Songs referenced in this chapter: Superstition by Stevie Wonder, Witchy Woman by the Eagles
When Monday finally came, Jasmine felt like she was ready to start her new school. From what she'd seen over the weekend, the teachers were nice, the principal, apart from being obsessed with owls, looked like he'd be a good person, and thanks to Adrien, she had a heads up on a few of the students in class.
She came down wearing her new red American University of Paris t-shirt and the matching hat, jeans, and her new black sweater. She also slipped her iPod into the little bag she carried it in, so she could listen to her favorite songs during lunch, and into one of the pockets of her backpack itself, she slipped in her 'writing helper' keychains, but she took one off to put in her pocket, just in case she had to speak in public. This was a trick she used to calm herself down when she had to speak in front of the class, and she also hoped she'd be able to use them when she worked on one of her stories during lunch or breaks during the day. She recalled that one of her friends back home had told her that when she bounced thoughts off of her stuffed animals, they sometimes gave her good ideas.
"You'll be fine, Jazz, and I love your new outfit!" Nancy smiled as she brought over her coffee, then hugged her when she saw her wearing the shirt that bore the name of the school she was going to be teaching at. "You know your dad will be working late tonight, but I remember that you told us that there's an after-school club where they have computers, and you can do any homework you might have, or work on the story I heard you talking to Socks about. I'll be there in time to pick you up at four."
"I saw the room when we were at school that day," Jasmine agreed. "It's next to the art room, and Marinette and Adrien sometimes go there to hang out with their friends if Adrien doesn't have anything on his schedule."
"And did you remember to put that barrier in your locker?" Roger asked. When Mr. Damocles and Miss Bustier showed Jasmine to her locker, she, Roger, and Nancy were stunned to see that there were no locks on the lockers, and they decided to do something about that right away.
"Yes, Dad, remember? After we met the teachers and they showed me where my locker was, we measured the locker door, went to the art room, and I cut that construction paper and made that barrier, just in case someone tries to slip something in my locker," Jasmine reminded him. "And after we left the school, we went to that sporting goods store where I bought the combination lock and those magnets to keep the paper barrier from slipping." She recalled how Adrien had told her about how Lila framed Marinette for stealing her necklace by putting it in her locker, as well as framing her for stealing Miss Bustier's test answers by putting them in her bag following the fire alarm being pulled, and she didn't want Lila, or anyone, really, to try anything like that with her, but hopefully, the barriers she set up would keep Lila at bay. She knew she tried to keep her bag zipped and under her desk. Her purse was also always strapped over her shoulder, so nobody could get near it without her catching them. She held up the lock, then put it in her pocket. "I'll fix the paper, put the magnets on it, and put the lock on the door when I get to school."
"You're right, Jazz; I remember all of that now," Roger agreed. "But they should really have working security cameras in there, so if someone breaks into the lockers, they'll be caught."
"I know, but Adrien told me that they're still trying to get the cameras fixed," Jasmine admitted. Adrien had told her that the security cameras had been damaged ever since Stoneheart attacked, and it was getting harder to get new security cameras, or to find someone to fix them.
"Well, at least you have a few ways to protect your things until they do get the cameras fixed," Nancy agreed.
Jasmine nodded as she thought of two other personal things of hers, that she was very careful about always keeping with her: her iPod, and two USB drives; one was for schoolwork, while the other was for her stories. She hoped the students would like her stories as much as her friends had back home. And, as she had told Socks as she posted the new chapter of her newest story, JazzyFri13 was back!
***LBCNLBCNLBCN***
When Jasmine arrived at school, with a few minutes to spare, she took out the books she needed for her morning classes, put the ones she didn't need in her locker, and smirked as she set up the barriers. "Lots of luck trying to get in there now," she murmured as she secured the paper barrier with the magnets, then did the same to her locker with the combination lock. She then finally took up her box with the treats for the class and almost bumped into Marinette. "Cutting it a little close, eh?"
"I slept through my alarm," Marinette admitted as they walked to Miss Bustier's room. "But as Miss Bustier's class representative, I remembered to bring in a treat for the new student! Welcome to Francois Dupont, and to Miss Bustier's class!"
