68. Day 5 Part 6

Great, just great… Chloe sighed in annoyance as she observed through narrowed eyes the third of that day's designated 'friends' she'd been randomly picked to spend time with, soon after lunchtime had finished.

She hadn't even managed to warm her seat before she was on her way yet again to that damn spare classroom, which was almost becoming like a second home for her and whosoever she found herself lumbered with for ninety torturous minutes.

Of course, the field was narrowing a bit quite a bit now as far as future companionship was concerned, and out of those whose names were yet to be drawn, this would be arguably one of the two least awkward encounters.

That reassuring fact didn't make her current predicament any less bearable though, and as Chloe desperately tried to make herself heard above her guest's obnoxiously oversized earphones, a garish crimson hue began to colour her cheeks. Not a healthy or invigorating one, but a colouration borne out of pure exhaustive frustration.

"Nino!" She cried for about the umpteeth time, her hands creating a miniature megaphone as she sat adjacently to the funkified teenage boy. "This is going to be a very boring session if all you're going to do is listen to that awful racket! I-I mean, maybe not for you, but most certainly for me! Can't you think about how bored I might be right now, with nothing to do but watch you rock your head back and forth like a pendulum?!"

Whether her comment about the award-winning Base Breakers being reduced to nothing more than a 'racket' upset Nino, or the massive irony about a upper-class girl who'd spent pretty much her entire life thinking about herself daring to lecture Nino on selfishness struck a nerve, Chloe would never know.

In any case, the only visible effect her forlorn pleas had on the young DJ were for him to crank up the volume even more on his control pad, and bob his head with such renewed enthusiasm his brains must've been stirring around inside like a milkshake.

This is ridiculous, totally ridiculous. He's just doing this to me on purpose now. Chloe thought with justifiable suspicion. Well, I'm not going to stand for it. No matter what horrible things I might've done in the past, I don't deserve to be treated with such outright contempt. He probably won't like it, but it's time to take drastic measures…

The 'drastic measure' the heiress alluded to was one of the cardinal rules set in stone in their class for a long time. They included, but by no means were restricted to: Do Not Vandalise Nathanael's artwork, Do Not Interrupt Max's Speeches About Statistics, Do Not Muss Up Chloe's Hair (although, this wasn't really the case anymore) and… Never Ever Touch Nino's Earphones Whilst In Operation.

The last guideline there, in case you hadn't already figured it out, was about to be well and truly shattered. As almost was Chloe's collar bone, for as soon as she lifted up one part of Nino's listening device a scooch to complain to him some more, a feeling not unlike a sonic boom slapped her in the face and caused her to stumble backwards, until she was pinned against the wall like a poster of XY in some crazy fangirl's bedroom.

"Oh my gosh! H-How, how are you not deaf already?!" Chloe gasped in shock, still reeling from the caustic effects of the heavy beat on her delicate eardrums. "It's loud enough when I hear that stupid tune coming from your headphones… who knows what harmful long-term consequences it might have when it's held right up against your ear like that! Are you insane? Do you really want to have to use a hearing aid like a little old man by the time you're thirty?!"

"Hey dude, mitts off the gear!" Nino frowned as he spoke for the first time, but clearly wanting to put a fork in this conversation ASAP. "You sound just like my pops, going off at me for doing what I love! I'll tell you what I told him: how am I supposed to be a primo DJ, if I don't fully lose myself in the music? Not that I'd expect the likes of you to understand my life's goal."

"You call that music?!" It was all Chloe could do to stifle a chuckle at what she regarded as a hilariously inaccurate description. "I've heard better melodies coming from the back alley of my hotel, where the cats yowl and knock over dustbin covers all night long! How on Earth can you… wait just a second. What are you do you mean, 'the likes of me'?!"

"I believe I was clear enough…" Nino seemed unperturbed by the offense he'd called to the irate heiress, as he selected the next slammin' track on his phone. "You have no idea how 'common' people think, what they enjoy or even how to speak to them. I would explain more, but I'd just be wasting yours and my life. So, why don't you go and admire yourself in the mirror or something for the next hour and a half, while I continue doing my 'research' on what to play at my next big gig?"

"No, I want you to 'explain' to me right now!" Having been subjected to more than a few tongue-lashings by a certain bee kwami, Chloe had recently developed a pretty thick skin for criticism, and was in no mood for pussyfooting around any longer. "...Or, I might just have to tell Miss Bustier that you're not putting your heart and soul into our shared time together! Gee, I wonder what would happen if she happened to have a little word with your 'pops' afterwards? A simple grounding perhaps if you're lucky, or maybe you won't be allowed to bring your music into class ever again!"

