Marinette could have sworn for a moment that she saw the briefest expression of utmost horror on Lila's face before she turned her head away at mach speed. The kind of terror you feel when you wake up on a nice Sunday morning until you realize it's Monday. But it had been so quick that she brushed it off as her imagination.
"You should definitely come!" Alya suddenly piped up. "Marinette's parents make the best pain au chocolat. And I can film another interview for the Ladyblog, too, if you're okay with that." She suggested. Marinette bit her lip at that, knowing that Lila probably would not have many fun things to say about Ladybug. Alya failed to notice the slight quiver in Lila's shoulders.
A solid five seconds of silence passed by and Marinette's brows drew together.
"Lila?" She repeated and moved closer, suddenly worried. She was about to lay a hand down on the student's shoulder when Lila suddenly stood up, hands almost slamming directly on the table. Marinette flinched and stepped backwards in surprise, when Lila turned around again, looking vaguely embarrassed.
"Oh, sorry about that. I, um-" Then she stopped herself and took a breath, composing herself. "I don't think I can come. I have a lot of classwork to catch up on." Lila continued apologetically, gesturing to her bag. Marinette faltered, frowning a little. Lila sounded sincere despite her outburst, and Marinette nodded understandingly, deciding not to pry.
"Well, Alya and I can bring you a snack after we come back, then. Maybe if we're early enough we can come help you out!" Marinette offered, all smiles and sunshine.
"That would be super." Lila replied, her voice seemingly a bit strained.
"Could I film another interview later, too?" Alya asked, holding her phone up.
"Of course." Lila smiled in response.
"Alright, well, we'll see you later then!" Marinette took Alya's arm and flashed a grin at Lila before turning around and exiting the library.
Even though the plan to have lunch together fell through, Marinette could still hang around after. She was thoroughly pleased with that outcome, and she chatted happily with Alya all throughout the walk.
Lila was terrified. Even though on the surface Marinette had only been thoughtful, it felt like Marinette was trying to hunt her down, to corner her and then destroy her. Because Marinette was Ladybug, her enemy, right? And they were never going to be friends, right?
Why was Marinette trying to get close to her? Why did she keep offering friendship? Why, why why?
Lila waited several minutes before grabbing her bag and fleeing yet again. There was no way she would deal with yet another encounter with Marinette. She definitely did not have it within her, so she had to evacuate the area. Lila walked quickly and left the room, seeking solace in some other room. But she was stopped by two students, both of whom she did not know. The first was blond with a ponytail. She was dressed in a yellow outfit and she wore an expression of superiority. The second had red hair, glasses and an argyle sweater; she seemed meek but also had a similar haughty expression.
"New girl." The blonde said in disgust. "I just wanted to make it clear that you have no chance with my Adrien. He and I are meant to be." She gloated. Lila blinked her eyes for a moment, and then rolled them discreetly. But she wasn't here to make any more enemies, and she knew more than Chloé how nonexistent her chance with Adrien was.
"Wow!" She exclaimed. "I didn't realize Adrien was so lucky!" Lila put a hand to her face and looked at Chloé in fake admiration. "You're so pretty! And so fashionable! Adrien must be so happy." Lila gushed. Chloé looked confused at first, but she welcomed this praise.
"Well, as the daughter of the mayor of Paris, I am perfect." She claimed, clearly pleased with Lila's words. "It's good to know that someone around here can see it. Sabrina?" She looked to the girl next to her and snapped her fingers.
"Yes, Chloé!" Sabrina straightened her back and held out a hand to Lila.
"You can have my phone number." Chloé said, as if she was bestowing an award to the first-place winner. Lila fished out her phone, opened a new contact page and then placed it in Sabrina's hands, who then typed out Chloé's information with a finger speed that should be reserved for competitions.
Sabrina opened up another contact and began to type out her own name.
"Sabrina, what are you doing?" Chloé sent her a pointed look. Sabrina nearly dropped the phone and she smiled sheepishly.
"I was giving her my number, too." She explained, clutching the phone tightly.
"And just why do you think she'd need that, too?" Chloé questioned accusingly. "Give the phone back." Lila looked back and forth between the girls, realizing just what kind of dynamic they had.
"Oh, it's fine. I need more contacts anyway." She said pleasantly. Sabrina gasped happily and went back to filling out her information, and Chloé nodded, resigned. "It was so great to meet you two." Lila took back her phone and pocketed it, smiling all the while.
"You're not half bad, new girl." Chloé decided.
"Lila." The so-called new girl corrected her.
"Lina, whatever. I think you should come with Sabrina and me to lunch. We'd be going to my house, the most luxurious hotel in France." The mayor's daughter said, seemingly more of a demand than an offer.
There was no way she would have to deal with Marinette if she went along with the two girls. Annoying as they were, they definitely liked Lila, and that was something she wouldn't turn away. As bonus, they weren't Ladybug, so it was all good.
"That sounds amazing! I'd love to come." Lila said, with all of the cheer she could muster. That was definitely the right answer, as Chloé's smile grew. She and Sabrina dragged Lila out to the front of the school, where a luxurious limo awaited them. Well, Lila smiled to herself, this should be fun.
Before Marinette and Alya left the school, they stopped at their lockers to grab some stuff. So it was a several minutes delay that prevented them from leaving and never seeing Lila ever again.
Alas, when they walked out, they watched as three girls climbed into Chloé Bourgeois's fancy white limo.
"Hey, isn't that Lila?" Alya pointed, and Marinette looked over just in time to see long brown hair slip into the car. And it was undoubtedly Lila who had just seated herself next to Chloé Bourgeois. Marinette's jaw dropped a little in shock as she watched the car door close.
