46. Day 4 Part 3

Chloe took a deep breath as she began to open the classroom door, a palpable sense of trepidation threatening to overcome her very being. The heiress's productive heart-to-heart with Zzubo and her teacher's kind words had given her a modicum of self-confidence, but now she was actually on the verge of re-entering the lion's den, that bolstering effect was quickly ebbing away. She closed her eyes briefly to compose herself... Just be yourself... be yourself... Who I am again, exactly? Guess I'm about to find out...

Her initial step inside was a roaring success, at least... no unattended buckets of fetid moisture positioned just above the door awaited her this time. And indeed, Chloe's first sight upon venturing forth was the gladdening smile of Miss Bustier, gesturing for her newly arrived student to come inside and take a seat. Hey, maybe this won't be so bad after al...

Chloe's upbeat thoughts disintegrated in her head as soon as she glanced at the rows and rows of raw hostility emanating from the desks in front of her. It seemed like everyone present was glowering horribly at the heiress, to such an extent that she almost turned tail and ran at that moment. The thought of being treated like a pariah with a terminal, infectious disease for the rest of the day was almost too much to bear. She scanned the room despondently to gauge each individual's reaction to her entrance.

Wow, Marinette looks like someone just burned down her bakery... Alya refuses to even look in my direction... I see Sabrina's found a new seating partner in Nino, good for her... I bet Lila's enjoying all this poisonous vitriol aimed at me... huh? Why is she staring at the wall, instead of lapping up my misery? Something must have happened since last night to make her so docile, I've got to get to the bottom of this later...

Inside this bubbling cauldron of hate, it would appear that no-one wanted to give Chloe the time of day, but at least there was one empty chair available, and the nearest person to it soon made themselves discernible to the heiress. It was of course, 'Adrikins' who made his presence count, completely ignoring the burning resentment that lingered in the room, and shouting out amicably: "Hey Chlo, over here!"

Now usually, a collaborator of this magnitude would be hated by the entire student body, and ostracized with the same veracity as their malignant companion. There's always an exception to every rule, though... and who on Earth could possibly dislike dear, sweet Adrien Agreste? You might as well loathe fluffy kittens, or abhor sunny days. The teenager was practically the poster child for young gentlemen, having grown up rich without being spoiled, pampered without feeling privileged and was a model without a trace of vanity.

Even his mother mysteriously disappearing a couple of years back hadn't altered his happy-go-lucky demeanor one iota. Adrien and Chloe had been raised in very similar circumstances , with demanding fathers and access to considerable resources way beyond most children their age, but that's where the similarities ended. They might have grown up together, but their life choices had taken them down very different paths. Until now, perhaps...

Regardless, Chloe had no choice but to accept Adrien's pending offer, so she stealthily avoided the inhospitable gazes to drag herself forward to the assigned spot. Despite her precarious social situation though, she couldn't help but smirk a little at Marinette's tangible glance of envy, that her main nemesis was going to sit next to the blunette's crush. No matter how much that peabrain denies it, I know she's crazy for him. She's welcome to the loser now of course, but it's always nice to get a bit of payback.

Chloe's amused thoughts were interrupted as soon as she took her seat, when she felt the model with whom she now shared a desk quite unexpectedly draw closer and put his hands on her shoulders. Her mind told her to brush them off and tell him to get lost, after the disgraceful way he'd treated her the other day.

One look inside those illuminating green eyes, gleaming with benevolence and tenderness soon put an end to that idea. Damn it Adrien... even when I want to hate you, you make it so difficult. I'll learn one of these days... I-I hope...

In the meantime, the model began talking to her. "Are you okay, Chlo? Wow, you really look like a blast from the past in that uniform, don't you? I can see why the school got rid of it! I only found out about the prank at the last minute, as I was in the back of my car with the Gorilla. Even Nino kept the details from me until then... can you believe it? I suspect that everyone knew that I'd try to warn you, they left me out of the plan until it was too late. I don't know what happened with you, the mayor and Alya's mother, but there's no excuse for them to pull something like this. I'm so sorry..."

"N-not that it's any of your concern..." Chloe stated bluntly, trying to appear as though she didn't need any help. "But I've got it all under control, thank you very much. I don't require any sympathy either, especially from a boy who led me on for years, only to dump me in the girls bathroom for Little Miss Clumsy over there. You are right about one thing though, and that's this is all just a stupid misunderstanding. Mrs Cesaire getting fired was my father's doing, not mine. Why would I betray the first real friend I've made for years, for purely evil purposes? Duh! That's what they call insane troll logic..."

"So it is true!" Adrien practically beamed at the heiress, and began to grip her shoulders tighter, in a cordial way you might do to someone you know very well. "I knew you wouldn't have been that cruel! I saw how nicely the pair of you interacted yesterday and how happy you were with her, so I kept asking myself: Why would she throw all of that away, just for the sake of a malicious trick? It just didn't add up, and now you've explained everything to me, I think I can guess the rest of the story. I bet Mr Bourgeois objected to your new friendship, and..."

