53. Day 4 Part 8

Chloe didn't care that she hadn't even bothered to change her clothes, before leaving the swimming area .

Chloe didn't care that she was soaking wet, leaving a long trail of dampness behind her as she ran full tilt on her hairy feet.

Chloe didn't care that her revealing, skintight outfit was now almost fully transparent, so underneath it you could see a clear imprint of most of her most private areas.

Chloe didn't even care that she was in very real danger of being arrested for public exposure, and in the irate mood her father was in right now, her chances of getting bailed out were slim-to-none.

The only thought reverberating in her panicking mind was that of a tiny bee kwami who's cuteness was only rivaled by her bossiness, her cutting sass only superseded by her fuzzy hugs, a magical creature that should by all rational thought not even exist...

Yet, one which the formerly stuck-up heiress had come to love so damn much, it almost scared her. Ever since her mother's tragic passing, there'd been a huge emotional gap in her life, that not amount of spending, boasting or bullying could fill. Her often absent, always aloof father certainly wasn't capable of plugging it, so what was?

Ironically, it was the smallest yet strongest lifeform Chloe had ever encountered that'd somehow, at long last, sealed the massive emotional void in her hitherto empty existence, and had led to her huge turnaround in behaviour in less than a week. Not to mention, the thought of patrolling the skies of Paris in a life-long quest for redemption by saving lives and thwarting evildoers sounded cool beyond measure.

Truly, a modern day miracle in terms of attitude adjustments, which explained why the heiress was so heart-stricken about her beloved kwami's sudden disappearance. Never hearing that endearingly nagging tone again from someone who didn't care about her elevated status and who truly cared for her well-being didn't even bear thinking about. This explained, to some degree, her rushing around the corridors like a crazed streaker when previously she'd refused to be seen out in public with one precious blonde hair out of place.

Love does funny things to people, as they say.

"Zzubo! Zzubo! If you come out now, I'll give you the biggest bag of nougats ever! I won't even complain if you leave a mess this time..." Chloe yelled out repeatedly in pure desperation, completely ignoring the odd looks of both teacher and pupil alike in the classrooms she cruised past, as well as the unerring inflexibility of her costume which threatened to chop her in half with each restrictive stride.

Sadly, no answer was forthcoming to her urgent cries, and the exhausted heiress eventually ran out of puff. After all, she never was the most athletic of pupils, and her meager figure perfect diet wasn't exactly calibrated for stamina.

My biggest fear... Chloe's mind began to wander, as she leaned against a nearby desk while trying to catch a second wind. ...Is that Zzubo's trapped somewhere she can't get out from. Wait a minute, she can fade through walls, right? So how could that be the case? Maybe she's sick, or even worse. I-I was only trying to get rid of her a few days ago, too. I-Is this Karma in full effect?!"

"Oi, are you going to give back that costume or what, dearie? You said you only needed it for an hour and a half, well your time is up. Why are you wearing it outside the changing room, anyway?"

The sharp female voice that suddenly addressed Chloe roused her up from her depressive procrastinating, and she glanced up to see a stern-looking middle-aged face regarding her with annoyance. It was Mrs Sylvie, the strict proprietor of the lost and found section, which the heiress had dashed over to unwittingly in the midst of her fruitless kwami search.

"...And take your hand off my nice, clean desk! It's soaking wet! Couldn't you have least dabbed yourself down with a towel, after getting out of the pool? For Lord's sake child, you'll catch your death! Also, cover yourself up! If I wanted to look at that sort of thing, I'd vacation at a nudist colony! Which I won't, it's Tuscany for me this year. After days like this, I'm counting the weeks, believe me..."

The prattling gasbag continued to prattle on, but all Chloe could think about was her missing best friend. No, not that traitor Sabrina, but Zzubo. Duh. The problem was, what could she do next?

I can't exactly put an advert in the local paper: 'Missing, Little Magical Talking Insect Who Grants Superhero Powers'. Either Hawk Moth will be alerted and lock me up, or the authorities will lock me up themselves. She realised, with her head bowed down. I don't think I'd deal with captivity well, in either case. If only I'd gotten her microchipped, then I wouldn't be having this problem...

Yet again though, her private thoughts were unexpectedly interrupted mid-flow. Not by the tiresome chatterbox a few yards away, but the sound of a slowly approaching medium-sized crowd, heading straight in her direction. The sight of so many students congregating near her usually quiet department even succeeded in shutting up the garrulous old bore, but Chloe quickly realised her problems were just beginning.

Class had just been dismissed until the next session, and the first thing the pupils did upon leaving is make a beeline for the weird blonde in a bathing suit that they'd seen for a split second running around outside. Now they'd finally tracked her down, the group couldn't believe their eyes as to her identity and the flimsiness of her attire. Most of the boys were staring at her with drooling, lustful gazes, while the girls regarded this shameless, brazen hussy with contempt, while secretly updating their diet plans. Although, neither demographic particularly liked the hirsute feet.

