*I do not condone theft, which is why I don't own the characters in this story. I just enjoy writing about them!

Something was up. Marinette just knew that Lila was up to something new since she hadn't said a single thing about her for the last three days. And today, Marinette had noticed the Italian girl giving her side eyes and smug smirks. Whatever she had planned, Marinette wanted no part of it.

The biggest struggle was keeping herself from spiraling on thoughts about what Lila might be up to. If she let that happen, everyone in class would notice and that would make them suspicious of her and not whatever Lila might be up to. So she tried something that Luka had taught her to do. To switch from one obsessive thought to a project she might be stuck on. Think only of that and ignore whatever is happening around you. It was hard to do at first, but it had helped her in the past dealing with her classmates. After all, it was a little hard to react to whatever bull Lila was spouting if she didn't hear it.

So Marinette kept her mind on ideas for the coming fall season, even if it was only April, and different fashion ideas; sweaters, warm leggings, accessories- Oh, short scarves! I bet those might be something to look into, especially with matching sweaters. Maybe a sweater with a detachable collar that resembles a scarf… I need to go to the store and see if they have any new types of yarn!

Her mind kept circling about different colors and gauges of yarn as the bell rang, indicating the start of lunch. Her body was on autopilot as she gathered her books, while pulling out her sketchbook to write down some notes as she walked… not noticing how Lila's gaze had zeroed in, or how close she was following behind. Her mind was debating between doing a feather stitch pattern versus a knit/purl pattern when she dropped her pencil. Bending down to get it, she barely noticed the rush of air behind her…

But nothing could make her miss the surprised yelp followed by the sound of a body tumbling down the stairs. Marinette looked over the railing just in time to see Lila's body crash at the bottom and heard her crying for help. The sight of blood and badly angled wrist made it clear that she wasn't faking it this time.

Everyone at the top of the stairs was in a state of shock as Mme. Mendeleiev and M. Harpele rushed over to the fallen girl. The science teacher was shouting instructions to surrounding students while the other called an ambulance. The whole time, Marinette hadn't moved from her spot, her mind having pieced together what must have happened.

That rush of air as she stepped away from the stairs and bent over to pick up her pencil. Had Lila actually tried to push her and missed? When she reluctantly turned to the shocked faces of her classmates, she half expected them to blame her for Lila's fall, but they didn't. Was it too much to hope that they had actually seen what happened?

The next few minutes was a blur of medical personnel, teachers asking for witness statements, and Mme. Mendeleiev pulling Marinette aside to speak to her. It wasn't until her mother joined them, along with M. Damocles and Mme. Bustier that she came out of her shock and started worrying about being blamed, again.

"Mme. Cheng, I want to thank you for coming in on such short notice," the principal said, seeming a bit cowed as Mme. Mendeleiev glared at the man. "It seems another incident has occurred between Marinette and Mlle. Rossi. And there were several witnesses, in fact…"

"What happened?" Sabine demanded, eyeing the man that had prematurely expelled her daughter before.

Mendeleiev answered for him. "I saw Rossi attempt to push Marinette down the stairs in front of half of their class. The only reason she failed was because your daughter dropped her pencil and went to pick it up. Rossi lost her balance and fell down the stairs herself. She's currently on her way to the hospital with a possible broken wrist and other injuries."

Sabine's jaw dropped in surprise for a moment before leveling a new glare at Damocles. "You better not be trying to blame Marinette for that girl's injuries. She just tried to assault my daughter!"

"I assure you, that is not the case," Mendeleiev interrupted, while sending a condescending look to her colleagues. "As it stands, we wanted to make you aware of the situation as the Board of Governors has been notified as you hold the right to press charges against Mlle. Rossi for attempted assault, as she has proven that a fall from that height would lead to injury."

As the adults continued their back and forth, Marinette continued to sit quietly in surprise. It was over! Everyone now knew, or sort of knew, about Lila. People had seen and no one could say it was her fault since all she'd done was drop a pencil and go to pick it up.

When they finally left the office, Marinette saw an entire line of her classmates waiting to be spoken to. She just heard Alya trying to explain/rationalize why Lila would try to push Marinette down the stairs.

