"Gosh, I'm so bored!" Chloe exclaimed, banging her head on the wall of my room, as Alya laughed at her antics. "We seriously have nothing to do. I expected this to be more interesting." the blonde whined again.
Lunch had gone by in a flash, and everyone had finished unpacking by 2 pm. Out of sheer boredom, the other six had resorted to plopping on my bed and disturbing my peace. And even now, Chloe couldn't bear having nothing to do.
"I've always wanted to visit Wayne Manor."
Adrien's content voice cut through Chloe's complaints. Luka scoffed. "The only reason you wanted to was because you wanted to see the Batcave." Adrien paused his actions, as if to think. He then shrugged. "Maybe."
"Besides, I still can't believe Bruce Wayne is Batman." Adrien let out, rolling to face me from where he was lying on my bed. "No, I believe that." Kagami let out, sitting up when she was finally out of Adrien's embrace.
"What I can't believe, is the fact that Marinette found out their identities." she pointed out, looking at me. "Yeah, man. What gave Bruce away?" Nino asked, turning toward me.
I narrowed my eyes at him, to which Nino raised his hands in surrender. "Don't get me wrong; The old man hid his identity for more than a decade, so how exactly did you find out?" he asked again.
All the attention was on me.
I sighed. "I may or may not have hacked into somewhere I wasn't supposed to." I muttered. "Where?" Alya asked, suspicious. "Um... the Justice League Mainframe." I mumbled, my voice reaching none of the six in the room.
"What?"
"The Justice League Mainframe." I mumbled again, this time louder. The room fell silent. "I-i didn't mean to! I was just trying to solve an auto-theft case in Paris when I came upon a high-security database, so like any other sane person, I cracked it open." I justify.
Laughter.
Laughter was all that filled my ears as I finished my sentence. "You? You hacked into the JL Mainframe?" Alya wheezed in laughter. "Funny joke, dudette." Nino said, when he finally stopped laughing.
I stayed silent.
The laughter stopped almost immediately when they realized that I wasn't joking. "Y-you're kidding, right?" Chloe asked in disbelief. "And why would I do that?" I asked, confused. What kind of sick person would joke about that?
All I knew was the Justice League needed to update their security.
I did that for them.
"Woman, as far as I know, that database has the highest security codes in all of this continent and maybe even more. And you're telling me you cracked it for fun?" Nino asked, baffled. "Yes?" I questioned, although I don't know who.
"Well, that honestly makes sense." Adrien said, sighing. "It sounds like something Mari would do." he said again, Alya and Nino nodding in agreement. "So, I'm guessing Batman is not the only person who's identity you know." Luka asked.
Luka. As analytical as always.
"I know the identities of the main members or, you could say, the most famous heroes. I didn't have enough time to go through everything. I wasted it reading through the profiles of the 'Bat family.'" I say, shrugging.
"I'm not convinced. I want to see you do it." Chloe let out, eyeing me with suspicion. "Sure. Not the JL Database, but something else just as hard." I say, smiling. "Shut up, Chloe. You believe her, you just want to see her in action." Kagami spilled.
"Stop exposing me." Chloe whisper-hissed to Kagami, earning bouts of laughter from everyone in the room, including me. "Come to my room at midnight. Not before that." I say, a warning look in my eyes.
"Why not before?" Alya asks, confused. "The Wayne's leave for patrol at 12. Let's do it after that." I say. Alya still looked confused. "Why are we waiting for them to leave? Its not like you're hacking into the Batcave." she asked.
I stay silent.
"Oh my god, you are hacking into the Batcave."
"Wait, really?"
"I'm so looking forward to this."
"Man, this is going to be awesome."
Everyone had something to say, whispering in excitement as to not alert anyone outside the room. I giggled at their excitement, as Luka stared at me, smiling. He was the only other person here who knew how to hack. I could trust him to have my back.
My phone beeped quite loudly.
I pick up the phone, swiping up to open it. It was a message. Worse, it was a message from Ms. Bustier. Don't get me wrong, I loved the teacher, but Ms. Bustier never messages for leisure.
