N/A: I apologize for any failures regarding rhythmic gymnastics, it is something I know nothing about.

Thanks to my beta Katherine (in spanish).

Warning: Abuse.

High marks. I have managed to achieve it in several subjects.

I hold my report card to my face and open the front camera. This light is not good.

This afternoon, I went to pick it up with Jean. Bustier looked at me with pity when I told her that he is the butler.

I try to forget her face and change places.

"Am I pretty, Polen?"

She doesn't answer. She thinks I'm shallow. They all believe it.

No matter. I am always pretty.

"I am proud of you, my queen. You have gotten very good grades."

I know. I should compensate myself.

Of course I should, I deserve it. And it has to be something material: that it lasts a while and you can brag about it.

No, I don't like this light. It makes my pores too noticeable.

I want to go shopping.

But not alone. I mean, shopping is always wonderful, although much more fun with a friend.

I'll call Kagami, later. Because first I have to show off on social media so everyone can see how exceptional I am.

This year I have made sure to raise at least one point in all subjects. If it had a seven, now an eight, and if an eight, now a nine.

I have an average of eight six, one of the highest in the class. I peeked at everyone's notes while Jean was talking to the teacher. Only Max, Sabrina, Kagami, Adrien and Marionette surpass me, in that order.

Next time I'll get over it.

Now there is better light, my pores don't show much. Also, I'm going to put a filter on it. Or two or three.

A studied smile, a pair of curls covering my face... Yes, the photo looks good. I make sure my forearms are out of sight.

I should also show my mother the grades, but she's not here right now. She has gone looking for Marionette. Going with her like a traitor.

It doesn't matter, I'll get her to see the truth. Sabrina did.

I open the contact list. For Kagami's image, I used a joint selfie of the two of us. But after the competition, this time official, among the fencing students of the Paris schools, I changed it. This time, our school has divided the team by sex and Kagami has won in the female category. Now, the photo is her with a medal.

Adrien also won, in the men's category. The boys who came in second and third place were also D'Argencourt students.

Quickly respond to my call.

"Hello."

She is breathing hard. Have I interrupted her on something?

"Let's go shopping." I suggest.

"What? Why suddenly...?" She remains silent for a moment. Is she with someone else? "No matter. I need new clothes. You know a lot about fashion. Although I do not want branded clothes, only quality ones."

Kagami just asked me to redo her closet?

"Yes! I'm going to pick you up at your house."

I pull my phone away and am about to hang up when I hear my friend's voice. I don't understand what she says, but I remember that I don't know where she lives.

"Where do you live?"

"I will go to your hotel. My mother does not know we are friends." I don't know how to take that. I seem to remember that her mother doesn't want her to have friends. "It will take a while, but not long." she says before hanging up.

I go to the little table in my suite and take a bite of my honey cake. Yes, it gets me fat, but it has honey. And one of the two things is irresistible to me.

Pollen also eats a little, I don't mind sharing it with her, yes, with no one else.

My phone screen lights up, I have various notifications.

"Bought grades" says the first one.

No proof. For that? Hating me is fashion. Coincidentally, I do have it.

I answer: "I'm in a public school. I'm surprised you don't know it when half of Paris has gone there to try to beat me up."

Next.

"You must have cheated."

Classic.

And other.

"Do you know how she got that? Blackmailing the teachers: either you give me good grades or I have them akumatize you."

They are raging. I smile. It feels good to make people who hate me feel bad.

Should I also upload the teacher's comment congratulating me?

Why not? And also with my own message: "Keep whining."

I finish my cake, gagging and avoid looking at my plate as I get up.

Before leaving the suite, I make sure to put on my summer bracelets. Wearing long sleeves is impossible, so I wear these accessories instead. They match everything.

"Can you put something fresh in the bag?" asks Pollen.

Poor dear. I almost forgot that it is quite hot today and that being in my bag will be too muggy.

As the only solution I can think of putting small pieces of ice in an airtight bag. For now, it should be fine.

"Do not open the bag if you do not want everything to fill with water." I indicate her.