"Yes, I think we can both agree that my dad can be a complete idiot..." Chloe once again attempted to sound aloof, even as she was found herself enjoying the conversation. "And that's something I have to deal with on a daily basis. But how are the rest of the class, who don't know what he's like in private like you and I do, going to believe me when I say that none of this is my fault? I mean... just look at my track record! If I was an adult, I'd be doing hard time by now. He's really put me in a bind here..."

"Hang on just a second..." Adrien said out of the blue, clearly impressed with what he was hearing. "I'm still absorbing the fact that you're going against his wishes finally, and making decisions for yourself. That can't have been easy... I kind of know what that's like, as I'm sure you're aware. It's like my own father hides behind a mask sometimes, and disappears for hours without telling me where he is. Anyway, I don't want to bore you with my problems, I'm just so ecstatic that you're finally standing up for yourself Chloe, and if your mother were here, I'm sure she'd feel the same way."

"T-thanks, A-Adrikins..." Dammit, the words slipped out of my mouth even before I could push them back in. Keep it together, girl.

"See, now that's the Chloe I know, back from when we were kids..." Adrien nodded his approval at the heiress's newfound politeness. "Now, how are we supposed to get the rest of the class to believe us, about the real culprit? I tried to tell them myself while you were away getting changed, but they were too busy gathering the torches and pitchforks. Even Marinette... and usually, she's much more level-headed than that. I guess her best friend's predicament has clouded her judgement, and she's looking at it from a biased point of view. Regardless, we have to try..."

"Okay okay Adrien, but you don't have to waffle on about vermin so much, you know? Who cares about what that thing thinks about anything that isn't wholemeal, sliced or crusty..." Chloe swallowed the bile that was rapidly building in her throat, before continuing. "If you can swing this for me, maybe, just maybe I'll forgive you for dumping me, and let bygones be bygones. It doesn't mean I'm ever going to understand your taste in girls, though. I mean Maritrash? Seriously? If you ask me, you should be the one seeing a psychiatrist tonight, not my good self..."

"Look, I'm not going to get into how wrong you are about Marinette, or my always platonic feelings for you, because we have bigger fish to fry..." Adrien rolled his eyes at this oft-repeated argument. "Let's stick to the main issue: You want to clear your name, right? Let's see if we can put our heads together over the course of the day, and see if we can't formulate a plan. After all, I didn't bribe Nino with the latest line of Agreste earphones to swap seats with him today for nothing, I hope..."

"You did that... for me?" Chloe gasped in surprise, not bothering to hide her emotions this time around.

"Of course I did..." Adrien seemed genuinely amused that Chloe would even ask. " After all, you are my first and oldest friend, whatever else happens from now on. And someday, I want you to feel that way again, too. Judging by your new demeanor, I'd say it's closer than you think..."

Chloe blushed slightly, although she tried to hide it by chewing on her lip. "L-lets just see how it goes... don't get ahead of yourself... you're not that good."

Adrien smiled down at her, not taken in by her dismissive attitude at all. "Oh, I'm not worried. I'm sure you'll come to your senses eventually, that stubborn pride of yours can only last so long. Now, do you want to tell we what occurred last night, starting from the very beginning...?"

"Well..." Chloe began to plot in her head how best to communicate the story. Exactly how it happened, minus any mention of Zzubo, she decided. I think this is one time when honesty is most definitely the best policy. Well, here we go...

She opened her mouth to begin the tale...

"Alix!" A loud voice came from the head of the classroom, throwing off Chloe's opening narration permanently.

Huh? What's the little pink rat who poured a pail full of sludge over me this morning got to do with anything?

The answer came to her in the form of a sheepish teacher holding up a tiny bit of paper, Adrien shaking his head at his friend for the situation she now found herself in...

And the distinct gloating noise that came from behind the heiress, as well as the sound of a pair of hands being rubbed in pure glee. "She's mine... she's all mine!"

That was when Chloe realised...

She'd been so diverted by her current (and swiftly multiplying) array of problems, she'd forgotten all about the new 'buddy' system that had been set up at school in her dubious honour...

And next up, was the shortest, roughest and toughest girl... make that, student, in class.

Matched up with the the prissiest and sissiest girl in the entire school.

Well, this ought to be fun... Chloe bemoaned to herself, instantly making a mental note to watch the vengeful tomboy like a hawk for the next ninety minutes. Who knows what other 'delights' that pipsqueak has planned...

...

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yep it's me again, with another supersonic update. You lucky, lucky people.

Let me clarify in my other message what I meant by Chloe's character in the recent webisode: She looks visibly upset, not angry, when her teasing of the others doesn't work... a key sign for me, of someone who wants to make friends, but hasn't a clue how to go about it now.

Don't you worry Chloe... I shall lend you some of mine, if it does not quite work out... ;)