"You left me for her, you BETRAYED me for her and popularity. So tell me, are we really friends?"
Or, Marinette lays down a hard truth when Ms. Bustier pressures her to hold a class hangout at the last minute when she already had plans.
I felt like being nice so it's gonna be like Alya Salt and Class Sugar/Salt. Like they have their moments of being nasty but other points of being good. I like to mix it up every once in a while.
Edit: TYSM for over 100 votes! I'm like jumping around my room rn in excitement and energy 😅
Another day of bullies, now over with, thought Marinette as she walked home. Recently, Lila has been spewing more lies about her, from attack attempts to physically hurting her. Alya listens to every word and gets back at Marinette in return.
Lila seems to hate Marinette more and more everyday. Marinette doesn't understand why, she got what she wanted. She's isolated from the class, they want nothing to do with her, Bustier and Damocles turn the blind eye, and no one listens to her, so Lila wins. Adrien doesn't even help with any of it, but she did gain some new friends.
Chloe was ditched by Sabrina when she decided to follow Lila instead. The mayor's daughter now sat in the back with Marinette as extra protection to her. No one wanted anything to do with Chloe since she used to be a bully, but that didn't mean that the girl couldn't keep them in line with a swift threat to call her father.
Nino broke up with Alya when she started hurting Marinette. Once he apologized for how he was treating her, he found out about Lila's lies. He suspected it, but never questioned it because Alya would usually dismiss it with something else.
Max was acting like he believed Lila about the napkin incident because he didn't wanna embarrass her. He knew better than to believe a napkin can scratch your eyes, even with glasses on. But he did wonder how the sly girl could lie so quick. The genius failed to convince Kim though, as Lila poisoned his mind too far already. Max is starting to theorize that she's working for Hawkmoth.
Juleka broke up with Rose around the same time Nino and Alya broke up. Rose didn't hurt Marinette physically, but Juleka saw how the girl was hurt mentally and told her to stop. The blonde didn't listen, and it led to a fight, and they broke up.
Kagami found out about the Lila problem when Marinette asked her how to defeat her enemies. Marinette ended up spilling everything, even the parts with Adrien. Kagami was mad at how Adrien was treating Marinette and broke off her relationship with him. She told him that they wouldn't be friends until he fixed the Lie-la Problem.
And last, there was Luka, who sensed something was wrong from the beginning. Marinette's melody changed to a sadder key, into a major that he never thought the blueberry would go through. He confronted her about it, and she told him everything too. He gave her a hug and said "I'll always be there for you, Mari."
Marinette started to feel the same way she was about Adrien before he was corrupted by Lila, but in a more calming way. As time progressed, they confessed to each other and started dating. Now they were the cutest couple in the group, and constantly referred to as the best couple.
Together, they make the Marinette Protection Squad, or MPS for short. The squad will be making a rather amusing appearance today.
✨✨✨
Marinette was working on a new leather jacket for Jagged Stone. He was going to have a live concert in two months, and he wanted his new jacket to be custom made by his favorite designer. It's black leather with violet velvet on the collar, and a gold trim on the bottom of the jacket. (I'm not good at clothing descriptions, I tried my best💀) She was sketching it in her sketchbook and adding finishing touches while Lila spun another web of stories.
"-and then Adrien asked me to dance with him." Lila said to the group.
"Wow, you sure are lucky to have a guy like Adrien." Alya gushed, ending her recording for her blog. It shouldn't even be called the Ladyblog at this point, since it's all about Lila now.
Marinette tried to tell her not to post anything about Lila on her blog, as it could ruin it. She was already losing subscribers, since it wasn't focusing on Ladybug's battles and some people knew a liar when they heard one. Alya didn't even pay attention anymore and it's now in danger of being taken down if too much is posted.
Mrs. Bustier walked in, and Lila sprung into her plans. "Oh, Mrs. Bustier, I have a question." All eyes but Marinette's turned to her, curious to what she was going to ask.
