Neglect Me No More

s t r o n g

Yikes! Sorry I haven't been updating!

Why did Marinette ever agree to eat lunch with her old friends? As she chewed on her vegetarian sandwich, Marinette kept berating herself over making her decision.

While everyone around her was laughing and goofing off, Marinette stayed silent, only occasionally adding to the conversation. Chloe was seven people away from her; it was seven people too many.

Suddenly, the conversation questionably turned to her.

"Sooo... Marinette it seems like you've made some new friends, huh?" Kim spoke loudly enough for the entire table to hear.

The conversations around her ended abruptly as if everyone had the same question in mind. Everyone stole glances at her.

Marinette tilted her head. Something strange was going on. What were they all up to?

Marinette sighed. She supposed it didn't matter since they invited her with ulterior motives. But that didn't mean she wouldn't take this chance to find out what they were.

"Haha ya! Their names are Claude and Allegra." She replied with a smile.

"Maybe you could introduce us? Making new friends is always super fun!" Alya exclaimed.

"Sure, if they have time today. Once school over, we're gonna be in a bit of a rush since I have to meet someone. They're dropping me off." Marinette said nervously. She forgot to let Chloe know in advance. She decided to give an apologetic glance towards Chloe.

Their eyes met. Chloe smiled. "Do you want me to come with you Marinette? Claude and Allegra are crazy sometimes!"

The class glanced between the two.

"Thanks, Chloe! Uhhh, but I'm actually going to be meeting uhhh... you know, he-who-we-talked-about-the-other-day." Marinette lightly blushed. She did not want anyone else to know that she was going to see Felix since he was probably as famous as Adrien, maybe even more.

Chloe brightened as the class grew suspicious. "Okay!"

"Um, Marinette? Who are you going to meet?" Alix asked.

"Ya tell us! So we can look out for you, in case anything happens! There are some weird people out there nowadays!" Someone near Chloe chimed in. It kinda sounded like Mylene.

The whole class nodded and agreed in approval.

Marinette cringed. They were too obvious. It was time to cut it out. "Thanks, everyone for the concern, the person I'm meeting today and I have something important to talk about. It's kind of a personal matter that I'm not comfortable with talking about. Sorry, but I can't say anymore." Marinette said with a tone that left no room for discussion.

Some people in the class flinched. Chloe smirked. Marinette was a literal queen.

Chloe glanced around the room. While most of the class wouldn't dare to say anything more, there was one person.

Lila.

"Marinette! How could you say that! We're your friends, you shouldn't brush us off. We're all super concerned for you. Who are you going to-" Lila exaggeratedly gasped. "Marinette! You not actually going to start sleeping around again! After I told you not to! It's dangerous!"

The class agreed defiantly and began to demand answers.

Chloe clenched her fists. Marinette was in trouble. The more she said against Lila, the worst it would be. Currently, the class viewed Lila as a representation of what they wanted. If Marinette went against Lila, it would show the class that Marinette did not care and would only make them more furious and ostracize her more.

"Guys." Everyone looked at Marinette at the sound of her voice. Marinette smiled. "I'm sorry. I didn't really think you guys cared about me this much." Marinette smiled. She absolutely hated apologizing but she had to bear it. Marinette was no longer confident enough to stand up for herself. But that didn't mean she'd let Lila lie and harm her reputation anymore.

She sighed. Now it was time to reel them in. "But don't worry. I'm just meeting a client for some commissions. I said it was really personal because I'm really motivated to design for this person. I can't disclose this person's identity for business reasons. I hope you all understand."

Technically this wasn't a lie. While she wasn't going to meet Jagged (the client) today, the class didn't need to know this.

The class was stunned. Most began to half-heartedly apologize while others just fumed. Lila's face was red. Marinette glanced at her and sent her a pointed smile.

Lila sent her a dirty look then scowled. While this exchange went unnoticed to the class, Adrien was able to witness it since he was sitting right next to Lila.

As the conversation began and turned away from her, Marinette was left deep in thought.

Was complying with Lila the only way to fix her friendships with her peers? While Marinette did not go along with Lila's lies today, she still pretended to be in the wrong and had to apologize to people who pretended to be fake with worry, just so that they could get answers from her.

Marinette clenched her fist. What the hell?

Was this really the only way to stay in grace with her classmates? By staying silent and agreeing to Lila's bullshit?

Even if Marinette did nothing about Lila's lies, wouldn't Lila still antagonize her?

...

No there had to be another way.

For now, she just had to get some good advice on her situation. From whom, she didn't know, but with good insight, she could return things back to the way they were. Until then, Marinette had to stay strong.

Marinette let out a troubled sigh.

"Is there something wrong Marinette?" Alya asked, as the rest of the class grew rowdy and goofed around.

"It's fine, nothing is wrong." Marinette smiled and paused. The bell that signaled that lunch was over began to ring.

"I've just decided to deal with you idiots until I can expose Lila's lies." 

The bell stopped ringing. It was just enough time for Marinette to say what she wanted.

"Huh? What was that? Sorry I couldn't hear you over the sound of the bell." Alya asked, confused.

Marinette laughed, although nothing about the situation was funny. "Haha, that's okay. I was just wondering if we all could go watch a movie tomorrow after school?"

Author's Note:

I'm sorry for this late update. 

-After vacationing in San Fransisco, me and my family have decided to temporarily stay somewhere where the corona is affecting a lower amount of people. We originally live in the Kern County and its spreading fast over there.

-In addition to that, my parents have limited my use of devices. (sob sob, ik)

I'm allowed for some very limited time so it's hard to update this, but I guarantee that I WILL FINISH THIS STORY! It might not end this year or the next, but it will have an ending.

-I'm planning to put a disclaimer before chapter 1 of this story. I feel like I need to explain myself on why I wrote this story, and give my own opinion for why I haven't been satisfied with season 3 of MLB. Let me tell, you there are a lot of reasons.

-I've also been binging on webtoons (with my limited time for devices and Wi-Fi). Fans of webtoons, manwha, and manga-- IDENTIFY YOUR SELF SO THAT WE CAN FANGURL TOGETHER!

-Thanks to everyone who urged me to update- love yall. You guys can message me here on Wattpad (which I didn't know you could do btw). Shoutout to sarahfibble for that!

UPDATE: I'll be changing Felix's last name to Graham de Vanily since its confusing some of you! I want this fic to be as close to canon! ;)

And that's all: thx for reading and have a great day!