"And as Miss Bustier's new student, I say, thanks, Marinette!" Jasmine smiled as she accepted the freshly baked croissant, then reached into her own box after taking a bite of it. "This is awesome! In fact, I'll see your croissant, and raise you a lemon coconut bar, which I made last night, along with the recipe for it, which I will send to your phone tonight!"
"Another baker girl?" they heard a new voice behind them. "Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!"
"Hello, Chloe," Marinette rolled her eyes. "This is Jasmine Dinsmoore, our new classmate." She turned to Jasmine again, adding happily, "and I have to tell you, Jasmine, Maman and Papa made your Sorting Hat cupcakes yesterday, and by the time we closed, we had to make five more batches! After word got out following the first batch, the line for those was even longer than the ones we usually have for Galette Day!"
"Well, I'll have to bring one of my cookbooks with me to your place next time, then you and I can find a recipe to make together," Jasmine agreed as she sat down next to her.
"Sounds like a plan to me!" Marinette smiled.
"Just as long as I can be your taste tester!" they heard another voice. She and Jasmine looked up and saw Kim approaching them. "I bought one of those cupcakes, and it was really good! But I was put in Hufflepuff, when everyone knows I'm a Gryffindor!"
"Kim, you know there's a one in four chance of getting the Hogwarts House you want when it comes to Sorting," they heard another voice behind them.
"You must be Max," Jasmine smiled at the smaller boy who was next to Kim. "It's nice to meet you, and your friend Markov. And speaking of Markov…" She turned to the robot that was hovering next to Max and gave him a little bow. "I for one welcome our new AI overlords!"
Max grinned to himself. Jasmine's idea had merit, and he had just met her! "Markov, make a note: When she's not busy with other projects, commission Marinette to make something that says that!"
"Well, while that's happening, New Girl, you can go to the back with Dupain-Cheng!" Chloe cut in, seeing Jasmine sit at a table in the front with Marinette.
"No thanks, I think we're good here," Jasmine said as she got her books out.
"If you don't move, I'll-" Chloe started.
"Let me guess," Jasmine cut her off, remembering how Adrien had told her that Chloe was the mayor's daughter, and liked to use his position to get what she wanted. "You're going to tell me to move to another spot, I'm going to say no, then you're going to say something along the lines of, 'Oh, then why don't I go get my daddy, I mean, the mayor, and have him make me move to another spot?'"
Chloe was about to protest, when she was cut off by a squeal. "Oh, I love that show!" Rose had bounded over when she heard Jasmine paraphrasing a line from one of her favorite TV shows. "You must be the new student! I'm Rose! I've also read those stories online, and they're so cute! But my favorite ones are by JazzyFri13. One of their stories was about a prince who sang to his princess in a disguise one night, then he unmasked himself the next night. That was so romantic, and I just had to make it a favorite! And JazzyFri13 was so nice, sending me a thank-you note!"
"Well in that case, thanks, Rose; I'm glad you liked that one," Jasmine grinned.
However, her grin faded, and she shrank back and covered her ears as Rose shrieked, "That's what they wrote to me…wait a minute! You're JazzyFri13?! I love your stories!"
"Rose, what are you talking about?" they heard another voice. "I told you yesterday that I'm JazzyFri13! After all, I know so much about music, and I want to share my knowledge with everyone!"
Taking her hands off her ears, Jasmine straightened up and glared at Lila, who was coming over to them. "That's the biggest load of bullcrap I've heard all day. I know my own name, and when I was born! And I've heard some of the stories about you, Liar Rossi! Adrien told me that your fanfiction name is FoxyItalian1, and the reviews you got from your stories, and the stories themselves, were so bad that I had to run to the bathroom and wash my eyes out with soap!"
"Girl, why are you yelling at Lila? She just wants to tell us about the new chapter of her story," Alya protested.
"Yes, the story...that I've been working on for the past few months!" Jasmine rolled her eyes. "I always give anyone who helps me with my stories credit, but FoxyItalian1 never once offered to help me with any of my stories, so her being JazzyFri13 is, as I just said, bullcrap! Because JazzyFri13 is me! My friends gave me the nickname Jazzy, and I was born on Friday the thirteenth!"
