You have asked, so you shall receive - this is the story of the class trip to the pool from the year before that Marinette had deemed 'a disaster' in the first chapter. For the sake of the fic, bear with me and pretend that the class was the same the year before, and that Alya and Adrien are already part of it. Happy reading!


"Alright students, listen up please! For our trip this year, we are going to…the pool!"

The class cheered, and the room bubbled with excitement – or, most of the room did, anyway.

"Ugg, that is so stupid! Do you even know what chlorine does to my hair!?"

"Sounds like someone's just delighted!" Alya whispered, drawing giggles from the trio around her. She was the most enthusiastic, as going to the pool had been her idea. The teens buzzed about the upcoming trip for most of the day, pausing only momentarily to learn, then quickly becoming distracted again. That afternoon, Marinette shut herself in her room and searched for what to wear.

"What do you wear to a pool party, anyway?"

Tikki looked at her like she had just turned pink herself. "A swimsuit?"

Marinette, holding a sundress in one hand and a T-shirt in the other, threw both onto the lounge sofa in front of her and looked at the kwami in exasperation.

"Tikki! I can't swim!"

The small red creature quickly covered her mouth with her arm and "coughed", trying (and failing) to contain her giggles.

"You might want to wear one anyway, just in case!" *snort*

The blue-haired girl sighed. "I suppose you're right. Maybe I'll want to float or something." Marinette eventually decided on a plain black one-piece suit with matching shorts, and a flowery sundress to wear over top. Her phone vibrated on her desk, and she soon found herself caught up in Alya's what-to-wear dilemma.

The next week, the day of the pool trip dawned sunny and clear.

Well, at least it's off to a good start, thought Marinette as she and Alya claimed a seat in the back of the bus. Alya, wearing a sky-blue bikini and a matching cover-up, held up a small mirror for her light-skinned friend, who spent the next several minutes rubbing in a fair amount of sunscreen and securing her wide, floppy hat. I might like the sun, Marinette contemplated while she worked, but the sun does not like me!

The class soon arrived at the local pool, and the two girls pulled a pair of chairs closer together so that they could talk while they laid in the sun. They watched as most of the class dove straight in (they had the pool to themselves today), and Marinette almost had a heart attack while watching Adrien jump off the tallest diving board, diving so perfectly that he barely made a splash. Of course, she wasn't the only one who was watching him.

"Adri-kins!"

"Oh great," she mumbled, sharing an exasperated look with the brunette beside her. Chloe had insisted that her father drive her separate. She claimed it was because she would be running late, but everyone knew it was so that she could make her grand entrance in front of everyone. Sabrina tagged along behind her, towels in hand.

The blonde strutted to the edge of the pool, where Adrien had just surfaced and was swimming toward the edge. When he made it out of the water, she flew forward to hug him, then jumped back and shrieked at the cold water that was now seeping through her yellow silk dress. Adrien laughed and shook his hair in her direction, earning another squeal before heading back to the boards, where Nino was waiting for him.

After several minutes, Alya stood up and stretched, slipping out of her cover up and heading for the water.

"Are you sure you don't want to come? We can stay in the shallow end!"

Marinette shook her head, gesturing her friend to go on without her. Alya knew about her gracelessness in the water, but always made sure to offer, just in case she someday changed her mind. Marinette laughed as Alya, standing on the edge of the pool to test how cold it was, was sent flying into it by a howling Nino, who then jumped in after her. After trying (and failing) to dunk him in revenge, Alya ended up clinging to his back as he scaled the ladder and turned around, tickling her and dropping her in the water again, despite her squeals of protest. Marinette heard a chuckle from beside her, and realized that Adrien was now in the spot vacated by her blue-clad friend. Still smiling, he handed her a bottle of apple juice (her favorite), complete with a tiny umbrella taped to the side. She gladly accepted the cold drink, cracking the lid and taking a sip, and then un-taping the umbrella and unfolding it, sticking in the top of the bottle. Watching her, Adrien did the same, and reached out to tap his bottle against hers.

"Cheers!"

