Pretty Bluebell

chapter 1

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••• questions •••

THE calls he couldn't avoid made a return once more.

"Adrien! Over here!"

"Adrien, can we get a smile?"

"Mr. Agresté!"

"Adrien, eyes here!"

An overwhelming amount of people were crowding around the Agrestés, who were entering the venue for the launching of a new pop-up store by Gabriel's brand. Of course, Gabriel wasn't bothered to answer any of the call-outs, instead he just strided into the hall as the bodyguard followed. Adrien waved, his award-winning smile plastered upon his face for all the cameras. It was an instinct, you know. Being a model and all that.

"Move along, Adrien. We don't want to keep your father waiting," said Nathalie, gently tapping the 16-year-old boy's back. His grin for the cameras faltered a little as he nodded obediently. "Yes, right."

He stood stiffly beside his father, Gabriel's shadow looming over him intimidatingly; what his life was. It was important to hold up the image of perfection, because that's what his father claimed for Adrien to be; a perfect picture.

It was pretty obvious that he was not the sort. He was a sixteen year old teenager placed on a pedestal from a young age, who wanted nothing more than to live normally.

Obviously was never going to happen.

"The launch of this store and collection is a tribute to my lovely wife, who unfortunately we have lost a few years back. She was a heart of purity, a ray of sunlight, my sun. I hope you understand how important this launch is for me," announced Gabriel, a lump forming in Adrien's throat as his late mother was mentioned.

He never took the loss well, as he happened to have an extremely close bond with her. When she had collapsed into that coughing fit, gasping for air, sputtering for dear life, it left a big scar in his brain; a scar he could never outgrow.

Smoothing out his white outercoat, he shook out of his unpleasant flashback turmoil, focusing back once more on the present event that was taking place.

As per usual, it was the same old thing. His father and Nathalie worked out the opening, while he was basically dragged around and ordered to stand at places, like a robot.

When it came to events like these, it was blantly obvious he didn't like them one bit.

So while Gabriel reluctantly was answering countless questions for national television, Adrien fumbled with his fingers mindlessly. By all means he avoided eye contact from the currently restless hoard of fangirls awaiting to seize the chance to take a photo with him.

Ah, the downsides of being the son of a celebrity designer.

His thoughts then wandered into the usual fantasy of how it would be, living out a life a normal teenager would live. Going to public school, no eyes constantly gaping you out, nobody asking for a photo or weird stalkers. No excessive amount of people to please. Being able to actually have friends. He had always longed for it.

"Adrien!" The stern call from his father yanked him out of the daydreaming. He locked with his father's cold grey stare, subconsciously taking a nervous gulp. "Yes, Father?" he responded timidly. "We need to be heading off now. You have fencing in a half an hour."