In America, the high school students have a tradition. Once a year, they dress up and ask each other to a formal dance. They call it prom.

Think of the possibilities, my evil akumas – the girls compete to wear the dress that stands out from the rest, and fight anyone wearing the same garment. The boys compete to escort a girl, creating elaborate schemes to convince her to say yes. And this is to say nothing of the last-minute disaster panic, the heartbreak of losing hopes to a peer, the unfulfilled expectations the night itself may contain.

Such a beautiful night, inherently ripe for disappointment. What a shame France has no similar tradition.

But that is not so hard to fix.


"Slow down, Rose. What are you talking about?"

Rose shoved another pink flyer at Marinette's face. "A cotillon! For Paris collègiens!"

Marinette and Alya took a look at the flyer. "A Night to Remember: a formal ball for the collège students of Paris," Alya read. "Based on the American prom."

The flyer detailed the event – 8 pm on May 22nd, Grand Hotel Paris, a contest for the best "promposal," whatever that was – but Marinette had one unanswered question.

"Where is this coming from?" she wondered, frowning and flipping the flyer over. No answers there. "There's no admission price, but a ball can't just be free…"

"It's funded." Marinette jumped at the male voice in her ear, but it was only Nino. "Mr. Agreste and Mayor Bourgeois are sponsoring it," he whispered. "But that's a secret. Otherwise the media would be all over Adrien and Chloé for this event."

"Okay… so what's a promposal?"

"It's like a flash mob," Alya said. "Instead of just asking someone to the dance normally, you put together something special for them."

"Wait." Marinette blinked. "Did you say… asking someone…"

A scene flashed through her head. The students of her class, dancing in the yard of their school. One by one, they walked up to Adrien and handed him a red rose. Alya was recording it all on her phone. For the finale, Marinette began to descend the stairs–

And tumbled right down them, landing on her head. Lila walked up to Adrien instead and asked if he would take her to the dance, and he said yes, and they skipped into the sunset and why did she think this was possible it would be a disaster–

"In America, the boys usually ask the girls," Nino said, snapping Marinette out of her reverie. He was determinedly looking away from Alya, his face a little red.

"What makes you so sure?" Alya nudged Marinette. "C'mon girl, you know you want to."

"It'll be a disaster," Marinette groaned.

"We'll see about that." Alya grabbed Marinette's hand and pulled her off to who-knows-where. Nino watched his girlfriend run off with her usual spontaneity. He smiled. He was already planning his promposal.


A/N: Hello hello! I've been working on this as a side project for a while, and I figured I ought to start publishing it before prom season ends/ML Season 2 comes out.

Most chapters will be a bit longer than this, but not like major-commitment long. They'll be coming out a lot faster than they do for my other story, since I want to get as much as possible out before Season 2. If you're interested, follow the story, review, and I'll see you next chapter :)