Full Summary:
Some people say that the best way you can get back at someone is to be the best that you can be. I didn't understand that until Lila Rossi made good on her promise. Most of the class thought of me as nothing more than a jealous bully for not liking Lila. They all gushed about her great stories and fantastic connections as they planned their futures with Lila's help.
I could have continued to try to prove Lila wrong, but I'd already seen how that worked. So, instead, I focused on me. I threw myself in my Ladybug duties and my fashion designs. Lila could take away my friends, but I wouldn't let her take away the things I loved.
It worked out, you see. For while everyone Lila pretended to be shinning gold, I grew into a diamond.
So, I've read a lot of Miraculous Salt fics recently and decided to try my hand at it. I apologize in advance for the abrupt ending, I wasn't sure how to end it properly. Also, this is ignoring the end of season 3 when Chloe gets akumatized and reveals the temporary holders. Hope you like like it!
I didn't want to feel smug, I really didn't, but I just couldn't help the pin prick of smugness. My entire classes sat around, horribly disappointed in our Lycée classroom. Many of them had gotten responses for Universities jobs, and internships over the winter semester. They hadn't turned out well. /p
Alya had applied to a job at a newspaper, applied to three internships and sent four university applications out. She lost every one of them. Nino hadn't gotten his internship either nor did he get into the music school he wanted. Kim had a scholarship and college acceptance revoked, and the two other Universities who had been offering swimming scholarships pulled their offers back too. Ivan and Myléne had both been under investigation over the break for charity fraud. Though they were cleared, no other charities wanted their help and their university had pulled their acceptance out. /p
Rose's eyes were still red and raw looking. Prince Ali had cut all contact with Rose and she was denied from her music schools. All of Max's scholarships and every since school he applied to, all fourteen of them, pulled back their acceptance. Nathaniel's comic strip was no longer being printed and there was a pending copyright suit. Sabrina was under investigation too, for theft, breaking and entering as well as illegal photography. Her university denied her as well. She assisted Lila and Alya in harassing me over the past few years. Adrien was sitting in his seat, a numb sort of look over his face as Nino patted his shoulder. Lila, however, was the only happy one in the class. She had a firm grip on Adrien's arm as she chatted to an unset Alya about how she helped catch Hawkmoth with Ladybug. /p
The only reason I knew all of this was because of their parents. Despite their children no longer speaking to me, my classmates' parents and siblings were still in good relations with my family. Their parents had described their disappointment and confusion to my parents after all of the university issues. /p
I was sitting in the back with a sad looking Juleka, an annoyed Alix and an over smug Chloe. A weird sort of girl group that formed as the rest of the class refused to grow up. I wanted to feel bad, I really did, but honestly, they made their own graves. I tried to warn them, I tried to keep them from this. They choose the fool's gold. /p
Alix, Chloe and Juleka came to the light. Chloe figured it out the quickest, many of Lila's lies had holes in them. Chloe saw the holes quite easily. Juleka became wary of Lila after Luka met her. Apparently, Lila's inner song is like nails on chalkboards and dying kittens. As for Alix, she had asked Lila about the Rabbit Miraculous only for Lila to tell her that it was wielded by a man in the future. Either way, they all saw what was really going on. /p
Mrs. Bustier walks into the room just as the bell rings, a large smile on her face. "Hello everyone. I hope you had a good break. Did everyone do their homework?" Most of the classmates looked down at those words. Our winter break homework, making a list of options for after Lycée this year. Normally we'd have private meetings about all of this today, while the rest of us worked in the library. Mrs. Bustier decided that our class would share our options with everyone else. /p
"Well, would anyone like to start? Alya?" Mrs. Bustier gives a big smile to my former best friend. /p
