Lots and lots of dialogue in this one. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 13: Classroom of Chaos
Lacy watched Juleka leave out of the corner of her eyes, tempted to dart out of the room herself. All around her, she could feel the tension in the room building.
Alya broke the silence first.
"Are you sure you heard Adrien correctly?" Alya questioned. "Because he told us he was helping Ju- someone else in the contest."
Lila shook her head. "No, I know I heard him right." She gasped, holding her hands up to her chest. "You don't think he lied, do you?"
"Adrien's not a liar," Nino stated.
"Maybe he was talking about something else?" Mylene offered.
Lila bit her lip dramatically. "Maybe."
"I'm sure Adrien meant no harm," Bustier said.
"I don't see what's so wrong about supporting Lila?" Kim questioned.
Alix scowled. "Because he promised Juleka he would help her - and told her he thought she'd win!"
Lila's eyes widened. "Oh, I forgot Juleka was entering-"
"You forgot?" Alix asked. "We haven't been talking about much else for the last week!"
"Rossi's just jealous the attention was on someone else," Chloe scoffed. "Trust me, I've pulled similar stunts."
"Lila, you have said a lot of... less truthful statements before," Alya admitted.
"Are you accusing me of lying?" Lila asked, sounding near tears.
"You can't be buying this," Chloe scoffed.
"I'm sorry girl, but you have to admit-"
"Alya!" Mylene scolded. "You're going to send her into tears."
"Class!" Bustier called.
"They're fake tears, for crying out loud," Chloe said.
"Why did you even enter the contest in the first place?" Alix questioned. "You don't want to be a model, do you? Do you just love stealing the spotlight from everyone?"
"Alix, aren't you being a little harsh?" Nathaniel questioned.
Lacy buried her head farther into her hands. This was getting more and more chaotic by the second.
"We went over this with Marinette," Sabrina piped up. "There's no proof she's lying-"
Alya slammed her fist down on the table. "I give up. I want to believe you, girl. Just - don't make me not." She slumped back into her seat.
"I'm so sorry I caused Juleka to break into tears!" Lila continued. Every word grated into Lacy's head. "I didn't realize she put so much effort into this contest. If she had told me-"
Alix slammed her fist down on the table. "Juleka's shy, okay? What little she told you she told you in faith. You need to respect your friends more."
"Alix," Bustier scolded.
"Don't Alix her!" Lacy stood up, surprising even herself. Talking back to a teacher?
But she was done.
"Alix is right. Lila is just as much of an attention hog as Chloe. She never lets anyone else in this class have a moment in the spotlight - not when Alix won her race a few days ago, not when Marinette got commissioned by Clara Nightingale, not even when Ryuko - a superhero! - pulled of a cool stunt last week. Hades, she's even been targeting Marinette for as long as I've been here, but then she just smiles and it's like - it's like magic! So no, don't go scolding Alix just because she wants to stand up for her friends."
"Thank you," Alix replied.
"You have been targeting Marinette," Alya said, squinting her eyes. "Haven't you?"
"Marinette was the first not to completely buy into everything," Alix added. "I bet she was right!"
"Yeah," Kim agreed. "You completely overturned Odine's win the other night - made it all about your Olympic friend!"
"And when Ivan tried to invite everyone to Kitty Section's concert, she made it all about her saving Jagged Stone's kitten," Mylene added. "Again."
"And when Rose talked about meeting Prince Ali, you were suddenly his best friend!" Ivan added.
"And you say you're Ladybug's best friend too," Nino said. "But you talk trash about her. Not cool."
The class all nodded in agreement.
"And what is it between you and Marinette?" Alya questioned. "Marinette is a sweetheart."
Lila stared at everyone in shock, taking a moment to process all their words.
And then she started back on the fake tears.
"Class, I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for all of this," Bustier said.
"I'm sorry, I was just trying to help," Lila sobbed. "Juleka was the whole reason I wanted to win the contest. I thought - I thought I could help her - show her around set -"
"Oh," Mylene said. "That's - that's actually really sweet."
Oh, you've got to be-
Lacy slumped down into her seat. "Guys, she's still lying."
"And the thing with Marinette-" Lila sniffled a few more times.
"You think so?" Alix whispered.
Lacy nodded.
"Yeah, okay. I believe you."
"Marinette - she -" Lila continued.
"She what?" Chloe snapped. "Hurt you somehow? Dupain-Cheng doesn't have a mean bone in her body."