To her delight (and embarrassment), he stayed beside her for several minutes, laughing with her at their wildly outgoing friends. After a while, he set down his half-empty bottle and climbed out of the chair, diving into the water and helping Alya finally succeed in dunking his friend.

"C'mon, Marinette!"

Alya call was, of course, followed by echoes from the boys, who looked determined. If she didn't come to them, she had a strong feeling that they were going to come for her – and that she would be thrown into the pool shortly thereafter. Deciding to hold what little control she currently had over her fate, Marinette stood up and slid off her sundress and hat, walking carefully over the slick ground to the edge of the pool, where she sat and put her legs in the water. Alya, knowing better, left it at that, and a look to the boys told them to do the same.

Nino challenged Adrien to a cannonball contest, so both boys went to the diving boards, jumping off and curling into a ball mid-air, trying to out-splash the other. Alya, who wasn't much for jumping from large heights, hung onto the wall near Marinette and called out scores for each jump, eventually declaring Nino the winner (he dunked her again, anyway). Every few minutes, Chloe floated over from her deck chair to declare how "wonderful Adrien looked, don't you think Marinette?" Each time, Marinette would nod and avoid his gaze, trying to control the pink that flooded her cheeks when he looked at her (the fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt really wasn't helping, either). They spent the next several hours alternately swimming and sunbathing, with Marinette applying more sunscreen every time they went back to the chairs. After a break from the water to have lunch, Nino and Alya went to wade in the shallower end and Adrien went back to the diving board. Chloe, seeing him, sauntered to stand beside Marinette near the dege as he started to climb the ladder.

"You know, I overheard a pretty interesting fact from your friend Alya just now."

Marinette tried not to look at her, as she knew it would only spur on the springy blonde.

"What are you talking about, Chloe?"

The taller girl straightened up and smirked, her hands on her hips as she leaned closer to Marinette's ear, as though to whisper some life-changing secret.

"I know that you can't swim!"

Marinette had just enough time to register what her nemesis had said and notice that Adrien had made it to the top of the ladder before she felt hands on her back and her feet leave the ground.

The water closed in over her head, and Marinette struggled not to panic. Flipping over in the water, she aimed for the surface and kicked, but ended up shooting sideways instead. As she began to run out of air, she felt a strong arm wrap around her waist and pull, bringing her quickly to the top, her head breaking the surface just in time. She coughed and took a deep breath, letting the arm carry her to the wall. She looked up and found not only Alya and Nino moving quickly to help her, but the lifeguards as well.

Wait, if they're up there, then who…?

Marinette looked at the body connected to the arm around her waist for the first time, and almost choked on the air. Adrien got her to the ladder, which she climbed shakily, and gladly accepted the towel that was offered to her, using it to wipe off her eyes and hide her face.

"Are you okay, Mari? You sure made quite a splash!"

Marinette laughed in spite of herself, still trying to figure out what had happened. She knew that Chloe had pushed her, but hadn't Adrien been on the diving board when she went in? Seeing her face, he answered her un-asked question.

"I saw you fall in and noticed that all of the lifeguards were on the other end of the pool helping Sabrina, so I dove in beside you to get you out."

Marinette smiled and stuttered her thanks, finding slight joy in Chloe's frustrated stammering (clearly, she had not intended for Adrien to be the hero). Alya led her back to the chairs, and the lifeguards made sure that she was really okay before going back to their stations. Marinette spent most of the afternoon safely on the deck, and the trio rotated, so that she was never sitting alone. They traded jokes and stories, and Adrien and Marinette laughed until their sides hurt when Alya finally managed to dunk Nino on her own (Marinette had a sneaking suspicion that Nino had let her take him under, but she wasn't about to tell Alya that). When it was time to go, the girls pulled on their dresses and the boys retrieved their shirts, wrapping themselves in towels for the bus ride back to the school.

"Soooooo, it wasn't all bad, was it?" Alya asked, nudging her shoulder as Marinette looked out the window at the fading water.

The blue-haired girl smiled. "I guess not…but next year, there had better not be any cat-astrophes!"