30. Day 3 Part 5

Chloe took quite a while to return to school from her rather explosive and very illuminating confrontation with Kim. She shuffled her feet all the way back, her brain a maelstrom of thoughts and conflicting emotions.

Why do I feel so unsure of myself all of a sudden, she pondered, kicking a stone down a dark back alley and listening to it echo all the way down there, I've been showing everyone in Paris who's boss now for years, now I feel like a scared little baby. It's that stupid bee's fault. She's put these weird new feelings in my brain, to make me all anxious and sweaty. Wait 'til I discover the magic formula to exorcise ol' bugface, then we'll see who has the last laugh...

This slim hope was still nevertheless just enough to keep the heiress's spirits relatively high, as she entered the front gate of her place of learning. The rest of the day would be somewhat of an endurance test, but if a Bourgeois can't handle a bit of pressure every now and then, how are they worthy of the distinguished family name ?

At least that's what her stoic Daddy had taught Chloe, her mother would have been far more open to the suggestion that 'A problem shared, is a problem halved' and building up that much tension is at best silly, at worst highly dangerous to your health.

Sadly, when she passed away, Chloe had no choice but to follow her father's ideals about resolving difficulties. 'Out of sight, out of mind' was what he'd always told her, before brandishing a twenty euro note and telling her to go off and do something useful with her time , instead of bothering him with stupid questions. After all, why waste time comforting your only daughter, when there's an election campaign to fight?

So, it was a tense and nervous Chloe that found herself strolling through the schoolyard, wondering who on Earth she'd be lumbered with next in her enforced examination in empathy. In fact, so focused was she on her internal quandaries, she completely neglected to look where she was going...

Stumbling right into Ms. Mendeleiev, who just so happened to have been taking advantage of the recess hiatus to make herself a nice, hot cup of tea.

OOF! The two collided head-on, with the spilt beverage making a nice, hot, brown stain on the chemistry teacher's formerly spotless white lab coat.

Mendeleiev peered down in abject horror at the large discolouration on the pale uniform she seemed to wear everywhere, not just in class. She then turned angrily to Chloe, who still marooned in a world of her own, not quite aware of the hazards associated with upsetting the grouchiest member of staff.

"Just look at what you've done, girl! Do you have any idea how much this is going to cost me to have it dry-cleaned?! Also, I saw you just arrive from off-campus! Do you think it's acceptable to be nearly two hours late for lessons?! Well, speak up, girl! My ears aren't getting any younger!" Mendeleiev half yelled, half screamed at the heiress, though the target of her ire remained oddly unresponsive.

"E-erm... I had permission... from Miss Bustier..." Chloe murmured in a tiny voice, still more contemplative on the trials of the day ahead than her accidental clash.

"Huh, a likely story!" The purple haired teacher got to her feet, and briskly moved behind Chloe. "We'll see what the headmaster has to say about this! Come on, girl... pick yourself up. Your charge sheet is only growing longer! Late for classes. Defacing my personal property. Outright lying to me. As if your CV isn't decorated enough, with evidence of your chicanery! I'll be taking you to his office myself, and this afternoon I'll be paying a little visit to the laundrette to restore my jacket to it's former glory, a trip which I'm sure your father, the good mayor of our fine city, won't mind reimbursing me for. Would you say that was fair, Miss Bourgeois?"

Expecting a litany of excuses from the blonde, accompanied by an exaggerated eye-roll and a quick phone call to you-know-who to sort everything out, Mendeleiev was instead greeted by a hesitant, timid figure, slowly getting to her feet, and just saying one simple word while staring into the distance: "S-sorry..."

The chemistry teacher was so shocked at this diffident response, she almost toppled down again. Never, in all of her years of attempting to tutor this unspeakably unpleasant individual, had she ever heard her apologise for a single thing.

This earth-shattering incident, combined with her first proper glimpse at the 'new' Chloe Bourgeois, no make up, scraggy clothes and all, was enough to send the usually unflappable staff member into a confused tizzy.

"I-it's okay dear. Y-you run along to class..." Mendeleiev found herself saying. Clearly, if the girl was this haplessly compliant, and running around wearing that kind of an outfit, she had far greater things to worry about than a meeting with Mr Damocles.

"T...thanks." Chloe was once again unfailingly polite, as she nodded at the chemistry teacher, before making her way back to her homeroom at a snail's pace, just as the bell rang to indicate the end of recess.

