The Missing Purrincess

Chapter 10: The Class War

That still wasn't what surprised him the most that morning. It was who was defending who in the fight breaking out near the top of the classroom.

---Alya's POV---

It was a restless night. I explained what had happened earlier to Cat Noir after Ladybug left, but he kind of seemed like he already knew. If it was a normal day, I'd probably be looking into that right now. Not tonight. 

After Cat left, I looked up Lila's name online. The only stuff I could find about her seemed to be recent with her becoming a major model for Gabriel Agreste, Adrien's Father. I didn't know her mothers first name, but just looking up her last name got me nothing about her mother working anywhere recognizable, alone what Lila claimed she did.

Nothing. Lila did nothing recognizable before meeting us. At least not to the point where it made headlines. I'd have to be careful how I addressed this at school tomorrow. Lila may have her guard down with Marinette not around, but I was onto her. Like I should have been from the beginning.

You can't change what already happened. That was something that Ladybug seemed to believe in. She never held a grudge against akuma victims even after they tried to murder her. I could only hope that Marinette held a similar mindset. For now, figuring out anything I can about Lila was my best move.

I spent all night at my computer trying in vain to find something before her time in Paris, to no avail. Her social media accounts were all private, and she never friended me on anything. Come to think of it, that should have been a clue early on. 

How many red flags had this girl given us? All the celebrities that she supposedly knew could easily be known. Jagged Stone and Prince Ali wouldn't have even been hard to contact. They were both close with people in our class. Respectively, Marinette and Rose. 

And since when had Ladybug ever been able to heal diseases? Lila just claimed her Tinnitus was all better because of Ladybug, but as far as I knew she could only fix damage caused by akumas. How had I never noticed that!

The more I thought about it, the less things added up and the worse I felt about what I did to Marinette. I needed to be careful now. If Lila could turn literally ANYONE against that sweetheart of a best friend, I could only imagine what she could do to my rep.

Believe me, this can't happen again. Even if Marinette never forgives me, I need to try to fix things. What better way than exposing Lila?

---Adrien's POV---

My dreams that night were tainted by images of Marinette being hurt. Of her dying in front of me and me not being able to save her. Sometimes it was my cataclysm that did it, sometimes she just fell, sometimes she would be killed by an akuma. Every time, I would wake up a few short minutes after I went to sleep and be forced to live through everything again.

Needles to say, I already was in a bad mood when I got to school. Just being in the room made things so much worse. SOMEHOW, Lila managed to convince a bunch of the class that Marinette must have had two phones. Apparently even Alya, who had been on Marinette's side last night had joined the Marinette hate train.

That still wasn't what surprised me the most that morning. It was who was defending who in the fight breaking out near the top of the classroom. It mainly seemed to Lila verses Chloe with each girl having supporters from the class. It seemed like the class was pretty much split down the middle. It was Kim,  Alya, Ivan, Mylene, Alix,  and Julika with Lila, and Nino, Rose, Max, Sabrina, and Nathaniel with Chloe.

"I just can't believe that she would ever do something like that!" Rose stated,

"Lila and Marinette have never gotten along She probab... Kim started,

"She was decent to me! Why would Dupain-Cheng be so nice  and so mean to you?" Chloe snapped back.

"Some people don't show their true colors for a long time Chloe." Lila replied,

"True colors don't fabricate evidence like an fictitious phone conversation." Max retorted,

"She probably had two phones Max." Alya debated,

"Dude how could you say that! You were on Marinette's side yesterday!" Nino cried

"I had more time to think about it Nino!" Alya reasoned

"Julika, she even helped you with your photo curse! How can you not believe her!" Rose reasoned,

"She also kicked out Chloe and Sabrina!" Alix testified,

"And she tried to STEAL the memory card from the photographer." Mylene added

"What's going on here!"

Miss Bustier came in behind me and looked at me for an explanation. I just shrugged in response.

"EVERYONE TO THEIR SEATS!"

Everyone filed to a seat, but most not to their own. The class had noticeably split in two with Lila and Chloe seated on opposite ends of the classroom.  Chloe had moved to Alya's old seat with Sabrina sitting next in Marinette's.  Alya sat where Chloe did. The rest of the class followed.

The class mostly went as normal, but there was a noticeable change in atmosphere. Nobody was talking with anyone from the other side, except Alya, who seemed to be talking to Rose a lot in a hushed voice. If anyone else noticed, they didn't let on though. It was always when Lila was not around.

Not that it mattered too much. I couldn't stop thinking about where Marinette could be and if she was hurt. There was no way that she actually left on her own. She cared too much about the people close to her.

Right?