"You were born on Friday the thirteenth?" Juleka murmured over Lila's protests. "Awesome!"
"I know, right? How cool is that!" Jasmine smirked, then she turned her glare back to Lila. "And another thing: many of the artists I reference and put in my stories were popular long before you were even thought of! So don't be giving me all this garbage about you having a strong talent for music or a connection with the artists, because the timelines when you say you were all together will not add up! And if I hear about you badmouthing, criticizing, or lying about my stories or anything pertaining to me again, I might just have you ground up into bratwurst, knockwurst, liverwurst, and pretty much make it the wurst experience of your life!" She paused to take a breath, looking Lila over with a shrug. "Sorry; I saw your sausage hair and that's all I could think of!"
"Food puns?! Really?!" Marinette groaned as Adrien entered.
"I relish the thought of having another person to trade puns with myself!" Adrien smirked as he quickly got between Marinette and Jasmine so Lila couldn't reach him. He swiped a lemon bar from Jasmine's box, and he grinned after the first bite. "Jazz, you need to get me the recipe for this! Nathalie has a birthday coming up, and lemon bars are her favorite dessert!"
"No problem, Adrien," Jasmine smiled.
"You can't give it to him! And you can't be near him! He's mine!" Lila screeched.
"Oh, please," Jasmine snapped, trying not to wince this time as she turned toward Lila again. "I've only known him a few days, and Adrien's one of the nicest guys I've ever met! And he's way too good for you! You always go for the 'sex sells' angle in photoshoots, and that's not what Mr. Agreste is looking for! Yes, my dad, who works for him, told me about that on our first night here, and I've not only seen a few of the magazines you're in with Adrien, but I've heard a few stories about how unprofessional you are. You're always trying to grab him and drape yourself on him like some kind of fake fur coat! You're always trying to kiss him when it's obvious to anyone with eyes that he's not even remotely interested in you! In fact, Adrien's so pure and innocent that I bet he can't even hear or say the word 'titmouse' without giggling like a schoolgirl!"
As she was doing a victory dance in her mind as she listened to Jasmine rip into Lila, Marinette tapped her arm, and nodded toward not just Adrien, but also Nino and Kim, who were trying and failing at muffling their laughter (unbeknownst to everyone in the room, Adrien's pocket was also vibrating as Plagg tried to conceal his own laughter).
As the boys sobered and the girls rolled their eyes at their antics, Lila shouted at Jasmine, "What do you know about anything?! I run this school! Everyone adores me!"
"Sure they do," Jasmine drawled. "But really, you're just…" she cut herself off with a shake of her head. "Wait, no you're not."
"She's not what?" Kim asked.
"I was going to say that she's just another one of those queen-bee types I remember from home, but then that would be an insult to Queen Bee," Jasmine shrugged.
"Burn," Alya smirked.
"Stuff it, Cesaire! And excuse you, Densmore!" Chloe frowned.
"Actually, it's Dinsmoore," Jasmine replied, "But you're close; Densmore is a different branch of my family. And I said she's nothing like Queen Bee. I saw some of the videos on the Ladyblog that had Queen Bee fighting alongside Ladybug and Chat Noir, and you did a really good job when Ladybug called for you those times."
"I did, didn't I?" Chloe preened. "Okay, I suppose just this once, you and Dupain-Cheng can sit in the front and Lie-la can go to the back where she belongs."
"But my tinnitus is acting up! I need to be up front!" Lila wailed.
"Oh, walk it off," Jasmine snapped, having heard from Adrien about Lila's 'disabilities' and 'injuries.' "Or better yet, have someone spit in your ear to heal it." On Marinette, Alya, and Chloe's looks of revulsion, she asked, "What? Some of my relatives used to say that spitting on an injury heals it quickly!"
"I'll do it!" Kim shouted, sticking a finger in his mouth and preparing to give Lila a 'wet willy'.
"Kim, no!" Max shouted. "Not only is that incredibly unhygienic, but there's a less than 1% chance that that actually works!"
