32. Day 3 Part 7

Chloe staggered into the girl's bathroom deliriously, completely unprepared for her upcoming encounter with arguably College Dupont's sneakiest, most devious student. Perhaps splashing cold water onto my face will prepare me for the arduous task that lays ahead, she pondered nervously, while making her way over to the nearest sink.

She never got the chance to test her theory out, though. The heiress had barely taken one step forward before an ecstatic Zzubo flew out from inside her bag, and launched herself at Chloe's stunned visage .

"Oh, I'm so proud of you!" The kwami started making a real fuss of the blonde, hugging her tightly, nuzzling her cheek and even tickling under her neck with it's antenna. "You've began to admit your mistakes. You're feeling guilty for the things you did in the past. You're thinking about others, besides yourself. Best of all, you're made your first friend in who knows how long! Your progress from the selfish, spoiled girl I knew this time yesterday is astounding..."

"Hey..." Chloe snarled with little intent. "Get off me! Don't you think you've been overdoing this touchy-feely nonsense lately? I'm not your personal teddy bear, you know..."

Chloe may have been weakly protesting the kwami's impromptu displays of affection, but the fact was... she was loving them. She felt wanted, cared for, appreciated... emotions that she rarely experienced at home from her often absentee father. As an added bonus, the blissful hums and buzzes emitted from the bee creature were certainly far more effective at soothing her shattered nerves than a freezing dose of H2o would ever have been.

Zzubo wasn't fooled by her false bravado, either. "I can hug my child whenever I want..." she smiled, burrowing herself in Chloe's forehead. "And right now, I'd say you deserve an extra special dose of attention. Get used to it. I know you're enjoying it too. Now, where was I..."

The bee kwami continued her heedless embrace of Chloe's facial area, and the heiress knew from bitter experience there was no removing the creature once she'd started her caress. So, with an unspoken what the heck, she found herself clutching Zzubo close, all false pretenses of her not relishing this tightest of clinches completely gone.

"Now, that's more like it..." Chloe thought she heard a pleased whisper emanate from between her crossed arms, but she was so immersed in sensation heaven at this point that it could have just been in her imagination.

All of her latent worries and anger at what had transpired that morning simply melted away, as the combination of warm fuzziness in her clutches and comforting noises in her ear soothed the blonde into a walking trance. Five minutes of meditative nirvana passed, before suddenly...

KNOCK KNOCK..."Can I come in, or are you stinking up the joint? Let me know, so I can cover my nose with my sleeve, please."

Oh no! Chloe had been so lost in the moment, or rather three hundred of them, that she'd completely forgotten about promising to meet Lila in the bathroom during lunch break just as the bell rang, to start their time together. The Italian hadn't said very much, only mentioning the arrangements with her usual smug smirk, before disappearing to 'prepare' for the session.

Now, she was caught out with her kwami in a deep hug, only an open door away from having her deepest, darkest secret revealed. Well, apart from her smelly feet of course, but that was another embarrassing headline in the making.

Daddikins would absolutely castigate her if she bought any more shame to the Bourgeois family name this week, so she'd have to nip this potential scandal in the bud as promptly as possible.

"Get back in your bag, quickly..." Chloe hissed at Zzubo without looking at her, giving the bee creature a slight nudge away as if to encourage her to get out of sight immediately.

Zzubo glanced down at the open hold-all in confusion, and then back up at Chloe with a stern expression. "Aren't we forgetting something, Chloe Bourgeois-Marigold?"

Chloe was nonplussed for a second, before saying what she thought the kwami wanted to hear. "Oh, sorry. Would you please get into your bag now, Zzubo? Is that better? Do my good manners pass the grade, now? Also, what's with the 'marigold' at the end of my name...?"

"That is your new name now, Chloe..." Zzubo hovered a few inches away from the tip of the heiress's nose, addressing her seriously. "As I've officially adopted you, I've decided to give you another term to add your usual title. I've always loved flowers, especially marigolds, the way they come into bloom with their yellow petals, and all. I've also noticed you like wearing yellow, you have yellow-ish hair, and you're only just starting to bloom yourself, so that's what I'm going to call you from now on. Hope you like it!"

The newly christened Bourgeois-Marigold blushed slightly upon hearing this, and proffered a slightly hesitant objection. " B-but, you can't do that! You're just a... I mean, you're important, but you're not a... and Marigold, sounds way too similar to Marinett..."

"It doesn't matter..." Zzubo shrugged her shoulders. "That's what you're going to be known as from now on. I'm sure you'll eventually grow to love it, it's such a pretty name! By the way, as nice as it was you demonstrated proper etiquette in the way you addressed me earlier, the main reasons I stopped you from forcing me into that bag were nothing to do with your lack of decorum..."

