Superstar (The Elites Book 2)

Unbirthday

Three weeks. That's how long Chloe had been back at school, and she couldn't wait until the year was over. Due to budget cuts, the school would only have the spring play instead of two, which meant Chloe had less to take up her time with.

She stretched in bed, blonde hair tumbling over her shoulders. Marinette was still asleep. Chloe looked out the window. It was a beautiful day.

So beautiful that it made her want to cry.

Chloe had turned her phone off last night and left it off, not wanting to bother with it. She was just so tired of everything.

As she puttered about the room, Marinette slowly woke and eased out of bed. The girls got dressed in silence. They had gotten their routine down so that neither of them had to speak to one another. They had also memorized each other's schedules so that they could avoid one another as much as possible.

It didn't take long for Chloe to put her hair up in a ponytail, slap some makeup on her face, and spray some perfume. She headed down to breakfast, assuming she would eat with Adrien and Kagami.

At the buffet, Chloe took a donut and a fruit pastry. She also got herself a glass of orange juice.

"Celebrations something are we?" The lunch lady gave her a stern look.

Chloe didn't bother with a response. She hated when people commented on her food choices. Lifting her tray, Chloe looked around the room. She didn't see her friends anywhere.

Her heart plummeted. After a second walk around the room, Chloe was sure neither of them were there. Had they skipped breakfast? Or, had Adrien taken Kagami out to get something?

She sank miserably at a table in the corner, sitting alone the whole morning. The rest of the day dragged by until, finally, Chloe was free from her classes. She went up to the roof that evening to watch the sunset on this horrible day.

Chloe leaned against the railing, phone in hand. She finally turned it on. It took a minute to boot up but when it did, she could see she had no texts or notifications from social media. A tear dribbled down her cheek. Chloe let her hand drop, almost tossing the phone from the rooftop.

She wasn't sure what she had expected, she had thought at least Adrien would say something.

It was her birthday after all.

Chloe hadn't expected to hear from her mother or Zoe, and she was sure her father was busy at work in Paris.

And she had no friends.

Why had she even turned the phone on? If she'd waited until tomorrow, she could have pretended like her birthday had never happened.

The roof door creaked open. Chloe quickly swiped away the tears. Adrien had remembered! He'd come to meet her in their special place.

Chloe's excitement turned to disappointment when she saw Lila standing a few feet away.

"What do you want?" she barked out.

"I wanted to say happy birthday."

"Oh," Chloe said, her irritation starting to fade. "Thanks."

"It's too bad," Lila continued, "that you couldn't be with your family." She took a hesitant step forward.

"Yeah, well, Daddy's probably busy," Chloe responded. She looked out over London again.

Lila stood next to her, taking in the scenic view. "And your mom?"

Chloe just scoffed. "Mummy?"

"In New York, I'm guessing." Lila relaxed against the railing.

"Yeah," Chloe admitted. "Ever since she came home pregnant when I was four, things changed. Zoe isn't daddy's," she said. "And I guess whoever Zoe's dad is, Mummy loved him more. She loves Zoe more than me."

"It's like wondering what you did wrong," Lila said after a moment. "And laying awake at night wondering what's wrong with you."

Chloe's gaze snapped to Lila. She'd never realized Lila knew what it felt like. But if her dad had abandoned her for his new wife, Chloe supposed Lila was the one person who might understand her.

"Anyway," Lila shook herself out of her mood. "Happy birthday, Chloe." She didn't say anything else as she left.

Chloe stayed behind a few minutes longer to watch the rest of the sunset beyond the horizon.

Her phone started ringing.

"Daddy?"

"Happy Birthday, Chloe, darling!" Her father's voice came through the speaker. "I'm so sorry I couldn't call you until now."

"It's okay," Chloe said, and it was the truth. Her dad was a good mayor, which meant he was always busy.

"I sent a package to the house," her dad said. "Did you get it?"

"I'll check tomorrow," she promised. It was Saturday, so she could spend as much time away from the school as she wanted.

Chloe headed back to her room. Thankfully, Marinette wasn't there. Chloe heaved a sigh of relief. She needed a minute to compose herself before she was ready to face anyone else.

She paused beside her bed, noting a small package with a note atop it. Could it be from Adrien? That didn't make sense. Marinette would never have let him inside their room.

Chloe bent down. She picked up the note.

Happy Birthday
—M

So wait, was this from Marinette? Chloe hurriedly opened the package. It was a thin rectangular necklace. On it, the word Evie was inscribed.

Chloe felt something warm bubble through her but it was appreciation. It was anger. She flipped the box closed.

Who did Marinette think she was to give Chloe a necklace with the name of one of her characters on it? They weren't friends.

Her hand curled around the box. Chloe grabbed a pen from her desk. She flipped the note over and wrote in big bold letters,

NO

Then Chloe left the gift with the note on the table next to Marinette's bed. She grabbed her purse and stormed out of the room. Chloe could spend the night at her parents flat.

Just to be clear, Chloe isn't romantically interested in Adrien. He is supposed to be her best friend tho. Getting to the Adrienette stuff. It's just taking some time 😮‍💨