69. Day 5 Part 7

"SABRINA!" Chloe charged into the classroom like a rampaging tornado as soon as her time with Nino had elapsed, desperate to talk to the bespectacled girl who's name she'd just yelled out so vehemently at the top of her lungs.

There was no sign of the studious teenager currently though, her seat next to the heiress's lying vacant for now, as the rest of the class stared open-mouthed at Chloe's somewhat unsubtle entrance.

There was the sound of a faint oof coming from underneath the door however, which Chloe had almost snapped off its hinges in her boundless zeal to enter. Someone was behind there before her bombastic arrival, and the poor unsuspecting victim was probably as flat as a pancake now.

Now, the old Chloe might have rolled her eyes and said it was their own fault for getting in the way of her 'glorious' return, before sashaying back to her chair without a care in the world.

The new Chloe on the other hand, was beside herself with guilt and as attentive as anything, pushing the door aside quickly and determined to aid the unfortunate soul in any way she could. How times change, eh?

"I-I'm so sorry. I-I was careless and thoughtless…" Chloe spluttered in a genuine apology, before she'd even seen who the injured party was. "I-It's just I was very eager to talk to someone, a-and I guess in my haste I-I d-didn't…"

"You? Sorry?! Hmph! That'll be the day! The only reason you're apologising now is because everyone else is watching! You know I usually go to the toilet at around this time, and you planned this so-called 'accident' all along, didn't you? Well, your little scheme worked! Congratulations! Bet you feel all smug."

Chloe's eyes widened considerably upon hearing the unmistakable voice, and what felt like a nuclear explosion went off in her head. Oh no, out of all the people I could've done this to, why did it have to be…

Yup, it was indeed a very dazed and extremely angry Sabrina Raincomprix sitting prostrate on the floor, with a nice ostrich egg-sized lump on her forehead and a broken glasses lens to boot, too. If it'll been Chloe's wish to turn her ex-bestie against her even more, she'd succeeded admirably at her job.

Otherwise… well, let's be charitable and call it a 'complete disaster'.

Chloe's panicky calls of 'Oh my God, I had no idea." and "Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?" fell on deaf ears, as Sabrina purposefully slapped away Chloe's futile attempts to help her up, and staggered to her feet into the corridor.

She might need medical attention in the future, but for now her first priority remained her very full bladder.

Having emerged into the room with a 'bang' in the worst possible way, Chloe grinned sheepishly as she made her way back to her desk, all manner of eyes trained directly on her.

She'd no idea how hostile the reaction from her fellow classmates would be to the incident they'd all just witnessed, lacking the 'bottle' as she did to gaze up at any of their expressions.

All she knew is that she was going to have to try even harder to make amends with the understandably peeved Sabrina now, especially in light of what Nino had just…

"Hey Chloe, are you okay?" There then came a whispered question from Adrien that interrupted the heiress's anxious musings, and she reluctantly turned her head to face him.

Fortunately, he didn't look too upset at what he'd just seen… and neither, more shockingly, did Nino, who'd just retaken his seat next to Adrien a few minutes earlier.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine…" replied Chloe in a slightly shaken voice. "Y-You've gotta believe me Adrien, it was a total accident. T-There's no way I'd have done something like that intentionally, especially with someone I'm so desperate to patch things up wit…"

"It's okay, I would have believed you anyway." Adrien told Chloe without hesitation to put her fears to rest. "But I'm even more certain of your innocence, after my man Nino here filled me in on a few of the details of your meeting with him. It was just one of those things that happened, that's all. We'll help get Sabrina to understand, so try not to worry about a thing."

The sight of both her childhood friend giving her his predictable one-hundred percent backing, and even Nino nodding slightly to confirm his own support for this optimistic initiative moving forward warmed the heiress's heart, and she gave both teenage boys the most luminous of megawatt smiles.

Nino, somewhat unused to the formerly malicious Chloe doing anything other than scowling and smirking, seemed somewhat taken aback by this unfamiliar warping of her usual features, while Adrien just took it as further proof that his old friend was coming back to stay, and if anything, matched her huge grin for pure toothiness.

"Well, I'm glad at least two of you are happy to be at school. Maybe, if you could also show your enthusiasm in terms of actually paying a blind bit of attention to what I'm lecturing about, it'll be even better. I know a lot of you don't think that the proper use of adjectives will be useful, but in the unlikely event any of you are foolish enough to become an English teacher like me when you're older... well, I hope your pupils listen more intently than mine are now. And save wisely, as I'm not exactly earning a fortune here."

