Hey! This is my first fanfiction, so reviews and comments are greatly appreciated.

Looking back, Adrien wished he had tried harder to convince Chloe that a ball was a bad idea.

He didn't think much when she came bounding up to him, her slim arms dangling through the crook of his elbow, her eyes filled with admiration and heart intent on self-gratification. "My daddy just bought me the most gorgeous yellow gown," her words lingered expectantly, though he remained nonplussed, as he knew she was not searching for a verbal response, not that it would've stopped what came next. "So... I was thinking-"

'That's dangerous,' he thought to himself in amusement, "that I could flaunt it in front of the entire school, say, at a ball?" her lips were twisted into a self-congratulatory smile, revealing that she had deeper reasons for enacting such a plan. Perhaps to dance with him, he reasoned, to drag him into some kind of 'special' event, in which she could flaunt not only her dress, but him, too. Chloe was one of his best friends, but he was not blind to her conniving motives and tendency to love showing off, especially when it could make others worship at her feet in awe and jealousy.

"Sounds fun, Chloe! But how are you going to pull that off?" he played along, already knowing the well rehearsed answer she would give. Her eyes lit up as she spoke. "Easy! I already begged my daddy, you know, the mayor?" as if any of them didn't know by now, "to make Mr. Damocles throw a ball in my honor, right here at school!" her voice was full of pride and confidence. "Oh! I almost forgot, there will also be crowned 'prince' and 'princess' of the ball, so I was thinking maybe you and I can, you know..." her foot rocked back and forth and her voice quieted to almost a whisper, confirming his suspicions. She wanted to be crowned princess with him as prince, an endearing but nevertheless disturbing thought to Adrien.

"Well, we'll just have to see what happens when the time comes, Chloe." he said as he unhooked his arm from hers, sitting in his seat just as the bell rang, beckoning the standing students to their seats as Ms. Bustier took her place in the front of the classroom.

"Bienvenue class, please quiet down and take out your textbooks for today's class," Adrien couldn't help but to zone out a little as she droned on about her daily routine, his attention being grabbed to the window to his right. The leaves of autumn had begun to shift colors, periodic shifts of the trees by the slow-moving winds created an almost hypnotic motion to which his eyes focused on. His trance was broken, however, when something Ms. Bustier said grabbed his attention. "Now, recently the school has decided to put on a winter ball, courtesy of Mayor Bourgeois, and although I know this may be exciting, I believe I should take a moment to go over the expectations for you students regarding dress and behavior."

Adrien had to admit, Chloe was spectacular at persuasion. She had only told him about her idea today, and already the teachers were honing in on the specifics of the upcoming event. "-and absolutely no students with repeatedly immature or rambunctious behavior will be tolerated at this occasion." Bustier finished, taking a well needed breath as she let her speech soak in.

Suddenly, the door to the classroom busted open, interrupting the contemplative silence of the room, as a panting, pig-tailed teen stood- or rather bent over- in the doorway. Catching her breath, she immediately spoke in a frenzied manner. "I'm so sorry Ms. Bustier! I had a late night last night and I forgot to set my alarm so I woke up late and I rushed to get here as soon as I possibly could but you see I left my-"

Ms. Bustier stirred from her shocked muteness, finally giving word to the sudden outburst. "Ms. Dupain-Cheng, that is quite enough! It is okay for today but please try to be on time from now on, next time I will not hesitate to send you to the principal. Now please, take your seat."

Marinette sighed in relief and made her way to the seat behind him, her stuff plopping down on the table unceremoniously as she sat tiredly in her seat. Adrien heard Chloe snicker from across the room, muttering about how she was the very example of 'immature behavior' Bustier had been warning of. Adrien felt bad for his friend, he knew how rough juggling school with other responsibilities could be. He turned back to her with a sincere smile and said in a whisper, "Hey, Marinette, if you want, I could call you in the morning to wake you up so you won't have to worry about not setting your alarm?"

Marinette's cheeks were dusted pink, a hand nervously made it's way to the back of her neck as she smiled gratefully. "Th-that would be amazing- ah! I mean great! That would be g-great! Thank you!" His smile widened a bit, if not to reassure her that there was no need to stutter. Adrien always wondered why she always lost her nerve around him. It always made him self-conscious, as he figured his friendship with her was strained and unnatural, whilst he had only ever wanted to hold a healthy conversation with her. Maybe if he were friendlier towards the blackette, she would finally be able to treat him like her other friends.

Adrien turned back around to face the teacher, noticing Nino's strange smirk aimed towards him, but ignoring it, and the rest of the class went on uneventfully. When the bell rang, the students were finally able to speak freely their thoughts on the exciting news of a future ball as they exited the classroom for their lunch break.

Alya turned immediately to Marinette, whispering excitedly to her with vivacious hand motions, probably filling her in on all the details she missed due to her tardiness. Adrien packed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder, walking out with Nino.

"Dude! I can't believe Chloe convinced her dad to throw her another party at school, this seriously blows!" he complained in a whine. Adrien laughed and glanced at his friend. "How so? Wouldn't you get to take Alya to this thing?" Nino sighed in an exaggerated fashion. "Yeah, but it also means I'm gonna have to rent a tux, and be on my 'best behavior'. Not to mention I'm gonna have to find a totally killer way to ask her to the ball, or Alya's gonna complain about my lack of 'romance'"

Adrien laughed. "So what? At least you don't have an obligation to take Chloe like I do" They both shuddered at that. "You're right, dude, your issues take the cake," he paused for a moment "But I don't get it- if you really don't wanna take Chloe to the dance, why don't you just ask someone else before she gets the chance to drag you to it?"

Adrien stopped and thought about it for a moment. He did have a point, if he promised someone else before Chloe could ask, he could reject her in the politest way possible. There was only one problem with that: "But who would I ask? There's not exactly a lot of girls I'd want to- oof!" Adrien found himself on the ground as he ran smack into Marinette, who looked just as dazed as he did, sitting across from him on the ground. He stood up and offered a hand to the fallen girl. "Sorry, didn't see you there, need help up?"

Marinette looked up at his hand as her face once again darkened into a blush. She took his hand quickly and stood, looking bashfully at him. "Th-thanks- I'm such a klutz I'm so sorry!"

A spark of electricity ran from her hand to his, and he jolted, his smile dropping momentarily, though he never released her hand. He quickly composed himself and smiled. "Don't worry about it," From his peripherals he spotted a fuming Chloe in the distance, with a disturbingly large crown in her hands, stalking over to where he and Marinette stood. Nino gave him wide eyes, and they shared a look. She was going to ask him to the ball. He would be stuck with her all night, as she fawned over how handsome he was and how beautiful she was, he just knew it. He had to act fast. Quickly, he tightened his grip on Marinette's hand and got down on one knee, turning on his Chat-charm. Taking a deep breath and smiling an award-winning smile, he spoke.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, will you do me the pleasure of going to the winter ball with me?"