Alya's face pales and she mumbles for a second before clearing her throat. "I, ahh. I've decided to take a year off, to do a year of work. There's a grocery store that has some openings for me and the Zoo where my Dad works is hiring summer people for the gift shop and concessions." /p
Mrs. Bustier's smile drops. "Alya, what about your internships at the newspaper, or the one at TVi?" /p
Alya looks down. "I didn't get them." /p
"What about Goldsmith University in London? Or Cardiff University? Of the University of Amsterdam? Or ESJ Paris? You were looking forward to all of the programs these schools offered." /p
Alya's hand on the desk clenches. "I didn't get in." /p
Mrs. Bustier's smile was completely gone now. "What?" /p
"All four Universities denied me. I didn't get into any of them." /p
"Oh." Mrs. Bustier blushes a deep red and looks around to the room before settling on me. She nudges her head towards Alya, telling me to comfort my classmate. /p
I raise an eyebrow at her, causing her blush to deepen. She did that everytime I reminded her, either subtly or not, that she couldn't put all of her responsibilities onto a child. Regardless, I spoke up. I really did feel some pity for the class. "I'm sorry about that Alya. Try again next year. A job or something might help boost your application."/p
Alya whips around and glares at me. "I don't need your pity! I'll be fine! Unlike you, you'll just be a nobody. I bet not a single University in the whole world wanted you!" I sigh and glance over at Mrs. Bustier. She remained silent as Alya rips into me. Typical. /p
Chloe lets out a small laugh. "You're one to talk." /p
Alya's face heats up again and Mrs. Bustier finally clears her throat. "Well, let's move on. Nino, what about you? What about that school in America?" /p
Nino rubs the back of his head. "I, uh. I heard back. They don't think I'm ready to start at Musicians Institute in Los Angeles. I didn't get the internship either, the one in Hollywood. My parents are letting me keep my DJ work up next year, but I have to find a job." /p
Mrs. Bustier's smile is obviously forced now. She'd spent the whole break bragging about her classmates on social media and in an interview. So far, the class was not doing so well. "Rose? How about you? What music school are you going to?" /p
Rose immediately starts to tear up. "None of them! Julliad didn't want me! Neither did the Royal Academy of Music or Royal College of Music in London. They said my music wasn't good enough!" /p
Rose was just about sobbing at this point in front of me. Juleka looks even more sad and I agreed with her. Rose's lyrics were actually pretty good, until Lila got a hold of her. Now the music was less inspiring and unique. /p
Mrs. Bustier looks up at me. A desperate plea in her eyes. I look away almost instantly, pulling out a small thing of tissues. I pass them over to Rose's shoulder, getting a soft thank you in response. Juleka pulls out her phone and starts to text. More than likely offering a shoulder for Rose to cry on after class. /p
Mrs. Bustier fumbles with her hands for a minute, looking around the class. "Sabrina, what about you? Do you still want that social justice degree?" /p
Sabrina drops her head into her arms. "No. I'm not going to University next year. My father wants me to stay in Paris with him until next year. He's...worried about me." /p
Mrs. Bustier's eyes are a little more frantic now. "Myléne! Ivan! How about you two? Where do you hope to go to University next year?" /p
Myléne sinks in her seat. Ivan glances around the room like he's hoping someone will help. No one does. "We're ah, taking a year off, too. Our summer volunteer trip in Africa fell through also. So, we're sticking around for a while. Looking at our options." Myléne nods. /p
"Oh, good for you." Mrs. Bustier looks around the room again. She avoided us. No surprise. Unlike the rest of the class, we really didn't get much time to discuss our future with Mrs. Bustier. She seemed to be focusing on the students she believed would be going somewhere. "Kim! How about that swimming scholarship?" /p
Kim flushes red too. "I uh. I'm not going to be swimming in the fall. I'm thinking about some basic classes at a local university." /p
"What about the scholarship?" /p
Kim's eyes darted around, briefly looking at me, before continuing on. "I lost it. There were some issues, I didn't qualify anymore." /p
"Nathaniel! What about you? Did your new comic strip kick off?"