"Besides, meathead, you don't know where Lila's been," Alix smirked as she joined them and heard the conversation. As Marinette introduced her to Jasmine, she grabbed her own lemon bar from the box and spoke around a mouthful of it, "So, your old lady's the one working with my brother. He does part-time work at the American University of Paris as the Egyptology professor. He was really excited about working with a Nancy…Dinsmoore?"
"That's right," Jasmine agreed. "Mom majored in English Literature and Philosophy in college, but she's always been interested in World Mythology, which she minored in. She said that she got an email from a Jalil Kubdel last night saying that she's going to be working with him for a few weeks in his Egyptology class."
"And do you know anything about Egyptian mythology?" Marinette asked, thinking of her battle with Pharaoh, and how she and Tikki had talked about the ancient Ladybug at the museum.
"Well…" Jasmine started, then she regaled the group with a few of the stories Nancy used to tell her, such as how the Demon Days came to be, when the sky goddess Nut gambled with the moon god Konshu, winning enough light to create five extra days for her children to be born, since there were originally three hundred and sixty days in the year. "And of course, let's not forget one of the most important facts about Egyptian mythology!" she smiled as she finished her story.
"What's that?" Max asked.
"Cats were worshipped as gods in ancient Egypt, and they've never forgotten it!" Jasmine grinned, holding up her phone and showing them a picture of her and Socks.
"Oh, your kitty is so cute!" Rose smiled.
"Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!" Chloe muttered.
"Oh, you're right, Chloe, what was I thinking?" Jasmine smirked. "I meant to say, cats are sweet precious babies who were worshipped as gods in ancient Egypt, and they've never forgotten it!"
"Excuse me!" Marinette barely managed to choke out before running out over several groans.
"Be right back!" Adrien was right behind her.
***LBCNLBCNLBCN***
Marinette barely managed to make it to the empty locker room before collapsing in a corner and cracking up. "Sweet precious-Oh, wait until Chat Noir hears about this!"
"Chat Noir nothing," Tikki was giggling. "Wait until Plagg hears about this!"
At the same time, Plagg flew out of Adrien's pocket when they reached the vacant boys' bathroom. "Sweet precious baby?! I'll show her a sweet precious baby!" he ranted. When he didn't get a reply, Plagg looked around and saw Adrien curled up in a corner, laughing just as hard as Marinette. "Adrien!"
"Come on, Plagg, you know you heard Jazz talking about how much she likes cats, both when we first met, and just now!" Adrien was trying to stop laughing. "I just didn't expect her to describe it like that!"
"Still, when we get back, I'm going to-" Plagg was cut off by Adrien holding up a piece of Camembert. "Goo-goo ga-ga, I say!" he said as he devoured it and Adrien chuckled at his antics. "And she will be forgiven when she gives you those Camembert recipes she mentioned!"
***LBCNLBCNLBCN***
When they got back to class, everyone was ready to begin. Miss Bustier greeted the class, then she motioned to Jasmine. "And I'm sure some of you have already met our new student, Jasmine Dinsmoore. Jasmine, why don't you come up and tell us a little bit about yourself?"
"Okay," Jasmine started, reaching into her pocket and squeezing something before joining Miss Bustier at the front. "As you already know, my name's Jasmine…and yes, I've heard all the Disney Princess jokes before! But to avoid confusion between me and Princess Jasmine, just call me Jazz." She paused as a few students laughed, then she continued, "My parents and I moved here from Marquette, Michigan. I was telling some of you that my mom's a professor at the American University of Paris, where she teaches World Mythology, English Literature, and Philosophy. For now, she's working with Alix's brother, but I think sometime in the next few weeks she's going to get her own classroom. My dad works for Gabriel Agreste, since one of his lawyers got a new job in…I think he said either London or Liverpool…someplace in England, I remember that much."
"Actually, according to Father and Nathalie, he accepted a job in Lancaster, but you're right about London too; they said that he's going to transfer from Lancaster to London after a few months. This was just to finish up some last-minute business here," Adrien supplied, having been there himself at the farewell party.