Mendeleiev watched her go with real curiosity, wondering if perhaps this was some kind of bizarre practical joke, or if things at the Bourgeois household really were as bad as they seemed. Well, there's only one way to find out..., she mused, walking back to her own classroom to waste more of her valuable life trying to teach hopeless dunderheads the periodic table, I'll do a little digging later...

...

"Alya!" Miss Bustier's voice rang out clearer than a foghorn as she read out the next name destined to spend time with Dupont's own riches-to-rags princess.

Everyone had just arrived back from break, but the ongoing situation with Chloe was all they could talk about during their brief sabbatical. Once again, as with Kim, all eyes fell on the next in line, seated near her best friend Marinette, for the instant reaction. Surely, considering her loyalties, they all thought, it won't be a very good one...

Quite the contrary. "Yes!" Alya jumped up and punched the air, before glancing down at a bemused Marinette, almost as if she knew how surprised her bestie would be at the reporter's apparent jubilation.

Alya went to whisper something in the pigtailed girl's ear, before Marinette's expression changed from bewilderment, to understanding, and she reciprocated with a nod.

Even though the reporter's enthusiasm had seemingly been clarified for Marinette, the rest of the class remained in the dark, and could only watch with amazement as Alya eagerly rushed over to Chloe's desk, grabbed her by the hand and told her in a no-nonsense tone: "You're coming with me!"

With little choice but to obey, the heiress found herself being led out outside, with a concerned-looking Sabrina wondering if she should stop them, before realising there was little she could do. It was 'teacher's orders', after all.

Miss Bustier still had one final question, though: "Alya, where are you taking Chloe? This isn't going to be another Kim situation, is it? I'm still waiting for him to get back..."

"Don't worry, Miss..." Alya turned briefly to answer, while still holding her future victim in a firm grip. "There's an empty classroom across the corridor. We'll be in there the entire time. You have my word we won't be stepping one foot outside. For what I've got planned, we won't need to."

"Oh." Miss Bustier scratched the back of her head. That sounded rather ominous. Chloe obviously agreed, and shot the teacher a terrified help me look as she was dragged away.

No fortuitous rescue was forthcoming, though. Her fate was sealed, and only the curly haired girl in front knew what lay ahead.

...

"Sit. Now." Alya's commanding tone left no room for doubt. She was the one in control, and Chloe was merely the puppet on her strings.

The blonde meekly adhered to the reporter's request, pulling up a chair and resting her arms on the table. Meanwhile, Alya seemed to be struggling to calibrate some kind of app on her phone, a sight which Chloe regarded with envy.

I remember when I had a phone, she reminisced, wondering if perhaps she behaved reasonably during today's sessions with her classmates, Zzubo may deign to return it to her later that evening. She felt incomplete without it, and the impact of having the device confiscated (which her father had never thought of) seemed to be influencing her thinking... and behaviour.

"We're good to go!" Alya's proclamation quickly drew Chloe out of her daydream, as the heiress felt a mobile shoved under her mouth courtesy of one nosy reporter. "I'm here today with Miss Chloe Bourgeois, daughter of the mayor, at College Dupont. She usually thinks she's the number one story in the city anyway, but this might be the one time she's actually right! Chloe, I was wondering if you'd be up for answering a few questions... for your dedicated fans, naturally?"

The heiress couldn't help but notice the blatantly unsubtle sarcasm the sassy reporter employed, but accepted regardless. "Fine, fine..." She sighed, thinking that things couldn't get much worse anyway. "As long as none of this ends up on that stupid blog of yours. I am entitled to some privacy, you know..."

"Sure, of course..." Alya grinned, making sure to cross her fingers behind her back. "Let's begin, shall we? Why are you dressed like one of us 'common folk' today? Why do you have your hair in bunches like Marinette? What's with the cosmetic-free face? What's your problem with Sabrina and Adrien at the moment? Why aren't you as argumentative as you normally are? Have you got a twin sister, who's secretly taken your place?!"

Chloe suddenly snapped to attention at that last question, and glared at Alya with barely disguised contempt. "Twin sister? That has to be the dumbest theory I've ever heard!"

Alya shrugged her shoulders upon hearing the blonde's firm denial. "It would explain an awful lot if you had. The others have even concieved a name for her... Amber."

"Amber?!" Chloe wondered sometimes about how delusional her peers really were. "Where do you people come up with this stuff? Online? I mean, really..."

