Miraculous Games

Chapter Three

Chapter Three:

Adrien watched the live broadcast of the districts nervously. His palms were sweaty, his heart was pounding, and his mind was racing. He watched as both girls and boys were chosen from the Charm bowl, though there were a couple pairs of boys and two pairs of girls. One pair he wasn't exactly pleased with was from one of the richer districts. A blonde girl, announcing her name was Chloe Bourgeois and that was the daughter of the leader of her district, and a redhead named Sabrina gave him the odd sense of caution. He didn't want to spend time with those girls, that's for sure. Some of the others he thought were okay and all.

One of them caught his eye, though.

He watched as a girl with midnight black hair and bluebell eyes stand up for a seven-year-old. Her simple red and black dress reminded him of a ladybug. What was her name? Marinette?

"Find any you like yet?" His one and only friend, Nino, asked over his shoulder.

He shrugged. "I'm not allowed to give an opinion at the moment, Nino, you know that."

"Come on, man. You have to at least like one."

Adrien rolled his eyes, ignoring his friend's pestering. Nino finished picking up Adrien's untouched lunch and placed it aside.

"Alright, dude, if you don't choose one just by looks, how are you going to learn to love your future 'betrothed'?" He made air quotations with his fingers as he said the last word. The mockery of his father was amusing to Adrien, but he decided not to comment on it.

"Fine, I'll make you a deal. If you bring me an extra croissant when you bring me dinner, I'll tell you."

"You've got a deal!" Nino exclaimed then slid into the seat next to his friend. Adrien smirked then pointed at the tablet he was watching the broadcasts on.

"That girl."

"The one in the red dress and ponytails?"

"Yup. She's the one I've got my eye on."

Nino rubbed his chin. "Not bad, not bad. Personally, I like the girl she's standing next to in this frame." He used his finger to point to who he was talking about. Adrien zoomed in. It was blurry, but he could make out a few of the girl's features, such as her brown to blonde ombred hair and the fact that she was holding the girl that Marinette had saved.

"She's not a bad looker either," Adrien agreed. Nino nodded and stood, starting to dry off some of the freshly washed glasses that had just arrived. Adrien watched him for a while, then sighed. "Nino, I'm really nervous about all of this."

"Why do you say that?" he asked.

Adrien rubbed the tablet anxiously. "It's just... don't you find it odd that my father decided to offer me as the prize? Do you think he's just trying to get rid of me."

Nino stopped rubbing the cup and thought for a few minutes. Finally, he responded, "I dunno, man... Your dad makes you do a lot of things, but this seems a little bit too extreme. Maybe he's trying to satisfy a crowd or something."

"If he's trying to satisfy the country, let's just say he's doing a brilliant job at that. Half of all the districts are probably having to protect their Charms."

"Protect them? Why?"

Nino laughed and set the glass down. "Really dude? Why do you think?"

"Um... because my father's rich?"

Nino shook his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose, his glasses shifting up as he did so. "Dude, I swear, you drive me crazy sometimes." He spread his hands, gesturing toward Adrien. "All the girls want to be able to be with you! You're all over the news, for one, and then on top of that, have you seen how many magazines are dedicated to just your face?"