Adrien made sure to arrive at school early in order for his plans to work. He had made sure Lila was going to show up today, one of the only good things about having to model with her. He had made sure to leave some incentive that he knew she couldn't resist, a one-on-one conversation with yours truly.
He obviously hadn't told her what it was about, but her ego wouldn't be able to refuse. She knew what she had done I wanted to gloat, as well as include her usual blackmail to try and clear Marinette's name. But what she didn't know was he had a plan and was done taking the high road.
"You ready Kid?" Plagg whispered from inside Adrien's shirt.
"Don't worry Plagg I know what I'm doing, plus...it's not me she should be worried about" Plagg scoffed and hid back in his shirt when they heard the Liar herself yelling Adrien's name from across the courtyard.
"Hi, Adrien~" oh god... she has arrived.
"Lila" Adrien turned to face the girl who was running up to him wearing her usual fake smile, but he could see that small glint in her eye. She was honestly happy and Adrien knew why.
"You wanted to talk to me, Adrien?"
"Cut the act Lila, I told you before that I'm not falling for your lies you broke out agreement"Lila sighed and dropped her good girl act for hopefully the last time and across her arms.
"Whatever do you mean?" Adrien glared as his nails dug into his palms.
"You know what you did, you accused Marinette of harassing me! Something of which you regularly do! To my father of all people, do you have any idea what that could do to her?" Lila smirked.
"Why do you think I said it?" Lila poked Adrien in the chest to emphasize her point. Adrien could have probably sensed Plaggs's rage from inside his shirt if it wanted for his own, but he had to stay calm, or at the very least embrace his inner Gabriel Agreste and show no emotion whatsoever. That would work, right?
"What did she ever do to you? You've been targeting Marinette since your first day here! So why her?"
"She was too smart for her own good, she knew I was Lying the moment I arrived and I couldn't have that now could I? And as for our agreement, I don't need you to be my friend or even like me, not when I have your daddy dearest wrapped around my finger. Who knows? If I play my cards right he might terminate your contract and make me the new soul face of your family brand"
Lila turned around and started walking away from Adrien until she stopped and told the boy one more thing.
"But I wouldn't try to cross me though if I were you...think of the repercussions, have a good day Adrien see you in class" Adrien watched as she walked off and quickly walked over to a nearby wall to talk to Plagg undisturbed. Once he reached the safety of the wall Plagg flew out of his shirt and started mouthing off words he wasn't aware the kwami knew. Not even Adrien knew half of these swear words.
The boy quickly grabbed Plagg to stop him from speaking before anyone could hear him, he hadn't accounted for Plagg's volume but thankfully no one noticed. Good thing he had arrived at school early and students were still yet to arrive.
"Are you sure I can't cataclysm her?"
"No Plagg, you're not cataclysming anyone, besides she was quite helpful and now I have everything I need. Let's get to class, hopefully, the others have arrived" Plagg grumbled at his refusal to punish the girl but flew into the boy's shirt as he headed to class, hopefully, whatever Adrien had planned was worth it...
What was he talking about? He knew the plan!
"Alya, Nino, Chloe! Good morning" The three teens turned to the sound of the familiar voice and all greeted him. Alya being the first to get up ran over and dragged him over to their seat and whispered in his ear so only their group could hear.
"So you got it sunshine?" Adrien nodded and pulled a small little device out of his jacket, carefully so as to not reveal Plagg. He unravel the cord and pulled out a small plastic chip.
"Yep, she fell right into it, how long will it take to set up?" Alya passed the chip over to Nino making sure they didn't damage it and Nino quickly plugged it into his laptop. After reading through a few files he clicked the newest file and downloaded it to his personal files.
"It won't take too long maybe five or ten minutes...but what exactly are we doing? Are we going to reveal this to the class? Your father? Both? What's going on?" Chloe pushed in and added her response.
"Everyone obviously! She's a mythic bitch that puts Heather Chandler to shame, she deserves what she's going to get" Alya and Nino sweat dropped at her comment, that sounded a little harsh, didn't it? They turned to Adrien to get his opinion but were surprised when they saw no sign of disagreement.
"Adrien?"
"For once I agree with Chloe...well we won't tell everyone but we need to tell the class and definitely my father. Otherwise, it's nothing but I mere inconvenience to her. We need to show that there are genuine consequences to her lies, I know it's harsh but this pales in comparison to what she's been doing to others" The teen just stared unable to say anything until Alya elbowed Adrien in the ribs, getting a started reaction from their blonde model friend.
"I'm proud of you sunshine, you can live your life being all innocent and naive forever and thanks...this will mean a lot too Marinette, especially after the stunt Lila pulled last week" Adrien nodded in understanding and went back to his seat when their other classmates started walking in, everyone but Marinette and Lila.
