To Be a Hero | MLB

3: The Friend

Turns out Lila is a true friend!

She helped me all through history, literature, and science, and she even offered me the seat next to her at lunch. A seat that would normally be pretty hard to get, since someone else would apparently try to take it. Lila seems pretty popular among her classmates, something that clearly bothers both Chloé and... one of our other classmates.

Now, during our free time, we're lounging around the courtyard in the middle of the school building, and I realize I should probably work on learning my classmates' names.

"Hey, Lila?"

Lila looks up from her phone and at me. "Yeah, what's up?"

"I was wondering if you could, you know, give me a rundown on everyone's... names?"

"Yeah, of course!" She turns toward the court and motions to everyone in turn. "Okay, well, over there is Max. He's, like, a tech genius or something. Oh, and next to him are Ivan and Mylène... And see over there? That's Rose and Juleka. I'm pretty sure they're a couple, but they won't confirm it." She continues to name everyone, and I know for a fact it's going to take me months to memorize all of this.

Finally, we get down to the last few people. One of them, a dark-skinned girl with glasses, pushes a pale girl with shiny black hair toward a blond boy and his friend. The pale girl starts walking toward them, then trips over her own feet and lurches forward. The blond boy immediately jumps forward to catch her and sets her back on her feet. The two attempt conversation, but the pale girl is obviously nervous, with exaggerated arm movements and facial expressions.

"That girl over there," Lila says, gesturing to the girl with glasses, "is Alya. And her friend is Marinette. You should probably stay away from her—I hear she's a compulsive liar."

"Why would anyone say that? She seems nice." I watch as Marinette runs back to her friend—Alya, Lila said.

Lila scoffs. "Yeah, she seems nice. But she has it out for me, for some reason. She pushed me down the stairs and stole my grandmother's necklace a few weeks ago, then lied about it in front of everyone. And she's constantly accusing me of things, when I've done absolutely nothing to her!"

"That's awful," I remark. "And who's that blond guy? The one next to Nino?"

"Oh, that's Adrien." She cracks a smile, then adds, "My boyfriend."

He's cute. "But you two haven't even talked today."

"He's just a little shy," she sighs. "So far, we're trying to keep our relationship a secret, so no one else at school knows about us." She turns and grins at me. "Well, no one except you."

I smile softly and nod, proud of myself for already gaining her trust. Then Lila tells me it's time to start heading back to class, so we get our things and start toward the staircase leading up to the classrooms. I see Lila watching Marinette as she approaches the staircase, and when the two are close enough, Lila sticks out her foot, tripping Marinette. She topples to the ground, and by now, there's a crowd near the staircase.

Lila gasps and offers a hand to help Marinette up, claiming, "I am so sorry, Marinette. You see, I have this disease that sometimes causes my muscles to move involuntarily—"

Marinette rejects Lila's help and rises on her own. "Yeah, sure, Lila. We all know you tripped me on purpose."

Lila clutches her hand to her chest. "I would never!"

Everyone rushes to Lila's defense, and Alya guides Marinette back to the classroom before she can get too heated.

I have a feeling Lila tripped Marinette out of spite (I heard the venom in her voice when she was talking about Marinette earlier), but that would mean she's lying about her disease. I should tell everyone the truth, but... Lila's been the only classmate to show me kindness so far today, and I don't want to lose her trust.

And besides, I don't have enough evidence to prove that Lila's lying. So, I remain silent and walk back up to the classroom with her.

She walks in front of me, so she doesn't see when Marinette reaches out and grabs my wrist, stopping me in the middle of the aisle.

"Watch out for Lila," she warns. "'Lie' is in her name for a reason." She looks like she's being honest, but... looks can be deceiving.

I jerk my arm back and take my seat beside Lila, wondering who's actually telling the truth. Lila did lie about her disease... or did she? And if she did, what else could she be lying about?

I glance at her now, and she smiles back at me. I hold in a sigh, wondering how I managed to got myself stuck between rivals on my first day of school.

And if the first day is like this, how is the rest of my time here going to be?