I took a sip of water from my bottle, placed it down on the floor and looked up, Father seemed to be busy talking to a lot of people, that he hadn't even said any word to me. I mean, not that it really mattered, but I just wanted to talk to him about this career he was picking out for me. What did I get out of this anyway? What was the point of all the money I got if he hardly even let me go out to buy whatever I wanted? Instead he told me to focus on my work as I would have it for the rest of my life. When he had said that to me before, I hadn't believed he was actually being serious, but now my eyes had finally been opened and I could clearly see that there was no way he was letting go of me.
I heard someone sitting down right next to me, and when I turned around, it was Lila herself. She smiled at me, but I didn't return it. Then she sighed, hanging her head low. "I'm sorry," she said. "I know you're mad at me. If it wasn't for me, rumors about you playing Marinette and I wouldn't have been all over the news. I tried explaining it to some people, but I'm not sure if they got me. . . I've never had this much attention on me before. I really hate it."
You should've just let people believe Marinette was my girlfriend! You shouldn't have gotten in the way! I groaned in my head, restraining myself from opening my mouth and shouting at her. "It's. . ." I forced myself to say the words, not wanting to be rude because I still had my plan on figuring out how to get her off of Marinette. "It's okay, Lila. It wasn't your fault. I'll talk to Juleka when I get the chance." I brushed it off like it was a piece of cake. Serious, I don't know if there was a way I could get Juleka to talk to me. She'd been ignoring me ever since she made that post. . .and I don't even know her. There must be a reason why she did what she did! Does she hate me. . .?
"Anyway, what's that?" Lila then pointed over at the piece of paper I was holding unto. I stared down at it, reading all the words I'd written down. It was supposed to be my plan sheet. I wanted to write down all the fun things I wanted to do for each day of the week. I was getting a week break; I better make the most of it.
Lila took the paper from me and looked it over, before handing it back to me. "Oh, you're totally free all week? Well, the rest of us are too. . .we totally don't mind hanging out with you whenever you want, Adrien. I spoke with Nathalie and she told me about the break you were getting." She placed her hand on my arm. "I promise to make sure that you have fun during this week, okay?"
"Okay." I cleared my throat, removing her hand away from my arm. She quickly apologized, but I doubt she meant it. I looked down at the floor, trying to figure out what to say next. My next words had to be wise, a way to get to know more about Lila, that way it'd be easier to find proof of her being a cheater and a liar. "Lila. . ." I didn't look up as I thought more about the question I was going to ask, before I finally said it out loud. "Why do you like Marinette?"
"Huh?"
"I mean. . .she's been your best friends for years now, and you two seem really close. What are the reasons why you really love her as a friend? What makes her different from most people you've met?" I could see her face change for a bit, before she laughed and scratched her head.
"Oh, sorry. . .I was just confused there for a bit. I mean. . .I thought she already told you. . .about how she saved me. I was really helpless back then, such a loner with no one around to help me. When I was just six, my mother moved away from Paris after my father cheated on her. Back then, I was really blinded. . .I thought my father was the good guy. He lied to me, saying that my mother was the one who cheated on him. He introduced me to this new woman and told me to call her mom from now on. I listened obediently, but that woman became the reason for my father's new behavior. . ." She stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath before she continued. "If it hadn't been for Marinette, I would still be living in that house like a helpless maid being toyed by her so-called parents. She helped me escape from that prison. . .she was that light of hope I had been waiting for, and she finally came and took me away from my terrible life. Her family was such sweethearts, and I remember myself always being jealous of how perfect and happy she was with her parents. I remember wishing I was her. . .in fact, I still do.
"All throughout my life in being in that bakery, all I ever tried to do was impress Marinette. She was so. . .perfect. It was like nothing could ever get her down. She had such amazing friends and family, and it always got me to wonder why she ever chose to help me out in the first place. . .or why she even wanted to still be friends with me after knowing how horrible my life was. I then listened to one of her friends telling me about how much Marinette had such a kind heart and would feel guilt for whomever was in pain. That only got me to ask myself. . .was Marinette only friends with me because she knew of how much pain I'd been in? Because she knew I was in such a terrible position and it'd be terrible of her if she didn't help out?. . ." Her voice trailed off from there, and when I looked closer, I could actually see tears threatening to fall. She quickly wiped her eyes though and looked away. "Sorry, I said too much." She stood up, about to walk away. "Uh, anyway. . .that's it. Sorry again about what happened before." And with those last words, she rushed away from me.
I watched her go, suddenly having this thought in my head. After what she had just told me, it made me wonder. . . Did Lila only fake her scars because she thought that was the only reason why Marinette would continue to be friends with her? Maybe Lila was really insecure, so she wanted to keep pretending she was hurt just to have Marinette on her side. I gulped, feeling like I'd just misjudged her. Maybe she just didn't want to lose Marinette as a friend.