I go down to the hall. Kagami is supposed to come here because she doesn't want her mother to know that we're friends. Why? Is she ashamed of me?

"You go?" Jean asks. He has come out of nowhere.

"Shopping with a friend."

The butler raises an arm to call an escort.

Shit. I shouldn't have said anything. Now it will be Kagami, me and Bodyguard 1.

Another notification rings on my phone. I think I'm going to silence it.

"When is your father going to fulfill his promise?"

Which of the promises? My father does many that he does not fulfill.

I answer: "I don't know. Ask him."

And silence.

Kagami will be here in a bit.

For a few days she has stopped wearing that horrible makeup. I'm glad. If she doesn't know how to put on makeup, don't do it.

"What does that man want?" She asks looking at my guard.

We headed to my limo. Obviously, walking in this hot weather is absolutely ridiculous.

"Bodyguard 1. He will accompany us because my butler is paranoid."

My friend raises her head to get a good look at him. He is tall and very muscular. It is what comes to be a typical bodyguard.

"Do not you know his name?"

Who cares? But she looks at me waiting for me to tell her. I guess her, then.

"What's your name?" I ask trying to hide my lack of interest.

"Szczepkowski."

What? It's impossible for me to pronounce that. Actually it makes me a little sorry, he is surrounded by people who will avoid having to say his name. Then I remember that his job is to invade my space and it goes away.

"Are you Polish?"

"Yes."

"Well, from now on, I'll call you "Polish"."

I hope Kagami won't be disappointed, although I don't think she would be able to pronounce it. Since I don't want to find out, I won't look at her. I know what I just did is not nice.

In the limo she is silent for a moment before speaking. Luckily, Polish has sat in another area.

"I am going to ask you a couple of questions." warns, does not ask, warns.

She has her hands clenched in her lap. It's uncomfortable? I don't want to talk about uncomfortable things, that with her, it can be practically anything.

"How does Adrien behave with his fellow models?"

What? What is that about? And why does she want to talk about Adrien? I don't want to talk about Adrien.

"What are you talking about?" better finish this as soon as possible.

"If he is close to them."

She's being weird. More than usual. Something had to happen.

"As far as I know, he hasn't become friends with any of them."

"I am talking about physical contact."

I don't want to know what might be going through that weird head to ask something like that.

Anyway, who cares about that guy? I don't want to know anything about traitors.

"It is usual in the profession. You have to pose with someone else, help her with their clothes or their hairstyle,..." Kagami makes a very small nod. I almost missed it. "Why? Has he done something weird?"

"No."

Something has definitely happened.

"What do you think of Marinette?"

Marionette? Now? Right after asking about how Adrien feels about physical contact? That bitch did something to him! I knew that she is obsessive with the boys she likes, but this is going too far. As I found out that she has touched even a hair ...

"Why do you make that face?"

Right. I'm with Kagami. I have to calm down. Also, I have clenched my fists so much that my palms hurt.

"What face?"

"As if you wanted to hit me." She says looking everywhere.

She searches for something... An akuma. Makes sense, I just got mad, but it didn't come.

"Why are you asking about her?"

She is silent for a moment, her back straighter, more rigid than before.

"I am not prejudiced, however, I get the impression that Marinette is not a good person."

"You are not being prejudiced. You're right. She's not."

I don't tell her anything else and she seems to accept it, although there seems to be a bit of tension. I don't think the afternoon is going to be fun.

It turned out that Kagami didn't want her closet renovated. A disappointment. And I wanted to throw plaid clothes.

Despite that, the afternoon has been quite fun. The clothes my friend chose were very ugly, but it was her style.

Although it has been fun to think of outfits outside my usual style. Like a mental exercise.

Also, I have bought a lot of bikinis from the new collection. Beautiful and colorful, very summery. Now, it's been a bit difficult to find them comfortable enough. It seems that the fashion this year is constant surveillance of your bikini so that nothing comes out.

I enter the hotel smiling. I'm in a good mood. It has been an afternoon to de-stress. With so many akuma, patrolling, not sleeping to study, and eating fast to sleep, I hadn't had time to relax.