"Lancaster! That's the one! I knew it started with 'L!' Thanks, Adrien!" Jasmine agreed. "I see some of you enjoying my treats, as baking is one of my favorite things to do, and I told you earlier that I'm JazzyFri13, a fanfiction writer. And I also said that I was born on Friday the thirteenth. So don't mess with me unless you want to be cursed!"
"Oh, great," Lila pouted as some of the others laughed. "She's born on an unlucky day, she makes terrible puns at my expense, and she likes cats. This is all we need, a female Chat Noir! But thankfully she doesn't smell like stinky cheese!"
"That's an insult to Camembert! Can I cataclysm Little Miss Liar-Cheeks now, Adrien?" Plagg whispered. "I can make it look like she died in a horrific accident!"
"Let's put that idea in the maybe pile, Plagg," Adrien whispered back.
At the same time, Tikki was whispering, "Lila says that like it's a bad thing. I heard Plagg say you did a good job as Lady Noire, Marinette!"
As Marinette smiled and discreetly hushed her, Alya noticed Jasmine squeezing something in her pocket again. "What are you doing?"
"Sorry," Jasmine apologized. "I get nervous speaking in public, so I always try to have something small in my pocket that I can squeeze to help me calm down. I meant to put my little friend here away before class started, but I got caught up in telling you guys about other things." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small plush Plague Nurse keychain. "My friends gave me some keychains to remember them by when I left. I've got them in my bag, and I've started using them as writing helpers for my stories."
"That's an interesting idea, Jasmine," Miss Bustier agreed. "Everyone gets nervous about something sometime, and it's good to have a way to calm yourself. But for now, keep that in your pocket, and everyone, open your books."
The lesson on mythology was interesting for everyone. Normally, Lila would be telling one of her tall tales about being the descendant of one of the Olympians or some other lie, but this time, it was Jasmine who was incorporating helpful bits of extra information on the myths that Miss Bustier was teaching, and even she was interested in learning something new. And every time Lila tried to open her mouth, she'd hear Jasmine start humming Superstition by Stevie Wonder, which according to Nino, was a fitting song to keep Lila at bay, especially since she sounded like she was superstitious.
"Dudette's got good taste in music," he added.
"She could give you a run for your money, Babe," Alya chuckled.
"Yeah, and maybe next time she should do Witchy Woman by the Eagles," Adrien whispered back. "I remember that one from a Halloween-themed fashion show last year."
"Just keep the songs clean, guys," Jasmine whispered to them before turning back to the lesson.
***LBCNLBCNLBCN***
When they went to their next class, Jasmine called, "Hey, Meylene? Can I talk to you for a second?" Meylene paused, and Jasmine continued, "I wanted to say that I really like your hair. In fact, back home, my friend Shauna is really into braiding right now, and she'd love to know how you do your hair and get all those colors and things in it. Would it be okay if I took some pictures and sent them to her?"
"Of course," Meylene smiled. She let Jasmine take a few pictures, then a minute after they were sent, the girls smiled at the reply.
-That's so cool! :) I've got to learn how she gets all those colors and beads in her hair! -
-Why don't I let her tell you about it? -Jasmine typed back after showing Meylene the message and Meylene telling her that she could give Shauna her phone number and email, so she didn't have to keep using Jasmine's phone. -She gave me permission to give you her email and phone number so you can talk to each other on your own time. -
-That sounds great! Talk to you tonight, Meylene! :)-
"And just like that, instant pen pals!" Jasmine grinned.
"That was so nice of you! Thanks, Jazz!" Meylene smiled.
"Yeah, girl," Alya agreed as she and Lila caught up to them and looked at the photo Jasmine just took. "You could be a photographer!"
"My uncle could give you some pointers, since he's a world famous photographer back in Italy!" Lila agreed. "He's taken pictures of every famous celebrity on the planet!"
"Thanks but no thanks," Jasmine frowned as she put her phone away. "My own uncle, who's had his own wedding photography business for over ten years, taught me everything I know about photography. And besides, I just take pictures for fun. I was even an unofficial member of the photography club at my mom's old college."
