[Narrator's POV]

Marinette walks into the classroom to see Nino sitting in her seat beside Alya. His face is all crooked, clearly trying to hold in a smile.

"He says he wants to sit next to Alya today." Adrien explains, rolling his eyes at the idea.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with wanting to spend more time with my girl." Nino says.

"But what about your bro?" Adrien protests.

"Chill Adrien," Says Alya. "Marinette will keep you company."

Marinette waves shyly. Adrien smiles and accepts the compromise.

"Fine then, guess Marinette is my new best friend." Adrien says, patting the seat behind him.

"Hey!" Nino sulks.

Marinette smiles complacently and sits down beside Adrien. Kim approaches the desk, following by max.

"Here, everyone needs a piece of paper to vote." Kim says, handing each of them a small square of paper.

"Vote for what?" Marinette questions.

"Haven't you heard of the grand prize for this year's sports carnival?" Max replies. "The best all-round competitor wins a kiss from the most desired girl in school. Everyone will be voting for their chosen candidate today and the female with the most votes will be named the grand prize."

"What? That's so stupid!" Marinette criticizes. "Why do the girls have to participate in this?"

"It was my idea," Kim says proudly. "Because obviously the sportiest person in the school is me, so I'm going to win myself a kiss from Chloe."

"What makes you think people will vote for Chloe?" Nino retorts.

"Uh, cuz she's the hottest girl in school." Kim answers simply.

Alya rolls her eyes in disgust.

"How on earth did you get the teachers to agree to this anyway?" Adrien asks.

"Pitching the idea to Chloe was an easy strategy." Max says, adjusting his glasses. "So confident she would win, she jumped at the chance to have all the boys in the school fighting over her. And with her dad as the Mayer, convincing the principle was no challenge."

With that, Kim and Max walk off to continue handing out voting papers before returning to their seats.

"As you know, the school's sports carnival is coming up. I expect you all to participate with a positive attitude." Ms Bustier speaks up. "And, as I'm sure you've heard, there will be a little extra motivation this year. Whoever wins the most events will be crowned king of the carnival and win the kiss of his queen, whom you will all be voting for today."

The class buzzes with suggestive 'oooos' and wolf whistles.

"On the cheek!" Ms Bustier cuts in. "Let's try not to make the poor ladies uncomfortable, gentlemen. And I would like to remind you that the champion does not have to accept their prize." Clearly, Ms Bustier is not a fan of this new idea. She leans on her desk and crosses her arms. "Just write down the name of a girl and place your papers in the zip lock bag on my desk."

Nino taps his pen on the desk and stares down at his voting paper. Of course he wants to kiss Alya the most, but he could never come first in the sports carnival and there is no way he is letting some beefcake kiss his girlfriend.

Nino looks around the classroom. The fittest students in his class are also probably the most likely to win out of the whole school—Alex, Kim or Adrien.

Adrien...

Nino looks at Adrien and Marinette sitting in front of him, then down at his voting paper. He rubs his chin as he pieces together the situation. Nino turns to Alya, who has already scribbled down Marinette's name. She grins and gives Nino a thumbs up. Nino nods and returns to his paper where he writes down Marinette's name.

[Adrien's POV]

I don't know who to vote for, this whole thing seems rather stupid. Now, if Ladybug went to my school that would be a completely different story. I rest my head in my hand and daydream about my lady. I would gladly run a marathon to kiss her.

"Is everyone done voting?" Ms Bustier asks.

I snap back to reality. My eyes flicker around the classroom desperately until coming to rest on Marinette sitting beside me. I think back to when my class wanted to enter a horror movie into the film festival and I almost kissed Marinette before Chloe stopped us. Actually, I also almost had to kiss Chloe that day. It was terrible having Chloe force herself upon me, whereas Marinette was so calm and sweet. She took it like a champ. Marinette's not like other girls. She is nice and refreshing to be around.

