CHAPTER DISCLAIMER: No flashbacks this time.
EXTRA SPECIAL DISCLAIMER: A lot of books and movies which share a running theme are mentioned in this chapter, and I do not make any profit from mentioning them or recommending them. In that vein, a certain quote lifted from a certain 1950s thriller movie as well as another certain quote from a certain 1990s sci-fi movie.
IMPORTANT REMINDER! So I've got a few people in the comment section here or there saying that they've never read Animorphs before (where Rachel comes from), so please let me remind you that I can send you ALL the ebooks; just email me, my email address is this screen name (StellarStylus) at Gmail.
Remember when I asked if anybody could help me find that parody of the Vertigo movie poster in the Miraculous cartoon? You're about to find out why I mentioned that particular Hitchcock movie (WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILERS)…

Chapter 10: Drawn Into a Spiral, Part 1

Rachel got up the next morning for her third day at school, feeling surprisingly well-rested.

Hopefully, it would be her first normal day of school.

And now she defined "normal" as something like "not having one's day marred or ruined by supervillain attacks."

A small part of her fretted about how she was now stuck in a city currently besieged by a madman who could turn people into monsters with evil little butterflies — and that still sounded so ridiculous every time she thought about it! — but maybe knowing that she resolved that problem with Marinette, even temporarily, would help take a load off her mind.

Rachel had never been one of those "power of friendship" or "power of love" types, but having such great friends did help make things more bearable.

Adrien and Marinette… Chloé felt lucky to have both of them as friends. They were both just so good.

She smirked to herself as she thought to herself about how they could be even better as a couple together.

As long as it wasn't as long of a process as helping Cassie and Jake get together back in her previous life, she figured everything would be just fine.

She forewent having breakfast sent straight up to her room this time and instead joined her father for breakfast in the main dining hall.

It felt good to share a meal with him again, like a normal family again.

…Well, absent her negligent mother aside, of course.

Normally, André Bourgeois wouldn't discuss business with his daughter during meals unless it was very important. Seeing as they now had to worry about a supervillain somewhere in the city, not only did this affect tourism in general but could also affect any upcoming reservations for guests coming to their hotel.

"…And so after we send out these messages reminding our guests what to do in case of a supervillain attack, we'll also have to reach out to Prince Ali of Achu and see if he still wants to come and stay here," her father concluded, going down the list on paper in his personal binder.

"Gotcha," Rachel said, after taking another sip of her coffee. "How bad is it so far?"

"We've got one or two parties talking about leaving sooner than expected, plus another one or two parties who might cancel their reservations," her father said, frowning a little. They were rich and could afford to eat a loss like that occasionally, but losing clients and money was never fun for any businessman or businesswoman. That, and thanks to a new supervillain somewhere in the city, now they were in unknown territory.

"Still, who knows," Rachel said with a shrug, "maybe we can spin the 'local supervillain' thing to our advantage. Maybe some thrill-seekers want to come and watch?"

André gave her an almost intrigued look. "Most 'thrill-seekers' can't usually afford our rates, and they're not the sort of people we usually try to attract," he said, matter-of-factly and yet somehow not sounding snobbish.

"Still," Rachel said, finishing off her morning coffee, "maybe we can go with my idea of opening up and running a small hotel or hostel for such thrill-seekers? Or at least do some research? Didn't I read an article about New York City being a tourist mecca for people wanting to see superheroes?"

André thought it over, humming a little. "I guess it's worth looking into," he eventually said.

"Excuse me; sir, miss," a voice said from behind them, and there was their butler Jean, standing there like he'd just materialized out of thin air. He glanced at Rachel for a second before leaning over and whispering something in the mayor's ear. The older man looked shocked and then turned to his daughter.

"I see," André muttered, before clearing his throat and addressing her. "It seems like your driver is feeling sick this morning, and no other drivers are available at this moment. Would you be fine with walking to school, Chloé?"

Rachel resisted the urge to roll her eyes. As if walking to François Dupont from Le Grand Paris was such a burden; the two places weren't even that far apart from each other! But she smiled sweetly and said, "It's fine, Dad, I've got no problem walking to or from school today. For that matter, I've got no problem walking to and from there at all."

André relaxed and smiled. "That's good. Well, then, I guess we'd both better get to it. You've got school and I've got work." He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. "Have a great day at school, angel."

Rachel smiled as she gracefully accepted that fatherly affection. She quickly finished up herself and went back up to her room again to get everything together.

Once she was back, she noticed that gray dress which she wore on the first day of school, which she couldn't wear the entire day due to Stoneheart's initial rampage. But it had already been put through the laundry and cleaned, and it was good to go again. Just one of the perks of living in a hotel with dry cleaning!

So Rachel got changed into that, but before she left the room, she stopped and noticed something else in her wardrobe.

Her favorite pair of sunglasses caught her attention, the morning sunlight glinting off of them at just the right angle. She couldn't recall the last time she'd worn sunglasses to school, but she cringed a little when she recalled how her younger, not-quite-so-bratty-anymore self used to wear sunglasses on her head but never actually use them very much as part of her "signature look" back then. But she'd tossed that habit aside after she got her "Rachel memories" back, and the habit of wearing sunglasses but not actually using them disappeared, along with that high ponytail she used to sport as part of that look.

Considering how her failed attempt at heroics yesterday was still a hot topic and now she would be walking in public, every little bit to conceal her identity for that walk to school was welcome.

...Although seeing all the clips and commentary playing on all the different screens, especially from people's personal devices, was enough to make her long for "the old days" some twenty years ago before these things were widespread.

By the time Rachel was out of the building, she wore them confidently and acted like she didn't care if anybody recognized her when they saw her.

She was barely a block away from the hotel when she passed somebody peddling insect repellant, insecticide, and butterfly nets.

"A sign of the times," she muttered sarcastically under her breath.

...Still, maybe she should consider investing in that stuff herself?

Rachel was now a block away from the school when something around a corner caught her eye.

There was another street vendor, but it wasn't anything designed to capture or kill butterflies like that other vendor near the hotel. No, if anything, this merchandise was themed after the other new insect-themed super-powered personality.

There were lots of shirts, hats, skirts, and other merchandise all ladybird-patterned. Somebody was clearly a Ladybug fan, or at least trying to profit from it.

Rachel didn't know quite what compelled her — maybe it was wanting to show support for Paris' new hero, or maybe because they just looked really nice? — but she was already reaching for her purse and yanking out a fistful of euros.

No matter what life or what universe she was in, she could never resist a good shopping spree or a great bargain.

Before the young woman selling all this merchandise could say anything, Rachel smiled and asked, "How much for those ladybug shirts or blouses?"

A few minutes later, she entered the school carrying a shopping bag filled with a few different items.

Rachel used her fine-honed alert nature to keep an eye and an ear out for anybody gossiping about her and what she did yesterday, but if anybody was doing that, then she couldn't tell. She made her way straight to the locker room.

The first thing she saw was Ivan and Mylène huddled together, deep in conversation. Her heart twisted a little at seeing them together like this. She was genuinely happy for them.

And then they both noticed her as she walked to her own locker. "Oh hi, Chloé!" Mylène said cheerfully. "How are you doing today?"

"Fine, thanks, and yourself?" Rachel replied as she opened her own locker.

"Doing well!"

As Rachel stashed away her new purchases and other belongings, Ivan then spoke up: "Hello, Chloé," he said with a small smile. And then he added, "By the way, I just wanted to say… well, thanks for yesterday. I'm glad you didn't hold it against me, and stood up for me."

Rachel smiled and nodded, but then jolted a little when she remembered how emotional she'd gotten yesterday. While she was happy to be a good friend to Ivan and show him support after that whole ruckus, she was a little ashamed of herself if only for letting her emotions get the better of her like that when she hugged him so fiercely.

Rachel did her darnedest not to use anybody in this life as replacements or as proxies for the people she knew from her old life, but sometimes she just couldn't help it. Seeing Ivan so depressed and ashamed like that somehow reminded her of her cousin Tom…

For nearly the entirety of their war, Rachel, Jake, and the rest of the Animorphs had been hopeful about freeing Tom from the Yeerks at last… only for those hopes to be cruelly dashed at the end. But from time to time, when they were alone, Jake and Rachel would discuss just how rough shape Tom would be in after he was freed, and what they could do for him. They could only imagine what Tom's mental state would have been like, once he'd finally been freed.

