And we're back to school drama

Chapter 21: Threat

Juleka knew not every pair of siblings were as close as she and Luka. Alya only seemed to mention her siblings when talking about babysitting duties, Nathaniel barely mentioned his sister at all, and Alix was still angry at Jalil over the whole "aliens built the pyramids" thing.

Still, it was hard to imagine having a sibling you didn't even tell your family about.

(Sure, her classmates were surprised that she had a brother too, but that was less of a didn't-talk-about-him and more of a didn't-talk-much-at-all situation.)

"Wait, doesn't that make him your uncle?" Rose asked. "Isn't that cool?"

"Totally. Why haven't you mentioned this before?"

"Well, you see, we had a little bit of a falling out," Anarcha explained. "We got in a fight and - anyways, I cut him off."

Luka frowned. "Was it because of..."

"Because of your dad?" Anarcha finished. "Yes. Jared has-"

"Jared?" Juleka questioned. "His real name is Jared?"

Anarcha nodded. "Jared Stone and Anna Couffaine." She smiled fondly. "We were wild as kids. There was this camp in New York we went to everyone summer - it's where he learned to play guitar - and people learned to fear us. When we were about, oh, fifteen, we started a rock band - Anarchy and Jagged Stone. And that's when I met your father."

Juleka nodded. She had heard that story before. Her father was in a band with her mom, and when they met, he was the coolest guy ever. He was seriously laid back while they were dating, and she liked him so much they eloped.

And then he changed, and ruined her life.

"Jared disliked him the moment they met," Anarcha said. "Said there was something like an aura around him. I didn't believe him. The night before we eloped, me and Jared had this big argument."

"He probably set it up," Luka noted.

"Who? Jared? He's not that smart."

"No, I mean Dad."

"That... does sound like him," Anarcha admitted. "I feel like all my friendships fell apart after we got married."

"If your argument was about dad, how come you never made up?" Juleka questioned.

Anarcha shrugged. "Don't have time. I have a houseboat to run, you two to look after - I can't just run after a teenage fantasy like that. Besides, Vivica deserves her chance in the spotlight."

"She is really cool," Juleka agreed.

"Not as cool as you two though," Anarcha countered. "Anyways, enough with the touchy feely stuff. We have a dinner to finish."

Mylene plopped on her bed and tucked her legs up underneath her. Ivan sat down next to her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in close.

"Akumas suck," Mylene eventually said.

"At least we know that Ladybug and Chat Noir will always be around to help us," Ivan replied. "And their allies."

Mylene nodded, remembering her promise to Ladybug about keeping her identity secret. Still, she found herself unable not to ask.

"What do you think of Souris Rose?"

Ivan was quiet for a moment. "I don't know. Didn't really get a chance to see her."

"Everyone else seemed to like her," Mylene whispered.

"She did save us," Ivan replied. "And being a superhero must be rough. Having to keep a secret identity like that, even from the ones you love. I'm sure whoever that is would understand, of course."

Mylene nodded. Ivan and her parents would understand.

But on the other hand, Mylene felt more and more pressure to just talk. To tell someone, anyone, about what just happened.

She had just been given a miraculous, and now she found she couldn't pretend it never happened.

Mylene looked up at Ivan. "Do you want to know a secret?"

Ivan looked at her and Mylene leaned up to his ear.

"I'm Souris Rose."

"Do you want to know a secret?" Ivan replied.

Mylene nodded.

"I knew that the second I saw you."

Lacy opened the fridge for the third time that night, sighing when the contents hadn't changed.

"I'll be going to the store tomorrow," her father assured her. He was sitting at the table, reviewing a French online lesson.

"That doesn't help me now," Lacy complained, closing the door again. She was starving.

Or maybe just bored. Either way she wanted food.

Lacy sighed again, leaning her head against the refrigerator. Her eyes slid shut.

"Are you asleep?"

"Didn't sleep well last night," Lacy replied. "Stupid akumas." She yawned. "And then if that wasn't enough, I had to deal with Rocker interrupting dinner."

Sleep was one thing, but Lacy had a right to eat her dinner in peace.

Grabbing a bag of chips, she headed back to the table where she had her homework laid out in front of her.

Her father reached out and grabbed her hand. "Don't worry about your homework, Squabbie. Why don't you go to bed early?"

Lacy nodded. That made sense - and nothing was due tomorrow, anyways.

"Yeah, okay."

She cleaned her books up, making sure her bag was ready to grab when she no doubt overslept in the morning.

