Anti-Agreste [ adrienette ]

chapter thirteen

"Chloe Bourgeois."

My mouth felt like metal. I wanted to reach out and touch her face to see if she was real and not just some strange hallucinations due to stress, but that would be extremely weird if she really was here. But she is here, and her presence to me isn't anything near pleasant.

Urrrgggggggghhhh, I internally whined. I thought I'd never see her again after high school, and yet here she was, looking like a spawn of Aphrodite in her sparkly hoop earrings and icy blue eyes. She hated my guts before, and I'm pretty sure she still feels the same now.

She smiles, though her eyes were still ice cold, which could make anybody shudder. "Yes, darling, it's me! Now, before we proceed, will you please be a dear and introduce me to the staff? I saw a cute one awhile ago, but I—"

"Wait, wait, wait. What? Proceed? To what, exactly?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. She looks at me incredulously, then gestures towards my outfit with a small look of disgust and genuine disappointment, and I felt my face heat up. Right. ". . .Okay."

"Great! Oh, um, wait. On second thought, why don't you change now? Then you can introduce me to everyone else without humiliating yourself . . . and me. Now go," she gently pushes me towards the bathroom and gives me my pink backpack. "I'll be waiting."

As I changed my outfit from malibu barbie to normal Marinette, I felt so free. Finally. That dress was so tight I literally had trouble breathing; and another reason for that trouble was the sudden appearance of Chloe Bourgeois in my dressing room. My dressing room! Can you believe that? What does she want from me now?

As the memories from high school began flashing, I remembered how manipulative and calculating this girl was. She'd do anything just to get the spotlight, to be the center of attention, and to have everything and everyone be in favor of her. She was a literal goddess of high school, where everybody worshipped the ground she walked on.

And now she's here. And she's being unusually nice. Something's wrong. Something's definitely wrong. I made a mental note to tell everything to Alya later when she comes back from her date with Nino.

Speaking of Alya and Nino, they've always been into each other ever since freshman year. Alya wouldn't stop talking about Nino, and she'd always blabber about how he looks so cool when he's doing his own music during break times. And Nino would run to me to ask about what kind of chocolates Alya prefers, and what kind of flowers are her favorites.

They wouldn't have trouble communicating, though, because Adrien and I . . .

My heart squeezed. I shook my head and dismissed the thought.

"Mari? Yoohoo?" Chloe gently knocks on the door, "What's taking you so long? Taking a dump, hon?"

I almost slipped on my jeans. I quickly pulled it up and zipped it close, slipped on the sneakers, then grabbed the pink sparkly mess called a dress and opened the door, revealing an impatient blonde with her arms crossed. It was unfair how she still looked beautiful despite being annoyed.

"Sorry," I apologized and placed the pink dress on top of the make-up chair. "I zoned out in the bathroom."

She shrugs, locks arms with me, and we march outside the dressing room. Ugh, here we gooooo.

It almost felt like an exercise, going to each and every one of the staff and saying, "Hi, this is Chloe Bourgeois" and they all gave a friendly smile to Chloe, then give me a look of pity when they see me. I understood. I probably looked like a grumpy, frowny grandma next to a glowing supermodel. I didn't want to hide my irritation towards her though; she is never this nice unless if she wants something from me.