"Well, I guess that's a firm 'no' on that one, then..." Alya spoke into her phone once more. "Still, that doesn't answer why you've suddenly taken to attending classes looking like a scarecrow, and falling out with your only two friends. Come on Chloe, you can trust me. I promise any information you share today will be just between us, and a few carefully selected paying subscribers..."

"Cut the baloney, Alya. I know how the media works. My Daddykins has had more than a few run-ins with the press in the past, and you can't believe a word they say." Chloe was not impressed at all by Alya's fake sympathy act. "Besides, you're the last person I'd expect to give me a fair hearing. You hate my guts. Are you going to deny that, Miss Truth-In-Journalism?"

Realising that the heiress had called her bluff and successfully painted her as somewhat of a hypocrite, Alya swiftly paused her recording app. What she had to say was strictly off-record. "Can you blame me? Every day, you bully the people I care about, especially my best friend. Nearly everyone in the class has been akumatised thanks to you at some stage. Sure, it makes for a good scoop, but I'd rather have no exclusives at all if it meant a few days of peace from your tyranny. Do you have any idea the amount of damage you cause, when you're so mean and selfish to everyone...?"

What stopped Alya for a moment in the middle of her tirade wasn't a cutting remark or a nasty insult from Chloe, but rather the heiress's face. Is... she actually listening? The reporter wondered, noting the usually abrasive blonde's complete silence, coupled with her ashen face. Well, if that is the case, time to take advantage of this rare opportunity. She took a deep breath, and prepared to deliver a speech straight from the heart.

"When you almost got me suspended from school for a week, do you have any idea how upset I was? Before I was transformed into Lady Wi-Fi, I almost did something I haven't since the death of my father: I cried. And, for what? Taking a picture of the inside of your locker? How does that constitute breaking and entering?! It was yet another example of Little Miss Spoiled Brat pushing her weight around, for a totally unjustified punishment. I can't believe I ever thought you were Ladybug! What on Earth was I thinking..."

"I know... I know..." Chloe's response was merely two words repeated over and over again, and she may have been stating them as a mantra to keep Alya's home truths out of her head.

Nevertheless, the lack of any name-calling or aggression from her interviewee was still a major surprise to Alya, who much to her chagrin, was began to feel some non-reporter related concern for the reticient blonde. "Chloe... are you okay?"

"No, I'm not..." she almost laughed out loud at how easy the answer to that question was. "Look, just ask your dumb questions again already, okay? I've already sunk so low... it would be impossible for me to sink any lower."

Upon hearing this rather tragic confession, Alya scrutinised the blonde carefully, almost as if she was searching for any sign of a trick, or other indications of duplicity. Apparently, she didn't find any, because the next thing Chloe knew was seeing the phone put away, and Alya was giving her a half-smile from across the table.

"W-what's going on?" Chloe was understandably quite perplexed. She had been expecting the third degree from Alya, and in her current fragile state, would probably have answered any searching question, no matter how personal. She could have been ruined.

"Let's just say, unlike you, I have a conscience..." Alya's comment may have sounded like she insulted the blonde, but there was no real malice there. "I can tell you're in pretty bad shape now, for whatever reason. It would be unfair for me to take advantage of that, and get you to reveal things that you wouldn't normally tell me. If you're up for another interview when you feel better, that's fine. But I won't stoop to the level of some of those tabloids your Dad seems to have had bad experiences with, just to win my first Pulitzer."

"A-Alya..." Chloe couldn't believe a how much gratitude she felt for the girl sitting in front of her. She might be her worst enemy's best friend, and be second only to Max in the Dupont geek factor, but she really felt that she owed the reporter one. Or several, definitely.

"Hey, don't get all emotional on me..." Alya began to look slightly uncomfortable, as she saw a few tears start to develop in the heiress's eyes. "It's so totally not you. I would have done the same for anyone, and don't think this changes anything between us. I still think you're 'the worst' for what you've put us all through the last year. Whatever you're going through, doesn't justify all the horrible things you've done..."

"Yeah, whatever..." Chloe tried to brush off Alya's words with her innate sense of smug superiority, but for some reason, today she had no defense against them, and they stung. Badly. She suddenly felt a strange obligation to give something back to the reporter... to make this awful churning in the pit of her stomach go away. But what could she possibly...

