Chapter Text
“If you’re so quick to accuse Lila you might overlook another potential baddie!”
“But Alya, she-“
“I’m going to go track down some fingerprints!”
“She literally faked-“
“Good luck bestie!”
And she was gone.
Marinette growled in frustration. This was ridiculous! Alya said she believed her, but somehow conveniently forgot about the whole “she pushed me down the stairs” part when trying to figure out “who” could possibly have framed Marinette.
Marinette was starting to suspect that Lila had some kind of Jedi mind control, there was no way everyone around her was this clueless. Everyone just accepted every preposterous word that came out of her mouth.
“I’m glad to see you’re capable of coming back to your senses.”
“As you said, things aren’t always what they seem to be at first sight.”
Taken aback but recovering quickly, Marinette frowned at the girl as she sauntered away.
You know what Lila? Forget the high road, two can play at this game.
She had some phone calls to make.
Two days later saw the class milling around before the bell signaling the start of the day. Everyone had seemed relieved that Marinette was back among them again, but she was still receiving some sideways glances when they thought she couldn’t see.
With about 5 minutes before the start of class, the door opened and a cheerful, friendly looking woman with her hair tied back neatly walked in, trailed by an anxious looking Mr. Damocles and Mrs. Rossi herself, who were talking urgently together.
“Good morning everyone, I’m looking for Lila Rossi?”
Everyone looked up at the stranger, and Marinette glanced to the door, delighted to see the shadows of some larger men lurking out of direct sight.
“That’s me? Mama? What’s going on?”
“Its-“
“It’s alright, sweetheart,” the new woman cut off Mrs. Rossi. “We’re here to help you. We just want to make sure you’re taken care of properly.”
“What do you mean, ‘taken care of’?”
“Well when we heard about this mysterious illness, we couldn’t help but be worried about you, my angel,” Mrs. Rossi replied, with a tone of voice that was clearly meant to be soothing. “This is Dr. Cori, she’s the best person to help you.”
“But I don’t need help,” Lila simpered, though Marinette could see the uncertainty flashing in her eyes as she looked at her mother. “I manage just fine.”
“But you don’t, Lila,” Marinette chimed in, eyes wide and innocent as she saw Lila’s uncertainty shift to anger as she turned to her. “Just look at what happened this week.”
“But I apologized, Marinette, and you said-“
“Yes, of course I forgive you, Lila,” Marinette continued with as earnest an expression as she could muster. “But you have to see how dangerous your condition is!”
Marinette turned to Dr. Cori, Mr. Damocles, and Mrs. Rossi.
“This last week was one of the worst ones of my life,” she said, maintaining her doe eyes as much as possible, and turning around to look at everyone.
“I know you didn’t mean it, of course, but the things you said hurt me and my reputation really badly. Classmates I’ve known my entire life believed the horrible things you said about me without any question.”
She was pleased to see some uncomfortable shifting from the students in the room, though she didn’t make eye contact, and turned back toward the adults from the front. Lila tried to interject.
“I know, Marinette, but-“
“Teachers and administrators who I’ve worked with for years on school functions and events expelled me without even hearing my side of the story.”
Mr. Damocles looked rather ashamed as she met his eye, and she kept hers wide, but didn’t have to fake the hurt in them.
“Yes, but-“ Lila tried again.
“It was traumatic for me,” she exclaimed, turning back to Lila herself. “Seeing how quickly your unintentional lies could upend my life. And I’m just a teenage girl, a nobody, no one of importance,” she said with emphasis, again noting the uncomfortable shifting from her classmates. “What if your disease makes you say things about someone like Adrien, who already has to have a bodyguard for protection? Or the Mayor? We could have a constitutional crisis on our hands!”
She gestured to Adrien and Chloe in the front of the room.
“I wouldn’t-“
“But even worse, your condition makes you physically do things you don’t mean!”
There was a pause at that.
“What are you-?“
“When you walked down the stairs and then said that I had pushed you and you’d twisted your knee!”
“I don’t thin-“
Marinette grabbed Lila’s hand, as if trying to comfort her.
“If you don’t have control over your actions, what could happen next? Faking an injury isn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but what about the next time? What if you hurt someone? What if you attacked someone without meaning to?”
Lila yanked her hand out of Marinette’s, clearly trying to keep from snarling.
“I wouldn’t-“
“But if you don’t have control, you don’t know what you would or wouldn’t do, Lila,” Adrien piped up unexpectedly from the front. He wore an expression of anxious concern, but Marinette could see he was fighting a smirk.
“Ms. Rossi, Ms. Dupain-Cheng is right,” declared Dr. Cori. “We’re here to help you. I work with the best team of neurologists in the world, we’ll be able to find out what is causing your ailment and help, and keep you from harm in the meantime.”
“But I really don’t think-“
“It’s ok my angel, really. Nothing bad is going to happen, everyone here just wants you to be healthy and safe,” Mrs. Rossi cut her off with tears in her eyes.
“Marinette is right, Lila.”
“You need to take care of your health!”
“We all just want you to be safe.”
The supportive urging of her classmates added to the pressure, and there was nothing else for it.
“O-okay, okay mama, you’re right. I want to get better,” Lila sniffled, trying to create tears but failing because she was clearly furious at this turn of events. She accepted the offered support from their classmates with a passable watery smile, and gave her mother a strong hug before walking out the door with the entourage.
As the door swung shut behind them, Marinette dropped down into her seat, not having to fake the tears in her eyes as she clasped her hands in her lap.
A moment of silence passed as she felt every eye on her.
“Marinette?”
“Marinette, we’re really sorry.”
“We shouldn’t have-“
“Please, guys,” she waved them off. “Please not now, I’ll be ready to listen later, but not now.”
And she buried her head in her arms and let the tears fall.
Ms. Bustier cleared her throat and began the class.
After a few moments, she felt Alya’s arm across her back.
“M, I am really sorry,” she whispered.
“I know Alya, thank you, but I can’t talk about it right now,” Marinette whispered back.
She felt a few understanding pats on her back and Alya’s arm withdrew. She kept her head buried in her arms as she listened to Ms. Bustier’s voice, trying to ignore the feeling of eyes on her. It would be alright now. Now everyone knew that Lila was a liar, even if they all thought it was unintentional. It would have to be enough.