Upon hearing the somewhat jokey but simultaneously deadly serious tones of Miss Bustier reverberate around the classroom, all three students abruptly abandoned their clandestine meeting to turn and face her.

Chloe in particular spun about at light speed… she'd already accrued a double detention for previous misdeeds, she didn't want that to escalate into a school sleepover. Because like, that would be the lamest thing ever.

Despite her deadset obligation to return to the lesson plan now though, Miss Bustier's eyes seemed trained on Chloe's own for a split second, almost as if the member of staff was weighing something up carefully in her head.

It made Chloe somewhat nervous, until Miss Bustier returned to blathering on about who-cares-what without missing a beat. A curious look had flashed across the grown-up's face though, and even the heiress, as preoccupied as she was with her numerous current predicaments, hadn't missed it.

Chloe couldn't dwell on that or indeed anything else for much longer however, as at that precise moment Sabrina decided to return, although with noticeably less energy than Chloe had mustered before.

If everyone in attendance didn't know any better, they'd think she wasn't in any hurry to deposit herself next to the girl who'd just almost given her concussion and busted up her favourite pair of glasses! Really, who could even believe such a thing?!

"Sigh, more interruptions…" Miss Bustier commented, stopped in her prime once again. "But I must say Sabrina, I'm surprised to see you back so soon. Wouldn't it have been a good idea to see the school nurse, considering the nature of your injuries? You do not need my permission to do that, you know. After all, I don't want your father getting angry at me if you suddenly collapse in class. He has the ability to arrest me, remember?"

"I-I'll be okay, Miss." Sabrina responded uncertainly to Miss Bustier, who was in rare form today. "I just have to sit down for a minute or two, and I'll be fine. Honest."

"Hmm, and how are you supposed to read the board with that cracked pair of spectacles you've got on, might I ask?" Miss Bustier noted with skepticism, also spotting a small amount of tissue paper on Sabrina's shoe trailing her wherever she walked. "No, no. I think it would be for the best all round if we gave you a break from lessons, and sent you off to Mrs Binoche for a bit of a check-up. Now, who can I send to go with you to make sure you get there in one piece? Hmm…"

Chloe realised too late the hidden motivation behind the sneaky teacher's plan, and she wasn't quite ready for that particular confrontation yet. Before she could as so much utter one syllable in protest though, the decision had already been made for her.

"...Why, Miss Bourgeois of course! And Chloe, what do you know? You haven't had your scheduled ninety minute session with Sabrina yet! We might as well bring it forward to right now, and while you're both at the infirmary, it'll give you ample time to air out your grievances to each other and hopefully rekindle the great friendship you once had! Don't think I haven't seen the pair of you wanting to speak to the other girl for the last few days, almost but not quite managing it. Well, guess what? This is the ideal opportunity! Go on, off with the two of you. Whatever work Sabrina misses she can take home with her tonight, and Chloe can finish off hers during her detention later on. Just to put your mind at ease that I haven't forgotten about it. Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, the multitudes of unknown differences that exist between 'flammable' and 'inflammable'..."

Sabrina or Chloe might have argued against being railroaded into this unsatisfactory arrangement, but Miss Bustier had already moved on, and the lady was not for turning.

"I guess we're stuck with each other, Chloe." Sabrina made sure she pronounced her former friend's name with the maximum amount of bile. "Come on, let's just get this over and done with. I'd hate to cut into your precious 'me' time. Oh sorry, I forgot... that's all day, every day, isn't it?!"

"S-Sabrina…" choked Chloe in earnest, realising just what a tough task she had in explaining herself to the redhead.

Looking around for inspiration, she stole a glance up to where Adrien sat, and his confident thumbs up (along with Rose's little wave from the sidelines) proved just enough to stop her from stampeding back to her chair and supergluing her butt to the plastic seat.

Meanwhile, Sabrina's eyes were also trained elsewhere… at a certain Italian brunette positioned in the far end of the classroom. Lila simply gave her a telling wink, which was apparently all the encouragement Sabrina needed to go on her merry way.

Following closely behind en route to the clinic, Chloe patted her bag gently, as if the mere thought of her precious kwami silently urging her on could give her added strength. Well, this is it, Zzubo. It's now or never. Wish me luck… I'm definitely going to need it.