The Locker Room
The class had a study session in the library because Ms Bustier lingered in principal Damocles's office. The teacher was there to discuss the steps the school and the teachers should take. Obviously, some kind of education was needed for the teachers as she herself understood that her training so far had been insufficient.
Adrien was in front of his locker. He was feeding Plagg and checking his phone. He heard when Marinette entered the locker room. She was in the library slightly longer before she left the group, she had a discussion with the librarian as a class representative and Adrien had to go and feed Plagg.
When the boy noticed his (favourite?) classmate and presentation partner entered the locker room, he just could not resist. He neatly sneaked around lockers without making a sound. He sneaked around and hid behind the door of her locker just like he did after Evilustrator and Troublemaker. He liked to surprise her like that. He still had the phone in his hand.
Adrien patiantly waited for Marinette to shut the locker door and reveal him. She was busy with something, he could not see what she was doing (which was stuffing a cookie into her purse).But then someone else entered the locker room. There were steps going around, as if someone checked if there was anybody else in there. Finally, the steps approached Marinette.
"You have been evading me." A sly voice was heard. Adrien knew who it was. It was Lila. His first instinct was to jump out from behind the door and save his princess from the imminent danger in a shape of another girl. But he remembered how him and Marinette always lacked proof of whatever Lila did. And she was always better with distorting the fact than anyone else with producing them. He switched on the camera on his phone, he also pressed to record the video as he knew it would switch off automatically after a few seconds of idle time.
"What do you want Lila?" Marinette asked tiredly as she turned towards the other girl. She knew that her evasive manoeuvres would not save her forever. But she would have preferred it lasted just a little bit longer, until the next week, perhaps.
Adrien raised his phone so that camera pointed through one of the small air holes in the door. That way he could see on the screen what was going on on the other side. 'Okay, so that is the face I should have had in the sketch.' Adrien concluded as he watched the exchange.
He still wanted to jump in between the two girls, but something prevented him, something told him to wait for the right moment. Perhaps it was his usual hesitation and avoidance of conflict, perhaps he was taking the high road again, but his guts told him to wait this time, so he did.
"I warned you, you will loose all your friends if you do not do what I tell you." Lila was walking over and swayed her hips full of self confidence.
"I haven't exactly lost all my friends, Lila." Marinette replied tiredly. 'At least not yet.' She thought to herself. Alya insisted on spending time with Lila and Marinette was becoming more and more distant from her best friend. She only hoped that today's performance would improve the situation.
"You have, you just don't know it yet." Lila had a winning grin on her face.
Marinette took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. The lying brat already started the wheels moving for sure, for whatever it was this time.
"What do you want this time? " Marinette spoke quietly, but she struggled to keep her voice from shaking. It was a tough week and she was getting tired, confrontation with a lying psycho was the last thing she needed.
"I am here to make you a deal." Lila continued. "You will stop this charade of an assignment with Adrien, you will stop hanging out with the girls and you will leave our class and this school all on your own." Lila was now standing in front of Marinette and pushed her with her index finger into her chest and consequently into the door of her locker. Adrien was about to jump from his hiding, but Marinette spoke faster.
"Or else?" Marinette clenched her fists and gathered all her strength.
"I will tell his father something that will make Gabriel move Adrien from this school." Lila smiled her sly smile.
Adrien's hand trembled a little. Now he was facing a choice, if he jumped out and protected Marinette, he might be facing … what? And this threat was aimed at him as much as at the girl on the other side of the thin metal door. He was well aware what it could be.
"I doubt Gabriel Agreste takes orders from you." Marinette retorted with a shaky voice. She remembered clearly what Adrien had said on the meeting on Tuesday. But there was no way that Lila knew that. Or was there? She did follow them around for the whole week.
Adrien was not absolutely certain that Lila had no influence on his father, especially if she knew what to say. She did get the status of his muse, for whatever that meant. The last muse of Gabriel Agreste, was Adrien's mother,, Emilie, so the status stung the boy even more than it normally would.
"You might be surprised. What do you think how I got into that photo shoot with him?" Lila barked her reply. She was enjoying the power she felt so much, Adrien could see it in her face. It made him sick, he knew she was not making empty threats, the boy knew better than to hope with his father.
"Adrien did not invite you?" Marinette raised her eyebrow and actually collected courage to speak in slightly provocative voice. If only she could make Lila understand that Adrien never wanted her there, that he was not just disappointed in the girl's pushy manners.
"Nah." She waved her hand as if Adrien was insignificant. "Gabriel did." She put on her wicked smile. "Adrien had no choice but to do that photo shoot with me. You see, I am Gabriel's muse. You might have won that design competition with that ridiculous hat of yours, but it is me who has an exclusive. I can be photographed and filmed for the Agreste corporation." The girl flattered herself and assumed a pose as if she was in a photo shoot.
Marinette smiled the sad smile. So Adrien was coerced to do it. Poor boy. He really did not like the girl at all, not even then. It was not like Chloe who was his childhood friend and whom he tried to protect and understand even when nobody else did (save Sabrina perhaps).
