31. Day 3 Part 6

By the end of their session together, Chloe's formerly negative perception of Alya had well and truly been blown apart. The 'geekish' girl she'd despised for so just by mere proximity to her age-old foe Marinette, had become the most unlikely of friends.

Just by chatting for a little over an hour, it was clear how much the two females had in common. Both were sassy, strong-minded girls who loved superheroes and social media, plus there was the whole 'single parent syndrome' thing going on.

All this would never have been possible, if it wasn't for the undesired intervention of one pesky little kwami, who forced the heiress to broaden her horizons and engage with people she'd formerly stuck her nose up at. I owe Zzubo that much, I suppose, the blonde conceded in her mind, but I'm far less likely to forgive her for taking away my entire wardrobe and my poor, poor phone...

Nevertheless, what was done, was done. Like it or not, Chloe had formed an extremely strong bond with Alya, and even though the heiress knew that this would make things extremely awkward regarding Marinette, it was something she was just going to have to work around.

She liked Alya. She wanted to spend time with Alya. And no pugnacious pig-tailed pipsqueak was going to stop her from doing that.

Alya though, had a concern of her own. "Listen..." she'd told Chloe, while holding both of the blonde's hands and staring at her with the utmost seriousness. " It's cool that we've gotten to know each other properly now, and I've actually discovered you have a soul beneath those countless layers of make-up you used to wear, but there's a small problem..."

Oh no, here we go, Chloe internally sighed, thinking she knew exactly what prevailing issue would be raised next. "Listen, if it's about Maritrash, I regret to say there's no chance of us ever getting along. One day, I'll tell you the whole sorry saga, but for now I'd like you to accept my wishes, and not try to put pressure on me..."

"What?" Alya looked confused for a moment, before understanding reached her eyes. "No, no. That's not it at all. Obviously Mari will be surprised at us becoming friends and junk, but knowing her as I do, I think she'll be fine with it. Also, I'm not going to force you to hang out with her, after all, we're entitled to pick who we socialise with. It's something else..."

"Oh?" Chloe looked at the reporter with a raised eyebrow, wondering what could be bothering her.

"I don't generally like being around bullies..." Alya's face seemed resolute, and she gripped the heiress's palms tighter.

"What?" Chloe's heart sank for a moment, when she realised who was being referenced. "Is that all? Well, you don't have to worry about me picking on you anymore. I would never do that to my friends..."

"Oh yeah? I saw the way you treated Sabrina..." Alya scowled, trying to get through to the blonde. "And I can tell you right now, you won't get away with that kind of crud with me! Either we're equal partners in this friendship, or you can just forget it!"

"Fine, fine..." Chloe rolled her eyes at this kind-of threat, before deciding to make a confession. "But you'll have to help me, because I'm not sure how..."

Like someone popping a bubble, all of Alya's silent anger died upon hearing that. "Oh, Chloe..." the reporter said, smiling sadly. "Is that really true? You've never learned how to be nice to another person, so they'd like you in return?"

"W-well, there was Adrien, but that was a long time ago, when my mother was s-still..." Chloe stammered, fidgeting in her seat. She wasn't used to being this open, but for some reason she felt she could tell Alya anything. Maybe that's what Maritrash sees in her, she pondered to herself.

"That's so sad, Chloe..." Alya looked morose for a moment, before a look of determination lit up her face. "... And we're going to do something about it! Starting from today, I'm going to be your official tutor in how to treat others! I know exactly what your first step is going to be. too..."

"W-wait just a minute..." Chloe felt things were moving a bit too fast. "You can't just..."

"You won't bully anyone else, anymore!" Ignoring the blonde's hesitancy, she took away one of her hands from Chloe's own, to waggle a finger in the heiress's face. "You don't have to like them, but the least you can do is be civil. Would you be willing to try doing that, for me?"

"For you?" Chloe realised that if she said no, it might wreck the budding new friendship she'd formed with the reporter, and that was the last thing she wanted. Plus, considering her current circumstances, she was in no fit state to lord it over anyone else regardless. "...Okay, I'll give it a try, I suppose. It's gonna be hard, though..."

"Remember, as a journalist, I have eyes and ears everywhere, so if you're lying to me, I'll find out about it..." Alya warned her new friend, unintentionally sounding like a certain dictative bee kwami in the process. "Also, by everyone, I mean everyone..."

Chloe suddenly snapped to attention, her eyes wide open and her mouth agape. "Even...?"

Alya nodded, smirking from ear to ear. "Yep, even Marinette, and don't call her 'Maritrash' from now on, either. That's a dealbreaker. Do we have an agreement, Ms Bourgeois?"

Chloe was desperate to say 'no', but unlike the previous day with Sabrina's ultimatum, there was no hesitation this time in accepting the reporter's terms.

The fact was, she needed Alya around. Not only were the pair getting along like a house on fire, the heiress's circle of friends had now diminished to a magical bug and her own father, so she couldn't exactly afford to be too picky.

"Oh, all right..." Chloe went to shake Alya's hand, as befits a formal business agreement.

"Er... what are you doing?" Alya glanced down at Chloe's outstretched palm, then back at the blonde herself.

"Well, now that we've reached a common understanding..." the heiress explained. "This is how we seal the deal. My Daddy taught me that..."

Chloe was not prepared for the uproarious laughter emitted by Alya at that stage, watching on in bemusement at the reporter holding her sides with undisguised merriment.

When the hysteria faded about a minute later, Chloe regarded Alya with annoyance and a little disdain. "What was all that in aid of?"

"Oh, Chloe..." Alya broadly grinned, wiping a stray tear away. "You have so much to learn. Fortunately, you have an excellent teacher right here. Come over here, I'll demonstrate. Think of this as your first lesson. This is how true friends react when they agree on something important..."

With that cryptic remark, Chloe found herself firmly locked in a bear hug that nearly took the wind out of her sails. The heiress's eyes darted around in confusion for a moment, but she soon eased into the embrace and returned it, surprised at how comfortable she felt.

Wow... She thought happily, as Alya's curly hair tickled her nose. If the men in suits at my Daddy's boring meetings did more of this, maybe they wouldn't look so cross all the time..."

...

So it was, when the allotted ninety minutes was concluded, the entire class took their noses out of their geography books to stare in amazement at the former foes, now close friends, strolling inside hand in hand.

Even Miss Bustier almost fell off her chair at the sight of the girls getting on so well, her plan seemingly working beyond her wildest expectations. Fortunately, she managed to compose herself, even if inside she was dancing with joy.

"S-sit down ladies, and we'll see who's next on the agenda for Chloe..." The educator addressed the two new arrivals as they seperated, both giving each other a wink and a wave as they made their way to their usual seating assignments.

As expected, Marinette was quite shocked when she saw how easily her bestie and her worst enemy were interacted, but after Alya had a little word in her ear to explain things, it was like she couldn't have been happier. She even looked pleasantly over in Chloe's general direction, with Adrien, who had also been eavesdropping, giving the heiress a thumbs up.

Needless to say, both actions were treated with callous scorn by Chloe, who simply humphed and turned around to face Sabrina, who had an odd look on her face. The redhead was glancing back and forth between the heiress and Alya, with an expression that was a mixture of stupefaction, consternation and... jealousy?

Sabrina looked like she wanted to say something to accompany her piercing glares, but before she could utter a syllable...

"Lila!" Came the sudden call from Miss Bustier.

Uh Oh...

AUTHOR'S NOTE: A lil update for y'all, before some more major drama goes down. Hope you enjoyed the calm before the storm... ;)