"What is it, Lila?" the teacher asked sweetly.
"I believe that we haven't spent much time together, so I think we should all hang out at the park tonight!" The class murmured in agreement at the idea.
"I think that's a great idea, Lila!" Alya exclaimed.
"Yeah, we should hang out more. We haven't done much of that, lately." More classmates agreed as Marinette and her friends sat silently.
"I was hoping though that Marinette could provide sweets for it, like a mini class picnic." Lila sighed, making everyone's face change to worry. "But she probably won't, since she doesn't like me much." Lila fake pouted and everyone rushed to comfort her. Mrs. Bustier turned to her star pupil, smiling.
"Marinette, can you bring some sweets for the class picnic?" She asked.
"I'm sorry, but I can't." Those words for some reason angered Alya, while the rest of the class understood more.
"Why not? Do you really hate Lila that much?!"
"What? No, I'm just busy tonight. And it's also too last minute, we wouldn't be able to have it done in time." The classmates took in the answer and nodded their heads in understanding. They knew how busy the shop could be, and they didn't want to overwork the Dupain-Chengs. Alya however, was about to argue when she was stopped by Nino.
"It's ok, dudette. We can just get pastries from another bakery. Maybe next time, though." Marinette smiled a little, glad that Nino saw where the situation was going. He was secretly was spying on the sheep and relaying what they plan to his friends, since no one would expect him to do something like that.
He recently was becoming more distant from his girlfriend and Lila, and focused more on being with Marinette. Of course, Alya didn't like that. She was about to try and argue again when the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day.
The class filed out, continuing to make plans for the picnic. Marinette was the last one to leave, and Adrien took it as a good time to try and talk to her. The MPS was secretly waiting by the door.
"Marinette, I think you should try to make some pastries for the picnic." He said. "Not a lot, but maybe like one per person?"
"I already said I'm busy tonight. Besides, they wouldn't want me there anyways, so there's not really a point for me to care about it, now is there?" Adrien stuttered as Marinette left. She was surrounded by her friends as they went to Chloe's hotel that night for a sleepover.
They had the time of their lives, playing Just Dance, watching movies, eating lots of snacks and just having a good time. Marinette also finished her design, took a picture of it just in case, and was finally able to relax. The class, however, wasn't having as much fun.
Because of how last minute it was, they didn't prepare well. Such as checking the weather.
They set up with some muffins, candy, and drinks at their spot as they chatted happily. They noticed that there were usually more people there, but just assumed they didn't want to be there today. Everyone was able to go, even Mrs. Bustier, except for Adrien, because his father wouldn't allow it. It was a blessing in disguise.
About 10 minutes after they settled, there were a few drops and it was kind of cloudy. "Lila, did you check the weather for today?" Nino asked as he held his cap on his head. The wind was threatening to blow it away. The look she had gave it away, and she started fake tears.
"I'm so sorry!" She sniffed. "I just wanted us to bond together and it completely slipped my mind." Alya hugged her.
"It's ok girl Maybe it's one of those storms that last a few minutes and then go away." Just as she said that, it started to rain harder. They all scrambled to get the food packed and get to shelter. None of them brought an umbrella, which they regretted. Mrs. Bustier especially, since she just got her hair done. Alya screeched in annoyance.
Nino ended up going to the hotel hang out with the group. Once they saw his expression, they knew something happen. He told them what happened and they started laughing.
"Well, that's what they get," Luka said, wiping a tear.
"There's no way she didn't check the weather, that was perfect timing." Chloe filed her nails.
"I wonder how schools is going to be tomorrow." Marinette wondered. She hoped they didn't try to blame her.
The Next Day
The baker girl walked into the class to see Lila being comforted by everyone. She was apparently feeling guilty for a picnic in the rain, and were telling her it wasn't her fault.