"She threatened me." Lila sniffled. "My first day b-"
"No!" Alya interrupted Lila, shocking everyone else into silence. "Marinette would never do that."
"I don't know Alya, she's been acting weird," Mylene whispered.
"You're kidding me, right?" Alya asked. "This is Marinette we're talking about."
"Alya's right!" Lacy said. "This is what I'm talking about! Its - it's got to be magic or something. Every time she opens her mouth, everyone believes what she's saying."
"Given the current situation in Paris, a magical explanation seems plausible," Max added.
"Lacy wouldn't say that if she didn't believe it," Alix added.
"Alix has a point," Nino added. "Either Lila is a liar, or Lacy, Marinette, and Adrien are."
"We can't just ignore Lila's accusations," Mylene argued.
"Really?" Alya questioned. "Accusations against someone who isn't even here - because she ran after someone Lila made burst into tears?"
Mylene's eye widened, and then she nodded. "Okay, yeah."
"Alya's right," Ivan said. "Marinette was the first person to reach out to me after I was akumatized. She wouldn't threaten someone."
"Marinette's our everyday Ladybug," Nino added. "She would never treat someone like Lila is saying."
"Miss Bustier," Alya said. "Lila here has clearly been lying - and targeting one of us! Surely there must be some punishment for this."
"You can't just demand punishment, Alya," Bustier scorned. "I understand that not everything Lila says holds up to scrutiny-"
"You knew?"
Lacy stood up again, anger surging through her veins.
"A few half-truths does not give us the right to treat someone poorly," Bustier continued.
"She's been bullying people!" Lacy yelled. "I can't believe this happening again! Can't you see that for as long as she's been here, she's been hurting people! Getting people to do her homework, flunking out of everything every other day, making us cancel plans last minute and always making Marinette out to be the bad guy. But no, teachers never see it, do they?"
"Sit down Lacy."
Lacy sniffled, noticing that tears were now sliding down her face.
I need to get out of here.
Lacy bolted for the door before she finished her thought, nearly slamming into Marinette as she did so, and left the chaos behind her.
Hawkmoth stood in his lair, a grin spread on his face.
"I've been waiting for this day for a long time," he monologued. "The fall out of this liar's lies have left so many vulnerable. The only question is, who shall be my Akuma today?"
Marinette, because she was Marinette, followed Lacy.
Lacy ended up in an empty classroom, sobbing and slumped up against the wall.
Marinette sat down next to her. "Are you alright?"
Lacy sniffled. "Yeah I'm... I'm fine." She sniffled again. "I just - things got a little heated, that's all."
"What happened?" Marinette asked, genuinely curious as well as concerned.
"After you left, things got chaotic," Lacy said. "And then Lila tried to place the blame on you, and Alya just snapped, and yelled at Miss Bustier, who said something about keeping the peace, and I just... kinda yelled at her?"
"At Alya?"
"At Bustier," Lacy replied.
Marinette blinked. "Wait, what did Bustier say?"
"Sh-she said something about what she says not holding up to scrutiny, like she knew-" Lacy sniffled. "But maybe I took it the wrong way. I don't know. She wasn't handling the situation very well, like every time someone tried to defend you, or Juleka, she scolded them and..." Lacy sniffled again. "I just don't have luck with teachers."
"People were defending me?" Marinette questioned, a little shocked.
Lacy nodded.
Marinette was silent for a moment. She had been so afraid that she had lost all her friends, that all Lila had to do was one more push, and they'd abandoned her. But when push came to shove, it looked like they stayed by her.
"How much trouble do you think I'm in?" Lacy asked.
"Trouble? With Miss Bustier? I'm sure she'll understand."
"You think?" Lacy looked up at her hopefully.
"Of course!" Marinette replied.
Lacy's face lifted, and Marinette felt a curl of concern in her stomach.
"Lacy, is there a reason you're so scared of Miss Bustier?"
Lacy sniffled again. "It's not her, specifically, it's just... I have bad luck with teachers, I guess. When I was in first grade, my teacher used to get so frustrated with me because I couldn't sit still. And then when I got my ADHD diagnosis, my teacher at the time was convinced I was lying - and then my teacher after that didn't believe I was dyslexic! Then I had a teacher that treated all of his students like crap, and another who would just berate me whenever I was more than a few seconds late - which wasn't that often! And then there was that mess with Drew."
"Drew - was he that bully you were telling me about?" Marinette questioned.
