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Chloe growled angrily as Marc and Nathaniel joined the rest of their classmates to cheering applause, her shoulders hunching over. Ridiculous. They were all absolutely ridiculous. Football was even more ridiculous. At least she wouldn’t have to endure her hatred of it alone. Chloe turned around, her icy blue eyes narrowing as she stared at the petite, meek ginger haired girl in front of the crowd, who was slowly walking towards her. Chloe placed her hands on her hips.
‘What are you waiting for?’ She demanded of Sabrina, her face looking disgusted at the small girl who was slumped down.
‘Uh…’
The rest of the class waited expectantly, all eyes on the scene in front of them. Sabrina looked worried as she twiddled her hands behind her back, eyes firm on the ground. Then, as if a power had taken over her, Sabrina looked up, her eyes pleading.
‘Please Chloe I’d like to-,’ her high voice squeaked timidly, then cut off abruptly as she realised what she just said. Fear blossomed in the ginger’s eyes.
Chloe rolled her eyes. She honestly couldn’t care less.
‘Ugh, whatever.’ Chloe flicked her blond ponytail, and smirked. ‘Go play with these bunch of losers.’ Nose high up in the air, she turned her back and started to jog. ‘After all, you’re just like them!’
Chloe marched off, annoyed, hands at sharp angles. She didn’t look back. She wouldn’t. Sabrina could join them for all she cared! It’s not like she felt sad or anything. How could you say that? Emotions were for peasants. Chloe sat down on the blue bench next to the sausage haired girl, lips pouting as she stared down and brought out her phone. She was just about to check Instagram when a voice rudely interrupted her.
‘Welcome to the bench.’
Chloe’s eyes darted to the side, confused for a split second. ‘What’s your name again?’ She asked nastily, her persona back again. Eyebrows furrowing, she examined the girl beside her whose arms were crossed against her chest. An aura of pleasantness seemed to surround her as her light green eyes stared off into the distance. She was smiling. Chloe reeled her mind around for a name. Lilix? Liana? Liar? Chloe couldn’t remember, but her attempts of remembering useless information soon became pointless.
‘It’s not my name that matters,’ the girl started softly, her bangs drifting to the side as she gazed at Chloe’s annoyed face. ‘But who I hate.’ Lila smiled again innocently at Chloe, who was slightly bemused. What is this girl planning?
‘And I think we have a lot in common on that front.’
Chloe narrowed her eyes, glowering. ‘What are you suggesting? I have nothing in common with a loser like you.’
Lila was unabashed by Chloe’s insults as she simply looked ahead to the game in front of them. Chloe followed her gaze, and it landed on a certain blue haired girl.
Chloe’s eyes met the other girl’s. Chloe smirked, her face morphing into maliciousness as all traces of doubt left her mind.
Now she remembered.
Lila Rossi.
Lila seemed to be in a trance, jawline a firm line. Ah. Chloe understood perfectly. They both stared at Marinette who had just scored a goal, the back of her head wiping her forehead as everyone cheered unanimously. Chloe gritted her teeth, lips pursing. Lila seemed to be in a similar angered state, hands clenching into tight fists on her lap. She seemed to be growling. How unladylike. Chloe sat up straighter, hoping to make her look more presentable than the mess of the teenager next to her. Yet, she was curious by Lila’s anger.
‘Dupain-Cheng?’ Chloe asked, raising an eyebrow.
Lila snapped back into reality, and simply blinked before nodding.
‘Exactly Chloe, exactly.’
Chloe swiped her head to Lila’s direction. ‘But that makes no sense,’ Chloe demanded to Lila as the brunette began to pick at the faded blue seat, peeling back the cloth to expose the old yellowish foam. ‘You’ve always wanted to be friends with that utter pain in the ass Marinette, you said that she hurt you, you always tried to be so annoyingly kind to her-’
Lila rolled her eyes. ‘You honestly can’t think I actually like that ******, do you? You, Chloe Bourgeois? The only other person that knows that I’m a liar?’ Lila scrunched her nose in disgust. ‘I thought better of you Chloe.’
Chloe bit her lip. While privately, she completely agreed with the racist language that Lila spewed, she still wasn’t comfortable with actually saying it out loud. She was, after all, a Bourgeois. They needed to keep up appearances. Chloe crossed her arms. ‘You can’t speak shit like that you know,’ Chloe reasoned with Lila. Dear God, was she actually reasoning with someone? How the times changed.
Lila sniffed and kissed her teeth. ‘Says the one who swears every time they breathe,’ she shot back, olive green eyes narrowing.