"You'll have to show us some of your photos, Jazz," Meylene smiled.
"Sure! I've got a lot of photo albums back home. Maybe you can come over sometime and we'll look through them," Jasmine agreed.
***LBCNLBCNLBCN***
When they were in Ms. Mendeleiev's class, the teacher pointed Jasmine to a seat that was near the front so she'd be able to hear the lesson, but also far away enough from any chemicals that might bother her. Since Rose was sitting near her, Jasmine mentioned her sensitivity to smells to her, so the blonde obligingly put her perfume in her purse and scrubbed off what she had put on earlier.
For one of the groups Ms. Mendeleiev set up, Jasmine found herself with Nathaniel, Aurore, and Marc. Jasmine was able to help keep Nathaniel focused, but she did say that she liked his drawings. And like everyone else, she thought that Marc and Nathaniel were adorable together! They even offered to let her help with dialogue for a future issue of their comic, since they also read her stories.
During the discussion, Lila was trying to say that she once led an open-heart surgery, so she knew all about the procedure Ms. Mendeleiev was teaching, but nobody paid any attention to her. "But I've never made mistakes! I can bring in the hearts right now!"
"Actually, Lila, you can't," Jasmine spoke up. "I was at the vending machines getting a snack earlier, and I heard someone from the cafeteria telling Mr. Damocles' secretary that there was a mix-up between Ms. Mendeleiev's pig hearts and the 'meatloaf surprise' they're having for lunch today…"
As Chloe fainted and Sabrina started to work on reviving her, Lila screamed so loudly that it made everyone wince, and she sprinted out of the room as the class started cracking up.
"Well done, Miss Dinsmoore," Ms. Mendeleiev smirked over the class's laughter. "That's worth ten extra credit points on your next quiz! And I'll have to write that one down!"
"That makes two of us, Ms. M!" Marc called as he scribbled the joke down one of his notebooks.
"Plagg, remind me to talk to Ladybug about making Jazz a permanent Miraculous holder!" Adrien whispered.
"Tikki, remind me to talk to Chat Noir about making Jazz a permanent Miraculous holder!" Marinette whispered.
***LBCNLBCNLBCN***
At lunch, Jasmine was sitting with Marinette when some of the others came over to them. "Jazz, that was the greatest thing I ever saw!" Kim greeted her. "I've never seen Lila run so fast! Especially considering that she has a bad knee!"
"You saw her sprinting; she's clearly faking it," Jasmine shrugged.
"Girl, how can you say that?" Alya asked. "Sure, that wasn't a nice trick to play on Lila, but you shouldn't make fun of her injuries like that."
"I've seen people with bad knees and other injuries that make moving too fast torture," Jasmine frowned. "And it takes a long time for injuries like that to heal. I should know; I burned my foot when I spilled hot liquid on it two years ago, and it took at least three months to heal! And let this be a lesson: wear shoes when you cook, and don't cook when you're sick or dizzy!" She turned back to Kim. "But on an unrelated note, let me guess; Vietnamese?"
"That's right!" Kim smiled. Normally he had to correct people when they thought he was Chinese or Japanese, but he was pleasantly surprised to hear someone get it right so quickly. "How'd you know?"
"My cousin Anna was adopted from Vietnam when she was a kid," Jasmine smiled as she found a picture on her phone. "This is her at her wedding last year."
Smiling when he saw the picture of the young woman who looked like a younger version of his mother, Kim nodded as he looked over some of the pictures with her. "That's nice…hey, I've seen that guy's picture in my swim coach's office," he said as he pointed at a picture of a man with Roger and Nancy. He motioned to a girl who was passing their table. "Ondine!" The girl came over, and Kim said, "Jazz, this is Ondine Soares. She's on the swim team with me."
"Nice to meet you, Jazz," Ondine smiled.
"Nice to meet you too, Ondine. And Kim just recognized my mom's cousin, Randy Barker," Jasmine explained. "He was one of Coach Devereaux's best swimmers when he was younger. In fact, Randy works in Florida now where he trains whales and dolphins. And before that, he did a show where he waterskied dressed as Batman."
