Chapter 88: Chapter 88

Aria’s Pov.

The morning was  grey and quiet.

I opened my eyes and instinctively reached across the mattress.

Empty.

Adrien’s side of the bed had already gone cold.

I lay there for a moment, staring at the ceiling until I felt fully awake. Then I reached for my phone.

Adrien had sent me a text.

had to head in early — semi final is tomorrow and coach called an emergency session. sleep well. x

I read it twice before typing back.

Then I sent: good luck today. you've got it.

I placed my phone on my chest and returned my gaze to the ceiling.

I love you.

Adrien had said those words  it to me and I laid there for…. I didn't even know how long,  staring at the dark and feeling like the worst person on earth.

I pushed myself up.

I wasn't going downstairs for breakfast.

I asked Marie to bring my breakfast upstairs, and I got dressed in my  uniform, did my hair, wore the necklace Adrien had  given me,

I sat at my window few minutes later, with the tray she brought up.

The toast went cold before I realised I’d barely touched it.

Adrien’s words kept coming back, and I'd said nothing.

Because I couldn't say it back without thinking about all the ways I was lying to him.

And I couldn't explain everything without blowing apart the only real chance we had of building a case against Valentin before he—

I placed  my fork down.

“Stop,” I told myself. “Just stop and get through today.”

I finished my coffee, grabbed my bag and headed out.

Camille was at the entrance when I arrived.

She was standing slightly to the side of the main steps in the cool morning air, with her bag clutched in front of her.

She looked like she was torn between trying to contain something and trying to figure out if she wanted to.

"Hey," I said, adjusting my bag strap.

She turned.

"Hi." Her voice came out slightly higher than normal. "Hi. Good morning."

I looked at her.

"What happened?"

"Nothing's happened."

"Cam..."

"Nothing has happened, I'm just…" She exhaled. "Esme's in a different class this morning so it's just us and I need to tell you something before I actually combust."

"Okay," I said already confused.

She looked at the steps. Then at me.

"We kissed," she said.

I stared at her. “What?”

"Esme and I," she continued. "Last night, we decided to go on a walk and it just…" She pressed her lips together. "It just happened.”

“Camille… honestly? I’m not surprised but...”

"I know."

" you didn’t seem sure…"

"I know, Aria." She sighed. "I know. I just don't know what it means now or what she's thinking or if it was just a…a moment thing or if she actually…"

"Do you like her?" I said interrupting her before she spirals.

She went quiet.

"Yeah," she said eventually.

"Then tell her that," I said. "That's what you do."

"What if she doesn't…"

"Camille." I held her gaze. "Tell her."

She breathed in, then out.

"Yeah," she said. "Okay. I will."

We walked up the steps together.

Inside, The school greeted us with slamming lockers, laughter and conversations overlapping from every direction.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen Camille smile like that.

Not the polite smile she gave teachers.

Not the sarcastic one she reserved for Jules.

This one was softer.

But I just couldn’t shake off the feeling that Esme was shady.

"Wait." Camille stopped walking. "Hold on."

I looked at her.

She was staring at me like she  had just noticed something they should have clocked ten minutes ago.

"You're glowing,"

"I'm not…"

"You’re literally cheesing right now. Like actually cheesing." She pointed at my face. "What happened? How did the bowling date go?"

I pressed my lips together and laughed, she had a funny expression on her face.

"We had sex."

Camille's mouth opened.

Closed.

Then opened again.

"I'm sorry what?" she said.

"You heard me."

"You…" She grabbed my arm. "You let me stand here and ramble on and on about me kissing Esme when you had the actual tea?"

"You started talking…"

"Aria."

"You started talking and I didn't want to interrupt."

"ARIA."

"Keep your voice down!"

"Oh my god." She covered her face with both hands. Then immediately uncovered it. "Okay spill eveything. Right now. Go."

So I did.

The bowling alley, the restaurant, us running in the rain, Adrien's finger on my lips telling me to be quiet. All of it.

I watched her face move through about seven different expressions while I talked, delight, shock and delight again.

"You ran in the rain," she said when I finished.

"He convinced me."

"He made you run through the rain like a romcom."

"We were very drunk."

Camille let out a laugh that sounded almost disbelieving.

“That is painfully on brand for the two of you.”

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t stop smiling.

And then it faded.

She clocked it immediately.

"Hey." Her voice shifted. "What's that?"

"What's what?"

"Your face just did a thing."

I looked at the corridor ahead of us.

"He told me he loved me," I sighed.

Camille went completely still.

“Last night.” I looked down at my hands. “He told me he loved me… and then he fell asleep before I could say anything.”

"Okay but…" She turned to face me properly. "Why does your face look like that? That's huge, Aria. That's…"

"I couldn't say it back."

"Why? You like him. You clearly like him."

“That’s exactly the problem.” I stopped walking. "But I'm hiding things from him, Cam. A lot of things. And I can't…" I shook my head. "I can't say something like that when I know how much I've been keeping from him."

She looked at me her eyebrows creased in confusion.

"What things?"

I looked at her.

I hadn't told anyone this. Not Camille. Not even close. I'd been carrying it in my head for months.

But she was looking at me like she already knew something was wrong. And I was tired of carrying everything in.

I looked around the corridor before lowering my voice.

“Cam… you can’t repeat any of this.”

She frowned.

“I won’t.”

"Valentin, He's been.." I stopped. "He's not who Adrien thinks he is. There's a lot going on with his company, his business, things he's involved in that are…" I exhaled. "Not good. And Lucien knows. We've been working on it and trying to figure out the full picture before we do anything."

Camille's hand came up slowly and covered her mouth.

"Behind Adrien's back," I continued. "Because Adrien trusts his father completely and if he found out before we had everything in order he'd go straight to Valentin and blow apart everything we've built." I looked at my hands. "So I can't tell him. And now he told me he loves me and I'm just…" I pressed my lips together. "I'm lying to him. Every day. About something that affects his entire family."

Camille stared at me.

"Aria," she said.

"I know."

"How long has this been—"

"A while."

"And Lucien?"

"Since before the yacht party." I looked at her. "I know... I know how it sounds."

She was quiet for a moment.

Long enough that I started to wonder what she was going to say.

Then she exhaled slowly.

"You're going to figure it out," she said. "You didn’t wake up one morning and decide to lie to your boyfriend. You're doing it because you don't have another option right now." She held my gaze. "And when it's done, when it's all out… Adrien is going to understand why."

"You don't know that."

"I know you." She said simply. "And I know he's not stupid. He's going to see that you were protecting him."

I looked at her.

"Or he's going to think I was just lying," I exhaled.

"Maybe both," she said honestly. "But you're still doing the right thing."

The bell rang.

She grabbed her bag.

"Go to your class," she said. "We'll talk later. And Aria—" She looked at me. "Be careful."

"I will."

Camille  disappeared around the corner.

I stood there for a second, then I went to class