Countless former involuntary hosts must have needed therapy after the war was over, and lots of it, Rachel thought to herself.

And in that one moment yesterday, Rachel let her emotions get the better of her and then she used Ivan as a proxy for Tom, telling her classmate what she wished she could have been able to tell her cousin:

"It's alright, big guy. I know it wasn't really you."

If only Rachel had been able to say something like that to Tom, in some miraculous scenario where they got a happy ending to the Yeerk War in which he survived and had a chance to live a normal life again… and not with how it actually ended, with Tom dead as well as Rachel herself.

She tried to suppress those memories as both his fate and her own threatened to flash through her mind once again…

"Chloé? Are you alright?"

Rachel hearing Ivan's voice snapped her out of it, and she forced herself to regain her focus. "Yeah, I'm fine, why?"

"I thanked you for backing me yesterday, and you kinda zoned out," Ivan commented.

"Yeah, sorry… I guess I'm still thinking about what happened yesterday." And then Rachel winced when she remembered that she was talking to Ivan and Mylène, who arguably had a worse time of it yesterday, including mental trauma of their own. "Sorry, how are you two holding up?"

"We're doing alright," Mylène said in a hopeful tone of voice, although still trembling a little. "We've been in touch with some therapists, and every little bit helps."

Rachel knew that she herself could really use a therapist, but she didn't think there was a single therapist on the planet who was qualified enough to deal with her and her problems. Not to mention the gravity of her big secret.

She was just about to say something else when she sensed a shadow behind her, and the small mirror on the inside of her locker door showed her a smartphone held up to eye level, framed by a familiar mane of red ombre hair.

As quick as a flash, Rachel slammed the locker door shut and spun around on her heel to see Alya standing there with her smartphone raised.

"Alya, what the hell!?" Rachel hissed, trying to keep her voice low so it wouldn't become a shout. Unfortunately, it also got the attention of everybody else in the locker room.

Alya just stood there, frozen on the spot and wearing a "deer in headlights" expression on her face as she lowered her phone. "Sorry," she said in a small voice. "I couldn't help it, I just saw something patterned like Ladybug, and I thought, well…"

Rachel blinked, not quite following Alya's train of thought. "You thought what?" Rachel mumbled, not trying to sound confrontational.

"…I thought that, well, maybe you were Ladybug?"

Rachel blinked again, staring at Alya. "What."

"I'm sorry!" Alya exclaimed. "I just couldn't help it! I saw the ladybug-patterned thing in your locker…"

"What, this?" Rachel said, opening her locker again and pulling the shopping bag back out. She retrieved the T-shirt in red with black spots. "I just picked it up from a local street vendor. Thought maybe I'd support our new heroes and the local economy too."

Alya blinked. "Oh…"

"Yeah, 'oh,'" Rachel remarked, making Alya flinch a little. Then she sighed, putting her hand to her forehead. "Alya," she said slowly, "if I was Ladybug, then do you really think I would just stash my superhero outfit in a shopping bag in my locker where anybody could see it?"

Alya bowed her head in shame. "I know, I know, I just got carried away…"

As Rachel stashed it back in her locker, she noticed how everybody else in the room was now looking at them. Now she also felt bad for Alya. Sighing, Rachel decided to opt for the better part of valor and just let it drop. "Just… don't do it again, okay? Really, it's fine. Though I'm not sure how I could have rescued myself and dropped me off at the hospital." She gave a small smirk.

Alya looked surprised, and then relieved, before nodding and uttering a hurried "Sorry! Thank you!" and scampering off. And as the other girl did that, Rachel realized that Alya must have been scared that it would come back to haunt her; after all, Chloé Bourgeois was Alya's mother's boss's daughter.

Sighing again, Rachel closed her eyes and leaned against her locker. The only upside she could see in this was that she hadn't well and truly exploded over this relatively small intrusion of privacy.

After a minute or so, once Rachel was sure that everything was under control, she finished doing what she had to do in the locker room and went to home room.

She pushed aside whatever unhappy thoughts she might have had as she saw a familiar person out of the corner of her eye.

"Good morning, Chloé!"

"Good morning, Marinette," she replied with a smile, genuinely happy to see her best friend again. "How are you this morning?"

"I feel great!" her best friend exclaimed, her countenance so bright it could have lit up the entire room. "I woke up at a normal time and even got to school with plenty of time to spare! I even got a full night's sleep, too!"

Rachel chuckled. Knowing Marinette's usual "night owl" habits, this was a rarity for her. "Wow, good for you, Marinette. I suppose you had sweet dreams too?"

Marinette giggled. "Yes, about Adrien…"

And there was no way that Rachel could miss how smitten Marinette sounded, the way she sighed the boy's name. Smiling, Rachel said, "Well, maybe soon you'll tell him how you really feel about him. He's right over there, you know."

Marinette turned around to see Adrien sitting down at his desk next to Nino, and jolted with a cute little "eep!" sound and buried her face in her arms on her desk.

Rachel sighed a little. Gently patting her shy and timid friend on the shoulder, she commented, "We really need to work on your confidence, especially where boys are concerned…"

From across the aisle, Nino could hear Marinette make that squeak sound, but otherwise couldn't hear what she and Chloé were talking about.

"Hey, Nino, did you hear something?" Adrien asked his best friend.

"I think it was Marinette," Nino replied breezily, "but seriously, it's nothing to worry about."

"I hope she's alright," Adrien said thoughtfully.

Nino peered at his best friend. "Something on your mind, dude?"

"Nah," Adrien said, trying to brush it off with a smile. "She's, uh, just a friend."

Nino coolly raised an eyebrow. "Good to know."

Nino didn't quite believe Adrien when he said that, but if so… well, maybe then Nino could try and date Marinette himself?

He and Kim had been good friends with Marinette since they were all in l'école maternelle, and Nino loved and appreciated Marinette as such a good friend. However, over the past few months or so, he thought maybe he felt… something more for her.

Perhaps soon, Nino would make a move and try to woo Marinette… but for now, he'd just play it cool.

Soon enough, Ms. Bustier walked in, and class began.

"Alright, class, as you know, today is only a half-day, and so we only have so much time," she told them. "But before we do that, I have a few announcements to make.

"First, there will probably be a special school presentation tomorrow or the day after that, regarding school safety. Given how we now have superheroes and supervillains among us here in Paris, we really need to review safety protocols about what to do in case of an emergency. Of course, I also strongly recommend looking it up on your own time."

On the edge of his field of vision, Nino could see Chloé shifting uncomfortably, just a little.

"Second, Gabriel will be having their annual junior fashion contest again soon, and this year's challenge is a derby hat. The winner will get a contract with Gabriel Agreste himself, and from what I understand, Adrien will be the one to wear it at the next major fashion show." Adrien cringed a little in his seat, not really welcoming the attention, even if Ms. Bustier said and did nothing wrong by simply reading off the announcement. Nino couldn't blame him for not wanting this kind of attention.

"Third, Mr. D'argencourt will be starting up the fencing club again sometime next week; notices will be posted and all are encouraged to apply and try out." Now Adrien stopped looking depressed and switched back to looking happy. Nino had seen his friend do fencing a few times, and he could tell that Adrien really liked doing it.

"Fourth, the annual junior filmmaker competition is coming up too; more details will be coming in the next few days or so." Now it was Nino's turn to perk up at that. He was so looking forward to this!

"Fifth, don't forget about class picture day, which should be by the end of this month," Ms. Bustier continued, "and finally, we still need to choose a class representative within the next week or two."

Nino didn't think much of those two things; he already had a nice suit all picked out, and Chloé would probably get elected again.

"…Chloé?" he heard Ms. Bustier say. "Did you hear me?"

Nino's attention was drawn back to the other side of the room where Chloé seemed to be deep in thought. To his silent surprise, it looked like Chloé hadn't moved a single centimeter since he last looked in her direction.

"Hm?" Chloé murmured, snapping back into focus. "Sorry, what was that?"

"As I was saying," Ms. Bustier said patiently, "we still need to select a class representative, and that should be done soon."