Nathenial's head drops to his desk and he moans. The whole class stares in shock. Nathenial shakes his head on the desk, another moan emitting from below the red hair. /p
"Max!" There's a look of comfort in Mrs. Bustier. Her smartest pupil would come through, wouldn't he. "How about you?" /p
"I got denied. All fourteen schools denied me!" Max had a slight crazed look in his eyes. As I looked closer I could see how unkempt me was. His suspenders were a little askew, his hair wasn't quite as controlled as usual, and his glasses weren't straight. "Me, the kid who made an AI was denied from MIT, Stanford, Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard, Berkeley, University of Tokyo, ETH Zürich, California's Institute of Technology, Technical University of Munich, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Nanyang Technological University, Princeton, and Grenoble Institute of Technology. All of my scholarships, gone!" A hysterical laugh rips through Max as he sits in his seat. /p
Mrs. Bustier's franic look was back as she scanned the room once more. She briefly looks up at the four of us then shakes her head. Alix rolls her eyes from across the row. Obviously Mrs. Bustier thought we'd all be failors too. Instead, she looks at Adrien and Lila. /p
"Adrien, what about you? Any University plans?" /p
Adrien's mouth opens and closes a few times. "I'm moving in with my Aunt. I plan to teach piano to some kids in the fall. I have some… stuff to do with my father's company this summer. I don't think I'll be going to a University anytime soon." /p
"Lila!" Mrs. Bustier's voice is high and cracking. "What about you? Still doing charity work? Going to University?" /p
Lila gives a huge smile to the whole class. "Yes. I'll be working in Achu for a little bit this summer. I got into a few schools in the U.S, France, England and in Italy. I'm not sure where I want to study yet, but I'm sure I'll be the next best thing in Fashion. Oops!" Lila looks up at me. "I'm sorry Marinette! I didn't mean to offend you." /p
I give a small, fake smile. "Don't worry Lila. It's fine. Maybe I'll see you next year? What schools did you get into?" /p
Lila's fasade drops slightly. "I, uh. Parson's in New York, and um, Central Saint Martins in London, and um Accademia Costume e Moda in Rome. I decided to go to Central Saint Martins." /p
"Impressive. I didn't send anything to the Accademia in Rome, but I'm happy to see someone else got into Parson's and Saint Martins." My smile is a little sharp. I could afford to fake my congratulations when I knew that Lila's tower was about to collapse underneath her. /p
"Marinette, you got into Parson's and Saint Martins?" Mrs. Bustier's smile was back and slightly crazed. "Which one of those will you be going to?" /p
"Neither. I did get into Parsons school of design in New York, as well as Central Saint Martin's in London, but I'm not going to either of those." /p
"What school will you be going to?" Mrs. Bustier's eyebrows are furrowed. /p
"The London College of Fashion. I got into ESMOD in Paris, Istituto Marangoni International in Milan, as well as Parson's School of Design and Central Saint Martins. I thought about staying in Paris, but I just wanted a little distance. You know, spread my wings. I didn't feel like going to New York either. It's pretty far away. I almost agreed to go to the school in Milan, but I think I'm going to hold off on that school until I go to get a Master's Degree. So, it was between London College of Fashion and Saint Martins and I just liked the London College more." /p
"Oh, that's fantastic Marinette!" Mrs. Bustier's enthusiasm returns in full swing. /p
Alya snort ruins the moment. "If she's even telling the truth." /p
Lila blinks and then looks back up at me. "Yah, that's true. How do we know you're not lying. You've been doing that alot the last four years." /p
Mrs. Bustier's smile turns into a frown and she instead gives a glare meant for a child. "It's not nice to lie, Marinette." /p
A smirk earns its way onto my face. "I'm not lying. I don't care if you believe me or not, but I'm not lying. I'll be in London, come Fall, studying to be a world class fashion designer." /p
Alya snorts again. Mrs. Bustier gives me an exasperated look, but freezes as she meets my gaze. Any sort of appreciation or respect for my teacher was gone, replaced by annoyance and I held Mrs. Bustier's gaze for over a full minute, causing the woman to fidget. /p
Chloe finally nudges me and clears her throat. "Well, I finally decided where I'll be going in the fall. I even have a roommate picked out." She nudges me with a smile. /p
"No way you're going to University." Alya's teeth are bare as she all but growls at Chloe. "Who would want you?" /p