Alya was mad about how it went down. She got back home soaked, and her parents were worried. On top of that, her phone got wet so it was glitching out, and the pastries they got wet and weren't very good. Once the girl got in the classroom, her vision turned red as she stormed up to her.
"Guess you had fun last night, didn't you?!" Alya seethed. Marinette was confused as everyone else watched the interaction.
"What do you mean?"
"You didn't come to the picnic, which you planned, didn't you?"
"No, I just genuinely didn't want to go and I had plans-"
"I bet you knew it would get rained out, so you threatened Lila to hold it to get revenge on her. So she feels bad and now half the class is sick." Mrs. Bustier turned to Marinette.
"Is this true? Did you really plan all of that?" Marinette shook her head as her friends turned up in the doorway.
"No! Just because I didn't want to go doesn't mean I want you all to suffer." Alya laughed.
"Sure you wouldn't. Like you aren't jealous of Lila. You're jealous that she's a better person than you are and that we'd rather be friends with her than you." Marinette was taking deep breaths to make sure she wouldn't get akumatized.
"Are we really friends?" Everyone went silent, even Lila. She was interested in how this was going to go.
"Of course-"
"Friends don't treat each other how you're treating me. Friends don't abandon the other for something better. Friends don't leave each other." Alya was about to cut in but Marinette was not having it. "You left me, you betrayed me for her and for popularity. So tell me, are we really friends?"
Alya, Adrien and Lila were dumbstruck. Everyone was dead silent, and it seemed like it was really quiet outside the classroom too. Marinette huffed and turned around.
"Forget it, I'm not going to waste my time. Unlike you, I know who my real friends are." Marinette left, her posse following and smiling proudly.
Alya seemed to still be in shock. Sure, she paid more attention to Lila than Marinette, but they were still friends. They did each other favors, like babysitting, making things, and presents. Now that she thought about it, Marinette put more into the friendship than she did. Alya had a sick feeling in her stomach.
She didn't know what came over here, but she did something he hasn't done in a while. She fact checked. And she found absolutely nothing on Lila besides her blog. She turned to Lila in shock.
"You lied." Lila looked betrayed.
"I didn't-"
"There's nothing on you for any of your achievements. You made false promises to us. And in one of my videos, you said you design for Jagged Stone, when it's actually Marinette. Was ANYTHING you said true?" Adrien, trying to prevent an akuma, tried to step in. But before he could, Lila broke character.
The liar rolled her eyes, losing her façade. "It took you long enough to figure it out. I honestly didn't think you guys could be so easy to manipulate, but this surprised me. For a reporter, you really suck at your job. You don't even read your comments." Adrien glared.
"Wait, so you weren't lying for friendship, you just wanted to?" Alya whipped her head to him.
"You knew?!?!" Adrien lowered his head.
"I thought she was lying to get friends, not split us apart." Alya was livid. Hawkmoth would have a field day with all the conflicting emotions radiating from the classroom. Mrs. Bustier looked close to passing out.
She just decided to cancel class for the day so they could sort out their emotions. Turns out someone was recording Lila's confession and it was sent to the school board. They showed up at the school and held an investigation. Lila's mother was called and caught up on everything that had happened and needless to say, Lila would not be in Paris ever again.
The class was put into therapy and bullying classes to help them see the wrong in their ways. They tried to apologize to Marinette, but were always ignored. They all stopped, except for Alya. Her constantly determination and stubbornness would be her downfall.
She ended up breaking into Marinette's home and decided to destroy her Jagged Stone jacket sketch. She didn't know that the design was already complete and hidden, but it didn't change Marinette's anger when she found the girl in the act. The Dupain-Chengs filed a restraining order, and gave Alya one final warning or else they would be in court.
Marinette could now enjoy her life again. Lila was gone, she was transferred to Mrs. Mendeliev, Damocles and Bustier were replaced, and her old classmates were finally leaving her alone. Things were changing for the better, and she liked it that way.
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