Marinette:

I don't know what I was thinking when I yelled at Lila. Adrien told me not to expose her because it wouldn't do any good, but I was so fed up. She really pushed me to the limit with her lies, and she was turning people against me with every fib she told. Well, the next time I saw her, I confronted her. That was my first mistake.

"Lila." I said as she walked into the bathroom.

"Oh. It's you." She cringed like it pained her to even say 'you', God forbid use my actual name.

"I'm done with your lies, Lila. I'm not just going to stand by and put up with it anymore. And if that means telling a couple little white lies of my own, then so be it. Anything to expose you for the fake you are."

"Do you really think it'll do any good? Nobody trusts you enough anymore to believe what you say." She was purposefully getting me fired up, and I was taking the bait.

"Okay, Lila. Is that the game you want to play? Maybe the whole world would like to know that there is no cure for tinnitus. I guess you didn't do your research on that one. And saving a kitten on a runway? Would you like me to tell everyone that standing on the runway at an airport is against the rules, or do you want them to figure that out for themselves? Besides, Lila, I can tell the whole school that you never knew Ladybug, and that the only times she saved you were because you were stupid enough to get akumatized!"

"How. Dare. You." I had pushed her too far with the Ladybug one. I should have known that was still a sensitive topic. The next thing I knew, she slapped my cheek, accidentally-on-purpose digging her nail into my skin with enough force to draw blood. "You have just made yourself an enemy that you're going to regret." She spit the words out and left, leaving me in the bathroom with blood on my cheek and no way to cover it up.

Besides, Alya would ask me what happened, and not even she would believe me if I told her the truth. It looked like the only person I could talk to anymore was Adrien, and I couldn't really even talk to him. I dabbed a paper towel against my cheek to try to stop the blood flow, but it didn't really do much. I did something uncharacteristic that I should have known would draw even more attention than a scratch. I let my hair down so no one could see the injury. That was my second mistake.

I stumbled out of the bathroom and down the hall to Mme. Mendeleiev's class with my head down, trying to avoid suspicion, but that wouldn't happen because I was already late for class. I slipped into the classroom, gaining everyone's attention. It was no surprise that I was late for yet another class, but nobody in that room besides Alya had seen me with my hair down before.

"What's up, girl?" I knew Alya would be suspicious.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." I whispered back. Alya gave me a funny look, but she didn't pry for the rest of class, for which I was very grateful.

Adrien:

Lila was back, and I could tell Marinette was about to burst. Not even Alya believed her anymore, and it was hard to watch everyone turn against kind, honest Marinette. During Mme. Bustier's class, Lila was in rare form. She told so many lies that I was positive someone would figure her out, but it only fascinated them more. I turned back to sneak a glance at Marinette and she looked back at me with her pleading blue eyes, laced with a touch of rage. I knew she was having a hard time dealing with everything that was going on, and I felt sorry for her.

"Ms. Bustier, may I be excused?" Apparently, Marinette had had about enough of Lila for one class.

"Yes, Marinette, but hurry back. I wouldn't want you to miss anymore of my lesson." Marinette nodded and walked out of the classroom as fast as she could.

By this point, I was about ready to leave the room too. Not only was I finding Lila's lies harder and harder to swallow, I had no interest in Mme. Bustier's lesson. It had been about five minutes, and Marinette hadn't returned. I figured she was just cooling off somewhere.

"Ms. Bustier, may I be excused as well?" This time, it was Lila who asked to leave the room. Oh, no. I thought. This can't be good. I didn't want to know what Marinette would say to Lila if they came across each other, but I didn't have time to worry about it. Class was over.

Only about a minute later, Lila rejoined the class in Mme. Mendeleiev's room, but I was worried. Marinette still hadn't come back. I sat there, wondering what Marinette was doing, going over every possible scenario in my head. Pretty soon though, she walked in head held low, and hair down in front of her face. I had never seen her hair down before. She threw a glance in my direction, and I could have sworn she was crying.

"What's up, girl?" I heard Alya ask. I almost hoped Marinette wouldn't answer the question if it had to do with Lila.

"You would believe me if I told you." Her voice never sounded sadder, and I desperately wanted to help her, but I didn't know how.

By the end of physics, my choices were clear. I could talk to Marinette and try to help her, or I could leave her to sort out her own problems.

Before she could leave the room at the end of class, I grabbed her hand. "Marinette, can I talk to you?"

She looked up at me with her sad eyes and opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn't. She just nodded and turned away, letting me lead her off to the locker room to get to the bottom of the drama.

"Okay, Marinette. What happened?" She didn't answer. "Does it have to do with Lila?" She nodded. I cupped a hand around her cheek and she turned her head to look at me. Her eyes were red from crying, and her face streaked with tears. I brushed her hair out of the way and saw...blood? "Marinette, what happened?" She broke down in tears.

I looked around to make sure no one else was in the room. I didn't know what to do, so I put my arms around her and she cried into my shoulder. The two of us sat on the floor of the locker room up against the wall for what felt like hours until Marinette ran out of tears to cry. "I-It w-was…" She began trying to tell me what had happened. "M-my fault."