Adrien is becoming very annoyed with Lila...
He can definitely see why Marinette is often angry enough to call her out. The other girl lies like she breathes, with so much confidence that it sounds plausible despite the ridiculous false claims. He can hear her chatting with pretty much everyone in the class besides the ones who won't fall for her lies. Basically, only him and Marinette and Chloe.
He's honestly surprised Chloe hasn't said anything about her yet. His oldest friend is never one to hold back how she sees others. And yes, it often comes out in a mean way. But she has good qualities too, like being honest and loyal when she believes in someone or a cause. But the blonde just sits there rolling her eyes in exasperation as Lila goes on.
Adrien grits his teeth, feeling the sharp points of his fangs. Ever since the Cat Miraculous started seeping into his civilian body, he's gained quite a few cattish traits like better hearing, smelling, and even purring. And his canine teeth are a bit pointy now. It's not really noticeable until they're touched.
Another obnoxious lie has him glaring at the wall.
High road. Gotta take the high road. Don't want Lila Akumatized again. And besides, they haven't believed Marinette. Why would they believe him? And he's not a hypocrite. He advised his friend to take the high road, so he must too. It's always worked before...
Until now...
He's beginning to think he really messed up on said advice. Then again, he's never had to interact with someone like Lila who keeps lying like this. The tabloids are vicious but quick to move to the next biggest scandal.
Lila...not so much...
He really needs to apologize to Marinette. He was so wrong about how to handle this correctly. So he does just that.
"Hey, Marinette?" He walks up to the pig-tailed girl who looks very bothered by the lies. Her blue eyes snap to him before she blushes, looking away for a moment. He doesn't understand why she does that but he moves on, "Can I talk to you about something?"
"Oh uh yeah!" She grins before jumping onto her feet. They move to the hall, standing in front of each other as Adrien quickly gathers his thoughts, "Wh-What's up?"
"I wanted to say that I'm sorry," Adrien sighs tiredly before frowning, feeling like an idiot, "I thought that taking the high road would work with Lila. It clearly isn't. I gave you really bad advice."
"What?" Marinette stares in shock before reassuring him, "No! I mean, yes! The advice was terrible! But you...you didn't know that it wouldn't work. You've never dealt with bullies in school and I get that. I mean...it did kind of hurt after a bit but I'm not mad at you. You tried to help me with the best way you knew. Besides...I didn't have to listen to it..."
"I know but I still feel really bad," Adrien rubs his neck sheepishly, "So how about we make this right? How do we expose her without calling her out?"
"Well, we need proof that she's lying," Marinette speaks up, voice full of confidence. It kind of reminds him of his Lady, "But no one will actually listen when I point out stuff. Seriously, all it takes is a search to find out Jagged Stone has never had a kitten!"
"Yeah," Adrien winces before shaking his head, "I am so glad that Ladybug told me about not being Lila's friend that first day. She even had me believing her lies for a moment. But I think we need to show obvious evidence to plant doubt. Someone else is going to have to notice something sooner or later, even if they won't believe us."
"Hmmm..." Marinette hums in thought, nodding determinedly, "True. I don't get how they're so blinded by her. One word that seems way better and they're all with her. They're my friends. I've known them all longer than she's been here. And yet they're just! They just! I!"
