Jerk in Sheep's Clothing

The Jig is Up

Adrien was more excited for school than usual.  He rushed through his morning routine and practically jumped in and out of his father's limo in a hurry to get there in time.

When he got there, Marinette and Henri were sitting in the back again, and Alya and Nino were in their usual seats.  Adrien's mood dimmed considerably when he noticed his two best friends after Mari looked even more down in the dumps than they had when he last saw them in his civilian form.

Adrien slipped in next to Nino, who looked nothing like the bright jokester who brought light to Adrien's typically dim world.  "Nino...is everything okay?  You and Alya look more depressed than when I last saw you two."

Nino glanced at Adrien, who started when he saw there was no more fire or chill in Nino's eyes, just blank emptiness.  "It's...complicated, dude."

Nino just couldn't believe the luck he had been having lately.  First, this new guy swoops in and makes his oldest friend, who he even had a crush on at one point, believe that he and the others were bullies.  Then, he had gotten her to completely turn on her best friend, his girlfriend.

And now, Nino found out that Ladybug had stripped both him and Alya of their chances to be heroes, completely out of the blue.

He just couldn't understand.  Where had it all gone so wrong?  Why did Marinette trust Henri over him?  They had known each other since they were in diapers, and now, she truly believed Nino was bullying Henri.  And why?  Just because he didn't want to believe her that Lila was out to get her, when she'd done nothing wrong to his knowledge?

And why did Ladybug stop trusting him and Alya?  What had they done to possibly make her lose trust in them?  And just what did that new Bee hero, whoever he was, do to prove himself to hire that he and Alya hadn't done?  What reasons had they given her to revoke their miraculouses for good?

The questions swirled around in Nino's head, but he had no answers for them.  Would he ever?  That was the biggest question of all.

Adrien wanted to press him on more, but he saw clearly that his buddy was way deep in the dumpster, and decided to back off for now.  "Where's Lila?"

"Here I am!", came that awful voice that made Adrien's stomach flip-flop.  She glanced at the DJ sitting next to the object of her lust.  "Ahem.  Sorry, Nino.  I need that seat.  Tinnitus, y'know?"

Adrien swallowed his usual instinct to just lay back and let the instigator have her way as usual and spoke up.  "Actually, Lila, you can sit with Alya.  I think Nino needs my company right now."

"But my tinnitus—"

"It's just one row back, Lila.  Not much of a difference."  Adrien sent her a look to signal that he was not budging from his decision.  He was done rolling over for Lila.

The two of them engaged in a silent war, staring each other down.  But Lila was not prepared for Adrien's new public assertiveness, and was not wholly set to push back against him, not while the whole class was around, at least.

So she plastered her fakest smile and chirped, "Oh, okay Adrien!  Whatever Nino needs!"  She slid next to Alya, the full weight of defeat hitting her where it hurt under her mask of sweetness.  Oh well.  This was only one step down from her usual reward.  At least she was still close to Adrien.

He looked behind him at Marinette and Henri.  She was leaning on him as she scribbled in her sketchbook.  He looked up, meeting eyes with Adrien, and gave him a nasty grin.

The blonde whipped his head back to the front of the room, biting his tongue to suppress his violent desires towards the son of a witch.  Lunchtime could not come soon enough.
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After four hours that lasted much too long in Adrien's opinion, it was finally lunch hour.  The second the bell rang, Adrien sprinted out of his seat and booked it to the school entrance, hoping that Madame Rossi was already here.