Can You Keep It A Secret?

Chapter 20: Operation Carnival?

"Are you sure you want to go home?" Adrien asks as we step out of his house. "Yeah. I don't want to burden you guys." "Mari you know you can never burden us. My mom loves you and believe it or not my father is fond of you too." I smile. "I know. I just wanted to hear you say it." He laughs. "But you really don't want to stay?" "No I should head home. Thank you for the offer though." He smiles and nods his head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I open the door to my house when I heard a knock. "Agreste? What are you doing here?" "I'm picking you up. We have school today remember?" "I know but I literally live across the street from the school." "Yeah but the walk would be better if you had me as company." I roll my eyes and grab my bag. "You're not going to tell them bye?" "I'm not speaking to them." He nods and we walk to school.

"Are you guys going to the carnival Saturday?" Alya asks as we walk up to her and Nino. Adrien and I nod. "Good. We should all meet up there." "By the ferris wheel?" I ask. They nod. "Sounds good."

                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday

"Agreste you're late. Again." "Sorry. It takes time to look this good." "Right I forgot some people have to try to look good while it just comes naturally to me." I say with a hair flip. He rolls his eyes. "Whatever. Let's go they're probably waiting for us already." I nod and we start walking to the carnival.

"I hope you don't mind but I invited Chloe." "It's fine. I invited Luka." "Hey Marinette." "Luka!" I smile and hug him. "Hey Adrien." "Hey Luka." "Adrikins!" Chloe shouts as she runs up to Adrien. "Hey Chloe." Adrien says as he hugs Chloe back.

"Chloe this is Marinette and Luka." Adrien says. "It's nice to meet you." She says as she shakes our hands. "It's nice to meet you too." "Oh wait. I remember you. You're the girl Adrien couldn't keep his eyes off of at the Christmas party." "Couldn't keep his eyes off me?" I ask while turning to face Adrien. "Probably because you had food stuck in your teeth all night." I hit his arm. "I did not!" He laughs. "I'm joking."

"You guys are late." Alya says as her and Nino walk up to us. "Chloe this is Alya and you remember Nino?" "I do. It's nice to meet you Alya." She says as she shakes her hand. "It's nice to meet you too." "So what are we doing first?" I ask excitedly. "I bet I can beat you at the ring toss game." Adrien says with a smile. "You're on Agreste." I say. We both run to the ring toss game.

~Chloe~
"Are those two dating?" I ask as watch watch them run off. "No they're just really close friends." Alya says. "But we all want them to get together. They both have feelings for each other but they're scared to get together." Nino adds.

"Well should we call this operation carnival?" I ask. "Operation carnival?" Luka asks. I nod. "We should do everything we can to get those two together by the end of the night." "I'm in." Luka says. "I thought you had feelings for Marinette?" "I did but while I was on tour I realized Marinette will never look at me the way she looks at Adrien. It's time I move on." "I'm in too." "Me too." "Operation carnival is on then!" I say excitedly.

~Marinette~
"You may be better than me at video games but it looks like I take the crown for carnival games." Adrien teases and I roll my eyes. "You only won because you cheated." "Me? Cheating? I could never." "You tickled me!" Adrien chuckles. "You were losing anyways." "I was not." He laughs again.

"What stuffed animal?" I shrug. "Which ever one suits cheaters better." "I was thinking what ever suits sore losers better. Really which one do you want?" "It's your prize Agreste." Adrien rolls his eyes. "The ladybug please." The employee nods and grabs the ladybug stuffed animal. Adrien smiles and hands it to me. "Thank you Agreste, but you're losing the next game for sure." "We'll see about that." He says as we walk back over to the group.

"Let me guess. Marinette kicked your butt?" Nino asks. "She wishes." "Aw that's sweet you gave her the stuffed animal. That's so romantic." Chloe says. I feel the blush rise up to my cheeks. I turn to Adrien and see his cheeks are as red as mine. "We should go on the tunnel of love! I've always wanted to do that." Chloe says. "That sounds fun." Nino adds. "Luka you're riding with me!" Chloe says as she grabs Luka's arm and runs to the line.

"Guess I'm stuck with you again." Adrien says. "You know you love my company." Adrien smiles. "You're right. Let's go." He says and grabs my hand leading me to the line. Alya and Nino follow. Alya and Nino walk up to the person in charge of the ride. While they're talking they point to us. Adrien and I turn to each other. "What do you think they're planning?" He asks. "I have no idea."

Adrien and I step into the 2 person boat and take a seat. "So what exactly does the tunnel of love do?" "It's basically a small boat ride. It has cute decorations in it and I heard it's really peaceful." I say. Adrien nods.

"So what do you want to do after this?" "We could ride the ferris wheel? or we could play more games? or we can eat some of the food?" "Maybe it was a bad idea to ask you." I giggle and hit his arm. "We'll just see what the group wants to do." He nods.

As we ride through the tunnel a slow song starts to play and the ride comes to a stop. (adrienette dance song) "We're having some difficulties. Please step out of the ride and stand on the side while we try to fix the problem. We will let you know when you can re-enter the boat." Adrien steps out of the ride and holds a hand out to me to help me out.

"Can I have this dance?" He asks. I smile and nod. He places his hands on my waist and I put my arms around his neck. "So much for peaceful huh?" He asks. "I don't know. I think this is pretty peaceful." I say as I rest my head on his shoulder. Adrien smiles. "I'd say so too." I feel myself blush. Maybe I was wrong to turn him down. We both deserve happiness and he has always been there for me. But no matter how badly I want to, I can't be with him. He'll only get hurt in the end.

"Mari?" "Sorry I zoned out. What happened?" He chuckles. "I asked if you think Chloe and Luka would be good together?" "Thinking of playing matchmaker?" "Maybe?" "I think they'd be cute together." "Operation carnival?" He asks. "Operation carnival!"