"Hey Nino, Alya, do you know where Marinette is?" He hoped Lila hadn't gotten to her. His friends seemed to sense his panic and quickly reassured him.
"Don't worry bro, she's actually late for a reason today, she messaged Alya before we arrived saying she had a quick family matter to attend" Alya cut in.
"Yeah, she'll arrive around... halfway through the first period? She's not too sure but she will be here today and Lila won't get the chance to be anywhere near her" That put the blonde boy at ease and leaned back into his seat, relieved. He didn't have to worry about Lila trying anything to Marinette but he still needed her to show up...wow he never thought he'd think that!
"Ok, but where's Lila?"
"I'm here Adrien! I'm so happy you were thinking of me, you're so sweet" The trio along with Chloe whipped towards the sound of the voice and deadpanned at her suspiciously well-timed arrival. She had an awfully bad habit of doing that, maybe she did have superpowers after all?
"Speak of the devil and she shall come" The class looked at Chloe and Nino, Alya and Adrien joined her in laughter, Adrien almost choking on his spit in the process. No matter whether Chloe was nice...nicer she would always be there to burn the closest or most 'deserving' person in the room.
"Chloe, that wasn't very nice. I thought we were friends?" Lila started choking up and covered her mouth with her hands, framing her expression to look hurt and betrayed by her so-called 'friend'.
"Umm no, when were we ever friends? It took me up until a week or so ago to actually make friends, much less you" Lila was about to retort but was sent to her seat when their teacher walked in after the bell and prepared to start the class. Lila seemed like she didn't have enough energy to continue an argument so quietly walked to her seat with a forced smile. Chloe mustn't have been worth her time, Adrien thought.
The class sat in comfortable silence as Miss Bustier started role call, everyone but Alya, Nino, Adrien and Chloe of course. Once their teacher finished role call Adrien raised his hand catching the attention of his friends, the plan had started.
"Excuse me Miss but I need to make an announcement can I please borrow the tv?" Miss Bustier was surprised, Adrien very rare spoke up during class when not asked and practically never interrupted a class. Whatever her student had planned must have been important to him, so she agreed.
"Thank you Miss Bustier, guys" Adrien sat up and walked to the front of the class and waited for Nino to set up what looked to be a computer for the rest of the class, but there were just as confused as their teacher. After a few minutes, Nino gave the thumbs up and Adrien gestured over to Chloe as she pulled out an IPad and keyed in a pin and started a Skype call with...someone?
Beep
Beep
Beep
"What is this? Mr Mayor?" On the other side of the call was none other than Gabriel Agreste himself, catching the attention of Lila who started sweating in the back of the class.
"Hello father, it's me"
"Adrien! What is this? Why are you calling me, you should be in class!"
"I am father but this is important and I knew you would only answer if you thought it was the mayor" Saying this hurt Adrien more than he was willing to say but swallowed his pride and continued before his father had the chance to hang up.
"...ok Adrien, what is it that you felt the need to call me like this?" Adrien smiled and gestured over to the tv.
"This is about Lila and the compulsive lies she tells on a daily basis, no matter who she hurts in the process... but now we have proof" Both Lila and Gabriel perked up at this, what!?
"What do you mean Adrien you know I'm not a Liar, and you know about my disease that causes me to lie sometimes, that's hardly my fault" Alya glared and joined her friends in front of the class waving her phone like a mad man.
"Don't even Lila, my aunt is a fully licensed doctor and she's assured me there is no such thing as this so-called disease you mentioned, and if you don't believe me you can check the school blog, there's an interview with her right there" Adrien sighed and pointed once more towards the screen as Nino connected a video to tepee screen.
Adrien could see Lila pale and bit back the temptation to grin, his inner Cat Noir was screaming at him but he managed to suppress it.
"Father this is about what Lila said to you father, and I have proof that those accusations against Marinette are nothing but jealous lies, Nino if you would"
"You got it bro" The tv turned on and the video started playing. On the screen was Lila swiftly and unknowingly approaching the camera and unknowingly sealing her own defeat.
"Hi, Adrien~"
"Lila"
"You wanted to talk to me, Adrien?"
"Cut the act Lila, I told you before that I'm not falling for your lies you broke out our agreement"
"Whatever do you mean?"
"You know what you did, you accused Marinette of harassing me! Something of which you regularly do! To my father of all people, do you have any idea what that could do to her?"
"Why do you think I said it?" The whole class gasped, they knew now that she was a liar but they didn't think she would go so far as accusing someone of assault. Even the Gabriel Agreste himself looked shocked, but Adrien couldn't help but think something was wrong, he didn't look as surprised as he thought...
