38. Day 3 Part 10

When Juleka headed towards the arts & crafts room just in front of Chloe, the blonde had absolutely no idea what was going to happen next, but whatever it was she was sure that she wasn't going to relish it.

After all, despite formerly having drawers full of designer knick-knacks no doubt hand-stitched by underpaid Peruvian farmers en masse, when it came to be being creative with her own finely manicured digits, she had little more experience than a kindergartener at finger-painting.

So, whatever the darkly-attired girl had in store for the next ninety minutes was bound to be an ordeal that Chloe have to endure. Usually, the heiress would be concerned about the potential for mess on her own swanky oufit, but considering the less-than-acceptable clothes she found herself clad in that very day, she didn't think a few accidental stains would make much difference at all.

What Chloe was not expecting was to be on sat down on a hard wooden chair twiddling her thumbs, while Juleka, also reclining in one of the same standard-issue seats, faced away from her, saying and doing nothing.

This uncommunicative state of affairs in the room at that time would have been fine and dandy for Chloe just one week ago, as she doubted the purple-haired girl had much in common with a finely-bred lady like herself, anyway. The heiress, after all, was refined, demure and practically perfect in every single way. Juleka, on the other hand... well, let's just say if there was a coin, both girls would have been emblazoned either side of it in their dis-similarity, no question.

Right now though, despite Chloe's understandable skepticism that she'd be able to relate to Juleka on even the most basic level, the blonde was impatient for her quiet companion to utter something, anything to break the perpetual silence. After all, an hour and a half is a bit of a stretch to cope without saying a word to the sole other occupant of the room (especially for a chatty socialite, who'd spent half her life talking on the phone, before it was confiscated by a strict insectoid).

Heck, Chloe would have even accepted a crash course in making a birdhouse at that juncture, or a paper mache mug in the shape of the headmaster's owlish face. Even listening to Maritrash wittle on about how to knead dough was beginning to sound good. Now, that's desperation.

The ongoing lull in proceedings eventually made Chloe so antsy, she did something she'd barely ever done before: Initiated a conversation with someone she considered a 'lower' life form. Besides, if she didn't make a least a token effort, she was sure to have an eavesdropping Zzubo on her case later, and for some reason the thought of the bee kwami regarding her with disappointed bug eyes later far outweighed whatever misgivings she might have had from interacting with the obvious weirdo sitting with her back turned away, no doubt out of pure jealousy from her auspicious company.

"So, e-erm... " Chloe stammered, wracking her overworked brain to find an opening statement that the purple-haired head in front of her could expand upon. "I suppose you want to know why I came to school looking like a commoner today. It's a bit presumptuous of you to expect me to answer, but I suppose if you really must know, I could tell you..."

"Not really, no." Came the disinterested, blunt reply from the unwilling guest.

What?! Someone who doesn't lavish me with the attention I so clearly deserve? This is unprecedented. How dare she... Chloe couldn't believe her ears, and narrowed her eyes behind the still-unresponsive figure of Juleka. She didn't know why such dismissive treatment from such a complete non-entity bothered her so much, but it did. She decided to try something else, to hopefully get more than a mumbled, brief reply.

"You must think you're pretty special, getting to hang out with the mayor's daughter for a large chunk of the afternoon..." Chloe chuckled arrogantly, positive this time that Juleka's envy would force a response. "I know I'd be honoured, if I were in your shoes. But rest assured, this is strictly a one-time only deal. Usually I wouldn't be caught dead talking to peasants who don't meet my extremely high social standards, so why not make the most of this rare opportunity, and..."

"No thanks." That was Juleka's simply-put reply to Chloe's obsequious posturing, delivered in exactly the same deadpan tone as before. Her neck didn't move an inch, and the heiress's view of the back of the thickly purple-thatched head didn't change, either.

Chloe, despite her earlier pretensions of friendliness, began to feel rather frustrated. How dare this outcast of society treat my good self with such outright dismissal... She huffed, grinding her whitened teeth together like she was playing a mouth organ, I'm going to get a reaction out of this freako if it's the last thing I do. Even if I have to resort to doing something extraordinary...

By saying 'extraordinary', she was of course referring to a solution to the problem by Chloe standards. And, at that basic level, an apology for previous misdeameanors would certainly fit the bill.

"Look, I'm sorry for muscling you out of the way in the school picture, or whatever..." Chloe sighed while she rolled her eyes, trying to put as much disconnect between herself and her words as possible. "But remember it was Sabrina who shut you in the toilet, not me. If you want to vent at someone, do it to her. Also, my proper place was besides Adrien, regardless of what that stupid photographer said. Obviously I hate that dumb model now, but we were the same height, and our hair is a similar colour..."

As expressions of regret go, it was a little on the flimsy side, and contained almost as many excuses as remorse. Nevertheless, for someone as well-versed in proportioning blame elsewhere as Chloe clearly was, and had barely attempted to make amends for anything she'd done for years, it was a step in the right direction. At least, Juleka seemed to think so.

"Apology accepted." If she'd been surprised by Chloe's newfound 'contrition', it certainly didn't show in the monotone voice that responded, but at least Juleka's garishly dyed hair moved a little.

