Elements of Madness

Square One

Smile, blink, laugh. Compliment, laugh, nod. Listen, nod, giggle. Chloe was getting good at it, too good. The worst part was that it worked. After the initial shock it just kind of became reality. Chloe's changed, she's nice now. Ms. Bustier's smiles were less strained when her eyes crossed the front row. There wasn't a sudden rush to popularity but conversations didn't die at her approach, people didn't shy away or go on guard.

When she slipped up and let something show people asked her what was wrong. It sounded like they cared. The answer was always the same, 'just a little bit tired.' Tired of pretending. It seemed 'Chloe' held on harder than she had expected. Drowning that part of her was taking too long, she was starting to fight back.

Another day done and time to head home. Chloe wondered if she could shop some of this away. Would daddy give her her card back? Should she even try? Something that made her happy might push her back into being herself, that was too great a risk. Maybe if she could bring herself to get near Luka for more than a few minutes it would help. It would help or destroy her. Would all this be enough? Could she steal one person for her own, keep one pair of eyes. Could she be what someone wanted? The idea of having an answer kept her away from him.

A blur of motion made her stop, Juleka braked on her bike across Chloe's path. She was dressed normally but wearing a full helmet in black and purple, complete with cat ears. The visor was still up and their eyes met for the briefest of moments. Panic flashed in Juleka's gaze before she snapped her visor down to hide her face. Chloe stood momentarily dumbfounded, gazing at her own reflection, one she barely recognized.

"So..." Juleka began,"You like kidnappings?"

Chloe blinked in absolute confusion. Another bike stopped behind her and as she turned to look Juleka leaned forward and gave her a shove. Chloe stumbled back into another pair of hands, was lifted, and dropped unceremoniously into a bike's basket. Luka took off. She knew it was him because while he too wore a helmet he hadn't bothered to change into different clothes, or a new bike at all.

"Luka..." she protested quietly, holding on for dear life in a basket made for pizza not people.

He kept pedaling,"Just hold on." Turning corners to who knew where.

"Luka..." she protested a little louder. What more could she do? A light grip on his jacket.

He didn't stop, turning another corner. This was insane. What could she do? What was he doing? This was Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous.

Chloe reached up and grabbed hold of his collar, oh how she missed her nails. She yanked his head down hard enough they almost crashed,"So help me minstrel stop this bike and let me off or we both end up eating pavement."

He skidded to a stop, pulling hard to the mouth of a sidestreet. Luka flipped up his visor,"There you are Chloe, I've been looking for you."

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The change in her tone from request to demand would have alerted him of the shift, almost dragging him off the bike was a Chloe bonus. Luka grinned down at her after his quip, and added another,"You always seem upset when my bike is involved."

She flailed her way out of the basket,"Stop it! Just stop!" Her voice shifted from anger to pleading so quickly Luka felt whiplash,"Please, stop."

Chloe slumped, but this wasn't her act. Luka Pulled off the helmet and reached out a hand to her shoulder,"Chloe, I just wanted to talk."

Chloe pulled the cap down low over her eyes, looking down,"I'm not ready yet. I've been working hard, but it's not good enough yet. I know. I'll do better."