Slowly, the seats of the classroom began filling up, and with the students came chatter. Marinette, who had been wary since Lila's futile attempt at sabtagoe, was startled when Alya slammed her backpack down on their conjoined desk.

"Ugh, it's not fair! I couldn't get anything for the LadyBlog last night because my parents grounded me again!"

The blogger plopped down in her seat, letting her head fall down as she sighed heavily. Marinette smiled and patted her friend on the back sympathetically.

"It's alright, Alya! I'm sure there's going to be plenty more opportunities to get something for your blog."

"You promise, girl?"

"I promise."

Alya perked up at that, smiling once again.

"Enough about me wallowing in my lack of content. How was your date with Adrien last night?"

"Alya, I already told you; it wasn't a date. It was a business dinner that Adrien and I both thought was supposed to be a chance for his dad to finally start liking me. But that just turned out to be a big bust…"

"Aw, you'll also get your chance, Marinette. I promise you that."

"Thanks, Alya," the heroine replied, gently placing her hand on her friend's arm affectionately.

"Hey, Marinette. Hey, Als," Nino greeted as he walked through the door, sitting down in the seat in front of his girlfriend, "Adrien got here at the same time that I did, but I don't know where the dude went!"

An uneasy feeling consumed Marinette, and she turned around, confirming her suspicion; Lila was no longer in her seat. Bolting up and almost tripping, she rushed out the classroom door, barely dodging Kim as he was coming in.

Her hands slammed against the green railing, looking down into the courtyard. On the asphalt concrete below, Lila was talking to Adrien with a concerned expression. From the corner of her eye, the brunette could see Marinette gripping the railing tightly as she gazed on fearfully. Grinning, she continued.

"Marinette had been telling the others about the rough time she had getting your father on her good side. Although, I can't blame his hesitance. She did convince you to date her in secret."

"Marinette didn't convince me to do anything. I was the one who asked her to be my girlfriend; because we love each other," Adrien retorted, trying to step away before he let his emotions get the better of him.

"Maybe, but I also wouldn't be too fond of someone bad-mouthing me to a group of people."

"What?"

Adrien turned back around, his eyebrows furrowed, angry that Marinette was being poorly spoken of once again.

"Oops! I shouldn't have said anything; Marinette made me promise not to tell you when she noticed that I was listening to all those horribly judgemental things she was saying about poor, Mr. Agreste."

Marinette began moving down the stairs, eyes trained on the two.

"You're wrong."

"Mm, you don't have to believe me. I just don't want you to get hurt again."

Lila had timed it perfectly. Just as Marinette was standing right in front of them, Lila stepped closer and lightly kissed Adrien on the cheek.

"Always happy to help!" she chimed before turning and purposefully bumping into Marinette, "Oh, Marinette! You weren't supposed to see that! I-I don't know what to say!"

Dupain-Cheng didn't exactly catch every word the liar was saying due to the fact that her ears were burning, but she didn't much care to hear everything, either. Instead, she glared at Lila with a bewildered expression, genuinely torn on how to feel.

On the one hand, she knew that Adrien would never do anything that could even be considered unfaithful. On the other hand, Lila had stepped so far over the line that she had crossed the world and was back at it again.

"Marinette? Are you alright? You aren't looking too good. Do you have a fever or something? Your face is all red," Lila said, purposefully trying to provoke Marinette since there were still students nearby watching to see what would happen next.

"Such a child…" Marinette mumbled, side-stepping to stand beside Adrien.

She discreetly held out her hand to him, not forcing him into contact since she knew he was sensitive about that, especially after dealing with Lila. To her delight, he took her hand.

"W-what do you mean? Why would you say such a mean thing like that?" Lila asked, being overly loud.

"What I mean is that I've outgrown you and your petty jabs at me. I'm not letting you and your lies get to me anymore."

Marinette's voice was calm and steady, her temper strengthened by Adrien's grip on her.

"You're so hurtful, Marinette! You say mean things after I was only trying to be helpful with your relationship with Adrien despite you and I both knowing that I liked him before you two started dating!"

All around them, students looked on judgmentally, scowling at Marinette. Adrien noticed first, and he tightened his hold on her hand.

"Back off, Lila. There's no reason to keep lying; we know that you weren't really trying to help."

"You too, Adrien? Marinette turned you against me, too? I thought you were different!" Lila exclaimed, feigning heartbreak.

Now their peers were glaring at both the fashion-deisgner and the model. Rossi tilted her head so that only the two of them would be able to see her wicked grin.

"You're both such bullies!" she then exclaimed, summoning fake tears as she ran away back to Ms. Bustier's classroom.

"Why do I get the feeling that this is far from over?" Marinette asked.

Adrien shook his head, gently leading Marinette to the classroom.

"I'm not sure, but my guess is that Ladybug and Chat Noir are going to be busy again soon."

The two enter the room to see people crowding around Lila's desk, whom is loudly crying. Some people pay them no mind, but others look back and glare at them. Marinette feels Adrien's grip tightened, so she rubbed small circles on the back of his hand.

"Hey, Nino? Can you sit with Alya today? Adrien had a rough night," Marinette explained.

"What? So that means that you two get special treatment? You just made Lila have a bad day and you don't hear her asking for anything or making people feel bad for just trying to help!" Kim exclaimed.

"No, Kim, it's fine," Lila wove off, rubbing her eyes.

Nino silently moves his stuff, and Marinette does the same. She and Adrien sit down up front with their backs to everyone, still holding hands under the desk.

"They're not mad at what you did; they're mad at what Lila said you did," Marinette said softly, trying to soothe her boyfriend.

However, it only works for a moment and Adrien's eyes cast down as he ducks his head, shame still shadowing over him despite not being the guilty party.

Alya, having returned to her own desk, leaned over to whisper in Marinette's ear.

"Girl, why do you keep provoking her?"

"I'm not! She provoked me, I didn't react the way she wanted to, and she went and cried wolf!" the heroine seethed.

At that, Adrien perked up slightly, but neither girls noticed.

"What do you mean?"

"I told her that I outgrew her, she exclaimed that I was being mean, Adrien tried to defend me, then she dragged him down into her web of lies, too."

"Do you have any proof?"

"People were around, but Adrien and I had kept our voices down. Kinda regretting that now…"

Alya looked sympathetically at her best friend before leaning back in her seat. Marinette turned back around, finally noticing Adrien grinning at her.

"Adrien? Are you okay?"

"Everyone stopped believing the boy after he cried wolf enough times."

"What are you talking about?"

"We agreed before to debunk Lila, but I wasn't sure how until now. Well, now I do."

"The boy who cried wolf…" Marinette repeated, understanding slowly rising onto her face.

"Exactly," Adrien replied with a wink.

The two grinned at each other, squeezing the other's hand reassuringly before turning to look at Ms. Bustier as she entered the classroom to begin lessons.