Chloe shrugs. "Oh, you know. Harvard, Stanford, Cambridge, Oxford, INSEAD, Bocconi University, and the London Business School. I'm going to the London Business School. It's ranked third in the world for Business studies. The only places above it are Harvard and INSEAD, but I don't want to move all the way to America quite yet and I was not staying in a town less than an hour from you all." /p
The whole class looks at Chloe in surprise. That was something they never realized. Chloe didn't put work in when she was younger because she didn't have to. Everything was given to her until Lycée when our teachers finally started to push Chloe. Now, she was a budding business woman already helping me with my MDC company. /p
"No way!" Max looks up at Chloe. Anger in his eyes. "How did you get in and not me?" /p
Chlor rolls her eyes. "I'm fluent in French, English, Italian, Spanish, Mandarin, as well as Portugese. I have a 4.00 GPA and perfect grades in all my classes. I got all A* grades in my A level exams to get me into the Schools in London. I even took the ACT and SAT for the Universities in America. I got a 33 on the ACT and a 1520 on the SAT. I have been helping my Daddy with the hotel for over three years and I've had four different internships." /p
The whole class is staring at Chloe. They wanted to argue, but Alix cuts them off first. "Well, if we're done arguing about how Chloe got into top Universities. I'm attending Cambridge in the Fall, just like my Dad and brother. I'm also tagging along on a dig in China this summer. There's this old temple the Louvre is investigating with several other museums and colleges." /p
The class just stares at her, completely complex. Alix shrugs and looks at Juleka. "Juleka, your turn." /p
Juleka pulls her hair back and clears her throat. "I'm attending Guildhall School of Music and Drama, in London. I'll be studying music and production arts. I've also been signed to a modeling agency in London, so I'll be doing that too." /p
"So, you'll all be living together?" Myléne looks at us curiously.
I shake my head. "No, Alix and Juleka will be living on Campus this year, in the dorms. Chlor and I will be sharing an apartment however. Our schools are only 30 minutes apart when walking." /p
"We've already found a place. 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and a large kitchen. Mari gave me the Master Bed and Bath so she could convert one of the extra bedrooms into a studio." /p
Alya scoffs. "You doing anything else this summer?" She tries to sound strong, but it comes off a bit flat. /p
"We're all doing a Graduation trip to Italy, you know, because we couldn't go on the class one. Juleka's mom and Marinette's Grandmother are chaperoning. We'll be touring all of Italy over a month." Alix gives the class a smile as someone knocks on the door. /p
Mrs. Bustier gives us a small smile and goes to the door. There's a gasp and Mrs. Bustier slowly backs up. There's four police officers just outside the classroom door along with a small collection of people. Two of the people have a strong resemblance to Lila, and another person has an Italian look. Another three people all standing together, looking over the class. Principle Damocles is present as well, looking very pale. More people are filtering in and I realize it's the parents of most of our classmates. Each set of parents comes and stands next to their child or sits on the bench with them. Juleka's Mom gives me a little wave as she sits next to her daughter. /p
Principle Damocles clears his throat. "Students, if I could have your attention please. There have been some... issues over the break that need to be addressed." /p
Alya perks up. "Have you finally come to deal with Chloe and Marinette? They've been bullying poor Lila for years." /p
"No." One of the women who had been surveying the class turns to look at Alya. "We're here for a variety of reasons. First of all, several students in this class are under investigation for a variety of charges. Second of all, almost every single one of you has ended being denied from every college you applied to. Lastly, We're here to deal with the improper and naive mindsets that your Principal and Teacher have. Especially considering Ms. Rossi. Speaking of which." The woman turns to Mrs. Bustier. "I'm not even going to touch your bluntly stupid way of dealing with bullies. That will be handled after all of this. Right now I'm going to ask why you threw every single rule about parental contact and special privileges out the window. You do not give students special privilege for medical conditions if they do not have doctors notes. You do not just ignore the fact that you can't contact one of your students parents by anything but email. You don't ignore when one of your students disappears willy nilly when every she feels like it." /p
Mrs. Bustier opens and closes her mouth. "Who are you? I've been in contact with all of my students' parents." /p
