After the bell rang, I made my way out of class, not stopping even though Chloe was yelling behind me. I clenched my fists, hoping she's get the hint and stop shouting, but then her hand grabbed ahold of my arm and pulled me back. When I looked at her, she looked desperate and determined, and she held unto my arm with the look that told me she was never letting go unto I heard her out.

"What?!" I angrily exclaimed, tugging my arm and trying to escape from her grasp. "Here to cause more trouble, create more misunderstandings. Here to make my life worse in this school. Chloe, you've done enough!"

"I don't know where you heard that from, or who told you, but. . ." Chloe sighed, finally letting go of my arm. "I didn't tell everyone to not befriend you before you came to school. I told them to not cause you trouble, or get in your way, or treat you badly. I told them to make sure you didn't look at all sad, and if they couldn't do what I asked, that they should just stay away from you. I never meant to sound like a bad friend, and I do admit that I may have made it sound like that. . .but. . ." Chloe trailed off as she looked at my face, clearly searching for any look of relief or anger. "Would you really believe a random person over your own best friend?"

"It wasn't just a random person. It was Nathaniel!" I exclaimed, taking a step back. "He told me you said all that, and I believed him because. . .why in the world would he lie?"

"Why in the world would he also tell you that, trying to make me lose my best friend," Chloe looked angry now, and suddenly, I didn't know who to believe anymore. "I mean. . .I've noticed the way he looks at me. Nathaniel has always adored me. It wouldn't make sense that he would suddenly. . .go say something like that. Nathaniel. . . I've never done anything to him that's bad; I've never insulted him, made fun of him. . .I barely even talk to the guy. And besides!" Chloe pounded a fist against her palm. "Nathaniel wasn't even there when I told everyone those words."

"Well, he must have heard it from someone else," I turned around to leave, but Chloe grabbed my arm again, pulling me back.

"Please, Adrien. You're literally the only one I have. I mean Sabrina's great and all, but the girl never makes an opinion. Whenever I ask her what she thinks of something, she always says 'it doesn't matter what I think Chloe, just as long as you like it.'" Chloe sighed. "I want a friend who has her own opinion, not a friend who would say things just to make me feel happy about myself. And. . .you're literally the only guy who can. . .do that."

I paused for a second, taking in what Chloe had just told me. Yes, her words sounded believable, but I was also having doubts. Why would Nathaniel lie to me, or tell me something he wasn't so sure of? That's when something else came to my mind. "What about Lila?!"

"What?"

"Did you or did to not bully Lila in middle school?!"

"Lila?!" Chloe looked disgusted, before she shrugged. "I mean, I wouldn't exactly consider myself as her bully. We hated each other's guts, we fought all the time and most of the time, she made the first move. She was the one who started it all anyway by moving my seat before I could sit down, my butt ending up on the floor."

I was surprised. "She did that?"

Chloe nodded. "After she did that, I felt embarrassed, so I decided to get back at her. After pulling my stunt on her, things got more physical and harmful. She one day told me that she despised all rich people, and one day even admitted to me that she used to have a rich friend who later stabbed her in the back. I figured that was why she hated me so much then. But after moving to this school, I never even bothered to talk to her, or to even look at her."

I was about to say something when I noticed a certain someone leaning against the wall behind Chloe, just chilling on her phone. I smiled a little, but turned back to Chloe, deciding to deal with the blonde first. "Listen, I'll look into this more. Not that I don't believe you, but I don't want my school life to be filled with so much drama and whatnot. I don't want to be surrounded by fake friends, so I need to see who's the liar and who's actually telling the truth."

Chloe looked a bit hurt at first, as if I was calling her the liar, but she cleared her face with a small smile before nodding. "Right, I get it, Adrien. First school ever been to and you don't want to make a mistake. Now I'll just go, and. . ." She started walking past me, her face changing slowly. "Have fun with Marinette! I see the way you stare at her!"

