The Helpers

Her Place

Classes were much quieter affairs for Sabrina now. Chloé spoke in bare minimum sounds if at all. Sabrina learned little ways to work around that though. She would put the day's homework in a folder between them before each class. Sometimes Chloé took it, sometimes she turned in her own work, sometimes nothing at all. Sabrina wished she knew the reasons so she could make sure Chloé took it every time.

It was a few days after her visit with Luka that something odd happened. On her way up to her seat Juleka paused and without looking mumbled,"Hi Chl-e" then continued on.

Only a few second later while Chloé was still puzzling over if she'd really heard something; Rose stormed up with a far less subtle,"Morning Chloé!" In singsong over clasped hands. Just as Juleka had, Rose kept going, trotting up to her seat leaving Sabrina's friend even more baffled but with no one to complain to unless she wanted to start speaking to Sabrina again.

No such luck. Things went back to silence at the desk. Sabrina took out a fresh bottle of water and three carefully wrapped Madeleines and set them between herself and Chloé. Sometimes they would be gone by the end of class, others they would be packed back up untouched.

Sabrina pulled out her phone as the silence settled in amid the rest of the conversations before class.

Sabrina: Juleka just said hi to Chloé! 😲🤯

Luka: Oh? Cool. I talked to her about it. Sometimes just having people acknowledge you exist helps. She wasn't too excited. Glad she went through with it.

Sabrina glanced over at her friend. There was no visible change, but then there hadn't been the other way at first either.

Sabrina:You are the best! How do they even make people like you? 🤗🤩😍

Luka: Hey, it's nothing yet. Do you think Chloé might be able to talk to somebody? Professional I mean. It might be what she needs. They know more about this kind of stuff if it really is as bad as you say.

Sabrina Tapped her phone against her forehead as she chewed on that. A side glance at Chloé who was trying too hard to look interested in her nails helped her make up her mind.

Sabrina: I'm not sure I could convince her. 😔😟 She'd probably worry it would make her look 'ridiculous, utterly ridiculous.'😡🤬

Luka:I was afraid it might be like that. You could try reaching out to her other friends, see if they can come up with something. I'll keep working though. I plan on asking the guidance counsellor about it(no names) after school.

Sabrina frowned in concentration after reading the message, then looked back over her shoulder at Adrien. Maybe... Sabrina reread the last line of the message and sighed dreamily. Miss Bustier walked in at that moment and phones were hurriedly stashed away for class.

After class Chloé gathered her things and left without a word. Sabrina picked up the bottle of water, the Madeleines were gone and that made her smile. Then she dashed up the steps, skidding to a stop in front of Rose and Juleka. This earned her two pairs of eyes blinking in confusion, though Rose immediately shifted into welcoming joy.

"So umm." Sabrina rocked from heels to toes,"Is there anything Luka needs? Something I can do for him? Does he need help with homework? Do you need help Juleka? Rose? I'm good at homework."

The two exchanged a look, it was Rose who talked,"No we're fine, but did you say you wanted to do something for Luka?" Rose's voice rose in pitch and volume, painting a blush on Sabrina's face and making her fire off panic-laden looks towards the students still filing out.