Adrien shrugged it off, it was his father. He wasn't good at showing emotion, even a small shocked expression is a lot for him.
"What did she ever do to you? You've been targeting Marinette since your first day here! So why her?"
"She was too smart for her own good, she knew I was Lying the moment I arrived and I couldn't have that now could I? And as for our agreement, I don't need you to be my friend or even like me, not when I have your daddy dearest wrapped around my finger. Who knows? If I play my cards right he might terminate your contract and make me the new soul face of your family brand" Adrien turned towards the tablet and saw his father, he looked furious.
"But I wouldn't try to cross me though if I were you...think of the repercussions, have a good day Adrien see you in class" The video cut off leaving the class in awkward silence...silence that was soon cut off by none other than Gabriel himself.
"Miss Bourgeois turn the screen around" Chloe did as she was told and turned the screen towards Lila.
"Miss Rossi as of now, any contract to the Agreste's or the Gabriel brand has been permanently terminated"
"What!" Lila squawked in protest.
"Silence! Also, any work you have done while employed by the company will be removed and discredited"
"But-"
"Be thankful I don't bring this behaviour to the press, good day and Adrien?" Adrien flinched and looked at this father.
"Yes?"
"We need to talk, see you at home" Gabriel ended the call and the screen turned black, leaving only the students and their teacher present. Suddenly their teacher spoke up and gestured for Lila to come forward.
"Lila, young lady is this true? That you threatened and spread rumours about Marinette" Miss Bustier knew the answer but had to ask. She watched her expression morph, her expression speaking more truths than she ever had in class.
"I..I.." All of a sudden Marinette walked in completely unaware of the situation she had just walked into.
"Morning everyone sorry...I'm...late?" Marinette blinked between her classmates and then met the eyes of a furious Lila.
"This is all your fault! If you had just kept your worthless mouth shut and followed what I said this wouldn't have happened" Lila walked up to her, screaming like a banshee. It was a shock to see this display from Lila, let alone in front of the entire class. Before anyone could stop her she slapped Marinette, digging her fake nails into her face making sure she left a mark.
Marinette recoiled and flinched back when she saw Lila draw her arm back to slap her again. But the girl never got the chance with Alya and Nino holding her back and pulling her away from Marinette.
"You bitch! Let me go!" Even with the strength of both Nino and Alya, she managed to break free of their grasp and ran towards the door. She pushed Marinette out of the way, Adrien catching her before she fell, and Lila ran out the door with Miss Bustier in tow. Once the teacher had left the room everyone ran over to Marinette and checked if she was ok.
"Oh, my god girl! Are you ok? We didn't mean for you to get hurt"
"We're sorry Marinette"
"Baker girl, you face! We need to make sure that doesn't scar" Marinette's head was reeling, what had she just walked into? The class settled and gave her some space once they knew the girl was ok while Alya and Adrien explained the situation.
"We are so sorry I didn't mean for you to get hurt, are you sure you're ok?" Marinette tentatively touched her cheek and winced. While her cheek wasn't bleeding, Lila had definitely drawn blood but thankfully it looked worse than it was...probably.
"Yeah, I'm ok, startled but ok. I'm just glad Lila's been exposed"
"Thank sunshine over here, it was his idea" Marinette looked over to an embarrassed Adrien.
"It wasn't all my idea, another...friend helped me out all I did was execute it" Marinette smiled guessing who the other friend might be and hugged Adrien.
"Thank you, Adrien, you have no idea how much you helped" Adrien hugged her back before Marinette pulled away and hugged her other friends. It was only with their help Adrien had pulled off their plan.
"You're welcome Marinette but what are you going to do about that scratch?" Marinette sighed.
"Don't worry, I'm no stranger to getting hurt being clumsy as I am, I can manage" Chloe failed her arms around and grabbed her by the shoulders in protest.
"Nonsense that scratch is bad enough that it could scar, I don't want to see a memory or that butch every time I look at you. You shouldn't have to suffer either having such an ugly scratch on you're pretty face. I'll come over later with some products that perform miracles on the skin, ok?" Marinette laughed but nodded. Trust Chloe to make such a big deal over a scratch, especially regarding looks.
"What about Lila?" They turned to Alya who had spoken up looking towards the door.
"She looked pissed and I think we all know what that means" Suddenly the classroom shook and they heard an explosion.
It was Lila right on cue
"Oh shit"
And there is chapter 5. It took me a while but this was one of the most enjoyable chapters to write, as someone who hates Lila it was satisfying to see her downfall. Don't worry there will be more!
Look forward to chapter 6 and see ya next chapter.
~Luna