That's something, right?! Chloe tried to look on the up side, At least it shows what occured isn't going to affect her forever, and I didn't even have to spend ages talking with her to earn forgiveness. That was a lot easier than I thought...

"But, you know..." Juleka unexpectedly carried on, still with her back turned to the blonde. "I went home afterwards, had a long talk with my family, then a good night's sleep. The next day, I felt refreshed, relaxed and I'd already forgotten what had happened, mainly because the one I really felt sorry for is you, so maybe you should be apologising to yourself..."

"What?!" Chloe was so flabbergasted at Juleka's 'twisted' view on things, that she found herself standing up, and her feet moving of their own accord to the dark clothed girl's front, demanding answers. "T-this is some of a joke, right? I-I mean... why would you even say such a thing? C-come on, tell me!"

"Do you really want to know?" Juleka's gaze was trained on Chloe's midriff, as if she couldn't bear to look the heiress in the eye just yet. "Are you just going to cry and scream a lot like you normally do, because I have sensitive ears..."

"N-no, no, absolutely not..." Chloe attempted to calm herself a little, without much success. "N-now Juleka, care to tell me what you meant when you said 'you felt sorry for me'? I-I'd really like to know, i-if it's all the same to you, please..."

"Hmm, you must desperately want to find out... that's the first time you've ever called me by my actual first name... and I heard you say 'please'... " The shadow of a grin began to play on Juleka's lips, but she still refused to raise her head. "Maybe that thing with Alya earlier on wasn't such a fluke after all. Well then, shall I tell you...?"

"Yes, yes! Please do!" Chloe was surprised at her own enthusiasm in uncovering possible negative criticism. In the past, she would have quite happily dwelt in her own little private echo chamber of self-congratulatory acclaim, and other people's opinions simply didn't amount to a hill o' beans. In the last few days however, she'd been so used to hearing unflattering critiques leveled at her by Zzubo (who'd even known an uncomfortable amount about her going in) that being made aware of Juleka's rundown of her faults didn't seem to matter at all now.

Also, a slowly sinking sensation in her gut had begun to emerge that she could no longer ignore, which informed her in no uncertain terms that she wasn't as perfect as she liked to believe, at least not in the eyes of those around her. In order to achieve that coveted status, she'd have to learn to listen more to others and their opinions, even though what they told her would be hard to accept sometimes. It was exactly the opposite to the way her father had brought her up, to always maintain a veneer of snobby superiority at all times, even if it was just a fabrication. Slowly but surely though, she was beginning to figure out that perhaps not everything she'd been taught as a child was good advice. Not that she was ready to say that out loud, of course. Especially, to him...

"Whoa there! Settle down..." If it had been Juleka's intention to maintain a stoic appearance throughout her solo encounter with Chloe, that was instantly shattered by the small chuckle she emitted at Chloe's almost begging response. She still managed to avoid looking at the blonde head-on, although her frosty demeanor was most definitely in the first stages of thawing. "I'll let you know if you really want to hear it, I just hope you have a smile on your face by the time I've finished speaking..."

"Thank you, Juleka! It means a lot!" Chloe's relieved gratitude came as a shock to both girls, with the purple haired teenager's innocuous giggle doing wonders for Chloe's slowly raising spirits.

"Okay, but remember... you asked for this, dude. Time to get serious." Juleka briefly paused for effect, before beginning her little speech. "I saw you on the edge of the park with Sabrina, while I was having my picture taken with the rest of the class after I became Reflektor. You really wanted to come over and join us, didn't you? But, as usual, your pride got in the way, and you missed out..."

"D-don't be silly..." Chloe started glancing nervously left and right, afraid of what the implications might be if she agreed. "I-I simply didn't think that was the right environment for a person of my station in life to be professionally photographed. All those little brats running about, and dog excrement on the ground. Besides, I wasn't even allowed to choose where I was allowed to stand. You and my fellow classmates should be grateful for my mere presence..."

"See, there you go again, reverting to type..." Juleka shook her head with an audible sigh, looking like she regretted even mentioning anything. "I knew this was a bad idea. Let's just sit in silence for the rest of the session like I was planning to anyway. It'll be much easier on both of us..."

"No, no..." Chloe panicked suddenly, realising that running her mouth with wild abandon could cost her further exploration of this new revolutionary mindset. Having been in the dark for so long pertaining to other's true feelings of her, she didn't want to pass up this golden chance. " I-I promise to stay quiet this time, as difficult as I think it is..."

"Oh, I don't doubt that..." Juleka mused, remembering all the times the blonde had willfully ignored sage advice and caused yet another wholly preventable akuma attack. After many years ordering others about without a second thought, it must be almost unbearable for her to cope with the reverse situation. "Okay, I'll give you one more chance, seeing as how this is all so new for you..."

"Yes, yes of course..." Part of the heiress's brain was screaming at her to say something insulting in reply, that this strange girl would even dare to address her in such a disrespectful manner, but for once a level of self-control managed to assert itself, and stop her from expressing anything potentially poisonous.

Juleka was about to carry on, but suddenly stopped for a moment, deep in thought." You know, I think I just realised something..."