Lacy didn't bother to change in pajamas, but she did make sure to dig out her phone and plug it in. It was only then that she noticed two voicemails.

The first one was from Sadie. Lacy couldn't help but smile as her friend ranted on about an argument her and Carter had where Walt had taken Carter's side (horrible idea). Reconnecting with her was definitely a good choice.

Besides, it's not like she could really get mixed up in her life - they were on opposites sides of the ocean.

The second voicemail, to Lacy's surprise, was from Chloe, telling her to call her back as soon as possible.

Not seeing any reason not to, Lacy called back.

"Ugh, finally," Chloe said when she picked up the video call. She was standing in her room, hair down and messy, with her closet in the background. "Started to wonder if you actually had a life."

Lacy rolled her eyes. "I do. Did you need something?"

"Fashion advice," Chloe replied. "I thought I'd get Sabrina a present, since I'm trying to apologize to everyone and I did miss her birthday this year, but I can't decide which sweater to give her. And since you're the closest thing I have to a friend with an actually decent fashion sense, I thought I'd call you."

"Alright. So which two sweaters were you debating on?"

Chloe moved her phone to show Lacy the sweaters, and Lacy could see the dilemma. One was a really nice, designer-type sweater with intricate designs. The other was simpler, a little uglier, but looked a lot more like what Sabrina liked to wear - a purple and black striped sweater.

Lacy hesitated a moment - the first one was really cute - before telling Chloe to go with the second choice.

Chloe pursed her lips. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Always good to get a second opinion though," Lacy said. "I'm sure she'll love it."

"She should," Chloe said. "I've spent all afternoon picking it out for her." She flicked her hair.

Lacy chuckled.

"Anyways, I'll see you in school tomorrow," Chloe said.

"See you."

Just as Lacy hung up her phone, someone knocked on her window.

Please not another akuma.

Lacy pushed herself out of her comfy bed to let Ladybug in, brightening when she saw that, instead of her miraculous, she brought treats.

"As a thank you," Ladybug said, placing them on the table.

"You didn't have to," Lacy argued weakly. Those were from the Dupain Cheng bakery, and Lacy was plenty happy having them.

Ladybug seemed to recognize it. "It's no big deal. You were a great help last night - or this morning? - and you deserve some treats."

Lacy picked up one of the macaroons from the box, noticing that Ladybug had even guessed her favorite flavor.

"Favorite bakery, favorite flavor." Lacy stuffed one in her mouth. "You are good."

Ladybug laughed. "I'm glad you like them. I have to head back on patrol, but I'll see you around."

Lacy nodded, giving her a wave as she left back out through the window.

"- an eighty two percent chance that Kim will win," Max read off.

"Never tell me the odds," Alix quoted, punching her fist into her hands.

Lacy exchanged exasperated looks with Nathaniel, the two trotting behind their three friends as they headed down the steps to lunch.

"Max is right," Kim taunted. "You don't have a chance."

"Watch me." Alix turned and slid down the rest of the railing, nearly knocking into another student when she landed.

Max sighed and readjusted his glasses.

Around them, the courtyard was buzzing as students headed off to lunch - some heading out, others heading towards the cafeteria. The constant motion pulled at Lacy's attention.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lacy spotted a figure.

She frowned and tapped on Nathaniel's arm. "Hey, didn't you say Marc was eating with his classmates?"

"Yeah, why?"

Lacy gestured over to the corner of the courtyard, where Marc was sitting by himself.

Nathaniel frowned.

Lacy watched him a moment. It was hard to tell from a distance, but she had a feeling that he was not alright.

Nathaniel headed his way, and Lacy followed behind.

"Marc, are you okay?"

Marc startled, blinking at them in surprise.

"I'm fine," he said. "Why?"

Lacy wasn't convinced.

"You said you were hanging with your friends," Nathaniel explained.

"Oh." Marc looked back down at his sandwich. "That... didn't work out."

Lacy watched him for a moment. There was definitely something wrong, but if he didn't want to say...

"You don't have to tell us anything you don't want to," Lacy said. "But you don't look like you want to eat alone."

"Why don't you come to the park with us?" Nathaniel suggested.

Marc perked up. "That does sound a lot better than this."

"There you guys are." Alix came up behind them. "Oh, hey Marc. Are you joining us for lunch?"

Marc nodded as he started to repack his lunch.

"Sweet! Come on, Max and Kim are waiting for us."

Marc smiled as Nathaniel helped him stand up, and the four of them headed out.

Alix paused, glanced over her shoulder, and scowled.

Lacy followed her gaze to see Lila talking with a group of students she didn't recognize.

