54. Day 4 Part 9

There comes a time in many of our lives when we just wish the ground would crack under our feet, depositing us in a convenient underground chasm so we could avoid the snickers and sneers of those around us, due to some mortifying event we wish had never occurred.

This was now the predicament that now faced once-snob Chloe Bourgeois-Marigold, as she desperately tried to sink under her desk as much as humanly possible, without either falling off her chair or incurring the wrath of Miss Bustier.

Her new deskmate Adrien alternated his looks between glancing down at his scarlet-faced childhood friend, who now resembled a toddler in an adult seat, and giving his gleefully tittering classmates around him some distinctly un-Agreste like evil glares.

Unfortunately, with the honourable exception of Nino and Marinette who respected his wishes, and the few that were actually on her side like Mylene and Ivan (Alix was joining in, just to keep up appearences, while Lila was strangely absent) these didn't prove very effective to Chloe's cause. The quiet mocking continued unabated from the majority of the class, and the heiress seemed to shrink ever-deeper from view.

The teasing was of course, in reference to Chloe's 'shameless' public display a little earlier, in a yellow and black one-piece that had all the tongues in the classroom wagging, hairy feet notwithstanding. Maybe she'd managed to avoid the ignominy of actually having her explicitly compressed frame pasted over the Internet, but enough people had seen her earlier swimsuit shenanigans so that she wouldn't live down the experience for a long time.

Oh, if only you were with me now, Zzubo... Chloe lamented, while strumming her fingers over the teeth of her precious comb. Where are you, and how did this precious item end up in the middle of the lost-and-found department? I need you now more than ever, but you're gone. Thank goodness I made amends with Adrien, or now I'd truly be all alone...

She looked upwards appreciatively at the teen model, who returned her gaze with a simple friendly nod, before he turned his attention back to defending her against the jeering masses. Chloe followed his gaze as it suddenly switched from anger to infatuation... and ended up so terse afterwards, she almost drew blood from clenching her comb so hard.

For it was none other than Dupain-in-the-neck-Cheng that he seemed so dazzled by, to the heiress's detriment of course. Not that she felt for him in that way anymore, her valuable interactions with the much-missed kwami had helped her be more honest with herself... and one thing she quickly learned is that her feelings for Adrien were strictly those that a sister might have for a male sibling. Which definitely was platonic and not romantic love, the latter would be just creepy.

Chloe still deeply resented the bluenette for 'stealing' precious time that Adrien could be spending with her however, and tried to visualise just what the model could see in this childhood friend-stealing loser. She brings a few fattening pastries to school to make everyone obese, pokes her nose into other people's problems constantly and trips over all the time like a total clown, yet people fall (no pun intended) for her wherever she goes. I just don't get it...

Chloe thought back to her first day at this dump, when her now main-rival had callously decided to steal all her potential friends by bribing them with junk food, Sabrina being an honourable exception. Then, after meeting her big brute of a dad and proportionately tiny mother and telling some funny jokes about them, cowardly custard Maritrash had the audacity to set her father on the pre-teen heiress. Thank goodness Daddykin's bodyguard had been there, or that musclebound moron might have ripped me to shreds.

Something had concerned her a bit though, as the limousine had pulled away from the scene of her 'triumph'. In an uncharacteristic display of bravado possibly to defend her parents, Marinette had shaken off her lethargy to shout one word after the retreating posh vehicle: "Racist". At the time, Chloe had just laughed it off as the incoherent witterings of an idiot, and the mayor had reassured her that no-one was less prejudiced than his little princess.

Now though... she thought back to the aftermath of when Marinette's uncle was in town, when she'd crudely been left dangling over a pit of boiling soup after justifiably sabotaging his recipe for the competition. When she'd hilariously mocking his inability to make sushi, and pretended that he spoke Japanese instead of Chinese, the chef who clearly had no sense of humour whatsoever was dumb enough to get akumatised. Of course, Ladybug saved the day, her good self was unceremoniously kicked off the judging panel afterwards to preserve the contest's reputation, and blah blah blah.

