair.
"Unable to measure bubble due to premature popping. Adrien loses by default," stated Max.
"What?! How is that a rule," yelled Adrien as he freed himself from the gum.
"It's always been a rule; you blow and it pops during initial judging, you automatically lose," said Nino.
"How was I supposed to know that?!"
"Ignorance is no excuse," stated Alya. "You gotta do whatever Marinette says now for a week."
The other students left leaving Marinette and Adrien alone.
"Well, Princess I am at your service then," he says with a bow.
Marinette giggled.
"Well, as my first order; you owe me more gum. Those were my last two pieces."
"I have some back in my room I can share with you."
"Good, because having you take me to your place was another thing," she smirked.
"Oh? And just what did you have in mind, my Lady?"
She kissed him and said, "you'll just have to find out."
She winked and walked to class with Adrien following behind her in a daze.
Hope you enjoyed this little snippet. I thought it would be fun to have a bubble gum blowing challenge.