"It's not like Marinette said anything to her, she had her eyes on her sketchbook the whole time." Max said with certainty.

"Well… maybe Marinette tripped her-"

"No, I saw her drop her pencil, she was just trying to get it." Rose interrupted Alya, looking tearful but determined. "And I saw Lila's face when she went towards Marinette… it was scary. I think she really was trying to push her and missed. "

"Woah… I thought that was just me!" Mylene's nervous voice said, holding desperately to Ivan's arm. "It was like, she was excited for a second when she went to reach for her-"

"No, she was just trying to grab or tap her shoulder… maybe to ask her what she was designing?" Even as Alya said it, she didn't sound certain. If that really had been what Lila had been trying to do, just missing Marinette's shoulder wouldn't have propelled her those extra couple steps to fall down the stairs. Even then… Why would Lila want to talk to someone she claimed to be bullying her?

Marinette chose to ignore whatever else was being said. It sounded like they had finally been smacked with a clue-by-four and she wasn't about to interrupt their thought process. In fact, all she wanted to do was call Luka and thank him for the amazing advice he had given her before going to the store for new yarn.

~oOo~

The following week, Lila returned to Francios Dupont with an itchy new cast around her right wrist, a brace around her left ankle, and twelve ugly stitches above her left eye. Ever since stupid, Maribrat had dodged her attempt to accidentally nudge her down the stairs, things had gone all wrong.

Her parents had been called while she was in the hospital and had talked to Damocles and Mme Bustier without her there to run interference, and most of her fibs had been outed. She was in so much trouble with them. They were now forcing her to talk with the school counselor every week and her parents would be getting daily phone calls from her teacher. Meaning if she said a single lie, they would know. And they had already told her that each new lie got her another week of grounding.

It got even worse when the subject of her absences came up, and now she was being forced to finish the year with her class and then repeat the academic year since she was so far behind. That wasn't something she'd be able to keep from her followers. She would be humiliated! She had begged her parents and Mme Bustier for another way so she could stay with her class, but they just told her to "deal with the consequences of her actions". She wanted to scream!

But the worst… When Gabriel Agreste found out that Lila was being charged for attempted assault and that she'd been injured, he had also contacted her parents… just one problem, they didn't know that she was a Gabriel model since she had forged their signatures. She'd been fired on the spot and was now being sued for forgery along with the charges filed by the Dupain-Chengs.

As soon as she got to school, she heard the whispers. Those who had seen her fall, the ones that had looked up her lies, and how she had been fired from Gabriel. Everyone knew she was a phoney, and they were laughing at her.

It was even worse when she got to class. She was stuck in front, and had been assigned a student aid; aka, an in school babysitter whose job was to take her notes while her wrist healed and reported everything back to her parents. When she tried gaining some sympathy from her followers, she was annoyed to discover that all of them were looking at her with malice or disgust.

Then Alya walked into the room, and she had to try. "Alya, can you believe-"

"Don't talk to me," her most dedicated follower interrupted, surprising the injured girl with a look of utter betrayal. "You know, I defended you. I naively tried to think up some excuse for why you would 'accidentally' almost knock Marinette down the stairs but trip and fall yourself. But every excuse just sounded more ridiculous."

"But Alya, you know I'd never-"

"And then I decided to ask Markov if he happened to see and record what happened. He said yes." Lila's face immediately paled. "And I'm guessing you already know what was recorded, what he showed all of us, and was submitted to Marinette's lawyer for their lawsuit against you. Leave me alone. We are not friends and I hope the judge gives you the maximum punishment for what you've done. You deserve it."

Alya then stomped away and dropped into a seat beside Nino. Adrien and Marinette had apparently been transferred to Mendeleiev's class since they now had restraining orders against her.

Lila sat in shock. She had lost everything: her followers, her dream job, future trophy boyfriend that was supposed to worship her, and the control she had over her parents. All because Maribrat dropped her stupid pencil.

AN: I ended up writing this story in a day, just thinking about how Lila doesn't mind getting her hands dirty, even if she normally has other people do it for her. I wanted to show it going absolutely wrong and everyone getting hit with a clue-by-four. Warm-Fuzzies and please review!