Jerk in Sheep's Clothing

Karma Hurts

"Dude!  You missed!"

Kim smirked.  "Did I?"

He got up and walked over to the lovely couple at the next table with a scheming smile on his face, holding his hands behind his back as he posed with confidence.

"Gee, Henri,", he said smugly.  "Your ankle seems to have healed pretty fast."  He pointed to Henri's right ankle, planted firmly on the ground, drawing Marinette's attention to it.

Her bluebell eyes narrowed slightly, studying the way Henri's ankle was positioned, quite strongly and naturally, before they lifted upwards to rest upon his face.  "Henri...your ankle does look fine."

Kim smirked at Henri.  "Well?"

Mission accomplished.  Henri the Faker had been caught in the act.  Now he would have to confess.  Everyone waited for the new guy's response.

Without missing a beat, Henri smiled sincerely at his girlfriend.  "Marinette, I'm sorry.  I saw Kim's football coming your way, and I panicked.  I was afraid it would hit you and give you a nasty paper cut on your pretty face.  So I acted fast, even if it meant I had to hurt myself even more."

Marinette's face softened, and her eyes sparkled.  "Henri...that was so brave.  I can't believe you risked your injury just to save me from a paper cut."

Suddenly, Henri fell back into his seat, moaning loudly.

Marinette grew frightened.  "What is it?"

"My ankle.", he groaned, lifting it up.  "Its aching all over again.  Worth it, though."  He gave her one of those charming smiles, glancing momentarily at Kim's shocked face, how he was slumped forward slightly from the disbelief of the situation.

Marinette immediately spun around in her seat, and Kim jumped back a bit when he saw the dirty look on her face, not too different from the look she had given Ivan an hour ago.  "Kim, I can't believe you did that!"

"W-What?"

"Oh, please!", she sneered, getting in her feet, leaning in so that she was all up in his face.  "Don't think I'm stupid!  It was clear from the way you grilled him just now!  You were aiming for him all along, weren't you?"

Caught in the act, Kim struggled to find the right thing to say to clear away the anger directed at him. "I-I was trying to prove to you that he was faking being hurt!"

"What?!", cried Marinette.  "Why would you think he's faking?"

"Alya says she saw him standing fine in the hallway!"  Her head whipped in the auburn-haired girl's direction.  "Excuse me?!"

Alya ran over to her bestie.  "Girl, its true!  He was standing on his own two feet, perfectly okay, and starting playing up the part of the hurt guy the moment you came back!"

Marinette stared at her blankly.  The next few seconds, she didn't say a word.  And it was the longest few seconds of Alya's life.  Everyone held their breath, waiting for Marinette's next reaction.  At last, her face took on a tinge of hurt, mixed with resentment, as she finally spoke.

"Alya...why are you spreading lies about my boyfriend?"

The silence that followed that accusation was louder than if they all had been screaming and yelling.  Alya could not believe what Marinette had just said to her face.  She believed him.  She believed Henri's lies.  What was worse, she thought Alya was lying about him not really being injured.  That was what hurt the most.

"Marinette...I-I'm not lying!  Henri really is faking!", Alya insisted.

Marinette frowned.  "Is this about the seat?  I get that what he said to you crossed a line, but he realized it was wrong, and he was gonna apologize to you!"

Alya gaped.  "You think I'm gonna lie about his fake injury over that?!  Do you really think I'm that petty?!"  Marinette crossed her arms.  "You certainly think the same of me."

She turned to Kim.  "As for you, mousier!  How dare you act so childish!  This is none of your business!  Henri never did anything to you!  And now you've caused him to get hurt more!  You owe him an apology!"  She looked back at Alya.  "You both do."

"But he's faking it!", yelled Alix, running over and gesturing towards the boy sitting there.  "His ankle is perfectly fine!" 

The others joined and nodded, murmuring in agreement and glaring at the new boy.

Marinette looked around at her so-called "friends" and shook her head.  "I don't believe you guys.  You're being total jerks.  All of you.  Picking on Henri like this...what has he ever done to you?"

She turned back to her boyfriend, who was playing the role of the sad victim of abuse flawlessly.  "Come on.  Let's sit somewhere else."  She shot the class another nasty look.  "The atmosphere here is no longer appealing."

The whole class watched in stunned silence as Marinette helped her boyfriend up and assisted him in walking away from them.

Rose watched them leave the area with sad, glistening puppy-dog eyes.  "But he's lying..."