"What?" Chloe was all ears again.

"You and me aren't really all that different..." Juleka said those words as if she didn't believe them herself, but the sentiment was still clearly there.

"HUH?!" If anything, Chloe screeched even louder than before, and her earlier observation about how different the pair were had just been turned on it's head by the opposite side of the coin herself. "W-whatever gave you that idea?"

"Well... let's see. "Juleka pondered further, trying to find suitable parallels. "We both have one true friend that we spend a lot of time with. I do hope you're going to nice to Rose later on, by the way. We stand out in a crowd for different reasons, you with your usually fancy clothes and me with my colourful hair, and both of us have trouble saying our real feelings on a matter. I tend to keep myself to myself, whereas you put on this mean girl act that alienates everyone else. Don't think I haven't noticed."

Chloe was fed up of all the reflexive blushing she'd done of late, but she found her cheeks flushed yet again. "I...I d-don't k-know w-what y-you..."

Now that the heiress was well and truly humbled, Juleka finally had the courage to look her in the eye, a half-grin decorating her pale features. "I've known for a while now. It wasn't my business to get in the way of your attitude, so I just went ahead and let you do your thing. But now it finally looks like you're starting to show your true self a bit, maybe... just maybe, there's hope for you yet..."

Chloe felt choked up with emotion for a minute, and unwittingly revealed something important. "A-Alya said she'd help me..."

Juleka nodded supportively at this suggestion. "You have a good teacher there. I saw how she helped restored Marinette's confidence on the first day of class, so maybe she can do the same to help you integrate more. Not that I'm an expert of the subject, of course. I've always preferred to stay on the sidelines, doing my own thing. Now, do you want to sit down next to me? We can talk more about you, or me, if you want. That is unless I'm too 'emo' or 'goth' for you..."

Chloe found herself laughing at Juleka's hitherto unknown self-depreciative sense of humour, and did as she was asked. There then followed a surprisingly amicable discussion between the odd couple, with the heiress already finding out more stuff about her new friend than she'd ever been aware of. Apparently, her parents were massive non-conformists who actively encouraged her to pursue her own path in life, hence her unique look and styling.

Chloe couldn't help but feel a slight frisson of jealousy on hearing that, no way would she have ever been able to get away with doing anything to her everyday appearance remotely the way Juleka had done, and she dread to think what her father would say later on, after he'd briefly gimpsed her coming out of the hotel in the common regalia she wore now.

"But why?" Juleka had asked upon hearing this, completely dumbfounded.

"Being a member of the Bourgeois family..." Chloe sighed, expressing for the first time her repressed feelings on the matter."...Means having to fulfil certain expectations. If I was seen in a newspaper or on national TV looking anything less than impeccable, Daddykins would never forgive me. One of the things I miss most about my mother is the freedom she used to give me in how I looked and dressed. I can never be that rebellious ever again..."

Chloe looked crestfallen for a second, and Juleka also felt sad for her, but the dark-clothed girl soon perked up upon hitting on a idea. "I don't know about you, Chloe... but it just so happens that I'm in a rebellious mood at the moment..."

Juleka suddenly reached inside her bag for something, while Chloe craned her neck to see what it was. "I always carry around several shades with me, in case I feel like a change later on in the day. I think this one would suit you perfectly, and it would knock the mayor's socks off, one way or another. Here you go..."

Chloe eyes widened dramatically upon seeing what lay in Juleka's outstretched hand. It was a pot of pink hair dye, which could only mean...

"Hey, stay away from the hair!" She placed a hand over each bunch protectively, like a mother bear protecting her cubs.

"Relax..." Juleka stood up and began to move to the back of her new friend, all the time smiling mischievously. "It's easy to wash out, and I'm only going to do the highlights. Also, like said, It'll look great on you, too. Just sit still a moment..."

"Arrgh, get away from me!" Chloe half-screamed, on the verge of instinctively bolting for dear life.

"Calm down, I'm a professional..." Juleka stated confidentally, about to take Chloe's hair in hand. "I've been dying my own hair all the colours of the rainbow since I was a little kid, and now I'm dying to do yours... did you like my little joke there?"

"Yeah, hilarious..." Chloe fumed, still caught in two minds about whether to give it a go or run for cover.

"Just trying to relieve the tension..." Juleka began to smooth out Chloe's follicles, in preparation for the treatment. "If you have any last minute objections, now's the time to voice them..."

"Seeing as I've come to school today looking like the unholy offspring of a scarecrow and Harley Quinn, what have I got to lose?" Chloe pretended to be resilient in defeat, but internally she was curious as to what it would look like afterwards.

Also, a small, slowly growing section of her psyche wanted to defiantly gauge her Daddykin's reaction later on. It would be interesting, to be sure, and hopefully wouldn't result in any kind of major heart surgery for the ailing mayor.

...

AUTHOR'S NOTE: There we go... another part done and dusted, to (hopefully) your approval.

After much soul-searching and consultation with myself (e.g about five seconds) I've decided to keep this section for issues relating to the fic only. If you want fireworks, you know where to look. If you're lucky, you may even find a sparkler or two.

Anyway, next part coming soon. Ciao! ;)