The way his hair bounced when he laughed always set my nerves on fire. How could he be so perfect? From smart, kind, and handsome?! I would never deserve him anymore than anyone else in this class. Heck, I would never deserve him anymore than anyone in all of Paris!
"Marinette!"
"Huh?!" I yell in surprise. I feel heat crawl up my neck and to my face.
"Will you please stop daydreaming and tell me what you want to do for the school dance?! We only have a week to plan." Said Miss Bustier impatiently pointing to the board.
The board was filled with jobs for the school dance. Nino had already taken the spot as DJ and Nathaniel, Mark, and Rose were on decoration duty. I quickly scanned the list of jobs. What would be easy to abandon if ladybug were needed?
"Sorry, Miss Bustier. I'll be on snack table duty." I say and almost as soon as the words leave my mouth, I hear a cackling laugh to my right.
"Of course, the baker girl wants to work the snack table!" Chloé laughs.
"And thank you for volunteering to work with her Chloé." Miss Bustier says writing her name next to mine.
"What?!" We shout in unison. "Miss Bustier you can't put me with Chloé all she's going to do is get in the way!"
"I don't want to work with you either Dupain-Cheng! In fact, I don't want to work period!" She screeches.
"That's enough! You girls need to learn how to get along. You just have to work the booth for an hour and then you can enjoy yourselves and do whatever you want."
"Not if my Daddy has anything to say about it!" Chloé says waving a threatening finger over her cell phone.
"Your father is the one sponsoring this event, Chloé. He wants you all to have a good time before your yearly exams roll around. So please, figure out how to work together for one hour." Miss Bustier says. The entire class is quiet as they witness the stand off between the teacher and the princess.
"Ugh! Fine!" Chloé says slamming her phone on the table and crossing her arms over her chest. The rest of the class continues claiming spots for the dance, but Chloé looks at me. Fiery contempt blazes in her eyes. I clench my jaw and flip my head forward not wanting to look at her one more second. Getting along with her was the furthest thing from possible.
"It looks like your stuck setting up tables and chairs, Adrian." Miss Bustier says.
"That's okay Miss Bustier Me, Ivan, and Max will have a great time." Says Adrian the picture of optimism as always. Now, all I would have to do is figure out how to get away from Chloé to be with Adrian.
Me. On my way to Chloé Bourgeois' house? This had to be some kind of nightmare. The school dance was on Friday, and we still hadn't figure out what kind of snacks we would want to serve on the day of. Chloé always refused to talk after class or during lunch and God forbid, we meet at my house!
"Tiki, how am I going to get through this? Should I just turn around and go home? Maybe switch school, start a new life…" I say flipping open my purse to reveal the bright red kwami inside.
She giggles and smiles up at me. "Its just for a short while Marinette. Besides, you've faced Chloé a hundred times as a super villain."
"You say that like it was easy. I don't know there are moments when I think that Chloé might not be that bad, but more often I think she just proves that she's the worst. She doesn't like any of my ideas, but she can't give me any of her own. She insists I walk all the way to her house even though she could easily limo herself over to mine! She hates me Tiki, and I'm convinced that having me over at her house is just an excuse for easier torment." I yell as I see her apartment complex grow closer.
"Well, she wouldn't want to keep you there forever?" Tiki says by way of encouragement. I give her a wry smile before I click my bag closed.
I stare up at the massive building gathering all my strength. I take a deep breath and then push the double doors open. As soon as I enter the lobby a man with a mustache welcomes me.
"Hello, you must be Miss Dupain-Cheng." He says and bows slightly. He must be Chloé's butler.
"Uh... yeah, that's me. I'm here to talk to Chloé about a school assignment?" I say looking around for her.
"Of course. I'll ride the elevator with you up to that floor." Before I can reject his offer, I'm led into the elevator. He presses the button for the highest floor.
"I must warn you. Miss Chloé is not in a very good mood."
"When is she ever in a good mood." I automatically say and then slap my hand over my mouth. The man smiles sadly and nods.
"I know Chloé is hard to get along with. She is loud and bossy and mean, but deep down I don't think she's like that." He says. I watch the floors tick by in shock. Has this man seen a different side of Chloe? Could she possibly be anything other than the bully I've known all my life?"
"How do you know? She always so awful to everyone. Even if she's nice sometimes how do you know she's not just a bad person who has nice moments?" I ask. I've trusted Chloé before, and she's let me down time and time again.
"Well, I suppose that's something that someone will eventually discover for themselves." He says and the elevator comes to a stop. The doors open and there stands Chloé. Her face is screwed up into a grimace and her arms are crossed over her chest. One of her fingers taps on her arm impatiently, and I know I'm .2 seconds from being screamed at.
"Finally! Where have you been do you think I have nothing better to do than wait for you all day?! Some of us have lives baker girl!" She screams in my face as I step off the elevator.
I turn back to the butler who is still standing in the elevator. I raise an eyebrow at him, and he bares his teeth in an apologetic smile as the elevator doors close. I turn back to Chloe who is already walking down the hall to her room.
"Well? Hurry up!" She says and I sigh following her down the lush hall. That butler should be ladybug. He's clearly a better person than me.