"Anyway, if you want..." Alya spoke, while Chloe was brainstorming madly. "I can just sit here quietly and do my coursework for the rest of our session. If I finish it now, maybe I can actually spend some time with my Mom when she finishes work late, as opposed to just kissing her goodnight before... oops, why am I telling you this? It's almost like we were becoming friends! Yeah, like that's ever going to happen! I'll have to tell Mari about this later, she'll get a real kick out of it!"

Alya let out a small chuckle, but one that left a giant impression on Chloe's suddenly beating heart. She was even more determined now, to find a way to make things up to the reporter. She racked her brain desperately for a way to alleviate this terribly unfamiliar feeling of guilt that hung around her neck like a noose. What to do, what to do...

Suddenly, it all became clear, and Chloe smiled broadly for virtually the first time that day. "Alya, your mother works at my Daddy's hotel as head chef, does she not?"

Surprised at the heiress's jovial tone, Alya looked up from her textbook to regard her questioner with interest. "You know she does, but what about it?"

"First of all, you should know... her puff pastry is the best!" The compliment just spilled out. Chloe didn't mean to say it, Alya couldn't believe she'd heard it, but there it was.

The reporter was so shocked she dropped her pencil so it snapped in two on the floor, as Chloe blushed a little while attempting to compose herself. "A-anyway, I was just thinking. It sounds like you don't get to spend a lot of time with her, so how about I have a word in my Daddy's ear, and arrange for her to have a few weeks off, with full pay? Is there anything you've wanted to do with her, but never had the chance?"

Somehow, in her confounded state, Alya managed to respond. "W-we've been meaning to take a trip to Martinique, where my father was born, for quite a while, but never had the chance. T-the money's there, but we've both been so busy..."

"No trouble at all!" Chloe's warm grin continued to beguile Alya, who began to think she was in a remake of The Twilight Zone. "I'll talk to him first thing after I get home from school today. I'm pretty sure I can sort it out for you, I can be very persuasive with him when I want to be..."

"Why are you doing this?" Alya's initial amazement was now being replaced by mild skepticism, as her natural reporter's instinct began to kick in. "What do you have to gain from it? There's bound to be some ulterior motive, it's impossible for a person as self-centred as you to go from so absorbed, to completely generous. There must be an angle somewhere I haven't seen..."

Chloe sighed in frustration. She could understand Alya's trepidation perfectly, considering all the evidence of her past behaviour. She could barely believe how altruistic she was being herself. "B-because, I know what it's like to have a parent you love, t-that you hardly ever see." She found herself gently sobbing all of a sudden. "I-I lost my Mommy a while ago, a-and my Daddy is always busy. S-so, if I can help someone else in a similar situation, I-I want to take that chance..."

All of Alya's doubts and cynicism faded in an instant upon hearing those heartfelt words and noticing Chloe's teary reaction to them, and the reporter found herself doing something she thought she never would: Embracing Chloe Bourgeois, the scourge of the school, the bane of her life for so, so, long, in a warm hug.

"Thank you..." she whispered into the heiress's ear.

"Hey, anything for a fellow Ladybug fan..." Chloe laughed, feeling an unexpected sense of joy. Who thought, that giving something away for nothing, could feel so good?

They held each other for a few more seconds, before Alya pulled away and regarded the blonde with interest. "I've got another question for you... and this one is strictly off the record..."

"Oh, no..." Chloe grunted in annoyance. She knew this was too good to be true.

"No, no... it's nothing bad..." Alya put her hands up to reassure the heiress. "I just gotta know... why can't you be this cool all the time ? I mean, you'd have so many more friends... even Marinette might start to like you..."

"Ugh, don't even mention that name... " Despite her feelings towards Alya thawing considerably, she was a long way from being on good terms with the reporter's bestie. "It's a long and complicated tale, that I'd rather not get into now. Can't we just change the subject?"

"Oh, okay..." Alya had no idea how deep the animosity between the two ran over the years, and she didn't think she was going to find that out today. "So, anyway. Tell me a bit about yourself. I mean, I already know you're a stuck-up, spoiled little brat. But why don't you try and convince me there's more to you than that? I'd say you've made a pretty good start, but I'd say there was still plenty of room for improvement..."

Her glowing smile continuing to light up the room, Chloe sat down to talk to the intrepid reporter for a strictly informal chat...

And, completely unintentionally, made her first real friend for a long time...

As well as another tick in Zzubo's little notepad.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter is released early to celebrate CHLOE'S ascention to becoming the holder of the Bee Miraculous... and I won't hear a word of anyone who disagrees! :)