"Chloe Bourgeois."

My mouth felt like metal. I wanted to reach out and touch her face to see if she was real and not just some strange hallucinations due to stress, but that would be extremely weird if she really was here. But she is here, and her presence to me isn't anything near pleasant.

Urrrgggggggghhhh, I internally whined. I thought I'd never see her again after high school, and yet here she was, looking like a spawn of Aphrodite in her sparkly hoop earrings and icy blue eyes. She hated my guts before, and I'm pretty sure she still feels the same now.

She smiles, though her eyes were still ice cold, which could make anybody shudder. "Yes, darling, it's me! Now, before we proceed, will you please be a dear and introduce me to the staff? I saw a cute one awhile ago, but I—"

"Wait, wait, wait. What? Proceed? To what, exactly?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. She looks at me incredulously, then gestures towards my outfit with a small look of disgust and genuine disappointment, and I felt my face heat up. Right. ". . .Okay."

"Great! Oh, um, wait. On second thought, why don't you change now? Then you can introduce me to everyone else without humiliating yourself . . . and me. Now go," she gently pushes me towards the bathroom and gives me my pink backpack. "I'll be waiting."

As I changed my outfit from malibu barbie to normal Marinette, I felt so free. Finally. That dress was so tight I literally had trouble breathing; and another reason for that trouble was the sudden appearance of Chloe Bourgeois in my dressing room. My dressing room! Can you believe that? What does she want from me now?

As the memories from high school began flashing, I remembered how manipulative and calculating this girl was. She'd do anything just to get the spotlight, to be the center of attention, and to have everything and everyone be in favor of her. She was a literal goddess of high school, where everybody worshipped the ground she walked on.

And now she's here. And she's being unusually nice. Something's wrong. Something's definitely wrong. I made a mental note to tell everything to Alya later when she comes back from her date with Nino.

Speaking of Alya and Nino, they've always been into each other ever since freshman year. Alya wouldn't stop talking about Nino, and she'd always blabber about how he looks so cool when he's doing his own music during break times. And Nino would run to me to ask about what kind of chocolates Alya prefers, and what kind of flowers are her favorites.

They wouldn't have trouble communicating, though, because Adrien and I . . .

My heart squeezed. I shook my head and dismissed the thought.

"Mari? Yoohoo?" Chloe gently knocks on the door, "What's taking you so long? Taking a dump, hon?"

I almost slipped on my jeans. I quickly pulled it up and zipped it close, slipped on the sneakers, then grabbed the pink sparkly mess called a dress and opened the door, revealing an impatient blonde with her arms crossed. It was unfair how she still looked beautiful despite being annoyed.

"Sorry," I apologized and placed the pink dress on top of the make-up chair. "I zoned out in the bathroom."

She shrugs, locks arms with me, and we march outside the dressing room. Ugh, here we gooooo.

It almost felt like an exercise, going to each and every one of the staff and saying, "Hi, this is Chloe Bourgeois" and they all gave a friendly smile to Chloe, then give me a look of pity when they see me. I understood. I probably looked like a grumpy, frowny grandma next to a glowing supermodel. I didn't want to hide my irritation towards her though; she is never this nice unless if she wants something from me.

When I finally had enough, I let go of her arm, and she looked at me, confused. "Are you alright, sweetie? Need a break?"

"What do you want, Chloe?" I asked, looking straight into her icy cold eyes. "Why are you so nice? And why are you here?"

She was about to speak, when a gentle, deep voice spoke from behind.

"Marinette," Nathaniel called, and I turned to see him, looking all cuddly and soft with his black sweater and jeans. His blue eyes widened at the sight of Chloe, and I saw a small hint of sadness, which sparked up questions in my mind. "Chloe."

Chloe looks shocked as well, but she immediately hid it with a small smile. "Nathaniel," she lets out a little laugh, as if they were old friends who finally met each other after a long, long time. "Long time no see."

I looked back and forth at Chloe and Nath, and noticed that they had some kind of silent communication. I didn't know why, but I suddenly felt as if I wanted to drag Nathaniel, my boyfriend, away from here. I didn't want him to speak with Chloe. I only wanted him to speak to me, and give me ice cream. And hot chocolate with marshmallows.

Oh my god, I thought, I'm jealous.

But there's no reason to be, right?

As I looked at the both of them again, my thoughts overflowed with even more questions that I probably couldn't ask.

Right?

Nathaniel was the first to break the eye contact and looked at me with a warm smile. "Mari, I bought you your favorite donuts. They're in your dressing room."

He walks up to me and gives me a gentle kiss on the forehead, which immediately washed all the worries and questions away. Pfft, who was I kidding? Nathaniel and I are together, and I should trust him with all my heart and soul. Especially since he admitted that he loves me last night. The memory made my cheeks flush and made my heart flutter.

"I love you."

I wanted to scream, but then I couldn't. I can still imagine his voice, the sincerity in his eyes, and the certainty in his words, as if he meant it, and he knew that what he said was real, and there's no turning back. That was enough for me to know that I can trust him with my heart. I still needed time, but it's definitely going there.

"Thanks, Nathy," I grinned as I looked up at his electrifying blue eyes that were filled with warmth. He smiles and runs a hand through his hair.

"No problem, Rin."

"Blegh," Chloe fake barfed, but she had a small, genuine smile on her face. Which was weird. "Romance. And are those donuts gluten-free? Mari has to be on a strict diet if she wants to continue her career."

