Chloe walked into school the next day with a spring in her step, and a smile on her face. Many people looked at her strange, a couple even backed away in fear; nothing could bring her down. She was on cloud nine. She walked straight from the front doors to the locker room, the sight of the space bringing back memories she didn't know what to think of. She dropped her belongings in her locker, and started towards the room's door. Something made her stop in her tracks. They still had not assigned new people to many lockers. The one she was standing in front of, belonged to Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

That girl. Oh, that girl. Chloe had an epiphany. If she had been how she is now her entire life... they probably would have been friends. They would be the perfect friends. Marinette would be the funny creative one, and Chloe would be the privileged helpful one. It made her incredibly sad. She had been terrible to this girl, who she would have been close to had she not gotten an attitude. Had she not taken after her mother, Chloe could have had amazing friends her entire life. Tears spilled down her face. Pictures of Marinette's face adorned the outside of the locker, a majority of them with Nino, Alya, and Adrien. Thinking of them also made her cry. Nino was a strange kid that she did not know well, but she could tell they would have been great friends as well. Adrien, well... she was already friends with him. Sabrina walked in, quickly dropping her bags and rushing towards the crying girl. Chloe could see now the negative effect Lila had on people. No longer would Sabrina wear cardigans and plaid. Lila had given her a full makeover, her wardrobe included. The Sabrina in front of her had on a short navy dress, boots, and long wavy hair. She had grown her bangs out and pushed them to the side. The only thing the same were her brown-rimmed glasses. Sabrina wrapped her arms around Chloe. Her personality had pretty much remained the same.

"Chloe! Are you alright? Do I need to get someone?"

"Get Adrien! Get Marinette and Nino!" She sobbed. Sabrina looked at her strange.

"C-Chloe... you know they're no-"

"Get them!" Sabrina sighed. She had finally cracked. Alya walked through the door to the locker room with some other female students. When Alya heard what Chloe was crying and screaming about, she took action. A couple of students were whispering and laughing.

"Everyone get out!" Now they all looked at her. "Now! No whispering, no laughing. Just leave!" The class hesitatingly made their way out the door. "You too Sabrina."

"I don't have to listen to you." She snobbishly replied.

"Go!" Chloe screamed at her. Sabrina dashed out. Chloe and Alya were left alone. Alya didn't know what to think. Here was this girl, who had hated her and her friends... and she was crying for them. She could tell she was truly hurting though, and knew she had to help.

"Chloe... what's wrong." She spoke quietly to calm her down. It did nothing.

"I-I-I-" she wheezed. "It hit me hard this morning, you know? It hit me hard, that if my attitude had not gone sour, then maybe these people would be my friends. Maybe... maybe we would be friends." Chloe sniffed and brought her knees to her chest. "It's all my fault. It's my fault I'm lonely. It's my fault the closest thing I have to friendship is with a poser and her follower. I... I'm useless."

"No you're not!"

"Marinette even said so the day my father was akumatized. Even if she took it back... she still meant what she said. I believe it."

"Okay, I'm not gonna lie... my best friend is not perfect. She doesn't say complete truths. Don't listen to things like that. You two just got off on the wrong foot. It happens." Alya gave Chloe a hug. She internally screamed, but she knew that if she melted the remainder of the ice off her heart, then maybe, just maybe... they could be friends. "You are human, and you make mistakes. Marinette does too. It's okay to cry. It's okay to want to change." Chloe was surprised anyone at all would have stayed to talk to her, much less embrace her.

"I... could we be friends?" Alya gasped. Chloe wanted to be her friend. Chloe Bourgeois. "I mean, we don't have to. I understand that I've been awful to you and everyth-"

"Sure." She smiled. "Just... don't expect me to get along with your clique just yet." They giggled and stood.

"Thanks." Chloe whispered as they walked to the classroom.

The classroom was bustling with activity. Everyone was talking about the debut of Queen Bee. It made Chloe excited. For the first time, people liked her... even if they didn't know it was her. "Did you see her?!" "She's just like Ladybug!" "I think Rena's better." The statements flew around the class like paper airplanes, rebounding and falling to the floor. "Alright students!" Ms. Bustier called the class to attention when she stepped into the room. "Today, we will be having an open-ended discussion on acceptance, and bullying." A couple students groaned, but otherwise the class was pretty quiet. "Last night, a young man was akumatized because he was bullied by his peers. I reached out to him late at night to see if he would come in. He agreed, and should be here in the next few minutes. When he comes in, I expect your best behavior. Thank you." The class went back into scattered conversations for the next four minutes until a knock at the door. Ms. Bustier opened it, and a college student walked into the room. Alya and Chloe could tell from one look that he was the akuma from the night before. They had seen him up close. He had the same cedar skin, and of course the same deep voice. "Everyone, welcome Mr. Elliot!" Everyone said hello as the man walked to the front of the room, clearly nervous.

"I... uh, hello. I'm Elliot James. I'm pretty sure it's in the mainstream news about last night. It's, uh... not my proudest moment." He said, scratching his neck. "I'm here to talk to all of you about bullying." Once again, people groaned. "You all may be rolling your eyes, but it hurts. It hurts to be beaten down for being yourself. Personally, last night, I was harassed for loving other men." Juleka and Rose slightly gasped at the back of the room. "They said I was ugly for it. Said I was meant to burn in hell. They got into my head, you see. I really thought I was ugly. I... I believed that I didn't deserve to live. I'm not going to lie to all of you. I tried killing myself before my akumatization. I've gotten a psychiatrist, don't worry. The message is still there though. Bullying leads to terrible things... very terrible things." While Elliot spoke, he tried to scrape his dignity off the floor. He continued to tell the class of his story, but Alya couldn't concentrate. She had so much going on in her life at the moment. The boy she was sitting next to knew her identity, and had made out with her. The girl across the room was now being nice to her, but the girl in from of her was being the same as usual. Her sisters were getting old, and so was she. Not only that, but she had the whole weight of Paris on her shoulders. "Bullying is one of the lowest things a human being can do. It..." people were laughing at him. Why were people laughing?! Alya noticed that Ms. Bustier had left a while ago... terrible people. "It hurts." He choked out. He had tears in his eyes as he tried to get out of the class as soon as possible. He never made it. He had the arms of seventeen-year-old Chloe Bourgeois wrapped around his waist.

"It's okay." Is all she said.