Chat Out of the Bag?

Chapter 7

Lucia liked Adrien's friends. They were always so nice to her and made sure to include her in whatever activity they had planned. His class was full of good people and she liked seeing her big brother happy. That's why when she was in the car waiting for her brother to get out of school, she wasn't concerned about a strange girl going in the car. Maybe Adrien had offered the girl a ride home. The girl had long reddish hair and was wearing a burnt orange outfit. Whatever the girl was saying to Adrien died on her lips when she noticed Lucia in a booster seat.

"Adrien, who is this?"

"Lila this is Lucia, my little sister. Lucia this is Lila, my classmate."

Lucia waved to Lila and went back to playing with her dolls so she didn't notice the sneer on Lila's face when she looked at the dolls.

Adrien kissed his sister's forehead before settling into his seat. Lila kept asking Adrien questions during the ride. When they got home, Lucia raced out of the car to greet Natalie.

She happily greeted Natalie at the door but she couldn't believe Lila lied to Natalie. Adrien never gets bad grades. Maybe if she watched closely she will see Lila's pants catch on fire. Lucia was a little disappointed that no pants were on fire.

Adrian was distracted by Lila so Lucia snuck into his room and hid under the bed. They weren't studying because Lila was too busy going through Adrien's stuff; she even use his phone to take a picture of them that she sent it to all his contacts. Lucia's phone vibrated and she saw the picture was of Lila kissing Adrien and giving him cooties.

Lila quickly left after sending the picture. Lucia quickly hid in the stairwell and watched Lila lie to her papa. Papa looked angry and called Natalie and Gorilla to his office. Lucia rushed back to Adrien's room and told him that Lila got Natalie and Gorilla in trouble.

"Adrien, I like all your friends but I don't like that girl. She needs a timeout."

"She needs more than that. Like a jail cell with no cheese," reply Plagg

"That's much worse than time out," replied Lucia. She scratched Plagg under his chin and he purred. He would deny such a thing occurred though. The peaceful moment was ruined when an akuma came in through the open window.

The akuma vowed to keep Adrien safe from Lila. It was Adrien's friend Kagami. Lucia held Plagg close to her chest. She couldn't let an akuma know about her fairy friend.

As far as akumas went she wasn't scared of Kagami. She wanted to protect Adrien so she couldn't be very evil. Maybe her powers would set Lila's pants on fire. After Kagami left, Adrien told Lucia to hide in her room.

"But this akuma isn't dangerous. She just wants to protect you," complained Lucia.

"Akumas don't always think logically. She might hurt you to protect me," he replied.

"Will you come to get me when it's safe to come out again?"

"Always."

Lucia wasn't afraid of this akuma so she just worked on her homework. Her private gymnastic tutor came before her brother came to get her.

She hesitated to leave her room but papa would get mad if she didn't listen to her tutor. She decided to write a note so if her brother came looking for her, he would know she was safe.

She was learning how to fall safely when Adrien walked into her session. He braced himself for the tackle that Lucia would surely do. Upon impact, he lifted her up and swung her around.

"Do you want to show me what you're working on?"

Lucia eagerly nodded and pulled him towards the equipment. Lucia could do a headstand by herself for nearly two minutes. She could also do some tumbles and a front flip with some help.

Soon enough it was time for dinner and their father showed up to eat with them.

"Hi, papa! How was work today?"

"Today was very enlightening," he replied, "We have some serious matters to discuss tonight."

Lucia was not looking forward to the conversation. Serious matters meant boring things.

"I've decided to hire a new model to work with you. She is a classmate of yours, Adrien."

Lucia perked up when she heard that. Papa has to be talking about Juleka. She was pretty and can definitely be a model for papa's brand.

"I can't wait to work with Juleka," said Lucia happily.

Their father informed them that Lila Rossi would be working with them.

"I want to work with Juleka not her. She is a liar liar pants on fire," said Lucia.

"My decision is final. Which brings me to my second point," said Gabriel. He looked at Lucia so she knew it was about her. "Lucia, I was contacted by your teacher today. Care to explain yourself?"

Lucia looked confused, "Explain what? I've been a good girl in class. There's a girl in class named Manon and she has dolls made by Marinette too and we play defeat akumas."

She didn't understand why her papa seemed annoyed by what she said.

"I was told that you don't participate in class. You don't raise your hand or answer questions. This is unacceptable," said their father.

"Father, Lucia is still getting used to going to school. Being a little shy is surely normal," said Adrien.

"Agrestes, do not fail. I do not want to hear anything negative from your teacher again or there will be consequences, young lady."

Lucia couldn't look her papa in the eyes. If she did then he would know that she was holding back tears.

Adrien hated how quiet the dining room got. It was like how it was before Lucia came home. He loved how his sister would happily chat about her day and tell him all the things she learned. Now she was pushing food around her plate and not looking at anyone.

He asked to be excused from the table to help Lucia with her homework. They were excused and Adrien went to Lucia's room so he could make her feel better.

There was a playhouse castle in one corner so they played as adventurers that had to free the fairy Plagg from the giant moth monster.

Lucia asked him to sleep in her room with her and to put on her Cat Noir nightlight. Adrien didn't know that those were such a thing but complied with her wishes. As Lucia fell asleep, Adrien thought of ways to help her with feeling comfortable at school. He was sure that he would think of something but sleep was calling his name like cheese called to Plagg.