The next time Marinette invited Danielle to their girl group meeting, Dani was free that afternoon. Even though she was a bit reluctant at first, she accepted the invitation. Buzzy was ecstatic to be able to attend to a girly afternoon with her, obviously only in her pocket or bag. They met up at Marinette's place. Her parents were really welcoming, and the cookies they made were amazing. Marinette had a quite large room upstairs, with all kinds of fashion related items and a board with many pictures. Dani was standing in front of it, silently looking at all the pictures. Around 90% of the pictures were of Adrien.
"Oh, I see you… uuhhh… found my picture board" Marinette said awkwardly, realising that Dani was not that familiar with her feelings toward Adrien.
"Yeah…" Dani replied, hearing light chuckles from the girls behind her. "It's… nice" she said, smiling at an embarrassed Marinette.
"Haha" Marinette forced a laugh. "Thank you."
"I see you really like…" Dani started saying, stopping for a moment.
"Adrien?" Marinette said with a slight panic.
"Fashion" Dani said simultaneously with Marinette. "I… meant to say fashion…"
Looking at each other silently with frozen faces, the others started laughing uncontrollably behind them. Dani had no idea what to say now to the defeated Marinette.
"Ahh, sorry Danielle" Marinette sighed. "You must think that I'm such a weirdo. My wall is plastered with pictures of Adrien" she whined, falling on her bed, hiding her face in her pillows.
"Come on, girl" Alya said cheerfully. "Don't be so shy about it" she teased her best friend.
"Yeah, there's nothing wrong with being a fan of a literal fashion icon" Dani tried describing things from a different perspective. "People have pictures and posters of their favourite… like… artists and musicians on their walls. And he's a model, right?"
"I mean, even I don't have dozens of pictures of Prince Ali" Rose said honestly. "Maybe around 10."
"Oh nooo" Marinette whined, making Danielle look at the others with wide eyes.
"Don't worry" Myléne said to her. "That's totally normal."
"Yeah, we've been trying to convince her to confess to Adrien" Alix explained. "But she'd rather continue collecting pictures of him."
"But… why?" Dani asked.
"Because…" Marinette exclaimed in desperation. "He's so cool and awesome and everytime I try to talk to him I'm just a mess. I can't say a sentence properly without making a fool out of myself. Or I just simply stumble and fall over."
"Come on, Marinette" groaned Alya. "You just have to tell him 3 short words."
"Three?" Marinette asked in return. "Three? No, I can't do it."
"Of course you can. Just go to him and say: I like you" Alya said. "Just be honest and straightforward. It worked for me and Nino. You know, after spending an afternoon together locked in a zoo cage."
"A zoo cage?" Dani asked, sitting down next to Marinette on her bed.
"Ladybug locked them into a cage when there was an attack in the zoo" Rose said with a big smile. "You know, to protect them from the villain. It's so romantic."
"Yeah, yeah…" Alya said dismissively. "Hey, Danielle, I was thinking the other day… You travel a lot, right?"
"Umm… Sure… More than I'd like to" she admitted.
"Okay. So, have you met any cute boys during all these travels?" Alya asked cheekily.
"Uuuhhh... " Danielle groaned, looking at Alya confused.
"Do you have any boys waiting for you to go back to any of your previous schools? Ohh, or someone who sends you love letters? E-mails? That would be sooo cute" Rose said excitedly.
"Well... Umm… " Dani said with a slight head shake, picking her finger.
"Is there anyone you like? I mean… Like like..." Marinette asked curiously, looking up from the pillow.
"I mean… I like food, if that counts" she said awkwardly, making the girls laugh.
The great topic of the day was the so-called Friendship Day. After a brief explanation to Danielle what that meant, the girls tried guessing who this year's celebrity might be. But they had to wait two more days to figure the identity of the celebrity out.
At home, Danielle was going through the house advertisements her father found interesting. Her father was in his room, attending some kind of online conference.
"Do you think I should sign up for that game?" Dani asked from Buzzy, while checking one of the houses on the map.
"For Friendship Day?" asked Buzzy, interested. "It could be fun. Not only you may find a new friend, you might get to know the city better."
"Not like that would help me" Dani chuckled. "I'd get lost no matter what."
"Then let's hope your partner for the day is better with directions than you" Buzzy laughed,
"Yeah… right" Danielle replied half-heartedly, squinting at the photos of one of the houses. "Hey, Buzz, what do you think about this as our new home?" she asked with a small smile.
ˇˇˇˇˇ
"How can a horse follow a plane, never catch up but never far away?" Dani read the text on her phone, shortly after Adrien pushed the button signalling the start of Friendship Day on the live tv show.
"Is there a stable around an airport?" asked Buzzy, confused.
"Hmm… The airport is rather far away, and if you think about it, they had to choose locations that are sufficiently close so that everyone playing had a chance to complete all the riddles in a short period of time" Dani mumbled, wondering what the words actually meant.
