Adrien

The Gorilla helped Adrien out of the car and escorted him into the school as Adrien krutched up the front steps. Nino and Alya were waiting for him just inside the front entrance, but no one else was in the courtyard. Gorilla nodded at Adrien and headed back to the car. "Thanks!" Adrien called after the massive man before turning to his friends. "Where's Marinette? She told me to meet her here early."

Alya nodded her head with a wide smile on her face, still unable to comprehend the young fashion designer's determination. Marinette had shown up carrying a bag that no one her size should ever be able to lift on their own. "Marinette is already in the classroom. She wanted to wait out here for you with us, but we made her take a break."

While Alya was talking, Nino took Adrien's bag from him. "Hey, I can still carry that," Adrien insisted.

Nino shook his head. "No way, dude. Marinette told me you are not allowed to carry your bag or do anything that puts a strain on you. Something tells me she will not react well if she sees you doing anything physical."

Alya nodded in agreement, a smirk forming on her face. "Your crush seems pretty concerned for you, Adrien. Maybe she is returning your feelings at long last?" Adrien blushed as he headed up the stairs, taking it slow with his crutches.

Once they got to the top, Adrien stopped them. "Can you guys find out when her birthday is?"

Alya nodded, "Yeah, why?"

"I wanna throw a party. I mean obviously I'll need you guys and the rest of the class to help, but she deserves it."

"You're damn right she does," Alya agreed. "Everyone will be climbing over each other to pitch in."

"And you will have the best DJ in the house for this occasion," Nino assured him.

"Thanks, guys. I guess we better not keep her waiting any longer." Adrien turned to keep going up the stairs.

"Hey Adrien, how much would it take to give your dietitian a heart attack?" Alya asked as they were almost at the classroom doors.

Adrien shrugged, "Not much. If I am a pound too heavy, he freaks out. Why?"

"He is a dead man if he ever meets Marinette. Nino and I have a bet on whether she will kill him or give him a heart attack," Alya explained. Adrien laughed, thinking they were just joking around. That is, until he saw the amount of food Marinette had brought for his breakfast. It completely covered the desk he shared with Nino, with some containers placed on Marinette and Alya's desk to make more room for food.

Adrien opened his mouth to voice his refusal, but the determination in Marinette's eyes killed any fight in him. Some fights were simply not worth fighting, he decided as she beamed brighty at him.

Lila

Lila pulled the hoodie farther over her head as she let her gaze wander around the coffee shop. It was the first time she had left home in a few days, passing the time by reading fanfics on Archive of Our Own and trolling authors for the fun of it. A few of her followers agreed to meet her during lunchtime to give any information they might have managed to gather. Hopefully, Lila would be able to come up with a plan to counter the recent events.

The door opened and in stepped Terra, one of her closest followers, with a concerned look on her face. Lila looked behind her, expecting more of her followers to enter, but no one else came. "Where is everyone else?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

Terra flashed her an apologetic smile. "Sorry, but we thought it best if only one of us went. Most of the school thinks you are the devil, so we didn't want someone to find you and for you to get mobbed again."

Lila gave her a fake expression of gratitude, inwardly seething at the fact that she wasn't one to reaffirm her friends' trust in her all at once. Now, she had to pray that no one was considering leaving her side. "That's so thoughtful, though it would be nice to see everyone together again."

Terra nodded understandingly as the barista brought their drinks over, offering to pay since Lila had so much uncalled for drama lately. "We all miss you too, but want to make sure you stay safe." Her expression became more serious as she continued, "My friend at Dupont messaged me yesterday."

Lila froze for a moment, fearing the worst that Terra may have come alone to confront her without the others to interfere. Then she remembered meeting Terra's friend and how they adored her, no sob story from Marinette would change her mind. "And what did they say?"

"It's exactly as you said," Terra growled. "Marinette has all the girls wrapped around her finger, telling them all that you bullied and tormented her."

Lila sighed dramatically as she looked down at her hot chocolate, "If only they knew the truth about her."

Terra cleared her throat, "There is one mistake she made though: she only told the girls in her homeroom and Adrien. Only eight people actually know her side of the story."

Lila's eyes brightened, a small smile forming. "That's good. We can still stop her from hurting any more people."

Terra nodded eagerly, a smile of her own that mirrored Lila's forming. "That's not all, there are two other people who might be able to help us as well."

Lila leaned forward curiously, "Who?"

"Well one of them is this homeschool kid, plays the guitar and has a bit of a Jagged Stone thing going on. He seems extremely interested in Marinette for some reason," she mused, her brows pressing together has if she was mentally debating the reason for the guitarist's weird behaviour. "If he wasn't so interested in Marinette, I would even suggest he be a nice boyfriend for you since Adrien was horrible to you." She hissed in frustration at the memory to Lila's glee.