I love shopping, it's my little addiction... And chocolate. Although it gives pimples and makes fat, so I don't eat it. The honey does not count, since it is that of the holders of Pollen.

Some employees look at me from the moment I enter and they don't stop doing it for a moment. I know I don't usually smile, but they're going too far. They should go back to their jobs.

"Celia!" I hear my mother scream.

Who is Celia? By tone, a wretch.

I calmly go to the elevator and someone tugs on my arm. It's my mother.

Shit. Celia is me.

For a moment I want to correct her, but I see that she is very angry. I don't understand. I have improved my grades. Hasn't she seen it? I have squeezed my memorization capacity to the maximum.

She glances sideways from side to side: everyone in the hall has stood still to watch us. So she pulls me into the elevator and we go inside.

I do not understand what is happening. What have I done?

She drags me to my suite and locks the door: she doesn't want anyone to hear the conversation.

"Do you have any idea what you've done? The trouble you've put your father in?"

My father? She doesn't care about my father. What is she talking about?

She takes a deep breath, puffing out her nose.

"You have not seen him." she deduces.

She is very angry and I don't know how to behave in this situation. Usually, she just ignores me. She is a traitor.

Although I don't intend to act like she would if she were anyone else. Well, except Kagami. She's really scary when she's upset.

"See what?"

"Your social networks, maggot! There are strangers slandering your father for not keeping election promises! Haven't you seen your phone?!"

My phone?

I open my bag. Pollen looks worried. She doesn't like my mother.

I only have to go on Instagram to find that the guy from earlier has made a whole theory about how my father has no intention of improving the police force to protect from the akumas. And many people are believing him.

"Is there nothing you can do right?!" She closes her eyes and rubs her temples with her fingers. "Since you were a child being useless."

No. I'm not going to let her think that. I am almost perfect. Ok, there are things that I don't know how to do well, but they are few.

Today. My original post was that my grades are all A's and -A's.

"Yes there is. I'm a good student."

Her eyes widen suddenly, which makes me jump.

"Good student? You've boasted -A's on the internet. It was absolutely ridiculous, but I let it go because your other mistake is much more serious."

Ridiculous? There are days when I haven't even slept so I can get those grades. And she says it's ridiculous.

"What did you get at my age?" The question leaves without having thought about it. As soon as I finish doing it I realize what I said. Something not to ask an angry mother.

She freezes, looking at me with wide eyes.

I don't consider myself a coward, but I've screwed up to the bottom and I hasten to flee to my room.

"What have you said?"

I'm in the middle of the suite when something makes me go completely still. I feel something pulling me up and I start to float. I try to look sideways at my mother and can only see that she has her arm raised.

The same force pushes me violently against a wall. The shock is painful, hitting my face, my chest, my knees, and my toes.

I don't fall, but stay glued to the wall, breathing hard.

"Did you just answer me?" Her steps are calm, the sound of her heels hitting the ground feels like a countdown, one that makes me catch my breath more and more.

She enters my field of vision. Air stops going into my lungs completely. Her eyes are bloodshot. My heart races, I feel like I'm facing an akuma, but with nothing to fight.

"You can't answer me anymore, you insolent brat. Your father has not known how to raise you. You are surprised? Are you not able to do this? Because at your age I could."

I do not understand what is happening. Can normal people do magic? No. No one has told me: not my father, not my mother, not Polen. That can not be. Can not be.

"Useless girl. That's why I can't stand you."

A movement of her hand makes me fall. I do it on a locker, breaking it.

I try to breathe again. I don't know this woman. I don't know her at all.

She puts on the sunglasses that rest on her head.

Before leaving, she picks up my phone from the floor.

"You won't see this for a long time." she threatens. "And none of your other devices. That stupid butler you love so much will come to take them from you."

I see her walk away, calm now.

I can not move. I have no strength.

I hear the door open and close. Pollen yells from my bag. It reminds me of the possibility that my glasses have fallen off, but when I raise my hands to my head I find that they are still there, covering the miracle.