"Is that so..." Chloe was beginning to feel worn out by this stage. "Just tell me what the problems were, and I won't do them again..."

"Well, for one..." Zzubo flew closer to the heiress's face to stare directly into her eyes. "You forgot, I'm your main caregiver now, so I make the rules about where I go and what I do. Next, I had something to say regarding your imminent meeting with Miss Rossi..."

"And, what might that be, then?" Chloe inquired, wanting to just get it over and done with.

"Whatever she says or does to you..." Zzubo told the blonde in a pleasant but frank tone, ruffling her hair affectionately with one hairy arm. "Don't rise to the bait. You know you're better than that now, so try and be as cordial as you can, even though I know it'll be difficult. I know that type, and she's not worth the trouble, believe me. Do you think you can do that for me, my child?"

Chloe wasn't sure how to respond to Zzubo's latest dose of 'parenting', so she took to gazing down at the newly mopped floor in a sulk. Truth be told, she had been looking forward to taking out some of her underlying frustrations on Lila, thinking it would be the one of the few windows of opportunity she'd have to insult someone mercilessly, and get away with it...

But, nope. In her neverending quest to turn her into a flawless superhero, Zzubo was cracking down hard on every aspect of the heiress's previous deviant behaviour, including her smart mouth. Between that uncompromising insectoid, and her new friend Alya watching her every step, it seemed the chance of future shenanigans was slim-to-none. Maybe this is a totally fresh start for me, she realised, whether I like it or not...

Chloe's tangled thought process was abruptly interrupted by Zzubo gently lifting up her chin. "So, have you decided to heed my advice, and be the better girl by not rising to her taunting and mockery?" the kwami asked, those kind yet steely veiny orange eyes boring into hers.

"Yes, yes... if you say so mothe... I mean, Zzubo." Chloe covered her mouth at her sudden verbal faux pas, but the most disturbing thing was... she had meant it.

"Thank you, my dear... I knew you wouldn't let me down!" Zzubo grinned broadly at both the acceptance of her wishes, and the blonde's amusing slip of the tongue. "And, if you can pull this off, also considering the excellent progress you've made so far today, I might have a little surprise for you later on if you continue to behave yourself..."

Chloe was instantly abuzz after hearing that last part, and grabbed hold of the kwami with eager hands. "What is it?!" She shrieked, unable to contain her excitement. "Can I have my clothes back, all my stuff... or, am I almost ready to become a superhero?!"

"Whoa there, Miss Bourgeois-Marigold, curb your enthusiasm..." Zzubo passed through the hands of the almost hysterical girl, to levitate just over her head. "You'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, I better make myself scarce, Lila sounds like she's about ready to smash the door down in her impatience. Good luck, and please remember what I told you. I know you will."

With that final reminder, the magical bee gave her surprised charge a quick final hug and even a little kiss on the cheek, before nestling back into the heiress's bag on her own accord.

Slightly taken aback at the magical tingle a kwami's lips leave behind, Chloe retrieved her hold-all (she wasn't going to leave it unattended around Lila, not after the last time ) before having one last cursory glance in the mirror at her appearance.

Strange, she thought to herself, noting her straggly bunches of hair and common clothing, if I'd seen this reflection yesterday, I probably would've had a heart attack. Now... I just feel mildly annoyed. Well, a little annoyed. Anyway, if I can survive a morning looking like a peasant, I'm sure a ninety minute long session with Lila should be a cakewalk. Bring it on...

Regardless, the blonde had no choice in the matter. It was time to take her lumps, and live with the consequences. She went to stand a few yards from the door, which had been pounding like a pnematic drill for a while now, and said one simple word. "Come!"

It was a good job Chloe had possessed the foresight to keep her distance, because the door was vigourously swung into the wall a second later. The heiress practically felt the air in front of her being cut in half, as it swished by her delicate nose.

Behind it all of course, was one Lila Rossi, hands on hips, sneering face aimed directly at her, toes tapping impertinently on the floor.

"At last..." She exclaimed in frustration, before roughly pushing past Chloe and making her way to the centre of the bathroom. "Alright, who were you talking to?"

"I-I have no idea what you're on about..." Panic began to set into Chloe's gut, as she realised she may have been speaking a little too loudly to bluff this one out.

"Don't give me that rot, you're nowhere near as good a liar as me..." Lila continued to scan the facilities, even checking under each cubicle in her intensive search. "I heard two voices in here. I couldn't tell what you were saying, but I must say, I am intrigued. Now, who could your little mystery guest bee?"

Upon hearing that final word, Chloe visibly stiffened, and she even heard Zzubo give a slight gulp inside her bag. Surely Lila can't have figured out... Oh no...

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yup, another little cliffhanger, dang I'm good at those aren't I? As to what'll happen next... well, you'll have to wait and see, wontcha? ;)