"Right," Chloé said. "Makes perfect sense. So what's the problem…"

And then Chloé trailed off when she felt the stares of the rest of the class focusing on her. From where she sat in the front row, she turned around to see everyone else looking at her with expressions like hope and eagerness.

"…Oh," she said at last when she realized what was going on.

"I think your classmates are eager to see you run for class representative again, Chloé," Ms. Bustier said, sounding a little amused.

But Chloé seemed to be at a loss for words. Last year, she'd been class president, but only because she'd tossed her hat into the ring just to see what would happen. However, because she was so popular, she'd won in a landslide.

And she'd done such a good job as class president, too. All the other students in the school were actually envious of their class, because they got to have the capable and skilled Chloé Bourgeois as their class representative.

"Um, yeah," she said at last, looking down. "I don't know about that."

Nino blinked. What the heck?

Now their eagerness gave way to confusion as she elaborated, "I don't know if I'm running for class representative again this year."

Nino couldn't believe his ears.

The class went very silent, before exploding with noise.

"What!?"

"Come on, you can't be serious!"

"Chloé, are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, Chloé, what's the matter?"

Chloé patiently waited for the noise to settle down, and once it did, she tried to say something in her defense. "I just… I dunno, I just don't feel like it this year. I say let someone else take a turn."

But everybody else was still in shock, too shocked by this surprise announcement.

"But you were awesome!" Kim exclaimed. "Seriously, the first thing you did was get us those new and improved lockers!"

Chloé looked surprised by what Kim said. "What, that?" Chloé said a little dismissively. "You want the truth? Me getting this school those nice new lockers had nothing to do with me running for class representative or becoming that. All I did was whip out my checkbook, write down a nice big number estimating how much it would cost us to get lockers which would securely lock, and give it to Principal Damocles. I was just that annoyed by the situation and thatdetermined to do something about it. Honestly, it was just for the common good of the school."

Everybody else seemed surprised by that little revelation, but they quickly went back to begging her to reconsider.

"All of your ideas were awesome," Alix pointed out. "Seriously, nobody ever complained about anything you did!"

"You helped us raise a lot of money doing caricatures at the school fair," Nathaniel pointed out.

"And don't forget Disneyland Paris as the end-of-year class trip!" Rose exclaimed. "That was the best!"

Marinette said something so quietly that Nino almost missed it, but he still heard it: "Are you feeling alright, Chloé? It just seems like you're throwing away something good…"

"Yes," Chloé drawled, allowing just a little sarcasm to creep into her voice, "such a pity, really… the worst thing to ever happen to this school, yours truly not going for class representative again." And here she spoke aloud with the dry, airy tone of some narrator for a history documentary. "It was only the beginning of the school year, but nobody will forget where they were when Chloé Bourgeois declined to run for class representative again. Future generations of students at François Dupont College will surely mourn the passing of that bygone golden age, that glorious epoch, when young Miss Bourgeois was class representative and all the wonderful things she did for her fellow students… Oh, come on, it's not the end of the world!" she exclaimed as she suddenly dropped the act.

All of her classmates were snickering and chuckling at her dramatic faux commentary, and even Ms. Bustier looked a little amused before quickly schooling her own emotions.

Nino chuckled a little to himself. Personally, he thought Chloé had the potential to be a great actress. Sometimes, when he was chatting with her about movies and music (she really had this penchant for American stuff from the 1980s and 1990s), he would even playfully suggest that she be his leading actress in whatever movie he would be working on. However, Chloé always seemed uncertain about being in the spotlight like that, and was always promising Nino that she would think about it.

Turning to her best friend, Chloé said, "Hey, Marinette, why don't you do it?"

The aspiring designer spluttered at being abruptly put on the spot like that. "M-m-me?" Marinette squeaked out.

"Yeah, why not? You were my deputy that whole time, you'd know what to do. You're clever and well-organized, and have lots of great ideas too…"

"I, um, uh," Marinette stammered. "I don't know, I mean… why not Sabrina!?" she blurted out.

"What!?" Sabrina said with a jolt, jumping in her seat and making her glasses go a little askew.

"You're even more well-organized than me, Sabrina, why don't you do it?" Marinette said with what she hoped was an encouraging smile, also giving Sabrina a thumbs-up.

Sabrina began to splutter about how she was already so busy as it was… and then they all heard a strange sound from the front of the classroom. They turned back to Ms. Bustier to find her laughing.

True, she wasn't laughing loudly or obnoxiously, and she had a hand clapped over her mouth to suppress the chuckles.

"I'm sorry," she said at last, her voice still ringing with mirth even as she pulled her hand away. "It's just that I've never seen anybody so reluctant to be class president. I'm so used to seeing students fight each other for an honor like that, and instead you're all tossing it around like a hot potato."

They all gave sheepish looks as they realized what she was saying.

"Look, we still have a while to decide, so there's no rush," Ms. Bustier continued, talking normally again but still smiling. "Why don't you all think it over?"

Chloé, Marinette, Sabrina, and the rest of them all exchanged glances and silently agreed to put that off for later.

"Good, that's all I wanted to say this morning," Ms. Bustier said. Chloé looked like she rued how she'd zoned out during most of that; now she'd need to ask Marinette what she missed. "And now that we're all finally caught up with where we should be, let's move on to today's topic…"

Everybody settled down after that.

"Alright, then!" Ms. Bustier declared, sounding upbeat. "I know that we got off to a rough start this school year, but I wanted to mix things up a little, try to make things more exciting."

Nino could feel the rest of the class shift a little with anticipation. "I was going to save this lesson for a little later on in the school year, but I decided we could move it up a bit and use it as a reason to make a movie day out of today."

Now the rest of the class was getting excited; how could any reasonable teenager say no to watching movies in class? Especially not Nino, the aspiring filmmaker that he was.

"But first, the story behind the movie we're going to watch today," Ms. Bustier said with a small smile. Walking around from behind her desk to face the class, she addressed them, "This is not the film I hope to show you today, but it's related to that: Has anybody here ever watched that old black-and-white film Les Diaboliques by Henri-Georges Clouzot?"

Quite a few hands shot up, including Nino's, and turning around to look back up he could see both Alya and Sabrina raising their hands too.

"Alright, now who can tell me which novel it's based upon?"

Most hands lowered, but a few stayed up. "Yes, Nino?"

"That novel Celle qui n'était plus by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac," he confidently answered.

"Very good, Nino." As he lowered his hand, Ms. Bustier continued, "Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac were two French mystery writers who both had their own individual works before joining together in a partnership which would last decades. However, something else about their writing made them stand out from the usual mystery and detective stories; can anybody tell me what it was?"

Everybody looked around confused, but Sabrina confidently raised her hand again.

"Yes, Sabrina?"

"Boileau and Narcejac wanted their work to stand out from the usual 'whodunit' mysteries where the culprit is caught and justice is served, and they wrote mysteries which focused less on finding the truth and pursuing justice and more about the crime itself. Their rule was that the main character could never wake up from the nightmare." And then, as an afterthought, Sabrina added, "Although, this also means that their stories don't really have happy endings."

"That's terrible," Rose softly commented, sounding sad.

"Hey, lots of writers do it," Juleka responded to her best friend. "That one American writer, Stephen King, does it all the time."

"Huh, I'm surprised you'd be interested in stories like that, Sabrina," Alya said, not-too-quietly, "you know, being a policeman's daughter and all."

"Hey, it's just fiction and make-believe, Alya," Sabrina replied, "and besides, I love a good story, even those which don't have happy endings or the bad guys getting caught at the end."

"However," Ms. Bustier continued, "one particular filmmaker in the United States tried to get the rights to the script which would become Les Diaboliques but unfortunately failed in that endeavor… but he did succeed in getting the rights to their next novel, and that went on to be a very famous movie. Can anybody tell me what movie that was or the name of the Boileau-Narcejac novel it was based upon?"

Well, of course Nino knew this one!

Both Nino and Sabrina raised their hands. "No offense, but someone else who hasn't already answered, please," Ms. Bustier said kindly.

When nobody else raised their hands, Mylène shrugged and raised hers.

"Yes, Mylène?"

"The novel was D'entre les morts, and then Alfred Hitchcock took it and turned it into the movie Vertigo."

"Excellent, Mylène!" Ms. Bustier said. Mylène looked pleased with herself, and Ms. Bustier continued with the lecture: "Boileau and Narcejac got the inspiration from how lots of people who were missing or assumed dead after the Second World War could conceivably turn up alive. So, they wrote a story where a detective is asked by a friend to look after said friend's disturbed wife. The first half of the novel takes place in Paris, literally just before the Germans invade, and the second half takes place in Marseilles a year or two after the war ends. But the focus of the story is how the detective is asked by his friend to look after the disturbed woman, and can't help but fall in love with her… and is shattered when tragedy strikes. And after that, he spirals further when he meets a new woman who reminds him of her."

Taking a moment to let that sink in with the class, as well as to collect herself, Ms. Bustier continued: "But when Hitchcock got the rights to the story, he moved it from Paris and Marseilles in the Nineteen-Forties to San Francisco in the Nineteen-Fifties, but otherwise the plot about this doomed romance remains very much the same. And, as you can imagine, the French names were substituted with more English-sounding names: 'Roger Flavières' became 'John Ferguson' who was also nicknamed 'Scottie,' 'Paul Gevigne' became 'Gavin Elster,' and so on."

Ms. Bustier paused again, but now she looked a little more somber and concerned. "When I was putting together a curriculum for this school year, I wanted to start off with something famous and exciting, like this famous movie based on a French novel. However, in light of recent events…"

She took a moment to collect herself and continued, "This movie has a few different instances scattered about where some character or another falls to their death from a high place. And, well, given what happened at the Eiffel Tower yesterday… it's wholly understandable if anybody here is uncomfortable watching it."

Nino had to admire how she was able to put that so delicately, showing sensitivity to the few of them involved in that mess yesterday but without actually naming any of them.

As the rest of the class shifted a little uncomfortably and exchanged glances, Ms. Bustier asked, "How about we put this to a vote? If too many people here are uncomfortable with the idea of watching this after what happened yesterday, we can do something else instead, and maybe watch this movie another day."

All fourteen of them exchanged looks, and none of them seemed opposed to the idea. "I don't think any of us are against watching it, Ms. Bustier," Marinette spoke up for the rest of them.

Ms. Bustier read the room and found no resistance to that plan. "Very well then.

"And so, without further ado, I present to you… Vertigo."

And so after the curtains were drawn and the lights were dimmed, the movie began to play.

Even though he'd already watched it at least once before in the past, Nino was cool with watching it again (especially during school hours, because watching movies beat actual school stuff).

Besides, maybe this time he'd see or notice things this time around which he hadn't the first time around.

Movies didn't change, but the viewers' perceptions naturally changed over time because people always changed over the years.

Soon enough, the movie started playing, and he immersed himself in the opening credits, with the foreboding yet repetitive musical score to go along with the title sequence of perfectly rotating spirals. Nino thought he heard Max muttering something about scientific-sounding stuff like "Lissajous curves," but Nino didn't pay attention to that.

Sure enough, the movie started off strong with a pair of policemen chasing a criminal across some rooftops in San Francisco. But then things got intense with Scottie helplessly dangling from a rooftop while his partner plummeted to the ground below. That got the expected winces and cringes from the audience in the classroom, but they just kept watching.

If anybody was unpleasantly reminded of that showdown at the Eiffel Tower yesterday, then Nino couldn't tell.

Nino immersed himself, even spotting Alfred Hitchcock's expected cameo appearance in his own movie, walking through that shipyard. Sure enough, the ball got rolling, with Scottie meeting his old friend Gavin Elster, who asked the detective to discreetly observe his own wife, Madeleine. The other man was concerned, because his wife was possessed by the spirit of one of her own ancestors, or so Madeleine claimed.

But when Scottie and Gavin were talking in the latter's office, Nino noticed something unusual, but it wasn't in the movie.

It was when Gavin asked Scottie if the latter believed that someone out of the past, someone dead, could enter and take possession of a living being. Nino heard Scottie's immediate negative reply in the movie well enough, but he also heard something else: Someone else in the class making a sound like a sharp intake of breath — a gasp, or maybe a hiss? — and he thought it was towards the front of the class.

And he thought he'd noticed something out of the corner of his eye…

Nino peered around Adrien and glanced at where Chloé and Marinette were sitting, but didn't see anything unusual in the semi-darkness. Shrugging to himself, he went back to watching the movie.

The movie progressed, with Scottie meeting Madeleine and becoming more than just the private investigator assigned to observe and protect her… more than he reasonably or professionally should have been.

And then there was a scene which really made Nino sit up and pay attention. Scottie and Madeleine were visiting a national park, and among the giant California trees, they were standing in front of a cross-section of a felled tree, with certain historical dates corresponding to certain rings within it.

Entranced, Nino watched as Madeleine calmly pointed to certain dates on the tree and said aloud to Scottie:

"Here I was born. And there I died. It was only a moment for you. You took no notice."

Nino jolted in his seat. Something about this jarred his memory. He'd seen this particular scene before, but why did it feel like he'd seen it in a completely different film? Like maybe a film within another film?

Then Nino thought he heard a noise from across the aisle, like someone making a noise of shock or discomfort.

He quickly glanced over across the aisle to where Marinette and Chloé were sitting. It was hard to tell in the semi-darkness, but it didn't look like Chloé was particularly enjoying herself during this movie.

"Nino?" Adrien whispered. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, dude, no worries," Nino whispered back. "Just thought this scene looked familiar, somehow."

Adrien simply nodded and kept on watching.

But then, halfway through, when it came to that pivotal scene involving Madeleine at the mission's bell tower and Scottie being unable to get to her in time because of his acrophobia, the whole class gasped in shock. Nino thought he'd even heard a girl scream. At first he thought it was Mylène or maybe Rose up in the back of the classroom, but then he realized that it had come from the front.

The movie suddenly paused on a shot of Scottie looking down from the bell tower in horror, and Ms. Bustier's voice cut through it. "Are you alright?" she asked someone in the front row. "Do you want a moment outside?"

And then Nino realized it was Marinette who must have made that sound of shock and horror. And now the pigtailed girl was saying, albeit a little shakily, "I'm fine, Ms. Bustier. Just a little rattled, but I'm fine. Please, don't hold it up on my account."

"Is she alright?" Adrien quietly asked Nino, sounding a little worried.

"I'm sure she's fine," Nino tried to reassure his friend, "she just doesn't like scary movies. Or, in this case, scary moments in non-horror movies."

Meanwhile, the teacher nodded. "Okay, Marinette, but please don't hesitate to slip outside if you need a break."

Now sounding a little more confident, Marinette replied, "I can handle it."

"Actually," Ms. Bustier said, completely stopping the movie, "why don't we all take a short break? This movie is over two hours long, and we're already more than halfway through it."

As she moved to turn the lights back on, the class murmured in agreement.

While everybody else moved around a little and a few of them also set off for a bathroom break, Nino got up just to move around a little and stretch his legs.

He was just leaning against the wall closer to the classroom, and somehow Alya wandered into his field of vision. "Oh, hey Alya," he greeted her.

"Nino, right?" she asked him, and he nodded. "So, how are you enjoying the movie?"

"I've seen this before, but it doesn't hurt to watch it again," he said earnestly.

She smirked at him. "Beats doing actual classwork, right?" she said in a hushed tone, almost conspiratorially.

He couldn't help but grin. "You get me," he said, chuckling a little. "But no, it's not just that. I figured maybe I could see something new in it that I didn't see last time." (He was still trying to remember that quote from some other movie...)

"That's cool," Alya said, pulling out her smartphone and pulling something up on it. "Ooh, sorry, just a moment, I need to check my blog… got lots of hits, especially after the footage I got yesterday… wow, look at it go…"

Nino stood there, curious. Alya was really passionate about her reporting, and if she was still at all rattled by her experience yesterday, then she didn't show it.

"Gotta love Ladybug, she's a real hero," Alya was saying, finally looking up from her smartphone and whatever was on it. "I can't help but wonder who she is," she mused.

"Well, that's what secret identities are for," Nino commented with a shrug. But then right after he said it, Alya seemed to deflate and her good mood disappeared.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked her. "Something I said."

Alya's eyes briefly flickered across the room to where Marinette and Chloé were standing off to one side, just talking to each other. Alya didn't talk at first, but finally she said, "Did you see what happened in the locker room earlier?"

Nino knew what she was referring to, and he silently nodded.

Alya hung her head and sighed. "That was a dumb thing of me to do," she said. "I just couldn't help it; I saw the ladybug-patterned thing in Chloé's locker and jumped to the wrong conclusion. I even tried to catch it on camera."

Nino winced a little. "Yeah, not to rub it in, but you might want to check the local laws about that kind of stuff…"

"No, not just that!" Alya protested, trying not to raise her voice and draw more attention. "Chloé isn't just my classmate, she's also my mom's boss's daughter! What if this somehow gets back to them?"

Now Nino could really see what Alya meant. "Look, Chloé already forgave you, right? I don't think you'll have to worry about that. Chloé's cool like that, she doesn't wield her wealth and power like a weapon; quite the contrary, actually."

Alya seemed to calm down a little bit, but she still looked distressed. "I just don't want to mess this up for my mom, not after we all moved to Paris so she could take this job-"

And then Alya abruptly cut herself off, like she couldn't bring herself to say anymore.

Nino didn't know what to do, and hugging her seemed like a bit much at this point, so he tried to say something positive: "I don't know the full story, Alya, and you don't need to tell me if you don't want to… but if you ever want to hang out or just need to talk, I'm here for you."

Alya relaxed and began to smile again. "Thanks, Nino."

They stood around awkwardly for another moment, before Ms. Bustier called aloud for them to return to their seats.

After the short break, they were all back in their seats, ready to finish the movie.

The rest of it passed without incident. By now, the entire class was simply committed to watching this movie all the way to the end and moving on from there.

True, it got rather creepy with Scottie's disturbing nightmare which had him wake up wide-eyed, but it didn't get much worse than that.

...Although when Scottie finally met Judy Barton and became more and more insistent on making the new woman in his life resemble the dearly-departed Madeleine Elster, Nino noticed something else in the here and now.

At the scene where Scottie was bringing Judy to the hair stylist to have her hair dyed so she would resemble Madeleine, Nino caught something out of the corner of his eye (his vision had adjusted to the dark again). It looked like Chloé was facepalming, and shaking her head as if in disgust.

And then Marinette happened to be peering around Chloé, and Nino made eye contact with her. Nino was trying to silently ask her what was going on, and Marinette was just as silently trying to convey to him that she didn't know what was going on with Chloé either.

And as Chloé took her hand away from her face and focused on the movie again, both Nino and Marinette quickly went back to acting normal.

Well before the dramatic final scene, there was this other scene where Judy wrote a letter to Scottie confessing who she really was, before destroying it. Nino knew what was coming, but he still heard gasps from the majority of his classmates who hadn't seen this movie before, and he subtly savored their reactions.

And then came the final scene, shocking the class.

Finally, the movie came to an end.

Everyone just sat there in silence.

"Actually," Ms. Bustier added, "there was also this special ending for international audiences, just to try and convey that the mastermind wouldn't get away with it."

Indeed, they saw the clip where Scottie was being comforted by his artist friend Midge, along with the radio report claiming that Gavin Elster was on the run with the authorities hot on his trail, but it didn't sound to anybody like justice was done.

"...Well," Chloé said at last, seemingly more to break the silence than anything else. "That was certainly some ending, both with and without that extra bit."

"Well, downer ending aside, it was still a well-made movie," Marinette said, looking for something positive to say about it. "I think I can see why it became so famous."

Ms. Bustier nodded in agreement. "And now, it gets even more interesting," the teacher continued. "Not only did this novel by Boileau and Narcejac get adapted into a movie which would become famous and legendary the way it did, but the movie ended up inspiring other movies, especially in ways which neither that author duo nor Hitchcock could have foreseen. One of them was a short French movie which would become famous in its own right, and go on to inspire another famous American movie. I'll give you a couple of hints: It's from the early 1960s, and it won the Jean Vigo Prize for short films."

Nino knew this and was about to raise his own hand again, but then he was surprised when he heard Alya make a sound like a gasp of excitement, and he turned around to see her hand shoot up into the air.

"Yes, Alya?" Ms. Bustier called on her.

"The still image film La Jetée by Chris Marker," Alya said confidently, lowering her hand.

"Excellent, Alya!" Ms. Bustier said proudly, and Alya smiled from the praise. "I'm guessing you've seen that movie before, Alya?" she asked her pupil.

"Well, one of my teachers back home really liked Chris Marker's documentaries," Alya explained. "She often commented that it was ironic that, for someone who mostly did documentaries, he's best known for making this short sci-fi film which became so famous and influential."

"Indeed, Alya," Ms. Bustier said. Addressing the class again, she said, "It's a short film, and a still image film, which can make it look and feel more like an old slideshow than an actual film. It's a tale about a man from a ruined future, living underground with other survivors after the Earth's surface has been ruined because of a Third World War, and how he repeatedly goes back in time to look for supplies and information to help the human race survive and rebuild for the future.

"Let me pull up a certain scene from that movie…"

The projector screen came to life again, and Ms. Bustier showed scenes from this still image film, with a man and a woman walking through some kind of park or garden. Nino noticed how the woman had a beehive hairdo just like Madeleine in Vertigo, but he also listened to the narrator's voice…

Once again, a couple was now standing before the cross-section of a tree, except now it was the man pointing to certain dates on the tree to the woman. But the real kicker here was that the man was pointing to some spot beyond the tree, claiming that he came from there.

As she ended the clip, she began to say something else, but she saw Max's hand shoot up into the air. "Yes, Max?"

"Aside from being a clever reference to Vertigo, the unnamed male protagonist was being clever in telling the unnamed female protagonist that he was from the future, seeing as the years representing where he came from would not have been on the cross-section of the tree," Max droned, not so much asking it as he was telling it.

Ms. Bustier gave a strange little smile, clearly not having expected Max to answer what must have been her next question before she could even ask it. "Yes, Max, you're right. Chris Marker very much liked the movie Vertigo, and in his documentary Sans Soleil which he made precisely twenty years after La Jetée, it's mentioned how he saw Vertigo at least nineteen times by that point… even going around San Francisco on a tour to see whichever sites were still standing by that point.

"So yes, there is the nod to the thing with the tree," Ms. Bustier continued, "but then that connects to yet another movie. Can anybody tell me which movie was directly inspired by La Jetée? It's an English language film, and it says right there in the opening credits that it was inspired by this short film."

Nino raised his hand, and after she saw that nobody else had their film raised, Ms. Bustier called on him. "Yes, Nino?"

"It was 12 Monkeys," Nino said proudly. "They just swapped out the Third World War with some kind of pandemic, and they had it take place in America instead of France, but it was inspired by that." And, flashing a knowing grin, he then added, "And they also do the thing with the tree again, straight from Vertigo itself."

Ms. Bustier nodded and smiled. "Very good, Nino. Now, let me just pull up one more movie clip for now…"

And the screen came to life once more, showing a scene from this modern sci-fi movie, considered to be a classic.

It was a scene from that science-fiction movie 12 Monkeys, towards the end of it. The time traveler Jason Cole (played by Bruce Willis) and his companion the Doctor Kathryn Railly (played by Madeleine Stowe) were hiding out in a movie theater during a Hitchcock movie marathon — and watching Vertigo, of all movies! — and sure enough, that same scene was playing on the screen, with Madeleine Elster pointing to the dates on the cross-section of the tree.

And while Dr. Railly was trying to help James with his disguise, he was saying to her:

"The movie never changes, it can't change. But every time you see it, it seems different because you're different. You see different things."

Wasn't Nino thinking something just like that before this particular movie started playing in class? Maybe he'd been subconsciously thinking of this movie all along?

After the clip ended, the teacher addressed the class again.

"I couldn't go without mentioning how those three movies in particular were all tied together because of that thing with the tree," Ms. Bustier said, "but even beyond that, the movie Vertigo has had lots of imitations, from other serious movies to the occasional parody or comedy. In fact, just a few years ago, this one rather comparable German movie was released: Phoenix by Christian Petzold."