Nino's mouth formed the exact shape of a giant cheerio, and he lowered his equipment to stare with undisguised hatred at the smug heiress. "Y-You… y-you… not only are you a bully, a thief, a snob, a liar and a bragger, y-you're… y-you're…"

"Yes, continue?" Chloe gave the DJ a smug little smirk, having heard all this before and much more besides.

"...A world-class snitch!"

"Why, thank you Nino! I'll take that as the most highest of compliments."

"W-Well it wasn't actually meant as one, but whatever. I don't really care. At least now I can tell you straight out why you don't like my beats: terrible people have terrible taste in music. How Adrien ever became friends with you I'll never understand."

Upon hearing Nino critique her relationship with Adrien so harshly, it was now Chloe's turn to get a little upset. The heiress felt a large lump appear in her throat, and she attempted through slightly broken French to communicate just how much the male model's support meant to her.

"Y-You have no idea what're saying. Me and Adrik… I-I mean Adrien, were friends long before the two of you even sat at the same desk. We've helped each other through very difficult times in our lives, and stuck together through thick and thin. You might think just because you're his 'best mate' now you have something me and him don't, but you couldn't be more wrong. Our bond is so strong, nothing could tear us apart. So don't even try to suggest otherwise!"

"Yeah, I've seen how strong this so-called 'bond' is between you and Adrien firsthand, every day for the last year since he arrived at school." Nino was clearly unimpressed by what he'd heard, rolling his eyes as he replied. "The way you cling onto the poor guy the moment he steps one foot inside, it's like you're attached with superglue, or something. You clearly want more than friendship with him, but let me set the record straight: it ain't gonna happen. I won't tell you who he's really in love with, seeing as he swore me to the strictest of confidence that exists between bros, but I will say she couldn't be more different to you if she tried…"

"Yes, yes: I know all about Marinette." Chloe sighed to a surprised Nino impatiently, missing the fact that she'd just said the proper name of the baker's daughter in possibly forever. "And while I disapprove in the strongest possible terms and have advised him accordingly, as his devoted childhood friend I have no issues with standing aside and letting him make the biggest mistake of his life. After all, I understand now that my so-called crush on him was purely based on infatuation, and not on any truly rational feelings. In other words, I'm not interested in him as a romantic conquest. Do you copy, Nino?"

The DJ's eyes looked like they were about to burst through his glasses upon hearing this startling news, and he began to anxiously look around, almost as if expecting to see hidden cameras dotted around secretly filming him for some tacky reality TV show. Presented by Alec Cataldi, naturally.

"W-What? You really mean it?! I-I can't believe… oh wait, what am I saying? Of course I don't believe it! This is yet another stupid setup isn't it, like when you pretended to befriend my girl before you threw her to the wolves and had her mother sacked. Alya was so excited, thinking you were changing for the better and talking to the mayor about giving Mrs Cesaire time off so she could go away with her family. When she found out the truth, she cried on my shoulder for like two hours straight! I've gotta say Chloe, that was low, even by your standards."

As per usual, it's not so easy convincing others of my change of heart. Chloe noted ruefully, wondering if it was possible for her to think any less of her dad than she did right now for almost ruining her second chance. I have to take action, if I'm going to get him and others to listen to reason. Now, what can I possibly…

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration came to the heiress. It wasn't much, just a normal question she could ask, but maybe it was something she could work with and build on if it worked out as she hoped.

After all, Nino respected Adrien enough to storm in and demand an impromptu birthday party from his stubborn-as-a-mule father. Of course, Gabriel was never going to cave in and grant the DJ's wish, but at least he had good intentions. For Nino to take that sort of risk, there must be some level of mutual understanding there, which led Chloe to try out her next gambit.

"You just heard him talk about me at length in the cafeteria just now, but anyway. Tell me Nino, has Adrien ever told you what I was like in the past? I mean… before I came to public school, and was that megabitch who looked down on everyone and stuck used gum on Marinette's chair the first day he was here?"

If Nino didn't know any better, he was sure he was currently talking to an alien from another planet, instead of the blonde brat who usually couldn't stand a whiff of criticism. It was Max who was into all that astrology junk though, not him. The only 'stars' he was interested in were the A-list celebs who'd attend his first big headlining event, after all.

