The Artist and the Flower

Part 2: chapter 5

   The next day at school I felt flustered as memories from yesterday swept through my mind. I noticed that Mari seemed a little troubled, she wasn't paying much attention in class and she kept fidgeting in her chair. Occasionally, she'd look at her phone and sigh. When the bell rang for lunch, my phone buzzed. I picked it up and saw that I had a message from an unknown number that read, 'hey Nathaniel, it's me, Chloé! Meet me in the library during lunch so we can work on the project together some more :D don't be late >:( '
That message was supposed to be from Chloé? How did she even get my number? I don't remember giving it to her. Well I didn't really have much of a choice since it's due tomorrow and we haven't worked on it at all since that day I went to her house. I walked down to Mari's seat. She was resting her head in her arms so I tapped her shoulder to get her attention.
She sprang up, "The answer is 57!" She yelled out from shock.
"Class is over Mari, it's lunch break." I laughed. She blushed red all the way up to her ears. "I'm sorry, but I can't spend lunch with you today since Chloé called me out to work on the project with her." Mari seemed distant even though she was right next to me. She didn't react to anything I just said. I tapped her shoulder again. "Um, Mari?"
She snapped back to reality. "Oh um, yea! That's okay, don't worry about me! Ha ha..." She smiled weakly and gave me a thumbs up.
She seems a little... off. She's not the best at keeping secrets anyways. I patted her head and gave her a forehead kiss. "It's just for today Flower, it'll go back to normal tomorrow."
She nodded at me with a (real) smile. "Okay, but you better treat me to something nice then."