"She already has another class wrapped around her fingers," Alix complained. "Who knows what lies she's telling them."

"I wish the school had done more," Lacy admitted. "What she did was wrong - and hurtful. And now she's going to do the same to another class."

"I have half a mind to go up to her and tell them what happened," Alix said.

"I'd like to see that."

For a second, Alix looked like she was going to, but then Kim called out to her and she deflated. Shaking her head, Alix sprinted to catch up with the rest of her friends, Lacy right behind her.

Neither noticed that Lila was watching them, too.

Lacy splashed the cold water onto her palms, wincing as it burned. The girl using the sink next to her winced.

"You should get that checked out by the nurse."

Lacy shrugged. "It's fine."

It was her own fault, after all. If she hadn't tried to climb up on the back of the bench to get a photo, then she wouldn't have fallen and gotten her hands scraped. A little bit of nectar would heal it up quickly, but it was such a small injury Lacy didn't think it was worth it.

Satisfied that the wounds were clean, Lacy dabbed her hands clean and moved to fixing her hair. The door swung open as the other two girls left the bathroom, and someone else walked in. Lacy finished up her braid, tossed her hair over her shoulder, and turned to leave.

And ran right into Lila.

"Lila! I didn't see you there." Lacy stumbled backwards.

Lila smiled tightly. "Obviously."

Lacy blinked. Lila looked... well, like she always did - calculating, mean, and cold.

"Well... I should head to class-"

Lila moved fast, blocking Lacy on both sides with her arms and leaning in so her breath was on Lacy's face.

"No need to rush," Lila said. "After all, I feel like I haven't talked to you since I was suspended."

"Well, we don't really have much reason to talk," Lacy replied.

"Really? Because you seemed to have plenty to say about me," Lila said. "I saw you and Alix talking about me earlier. And don't think I forgot your little outburst last week. Convincing the class that I have magic?"

Lacy wilted backwards as Lila continued to encroach on her space.

"But you do," Lacy argued weakly.

"Maybe I do," Lila agreed. "Or maybe I'm just good at manipulating people. And I don't like it when people get in my way."

"At the moment, you're in my way," Lacy replied, forcing herself to stand back up straight. She nearly collided with Lila as she did so.

"Think I'm a problem now? You should see what I can do to you. After all, Miss Bustier seems to like me more."

Lacy flinched. That struck a chord.

"Yeah, that's right," Lila continued, pushing back into Lacy's space. "After all, which one of us has a record?"

"Wha- how did you know about that?"

"Let's just say I have my ways," Lila replied. Satisfied, she backed up and flicked her hair. "Stay out of my way."

And with that, she turned and walked out of the bathroom.

Lacy stayed, too shocked to move.

What had she gotten herself into?

Lila was right - if it came between her and Lacy, Bustier would easily believe Lila first, especially since she'd been trying to be extra sweet and forgiving of Lila now. It didn't matter if the class didn't believe Lila if she managed to get Lacy in trouble anyways, or even kicked out-

Lacy did not want to switch schools again.

The school bell rang, and Lacy noticed for the first time that she was crying. Shoot. She could not go to class like that - especially if Lila was there, and could see how much her threat was affecting her, and-

Breathe. She needed to breathe.

In.

Hold.

Out.

In.

Hold.

Out.

Lacy could almost feel the anxiety around her loosen.

In. Hold. Out.

Again. And again.

Lacy turned back to the sink and splashed cold water on her face. Her eyes were red-rimmed now, but hopefully no one would notice. Especially not Lila.

Lila.

She had just charmspeaked - well, not charmspeaked, it wasn't that strong, but there was magic involved. And that magic could sway Lacy to believe anything, especially when Lila hit that nerve about her past record. But that didn't mean she could follow through on her threat.

Sure, Bustier wasn't always fair, but she was kind and lenient - Lacy doubted she would jump to conclusions. And even if the worse happened and Lacy did get in trouble - even expelled! - she would survive. Reconnecting with her friends from Brooklyn gave her a support completely not reliant on what happened at school.

And no matter what happened, Lacy knew her dad would believe her.

She was fine.

Lacy took another deep breath, splashing her face with water again. She was fine, but she still needed to get to class.

Leaning down to grab her bag off the floor, Lacy noticed something black in the corner of her vision - like a small bat or a moth or -

Akuma.

Lacy shrieked.

She pushed herself up against the wall opposite the butterfly, breath caught in her throat. But the akuma didn't fly towards her, but instead slid through the crack over the door and out of the restroom.

That was too close.