At the sight of so much unwanted attention, Chloe began to noticeably pale. She was in a fragile enough state mentally as it was, she certainly didn't need all this added pressure swelling in her head. Particularly when some cameraphones began to emerge from sweaty pockets, and the heiress began to realise it was only a matter of time before her humiliating exhibition and tear-stained face would soon be captured on every social media blog from here to kingdom come.

M-Maybe this is what I deserve... she thought, almost resigned to her fate as the first lens prepared to flash. After all, I did something very similar with poor Kim, and he's never forgiven me for it. It just goes to show, some people you treat so nastily, you won't ever make amends with them...

"Hold it!" Before Chloe could even delve into what the mayor's reaction would be to the publication of these scandalous images, and how she was about to beat the record for fastest dis-inheritance of all time , a strong female voice sounded above the general melee, and a blue haired girl stood defiantly in front of the heiress to block the first camera flash.

Marinette... Chloe bared her teeth, almost vomiting at being in such close proximity to her most hated person in the world. What's that loser going to do? She probably wants to sell the pictures to the highest bidder, then use the proceeds to buy the best dress at the thrift store. Great, at the mercy of my detested rival. Could it get any better than this?

What Chloe was about to hear from the baker's daughter though, was about to surprise her. "Leave this girl alone! As class representative of Miss Bustier's class, she's my responsibility, and I won't have her shamed in front of the school by allowing you to take photos of her when she's under-dressed, and over-stressed Now, please go on to your next study period while I sort this out! Thank you." Well, maybe 'completely shocked' might be a better way of describing the heiress's mood.

As the moaning throng began to peter out, and Adrien appeared from nowhere with a warm coat to cover up the stunned, shaken girl, all she could do is stare quizzically at Marinette, while uttering the only word on her lips. "W-Why?"

"Because, Chloe..." The bluenette approached the heiress, while gently resting a hand on her bare shoulder. "No girl deserves to be publicly embarrassed like that, even an irrepressible bully like you. I know how I'd feel if I was in your situation now, and I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Which is kind of an apt comparison, when you think about it..."

Chloe gazed at Marinette in wonderment, and looked for all the world as if she was about to say something rather unexpected, before she managed to revert to type. "W-Well,thanks for nothing, Dupain-Cheng! I had everything perfectly under control, I certainly didn't need you sticking your nose in and making me look like some sort of weakling! Don't think this means I hate you any less, I live for the day your bakery goes bust and you're foraging for crumbs out on the street!"

The heiress then brushed a seething Marinette's hand off her arm, and was about to say something far more pleasant to her 'Adrikins', before a disapproving nod from the teen model pulled her up short. Why is he looking at me with such disappointment... he couldn't want me to... what?! No way! I won't do it... not for a million euros... I don't care what he thinks of me... I'll... Aargh!

A sudden noise of someone clearing their throat took Marinette unawares, and she looked across to see the grimacing form of Chloe looking down, wearing possibly the most forced smile ever. "Listen... Maritras... I mean Marinette. I won't say this again, so you better cherish this moment in that little secret diary of yours forever. T-thank y-you..."

The words came out like extracted teeth, but the sentiment behind them was real. As a shellshocked Marinette whispered back "Y-You're w-welcome, Chloe." and a far happier Adrien gave the heiress a thumbs up, Chloe glanced at both with obvious irritation at what she saw as a demeaning display of vulnerability.

"Arrgh! I don't have time for this!" She said, waving her hands in the air. "Adrien, I'm keeping your jacket until I'm fully dressed, even if it does smell like rotten old cheese. I've got so much left to do today, and I haven't even found my k..."

Chloe instantly put her fist in her mouth to stop herself from saying anymore. She almost blabbed everything, though even if she had said 'kwami', it surely wouldn't have mattered, since the naive pair in front of her would obviously have no idea what that word meant. She almost envied them, and their normal lives that she'd never have again...

Before she could ponder her almost-mistake any further, Mrs Sylvia was back, having spent the majority of the last few minutes cowering behind her desk. "I'm sorry, dearie. I couldn't help but eavesdrop. You weren't by any chance about to say 'comb', were you?

Chloe was on the verge of answering firmly in the negative to that query, before a sudden thought crossed her mind. "E-er, y-yes. Yes, I was." She lied, happy that her wet face was covering the beads of sweat running down her brow. "How did you know..."

"Well, we had one handed in this morning..." Mrs Sylvie confirmed, while rummaging around in her big box. "Most unusual looking thing. Never seen anything like it in my life, and I've been working here for nearly thirty years. I figured that's what you must have misplaced, since it's the first new item we've collected this week so far."