No, what truly troubled her about that particularly incident was contained in a little chat she'd had with Adrien later on. She'd invited him round to the hotel afterwards for her usual moanathan about how he was always siding with 'that clumsy freak' over his beautiful childhood friend, and when was he was going to realise that 'they were made for each other'. Perhaps, after five or six akumatisations that she'd been directly responsible for, she'd finally pushed the mild-mannered model too far. Maybe, he was just having a bad day. Either way, something caused him to snap, and what followed now just existed as a rough transcript in Chloe's mind, but one which was pretty close to reality.

...

Chloe: (in the middle of a rant) "...You're always carrying her books, saying nice things about her, waiting for her when she arrives at school in the morning... I could go on! If I didn't know any better, I'd think..."

Adrien: (sighs) "Chloe. I know you'll never believe this because I've told you like a thousand times already, but there's nothing between us. She's just a good friend, that's all. Kind of like you used to be, before..."

Chloe: (outraged) "How dare you imply that I'm not a 'good friend', Adrikins! I hug and kiss you all the time, I make giant posters with your face on to hang on my wall, I even agreed to star in that stupid play directed by that four-eyed geek so we could get closer together. How can you possibly think..."

Adrien: (on the verge of facepalming) "Manipulation, Chloe. That sums up everything you've just described. You shower me with forced affection, when you know I don't feel about you that way. You got me to sign that giant poster, over a lie about a hamster charity. I still can't believe I fell for that one. As for the play, I can't tell you how disgusted I was when you insulted Mylene to her face, and she ran off crying. I think that was the point I realised you'd changed almost beyond recognition. I must have been in denial until that very moment: You'd become such a horrible bully..."

Chloe: (In tears) "H-how can you say those horrible things to me, Adrikins?! After all those times I helped comfort you when your father was extra strict, and we hid under my blanket talking together until the sun came up? When we watched the stars appear at night, and you promised we'd be together forever? I thought after we were reunited, and you saw how much I run things around this pathetic excuse for a school, you'd fall head-over-heels for me all over again. D-Don't you like this new, improved, confident me?"

Adrien: (answering sharply) "No I don't, Chloe. Also, what you see as the 'new, improved, confident' you, I see as the 'sicker, twisted, nastier' you. Over the last few months, I've seen you ridicule and pick on so many people, even when you know Hawk Moth is on the loose and can strike at a moment's notice. You've put the lives of everyone else at risk, and created so much extra work for Ladybug and Cat Noir, I'd be surprised if they'd get a day off at all. N-Not that I'd know about that, of course..."

Chloe: (continuing to cry) "W-What's the matter with you, Adrien? You've never spoken to me like this before! It's that bitch Maritrash, isn't it?! Putting those awful ideas in your innocent head about me... stopping you from being my boyfriend. Y-You just wait 'til I'm finished with her, she won't have two crusts to rub together!"

Adrien: (getting cross) "You'll leave her be! What I'm telling you right now is precisely because I'm your friend, and I'm only being honest with you. I know things have been tough since the accident, but if you keep on alienating those around you, I'm afraid to see what lies ahead in the future. Do you really want to be all by yourself, sitting on a big heap of money? Because that's what's going to happen, if you keep this petulant act up."

Chloe: (unable to say too much through her sobs) "W-Well, I'll still have you, won't I, A-Adrikins?!"

Adrien:(trying to get through to her) "I-I just don't know, Chloe... I can't take a lot more of this. I don't even think Sabrina will stick around in the long run, a dog will only tolerate so much whipping before it runs from it's mistress. I knew things were bad with you, but I genuinely thought you could change. After today though... I'm not so sure."

Chloe: (scowling, while drying her eyes) "What are you talking about? I was only putting that stupid cook in his proper place. How he won the main prize I don't know, obviously the panel was lost without my expert guidance. After all, anyone related to Maritrash has got to be nothing but..."

Adrien: (finally at the end of his tether) "Ever heard of a little thing called 'racism', Chloe? The things you said today about one of the finest chefs in the world... what possible justication could you have for that?! You know damn well the differences between Asian cultures, we've been to enough sushi restaurants together for you not to unintentionally make a mistake like that. Marinette has also implied that this isn't the first time you've acted this way around members of her family. Just what is going on with you?! Please, I want to carry on being your friend, but how could I possibly get on with... a bigot."

Chloe: (sniffling a little) "W-Well, my Daddy said that blaming immigrants every election year is one of the main reasons he keeps getting re-elected, alongside kissing babies and lots of 'secret' donations, of course. A-And Maritrash's mother and uncle kind of looks like the ones they feature on the news. S-So, if it works for him, I suppose I thought..."