"I am Amelia Vaux, the Superintendent of Education in France. And no, you have not been in contact with all of your student's parents. The email Lila Rossi gave you is an email she set up. Mrs. Rossi has never spoken to you, received an email or signed anything for the school. The woman is still operating under the assumption that your collége closed down for months at one point." /p
"I, what?" Mrs. Bustier looks completely lost. /p
"Lila Rossi gave you a fake email and a fake phone number for her Mother. Lila Rossi's father is not asstrange, despite what she has been saying. Lila Rossi has a clean bill of health according to a doctor's visit over break. No tinnitus, no arthritis, no sprains, no breaks, no vision issues, no hearing issues at all. The worst thing she's had was a bad case of influenza when she was 11. Of course, this is ignoring the fact that the girl was diagnosed as a pathological liar and with antisocial personality disorder when the girl was 13 years old. It's in her medical file and her student file, along with a warning about the girl's bullying habits." /p
Everyone was staring at Mrs. Vaux up front, the parents looked sick and my classmates were staring in disbelief. "No," Alya is shaking her head. "This can't be true. Marinette is the liar." /p
Mrs. Vaux turns from Mrs. Bustier and looks at Alya. "Actually, Mrs. Dupain-Cheng was telling the truth and has unfairly suffered for it for years. From what I understand, most of this class had vandalized Mrs. Dupain-Cheng's belongings or stolen things from her. All on the words of Ms. Rossi, who's lies could have been proven false by a google search. Jagged Stone is allergic to cats. Prince Ali only runs children's charities. I could continue." /p
One of the women in the room clears her voice at this point. "If I may, I am here on the behalf of several people of various nationalities." She sets a pile of papers before Lila and Alya. "These are cease and desist orders for the both of you. The Ladyblog must be shut down and deleted on the ground of libel, slander, and a violation of rights. As for Ms. Rossi, you have multiple charges of libel, slander, illegal photography, and a variety of charges you order to be sent to famous people who don't know you." Lila was paling quickly. "You also have a case of breaking and entering, theft, copyright violation and assault." /p
"I have diplomatic immunity. All you can do is kick me out of the country." Lila stands up from her seat, a smug look on her face. /p
"No!" A woman with a heavy Italian accent frowns at Lila. "We have revoked your diplomatic immunity. You will be charged here, in France, and will serve out your sentence in a French Prison. Italy already made a mistake when they let you have therapy for your original incident instead of time in a juvenile detention center. We will not make that mistake again." /p
A police officer clears his throat and looks over at Lila. "Lila Rossi. You are under arrest for breaking and entering, theft, copyright violation, assault, destruction of property, libel, slander, charity fraud and terrorism. Hawkmoth had a camera in his lair. We have videos of you visiting his lair. He also confirmed that you willingly took akumas, helped him akumatized people and a variety of other things." /p
Lila stands frozen as the police officer cuffs her hands behind her back. She finally snaps out of it as she looks towards the other two Italian people. "Mamma! Pápa! Do something!" /p
The woman takes one look at Lila and then bursts into tears. She's full on sobbing into her hands. The man simply lays a hand on Mrs. Rossi and levels his daughter with a deadly stare. "No Lila, we cannot help you out of this mess." /p
Lila gaps and then glares at her father. "Why not?" /p
"You're not a child anymore, Lila! You're over 18! There's video evidence of your crimes! That blog is filled with your lies! You can't lie your way out of this. You can't get off scot free! You're being charged with terrorism!" /p
Lila gaps for another minute then screams. A blood-thirst, angry scream as she whips around and glares at me. "You! This is all your doing Dupain-Cheng! You stupid bitch!" /p
I level with Lila's glare. "Yes. I got the ball rolling. You see, when you broke into my room before break and stole my designs so you could add them to your portfolio for University, you didn't realize that I had a video camera set up. I got on camera, breaking and entering, theft, and copyright violation. I gave the evidence to the police. I didn't expect all of this, but I'm not sorry." /p
Lila screams again and starts to fight the police, forcing the second cop to help grab Lila and drag her from the room. Lila's parents follow them out, with the Italian woman giving the class a nod before following. The lawyer gives Mrs. Vaux a nod and follows after them. /p
The other two police officers exchange looks before one clears his throat. "When investigating Ms. Lila Rossi, all of you were brought up. Most of you have broken a variety of laws at the behest of Ms. Rossi. Whether you knew that you were breaking the law or not doesn't matter. Most of you destroyed the property of one of your classmates, more than once. You also physically assaulted her on more than one occasion. We have the video footage to prove it." /p