That was a confirmation of Adrien's worst nightmares. He still wanted to jump out and protect Marinette, but then his father would pull him out from school and he would not be there for the next attack.
"You see, I have everything you ever wanted, I will have the career in the fashion industry and I will have the boy you love and I am the most popular girl in the class already, not you, I will be the class president." Lila taunted.
"But if he gets pulled out from school then you will not see him too." Marinette frowned as she proudly pointed to a flaw in the brunette's plan. She focused on saving Adrien, her own problems could wait.
"Oh, of course I will, I can go to his house whenever I want." Lila mocked. She enjoyed to brag about it although it was not the truth. Since when did she care what the truth was?
Adrien sincerely doubted that was the case. Even Chloe could not do that. But Chloe did not want to do that, the heiress expected to be paid a visit at her top floor of a luxury hotel. The prospect of even a possibility of being locked up and having only Lila for company was just too much for him to take, but he could not have Marinette change schools for him, he did not want her to.
"Besides, he might just transfer schools and I will easily persuade my mum to do the same for me." Lila fluttered her eyelashes.
Adrien made sure his phone was still filming and struggled to breathe calmly so the girls would not hear him. The last option seemed really viable. Not that he actually had the presence of mind to evaluate all the options.
"You are bluffing." Marinette was not giving up that easily.
Adrien sincerely hoped she was right.
"Are you ready to risk that?" The liar taunted back.
"How low would you go?" The pigtailed girl replied in a low voice.
"Always lower than anyone expects, that is why I get everything I want." Lila had that smile she always had when she knew she won.
"Remember what I told you, Marinette." Lila said as she finally turned and walked away.
Marinette waited for the other girl to leave before she sighed and slammed the door shut.
She squeaked when she saw Adrien and flailed her hands. She jumped backwards but he caught her and pulled her into a hug. He felt his eyes were filled with tears and his vision became blur. She was crying, but she hugged him back. They stood like that for a while. Their breathing calmed down, tears stopped flowing.
Then she noticed a violet butterfly fluttered towards them.
"Oh no, Adrien, we have to move." Marinette pulled him away with so much strength that the boy was taken by surprise. He might have expected Kagami to be able to pull him like that, But not Marinette.
They both slammed into the locker in the corner. Adrien held her tight and stared at the butterfly.
"We are strong Adrien. We are confident. We will find a solution for this together." Marinette whispered as she stared at the creature that fluttered in one spot. (At this point Gabriel might or might not feel the presence of Adrien).
"Together against the world." Adrien repeated after her as he pulled her closer, wrapped her into his arms to protect her and leaned more into the corner. He gained a few valuable centimetres between them and the butterfly.
The butterfly fluttered in the same spot for a while until it started to fly away and through the widow.
"Akuma alert, Ladyblog, quickly." Marinette shouted. She was already running away.
Adrien sent a message within seconds but when he looked up from his phone, Marinette was gone. He ran around the locker room once and called her name.
"The liar really outdid herself this time." Plagg floated by his side and muttered to himself.
"I should transform." He whispered.
"I am sure Ladybug will clean up that butterfly really soon." Plagg replied with a strange lilt in his tone.
Ladybug jumped out from a small window on the College Francois Dupont and quickly captured and deevilized a violet butterfly. She released the white butterfly and jumped back through the window. She sent a brief message from her yoyo and detransformed. Tikki flew straight back to her purse without a word.
Marinette got out from the toilet and found Adrien in the locker room. Both were visibly shaking again.
"Where did you go?" Adrien whisper shouted, ran towards her and pulled her into an embrace.
"I wanted to follow the butterfly and warn everyone to run away." She whispered her excuse.
"But it was out through the window." Adrien argued.
"And I went for the next window, it was the girls bathroom, Ladybug purified the butterfly." Marinette whispered.
"She did?" Adrien pulled out his phone.
"Yeah, she did." Marinette confirmed into his shoulder, she felt guilty for deceiving him, but technically, nothing she said was a lie.
"I am really sorry I did not step out to defend you." The boy cried.
"No, no, no, it is okay, it is better that you remained hidden." The girl shook her head.
"It is not okay." He hitched a breath. "I am such a coward. Kagami is right."
"Adrien." Marinette whispered gently. "She would definitely go to your father."
"She will go to him anyway, because you are not leaving this school." The boy held her tighter. "Do you understand?"
"But then you will ..." Marinette whispered.
"I have it on video." Adrien smirked as he held her.
"What?" Marinette asked his shoulder.
"I have it on video, it must help us somehow." The boy shrugged as he held her. He needed this as much as her.
"You mean we can show it to everybody and then..." She was already making plans.
"It can't be used as evidence, I did not get her agreement." The boy sighed. "This is not a public place, like a square."
"But she said she had a contract with your father that she can be filmed … you work for your father, don't you?" She asked, full of hope.
"I do, I am not sure if it works that way." The boy sighed.
Marinette understood that they could not ask for help from his father.
"We have to find someone who knows." She replied quietly. She knew her parents wouldn't know.
"I think it is time to call Jean." Adrien whispered.