"I knew he'd go far!" they heard Lila's unwelcome voice cut into the conversation. "I taught him everything he knows! But I thought he made a much better Superman!"
"Again, I say, bullcrap!" Jasmine snapped as she jumped to her feet and glared at the Italian liar. "And I warned you before, Lila, don't lie about my family! But since you have, I get to call my lawyer!" She dialed a number, then put it on speaker. "Hey, Dad?"
"Lawyer?" Alya frowned. "Your dad doesn't really work for Gabriel Agreste, does he?"
"Yes, Alya; weren't you paying attention to my introduction this morning?" Jasmine frowned.
"Jazz? I'm just checking in with Randy, since I told him I'd call when I started my first day of work. Is everything okay?" they heard Roger's voice.
"Hi, Jazz!" they heard a second voice join them.
"Hi, Randy. I hope you and Dad don't mind, but I'm going to make this conference call a video call. Dad, that girl in my class that I told you about, Lila Rossi, is lying about our family, even after I told her not to do that," Jasmine said as she aimed her phone's camera at Lila.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Randy yelled in mock horror. "Jazz, I thought we were friends! I'm going to have nightmares about sausages and traffic cones for months now!"
"But Randy, I thought you'd like to see the girl who said she taught you everything you know," Jasmine said sweetly over the group's barely covered giggles. "She also said she wanted you to be Superman instead of Batman in that waterski show you used to do, before she, any of my new friends, and I were born!"
"Rog, do you think you can start a lawsuit against her?" Randy asked, all traces of humor gone now.
"No problem," Roger agreed, and started writing things down. "Defamation of character, slander…"
"I'll tell you about any more charges as they come up too," Jasmine agreed. "Oh, and Randy?" she turned her phone toward Ondine and Kim. "Remember your old swim coach, Mr. Deveraux? These are two of his current students, Ondine Soares and Le Chien Kim."
Ondine and Kim smiled and waved at the camera, then the two of them and Randy had a nice conversation about their experiences with Coach Deveraux.
At the same time, Nathaniel was drawing some future ideas for his and Marc's comic book. He grinned as he drew Ladybug and Chat Noir on waterskies as they pursued the supervillain du jour. "I know I heard on the Ladyblog that they have that power where they can breathe underwater, but they should have a way to chase the villain on the water too!"
"Well, I've heard that the Lucky Charm can conjure anything, so maybe it can make a speedboat for them," Jasmine agreed after she ended the call. "But they might also need to have someone steer the boat for them."
"And I can help you was well," Ondine added. "I remember what they looked like after I was de-akumatized, so I can give you some details on Ladybug and Chat Noir's aqua costumes and what the powers did."
As she looked over at Lila, Alya frowned. "Are you going to be okay, girl?"
"I'll be fine, bestie," Lila frowned.
As she watched Alya update the Ladyblog on her phone, Lila sat stewing in anger. She was supposed to be the center of everyone's lives, not some new student! Especially one whose father was a lawyer, she frowned as she thought of the impending lawsuits! And the last thing she needed was another person to call her out on her lies. She was already at war with Marinette, but she decided that she could be at war with the new girl as well… Besides, she mused, she knew with some help from Hawkmoth, she could destroy Jasmine just as easily as she could destroy Marinette.
All she could do now was wait for the right moment.
Author's notes
Thanks to BooksRBetterThanPeople for helping me with some details in this chapter.
Thanks also to Niagara14301 for helping me with some details in this chapter.
Adrien telling Jasmine about Lila breaking into Marinette's locker and stealing the test answers is a reference to the episode Ladybug.
In this story, the security cameras are still damaged, thanks to Stoneheart.
Part of Jasmine's conversation with Chloe is taken from the Sofia the First episode Tea for Too Many
Jasmine's 'Can't even say titmouse' quote is from the Simpsons episode Homer Badman
Jasmine's friend Shauna and her cousin Randy Barker are my own characters
Superstition by Stevie Wonder and Witchy Woman by the Eagles are not mine.
Ondine's last name, Soares, is taken from her voice actress Clara Soares.
I made up the name of her and Kim's swim coach, Coach Deveraux