The Mascaraed Dance

Chapter 1: The Fundraiser

The air was blowing an intense cold in the late December, the bird song was silent because most were gone into hiding for warmth, and the streets were emptied besides the few kids who looked for joy in the snow.

But as great as the day was, it couldn't have been better for Marinette Dupain-Cheng.  Why?  It was the time where the school asked students ideas for the big fundraiser, and whichever student had the best idea, they'd do it!  Marinette thought she had a great idea, hoping it would catch Adrien's attention.  That wasn't the only reason why though, she also enjoyed it because it'd be a good opportunity for fundraising, and maybe it'd get her and Adrien closer together!

At a trot, she continued down the street, noticing on her phone how late she was for school.  She gasped.

"Oh no, Tikki!  I'm going to be late."  She scampered across the streets until she finally got to the school, gasping for an air that refused to come at the moment.  Why was it that she ran, jumped, flew through the air almost everyday as Ladybug, but couldn't run a few decent blocks to school?  Oh well.

Marinette was late, again!  She rushed into the class, and all the teachers and the principle were there.

"S-sorry!"  She tripped over her own foot, and dropped onto the floor with a loud grunt.  The teacher was about to help her, but Adrien had happened to be right behind her when coming in and had watched the entire scene.  He got to her first, his soft hands holding hers as he helped her up.  Her face was red as a tomato and when he spoke it was like as if god had sent down an angel.

"You okay?"  Then finally, finally, reality came back and she realized she was holding hands with the Adrien Agreste.  The fucking Adrien Agreste.  The boy she liked for a while now, can't formulate sentences when near him, and happened to be holding his hand at this very moment.

"Gah!  O-oh, fine I'm.  I-I mean-"  She was a stuttering mess, the whole class looking at her with confused and probably about to burst-into-tears faces. "I'm fine.  F-fine."  She scooted away from him, sitting next to Alya and headbutting her head off the table.  Adrien waved, looking pretty baffled at what just happened, but shrugged it off and took a seat.

"That was a mess, Alya!  Adrien probably hates me, and I embarrassed myself in front of the whole class!"  Marinette was having a mental breakdown, but to make things worse she saw Alya point in front of her and realized Adrien had been listening.

"It's fine, Marinette."  He gave her a reassuring smile, "I'm still your friend you know, I don't hate you, and accidents happen all the time.  No big deal."  He turned around casually, concentrating on what the teachers were saying.

Mr. Damocles was talking about the fundraiser, telling the students to put down their ideas and hand them to the teacher.  Then the next day, they'd do a vote with the entire school to see which idea seemed the best.

"I'll be passing out a paper for you to write down your ideas, if you don't have one that's fine."  Miss Bustier left the paper on everyone's desk, and only a few students wrote.

"Ooh, girl, what's your idea!"  Alya said, and Marinette chuckled, whispering it in her ear.  "That sounds amazing, fantastic, marvelous, prodigious-"  She rambled on dramatically, and Marinette chuckled.  "It'll be great for you to get closer to Adrien."  She whispered the last part with a wink, and Marinette blushed.

"It's just an idea for a fundraiser, it probably won't be picked."  She shrugged.  "What's your idea?"

"It's probably the best idea, like, ever.  Wanna hear it?"  Marinette nodded, interested.  "Okay, I'll tell you.  Ready?

Marinette nodded once more.

"It's."

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"Nothing."  Literally a whole minute went by and that's all Alya said.  The disappointment was plastered across Marinette's face, and she giggled.

"That sounds extreme."  She teased.

"Yep, probably the best idea ever."

Adrien and Nino turn around, "Hey Mari, what's your idea?"  They both asked in unison, chuckling afterwards.

She opened her mouth, but Alya prevented her from speaking.  "It's a surprise boys, gotta vote to see."  She winked.

The boys chuckled.  "I'll vote for you, Marinette."  Adrien responded.  "You're very creative, and I bet your idea is brilliant."

Her cheeks glowed a bright crimson red, and she broke eye-contact trying to find the right words.  "T-thanks, you'regreattoo."  She replied fast and didn't realize what she said.  "Uh- I mean, it's gonna be great too!  Not 'you're great'.  Wait!  Imeanyou'regreattoobutididn'tmeanitlike-"  She slapped her head off the table, and Alya patted her back.

"Marinette.exe has stopped working, give her a few moments guys."  They turned around, Nino knew why she acted like that so he wasn't too worried, but Adrien had the world's most concerned and confused look a guy could have upon his face.

"We'll be taking your paper now," Miss Bustier and the other teachers snatched all the other kids ideas and put them into a box.

"Let's see what all these creative ideas are-"  All the students brightened up, enthusiastic, but- "tomorrow!"  Then they all "awed" and that's when the class was dismissed until lunch because the assembly had lasted most of the day.

"Finally, can't run on an empty stomach!"  Nino whooped as they walked out.

A/N: I really like the idea of this book, so I will be updating daily, if not then every other day. I have most of the chapters done beforehand so it'll be easier to manage with high school and everything. I don't expect this to be a long book, but hopefully you enjoy reading :D

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