Chapter Text
She did it.
Lila won.
The declaration she made, which Marinette challenged with her own, came true.
A few lies here and a few lies there, and suddenly, Marinette was all alone.
At first, Lila turned against Marinette the people she associated the least with, such as Kim or Ivan. Then she moved on to bigger threats, Alix, Rose, Mylene, and such. And last but not least, she moved onto the bosses. Alya, Nino, Adrien. It was surprising how fast she managed to turn them against Marinette.
One day, she had the best time of her life with them, the next.. Well.. She sat alone in the back of the class again.
What was the most cruel was that she had no idea what she did. It was different every time she asked. How did Lila manage to lie so many times without Marinette noticing? A true master manipulator. Alas, Marinette lost everything, just like Lila promised.
What was worse, was that her classmates, her very own friends ex-friends, chose to mock her every chance they got. Throwing ‘funny’ comments and remarks whenever she said something or made a small mistake, ‘accidentally’ tripping her and then making fun of her. Later, they even moved onto using insults.
She often wondered, how could they just forget about their friendship like nothing? Some friends they were… They didn’t even ask her when they heard about whatever lie Lila told them about Marinette. They just chose to accept it.
‘Hey, your friend, the one who cried when watching lion king? The one who put everything out there for you? The one who was always there for you? Yeah, she is a big asshole, don’t talk to her.’
‘Lol, didn’t know that. What a bitch.’
Marinette often found herself wondering why did it have to be Lila who won that stupid sperm race.
At first, she fought back. She tried to tell them, to show them the truth. To save them from the hole of lies that Lila kept on digging deeper and deeper. But it seemed like every time Marinette threw them a rope, they cut it down. They merely dismissed her words and reasons with a plain “You are just jealous”
She wasn’t.
It was after a month or so of her trying her best to prove what Lila has been doing that she gave up.
First came the sadness, she felt like a complete wreck for an entire month of their harassment. She spent her days in school just trying not to break down in front of anybody and trying to prove her honesty and innocence, and her time home was spent letting that bent up sadness out.
Then came the numbness, after shedding so many tears the girl wondered how she wasn’t dehydrated yet, she felt emotionless. Her time in school consisted of trying to ignore her peers and listening to the lessons. Every insult, every remark, every comment, she chose not to respond. Perhaps, they would stop? Seeing the girl having no reactions, they were bound to get bored, weren’t they? And even if they didn’t, so what?
She deserved it anyway.
But now, oh, now she felt nothing but anger. Every word they said, it only irritated her, annoyed her. And soon, she came to realize the thing that would help her get over everything that happened.
She hated them. She realized the hot feeling in her chest every time she saw one of them was not out of anxiety or fear, no. She was infuriated. Every breath, every word – even if it wasn’t aimed at her, it annoyed her.
But at least she was over it. Looking back at the person she was two and a half months ago, she could only say one thing. Pathetic.
Only now did she realize that her friends were not actually who she thought they were.
Her once best friend, Alya Césaire. The girl who she shared almost every secret with, who she considered her own family, her sister. The girl who she would bring pastries for every morning before class for free. The girl who she gave numerous gifts she made herself, mainly dresses and outfits, free again. The girl who didn’t even think twice before throwing Marinette to the curb like some trash after hearing one lie about her. From a complete stranger’s mouth.
Her classmates that she had known since elementary. Those who should know her like nobody else in the class. Those who should know Marinette would never hurt anybody, not even when being bullied since fifth grade. Those who now trip her on purpose in class. Those who throw accusations her way before Lila even spoke of the culprit, immediately accusing her.
And her once crush? Oh, Adrien Agreste. Who proved to be nothing but a coward towards Marinette. She at first admired how calm he seemed and even accepted his idea of “Taking the high road” because “As long as it’s not hurting anybody, it’s fine”. Of course, being the lovesick teen she was back then, she immediately agreed. But seeing that, even though he knew Lila was just a liar, even though he heard the other classmates talking behind her back, gossiping about her, about something Lila said she did, about something she definitely didn’t actually do…
He did nothing.
Often even going out of his way to make sure Marinette wouldn’t do anything. Seeing him just standing by, while she was getting expelled because of something Lila accused her of, of something that wasn’t true. And he knew it wasn’t.
He did nothing.
No, it was Marinette who had to reach out to him. Begging for help while everybody had been looking at her like they would at a criminal.
Even her own parents.
He did help her get back to school, claiming that he made Lila fix everything.
He fixed nothing.
When she returned to school, she almost wished she just remained expelled. Things weren’t the same from then on. Even though Lila said she had a lying disorder, everybody seemed on edge with Marinette. Even though she herself said that she can’t control her lies, nobody missed a beat in believing everything the girl said afterwards, or beforehand.
And that’s how Marinette ended up where she is now. In the back row, alone, with the whole class throwing glares her way when they spotted her.
Did she care?
Not anymore.