Lila nodded in agreement, already thinking of ways she could manipulate this boy. "We might be able to show him the truth yet before Marinette turns her sob story on him." She looked back at Terra, asking, "Who was the other person?"

Terra shuddered slightly, "The other person is a new girl and she seems a bit hot headed. She straight up flipped one of those heavy library carts on Adrien in a fencing duel."

Lila frowned, struggling to recall what she knew about the sport. "What was a library cart doing in the middle of a dueling arena?"

"It wasn't in the dueling arena, they were dueling in the library. The duel moved across the school and from what I heard, she is vicious. She even injured Adrien in the process." Terra squeezed her cup tightly, adding nervously, "She might be too much of a wild card to be helpful to us"

Lila nodded, musing the story in her head. An unpredictable wild card might be just what she needs to topple Marinette and put herself back in the spotlight. "What is this girl's name? I want to meet her for myself."

Terra gave her a bewildered look, then shrugged. "If you're sure, but it's your funeral. Her name is Kagami Tsurugi."

Lila smiled, "Thank you for updating me. Please let me know right away if anything else happens, be it Marinette or this guitar boy." Giving Terra a little wave, Lila left the cafe with a wicked grin on her face. She was gonna make Marinette's life hell all over again.

Marinette

As she swapped out her books for the next class, Marinette did not see a solemn Chloe walk up behind her in the locker room. The blonde waited patiently for Marinette to close her door before speaking to her. "Hey, Marinette? Can I talk to you for a second?" Chloe's eyes darted around the room rapidly as she added, "in private?"

Marinette gave her a kind, but cautious smile. "Sure, I think there is a classroom empty over her." Chloe nodded and followed her, wringing her hands nervously. Once they were alone in the room, Marinette turned her gaze back over to Chloe. "What's up?"

Chloe took a deep breath, having never done something like this and was uncertain about what to say. Then everything came out like water bursting out of a broken dam. "I'm sorry for trying to steal your designs for the hat competition. And for tricking you into stealing Adrien's seat. And that thing with the gum…"

"Wait," Marinette cut her off. "That was you? How did you even figure out to get the gum to launch at my face when I opened my locker door?"

"I'm Chloe, just accept it. The point is I'm sorry for all the mean and horrible things I have done to you," Chloe said earnestly. She looked at Marinette with pleading eyes, asking, "Will you please forgive me?"

Marinette took a moment to process what just happened, then stated firmly, "I will forgive you Chloe, but first you must apologize to everyone else in the school that you have bullied and harassed. You don't have to list everything, just say that you are sorry."

Chloe frowned, then sighed as she nodded her head in agreement. "Okay, though it may take a long time. And this doesn't mean I'm gonna completely change the way I act though."

Marinette gave her an understanding smile, reassuring her, "I don't expect you to completely change the way you act, just try to be a little bit nicer to everyone." Marinette frowned for a moment, than added, "Especially Sabrina."

Chloe gave her a shocked look. "Sabrina? What do you mean? She is my best friend!"

"And you treat her like a servant, getting her to steal for you and, I heard she does all your homework as well." Chloe looked at the ground, clearly ashamed over her actions. "Just please try."

Marinette exited the classroom, immediately running into a concerned Alya. "Girl, are you okay? Rose said she saw you head off with Chloe. What's going on?"

Marinette laughed, answering, "You won't believe it until you see it."

Alya gave her a curious look, wondering if the girl had finally gone bonkers. "If you say so then. What's your plan for lunch?"

Marinette gave Alya a wide smile, "I'm gonna let my parents feed Adrien. If you thought I went overboard this morning, wait until you see what they come up with." She snickered, "Can't force him to model when he is fat." Marinette walked off, followed by a bewildered Alya.

Emilie

Emilie was leaving the warehouse being set up for the new charity event she and her associates were hosting when the text message buzzed on her phone. She pulled out her phone and sighed when she saw the contact name: Carlessa Rossi.

Carlessa Rossi: What the hell? I thought we were all on the same team!

Emilie Agreste: Carlessa, what happened is out of my hands. Your daughter didn't behave professionally and my son acted on his own accord. Maybe if you took the time to discipline your child, neither of you would be in this mess. And I wouldn't be so eager to scream after your child mentally damaged our most valuable asset.

Carlessa Rossi: That doesn't make what happened acceptable.

Emilie Agreste: Tell your daughter to play nicely and be obedient. I'll take care of Adrien. Don't be late to the meeting tomorrow night. We have important business to discuss about Project Mayura.

Emilie turned off her phone and put it away as the car pulled back in the Agreste Mansion. She needed to prepare the library for her guests the next evening. And a distraction for her fool of a husband that will keep him and his nosy assistant. Gabriel must never know of Project Mayura or the truth about Adrien, no matter how much of his money got funneled into the project. Some things required a woman's touch.