NOTE: This takes place after the episode "Ladybug"!!!
Marinette could not believe what she was hearing. Here Lila was, telling lies that were even more outlandish than the ones she had concocted to get Marinette expelled in the first place. And Principle Damocles, her mother, and her father were all falling for it! Really? How could you believe that she had a medical condition that caused her to act out the way she did? The real question though, was why she was backtracking? What reason could Lila possibly have for wanting Marinette to stay at the school?
All of this was getting to be too much, and Marinette really wasn't sure how much longer she could handle the constant drama. She had enough on her plate as Ladybug, class representative, and everyone's favorite go-to helper when they had a problem. The last thing she needed was to continue to constantly look over her shoulder. Besides, no one here seemed to believe her anyway, so how much could they possibly care?
So when Principle Damocles tells Marinette she would be free to come back to the school the next day, Marinette only hesitates briefly before saying, "I'm not so sure that I want to come back, sir."
Everyone in the room looked shocked, and Damocles couldn't help but sputter as he asks her why she felt that way. Marinette looks down at her feet, calming her nerves, before looking him back in the eyes and saying, "I'm not sure I'm comfortable being in the same environment as someone who's supposed medical condition lead to me being expelled. No one allowed me to explain myself, and a large group of people were almost akumatized for it." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lila make a move to begin a dramatic display of apologizing for being a problem. However, Marinette wasn't going to let her have the satisfaction. "I would never dream of asking Lila to ostracize herself from the others for her medical condition. So maybe the best solution is for me to simply go elsewhere."
"Marinette, honey, are you sure?" Her mother places a hand on her shoulder, looking at her with searching eyes, but Marinette couldn't help but feel a little betrayed. Even her own family had fallen for Lila's lies. It just seemed so unbelievable. Her parents were the wisest people she knew, it was almost ridiculous how easy it was for Lila to convince them of her obviously fake illness.
"I think I'll need a few days to decide, if that's alright with everyone," Marinette says, sounding ever so slightly defeated. There was a lot of thinking to be done after all, and she was scared that the right decision was going to be the one that was the hardest for her to make.
The little meeting came to an end and Marinette asks her parents if it was okay if she could get her things out of her locker, just in case she did decide to change schools. With her parent's permission, she rushes to the bakery to grab a box to put her things in. Walking back, her mind was racing as thoughts on what to do flooded her mind. Marinette had even politely asked Tikki to refrain from giving her advice, knowing that this was a decision that she needed to make without being swayed by anyone. How was she ever going to make decisions for herself if she was constantly being pushed to do what everyone else wanted her to do?
Marinette was just starting to clean out her locker when the bell rang and students began flooding the locker room. Upon seeing Marinette, a lot of students came over to give her a big hug. There were various versions of, "welcome back" chorusing around her. Alya's arm was thrown over her shoulder while she rambled on about how awesome it was that she was going to be back in class tomorrow, and how she just knew that everything was gonna work out.
"Actually," Marinette whispers, eyes downcast, "I'm packing up my locker right now. I don't know if I'm coming back."
There was a round of gasps before people began jumping into questioning her. It got to be too much and Marinette couldn't stop the tears that were forming in her eyes. This wasn't right. None of it was right. It shouldn't have come to this. She shouldn't be the one who had to decide.