Chloe snorted, as she flicked back her blond ponytail. ‘Touché Rossi, Touché,’ Chloe deadpanned.
Lila sniggered. ‘You have a rather good sense of humour, Bourgeois, and you haven’t insulted me more than once! How do you do it?’ Her voice grew soft, enticing, as she leaned forward, elbow resting on her thigh, hand on her chin. She cocked her ear to the side, batting her eyelashes at the blond. Chloe simply gagged. Could this girl be more obvious?
‘Are you trying to flirt with me?’ Chloe said plainly, hoping to get a good reaction out of the brunette. This interaction with Miss Show-off had certainly become more interesting.
Lila laughed uneasily, and began to shake her hands in denial. ‘Of course not!’ She exclaimed, yet Chloe could detect the hesitation and waver in Lila’s withdrawal. ‘How could you think that?’ Lila blushed, flustered, as she stared at the ground.
Chloe pinched the bridge of her nose. In all honesty, she was quite amused by the situation, but also thoroughly, thoroughly disgusted. Who would want that slimy snake as a girlfriend? Definitely not her.
Lila did look rather hot in that Volpina costume, a little voice giggled in her brain. That sunset orange, the way her hair was done up, the way her thighs looked so strong and sexy in that tight suit…
Chloe shook her head. She wasn’t a dirty lesbian, not in a million years. She was 15, for heaven's sake! ‘Whatever,’ Chloe sneered, pushing her feelings down. ‘I was just trying to get a good reaction out of you.’ Lila snapped her head up, sudden bright eyes now dim, and- Chloe groaned- slightly sad? Chloe needed to be paid for this bullcrap. ‘Ah for Christ’s sake, grow the fuck up!’ Chloe scoffed. ‘Whether or not I find you hot is totally irrelevant!’
Lila looked at Chloe. Chloe glared back. Silence overtook the two girls.
‘R-right.’ Lila said at last. The brunette sat up straighter, rubbed her face and plastered back on her sweet smile.
‘So, what do you suggest anyway?’ Chloe finally said, looking up.
‘Oh nothing much,’ Lila replied, as she began to inspect her finger nails. ‘Just maybe, utterly annihilate her in front of Adrien?’ She said this casually, as if she was bored.
She smirked. ‘That clumsy baker girl needs to be put in her place.’
Chloe smirked back. ‘And she needs to get rid of that hideous outfit.’
‘Ugh, they look like they were made in a garbage can,’ Lila gagged.
‘I think you deserve a place as my new best friend, Lila Rossi.’ Chloe smiled.
Then, she frowned. ‘But you still haven’t answered my question. Why Dupain-Cheng?’
Lila gazed far into the distance. ‘One,’ Lila counted on her fingers, ‘is that she’s hypocritical. Lying to get away from class but perfectly capable of exposing me? Pathetic. Number two, Marinette is smart. She’s perfectly capable of stopping me, yet she doesn’t, and hasn’t reacted, because she knows that everything will go wrong for her if she does.
Chloe remained silent.
‘Number three, Marinette is loved.’ Lila said softly. ‘People care about her. Adrien, Alya, Nino, her parents… she has a support system. Take that all away from her, and she remains vulnerable. Isolated. Easy to manipulate. If Shadowmoth had gotten to her, we all would have been killed.’ Lila looked closely at Chloe. ‘We’ve both haven’t been the nicest to Marinette, but you Chloe?’
‘You were way worse.’
‘Marinette is fragile. Broken. Because of us. And she will never trust either of us again. But if we can break that shell, imagine the power that we have. Imagine how we could use Marinette.’
‘You ask me why Marinette?’ Lila clenched her fists. ‘Marinette is the key to stop Shadowmoth, so he can never hurt us again.’
‘But you -worked with him,’ Chloe finally replied. ‘You got akumatized on purpose. I thought-‘
‘That I liked him? Chloe, no. I don’t. I hate him.’ Lila’s face cracked. The conviction in her voice was dripping with loathing. ‘He took advantage of me when I was at my most vulnerable. He made me feel I was worth something. Then, he took advantage of me, my anger, and lied to me. He took advantage of so many people. I want power, I want recognition, but not from his hands.’ Lila gritted her teeth. ‘Shadowmoth will never forget how he wronged me.’ Lila grabbed Chloe’s hands and stared deeply into her eyes. ‘We’re going to get miraculous, and fix our broken lives.’
‘Gabriel Agreste is going to pay.’