"H-Huh?! W-Well, he might have mentioned something about how you stopped him feeling sad when he was very small, but what does it matter now? I mean, it's pretty obvious, after all you've done since I've known you, you've changed for the worst in a major way. I don't think you'll ever improve either, just look at that stunt you pulled with…"

"I don't need to hear about Mrs Cesaire being fired again, thank you very much." Chloe humphed with her arms folded, sick of being blamed for something she hadn't done. "All you need to know is that was my father's doing, and I had no part in it at all. I realise there's not a chance that I could convince you of that, or that I'm trying with every fibre of my being to try and be a better person. But hopefully, there is one person out there who'll back me up that you'll be prepared to listen to. Let me give you a clue: their name starts with the letter 'A'."

"Well, I don't see how it could be Alix. She hates you just as much as most of the rest of us, especially after you helped break her… ooh." Nino recovered from his temporary brain fart to grasp just what the heiress was referring to, and he struggled to recompose himself. "O-Of course, he would say that. I-I mean, despite everything you've done, he's never stopped fighting your corner. If nothing else, that just shows just what a good friend he is…"

"Exactly, and also add to that honest and truthful." Chloe nodded in agreement, finally feeling she was getting somewhere with her argument. "Whatever our disagreements, I think both of us know that Adrien would never lie to his friends, or about them either. If he's sure that I'm completely committed to changing my behaviour and that I am not responsible for Alya's mother losing her job, surely that holds some sway with you? Unless, of course, you're saying that your 'bestie' is anything less than a perfect saint, when you and I know very well that he is?!"

Nino felt like putting his head in his hands, being caught as he was in a perfect Catch 22 position. He could either say that Chloe was talking total baloney, and simultaneously dismiss nearly every good quality he'd learned about Adrien since the pair had become practically inseparable.

Or alternatively, he could ignore his own preconceptions and prejudices, and reluctantly concede the heiress had a point. Not one he was prepared to acknowledge too much right now: he didn't want to give her a bigger head than she had already.

"Fine, fine…" Nino growled in abject defeat, while twisting his cord between his fingers. "I'll have a chat with my girl, and until the true facts become clearer, we'll tell the others to take it a bit easier on you. Don't think I trust you for one minute, though. You're just lucky you have such a great friend to be there for you, or I really would think you were a lost cause."

"Thank you, Nino. All I want is a fair hearing, which I don't think is too much to ask." Chloe wanted to dance around the room in triumph, but that would be most undignified. Instead, she just lightly grinned. "And, yes, Adrien is definitely a great guy. If we can find any common ground, I think it's with the amount of esteem we have for him."

"Er… I'm not sure I'd use the word 'esteem', actually." Nino raised a confused eyebrow, not for the first occasion a bit perplexed at Chloe's odd choice of words. "But he's definitely a stand-up dude. Did you hear what he gave me, just for swapping seats yesterday? It was so mondo generous of him!"

"A brand new sound system. I know, I've been hearing it all morning. Despite how helpful it was having him near me to talk to, I'm beginning to regret him making that deal." Chloe groaned with a long shake of the head, before suddenly realising something. "Wait just a… that's right! You were sitting next to Sabrina, weren't you? If you don't mind me asking, could you tell me if she talked about me at all, while I was gone? It's very important that I know."

"Well, she might have said something, but… what's it worth to you?" Nino had recently acquired a taste for expensive bribes after the other day, and decided to push his luck a bit further. "A free meal? A day at the recording studio? A gold-plated vinyl…"

"...Or how about I don't twist your right arm one hundred and eighty degrees, so you'll be able to DJ this 'big gig' you have coming up later on, hmm?"

"Geez lady, chill out! I was only having a bit of fun. Alright then, I'll tell you, if you'll just cool your jets a bit. It all started when I asked to borrow a pencil sharpener, little knowing the long speech I'd be getting in return…"

…...

AUTHOR'S NOTE: No, I have not forgotten about this story, as much as my hectic life would like me to. Or, to be more specific, all of the lovely reviews and messages now have convinced me to come out of 'retirement', and interrupt my Christmas shopping to bring you this long awaited update. Thank you all for reading and enjoying it, and I swear to finish the whole thing no matter how long it takes. Sooner than Netflix will air season two, in all probability though. ;)

P.S Wasn't Despair Bear a great episode? FINALLY, some good Character Development for Chloe! Better late than never, as they do say.

P.P.S Keep your obscenely flattering comments coming please… it was reading them all that inspired me to return in the first place, so who knows. If I get more, I might return even faster next time… Oh, and of course, MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone :)