Adrien hated when Father forced him to be at events. He'd spend the whole time alone in silence, Gabriel Agreste's perfect little model on display. Most times Father wasn't even there, he'd pop in and out from his tablet. Before, that meant Adrien would be with Nathalie. At least she'd smile at Adrien and, if she was in a good mood, ignore it if he wandered off to find a friend or snuck an extra dessert. Now that she was too sick to go out, he was stuck with Gorilla. Adrien liked him enough, but he never spoke and stuck to Father's rules. Not exactly fun to be around.
Unfortunately, Felix being there did not make it any better. In the car, he'd grumbled about how unreasonable Father had been. His bad mood didn't disappear when they arrived. Felix had tried to talk to Adrien once, while Audrey Bourgeois stood at the front of the room to brag about a charity she donated to but could not recall the name of. Gorilla had shot him a glare, and since then Felix sat with a scowl.
After Audrey was done and the adults started to mingle, Adrien leaned toward him. "It's okay to talk now."
"This is torture," Felix complained. His eyes searched around the room. "I need some air. Want to go outside?"
"Father wouldn't like that," Adrien warned.
"What does it matter? That asshole's not here."
Gorilla turned and placed the tablet on the table. Father looked out at them from the other side, his eyes narrowed into a glare. Adrien felt a twinge of relief that it wasn't directed at him, but also a bit of guilt for not warning Felix that Father always listened in. "I'm afraid I couldn't hear what you said. Care to repeat yourself, Felix?"
Felix shook his head.
"That's what I thought. Stop slouching, my sons don't slouch," Gabriel ordered. Felix snapped his back straight. "Audrey Bourgeois is coming. Keep your mouth shut, I won't be embarrassed in front of her."
Audrey strutted toward them, Chloe in tow. Chloe had perfected her mother's walk and copied the way she looked down at others with her head tilted up. Audrey stuck herself between Adrien and Felix.
"Gabriel, I see you didn't bother to show up in person. Or even send your assistant."
"I'm afraid I have too much work, and Nathalie is still unwell," Gabriel explained.
Audrey scoffed. "I don't understand why you don't just hire a new one. You've grown far too soft." Audrey lifted her sunglasses as she turned to inspect Adrien and Felix. "I see you brought your little matching pair. Twins were cute in the nineties, not so much now. We do need to talk about this. A random kid popping out of nowhere is not a good look for you."
Felix tensed but kept quiet. Father's expression did not change, but he couldn't like that. Father had a reputation as a loner fashion designer. But that mystery made him more alluring. He did not like things that made him look bad.
"Forgive me if I'm wrong, Audrey, but didn't you manage to abandon both of your daughters?"
Audrey gave a proud smile. "And I managed to get away with it. You, it seems, did not." Audrey snapped her fingers and Chloe handed her phone over. Audrey held it in front of Gabriel's tablet. Adrien craned his neck to see. It was another article about them. Someone they hadn't seen took a photo of Adrien and Felix after school. "We'll need to come up with an excuse for that. People will only ask 'why' for so long before they make up the answer. So tell, what's wrong with . . ." She looked at both Adrien and Felix. ". . . whichever one you got rid of."
"Obviously that one," Chloe said, pointing to Felix, "my Adrikins is perfect!" She wrapped her arms just a bit too tightly around Adrien's neck. Adrien tried to laugh it off as he pulled away.
"There is nothing wrong with either of my sons," Gabriel said. "You know I do not do imperfection."
"We'll talk about this later." Audrey walked off. Chloe untangled herself from Adrien and followed.
"I didn't realize there were so many articles about us," Adrien said.
"Neither did I," Father agreed. "I'll have to have Nathalie take a look, but I'm not worried. Where do you think you're going?"
Felix was out of his chair. Adrien hadn't even heard him move. "To the bathroom, is that not allowed?"
Gabriel frowned. "Fine, but I expect you to come back with a better attitude."
Felix slumped away. Had Father seen he would have told him to straighten up again. Father hadn't caught how upset Audrey made him.
"Watch it," Felix muttered to Chloe as she jumped in front of him.
"Better be careful," Chloe warned, "being so snappy might lead to daddy sending you back where you came from."
To Adrien's surprise, Felix didn't respond
Thankfully, the bathroom was empty. Even for a ballroom as big as Le Grand Paris's, Felix felt claustrophobic with how stuffed full it was. He doubted Adrien or that oaf of a bodyguard noticed the way people whispered. Felix knew they were talking about him; that article all but confirmed it. A quick search for Gabriel Agreste on his phone brought up hundreds of similar ones. Some already had nasty rumors of where exactly Felix came from. One said he and Adrien were children from some affair, and they both agreed to take one. Easily disproven, since they both looked just like Emilie. Another article speculated Felix was stolen at birth and they'd just tracked him down. A few had some version of Felix being born imperfect and, therefore, useless to Gabriel.
Felix knew articles were out there but he was fine pretending they didn't exist. Of course, Chloe and her stupid mother too had to ruin that. Felix had never met Audrey before but knew he would not be a fan. Any friend of Gabriel's couldn't be anything but rotten.
Felix's face was flushed, and he'd started to sweat through his sweater. He tore it off and stuffed it in the trash bin. His closet was filled with ones just like it anyway. Felix had held in any tears, but his eyes were red and irritated. His throat still felt tight. One of the many things he hated about himself was how his emotions could sneak up, though he could keep them hidden until he was alone. He reached for the sink tap and splashed a handful of water on his face.
"Maybe you should ask Chat Noir to switch kwamis since you clean yourself like a cat," Wingg said. Felix ignored him and reached for a paper towel. "Fine, I'll bite. Something wrong?"
"I'm fine, I just don't like getting embarrassed like that." Water dripped down the front of his shirt. "Great. Can you believe that Chloe? She's one to talk, her mother went to a different continent to get away from her."
"And yours sent you off to London." Wingg grabbed another towel and offered it up. "The two of you could bond over the shared trauma of being abandoned by your parents."
"Will you get out of my face?"
Wingg sighed and drew in close to Felix and nuzzled under his neck. "Calm down." Wingg's voice dropped. It was still husky, but less harsh. "You don't have to be upset all the time."
It was comforting, Wingg's scruff of fur was soft against Felix's chin. Felix guessed this was the kwami version of a hug. "Why are you being so friendly all of a sudden? It's creeping me out."
Wingg huffed. "Fine. If you don't appreciate it, you can be miserable by yourself."
Wingg disappeared into Felix's shirt pocket. Felix wouldn't admit it, but he liked Wingg close to him, the weight of Wingg against his chest. Made him feel less alone. Felix wished he hadn't snapped, but it was too late now.
Felix took another look in the mirror, found he looked presentable enough, and left the bathroom. Over at their table, the bodyguard had taken Gabriel's tablet again. With their father turned away, Adrien had taken out his phone. None of them seemed concerned Felix hadn't returned.
A few more minutes couldn't hurt. The room was stuffy, he just needed some air. Ten minutes tops, and he'd be back in his seat before anyone could miss him. If they'd even miss him.
He kept his eyes on the table as he backed towards the door. None of them turned to him. Chloe and her mother were at the other end of the room, distracted by other guests. No one else knew who Felix was, wouldn't question if he left.
"You trying to sneak out too?"
Felix jumped. He was already at the door. A girl stood there, a couple of steps ahead of him. Had she not spoken, he would have collided with her. Felix had seen her earlier at the Bourgeois table. She'd only talked to the mayor. It hadn't been lost on Felix that Gabriel had mentioned Audrey's daughters, plural. She looked enough like Chloe: same blue eyes and blonde hair, though she had ruined it with a pink streak. Her outfit was not flashy, very un-Chloe.
"Uh-oh," she said and pointed back toward the tables.
Felix turned around just in time to see the bodyguard headed toward them. The girl grabbed Felix's arm and pulled him out the door and down the hall, toward the staircase. The bodyguard followed, but he was as slow as he was massive. Adrien's "Gorilla" nickname made perfect sense.
They flew down the first flight of stairs, then stopped. Felix tried to ask why but the girl put a finger to her lips. The door opened above them, and the grunts of the bodyguard echoed.
"Watch this," the girl whispered. She took a small bouncy ball from her pocket and threw it upward. It hit the door two flights above them, to the roof. The bodyguard ran after it and out the door.
"That was smart," Felix said.
"And lucky. I found that ball in the hall this morning. Well, probably not lucky for the kid who dropped it. Come on."
She led him down another flight of stairs, then to the elevator, and finally, outside.
Felix took a breath of the fresh air, happy to be free of that stifling room and equally suffocating people. "Uh, thanks," he said.
The girl smiled, "I couldn't just leave you there with how upset you looked. I'm Zoe."
"Felix. I, uh, I've known Chloe for years. Not well, thankfully." Zoe laughed at that. "Didn't know she had a sister."
"I didn't know Adrien had a brother."
"Well, I didn't even know that," Felix said as he wrung his hands together.
Felix had meant to stay near the hotel, but he'd followed Zoe down the block. He kept one eye over his shoulder. Any moment that gorilla could pop up.
"You hate these parties as much as I do?" Zoe asked.
"Stuff like that is fine." Felix had been to his share of fancy events with his parents. They were always hosting something for Graham Films. Back when Emilie was alive, the Agreste's used to go, too. Felix doubted he'd go to another one now. He pictured Amelie at one alone, no husband, no son, fake smile plastered across her face. "I just felt like everyone was staring at me," he added before Zoe could question his silence.
"Oh, they were," she nudged him with her elbow. "You're the talk of the town, Mr. Agreste."
"I still have my mom—aunt's last name. I'm not a real Agreste."
Zoe smiled at him. "What a coincidence, I'm not a real Bourgeois."
"Good. Bourgeoises don't like me. Chloe just thinks I'm a worse version of Adrien." Most people seemed to think that. Even his classmates back in London, who didn't know Adrien, just wanted to compare him to the flawless boy on the billboards.
"It could be worse. She could have liked you as much as Adrien. You could have been her Felidoo or something."
Felix cringed at the thought of Chloe squealing and squeezing him whenever she saw him. Chloe was a better enemy. He could have done without the trash in his locker, though. "Fair enough."
"If she just wants to see you as a version of Adrien, seems like that's her loss. Then she'll miss out on seeing you. I mean, Adrien's great, but you seem interesting in your own way." Zoe said.
"Interesting?" Felix blinked. "I don't know if that's a compliment. Besides, you don't even know me."
Zoe shrugged. "I've heard some things about you." If interesting was all she had to say, she couldn't have heard much. "And I've seen you around school. You're always by yourself, reading or writing in your notebook. You seem mysterious, and a little shy."
She giggled, but Felix frowned. Why did people keep thinking he was shy? "I just haven't had time to meet friends with everything going on and how strict Gabriel is."
"I can fix that, I was about to go meet some of my friends. You should come."
He should say no. No good could come if he followed Zoe. He'd make some mistake, and then her and everyone else would hate him. But it was already too late to go back and pretend he'd been in the bathroom. Gabriel would kill him anyway. Even if it was a disaster, it couldn't be worse than back in the hotel. Plus, things could go right for the first time since Felix got to Paris.
"Okay."
"Perfect! Most of them are in your class, so it'll be—"
"Oh," Felix cut her off, "never mind, I shouldn't go."
Zoe pouted and her eyes glistened with disappointment. "Is something wrong?"
There was no reason to hide it. She'd hear about it if she brought him up. "I didn't really make a good first impression. All of my classmates hate me." If she was curious, she could hear the details from them. No doubt someone still had that video. "It was . . . pretty bad." You won't want to be my friend anymore. The words ran through his mind, but he kept them in.
He expected her to leave. Turn and not look back. Instead, she smiled. "That's okay!" She took his hand. Her palms were soft and warm. "When I first moved here, I acted really mean because I wanted to impress Chloe and my mother. But when I was honest with everyone, they forgave me. I'm sure whatever happened, once they know you want to be friends, they'll forgive you too."
That thought was nice. Forgiveness. Friends. But Felix knew it wouldn't be that way for him. Whatever Zoe had done when she first got to Paris, she was a genuine and sweet person. Easy to forgive. Felix was not.
But he didn't know how to turn her down. Her smile was too welcoming, her blue eyes sparkled. Even with that pink streak in her hair, she was pretty. Felix dropped his gaze to the ground.
"Another time might be better," Zoe said after the heavy silence. "I don't want to get you in more trouble."
Felix looked up at her, then jumped when someone touched his shoulder from behind. From the size of the hand, he knew it was Gorilla without a look back. At least he wasn't as rough as Gabriel had been.
"But I'll see you in school on Monday," Zoe called as Gorilla dragged Felix back to the hotel.
She turned. Felix dug his feet into the ground so he couldn't be pulled away. "Wait, Zoe," She looked over her shoulder, blonde hair swept across her face. Warmth spread across Felix's face. He'd meant to say something, but that thought had escaped in the instant it took her to turn back. "Uh, it's just . . . I think you seem interesting too."
Whatever he meant to say had to be been better than that. His blush deepened, he had to turn away before she laughed at him. But she didn't. When Felix dared to look back she was waving, a grin on her face. He would have said more, but Gorilla pulled at Felix's arm and he stumbled back to the hotel.