"Oh, well thank you very much." Chloe opened up her palm to take it, while hoping with all her heart it was...

"Not so fast, luvvie!" Mrs Sylvia reprimanded the heiress with a wagging finger. "First of all, you have to actually describe the missing object with a degree of accuracy, or anyone could just come in off the street and claim it, am I right?"

"Y-Yes, of course..." Chloe grumbled, almost playing the 'my daddy will have you fired' card once more, before realising she wasn't like that now. "Let's see. It was golden yellow, had eight prongs, a bee engraving, a pair of wings which stretched the length..."

All of this pertinent information she whispered in the ear of the older lady, why she didn't want the curious Marinette and Adrien nearby to hear her description she didn't know. Just call it a gut instinct.

"Well, actually it has nine prongs instead of eight, but close enough." As soon as the comb was produced by Mrs Sylvie it was snatched up with pure relief by Chloe, who thought she'd now taken a huge step to finding her cherished friend. After all, she'd seen Zzubo clutching this thing like her life depended on it, so the pair couldn't be that far apart...

"Yes, yes, yes!" She called out while hugging it tenderly, before realising that her two fellow classmates were still watching on.

"Um... I mean, thanks! I'll sign off it later, Mrs Sylvie." Chloe swiftly tucked the comb into one of her pockets before anyone else could see it, and began to saunter back to the changing room. "It's a treasured family heirloom. Been with the Bourgeois for a million, no, a billion years. Some things are more valuable than money, you know. Well, gotta split. See you later, Adrikins! Marinette..."

And, with that final growled word, the heiress took off for the girls changing room once more, her oversized coat trailing behind her like a superhero's cape. Foreshadowing, perhaps?

In the meantime, Marinette was almost completely dumbstruck by their confrontation, and communicated her feelings to Adrien. " Chloe... saying 'thank you' twice in one day? And telling us that 'some things are more valuable than money'?! I hope this isn't another one of her fake turn-over-a-new-leaf scams again, because I'm not falling for it, and that goes double for Alya..."

"It's not 'fake' at all, Marinette..." Adrien watched his childhood friend disappear around the corner with mixed feelings of pride and concern. He'd have to talk to her again later on to find out what was up. "Anyway, I'll tell you about it later. In the meantime, I have something to ask you. There's this big posh party next week for the British Prime Minister. It sounds totally boring, but my Dad's going so I'm expected to attend. Of course, it wouldn't be quite so tedious if you..."

Marinette, still digesting Chloe's odd conversation and appearance, didn't hear most of what Adrien said there, and instead had a few questions of her own. "...Why was she running around the corridors, wearing nothing but a bathing costume? Since when have her feet been that hairy? Also, what was that she said about your coat stinking of cheese?!"

All of Adrien's courage and resilience that he'd built up, having planned meticulously for this pivotal moment all week, quickly ebbed away... even if Marinette was more amused than offended by the model's stinky jacket. "T-That i-is..." He stammered, trying to explain his possible unhealthy infatuation with gross dairy products.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me..." Marinette giggled at the visibly flushed Adrien. "I know how smelly men can get. You should sniff my father's overalls after a hard day baking bread, yuck! Now, what is it you wanted to ask me?"

"N-Nothing..." Adrien needed to build his confidence back up for another try later on. "J-Just something to do with classwork. I-I think I've worked it out now, though..."

"Oh, okay." Marinette replied, before coming up with an idea. "O-Of course, if you ever need a private tutor, you can always come round mine after s-school...

"R-Really?!" Adrien continued to turn as red as a beet, while attacking the source of a strange feline cackling in his bag.

"R-Really." Marinette reassured him as the pair traveled to their next lesson together, as she almost-but-not-quite plucked up the strength to hold his hand.

Mrs Sylvie watched all this pantomime carry on with an elongated sigh. " I don't know. Kids these days..." she mumbled, before realising she was late taking her lunch break.

...

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Isn't it amazing how 'a few days' can turn into 'a few weeks'? Sorry, but a lethal combination of life, boredom and my own inertia contributed to this extended delay, but I'm back now, firing on all cylinders.

What prompted this? Well, the 'favourite' counter has just kept going up, and it's now past 300. I felt just a little guilty not giving any of you new material to read for the entire merry month of March, so have this by ways of compensation. Hopefully, the next update won't be as long, but if there's one thing in life I've learned it's 'don't make promises'. So... yeah. Hope you enjoyed.

Today's question is: What do you think about Zag's decision to possibly push Season 2 back possibly as far as autumn (or fall, depending on your region). It very much annoys me, the only thing keeping me going is this extended delay might = extra quality. We'll have to wait and see, I suppose... :/