There was a soft yet audible gasp followed by the sound of a pencil being dropped, and Ms. Bustier's gaze turned to the class' resident artist. "Are you alright, Nathaniel?"

"Oh yes, I'm fine, Ms. Bustier," Nathaniel stammered, before composing himself and retrieving his dropped pencil. "It's just that I actually know what movie you're talking about. Some of my relatives saw it, and they were telling me and my family about it."

"And have you watched it yourself? What did you think of it?"

"Well," Nathaniel began to say, looking nervous at being the center of attention like this. But then he looked down towards the front row with an odd expression on his face…

…And Nino followed his gaze to see Chloé twisting around in her seat, looking back up at him with an expression he couldn't quite read. However, she was making a gesture of encouragement, as if silently asking him to go on.

Finally, Nathaniel cleared his throat and spoke up: "This other movie, Phoenix… it takes place right after the Second World War and the Holocaust. It's about a Jewish woman, Nelly, who was forcibly divorced from her German and non-Jewish husband, Johnny, and she survives the concentration camps… but her face is all messed up from a blow to the head that should've killed her but didn't. And once her friend gets her to a hospital for facial reconstruction, Nelly tries to get the doctor to recreate her face just as it used to be, but he tells her it's impossible, so she settles for some brand-new face."

The rest of the class winced at this condensed description of this female protagonist's ordeal, but Kim also looked confused. "Wait, I'm pretty sure they didn't have facial reconstruction stuff back then," he said aloud.

"You're right, they didn't," Alix replied to him with a scoff. "I'm guessing that it was only this way just to drive the plot."

"Yes, well, anyway," Nathaniel continued, "Nelly comes across Johnny trying to survive in a bombed-out Berlin, but he doesn't recognize her because he thinks that she's actually dead. However, he needs someone to pretend to be Nelly, so that way he can get a hold of her inheritance, which is now hers because the rest of her family is gone. So now Nelly has to figure out if Johnny really did love her but was forced to divorce her, or if he did it on his own just to save himself. And once she figures out the truth, what does she do in the end?"

Nathaniel let it hang there for a moment, before finally concluding, "But yeah, this other movie Phoenix sounds quite a bit like Vertigo — especially with some woman who isn't really who everybody else thinks she is. Although, here, it's this woman with the double identity longing for the man, not him longing for her like in the older movie."

"Thank you, Nathaniel, excellent synopsis," Ms. Bustier said with a smile. Nathaniel smiled bashfully and nodded.

But as everybody's attention turned back towards the front, Nino thought he saw a pensive look on Chloé's face. No, not just pensive, but guarded. As if Chloé was trying to hide her disgust at something.

Maybe because of what the dude did to his wife in that movie? Nino thought to himself.

"For that matter," Ms. Bustier continued, "it's also worth noting that the movie Phoenix is also based on a French novel, that being Le Retour des Cendres by Hubert Monteilhet. However, it's very loosely adapted from that novel, so it can be argued that Phoenix has even less in common with its own source material than Vertigo does with its own. You could tell that right away, seeing as how the novel is about a French couple living in Paris and not a German couple in Berlin. Still, from what I understand, Phoenix took more from the movie Vertigo than this other book."

Nino could hear Sabrina behind him, making a small excited "ooh" sound, followed by her scribbling something in her notes; no doubt she would be looking up that other novel later.

Ms. Bustier continued: "But the point I'm trying to make is this: It can be truly incredible, how an otherwise unremarkable book could go on to inspire one of the most beloved movies of all time, as well as set off a 'domino effect' of sorts with all these other movies to follow."

"For that matter, there was even this new book a few years ago, authorized with permission from Hitchcock's estate. I forget the authors' names at the moment, but they wrote a book which basically gives Judy's backstory and then shows the events of Vertigo from her perspective."

Now Sabrina was writing all this down so hard that Nino could hear her scribbling all too well. He was surprised she didn't just burn a hole in the paper itself from all that writing.

"So, is there anybody else who wants to contribute something to it?" she asked, her eyes scanning the class.

After a moment of relative silence, somebody towards the back raised their hand. "Yes, Ivan?"

Lowering his hand, Ivan shrugged and said, "I just remembered something relating to La Jetée."

"And what would that be?" Ms. Bustier asked him.

"I remember watching the music video to that song 'Jump They Say' by David Bowie, and in that, he's also lying in a hammock and wearing one of those… well, visor things over his eyes."

Ivan was a man of few words, and so he must have been saying this just to contribute as part of the class. But Ms. Bustier was pleased at his participation all the same.

And then the teacher's attention turned to someone else in the front row of the class. "Chloé? You haven't said much; do you have any thoughts on this?"

Even though Ms. Bustier wasn't one to just put students on the spot and make them uncomfortable like that, Chloé still had the look of someone like that.

Chloé looked a little uncomfortable, and glanced around with what looked like uncertainty, before she finally pulled herself together.

"Well," she began, "I can see why it's such a celebrated movie, even if it didn't do so well when it was released. It's definitely quite a ride, but… well, sorry, but I guess it's just not my favorite movie ever."

But before Ms. Bustier or anybody else could say something, Chloé continued, plowing on ahead: "I know the whole point of the movie is it being a tale of obsession, but for me, I just found it pathetic to watch… almost painful, even."

Ms. Bustier merely nodded. "I can see why you'd feel that way, Chloé."

Chloé made a dismissive sound. "Yes, well, about Scottie… that guy really needed some psychological help, and apparently all those months he spent recovering in the mental health hospital didn't work. Maybe he needed better doctors, too. I know that medicine and therapy back then wasn't what it is today, but seriously…"

"And was there anything else you thought about it?" Ms. Bustier asked her pupil. "If you don't mind me saying so, you really didn't seem to like the scene where he took her to the beauty salon to change her appearance."

From where Nino was sitting, it almost looked as if Chloé was resisting the urge to snort as well as roll her eyes dismissively. "Yeah, I just thought that whole thing was ridiculous."

For a split-second, Nino half-expected Chloé to repeat her own mother's infamous catchphrase: "Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!" And he knew that Chloé refused to ever imitate her mother the Style Queen like that, but Nino wouldn't have blamed Chloé if she did that just this once.

"So I guess you have a certain takeaway here, Chloé?" Ms. Bustier asked.

Chloé didn't respond right away, but after a moment, she shrugged and said, "I guess one message you could take away from the movie was something like, 'Don't try to turn your next love interest into a replacement for the last one.'"

Ms. Bustier regarded it, and then finally said, "That's very deep and profound, Chloé."

Chloé just shrugged again, as if it were nothing important.

Nino listened to what Chloé had to say, and he had to agree with their teacher that it was "very deep and profound," but between what his blonde classmate said and the way she said it, Nino felt like he was missing something here.

Still, he put it out of his mind as class continued, or at least up until Ms. Bustier announced that she needed to see the principal for something or another. With that, she told the class that they had the rest of the day to focus on their studies, and she was trusting them to behave.

In what little time they had left, they were talking about how things were now with superheroes and supervillains running around, as well as upcoming events.

"So, bro, got any plans for your birthday?" Nino asked Adrien. "It's right around the corner."

Adrien just shrugged. "I dunno… it would be nice to do something for my birthday, but who knows what Father has planned for that day."

Nino had to do a double take. "Dude… he won't even let you take the day off for your birthday?"

Adrien looked down and mumbled something like how "it wouldn't be the first time" as he clenched his fists on the desk.

Nino felt a flash of fury. He might have known Adrien for a while now, and while Adrien wasn't the meek and submissive boy when Nino had first met him, Nino could still see traces of it in there.

And now the rest of the class had caught onto this too. Now they were also making comments about how messed-up that was for Gabriel Agreste to do, but without trying to insult the man because he was still Adrien's father and they didn't want to disrespect Adrien himself.

But then someone else spoke up...

"I've got an idea," Chloé said, speaking up. "How about a pool party this weekend? At the hotel."

Everybody turned to look at her.

"I think we could all use a little morale booster," Chloé elaborated. "Not to mention do something special for Adrien. If, God forbid, we can't give him a proper birthday party on that day, then we'll still have done something for him."

"And you really think that Adrien's dad will go for that?" Nino asked, a little skeptically.