My hand seems to absentmindedly write down Marinette's name before I even make my decision. I shrug and hand Ms Bustier my voting paper. I'm sure Marinette would be lovely to kiss, but it's not like it matters to me. I would only kiss Ladybug.

Ms Bustier puts all of the class votes in a zip lock bag and sends Alex up to give them to the principle. The votes from the whole high school will be counted today. I wonder when the results will be announced.

"Who did you vote for, Marinette?" I ask with a smile.

"I voted for Rose. She's very sweet and kind, so I'm sure she would be up to it." Marinette answers, fiddling with her hair. "Who—Who did you vote for...Adrien?"

Marinette's question leaves me winded. I can't seem to choke out any words. How hard is it to say 'you'? But—But for some reason I can't bring myself to admit it. It's no big deal right? Marinette would be flattered that I thought of her, so what's wrong with me? I suddenly feel so pressured.

"I...I voted for...for..."

"Alright class, enough talking! There will be no more discussions about the sports carnival. It is class time so open up your work books." Ms Bustier interrupts.

I let out a breath of relief. My heart is pounding. I quickly lock my eyes down on my textbook and flip through the pages as if hard at work. Marinette waits for a few seconds, probably expecting me to answer her question, but when I begin studying silently, she slowly turns back to her own work and forgets the conversation.

I don't know why I got so anxious about my vote. It doesn't even matter to me. Maybe I'm just worried that Marinette will be weirded out. I mean, why would I vote for her out of everyone?

.

As soon as the bell rings for lunch, the class breaks out in excited discussion over who they voted for. Alya and Marinette, both still finding this idea ridiculous, leave to enjoy their break in peace. I kind of want to get out of here as well before I'm pulled into the heated debate over who the best girl to vote for is. Because it doesn't matter to me, obviously.

I'm creeping my way towards the door when I overhear something interesting. A conversation between Maylene and Alex.

"I voted for Marinette. She's class leader so everyone knows her, plus she is so nice and pretty—not like Chloe." Says Maylene.

"I voted for Marinette as well. Just because I know Chloe wants to win and it would really piss her off if Marinette beat her." Alex replies with a snigger. "Actually, when I went to deliver our class votes I had a sneak peek and almost all of us voted for Marinette."

"Really?" I cut in.

Maylene and Alex both look at me.

"Well, yeah. I was surprised to see even Max voted for Marinette, probably to spite Chloe like Maylene and me. Nino and Alya both voted for her cuz they're all friends of course. Nathaniel voted for Marinette, obviously because he likes her, and Rose and Juleka both voted for her to try and help out Nathaniel since they're good friends too." Alex lists off.

"What? The nerve of that guy! Ganging up on poor sweet Marinette, who obviously doesn't want to do this, just so he can get a kiss from her." I say, crossing my arms.

Alex raises her eyebrow. "Uh-huh. And who did you vote for?"

Once again, I am left speechless. I open and close my mouth to no avail. Alex and Maylene both leave before I can even choke out an excuse.

The principle's voice suddenly rings out from the speakers around the school,

"Ahem. The Queen of the Carnival has been decided."

Silence falls as everyone listens intently for the results.

"And the winner is... Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Congratulations."

I feel a pang in my chest.

"Aw man, I really thought Chloe would win." Kim says.

"Marinette is an intelligent and admirable student, as well as class representative. It would be aberrant for her to go unnoticed." Max replies, adjusting his glasses.

He's right. Marinette is a pretty girl who is sweet and kind and the most talented person in school. It was dumb of me to think no one else would be voting for her. Now every guy in the school is going to be competing for a chance to kiss her. What have I done?

"Well, not like it matters to me." Kim shrugs. "I'm gonna win either way."

I feel a jolt in my bones.

"I—I thought you wanted to kiss Chloe?" I say to him.

"Well sure but I mean, it's still a kiss from a cute girl." Kim replies with a smirk. "Besides, I'm the sportiest person in school no matter what which means I will win no matter what. I've got a rep to keep up. You think just cuz it isn't Chloe, I don't want to win?"

