Chloe's P. O. V
1 day ago-
I could hear footsteps walking closer to my bedroom, and I knew it was Father. The door opened and he walked inside. He didn't exactly look happy, but I noticed that he was holding some sort of card in his hand. He walked up to me, and without a smile, he placed the card on my desk. He let out a sigh, "you. . . might want to look at that."
I noticed the way he looked tired, his eyes so small and red. I opened my mouth to say something, but all that came out was a squeak. Looking down at the floor, I listened as his footsteps walked away from me, left my bedroom and slowly died away. It was silent in the room. It always had been, after all, Adrien was the only one who could actually make me feel alive again. Father wouldn't let anyone inside of his room, but I could always imagine him crying before going to sleep.
Adrien, where are you? You were supposed to be here! I sniffed, forcing myself not to cry. Not now, not ever. I leaned in forward and picked up the card. On the front of it, it said in bold letters, "YOU'RE INVITED!" Sighing, I opened the card up and read what it said on the inside.
"Chloe Bourgeois,
You've been invited to the wedding of Audrey Bourgeois and Anthony Boucher.
Date: Upcoming Monday
Time: 5:30 P.M.
Place: Eiffel Tower
We hope you can make it.
I couldn't believe my eyes. After everything. . . I started tearing the card into pieces, anger boiling inside of me. After everything you've done, you have the guts to invite me to your stupid wedding! I tried not to lose it, but I couldn't help it and pounded a fist against my desk, pain slowly rushing in. This must mean that Father and her have officially divorced. When though?! How come they never told me about it! I sniffed again, wiping my eyes. I hate her! I hate her so much! She's the definition of a garbage mother!
Wait-
I looked back at the torn apart card, but I still remembered everything it had said. Place: Eiffel Tower! That's in Paris! Does that mean. . . My heart started beating faster as I walked over to my bed. My mother was coming back to Paris, but she was only coming back for her wedding, which meant she was probably going back to wherever the heck she came from after the wedding was over.
It's been years since I've seen her, and when I saw the picture of what she looks like now, she looked absolutely different from when I saw her in person. Would she even remember me? I hugged myself, as if that was going to give me comfort. It didn't help at all. Adrien had already been the one to give me comfort, even if it was just through his words. I looked over at where my phone was. Should I call him? I bit the inside of my mouth hard and turned away from my phone. "Nah," I chuckled to myself. "He probably finds me annoying. I best not annoy him almost to the point that he wants to leave me."
The fact that I couldn't sleep hurt. Sleep had always been a way of getting my head out of the real world, even if it was just for a few hours. While sleeping, I dreamt of other things that were much more sweeter than reality. . . like that one dream where Adrien confessed to me- I groaned again. Stop thinking about him. He's got Marinette now! He probably really likes her and is spending time with her right now. They're probably doing all of those lovey dovey stuff.
Finally not being able to take it, I opened up my drawer, and the first thing that caught my eyes was a picture. I took it out and stared at it. It was a picture of my class from middle school. I had told myself to burn it, yet never got the chance to because I had always busy beating myself up for my mother leaving. I stared at the picture, my eyes immediately going over to Lila, who sat in the front, smiling at the camera.
Lila! Just staring at her face made me remember that one memory.
I stared at the house again before finally mustering up the courage and ringing the doorbell. I couldn't believe that stupid teacher had partnered me up with Lila. . . my frickin worst enemy. I waited, until the door finally opened and a man walked out.
"Ah, you must be Chloe." He had this strange smile and this weird aura around him that I did not like. I didn't say anything, but I didn't need to, because he opened the door wider and allowed me in. "Lila is busy, but she'll get to you in a minute. Just wait for her in her bedroom. That would be the room downstairs."
I nodded my head and started heading for the stairs. But then I stopped. I suddenly so badly needed the bathroom, and I could see a door right in front of me. I turned to the man and pointed at the door. "Is this the bathroom?" He nodded without a word, so I headed towards it.
The door was closed, but I didn't see any light coming from underneath, so I assumed nobody was inside. I probably should have knocked first though, but I couldn't hold it anymore, so I just walked right in. Then I froze.
In front of me was Lila, and when she saw me, she immediately screamed. Lila had her shirt taken off, with a huge wound at the side of her belly-button. But what really made me stop was all the makeup Lila had in front of her. I frowned, and she yelled for me to get out, but I didn't. I reached forward and touched the wound on her body. She slapped my hand away, but I had already felt it.
"Makeup. Why are you putting a fake wound on your body, Lila?" I folded my arms and waited for her to answer, but she didn't. Instead she opened the door and pushed me out of the bathroom, and locked it. I stood there and stared at the door. And that's when I realized-
I still frickin needed the bathroom!
But hearing the front door opening made me turn around, and I was surprised to see it was Marinette at the door. Marinette didn't go to our school, but she sometimes came over to pick Lila up. I understood they were best friends, so I wasn't exactly sure on how I felt seeing her here. If Lila was a brat, then she too was a brat, right?
"Marinette," The weird man, whom I understood had to be Lila's father, glared at Marinette, which confused me. If Marinette was Lila's best friend, then her father had to like Marinette too, right? Why did it look like the man hated her guts? "I thought I told you never to show up to my house again! What are you doing here?!"
"Lila called for me. She said it was urgent!" Marinette spoke back with a bold and determined look on her face. "You should stop what you're doing to her! Just let her go!"
"For the last time, I don't know what you're talking about!" The man yelled, looking angrier by the minute! He stepped away from the door, giving Marinette the time to walk inside the house. She looked over at me, confusion and curiosity mixed on her face, but she didn't bother saying a word to me and just turned away.