"Then we'll just tell him a little white lie and say it's for a class project," Chloé explained breezily. "Tell him how we need to catch up on our work to keep our grades up, what with the new supervillain menace messing everything up." And then she hastily added, "No offense, Ivan."

"None taken," Ivan rumbled.

"And you really think that would work?" Marinette asked her friend.

Chloé shrugged. "We'll just need to make sure we do our homework sometime before we leave, like after we're done having our fun in the pool."

Alya raised an eyebrow. "You sure sound like you have your priorities straight."

Chloé smirked at her. "I always do."

The rest of the class got a chuckle out of that.

"So," Chloé said, clapping her hands together, "want me to ask my dad if we can reserve the pool for this Saturday? We should definitely do it while the weather is still good."

They all murmured in assent.

And sure enough, class ended and they all left for the day (it was a half-day), but most of them milled around, discussing their plans for the rest of the week, especially with Chloé's impromptu plans for a pool party for them.

Outside the classroom, Nino found Chloé milling around by herself; it looked like Marinette was elsewhere and doing something else.

"Hey, dudette," Nino said as he approached her. "That was a cool thing you did, trying to help Adrien like that."

Chloé hand waved it aside. "Don't thank me just yet, I still need to get permission first. But really, I'm glad to do it. Not just for Adrien, but for all of us."

Nino grinned. It always amazed him how, for someone who was so rich, she was so cool about it.

Chloé was a very pleasant person to be around, but she could be a little unsettling when she got into one of her moods. And now he was thinking of how she hadn't enjoyed the movie all that much...

"Hey, Chloé, you're not being possessed or anything by one of your ancestors, are you?"

He meant it as a harmless joke, but she didn't seem to find it all that funny, at least not at first.

For a moment, Chloé just gave Nino a blank look, like she didn't know how to respond. But, after a moment, he got a response out of her:

"Yes, Nino, you're right; I've been communicating with one of my ancestors who lived through La Belle Époque. She even got to meet Toulouse-Lautrec himself at the Moulin Rouge! Just yesterday I was explaining to her how lightbulbs work, and later today I'll be giving her a crash course on how to use the Internet." She said all this with a normal and almost bored air, as if this was a completely normal occurrence.

Nino stared at her for a moment before finally laughing out loud. "Cute, Chloé, very cute."

Chloé smirked at him. "Why, did you actually believe it?"

Nino laughed. "I'm sure anything's possible, but nah, I could tell you were just joking. Still, excellent delivery."

Chloé just shrugged and hummed something in what sounded like gratitude.

"You know, for what it's worth… you could be a movie star yourself," Nino commented. "Are you sure you don't want to star in my movies? I think you'd be really good at it!"

Chloé looked at him, surprised. "What, is it because I'm wearing a gray dress like the woman in the movie?" she said, gesturing to her gray ensemble. "I mean, it's not an Edith Head original like that, but still kinda close…"

"Heh, good eye," Nino commented.

And then Nino noticed something else out of the corner of his eye, and Chloé noticed it too. It was Alya, walking rather briskly to the girls' restroom.

"I hope she's alright," Nino muttered. Seeing Chloé's expression, he elaborated, "She mentioned earlier how she was afraid she'd messed things up for spying into your locker like that, and how it might affect her mom's job at your dad's hotel…"

"Wait, she actually said that to you?" Chloé asked him.

"Eh, not in so many words," Nino said, unable to recall exactly how Alya had phrased it, but something to that effect. "But yeah, something like that."

Chloé sighed. "I didn't mean to freak out on her like that earlier," she murmured, as if more to herself than to Nino. "She just caught me by surprise…"

Looking at Nino again, she said, "Don't worry about it, I'll handle it."

And as Chloé strolled off to find Alya, Nino found himself hoping that both girls would resolve it.

Especially Alya, because she seemed like a very sharp girl...

Wait, where did that thought come from? Nino thought to himself.

Shrugging, Nino strolled away, looking for Adrien and hoping to chat with him some more before his gorilla of a bodyguard came to collect him.

Alya went to the girls' restroom to freshen up.

Not bad for a first "normal" day of school, that being one where it wasn't interrupted or ruined by supervillains.

Her mind was occasionally flashing back to her terrifying near-death experience the previous day, being thrown from the Eiffel Tower, but she tamped it down. Instead, she whipped out her smartphone and checked her blog again, seeing how much her page views had risen since the last time she'd checked them.

Millions of views, millions of views, millions of views, was her mantra as she watched the numbers continue to tick higher.

Not that she ever planned on pulling a stunt like that, but Alya liked to think that it had been worth it in the end, just to catch all this footage. As terrifying as it had been to live through that, she had to admit that the footage was rather edgy and, dare she say it, exciting.

Alya even liked to think that it had been worth the lecture she got from her parents after the fact, once all the dust had settled. She shouldn't upset her family after all.

Family…

Alya felt something heavy in her heart, like a stone in her chest which threatened to drop straight into the pit of her stomach.

And then she just happened to swipe this way or that on her smartphone when she opened up her Pictures, and she saw pictures of herself with her family on the beach in Martinique… as well as all the friends she left behind there...

Alya nearly jumped out of her skin when the bathroom door opened and someone else walked in.

It was Chloé. "Oh hello, Alya," she said easily. "How are you?"

"Oh, fine, thanks for asking," Alya replied. "I was just going to meet up with Sabrina and go to the bookstore after we leave the building. Now she also wants to look up some of those books we mentioned in class."

Chloé's pleasant expression dimmed a little at the mention of what they'd been discussing in class just earlier, but Alya didn't think too much of it. Still, the blonde smiled and said, "That's nice. So, how are you doing? Especially given, well, you know… yesterday."

Alya privately appreciated Chloé's tact. "Oh, just fine, thanks for asking," Alya said, looking as ready-to-go as always. "I feel even better, now that I got my blog off the ground!"

"What blog?" Chloé asked her. "A new personal blog of yours?"

"Not exactly," Alya grinned at her. "I'm making a brand-new blog for the heroes of Paris; I was thinking maybe the 'Ladyblog' in honor of Ladybug."

Chloé absorbed all this and chuckled. "Very clever."

Then Chloé looked like she wanted to say something else, but wasn't sure quite what.

"Hey, Chloé, you okay?" Alya asked.

Chloé focused on Alya again. "Yeah, sorry, just thinking about stuff."

"Why, were you also going to say something about me running off to do stuff on my own?"

Rachel didn't want to admit it, but she'd been tempted at some point or another to do just that. But of course she couldn't, especially not after the stunt she'd pulled yesterday.

"No, I wasn't going to," she said at last, hoping she sounded sincere.

"Yeah, especially not after what you did," Alya automatically replied, without really thinking about it.

Chloé winced, but didn't lash out or retaliate. "Fair," she said. "And everybody else has already said their piece about it. Lesson learned, no more running after supervillains for me."

Alya nodded. "My family also said stuff to me." And even as she said it, Alya could still hear the lectures her parents had given her ringing in her ears. "I know, I know, it was dumb. I just couldn't help myself. I just want to be a journalist and get to the bottom of things…"

"Hey, that's cool," Chloé said reassuringly. "It sounds like a great goal to work towards and an awesome dream to pursue." And then, after a moment, she added, "Look, if this is about earlier, I'm not mad about it."

Alya flushed with shame a little as she remembered her impulsive snooping around when Chloé's locker was open. "I know, and thanks. I promise it won't happen again. It's just that my whole family moved here so my mother could get a better job, and the last thing I want to do is screw everything up for my family…"

Her family...

Alya tried to keep herself composed, but then she began to sniffle… and then she was uncontrollably crying. It felt like both her eyes were a pair of dams breaking open, and all the water came rushing out.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed, spinning around and gripping the nearest sink, barely seeing her own sad reflection in the mirror above that sink. "It's not just me and my family here in Paris, I miss all my friends and family back in Martinique…"

"It's okay, I get it, you're homesick," Chloé said gently.

"No, you don't!" Alya retorted, but then felt ashamed of herself for snapping at Chloé. "I'm sorry, Chloé, but no, you really don't! I'm halfway around the world, far from everybody I've ever known… not just my friends, but my family and relatives too… I've got grandparents and other older relatives who aren't getting any younger, and what if I'm not there in the future, when they… when they…"

And with that she let out a fresh round of sobbing, shutting out the world around her as she closed her eyes and let her tears flow. She really didn't want to finish that sentence.