Several parents were moaning now, forlorn looks on their faces as they started to realize the consequences of their children's actions. /p
"Oh, my god!" We all look over at Max who looked a second away from hyperventilating. "I wrote my University admissions paper about a project Lila worked on. She gave me all of the data!" /p
Max's mother moans. "You didn't look up any of it!" /p
Max flushes. "She said it hadn't been published yet." /p
Max's mother mumbles under her breath. "This is why all those Universities denied you! This is why you lost all our University acceptances and scholarships! Because you took the word of some Italian classmate above your own common sense." /p
"Max thought that a napkin could cut his eye." Chloe starts to file her nails, ignoring Max's mother, who was now staring at her. "And he wears glasses." /p
Max's mother moans once again, and slumps onto the steps next to Max's seat. /p
The police officers exchange looks once again. The first one continues his speech as if he hadn't been interrupted. "Due to the fact that most of your crimes were committed when you were a minor and were against the same person. There will not be any fines or jail time for any of you." /p
There's a large collective sigh through the room. Nino's mother looks like she's praying. clears her throat. "While that may be true for legal terms, you are all on probation. One step out of line and you will be expelled from this school. You will also all have to complete anti-bullying seminars to graduate. Mrs. Bustier is also no longer your teacher. Mrs. Aveline will be your homeroom teacher for the rest of the year." She gestures to one of the women behind her. "Mrs. Fortier is your temporary principle for the rest of the year. Mr. Damocles is no longer your principle." /p
Rose hesitantly raises a hand. "Why are you firing Mrs. Bustier and Mr. Damocles?" /p
Mrs. Vaux's frown deepens. "None of this would have happened if the two of them had done their jobs. Ms. Rossi's habits were clearly outlined in her student file. If either of them had bothered to do their job correctly four years ago, we wouldn't be in this position." Rose nods meekly, sinking back into her seat and leaning into her mother. /p
The police officer clears his throat again. "Now, while none of you will be fined or be serving jail time, you do have to serve a certain number of community service hours to complete within the next six months. If you don't complete the service hours, you will be fined for the crimes. Your parents have already agreed to the terms we will lay out for you. However, because all of you are over 18, you can try to bring this to court." /p
Alya turns and glares at me. "This is all your fault!" /p
Alya's mouth grabs her by the shoulders and jerks her around. "Alya! You will complete these service hours. If you get convicted you're looking at thousands in euros of fines and almost a decade of jail time." /p
Alya gasps. "What did I do?" /p
The second policeman glances down at a clipboard. "Libel, slander, damaging of property, theft, and assault." /p
Alya stares at the man, going slack in her seat. It was like the consequences of everything she'd done of the past four years were finally hitting her. /p
The second policeman clears his throat once again. "Alright. Rose Lavillant, Ivan Bruel, Mylène Haprèle, Nathaniel Kurtzberg and Max Kanté, you will have to serve 50 hours of community service over the next six months. Nino Lahiffe, Lê Chiên Kim, Alya Césaire, and Sabrina Raincomprix, you all will be serving 100 hours of community service." /p
"Ms. Césaire, by court order, your Ladyblog will have to be deleted as well." Alya gaps at the officer and goes to stand, but both of her parents hold her down. /p
Mrs. Vaux sighs, and moves her gaze up to the four of us at the top. "Ms. Dupain-Cheng, Ms. Bourgeois, Ms. Couffaine, and Ms. Kubdel, you will be switched into Ms. Mendeleiev's class for the remainder of the year. I believe it would be best for you to be out of this environment." /p
All four of us nod and start to pick up our things. The rest of the classmates stare at us. "But, who's going to be class representative now?" Rose looks close to tears again. /p
I shrug, pulling my bag over my shoulder. "The job goes to the deputy now." /p
The whole class shifts to look at Alya, who pales once again. The four of us walk down the stairs to the near silence of the room, our parents trailing after us. As soon as we were out the door several people started yelling in the room. /p
I knew I should care, and part of me did, but I just felt happy that most of this was all over. It took four years, but finally, everyone knew about Lila. I hadn't felt this light in years. /p