Stay by my Side

Stay by my Side - Chapter Twenty-Two

Marinette had no idea what was happening.

One minute she was heading to class, and the next she was in the principle's office, being accused of petty thievery! Seriously - she's not the sort of person who'd do that, and yet... no one seemed to believe her.

She wished her friends were with her - at least they'd believe her words. But at the moment, it was just her, Lila, and the Principle. Her parents had already been called, and they were on their way, so soon Marinette would finally have someone in her corner. Someone to support her... wait.

Marinette's hand went to her phone. It's not like he'd really be able to help her, but... some support would be nice right now. Those stares she received when she entered the locker room... she didn't even want to remember them.

She asked to go to the bathroom and was granted permission. No doubt Lila would be spinning her tails of woe to the Principle while Marinette was gone, but she had to leave. She had to talk to Chat Noir.

Shakily, she entered a stall, and pulled out her phone.

Chat Noir?

Remember when you told me to text you when I needed support?

Princess?

Yes, of course - what's wrong?

Lila is accusing me of theft!

Everyone believes her

I don't know what to do

Was this in the locker room?

Yeah

How'd you know?

I didn't

I just hoped it was there

What do you mean by that?

Don't worry - I've got a plan

Just trust me.

Okay!

Marinette turned her phone back off and put it back into her pocket, a smile on her face. She had faith. Things were going to be okay.

She had Chat Noir.

---TimeSkip---

"Damnit!" Adrien yelled, slamming his fist against the wall in the bathroom. Marinette's 'Okay!' still shining at his eyes from his phone screen. He felt powerless - he promised himself he'd stop Lila from hurting Marinette but... not even he could expect Lila to do something like that.

However...

He took in a deep, quick breath, and ran towards the locker room - where Marinette said the theft took place. If he was lucky, then...!

He burst into the room and ran straight for his camera. Was it... was it... yes! There it was! No one had moved it, it probably hadn't been noticed by anyone, which means... he'd be able to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Marinette didn't steal anything, and he'd be able to prove who did.

To be honest, Adrien already knew what he'd see - and he wasn't pleasantly surprised. He sighed, staring down at his camera. "I guess Lila really is incapable of changing." He watched, disappointment in his eyes, as Lila snuck to Marinette's locker, picked the lock - he had no idea how she learned how to do that - and removed her necklace, placing it in Marinette's bag.

He sighed again and turned to leave the locker room - the sooner he brought this video to the Principle's attention, the better.

"Adrien?"

"Alya?"

For a moment, they both stared at each other. Adrien felt like... she had followed him there? But why? It's not like she'd find anything suspicious about what Lila said - everyone believes her, even over someone as sweet as Marinette... sweet?

Adrien shook the thought out of his head as Alya began to speak. "I... Does that have... what really happened on it?"

"... what do you mean 'what really happened'?" Adrien asked, not entirely sure Alya doesn't believe Lila. Maybe she's just trying to steal the camera on Lila's demand or something. "And how'd you even know about it in the first place?"

"I'm a reporter!" Alya replied, as if that solved everything. "I'm in search of the truth - not whatever Lila's been saying." She trailed off, unsure if she should be telling Adrien these things, before continuing. "I... I tried to believe her... I really tried, I don't like doubting anyone - and with the pressure Nino and the others forced onto me, it was so hard to break from that..."

While Adrien wished he could scream at her on Marinette's behalf - he couldn't. After all if he did that, he'd be a hypocrite big time - he was subjected to the pressure of the rest of the class too, after all.

He sighed, deciding to put his faith in her. "Yes. This has the truth."

Alya nodded, determination in her expression. "Alright! Let's go show it to the Principle and get Marinette out of trouble!"

Adrien paused, as Alya headed towards the locker room door. "You're... not going to ask whether Marinette stole Lila's necklace or not? You haven't seen the footage?"

Alya turned back to face Adrien, leaning against the doorframe, smiling. "I don't need to see the footage to know the truth. Sometimes... a little faith is all you need."

Adrien smiled, and followed her out of the locker room.

Hiya! Hope you enjoyed the new chapter!

Alya has fully returned to the good side! I just wanted to make it clear where she stood, before everything goes crazy XD

Anyways, I'll keep the author's note short, I've been super busy today and have not gotten enough writing done haha - still have another two books I need to update lol

But for now...

Peachy out! 😊