"Alya?" she heard Chloé's voice, just barely over the sound of her own sobbing.

But Alya just kept crying, and kept on rambling about it: "I know it's supposed to be new and exciting, living here in Paris of all places — and everybody here is so nice, you guys are great! But I just don't want to forget about everything I left behind, all my old friends… I don't want them thinking I abandoned them…"

And before Alya knew it, she was being pulled into a strong yet gentle hug. She opened her eyes and found herself looking at the top of Chloé's shoulder, and could see some of the other girl's long blonde hair filling the side of her vision.

"Chloé…?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Chloé said softly into Alya's ear. "I'm sure they know how much you miss them, and you're not forgetting about them or replacing them."

Alya hadn't expected Chloé to do this for her, but now that she was doing this, Alya hugged Chloé back, grateful for the support.

Alya eventually drew back, feeling a little less upset (and secretly hoping that she hadn't cried into Chloé's shoulder too much), and looked at the other girl. Chloé just looked calm and patient and understanding, even giving her a supportive smile. Chloé looked almost angelic, standing there like that and being there for Alya.

Or maybe it's her outfit giving her the impression of wings, Alya thought to herself, and finding a little humor in that notion.

But the tears still flowed, and Chloé wasted no time in retrieving a small pack of tissues from within her jacket and handing them to Alya. Alya mumbled words of thanks as she dabbed at her eyes and blew her nose.

But while she was doing that, she thought maybe she heard Chloé sniffling and crying a little.

And yet when Alya opened her eyes again, there was no evidence that such a thing had happened.

After what felt like a minute or so, Chloé then added, "Besides, you can contact them anytime you want, right? Nice thing about living in this day and age, technology lets you do that. Kids like us twenty years ago would have loved to have had this stuff."

Alya let out a chuckle which could have sounded bitter or self-deprecating. "That's just the thing; it's me and this thing," she said, flicking her wrist and still holding her smartphone tight. "I put so much time and effort into my stuff, and now I'm following the superheroes and setting up this new blog just for them… I just kept forgetting about my friends and family back in Martinique, just putting it off… and now it's a month later and I've barely spoken to them. My family loves to joke about how this thing is practically attached to me, and despite having the power in my hands to contact them — literally! — I still haven't done it yet because I'm too busy getting used to life in Paris and now covering superheroes."

"Well, then go contact them," Chloé suggested, somehow not sounding bossy like she was ordering Alya to do it.

The new Parisian smiled ever so slightly at that.

"Are you feeling better now?" Chloé asked her, and Alya found herself nodding in the affirmative.

"Besides," the blonde added, "if it truly comes to that, if you and your family really need to get back to Martinique in a hurry, then I will personally reserve a private jet to fly you back there right away."

Alya laughed, and then hiccuped, and then laughed again at all this.

And to think, only a few months before, she was afraid of being stuck with some stupid rich snot who would treat her mother the world-renowned chef horribly… and now, her she was, being comforted in a friendly, no, in an almost sisterly way by her mother's boss' daughter.

Feeling a little better, or at least not so ashamed that she was sobbing into the other girl's shoulder, she shed her last tears and let it all out.

"Sorry for crying on you," Alya mumbled.

"Don't worry about it," Chloé said, clearly trying to reassure her. "You're not the first homesick kid I've ever comforted."

"Really?" Alya hiccuped. "What do you mean?"

"Well, sometimes I've had to play 'big sister' to some homesick kids who've stayed at the hotel, kids who were away from home a little too long," Chloé explained. "We get more than people and families on vacation; sometimes we even get people moving into the area, and they need a place to stay while everything gets set up."

"Yeah, I can see that happening," Alya commented.

"Hey, is everything alright here?" another girl's voice called.

Alya looked up and over Chloé's shoulder to see Sabrina and Marinette walking into the girls' restroom. Both other girls looked worried and then instantly looked concerned when they saw Alya looking sad and Chloé trying to comfort her.

"Yeah, everything's fine," Alya assured them, feeling calmer now. "I was just feeling a little overwhelmed, and just talking to Chloé, that's all."

"I'm glad you're alright, Alya," Sabrina said earnestly. "Did you still want to get lunch together and visit the bookstore? I'll understand if you want to do it another day…"

"Don't worry, Sabrina, we'll still do that," Alya reassured her new friend, "although I might want to call my family and relatives at some point, catch up with them."

Sabrina's eyes widened behind her glasses. "Oh, of course!" she said enthusiastically.

But Marinette caught onto it. "Are you feeling homesick, Alya?" she asked with concern.

Alya turned to the aspiring designer. Alya admired Chloé's nobility, but there was also something about Marinette's sweetness which Alya found herself drawn towards. "Yeah, but I'm feeling better now."

"Hm, you know," Marinette said thoughtfully, tapping her chin, "maybe we could also do something for you at the pool party, Alya, like video-call your friends back in Martinique, say hello to them. Of course, we'll have to account for time zone differences, but we're not that far ahead of them, so that should be fine…"

Alya found herself entranced by Marinette's monologue fueled by her own creative thought process. She knew that Marinette was creative and clever, but it was still interesting to watch.

"Awesome idea, Marinette," Chloé complimented her best friend. Turning back to Alya, the blonde asked, "How about it? Want to do a group call to all your friends back there?"

Alya felt herself smiling. "That sounds great to me," she agreed.

"Alright, new plan," Chloé said, "We have a small pool party, do something nice for Adrien, video-call Alya's friends in Martinique, and then we do some homework like we said we would so we can give the impression that we're all halfway responsible teenagers."

All four of them laughed at that. "Sounds like a plan to me!" Sabrina piped up, and they all laughed a little harder.

Now Alya was feeling happier and more upbeat. What had she done to deserve such nice new friends and classmates.

And then Chloé checked the time. "Alright, not to sound indelicate, but I think we need to get going," she told the rest of them. Looking at Alya again, Chloé asked, "Are you feeling better now?"

Alya nodded, wiping her face one last time. "Yeah, I think so," she said with a smile.

"Good," Chloé said, also smiling. "Just know that I'm here for you. No, that we're all here for you."

"Thanks, Chloé, I really appreciate it."

"Anytime, Alya… anytime."

Alya didn't know how she got so lucky to have new classmates and friends like this, but she'd be a darn fool if she cast this new group aside. She was grateful for it, and she would show them the same loyalty and support in turn.

A/N: Sorry this took so long to do; Real Life struck again. That, and I'm a borderline perfectionist, and I wanted to deliver to you folks. Oh, and I had to break this chapter up into 2 parts! Anyway, lots of notes here…
As for the thing with Rachel/Chloé being class representative (or not)… let's just say that it would be interesting and amusing for the class to beg this version of Chloé to do the things which canon Chloé demanded from them. Not to mention that, in canon, Marinette seemed to want to be class president not only to help others but also to knock Chloé off her high horse, and who could blame Marinette for that?
I also wanted to give Sabrina some more character to make her her own person. I know I'm not the first in Fan Fiction Land to make Sabrina someone who loves reading mysteries and crime stories (probably because her father is a policeman), and I doubt I'll be the last.
Also, I hope you all enjoyed that thing with how all those books and movies were connected (especially Vertigo and La Jetée and 12 Monkeys because of the thing with the tree and its rings; Phoenix was included more as an afterthought). Still, now you can see the point of it all. And you can just imagine what was going through a certain blonde's head…
TRANSLATIONS: D'entre les morts means "From Among the Dead," La Jetée means "The Jetty," and Le Retour des Cendres means "Return from the Ashes."
So, what did you all think about these things from the perspectives of Nino and Alya? For that matter, what did you think of the issue of Alya being homesick? Talk about a missed opportunity in canon! And speaking of Alya, I decided to throw in that bit with the Ladybug-themed merchandise in Chloé's locker (like what we saw in the "Lady Wifi" episode) just to show here how different this version of Chloé is from her canon counterpart.
Major thanks to MonachopsisCrumbles again for that powerful picture of Chloé comforting Alya (and I promise I'll have her illustrate more than just sad people hugging each other!).