Okay, so, this chapter is pretty much dialogue but I hope you'll still enjoy it. Please let me know what you think!
The mere thought of school was weird. He hadn't gone there for over a month. And now he would have to face it all: the pity, the anger, the guilt. All he hoped for was that Chloe would be supportive about this whole thing for he really needed a friend. But this also meant that Barbie wouldn't come with. Finally, a little freedom. Still, he would rather stay home, talking to his brother to make up for all those lost years. Not that that was an option.
Monday morning was hard on him. Falling into the old rhythm that was now alien to him felt almost like betrayal to all he had accomplished lately. You see, high-school had been his escape of his messed-up family life, now that it was slowly rebuilding running away seemed unfair. The routine was both comforting and annoying, the major problem was that it gave room for a lot of thinking. What would he do when faced with his old friends? Would he be mad? Happy? Could he forgive them like he had Felix? Maybe, maybe not. The pressure was suffocating.
As soon as he got to the Francois Dupont institute he felt the difference. Everyone was staring at him oddly with a mix of pity and arrogance. It wasn't hard to see why: since the beginning of the school year he'd been the perfect teenager with a perfect life, now the whole world knew that wasn't true. Swallowing with difficulty he entered the building, terrified like the first day of what awaited him. Nino was the first to approach the model with a friendly attitude. How dared he? He'd ruin his life, sending his father to prison and thus discovering his identity. Now he knew that he could never forgive. "Dude it's good to see you again! You sure know how to disappear." Adrien's blood was boiling. But he wouldn't hurt him in memory of the good moments. Instead he walked away, ignoring him the best he could until he placed his hand on his shoulder. "Dude? You okay?" The nerve.
"No. No, I'm not. Thanks to you." Said the blond finally facing the boy who had been his best friend. Not punching him was proving to be difficult but he didn't. He knew he could beat him to pulp easily enough, being a superhero had its perks, nevertheless he wasn't relinquishing power to his emotions. His family thought him all about how to do so.
"What did I do?" Seriously? No one could be that stupid, right?
"You really don't know? And here I was thinking you had a brain. You made my dad go to jail you bastard!" there it was, out in the open, fueling his think he'd once considered the idiot his best friend.
"Bro, he was abusing you! You can't be serious!" if Hauk Moth would still be out there Adrien knew he'd been akumatized because of his anger and frustration. If Nino didn't get a clue and walked away he would be sorry. Really sorry.
"So? what if he was? I was happy with the way things were. You destroyed my life! I didn't ask for your help! but you had to go behind my back. At least you should have gotten your facts straight. I didn't get those wounds because of him. It was an akuma attack." No. Control yourself. Don't lose your temper. Don't give him what he wants. With that in mind the green-eyed boy swallowed his emotions going back to his stoic façade.
"Dude I did it because I care about you" tried to justify the tanned-skin teen. Yeah, like he would fall for that.
"If you cared you would've noticed before. But you didn't. So, don't come now playing the hero. You're not. My family life should be part of my decisions not yours." He could still remember when his mother had uttered that last sentence: her best friend had been trying to convince her to divorce but Alice refused. He didn't it back then but it was true. No one should intervein in another family.
"Listen, I get that this is hard on you. You love your old man and always wanted his approval but suffering wasn't the way to get it. Get it already, what you have is no family." Countered Nino. Silence fell as Adrien composed himself once more. Oh, what he wouldn't give to let hell out and send that pathetic attempt of a friend to a hospital. But with the whole school watching… Maybe he was exaggerating a bit by thinking that too. He wouldn't hurt someone over this.
"It is a family if it works for me. You're not part of the equation. Please mind your own business from now on. We have nothing else to talk about some go away before I do something we'll both regret." Man, he really sounded like his dad right now.
"You are my friend. Your business is mine too." That was it. He had warned him. This was his decision. He wouldn't keep things inside anymore. Before he knew he was swinging at the traitor but a hand stopped him when he was millimeters away from his face. It was Marinette who had more strength that her slim figure let on.
"You guys need to could down. I'm sure we can solve this without violence." Proposed the ravenette with a smile.
"Of course, you think that. You're on his side. So is everyone else. I'm your pity case. You might think you know all about what happened to me but you are wrong. This is more complex than you can even imagine." The blond's voice had become ice cold.
"Adrien, you are not a pity case and we might not understand but what your father did to you wasn't fair. We're your friends, we're looking out for you. That's all. I get that this can be hard but it's for the best." explained girl with the pigtails. They really believed what they were saying? That this was good for him? Idiots. If it wasn't because of that he wouldn't be carrying the weight of so many secrets on his back.
"We are not the bad guys" pushed Alya ranging with everyone else.
"You think you are my friends? A couple of weeks ago you didn't even know I had a brother. Which of you can tell me what my mother looked like? Where I was born?" his classmates were silent. "That's what I thought. I can tell each of you the answer to those questions. None of you is my friend. I was just the model everyone wanted to be with for the fame and the money. Well, I'm sick of letting you toy with me, making me think you care to stab me in the back when I least expect it. I won't thank you for what you did. All I have to say is go fuck yourself."
"Adrien that isn't true! We care about you. We really do. I know it doesn't sound like it right now but remember all the good times we had together: that movie we did? Jagged Stone's concert? Did that mean nothing to you?" intervened the class president.
"It meant everything to me. I thought that for the first time since I came to Paris I had something worth the while. But you betrayed my trust. You think you are protecting me but all you do is hurt me. Now if you'll excuse me I have to get to class."
"No!" all the school turned around to see an anxious looking Chloe Bourgeois.
"Why not?" asked Adrien. This was weird. Too weird.
"Why don't we all skip class instead? It'll be fun!" tried the panicked girl. There was something wrong. She would usually have better excuses.
"What is going on?" questioned Alix, showing genuine interest for once.
"I don't care about what you do! Adrien please if you care about me and yourself one bit don't go into that classroom." Begged the major's daughter. Okay now he wanted to know. He ignored her screams and entered.
"Oh! Hello Adrien. I was just about to introduce your new history teacher, mister Vonshwatz." Greeted Ms. Boustier.
"Hello Adrien." Said the man with a plastic smile.
"Not you!"