Adrianna took this time within the black-tinted windows the way she always did, preparing. She never knew what she'd be going home to on any given day, so it's best not to expect anything. She took deep breaths, coming up with stories and lies that turned into collars, taming the cat, filing down its claws. She has to do this in order to keep from saying anything out of turn. No freedom allowed, not in the Agreste Mansion. As it came into view, reflecting coldly in her bottle-green eyes, Adrianna briefly noticed it as nothing but a cage. A large, spacious one, but a cage nonetheless. And Natalie came rushing out of it like a frazzled bird, feathers ruffled and blue eyes wide.
Adrianna raised an eyebrow and looked up at the Gorilla, wondering if he knew something about her uncharacteristic panic. Before he could even shrug, they were pulled up to the curb and Natalie pulled her out by the wrist in a sudden move that, had she less of a cat in her, would have made her trip. And then maybe she would have gotten an injury, but it definitely wouldn't have warranted the frantic response she received from her father's assistant. Especially since she rarely showed this much concern for his boss's daughter unless it was about when she arrives at her scheduled appointments.
Adrianna shook her head repeatedly, trying to tell her without interrupting that she was completely fine. Sometimes she felt bad for Natalie, she's the one who spends the most time with her father in business mode, but then she has to remind herself that Natalie chose that, while Adrianna would much rather avoid him most of the time.
The blonde sighed when the phone rang. She knew who it was before she answered, so she just turned around and reached into the car to grab her bag, murmuring to the Gorilla that he could go now if he wanted. She had nowhere else to go today, and judging by Natalie's tone behind her, she would not be leaving the house at all today anymore. The Gorilla was perceptive and he often knew what the young girl was going through, but he could do nothing about it except give her a reassuring smile before driving off.
She blinked when Natalie handed her the phone, looking at it like it was a bomb about to go off. She grit her teeth and turned off emotion. To talk to her father, she often has to go numb. She wondered for a moment what his reaction would be if Natalie had told him she wasn't okay. That maybe she was severely burned and stuck in the hospital for a few days. Would he even spare the time to visit her out of concern? Maybe?
When she heard his monotone in her ear, so close to her Miraculous, the answer leaned farther towards no.
"I heard there was a fire in school today. At 6:25 in the afternoon. Usually you are home by 5:45. Care to explain?"
"I...I--" She meant to give him the same lie she'd fed the Gorilla about making up a test, but it suddenly sounded much less believable at the back of her throat. He cut her off anyway.
"Perhaps this would make you see going to a public school like Dupont is only wrought with red flags. I had hoped you would have seen the error in your choice when you invited that unruly girl into our house that day."
Adrianna bit her tongue. He could make
her feel stupid all he wanted, but she
despised when he talked about her friends that way. It took a great deal of willpower for her to keep from defending them even if she knew she wouldn't get anywhere. He doesn't have time to argue and she won't argue with a wall anymore.
So with a strained, but agreeable tone, his dutiful daughter stared up at the arch of the entrance to the Agreste Mansion and mumbled,
"I apologize for arriving late, sir. I do not share your opinion of my school, regardless. I could explain the safety measures in place for these circumstances, but I doubt you have the time to listen to me list them all." or listen to me at all, she thought. Natalie's eyes looked like they might pop out and break her glasses and there was a moment of silence on the other end of the line for a second. Adrianna bit her lip thinking maybe she'd gone too far, but then there was the muffled conversation of assistants or associates of his in the background and she figured he'd barely heard her anyway.
"Mhm....Yes.. Nevertheless, I do not want to hear about any other incidents that may delay you again in the future. I believe you have a piano lesson in a few minutes. Be prepared."
And then he hung up.
Adrianna handed the phone back to Natalie and pressed the code into the keypad by the gate, walking silently through the bars of her prison without even looking over her shoulder. She knew Natalie was right behind her. And she'd be there to keep the gate open for the Russian woman pulling in to give Adrianna another piano lesson. All of them were her jailers, and she could feel the weight of her chains simply by walking into the house. She only had a minute to dash inside, grab a hunk of camembert from the kitchen stash and drop off Plagg in her room with it and her bag before rushing back downstairs to the piano bench to meet her teacher with Adrianna's signature model smile.