"Wow, that's right, Dani" Buzzy smiled, sitting on her shoulder. "So, what are we looking for?" Buzzy asked, as Danielle opened up the map on her phone.
"We're going to the park" Danielle replied, getting her bag, opening it to indicate Buzzy to get in there.
"The park?" Buzzy asked, settling in the bag comfortably.
"I think it's about the carousel in the park" Dani said with a hint of confidence. "I think it has a horse and a plane, some ladybug themed uuuhh… thing and something else. And when it's working, the seats are never too far but they are never able to reach the other."
"That's clever thinking, Dani" Buzzy said, impressed. "Let's go. I can't wait to see who your partner will be."
"Let's just hope I won't do something silly or weird" Dani commented with an anxious laugh.
Getting to the park, Danielle turned off the GPS and opened her message, re-reading it again. Walking closer to the carousel, she saw a familiar figure approaching from the other side of the park. No. No way. Looking instantly at her phone, she decided she's going home at this instant. Maybe it's not too late, he probably hadn't noticed her yet. She just casually turns around and walks home. She can't be roaming the city with him…
"Hey, Dani" she looked up from her phone, seeing a smiling Luka, also with his phone in his hand. "I guess I've just found my…" he started saying, and Danielle was ready to deny playing the game, telling she's just strolling around town, when both of their phones rang.
"Congratulations, you've just located your game partner" the voice on the phone said. "And who knows, maybe a new friend for life."
"Hey" she finally said, with a small wave. "Yeah, it… it seems so."
"Great" he smiled. "I can't wait to get to know you better. Jule talks a lot about you at home" he said, raising many questions in Danielle.
"Sorry, I might not be much of a help, though" she admitted with an embarrassed voice. "I still don't know the city very well and my skills of like… direction or path-finding are abysmal."
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure we'll figure something out" Luka said with a warm smile. "What really matters is that we have fun while doing the tasks, right?"
"Ye-yeah" she said with a timid smile, checking her phone for a new message. Seeing that it hadn't arrived yet, she decided to ask something. "So… Did you have fun last year?"
"It's actually my first time playing" he admitted. "Jule played it last year and really enjoyed it. She said I should also join this year" Luka said, putting his hands in his pockets.
"Hmmm… The girls made me curious about it as well the other day" Dani said, playing with her hair.
"The girls?" Luka asked in return.
"Jule, Rose, Alix, Alya, Marinette…" Dani started listing the names that came to her mind, seeing a slight twitch of Luka's face hearing the last name. "They all said some… umm… interesting things about it."
"Is that so?" Luka asked with a sly smile. "What kind of things did they tell you about?"
"Well, uuhh... " she started, stopping for a second, crossing her arms before continuing. "You know, these were all said during a girl's get-together. So I don't think you're authorised to know these… stories" she said with a mischievous half-smile, making Luka chuckle, as the next riddles arrived.
"It wriggles like a worm in the ground, and no Italians would like to be around" Luka read it out loud, with a questioning tone for the second part.
"Is there a line 17 for the subway system?" Danielle asked after a few silent seconds.
"There… is" Luka replied, raising one of his eyebrows. "So the worm part refers to the metro. That was also my thought. But how do you know it's line 17?"
"Well, you know, typically 13 is considered an unlucky number. But there are certain nations that have their own superstition about other numbers as well. Like, China has number 4, because the pronunciation is similar to the word death. For somewhat similar reasons, the Japanese think of 9 as a bad luck number. And in Italy, it is 17. FrIday the 17th, mostly" she explained absent-mindedly.
"That's impressive. I didn't know that" Luka said, checking the message one last time. "Let's check out line 17, then" he said with a smile, inviting her to tag along.
As they were walking to the metro station, they talked about nothing in particular, mostly because Danielle had no idea what to say or ask in general. But especially when it was about him.
"I… uhh… I'm not very good at small talk" Danielle admitted with a sigh.
"Really? I didn't even notice" Luka teased.
"Oohh, let me guess… You're the funny guy" she said with a cocky smile, crossing her arms.
"What do you mean?" asked Luka with a grin.
"You know… In every friend group, there are some typical roles. Like the hopeless romantic girl, waiting for her Prince Charming. Or the jock who's good at everything sport-related and looooves to brag about his achievements. The rich stuck-up, typically blond girl whose parents can deal with everything and anything if she needs it. And, the funny guy" she said, motioning to Luka.
"Well, that sounds quite accurate so far" Luka admitted, as they walked down the stairs to the metro station. "So, what's a funny guy like?"
"You should know that pretty well, shouldn't you?" Danielle asked in return with a mocking voice.
"Fair enough" he replied. "And what member of a friend group are you?" he asked with a hint of curiosity.
"Probably the weird one" she said after a few seconds of thinking, making Luka chuckle.
As they looked around at the station, they saw a map of the subway system. Under that was an envelope taped to the wall with the symbol of the Friendship Day game. Opening it, they found a paper cut to jigsaw-like pieces. However, there was a note telling them that not all pieces are necessary to make the picture they need to find their next location.