Lacy nodded. "Yeah, she - when I started at that school, I met this really cool girl, Helen, but Drew started spreading rumors and... well, the point is, the teachers made it worse."
"I'm sorry," Marinette said. "I can't - you deserved more of a support system. But Bustier isn't like that. Sure, she handled the Lila situation badly, but so did everyone else! I'm sure she understands where you're coming from."
Lacy smiled. "Thanks. You're a good friend, you know that, right?"
The compliment made her smile.
"I try my best," Marinette replied.
Lacy stayed silent for a moment, before suddenly stretching out.
"My back's cramping," she said. "Come on, let's head back to class." She stood up, and offered a hand to Marinette.
Marinette smiled and took it, and the two walked out into the hallway.
Just in time for a wall of water to crash into them.
Adrien had never seen the class in such chaos.
Alix was near-yelling at Bustier, who was insisting that someone had taken her words the wrong way - "no, of course I didn't think Lila was lying" - while Alya was silently fuming, sitting next to Nino. Nino was sending a glare to end all glares at Lila, who was being told off by a very irritated Ivan. Mylene was watching with her arms crossed and her chin wobbling. Nathaniel was just shocked. ChloƩ was acting like she didn't care, but every time her comments were ignored she became a little more annoyed.
Adrien slid into the seat next to Nino. "What happened?"
"Lila tried to say Marinette threatened her," Alya said, her voice dark. "And Bustier has done nothing."
"Dude, what Lila's been trying to pass off has been horrible," Nino said.
"Class, please try to calm down," Bustier called.
Lila sniffled, and Adrien wondered if maybe this time she was actually crying.
Bustier called for quiet again, and this time the class silenced.
"Now, Lila here has obviously made a mistake," Bustier continued. "But if we could all just forgive her-"
"Forgive her?" Alya echoed. "She hasn't even apologized!"
"I think it's up to Marinette whether we forgive her," Adrien added. "Lila has been targeting Marinette since she got back to the school. It's her that's been hurt the most, so it should be her choice."
"Alya's been hurt too," Nino muttered.
"And Juleka!" Alix added. "You need to apologize to Juleka."
"I'm sure Marinette will be forgiving," Bustier said.
"You can't make that decision for her," Alya argued.
Lila sniffled again. "I'm so sorry for causing so much trouble today, Miss Bustier! I didn't think-"
"That much is obvious," ChloƩ cut in.
"Juleka even wanted to be a part of the contest. If I had, she would have had my full support."
"Girl, this is so far past the contest," Alya replied. "You accused Marinette of threatening you."
"Maybe Lila just misunderstood," Bustier said.
"Maybe," Lila agreed.
"I don't think so," Adrien retorted.
"Akuma!"
The whole class fell silent, all eyes searching for and falling on the black butterfly fluttering through the door.
"Everyone, think positive!" Bustier commanded.
The butterfly fluttered down, aiming for Alya. Alya scowled, glaring at the butterfly, and the butterfly swerved towards Ivan.
Lila growled, and in a swift move, snatched the Akuma out of the air. It combined with a hair band on her wrist.
"Everyone out!" Adrien yelled.
Lila was cocooned with purple. Adrien didn't wait around to see what she'd transform into.
Alya reached for her phone as she headed for the door. She stopped to take a picture, and Adrien shoved her through the door.
The two of them stumbled out just as a wave of water hit them hard in the back. Adrien struggled to regain his bearings as water crashed down on him.
Something tugged at his arm, and Adrien felt himself being guided.
A second later he surfaced, and he gasped for breath. Kim surfaced beside him, and a second later Alya and Nino appeared on his other side.
"Let's get to the roof," Nino said.
The current was strong, but the four made it to the roof, where Bustier helped Adrien pull himself from the water. Max, Markov, and Mylene had also made it to the roof safely.
"You okay dude?" Nino asked.
"Yeah," Adrien replied. "What about you?"
"Wet," Nino replied.
"My phone's ruined," Alya complained. "I have no way of contacting Ladybug! I had a picture of Lila and everything."
"I'm still connected to the internet," Markov said. "And I have video of the whole thing. I can hack into the Ladyblog and post it for you."
"Thanks," Alya said. "Wait, hack?"
"I think I see someone stuck over there," Adrien blurted. "I'm going to go check on them."
He darted off from the group, searching for a place to hide to transform.
As he looked, Lila made her entrance.
"I am the Wailer! I've been betrayed by everyone around me - and now they will drown in my tears!"
3...