She's lied before… why did I think she wouldn't lie again?
Marinette bit her lip, obviously hurt. She felt embarrassed and a little betrayed, but then she reminded herself that she wasn't even close to Lila, and that maybe something had just come up.
"She's going with Chloe? Bad news." Alya gritted her teeth. First being lied to, then being lied to in order to hang out with the world's most hated spoiled brat? And she had been impressed by her?
"Maybe something came up?" Marinette suggested, not believing herself.
"Maybe, but I doubt it." Alya grabbed Marinette's arm and dragged her along. "Her loss. We can have as many pain au chocolat as we want." Marinette remained quiet for a bit.
"Do you think I did something to make her upset?" She asked, allowing herself to be pulled along. "Maybe she wants to avoid me."
"You only spoke with her this morning! I don't think there's anything you even could have done to her." Alya sounded incredulous.
Marinette continued thinking, and then she began to feel a little sick. Because the only mean thing she had ever done to Lila was as Ladybug. That would mean Lila knew. And no one was supposed to know.
Oh no, she thought.
"Don't worry!" A tiny voice whispered in her ear. "There's no way she would know it's you." Tikki said. "No one saw you transform or anything, I made sure." The reassurance helped alleviate Marinette's worry. But it was vaguely worrying that even a centuries-old creature such as Tikki would fail to see that Ladybug's mask and suit did nothing to disguise her from Lila.
There is no doubt I did something to make her upset, though, Marinette decided.
"Well, I'll try and ask her about it later. No harm, right?" She told Alya, who smiled.
"Marinette, you're too nice." Alya shook her head. "But okay. No harm done."
The two girls shared a small smile and went on their way.
Lila breathed a sigh of relief; she had managed to conquer the rest of the day without any sign of Marinette. She knew that common sense dictated that one should not run from their problems, but Lila was an experienced practitioner of doing just that. She just didn't need to deal with her problems, not when she would be probably be moving yet again and leaving said problems behind. She had ignored her problems before, and she could ignore them again. The whole Marinette being Ladybug thing was kind of freaking her out, and she decided that she would rather not think about it. So it was with renewed determination to erase Marinette from her mind that she walked confidently to the school exit. She faltered a little bit as she kept walking; she thought about how nice it would be if she had a real friend, and she thought about how Marinette had tried to be just that.
No, she told herself. I need to stay away, she chanted, a mantra to reinforce the idea in the mind. She could be Ladybug and Ladybug is deadly.
However, all of those thoughts grinded to a halt when she stepped outside of the school and laid her eyes on the very Marinette Dupain-Cheng that had plagued her thoughts. Lila lowered her head and kept walking. Maybe Marinette wasn't waiting for her and she could just walk on by and never look b-
"Lila!" The girl called out as she approached. Lila quickened her pace; she could pretend she hadn't heard or something and escap-
"Lila!" Marinette repeated, louder this time as her target had just passed her by. Lila squeezed her eyes closed and didn't stop, but the pleading note in Marinette's voice made her glance back.
That was the wrong move, because Marinette's sweet face was so full of guilt and shame and desperation that the sight of it wrenched Lila's heart. The hand that had been reaching out to Lila was slowly lowering in resignation. Her eyes widened and her legs slowed to a stop against her will. Because she had a terrible revelation. Because what if she had just been jumping to conclusions about Ladybug's identity? Because this was not the girl who had embarrassed her without regret in front of Adrien. This was the not the girl that had accused her with triumph in her eyes. And if this was not that girl, she had been mistreating an innocent student that had wanted nothing but Lila's friendship. And she ultimately may have ruined the possible friendship.
Lila turned around and looked at Marinette, knowing she could not ignore her for much longer. If Marinette had to yell for anymore, then everyone would hear her and look and see that Lila was the cause of it. And that was not the kind of attention that Lila appreciated.
Lila watched as Marinette's face suddenly lit up- because I stopped ignoring her- with a small smile. Her emotions seemed so genuine that Lila thought maybe Marinette wasn't the heartless Ladybug (to Lila, Ladybug's apology meant close to nothing), and that it would be okay to make friends with her.
"Can we talk?" Marinette asked as she got closer, looking Lila directly in the eye. Lila's brain sent up red flags and she was reminded that she had decided to avoid Marinette; this was the exact opposite of what she had planned. Lila steeled herself and took a breath, Marinette's gaze was overwhelming.
"O-of course!" She replied, wincing as she stuttered. She was embarrassed; there was no reason for her to stutter, especially when she had never done so before. Even when flirting with Adrien, she had been fearless and she had lead the conversation. Lila just didn't stutter. It wasn't her. She was suddenly scared; what if Marinette knew that she had deliberately avoided her during lunch? Suddenly lying seemed to become a lot toughter when it came to Marinette.
"Did I do something to bother you?" Marinette asked, in a quieter voice. She looked down and fidgeted with her hands. "I'm really sorry if I did." She added, and then looked back up, holding Lila's gaze. She did not bring up the lunch incident.
Lila's shame came back in full force. She had been so wrong… so, so wrong. How could she have thought that Marinette was secretly Ladybug, and had been planning her demise? Lila wasn't sure if she had ever met someone with a heart half as good as Marinette's. She suddenly realized that she didn't want to be the one that had made Marinette look so sad earlier, and she felt ashamed because of it.
"I." She began, and then the words got stuck in her throat. Lila blinked in surprise; she was never at a loss for words. Why couldn't she talk to the girl like she spoke to everyone else?