Kim flexes his muscles as he speaks. There's no way I can stand by and let Marinette get taken advantage of by him—or anyone for that matter! I'm just going to have to win the sports carnival myself to protect her precious lips. It's the noble thing to do!

[Marinette's POV]

"And the winner is... Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Congratulations."

"Me?...Me?!" I stammer. "Why? Why me? Who would vote for me?"

Alya puts her arm around my shoulders and smirks. "I voted for you. After all, Adrien is a pretty sporty guy..."

I feel a shiver run up my spine. My face burns red at the very thought of kissing Adrien, moreover having Adrien fight for it. What if I make a total fool out of myself? I'll probably trip on my way to Adrien and knock him over causing him to get seriously injured, in front of the whole school too, and then Adrien will be so scarred for life that he'll never want to try kissing me ever again!

But who am I kidding? I won't even get the chance to make a fool out of myself because Adrien would never compete to kiss me...

I hunch over and sigh miserably.

"Okay did your brain just explode? Because it looked like you just went through an emotional roller-coaster." Alya says.

Maylene and Alex approach Alya and I, followed closely by most of my other classmates. They all look ecstatic to see their new carnival queen.

"Sick win, Marinette." Alex says, giving me a fist bump. "I can't wait to watch Chloe have a meltdown!"

"I don't feel like a winner." I reply gloomily. "I'll probably end up being forced to kiss some random weirdo I don't even know."

"Don't worry, I got your back." Alex says, crossing her arms proudly. "They never said the carnival king had to be a guy. So I'm going to pulverise all these wieners and prove to them what a real athlete looks like. They think they can force us girls to sit around and look pretty like some trophy on a shelf? I'll show them!"

I smile weakly. "Thanks Alex."

Kim suddenly bursts out with laughter. "You? A little girl? Beat me, a buff man? Not a chance, Kubdel!"

"Keep running your mouth and you'll regret it, dweeb!" Alex snaps.

"I'm gonna win every single event at the sports carnival, and then I'm gonna rub it in your face by claiming my kiss in front of the entire school." Kim taunts.

"Hey!" Adrien cuts in. "Marinette isn't just some prize to be won."

My heart flutters. Adrien, stepping into a fight just for me, he's like my knight in shining armour.

But Alex isn't one to swoon over chivalry.

"Stay outta this, pretty boy. You're just the same as the rest of these sleezeballs" She says. "We all know you voted for Marinette as well."

Completely shut down, Adrien backs down with an awkward smile.

Well, he at least tried to stop a fight for me and what he said was cute. I'm still flattered. Plus, Alex just said that Adrien voted for me. Me! Out of everyone in the entire school, Adrien Agreste would want to kiss me the most! This is the happiest moment of my life. Maybe this whole kissing prize thing won't be so bad, Adrien is pretty fit right? He does fencing. I wonder if he works out in his spare time...

My mind is soon preoccupied by imagining what Adrien's muscles look like underneath his clothes and I don't even notice the fight in front of me escalating until it is at its climax.

"If you're so confident that you'll win, then how about we make it interesting?" Kim proposes with a smirk.

"Fine." Alex agrees. "What do you have in mind?"

"If I win, you have to kiss me as well." Kim says.

"Ooooo...." The crowd murmurs dramatically.

"On the cheek of course, because I'm a gentlemen." Kim adds mockingly. "Wouldn't want to make the little lady uncomfortable."

Kim reaches down to pat Alex on the head but she slaps his hand away.

"Whatever, beef brain. I have nothing to fear because you could never beat me." Alex responds. "But, when I win you will have to accept your defeat by coming to school dressed as a lady."

A few of my classmates snicker.

Kim frowns and holds out his hand. "Deal."

Alex grins and gives Kim's hand a firm shake.

Man, all these people fighting over me is really pressuring. What if Adrien doesn't even win? What if I have to kiss someone else right in front of him? Alex is right, this whole thing is ridiculous. I'm not just an object to be tossed around. I can't rely on her or Adrien to save me. I'm going to fight for myself!