What's that supposed to mean?! I didn't ask the question out loud though and instead decided to forget it. I didn't want my life to be all about Chloe, all about what went on in her life, even though she had been the first and only friend I'd ever had before I got into this school with her. I shrugged it off and started walking over to Marinette, who had lifted her head a little and looked back at me with a smile.

"Things seemed pretty intense with you and Chloe over there," she raised an eyebrow as I got closer to her. "Things okay? Sorry, I couldn't help listening in to some of your words. Something about Nathaniel telling you something that may or may not be true? I heard Lila's name and immediately became interested."

I chuckled a little, though I sometimes found it rude when someone ever eavesdropped on my conversation. "It's cool," I heard myself saying. "I mean, it's pretty serious, but. . ." But I don't want to think about it right now. I'm tired of having so much weight on my shoulder, having to be the perfect son for Father, having to be the perfect best friend for Chloe and managing the drama in my life. Honestly. . . I looked over at Marinette, a smile on my face, though telling from her look, I bet my smile didn't look as convincing. I could be around her and I wouldn't have to worry about a thing.

"Listen, if I'm the problem, then-"

"What, no!" I grabbed unto her shoulders without meaning to, and immediately I took my hands off. "I mean. . .you're amazing, Marinette. First friend I'd ever have besides Chloe. It feels nice being around you."

Marinette giggled after my cringe speech, and I wondered if she was laughing at me. She then leaned in and wrapped her arms around me. I didn't know why she suddenly did that, but it felt nice being hugged by her. When I turned my eyes to the corner, I witnessed Lila just standing there, staring at us.

"Uh, am I interrupting something?" Lila tried to play it off with a small laugh as she walked towards us, but for some reason, I could sense disappointment in her voice, and her face seemed to scrunch up in a frown first before she quickly replaced it with a calm smile. "I didn't know Marinette had a man."

"I- shut up!" Marinette playfully slapped her shoulder while Lila bursted unto laughter. The girls then turned to me, and when they did, I had to cover my face in case I was blushing. "By the way, Adrien," Marinette spoke, poking my shoulder with her index finger, "Lila, Alya, Nino, Nathaniel and I are hanging out in a few minutes. If you want to join us-"

"Really?" I didn't even wait for her to finish, which I later on found very embarrassing as Marinette giggled again at my excitement. "I-I mean. . . That sounds nice." I shrugged, trying to play it cool. Maybe now I can ask Nathaniel where he got the information about Chloe. "Are the others waiting for us?"

"In fact, they are." Marinette checked her phone, before nodding over to the direction towards the exit. "Come on, we don't want to be late. Alya hates it when we're late." She grabbed my arm, surprising me, and she started leading us towards the exit, Lila following beside me. I noticed her stare at Marinette's hand holding mine, before peeling her eyes away.

"Hey, you okay?" I just couldn't let it pass now. Lila was acting weird.

"Me? Yeah, I'm cool. Why do you ask?" Though she looked a little surprised and giddy, I knew there was disappointment and an upsetting look on her face.

"Nothing." I looked away, letting Marinette lead me, not wanting to deal with Lila right about now. If she had something to say, she would say it when she would be ready. There was no point in trying to get it out of her now.

We headed out of the school, and waiting outside was Nathaniel, Alya and Nino. Alya waved over at us and we headed towards them. When we got over there, Alya tapped a finger on her other wrist, though there was no watch there. "Don't even ask! You're late. We three have been waiting here for about 8 minutes. What takes you guys so long?"

"Sorry, we were. . ." Marinette turned to look at me, and I blushed, looking away from her. She had been waiting for me to finish my conversation with Chloe, that's why we were late. Marinette didn't use that as the excuse though. Instead, she said we had been busy talking and lost track of time, which kind of was the truth.

"Whatever!" Alya rolled her eyes. "I decided that instead of going our separate ways, we should get together as a group and work on the bio together." She then paused and chuckled. "Actually, Nino suggested that, and I could do nothing but agree."

I gasped a little. Why would Nino suggest that? We set up a hangout with him and Alya. Alone! So he'd have a chance to make a move on her. I shook my head when I saw Nino shrugging at me, as if it wasn't his fault at all. I didn't say anything.

