Chloe was at it again. This time her power trip was over the top and she set her sights on Marinette. She insulted everything about her, her hair, her clothes, her clumsiness and her parents livelihood. Nothing was good enough about Marinette in Chloe's eyes, especially when she knew of Marinette's friendship with Adrien. That would never do.
"Come on, Maritrash; Adrien is only nice to you because you're pathetic. As if he'd ever be friends with someone like you when he has someone like moi," she sneered haughtily.
Marinette normally would have rolled her eyes and walked away but, her self-esteem took a beating today and she didn't have the strength to fight back or shrug it off. Her shoulders bunched up and her eyes kept staring at the floor. Two people were standing outside the classroom where the verbal abuse was taking place. One was Adrien Agreste and the other was Ellen Dubois, a substitute teacher. They had eavesdropped the whole conversation and both were upset at Chloe for her harsh words to Marinette. Ms. Ellen hoped Adrien would step in but he seemed hesitant so Ms. Ellen walked in.
"Miss Chloe, I would advise you stop this abuse at once! Marinette has done nothing to you to warrant this kind of hate! Apologize at once!"
"Ugh! Do you know who I am?!"
"Why? Did you forget?"
"Ugh! I don't have to take this! Later, Maritrash!"
"Chloe! That's enough," cried Ms. Ellen as Chloe left. She looked over at Marinette. "Are you alright," she asked softly.
"I will be. I need to get home," she said sadly.
"Ok. Don't listen to her. You are one of the best students at this school and I'm sure everyone agrees with me when I say what an amazing young lady you are."
"Thank you, Ms. Ellen."
Marinette walked out of the classroom and didn't notice that Adrien was there. He felt bad for not standing up for her when he should have. Some knight he turned out to be.
"Adrien, may I speak with you for a moment," asked Ms. Ellen.
Adrien walked in nervously, unsure of what the teacher wanted to say.
"Yes, Ms. Ellen?"
"How good friends are you with Chloe?"
"Well, she was my only childhood friend."
"And do you find anything wrong with her current behavior?"
"Yes, I do," he said dejectedly. "I know I should say something but, I don't know. Our fathers have close connections with each other and if I do say something it might get back to my father and..."
"I will stop you right there. That's not an excuse to let a 'friend' hurt people like that. If she is your friend, then as her friend you need to say something."
"But, I've known her for so long. She wasn't always like this. I want to say something, but..."
"Adrien, let me give you a lesson on friendships. I categorize relationships like a tree and some people are like the leaves. They move in whatever way the wind blows, very unstable. When the seasons change, they wither and die, they are gone. Most people in the world are like that. They are there to take from the tree and give shade. We can't fault them for it because that's what they are there for. Some people are like branches, but be careful because they can fool you. They can make you believe they are a strong and good friend but the moment you step out, they break and leave you high and dry. But if you have two or three people that are at the bottom of the tree, the roots if you will. Keep them around, they are going nowhere. They don't care if anyone knows them or if they are seen, they are there for you and that's all that matters. Without the roots, the tree won't live. Hold onto your roots and let the others go."
"But, it's not that easy," said Adrien.
"No one said it would be. But it will get easier when you learn to love yourself. There comes a point in your life when you have to think; what's it going to be, you or me. You will make a decision. What I normally do, is I tell the person that whatever wrong they are doing is causing a problem and it needs to be fixed if we are going to stay friends. If not, there will be problems. If they are making the effort to fix it, keep them around. That's a leaf that's growing up to be something else. But if they continue doing whatever it is that's hurting you after you asked them to stop; they don't care, move on let them go. No matter how much it hurts. It's not worth it."
"I see. That makes sense, but I don't want to lose Chloe."
"If you give her the option to change and make herself better and she takes it, then she's worth keeping around. But if she doesn't, she needs to know you can't be friends with someone that toxic. Appearances don't matter if your soul has been tainted."
Adrien nodded his thanks and left for his afternoon photoshoots. He thought about what the teacher said and she was right. Chloe needed a chance to change and he was the only one to give it to her. So once the photoshoot was done, he asked his driver to take him to the hotel where Chloe lived. He approached her room with his nerves on edge. He knocked and Chloe answered.
"Adrikins! What brings you here?"
He steeled himself and put on a serious face.
"Chloe, we need to talk."
Yes, Ms. Dubois is back again with a nugget of wisdom. I got this from a Madea speech. How awesome would it be to see Madea take on Chloe; oh it would be hilarious.