Adrien: (about to blow his top) "That damn mayor again! Without Juliette's influence, he really has gone off the rails. Listen to me, Chloe... you know I don't ask you for very much, but I want you to at least grant me one simple wish. Otherwise, I'm afraid we might not be able to be friends for much longer..."

Chloe: (ready to get on her knees and beg) "Oh no, Adrien! Anything but that! Please, tell me what I have to do, and I'll do it!"

Adrien:(rolling his eyes and sighing deeply) "Well, I'd rather you do it because you know it's the wrong thing to do, but I guess I'll have to take that. Please... no matter what your father says, never make remarks like you did today or you might have done in the past again. You can carry on being as snobbish and conceited as you like, but today you crossed a line. I'm also doing this for your own good. You don't have to copy your dad in everything he does, you know..."

Chloe: (not really listening to the last part) "Yes! Yes! I'll do it! Thank you, Adrikins, for showing me the error of my ways! Now, how about a nice, long hug..."

Adrien: (Grateful that she's listened, though disheartened that the implications haven't sunk in) "...No. I'm going to leave now, and hope that my words have had some effect. I know you can be better than this, Chloe. I just hope one day you realise that yourself."

Chloe: (a few seconds after Adrien has left) Damn that Maritrash. I know she's behind this rebellion, no matter what my dear, loving, charmingly naive boyfriend thinks. I better keep him sweet though by obeying his wish, or I might just lose him forever. Not very likely, but I'm not taking any chances. Now, where's that useless servant with my cappuccino... if it's one centigrade too hot or not frothy enough, he's in the dole queue first thing tomorrow morning."

...

Her past conduct, once a reliable source of much hilarity for Chloe, now bought nothing but shame and embarassment to her psyche. The way she'd flung herself at the unwilling Adrien at every possible opportunity, almost prostituting herself in the process, was extremely unnerving, and proved how starved of love and affection she'd truly been. Only the timely arrival of Zzubo had managed to stem the twin tides of depression and worthlessness, and now, she was missing. The heiress dread to think how much she'd deteriorate if she never saw her cherished kwami again. She would rather die than return to the horror as envisaged in her flashback just now...

Even worse than the rudeness were the accusations of racism, which stood out because when Adrien made them, he'd looked as mad as she'd ever seen. They were patently ridiculous, of course... Chloe hated Marinette because she was a know-it-all goody-two-shoes, who'd ruined her life from their first day at school together four years ago, not because she was 'mixed', or whatever the polite term was to describe it nowadays. That her childhood friend could even think she'd stoop so low was evidence to the depths to which she'd now sunk, and how unwise she'd been imitating her bellicose father in every little detail.

I will get better, I will... she thought bravely, suddenly lifting her head above the parapets to brave the metaphorical slings and arrows of those who continued to regard her with disdain. I'll turn my entire life around, force... oops, I mean 'convince' everyone to like me and start a brand new chapter in The Chloe Bourgeois-Marigold files. It'll be a blank page, ready to be filled with happy memories of me hanging with my new friends and saving the day in a funky costume. Of course, none of this'll be possible without Zzubo's help, which is why I've got to...

"...Nathanael!"

"Oh no, not her!

"W-What?! Oh no! Not him!"

Sadly, Chloe's penchant for daydreaming had bitten her in the hindquarters once more. As Miss Bustier drew the latest name to join Chloe's somewhat mistitled Friendship List, both of the 'lucky' winners spoke out at the same time, before looking at each other with disgust, and turning to glare at their teacher, almost as if through sheer frustration they could change their eventual fate.

Alas, nothing further could be done. The rules had been reviewed, agreed in advance, and there wasn't a single thing either party could do about the sorry situation.

It promised to be an interesting final session of the day indeed.

...

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, it's approaching the first anniversary of this fic's initial publication, and I'd like to take this moment to thank all the people who have read thus far, and have waited patiently during the few hiatuses caused by inertia and my own turbulent social life. I had no idea it was going to be this popular, and I hope to keep you all entertained until season two airs, whenever that may be.

So, here's to one of the best show's around, and all the friends I've made as a result of being a mad fangirl. Ciao! xx