Alix was known to stand her ground. She was known to be bold and brave and fierce. She was known to not back down from a challenge or run when things grew hard. And she always faced a dare.

But right now, Alix was not afraid to admit that she hoped beyond all hope that she just melted into the floor right now.

"Come on, Alix," Kim taunted, smirking smugly down at her. "You gonna clam up?"

Alix's frown deepened. The bold part of her said to shove it back into his smug face. But the other part of her, the part she was rather ashamed of right now, reminded her just who she was talking to. In the end, she decided that clamming up was the better choice.

"It's cute," Kim continued. "We all have crushes, but I wouldn't have thought you'd fall for a guy so soon, little miss independent."

She didn't either. Frankly, it was just embarrassing.

"So what's the guy's name?"

"Like I'd tell you," she snapped. If she could run, she would. And at this point, she wasn't so low as to injure him just to retrieve her skates that he held up over his head. After all, he'd stolen them just to get more information about a conversation he shouldn't have heard in the first place. It was embarrassing enough to admit to Marinette that she has a crush and didn't know how to handle it, but for Kim to have overheard? That was downright humiliating.

"Why not, Alix?" Kim challenged, his grin still impossibly wide. "Maybe I can put in a good word for you."

She laughed at that one. "Yeah, right. You just want to tease me for it. Now give me back the skates you stole!"

"I didn't steal them."

She quirked a brow at him.

He smirked. "It's true. I didn't steal them."

Rat.

"I'll give them back as soon as you tell me the guy's name."

Alix's frown deepened. As she stared up at the skates, then at Kim's amused face, she realized that she was just feeding his game. She usually skated home, but today, if she just left the skates in his care—because he wouldn't ruin them or anything if she did leave them; she'd credit him that much—then he'd grow tired and give them back to her eventually. It wasn't optimal, but she was pinned in a lose-lose situation right now.

In the end, she chose the lesser of the evils. "Fine." With her gaze focused past him, she walked by, forgoing the skates and beginning to walk home.

She could hear Kim sputter in shock before he ran after her. "Come on, Alix. Like you'd leave your skates."

"Leave me alone, Kim," she snapped.

"Are you really that embarrassed?"

She felt a blush sprawl across her cheeks. Yes, she was. She would admit that but never out loud. "Drop it, Kim."

This got him to pause. She was able to take three steps before he shouted. "But…but you're Alix Kubdel! You never get embarrassed."

She whipped around. "So?"

"And you never back down form a challenge, unspoken or otherwise."

She shrugged. "First time for everything." Then she turned back around to march on home.

Only for Kim to literally stop her in her tracks by running in front of her. She scowled at him. "What do you want, huh? To harass me? To humiliate me? Why do you even care?"

The longer he stared at her, the more his jovial expression dropped to surprise. "You really like this guy, don't you?"

Considering the way her cheeks burned, she wondered if the blush was as bright as her hair at this point.

Kim's expression relaxed a bit. "Ok, Alix. I got a bit of a bet for you."

She locked eyes with him. She knew what it would entail, so half of her was screaming to let it go while the other half of her was dying at the thought of ignoring a challenge.

"He must be some kind of special to get your attention," he said. "And knowing you, you wouldn't fall for a guy who wasn't worthy of you or anything."

How was it possible to blush harder? Stop it! She screamed at herself.

"So," he continued, his smile growing once again. "I dare you to kiss him by the end of the year. Blame it on mistletoe or whatever. And if you complete it, then I'll buy you a new set of wheels for your skates and I swear I won't harass you about the guy. That, and you'll get the guy of your dreams."

She quirked a brow. "Like you can guarantee that."

"I can guarantee that there is no way he wouldn't fall for you."

When he winked at her, her heart went into panic mode. Did he know?

"And," she ventured, her mind still egging her on to complete the dare before she even knew the stakes. "If I lose?"

"Then I'm going to ensure that everyone in the school knows you have a crush on a guy that you won't name. Maybe I'll go so far as to say it's me you got the crush on."

All color drained form her face. He didn't know that was a lose-lose, right? "And if I turn down the dare?"

He sputtered at that, but quickly regained his composure. "Then I'll keep your skates until the year is over and we get back form break."

She scowled, torn in every direction. Skates, stakes, and Kim.

She was screwed.

And then he got that horrendously smug smile on his face. "Well?" he taunted, leaning over to meet her eye-to-eye. "Do we have a deal?"

She scrunched her nose. Oh, screw it!

She grabbed his jaw, pulling him close enough to press a quick kiss to his lips. It lasted maybe a quarter second before Alix pulled away. Her heart was running like a racecar while Kim stood frozen before her, eyes blown wide.

"You owe me new wheels."

Bonus:

Kim was certain he'd never seen Alix run so fast in her life. And considering that everything was currently happening in slow-motion for him, that was saying something.

Eventually, he broke out of his stupor, and felt smugger than ever before. Well, that explained why Alix didn't want to say a word. But, boy, was he glad she didn't.

As he wandered the hallways of the nearly empty school, he found the one person he wanted to see. "Hey Adrien."

The blonde looked up from his phone with a grin. "What's up, Kim?"

A lot was up, and he was more than happy to share. "First things first, man. Thanks for the skates."

Adrien quirked a brow, not understanding. "You're…welcome?"

Kim chuckled. "I kinda used them for a little bet with Alix."

Immediately, Adrien frowned. "If I had known you were going to blackmail her, I wouldn't have given you the skates. I just thought you'd see her before I would."

"I know," Kim relented. "But if she didn't want me blackmailing her, she should take better care not to leave her skates lying around."

Adrien rolled his eyes.

"But that being said," Kim continued, "I do owe ya for that."

"Are you saying you won that bet?"

Kim grinned. "Well, technically, I lost it. However, I sure feel like I won it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Adrien questioned, clearly growing exasperated.

"It means I got a new year's resolution," Kim continued. "And her name is Alix Kubdel."

As Kim's words sank in, Adrien's eyes widened. "You're the guy she's supposedly got that crush on?"

Kim's grin was wicked. "I totally owe you for it, man. So, I'll help you out. Don't tell Nino I told you, 'k?"

"O…kay," he hesitantly agreed.

"I know who Marinette has a crush on."

Adrien's expression hardened. "The one who makes her feel inadequate?"

"And is crushing her heart? Yeah." Kim smirked as Adrien's expression grew harder. It was comical, really. When Adrien had told him and Nino a couple weeks ago about a conversation he accidentally overheard, it had been all Kim could do to not burst out laughing, especially considering how worried Adrien seemed to be for Marinette. "You just gotta promise you aren't gonna beat him up too bad."

"I won't. Just knock some sense into him."

Kim snickered. Oh, this would be priceless. "It's you, man."

"You think I wouldn't knock some sense into someone?" Adrien asked.

Kim couldn't help it. He just had to laugh. "No, man," he wheezed. "She's got that crush on you."

It took him far too long to realize what Kim had just said. "W…what?"

Now time for the fun part: leaving Adrien in confusion. "Anyway, thanks again."

"Hey wait!"

But Kim walked off as quick as possible, unable to keep from chuckling to himself. A banner way to end the year if he did say so himself.

But the next year was currently looking far more appealing, especially if it included a little, feisty red-head.