I suddenly didn't need the bathroom anymore. I'd heard enough! All I needed was to get out of here. I raced to the door and rushed out before anyone could even say anything. All the way back home, there was only one thought on my mind.
Lila is faking her injuries, but Marinette doesn't seem to know that!
I tore the picture apart and left the pieces on my bed. After I had found out, I had tried telling Marinette about Lila faking her injuries, but I hadn't caught sight of her anymore, so I told this random girl to tell Marinette for me if she ever saw her. I'm not even sure if Marinette ever got the news. It was eating me up. I had wanted to know. But Lila had been extra careful. After I found out about her secret, she made sure to keep Marinette away from me. Whenever Marinette came over to pick her up, Lila would rush towards her and the two of them would leave before I even got the chance. I gave up soon after.
And that's when I started to get it. Lila was faking her injuries because of Marinette. . . I don't know whether she did it to get Marinette to pity her, but she did it because of Marinette. When I found out that Marinette was going to my school, I decided to take that chance to tell her, but then I found out Alya had already informed her about Lila faking her injuries. Marinette hadn't believed her, so I backed off.
If Alya, one of Marinette's best friends, couldn't even get Marinette to believe her about Lila's secret, then how was I, someone Marinette barely even knew, supposed to get her to believe me?
Present-
Alya spread the large blanket on the grass and Nino placed the basket of snacks on it. We all sat down. I made sure to sit next to Adrien, after all, he was the only one I really knew in this group. Lila of course glared at me, but I chose to ignore her. Then I felt Adrien poking a finger at me, and I turned to him. He nodded over to Nathaniel, who was sitting beside a tree, focusing on his sketchbook.
I sighed. "You want me to go talk to him? Now?" Adrien nodded. I wanted to know why he even cared about whether I talked to Nathaniel or not, but I listened anyway and stood up. Adrien was probably trying to get me to befriend Nathaniel, that way he wouldn't be the only person I was that close to. He's doing this because I annoy him too much. But remembering how he had stood up for me against Lila warmed my heart. I was honestly starting to believe that Adrien was slowly forgetting me as he hanged out more with his new friends. I believed I didn't even have a place in his heart anymore, wasn't even close to him to be called his best friend. But when I heard him say what he said, it shocked me, and it got me to remember why I loved him all over again.
I walked up to Nathaniel and peered over his shoulder to look at what he was drawing now. I accidentally let out a gasp, getting Nathaniel to freak out and close his sketchbook. I'd already seen what it was he was drawing. "M-me?" I was a little confused. I thought Nathaniel hated me, especially after hearing that he had told Adrien a lie about me. I sat down beside Nathaniel, trying not to look as cold as he saw me as. "Why are you drawing me?"
Nathaniel looked embarrassed, not looking up at me, his face growing as red as his hair. I giggled to myself. "Cute." When I said that, I covered my mouth with a frown, but Nathaniel had already heard. He turned to me with a frown of his own. "I-I mean. . . The art was very cute. Having the best artist in school draw me? I feel honored."
Nathaniel still looked confused, so I decided to change the subject. "Uh, we're starting the picnic, and if you don't come, we're going to finish all those delicious pastries without you." I didn't know if my words sounded harsh, but I tried to look as nice as possible, and I put on a look that showed Nathaniel I was only joking around.
"Oh, uh. . . sure. I'll be there in a minute." He picked up his pencil, which he had dropped when he realized I was behind him. He still had on a red face, which he was trying to hide from me. He opened up his sketchbook, this time to a different page. I could tell he wasn't used to me talking to him, and I wasn't exactly used to talking to him either. I remembered the last time I had a full conversation with him was back in middle school, where we were in the same group for a project. Nathaniel always acted awkward around me, and at first I had thought it was because he couldn't stand being around me, but then someone had suggested that maybe it was because he actually liked me. I didn't really know what to think, so I ignored him from then on.
"Okay, I'll see you there." I stood up to walk away.
"Chloe, wait-"
I turned around and waited for him to say what he wanted to say. He looked to be hesitant at first, and I began to think he was going to confess to me, so I got prepared to run. But his next words totally took me off guard.
"Do you really think I'm a weird, stupid guy like you had said before? And do I. . . really make you feel uncomfortable?"
I gulped at his questions, remembering when I had said the words.
"So what do you think of Nathaniel? I always catch him staring at you."
"Nathaniel? You mean that weird prick in my class. Honestly, he makes me feel uncomfortable. Whenever I look at him, he's looking back at me. He could be a crazy stalker for all I know."
I felt guilty as Nathaniel waited for me to answer the question. "No, you're not. I said those words without meaning them. Well, actually. . . you did kinda make me uncomfortable with all those stares you were giving me, but other than that, you're a completely cool guy."
I remembered seeing Nathaniel drawing in his sketchbook, so I had sneaked up on him to check out what the drawing was. It was a drawing of me, and I felt really happy at that time. But then he had flipped to another page, and it was another drawing of me. He flipped to the next page and bam! Another picture of me. The whole sketchbook was filled with drawings of me, and that's when I realized Nathaniel stared at me in class and drew me while staring. He never focused on his school works and always relied on someone else to tell him what the homework was. That's when I really knew it had gotten too far, and I stayed even father away from him. I had even asked the teacher to move me to the back, so that way Nathaniel wouldn't be able to see me from where he sat at the front.
"Alright, I see." Nathaniel looked down at his sketchbook, and I could tell he felt embarrassed with my answer, but not knowing what else to say, I stood up and walked back to the others.