Alya hadn’t meant her to find out this way.
She had never meant for Marinette to find out this way.
“So that’s it then.”
“It’s not what you think!”
She had just been trying to keep the peace. Whenever Marinette and Lila were together, there was just so much tension that anyone could feel it. This party was something everyone had been looking forward to. But while those two were at odds, they all knew there was going to be some conflict that would bring the mood down.
Lila had bemoaned the fact she’d missed the previous class picnic. And Marinette was always busy anyway and could use the extra time. So she and the other girls made the choice to tell Marinette they were having it a different day.
It wasn’t a lie. Lila said that sometimes it was necessary to tell a little fib. Little white lies were no big deal, after all. Especially if it was to help others.
It was just a fib. That was okay, right? Just a little fib here and there? Just a little fib to keep the party upbeat?
She hadn’t meant to hurt her.
She just…
Hadn’t expected Marinette to catch them.
The now very hurt, very angry Marinette. Who was glaring at her in a way she’d never seen Marinette glare at anyone save Chloe at her worst. Or Lila on a particularly bad day.
“So you didn’t lie to me that the party was cancelled and everyone just happened to meet up here with the food and supplies they had agreed to bring.”
Alya winced.
“Marinette, we didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“But you didn’t try to not hurt me, either.”
“Mari—”
“Don’t.” She cut her off. “You didn’t care about my feelings before. Don’t try to pretend you do now.”
With that, Marinette walked away. Alya wouldn’t see how it took everything she had to not break into tears right there. But she wouldn’t give Lila the satisfaction. Nor would she try to make anyone pity her.
Alya could only watch. Wanting to speak. Wanting to say something.
But what could she possibly say?
It was strange…seeing Marinette be the one to turn her back on them for once.
Such pain. Such heartache. This betrayal would have made her a perfect target to become an akuma.
It was probably fortunate then that someone else already had.
__________________________
Her name was Sofia.
She was a good person with a good life.
She had a good family.
And the best part was that she had amazing friends.
They were her best friends and she could tell them anything.
Noemi, Marie, and Irene.
And then one day, she added a new name to that number.
Lila.
She was amazing! And so personable and outgoing and sweet!
But personable didn’t mean friend.
Outgoing didn’t mean honest.
And sweet didn’t mean good.
It had been Irene who didn’t trust her from the beginning. But Irene was the brash sort. Stubborn and opinionated. Bossy even. When Lila started coming up with more ideas, Irene was always against them. It stopped being fun having her around and eventually, their invites to her felt less out of any real enjoyment of her company and more out of obligation. It was less stressful the days she didn’t come…or didn’t get the invite. But Irene apparently caught on, too, as one day she’d thrown up her hands in frustration and left, telling them they were on their own. Really, they had been better off.