Lacy realized the akuma must have been after her originally, while she had a panic attack, but she had managed to calm down just in time.

Way too close.

Lacy collapsed on the floor, and immediately regretted it when the action reminded her how gross the bathroom floor was. Ew.

She pushed herself back up, walking over to the sinks to wash her hands, and splash water over her face again. Her heart was still pounding in her chest, and part of her was tempted to call it a day and go home.

But that would make Lila a little too happy.

The sound of concrete crumbling, and Lacy just barely moved out of the way of a jagged piece of metal coming from the ceiling.

Right. Akuma.

Lacy darted from the bathroom, nearly body-slamming into someone as she did so, and ran out into the courtyard. Around her, more and more students were being pushed out by the pieces of metal.

"I am Lockesmith. I will find the person who stole from me and lock them up!"

Metal plates jolted up from the floor, causing students to scatter.

Lockesmith jumped down from the second floor, landing in a circle of metal. She had a black leather sleeveless top with three gold strips under her left arm, and black leather leggings. She wore a dark purple fanny-bag looking thing over her right leg, and black, knee-high boots. Her hair was bright gold, and hung in a loop over her neck.

All in all, she looked like a lock.

"Who stole from me?" She demanded. "Show yourself!"

Students scattered, but Lockesmith raised her metal slates around the edges of the courtyard, blocking everyone in.

Lacy pressed her back against a column, hoping to stay out of sight of the akuma.

Lockesmith prowled, looking each student in the eyes. She glanced over Lacy briefly before continuing on.

Lacy slumped in relief.

Lockesmith froze, mid-step, and looked up towards the second floor. "Ladyblogger, how kind of you to join us."

Lockesmith jerked her hands up, but whatever that accomplished was blocked from Lacy's view by the column.

Lacy did see when Alya was roughly pushed to the center of the courtyard.

"Making a report for Ladybug?" Lockesmith questioned.

Alya flinched, barely noticeable, before recovering her fearless expression. "Actually, no. I'm here on school blog business." She raised her phone. "I'm doing an article on why we need locks on our lockers."

To Lacy, Alya's lie seemed near perfect - no obvious tells, except for the fact that Lacy could see Alya's phone screen from her angle and it was definitely on the Ladyblog. But Lockesmith still scowled.

"Liar!"

Alya recovered quick. "Okay, okay, maybe I wasn't. But now I will! This is a recurring problem in our school that has been highlighted by the akumas it's caused. The akumas may be awful, and totally Hawkmoth's fault, but they are also highlighting other problems we may not have seen otherwise."

"May not have seen? It's pretty obvious you're supposed to put locks on lockers. They're called lockers!"

"Fair point, fair point," Alya conceded. "But-"

Whatever Alya was about to say was cut off by Ladybug, who jumped onto Lockesmith, completely taking her by surprise.

Lockesmith yelped. A blade of metal came up out of the ground, pushing Ladybug off of Lockesmith.

The two began to spar, with Alya still on the ground filming. It wasn't until Ladybug almost tripped her over that she moved from the courtyard.

Alya slipped behind the column, next to Lacy.

"Are you okay?" Lacy asked.

"Yep," Alya said. "And I have the video to prove it!"

The entire battle took about ten minutes, which was just enough time to completely destroy the school with metal spikes.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to cancel classes for the rest of the day (something about too many missed classes already?), which meant Marinette had to run back to her class.

Just as she arrived at the door, someone caught her arm.

Marinette turned to see Adrien standing awkwardly behind her.

"Can we talk?"

"Sure," Marinette replied.

Marinette and Adrien walked to a more secluded place in the hallway.

"What's wrong?" Marinette asked.

"Lila."

"What did she do?" Marinette demanded.

Adrien smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head. "She, well - it's nothing really, we just bumped into each other and-"

"Did she threaten you?"

Adrien paused. "Uh, kinda?"

Marinette scowled. "Oh, that-"

"It's not that big of a deal-"

"- is going down, what do you mean it's not that big of a deal? She threatened you!"

"It's not! She just told me that if I tried to get her fired-"

"Wait, you mean your father hasn't fired her yet?" Marinette questioned. "She must have lied on her resume. Is that what she threatened you about?"

"Who threatened who?"

Marinette and Adrien both jumped, startled to see Chloe had snuck up on them.

"It's nothing, Chlo," Adrien replied.

"It's not nothing!" Marinette argued. "Lila threatened you."

"Did she?" Chloe questioned, sounding cold. "Well, that was her mistake."

"Chlo..."

Lila's back, and she's still trying to play victim.