Ms. Bustier: Hello Marinette. The class is going to Gotham Academy for our visit. I know you said you wanted nothing to do with Lila again, but I'm sorry to inform you that you and your friends must be present throughout our tour in Gotham.
Man, this was bad news.
"Guys, Ms. Bustier says we still need to attend the tour." I let out, disappointed. "No way. I'm not going back there ever again." Chloe whines, clutching onto Luka's arm. The couple had long made up.
Me: Miss, is there any way we could not attend?
Ms. Bustier: I'm sorry, Marinette. This counts as your attendance and your P.E grade in finals. If you lose attendance, you might get held back for a year.
Me: Oh. It's okay, Ms. Bustier.
When are you leaving for GA?
Ms. Bustier: In about 20 minutes. The rest of you can meet us at the entrance by 3 pm.
"Mari, what'd she say? Can we get out of this?" Alya asks. I sigh, shaking my head sadly. "This counts as our P.E grade. If we lose attendance, we might get held behind." I let out bitterly.
"What are we waiting for?" Adrien enthusiastically jumps up as the rest stare at him weirdly. "Let's get going, then." he says again, smiling. We stay silent as Adrien sees all the judging stares directed at him.
"What? I didn't do all that running and jumping in physical examinations just to fail in the end." he says, defending himself. Alya and Kagami burst out laughing, as Nino snickered in joy.
"Adrien, you missed all the physical examinations." Nino said. Adrien looked confused, just until he remembered how many photo shoots he had in a week. "Oh, well." he shrugs, making everyone wheeze in laughter.
"Where are we even going?"
"Gotham Academy."
"You mean, where Damian Wayne goes?"
"Mari can see her boy-toy again."
"Oh shut up, Chloe."
"Oh my god, I barely know him!"
.......
It was exactly 2.45 pm when we reached.
The dull white walls of Gotham Academy towered over us, just as Wayne Manor had done, except these were white, much smaller yet taller and had more glass panels. Thankfully, the security guard hadn't shooed us away, seeing as he was fast asleep.
As we stood in the frontyard of GA, filled with a few students spending their breaks, a huge tourist bus pulled up. Exited whispers and chatters were heard as students got of the bus, startling the security guard awake.
"Poor guard. Those useless specimens woke him up." Adrien innocently stated, making everyone burst out in laughter. Lila finally gets off the bus, looking in our direction. Her face contorts in something between disgust and fear as she looks at us.
"Alix, Marinette and her friends are laughing at us." she whispers softly to Alix, but any sane person would know that I was meant for us to hear. Alix groans in response. She walks in fast pace, dragging Lila behind her.
"Oh, Marinette! It hasn't even been a minute since we came, and you're already bullying Lila?" she practically screams across the courtyard, startling the students and directing their attention to us.
Whispers spread around us.
I stood frozen in the middle of the chaos. Was she trying to make me the bad guy here? In front of all the students? I was begging, pleading in my head that none of the Gotham Academy students could be so easily manipulated.
"Bully? I haven't even looked in her direction." I say, stiffening. "What do you mean, Marinette? You sent me a message yesterday telling me to go kill myself." Lila sobs, hiding her wicked smile behind her hand.
"Woman, how do you know that's Marinette's number? Was her name on it?" Nino asks pointedly. "Yeah." Lila said. "Where's the proof?" he asks again, making her tense up. "I-i mean, no. It was a unknown number." she says, making everyone stare at her.
"I'm sorry! Even if it was an unknown number, only Marinette would text me that." Lila says, tears slowly leaking from her face. "Aww, Lila. Come here." Rose says, pulling Lila into a hug, as I scoffed at the scene, fed up.
Apparently, I wasn't the only one fed up.
"Hey, sausage-hair!" a Gotham Academy student called out, walking towards us with his friend. Lila, the only sausage-hair here, snapped her head up to look at the boy. She had a scowl gracing her face, before she realized she was supposed to be sad.
The black-haired boy and his friend stopped at my side, facing Lila. "I was the one who sent the message." he says, his blue eyes glaring at Lila through his glasses, waving his hands up in mock surrender, as his friend tried to stifle his laughter.