"How do we know which of these we need to use?" Danielle asked, inspecting two pieces.
"The styles of the pictures seem to be the same" Luka said, looking at all the black and white drawings on the pieces.
"Doesn't seem like it's a map" Dani said, after examining the laid-out pieces, then starting to drag her finger along some papers.
"Looking for some imprints?" Luka asked, picking up two pieces.
"Yeah. Maybe some have little dents or scratches" Dani wondered. "So those would feel different when touched."
"Or maybe they look different" Luka said with a confident smile, holding the pieces up to the lights. "Look."
Checking the papers in his hand, Dani saw that one of them had the Friendship Day symbol when watched through the lights, and the other had a sad face printed on. Looking at each other, Dani grinned as they started sorting the pieces out, then putting a picture together on the floor as people were walking by them.
"Candles?" Dani asked with a questioning look.
"Candles" Luka repeated, sitting down on a bench next to them, resting his elbows on his knees.
"Is… Paris famous for its candles?" asked Dani with a hint of disbelief, looking at the picture.
Looking at her from the corner of his eyes, it took him a few seconds to remember that she just moved here. So even though her question sounded rather silly, it was somewhat understandable.
"I know. Obviously, it's not" Dani said monotonously. Of course she made herself look dumb in front of the guy he has a crush on. "Stupid question" she murmurred, as she started picking the skin on her finger.
"No, it's not a stupid question" Luka started with a light voice. "There was a small shop selling all kinds of candle waxes but a fire destroyed it a few years ago. I don't remember what happened to the place. But it was not a very famous or recognised place to be a part of a tv show."
"How do you remember this story, then?" Danielle asked, looking up at Luka.
"Jule loved getting wax from there for some hand-made candles when we were younger" Luka said. "I often accompanied her to help bring all the wax home."
"Wax" Dani said, as the solution hit her.
"Musée Grévin" Luka said, standing up, holding his hand out for Dani. "I guess we're going to the wax museum.
Danielle felt like an arrow was shot through her heart, as she looked up at the excited guitarist, as she took his hand and made their way to the museum.
At the museum, it seemed to be closed for the day, but they found the next clue in a cardboard box just outside the entrance. The letter inside had a riddle, which they could solve easily, so they immediately headed to the Ice Rink. While walking there, Luka told her about the time when Marinette, Kagami, Adrien and him went there, the instructor got akumatised, but Ladybug and Cat Noir defeated him and at the end of the day, Adrien helped him get some students.
"Expert hands and feet, huh" Dani said with a sly grin, earning a questioning grin from Luka. "Like, you're great at playing the guitar, and, from what you've told me, you're good at ice skating as well."
"I see. I mean, I'm not an expert ice skater by any means. But I'm pretty good at it and I really enjoy it" he replied. "Do you have any hobbies? Anything you're good at?" Luka asked curiously, before adding with a silly voice. "Beside getting lost."
"Ha-ha. Very funny" said Danielle, faking to be offended. "I haven't gotten lost since I'm in Paris, just so you know. Buuut, to answer your question, ummm… I don't know. I could tell you about things I'm NOT good at, though."
"Maybe next time" Luka added with a chuckle, as they reached their destination.
They could solve all the riddles and tasks without any issues. From the Ice Rink, they headed to the Fontaine du Palmier, then visited the Roue de Paris, and finally they arrived at a café in the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. When they arrived, they got their final message.
"Trust challenge" Danielle read out loud. "Exchange unlocked phones. Separate and take a selfie in front of different monuments using each other's phones. Then re-group and take a selfie together like the true friends you've become. Once we've received the selfies, we'll send you a final text revealing where Adrien Agreste is hiding" she finished reading.
"This means we've successfully completed almost all the tests" Luka said. "One more task and we're done."
"Huh, yeah. I kinda forgot that the final goal was to find Adrien" Dani said with slight disappointment, playing with her hair.
"Do you… not want to?" Luka asked curiously.
"Oh, shoot, don't get me wrong" Danielle said apologetically. "I know he's considered an actual celebrity. It's just that I basically see him every day at school. So I guess, it doesn't feel too special that meeting him is the final reward. Going around town with you is just more fun to me."
After saying that out loud, she realised how that sounded and she wanted to make herself disappear. Even if he was cool with her so far, he definitely thinks she's a weirdo now.
"I mean, I've already met him a couple of times, he also played with Kitty Section once. He's a great pianist" Luka admitted.
"Okay" Danielle said, as they stood there in an awkward silence. "We could just… Take some selfies at some monuments..."
"Together..." Luka offered.
"Yeah… Get something to drink" Danielle continued.
"Mom got all the tabloids writing about the school talent show… Maybe, if you're not in a hurry, we could check out what they wrote about Kitty Section on the Liberty" Luka finished, looking at Danielle for approval.
"Sounds like a plan" Danielle said with an enthusiastic grin, as they started walking toward the Eiffel Tower.