It suddenly got me thinking about what Felix had told me in the car before. "Chloe is manipulating you." I could never forget the words he said after that. "Apparently her mother is coming back before my mother's wedding. Chloe doesn't have any problems with her mother, she just straight up hates the woman, but she pretends she's hurt because she thinks that's the only reason why you'd be with her. The only reason why you'd continue to befriend her, or even get into something more than that." I sighed, feeling like I was paining myself more with the thoughts of everything happening in my life. I'd gotten myself into this. I had to get myself out of it.
Somehow!
•
At Mansion-
I stretched my back, being able to hear the sound of a small crack. I groaned, hearing the sound of Nathalie preparing food for us in the kitchen. The photoshoot was finally over, and Father had agreed on my friends coming over to ear dinner with us. It really shocked me that he would make that decision, but then again, he must be trying really hard to get me to like my career. Not that I wasn't enjoying this day, but I didn't enjoy the fact that he did it just to get me to agree on working with him, if not, he was going to force me into it. I wanted him to be doing this because he cared and wanted me to be happy. That was why, at times, I would feel really happy one minute and disappointed the next.
"Uh, you guys. . ." Chloe looked down at the table as she spoke. She was sitting right across from me, which had definitely surprised me because I expected her to sit right next to me. She instead gave Lila the opened seat and Lila took it. "Listen. . .my mother. . . is coming back to Paris." I widened my eyes, remembering when Felix told me that. Was Chloe confessing now or something? Chloe sighed and continued. "But she's only going to be here for her stupid wedding. . ."
"Wedding?" Nino caught her off. "Isn't she like, married to your dad?"
"No, they broke it off. Worse thing of all, they didn't even tell me about it. My mother sent me an invitation to her wedding and that's how I knew. Although I. . . I promised myself that I didn't want to see her ever again because of what she did. . . I kinda just want to see her one last time before she goes back to another city." Chloe looked at each of us with a pleading look. "But I kinda don't want to go alone. . ."
"Hey, you got it!" Alya seemed to have quickly caught on and smirked. "It's okay, Chloe. We'll definitely be there if you want us to be!"
"R-really?" Chloe seemed confused at first, but then she cracked a wide smile. "That's really awesome! Thanks."
That was when realization hit me. Chloe had always been clinging unto me probably just because she didn't have any other friends, and perhaps it was hard for her to make friends but she never asked for help. She kinda just brushed it away whenever I asked her, and she would always give me the same reply, "at least, I have you!" I remember how she had told me that she was never letting me go; wherever I went, she'd go too, whatever I did, she'd do it with me, and whenever I needed company, she'd be the first to arrive. I never bothered thinking that it was perhaps because she didn't have anyone else. Sure, Sabrina was her friend, but Chloe had said it had been Sabrina who came to her, not the other way around. Maybe she was just waiting for other people to come to her, just like Sabrina did.
Now, looking at her, she had such a wide smile on her face, talking to these people being introduced to her. Ever since she asked us to join us for lunch, she'd seem really comfortable staying in this group, and she had even apologized for everything bad that she'd ever did to them, which clearly showed that she cared a lot more about this friendship than she had thought she would. I chuckled to myself as I looked down. Good job, Chloe. I'm just glad you're slowly finding your happiness!
Nathalie came shortly after 2 minutes had passed and started placing dishes on the table, telling us to enjoy what she had prepared. She also placed a couple of drinks on there, and before she walked away, we all shouted out a bunch of thanks. She just nodded with a smile and walked back inside the kitchen.
Nino, who was sitting next to me, tapped me on the shoulder, getting my attention. I turned to him, and he leaned over, whispering, "so, when are you going to pull a move?"
"What?" I whispered back, not understanding his question.
Nino looked at the others. They were busy chatting and eating. He turned back to me with a smirk. "I mean Marinette. You know. . .I kinda expected you and Marinette to be together before Alya and I, but why does it kinda feel like you two have grown farther from each other?. . ." Because I could think of an amazing answer to that, he continued again. "Listen, if I can do it, so can you. I've known Marinette for a while, and I've seen her having this look on her face whenever she's around you, which she's never had before. I can obviously tell she likes you. . .as way more than friends, and you admitted to Alya and I before that you liked her. . .so what are you waiting for?"
I'm waiting for Lila to get out of the way. I sighed. I knew with Lila around, there was no way Marinette would say yes to me. She still had this huge guilt on her shoulder, like if she said yes to me, that would mean she was betraying Lila. Lila just had to understand that not everything went her way. . .she had to understand that Marinette was completely free of making her own choice on who to be with. I wasn't really sure if I could say this to Nino, at least not right now, so I tried to come up with another reason. ". . . My father wouldn't agree. Once he hears that Marinette and I are together, he would flip and possibly do something quite unforgiving."
"Ah," Nino nodded. "So it's your father. It's just your father, no one else, right?" He gave me a knowing look, and I could already tell he knew this was about Lila as well. I didn't reply, so he didn't say anything either. Instead, he turned to the others and joined in on their conversation, leaving me to wonder on what to do next.