Lila's mouth fell agape.
"I-i don't even know you!" she screeched. "Marinette is the one that sent the message." she says again, falling back into her sad-girl act. Whispers spread around, some positive and some not.
"How would you know? You said the message was from an unknown number." the black-haired boy said again, shrugging. "U-um. N-no, I-" Lila stuttered in response, before taking in a huge breath.
"Do you have proof that you sent me the message?" she asks threateningly. The ravenette just looked amused. "The question here should be; Do you have proof that Marinette, here, sent you the message?" he replied.
The boy put his hand on my shoulder, and for some reason, I wasn't uncomfortable enough to shrug it off. I smiled at the blue-eyed boy thankfully, as he smiled back. Lila saw this little exchange between us.
"N-no." she stuttered, as the whispers around us turned into silent laughter directed at her. "Now." The ravenette started. "This pretty girl over here can sue you for defamation." he finished, making me giggle.
"Sue?!" she let out, surprised. The black-haired boy looked at her weirdly, as his friend finally let out the laughter he had been holding back. Lila looked at the other boy in shock, and maybe, a little offended.
"Look, woman. I don't know how it is wherever you're from, but in Gotham, you can sue someone for making fake accusations." the friend said, making me chuckle in laughter. "Its the same in Paris." I let out.
The other brown-haired boy looked shocked. "Really? How come no one has sued this b*tch yet?" he asked. "She's good at what she does." I reply shrugging. The brunette had an understanding look on his face.
The ravenette smacked his friend in the head. "Don't swear." he said, as the brunette ignored him. He turned back to Lila. "How about you quit playing victim and f*ck off?" he says again, making Lila and the ravenette widen their eyes.
The ravenette smacks his friend even harder now, as the brunette whined in pain. Lila looked like she was about to cry, but only this time, she looked genuine. "Shoo now." Chloe says, landing the final blow.
Lila burst out in tears.
"Kids!" Ms. Bustier walked towards us, name tags in her hands. "I finally got permission. I'm sorry it took so long." she says, smiling and handing out tags until she came across Lila sobbing. "What happened?" she asked, concerned.
But I knew Ms. Bustier knew what happened.
Getting name tags doesn't take so much time.
I turned to the two boys by my side. "Thank you, uh..." It was only then I realized I didn't know either of their names. The ravenette speaks first, removing his hand from my shoulder.
"Call me Jon." he says, smiling.
The brunette scoffed at his friends actions. "Try-hard. Can't even flirt properly." he muttered under his breath, to which the ravenette, or Jon, smacked him again. "Nice to meet ya, Marinette. I'm Bart. Bart Allen." the brunette says.
"Thanks for your help, Bart. And you too, Jon." I say, smiling at both of them. "Yeah, no biggie. We're used to that." Bart says, making me raise my eyebrows. "Oh. I mean, one of our friend had a crazy stalker following him around, so we needed to shoo her away."
Bart stifled his laughter as Jon finished his sentence.
"Why are you laughing?" Jon asks, hand ready to smack his friend. "Nothing." Bart says, ducking Jon's hand away. "We need to get going. I'll see you around, Marinette." Jon says, waving at me and pulling Bart with him forcefully.
"Aren't you gonna get her number?" Bart whispered to Jon.
"No, Bart." Jon replied.
"I thought you were flirting with her?"
"I wasn't flirting!"
"So what was that?"
"I just wanted to help. You know, not everyone's like you."
"What do you mean by that? Jon, come back here!"
Alya, Luka and I chuckled at the duo's conversation, as Ms. Bustier came over to give our name tags. We smiled at her gratefully. It was then that I noticed the whispers of the students around us. They hated Lila.
"Hey, lady! You're shit at lying." one student even shouted out. "If you're bullying someone, at least do it right!" another girl shouted at Lila, making the sausage-hair hiccup, tears flowing down her face. How was she still crying?
I looked at Jon and Bart walking away.
They had done something I could never.
They turned public opinion against Lila.
.......
[Q.] Why did Lila always manage to manipulate everyone with her lies?