I scramble to my feet and reach for my bag to let my kwami out, along with a bunch of water, which circles around me, possibly to see if I'm hurt.

"I'm fine."

"No, you are not. You are shaking."

No I'm not.

My mother hates me. I thought she wanted to help me improve. That she was just a traitor who chose Marionette without considering her own daughter.

It is not like this. She despises me.

I am the nightmare in the lives of others. My mother treats me the same as I treat them. Although they are aware of how badly I treat them. And I thought my mother loved me. But she was never on my side.

It's so ridiculously ironic.

A dry laugh escapes me. Of course, it is not something that is funny.

Pollen stops and looks at me very worried.

I'm pathetic.

I end my individual exercise with one last jump before moving into the final position.

I don't compete, even so, my coach insists on doing a choreography for each and every one of the students. She says that so we have a plan to follow.

Mrs. Alarie approaches me as I readjust the bandages on my forearms. They are useless, although no one questions why I wear them.

Alarie may want to fix some of the many mistakes I've had. Still, she shouldn't focus so much on me. I don't compete, I never have. I'm just here to improve my tape handling. And before Hawk Moth, to be in shape and because I like it.

I pay close attention, since the venue is large and another gymnast's song begins. Also, the sound here is pretty bad, so the voices are barely heard and they need to turn the music up even louder.

"You are being abrupt again. Didn't the ballet work for you?" screams the woman.

Why does she ask if she knows the answer?

I don't say anything, I have no excuse. She gently nudges my back to guide me into the locker room. Once inside, where outside sound is blocked, she seats us on a bench.

"Are you okay?" she asks.

"Perfectly."

It is evident that it is a lie. She doesn't seem to believe it either.

"I know it doesn't have to be easy to belong to the akuma school and be at the center of controversy. But one good thing about doing sports is that you can forget about the rest while you do it."

She is being nice.

"Also, you have to improve because you are going to have to replace Roux in the group exercise."

What? Mrs. Alarie gets up and leaves. I follow. What does she mean? It doesn't take long for me to find out when I see her heading towards the girl, who is sitting next to her, clutching her ankle. Next to her is the rest of the team, to which the woman says something.

I run towards them.

"One moment. One moment!" I scream. The trainer turns to me. "I don't do group exercises."

"Now, yes. You are the only one with enough level to replace Roux."

Dammit.

I go back to the locker room. I have honey candies in my bag.

I have problems. Is right.

Pollen has explained human magic to me. What my mother did. It seems that it is something that is inherited. Something that normally, if parents know about it, they explain to their children.

Clearly my mother knows this, even though she hasn't explained anything to me. I have no idea about my father.

Polen told me that what my mother did was black magic. I'm not entirely clear what that is, but I'm sure it's something wrong.

I have decided that I am going to avoid her. I'm afraid she'll do that again.

I breathe deeply and slowly.

My trainer told me that I have to do the group exercise, so she directed me there.

"Bourgeois!" one of my "companions" calls me. "Come closer, we are going to teach you the choreography."

Damn Roux. Because of her I have to participate in a competition.

The girls show me the choreography ten times before my first try, which doesn't turn out very well. Mrs. Alarie is right: I am too abrupt.

The first figure (thankfully with tapes) is ruined when I pull too hard. With the akumas I have to do it, since that's how I catch them and whether they are released or not depends on my strength.

The dance is not going well either. The girls say that I could go for break dancing.

After class I definitely need to relax, or rather, get away from my house.

The problem is that every time I leave my house, Polish is there.

The only way out is to sneak out, that is, like Queen Bee.

Leaving the premises I look at Polish. I don't feel right calling him that. I am used to. It's something my mother usually does.

Maybe that's why I feel strange now.

Maybe his first name is easier to pronounce than his last name.

"What is your name?" I say without looking at him. He doesn't have to notice.

"Jerzy."

"I'll call you that. I don't like Polish. I could have another one, and then what would I call you?"

The black sky with a few stars, which reminds me of Ryuko's skin, the warm light of the city with an infinite horizon of houses. I don't like to look at landscapes, so sitting on a roof doing nothing bores me a lot.

