Mrs. Martin was pleased with the progress Marinette had been making with setting limits for herself. Marinette was now able to notice when she was becoming overworked and, while it was still immensely difficult for her to do, was able to tell people no when she was too busy. Marinette still had a long way to go, but this was good progress for only a few months.
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Marinette’s parents were also much better at not putting so much pressure on their daughter. Now that they realized the damage it had done to Marinette, they made sure to respect when she was to busy with school stuff to lend them a hand in the bakery, and made sure she had plenty of time to work on personal projects or just relax. They respected when Marinette told them no, and that went a long way in helping Marinette get more comfortable with saying it.
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Mr. Damocles and Mrs. Bustier had been thoroughly reprimanded and retrained. After their trainings, the suspensions that had been placed on them were lifted and they were allowed to return to work. Mr. Damocles had vowed to be better at helping students like Marinette, if only to stay off of Mrs. Martin’s bad side and keep his job. Mrs. Bustier on the other hand was a different story.
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Mrs. Bustier hadn’t learned anything from the training at all. She was sure that Marinette could handle the workload and was just exaggerating. Once she came back to the classroom, she started asking Marinette to do things for her again. At first, Marinette slipped back into her old ways, agreeing to help with every little thing. But this time her parents noticed her getting stressed, and reminded her to say no. The next day, when Mrs. Bustier asked her to stay after school and organize the work for the next day’s class, Marinette finally told her no. Mrs. Bustier was shocked. Marinette continued to tell Mrs. Bustier no, any time that she felt overworked. Which meant Mrs. Bustier had to start doing the left over work.
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The class also noticed the change in Marinette. They were used to Marinette helping them with every little thing. Last minute babysitting, needing clothes and banners for various things, or needing baked goods for a fundraiser. Marinette never said no. So when they went to her to ask for costumes for Nino’s next film, they were shocked when she said, “I’m sorry guys, but I can’t. I’m just to busy right now.” Nino tried asking again, sure that Marinette would eventually agree. She always did. “Come on dudette. I really need these costumes.” Marinette shook her head, gathering her things to head home since the final bell just rang. “No. I can’t. I am too busy right now with school work and my other commissions. If you can wait, you are welcome to submit a commission request through my website, and I will get to it when I can. But I can’t just drop everything to make costumes right now. I’m sorry.”
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Lila tried to turn this into something positive for her, sensing this could help turn the class against Marinette. “Marinette, why won’t you help your friends? Seems pretty selfish to work on commissions for money instead of making costumes for your friends. It isn’t even that much work, I know someone who could get it done in one day, so you should be able to as well.” Marinette turned back around at the door, to face the class again. “First of all, to design and create the five costumes you are asking for in a single night is next to impossible. I would love to meet this friend of yours that is capable of that. Secondly it isn’t selfish to focus on my work. The people who made these requests have paid for my work and it would be irresponsible of me to make them wait any longer than I already have. But if your friend is truly as capable as you say, surely she can help Nino. Problem solved.” Lila paled as she realized she had backed herself into a corner. As Marinette left the classroom, the class turned to Lila and asked her to talk to her friend. “I really need these costumes by the end of tomorrow, so if your friend could start now, that would be great.” Lila, immediately forgetting the lie that got her into this mess in the first place, tried to back out of the situation, saying “Guys, that is a lot to ask of someone to get done in a night. Its just not possible.” The class paused, noticing the contradiction to what Lila had already said. It didn’t take long after that for the class to realize that she is a liar.
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The class had practically exiled Lila from the class. No one talked to her and just generally ignored her. The class continued to try and get Marinette to help them with projects, thinking that now that the liar had been exposed everything was ok between them. Mrs. Bustier also didn’t get the message yet and continued to ask Marinette for help. One day, after Marinette had once again told her no, Mrs. Bustier pulled her into the hallway. She was lecturing Marinette on the importance of lending a helping hand and being there for those in need. She was so wrapped up in her little monologue that she didn’t notice Mrs. Martin standing behind her. Mrs. Martin had been coming back to her office after lunch when she stumbled upon this scene. To say she was angry was an understatement. She immediately brought Mrs. Bustier to Mr. Damocles, who happened to be meeting with the school board at the time. It didn’t take long for them all to decide that Mrs. Bustier wasn’t going to learn and it was time to let her go. Mrs. Bustier was fired that same day. Marinette’s new teacher was very nice and never asked to much of her. She also didn’t put up with Lila’s lies and quickly revealed her as a liar to Mr. Damocles which resulted in Lila being expelled because of the magnitude of some of her lies. Marinette continued getting better at telling people no, thanks to the support of her parents and Mrs. Martin. And Marinette’s life was all the better for it.