I walked in the library, and the cold air from the AC was such a sudden change. It was eerily quiet and I felt uncomfortable, mostly because I knew that there was evil lurking around here somewhere. I searched the desks for the she-devil and found her. She wasn't alone though, Adrien was with her. I hid behind the bookshelves and spied on them though some books I pushed open. I could barely make out what they were saying since I wasn't that close.
" *murmuring intensifies* that's all you need to do... *more murmuring* the plan will be a success." Whispered Chloé.
" *murmuring* ... Then Marinette *more murmuring* mine!" Exclaimed Adrien.
   "Shut up you idiot!!" Chloé whisper shouted to him. "What if someone *more murmuring* ... Now get lost already and don't mess this up." She finished with a snarky tone.
   "You got it." Adrien gave her a playful salute and walked away. I realized he was headed in my direction. If he saw me here, that would be bad, I think. Whatever they were talking about mentioned my girlfriend and some sort of "plan", so it's clearly supposed to be a secret from me. I needed to find a good cover up right then to hide myself.
   Desperate, I pulled a large book from the shelf and buried my face in it. I tried to cover my bright red hair with the large cover and to make it look like I was engrossed in reading. Luckily, Adrien hadn't noticed me. When I heard the large library doors close, I let out a sigh of relief. I put the book back and went to meet Chloé.
   "H-hey Chloé. So did you bring the papers for the project?" I asked. I have to try to not be awkward or else she'll know I know something!
   "I've got them right here!" She said proudly and placed them on the table. "Come sit here next to me so we can work together." She suggested with a smile.
Starting to feel a little uncomfortable here. "O-okay then." I sat down in the seat next to her and dropped my bag on the floor. I pulled out papers of my own and tried to start working. "So, I'm thinking we could do a project where we test certain makeup brands with something like a rose or something that's sensitive, like skin is. That way, we can find out which brands have harmful chemicals in them and which brands don't harm your skin. It's just an idea though." I said quickly. I was feeling a little sweaty from being so nervous.
   Chloé stared at me with a surprised look on her face. "Nathaniel, you... you remembered what I said about wanting the project to be about makeup?" She asked softly.
   "Um... yeah...?" I answered. I didn't really know how to react since Chloé's reaction was really unexpected.
   "That's... so... nice of you, to remember and actually think about an idea for the project." She gave me a small smile.
   "Yeah, well, you know- I was trying to be a good partner?" Is what I said but to be honest, I didn't want her to be pissed at me for dismissing her ideas since she'd probably make a big deal out of it.
   "That sounds like a great idea to me! Let's do that! We can go buy the makeup together after school ends, okay?" She said excitedly.
Why was Chloé acting so differently? It was confusing and strange, but anything was better than aimlessly arguing with her. "Okay, I'll go. But let's work the details out here so we don't buy anything unnecessary." I wasn't as scared as I was before since she was being so cooperative, dare I say, nice.
   "Hey Nathaniel, you've got something in your hair, I think it's dust." Chloé said as she leaned in closer to me.
   "Haha yeah, my hair does that sometimes since it's so long." Maybe it's from that book I hid in earlier. I backed away from her and ruffled my hair. "Did- did I get it?" I asked.
   "Not quite. Let me get it for you." Chloé reached her hand out and ran her fingers though my hair. She then smoothed it out a little.
   I felt my face get hot. She's too close! A girl besides Marinette touched me and we're alone right now and I really don't want anymore to happen please I don't want Mari to be mad at me I don't want to be unfaithful, is this considered cheating? My train of thought was interrupted by Chloé snickering.
   "Oh my gosh Nath, your face is so red, it's almost the same color as your hair!"
   I defensively raised my hand up to my hair and looked down. "Well-that's because- that's your fault! Don't suddenly touch me like that, it's embarrassing." I said the last part quietly.
   "Huh? What's this? You're telling me what to do?" Chloé asked me, she sounded a little angry. "Let's get something straight here," she said as she leaned in even closer to me. "No one bothers me around, I do what I want." She said sternly. She stared at me with sharp eyes and I couldn't move from where I was. This is all too much, I need to get away from her. I've had enough Chloé for now.
   I stood up frantically and my chair crashed onto the silent still floor. The more I moved away from her, the closer she got to me. Soon, I was actually up against the wall of the library. Chloé was right in front of me, she placed a hand on my chest and another hand on my shoulder.
   "Uh-um, C-Chloé? Could you please n-not be so close to me? This is making me nervous." I felt panicked and I grabbed her hands to push them away. "I- I have a girlfriend, and I don't think what you're doing looks good at all-" Chloé interrupted me.
   "All you do is get shy and nervous. Am I not supposed to do anything when you're acting in such a cute manner?" She asked me innocently.
   "I-I'm sorry, what did you say about me just then?" I was so confused, but I didn't have any time to think or react. Chloé made her way out of my grip, then she grabbed my jacket sleeves and pulled me down as she stood on her toes. Next thing I knew, her lips were pressed against mine. It was nothing like the kisses I shared with Marinette. Chloé was rough and forceful, and it didn't feel good at all.
   I pushed her away and covered my lips with my hand as I looked at her in shock. I felt weak, my legs wouldn't move. Then the bell for class rang, and my panic level rose. I grabbed my bag and ran towards the library doors. When I turned the corner, I smashed into Adrien by accident, dropping my bag on the floor. I hastily picked up my things and apologized. Then I kept running.
   My heart felt heavy and my mind was blank. I didn't go to class afterwards, I couldn't face Marinette after what had happened. I kept running until I couldn't run anymore. Why... does it always turn out like this?

~~~~~~~~~~~ in the library ~~~~~~~~~~~
   Adrien brushed off his shoulder where Nathaniel had bumped into him. "Rude much. Well, after seeing that reaction from him, it seems things are going just as she planned." Adrien smiled to himself. He walked towards Chloé who was sitting at the table as if nothing had happened.
   "Well, I hope you got the shots, it's going to require a lot more effort to do all that again now that things have taken motion." Chloé said annoyingly to Adrien.
   "Are you insulting my camera skills? I'm a model, I deal with cameras every day. There's no way I could mess this up, see for yourself." Adrien grinned and showed Chloé his phone. There were several pictures of Chloé and Nathaniel kissing, even shots from right before.
   "I guess you're not terrible at it. Send me all of those, Sabrina and I will work out magic to make sure everything is ready for the next phase of the plan. By the way, how did things with Marinette go?" Chloé asked Adrien with an evil look on her face.
   "Let's just say it went purr-fectly." He said with a smug look on his face.
   " 'purr-fectly?' The hell does that have to do with anything?" Chloé asked annoyingly. "Whatever, I don't really care. Good job on your part by the way, I'm sure she was just as flustered as Nathaniel was. He was so adorable, it was fun to watch him get all shy." Chloé felt a little warm when she remembered her kiss with Nathaniel. No, this is a plan for Adrien's benefit. My only gain is watching people suffer and getting my attention in the classroom back. That's all. Chloé reapplied her lipstick. "Anyways, we should get back to class before people start rumors about us." 
   "That would mess with the plan. Let's go back." Adrien said as he walked back to the classroom with Chloé following behind him.