My Crush's Evil Cousin (A Miraculous Ladybug Fanfic)

Lie-la

"Hi, Marinette," Felix said from where he stood next to Adrien in the front courtyard of their high school.

"Hi!" Marinette waved to him, her cheeks warming. Her eyes darted to Adrien, who was deep in conversation with Nino and didn't seem to notice her approach. "How are you this morning?"

"Pretty good." Felix grinned, his crooked smile lighting up his entire face as he stepped toward her. He held out his hand. "Want to walk to class together?"

Marinette lifted her hand to accept his, but someone smacked her palm away, sending a stinging sensation up her arm. Red hair brushed her face, and she choked on the strands as someone shoved her way in front of Marinette.

"Hey, Felix! I didn't realize you went here now!" Lila crooned, leaning closer to Felix and bumping Marinette backwards with her hip in the same motion. Marinette resisted the urge to groan out loud and instead clenched her fists. It seemed like the devil herself was back to torture her once again.

"Yeah," Felix responded, his tone suddenly falling flat and his smile fading from his face.

Marinette tried to get around Lila, but she moved in her way, preventing Mari from getting to her friend. Marinette leaned back on her heels, biting her lip to keep herself from yelling at the witch. She knew from experience it wouldn't help her situation anyway.

"I just got back from a visit to Prince Ali from Achu," Lila started, her voice loud enough for everyone in the vicinity to hear. "We totally talked to poor people and gave them so much help, and Prince Ali even asked me on a date!" Lila pressed the back of her hand to her forehead. "Of course I had to turn him down, but I thought it was very sweet of him!"

"Good for you." Felix stepped around her and met Marinette's gaze, his eyes showing intense anger, an emotion she hadn't seen from him before. "Now if you don't mind, I was talking to my friend."

Lila paused, her eyes wide and her hand hovering near her mouth as she took in the two of them standing next to each other. She seemed temporarily at a loss for words, and Marinette understood why. Up till now, Mari was the only one at the entire school to be blatantly rude to her. "Oh, Marinette?" Her eyebrows inched up her head, and she leaned in to whisper to Felix, although everyone could still hear her, "Marinette, well . . . there's some things I could tell you about her. In any case, someone like you wouldn't want to hang around someone like her." Lila pointed an accusing finger at Marinette, who scoffed, trying her hardest to control her temper. Yelling would only prove Lila's point.

"Lila," Adrien said, stepping closer to the three of them, his voice low and filled with warning, his fists clenched at his sides.

Felix, on the other hand, simply stared at Lila, his expression blank. "And you are the type of person I'd want to hang around?" he asked. His voice suddenly sounded very sweet, and Marinette stared at him, taken aback. He almost never sounded like that, except on the rare occasion when he complimented her.

Lila took his tone as encouragement, and she stepped into Felix's personal space, batting her eyelashes. "Why, yes. I'm sophisticated, beautiful, refined . . . the complete opposite of this bozo." Lila flicked her hair, hitting Marinette across the face.

Marinette clenched her fists, her fingernails digging into the palms of her hands. Not this again. She knew Lila had promised to ruin her life, but this was just annoying. Why couldn't she move away and stay away? Mari glanced down at her purse to see Tikki's large eyes staring at her, and she took a deep breath to calm herself as the kwami would've instructed if she could speak. Marinette couldn't afford to give Lila a reaction—the last thing she wanted was to get akumatized. The breaths helped calm her slightly, and Marinette turned her attention back to Lila and Felix.