I don't want to go back to the hotel: my idiot father is gone and my mother who hates me is there. I don't know where Kagami lives, though I couldn't go anyway, since it doesn't seem like I'm welcome in that house. I'm not going to any of the traitors' houses and I definitely couldn't go to Nathanael's again, even less as Chloe.

So here I am. On the roof of any house.

Some distance away, Bunnyx jumps from one roof to another. She can do it quite high, something that was kept very quiet.

She sees me, it's clear, but she passes me by.

Good. I don't feel like talking to her. Besides, today it's her turn to patrol. She has to do her job.

"That's why I can't stand you."

She is a traitor. No, worse. She is an enemy.

Thinking about it makes my chest hurt. Better something else.

Like my good grades. I have no problem getting into lycée, however, I don't know which one to choose. I have no wish for the future.

Bunnyx passes again, this time in the opposite direction.

I have always being interested in fashion, although that was more because of my mother.

I don't want to do the same thing as her.

I hadn't thought of it until now. Another problem to add.

Sigh. I'm not feeling better.

"What are you doing here?"

The voice startles me, and out of reflex, I grab my spinning top and use it to wrap the person next to me. Which turns out to be Bunnyx. Well of course.

"Get off me, idiot!"

"I was going to." I look down at the street. They haven't seen us yet. "Although this will teach you not to sneak up on me."

"What do you mean stealthy or what the hell?! You've seen me twice!"

She is right. I won't say it out loud though. I sit back to the way I was before and she sits next to me.

"Still, you're the one here when you shouldn't. And if you're not going to do anything, you could help me."

"The street is public. And I have not come to help you, but to see the stars."

I look at her to see if she has believed me. The girl wrinkles her nose and looks up. She doesn't believe me.

"No way. There is too much light pollution. Why are you here?"

What's the insistence?

"Why do you want to know? It's none of your business."

I hear Bunnyx take a deep breath and get up abruptly. I don't look at her.

"I was trying to be a little nice cause you have a horrible face and we're partners. But if you're going to be an asshole, stay there."

Of course, the bad one is me.

"You are cheeky, you know? You don't tell us anything about you, why Ryuko and I were chosen to help you, or why Hawk Moth is after you. But you want me to tell you my life."

Now I do look at her. She is expressionless and doesn't look like she's going to leave.

"If you want us to be partners there has to be trust. We have had blind faith in you and you didn't even tell us that you saw Ryuko die."

She remains silent for a long time, staring at the ground. And then she sits down again.

"My miracle isn't from the guardian," she explains. "but a family heirloom. My family is supposed to have a duty to protect the guardian when he's unable to act. Sort of like a wild card."

So she is different from us. Her family accompanies her. She is not alone. She is very lucky.

She falls silent again. Is she already? Is that her vote of confidence?

She's just looking at... At nothing. Her head is looking straight ahead, but her eyes are lost. She turns her head towards me, but she doesn't see me either. She seems somewhat tense.

Is rare. And a little creepy.

It's all gone the instant she blinks.

"I activated it by mistake when it was given to me, not long before Stoneheart. Hawk Moth noticed somehow and attacked. I don't know why he does this or what he wants from me." she says with the same tone as before, as if she hadn't vanished or anything.

I'm about to ask her when she speaks again.

"And if I didn't tell you anything about seeing Ryuko's death, it's because I myself didn't want to believe it. Not to talk about it. It's better to avoid it." She whispers.

Oh. For a moment it seems that the clown is serious. And it leaves when she smiles.

"Now you have no excuse for being an asshole."

She annoys me.

"You are the asshole. And I..." What do I tell him? Am I lying to you? No, she's too smart. A half truth. "argued with my mother."

I can feel her eyes examining me.

"That's all? You're a bitch."

I know. I anger and disappoint everyone. I'm already accustomed.

"What difference does it make. In any case, I'd have had to end up telling you."

She puts her arms on her hips and smiles. She doesn't appear to be angry.

"And now you're gonna help me with the duty. I still have half the city."