"Well," Marinette gave Nino a look, "that sounds like a great idea!" She walked beside me and pulled me closer to her so she could whisper, "we're obviously going to be trying to get them close, right?"

"Oh, yeah," I chuckled with the plan, and we both grinned at each other. When I looked up, Lila was staring at us, and at first, she had on a straight face, before she finally cracked a smile.

"Wow, you two seem pretty close with each other," she spoke. "Are we getting a couple in this group?"

"What?!" I brushed it off, but a little embarrassed that she had brought it up. "No way. I- Marinette is just a friend." I started walking to keep up with the others, Lila and Marinette following. It was true I had a small crush on Marinette, even I'd come to admit that to myself, but I didn't want anyone else to know, especially Marinette herself. It was clear as crystal that she too only saw me as a friend, so why should I even bother?

Alya and Nino started talking to each other, both of them sharing a joke back and forth between each other, looking really comfortable around each other. I know they both like each other, they're just too afraid to admit it. I then looked behind me, seeing that Marinette and Lila had gotten into a little conversation of their own. I realized that only Nathaniel and I weren't talking, so I jogged over to where he was, at the front, and I smiled over at him.

"Hi."

"What?!"

I bit my lip at how harsh he seemed to look. For some reason, he looked a little angry. To be honest, I never really did understand Nathaniel and how he felt; one minute he would look at ease, be calm, just drawing, and the next minute, he would be giving you the cold shoulders, like you had done something horrible to him.

"I wanted to ask you a question," I spoke. "It's about. . .what you told me before. . .about Chloe." Chloe's words had made sense, but the others had told that Chloe really had said something similar to what Nathaniel had exclaimed she had said. "Did Chloe really say all that?"

Nathaniel sighed, looking annoying with my question. "Yes!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the most dramatic way possible. "She did! Chloe said you didn't need anyone except her-"

"But you weren't even here when she said it!" I blurted out, and Nathaniel actually seemed to freeze by my words, giving me the idea that I was right. I continued with my assumptions. "So, did you hear it from someone else?"

Nathaniel gritted his teeth. "Yes! Someone told me."

I was a little mad when he said that, but I whirled around and faced the others, wanting to ask them all the same question. "You guys! Before I came to this school, what did Chloe say in the cafeteria about me?!"

"I thought you already knew," Nino replied. "Well, she said, and I quote, 'someone special is coming to this school starting tomorrow. I expect all of you to treat him well, or just leave him alone. He's my best friend, we share a strong bond, we're alike, and if you mess with him, you're messing with me too. I advise that you just stay away from him if you know you're going to cause trouble to him, and if you know what's good for you! Because unlike you losers, he's actually the son of a famous person!'" Nino looked at me after he finished quoting what Chloe had said, which surprised me because he remembered every single words. "Adrien, after she said that, everyone began thinking that you were just like her, rude, bossy and annoying, so we did as she said and stayed away from you."

I took in a deep breath. Chloe had been wrong to go and do that. Even though she hadn't told everyone not to befriend me, I still felt mad that she had said those words. I turned over to Nathaniel. "You weren't fully telling the truth. Care to explain?"

"Listen, I just added an extra white lie to it. So what if she didn't tell people not to befriend you, at least it's close to what I told you she said," Nathaniel shrugged, not seeming to care that he had lied and made me become extremely mad at Chloe. "Besides, you love her so much, so why would you care? You're always trying to do things to make her happy, always on her side, so why would you care if I said one little lie about her?"

I didn't say anything, but I could feel Nathaniel's anger directed towards me. I gave out a frustrated sigh and backed away from him. Soon Marinette had walked up beside me and took my hand again, really shocking me this time.

"Don't mind him," she said in a calm voice. "He's just still mad about how Chloe insulted him behind his back." I nodded, really trying to believe that it was just that.

But as we walked farther to where our destination was supposed to be, I kept feeling that it was more than Chloe just insulting him.

*＊✿❀　❀✿＊*

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