Nathaniel shrugs at Chloe, then looks at me again with a playful smile, his eyes sparkling. "Doesn't matter. She'd still be gorgeous."

Nathaniel, how dare you make me feel this way. This is illegal. You are illegal.

I let out a small squeak. Realizing how embarrassing that was, I cleared my throat and spoke, "Thank Nathaniel you. You're gorgeous, yes. Wait, no. Um, the donuts say thank you, to . . . you. To me. I mean . . ."

My heart. Please cooperate, don't beat so loudly.

Nath lets out a hearty laugh as he pinches my flustered cheeks. "You're welcome, Marinette."

Ding!

The elevator doors opened, and out came a frowning Adrien Agreste. He looked at me, and then the frowny face turned upside down, and he was suddenly laughing. For everyone else in the room, they'd think that the nation's hunk has gone mad. But to me and him, we both knew why he was laughing out of nowhere.

"Hey look, it's Britney Spears!" he laughed, referring to me, while gripping on a white box. Everyone else in the room, including Nathaniel, looked confused as heck, and Chloe tried to stop herself from laughing by puffing her cheeks because she saw me in the ridiculous outfit and knew why bananagreste was laughing.

Oh, gods.

When he saw Chloe, he stopped laughing. As he got closer, he still had a humorous smile on his face, but his eyes were shooting daggers at Chloe. The blonde girl didn't seem to mind, since she also put up a fight with her ice cold stare.

"Here," he hands me the white box, and imprinted on top of it was Krispy Kreme, colored in red. "Classic glazed donuts."

Classic glazed donuts from Krispy Kreme? These were my favorite donuts.

How did he know?

Realizing that Nathaniel had bought me the same, I looked at him, and I immediately regretted it. He looked calm, but his eyes were like shooting lightning as he looked at Adrien; he looked terrifying. But handsome.

"Hey," I looked back at Adrien, who was raising an eyebrow. "Rejecting an offer is an insult. Besides, this . . . this isn't for you. It's for everyone."

I reluctantly took the box, and he immediately turned to Chloe. I looked at Nathaniel, and gave him a look that says: Are you alright with this?

He responds with a head shake and a smile. It's okay. Let's just eat it together.

I nodded, and he grabbed my hand, which took me by surprise. I bit back a smile. Eeek.

"Chloe," Adrien says with a small smile. "You're here."

Chloe lets out a squeal and hugs Adrien's arm. "Yep! I'm here, the one and only Chloe Bourgeois." She looks at Adrien and wiggles her eyebrows. The monkey food rolled his eyes and groaned, realizing that this girl was going to be the death of him. And possibly everybody in this room.

Chloe smiles and looks at me, her cold, blue eyes piercing through my soul.

"Wow, Adrikins. You and Marinette working together after such a long time of being apart! So, like, you still remember her even after you had amnesia?"

What?

I froze. I tightened my grip on Nathaniel's hand, and I held the box of donuts closer to my chest. I felt my heartbeat increase as my brain began to overflow with questions once more, it started to hurt. My chest tightened. I couldn't breathe.

"Amnesia?" I barely managed to say it.

Chloe flipped her hair and raised an eyebrow. "Yes. You didn't know?"

"No. I . . . I had no idea," I replied, my throat feeling dry. I looked at Adrien, who didn't look like he would deny that he did get amnesia. He, too, was confused when we locked eyes, as if saying, Almost everybody in the world knows, and you had no idea?

Millions of questions added up to the thousands. My hands trembled, I felt scared that I might drop the box, but that wasn't even the least of my worries now.

Adrien continued to look at me with his glowing, green eyes, and it was impossible to read what he was thinking. It almost felt like he was reading me.

After a long silence, Chloe claps once to lighten up the tension. "Well, isn't this awkward!" she turns to look at me. "Anyway, what time will you start? You know what, nevermind! Mari, come. I'll fix you up in no time."

"What?"

She laughs as she locks her arms onto mine again, grabbing the Krispy Kreme box and giving it to Nathaniel, who instantly took it. "I'm your make-up artist, silly! Let's go."

As I followed Chloe to the dressing room, I turned to have one last look at Adrien. He was frowning and had his arms crossed while talking to Nathaniel, as if he didn't like what he was hearing and countered it. When he catches me looking at him, he smiles, which made my heart do a flip.

I immediately turned from him and decided to not turn back until I've reached the dressing room. I placed my hand on my chest, feeling my heart pound harshly against my ribcage. You treacherous thing.

a/n;

HENLO

ik ik i take so long to update, but i'm trying my best. anyway, i also had to write down the plot of this story (bc if i don't, it's gonna get disorganized and hard to understand, which me don't like), which took a while, but i finally finished it! woo!

so, just a few chapters before this finally ends.

hmm, how will it end? we'll never know. maybe i'll have a change of heart halfway through the final chapters. mwahahaha!

anyway, since we're on quarantine now because of this virus thing, expect much, much faster updates lol.

speaking of the virus, please stay safe. stay home. don't hang out with friends or go to parties at this time. it's gonna be a huge social sacrifice, but it's better than being infected with a viral and dangerous virus. and not just that, but you might also infect others!
:( u don't want that right?

a lot of people out there are sacrificing themselves for you by working despite of the disaster, and the least you can do is to stay. home. if you're one of those people who need to work, i salute you. stay safe and don't forget that protecting yourself should also be a priority.

stay safe, i love you guys.

sayonara with sparkles and rainbows,

gela ✨