Marinette’s life had changed drastically in the last few months. Since Lila arrived, she had made good on her threat and most of the class had turned against her. And while Adrien knew the truth, he did nothing to stop the relentless harassment from Lila and the class. The only person who still stood by her was Alya. Marinette had told Alya that she should fact check what Lila had told her, just to be safe and have her sources posted for anything on the Ladyblog. Alya took Marinette’s advice and quickly realized that Lila was nothing but a liar. Alya had tried to shield Marinette from Lila’s lies, but for the most part it hadn’t worked.
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Marinette had been removed from her position as class rep and stripped of all her responsibilities. The class didn’t want ‘another bully’ in that position. They quickly gave Lila the job. Lila was ecstatic, thinking that she could just work off of Marinette’s plans, until she could come up with some reason to give the job to someone else. Marinette and Alya withdrew from the class, keeping to themselves. It wasn’t long before they decided to transfer to Mrs. Mendeleiev’s class, finally leaving behind Mrs. Bustier’s class which had descended into chaos.
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Lila hadn’t expected how hard it would be to fill in as class rep. Marinette’s had some basic plans, but they weren’t as thorough as Lila expected. And Marinette hadn’t actually made any arrangements, so it was all up to Lila. And as much as Lila liked to brag of her connections, she of course did not have the same connections as Marinette. Fundraisers that Lila organized never met their goals, due to mishaps and miscommunication. All of her promises of amazing field trips and class events fell through. Nothing was going right for Mrs. Bustier’s class. Especially once Marinette and Alya had left the class, they were the last safety net keeping the class afloat through Lila’s reign as class rep.
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Marinette and Alya were much happier in Mrs. Mendeleiev’s class. She may be a stern teacher, but was still an excellent teacher who cared for her students. They moved on from everything that had happened in Mrs. Bustier’s class. Now they were more relaxed and happy then they had been in a long time, making friends with their new classmates.
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One day, after things had gone wrong at the latest fundraiser, Mrs. Bustier’s class was feeling very down. Lila was getting nervous. She could tell the class was getting tired of the failed trips and fundraisers and would soon start looking into Lila’s stories if she could figure something out. As they were leaving the school grounds, they saw Marinette and Alya sitting in a field in the nearby park, eating lunch. It irritated them, seeing those two happy while everything around the class was falling apart.
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The class approached the pair as they were eating. Lila lead the group, storming up to Alya and Marinette. She was sure that she could make Marinette angry and miserable again. Would it solve any of her problems? No. Would it make her happy? Yes. So she just kept making snide comments about Marinette. How she was nothing but a bully and a myriad of other cruel comments. But to Lila’s confusion, nothing she said seemed to bother Marinette. So, Lila pulled her final card, the one comment that she was sure would bother Marinette, forgetting that the class was there and listening. “I succeeded in what I set out to do Marinette. The class is mine now. Sure, Alya stayed with you, but the rest of them ditched you for my pretty words. Bet that hurts you. They never cared about you, only what you could do for them.”
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The class was somewhat shocked by what Lila had said. Sure, on some level they had known she was a liar for a while now, but to hear her openly admit it was still shocking. The class was equally irritated with Marinette, she had left them alone with Lila. Marinette obviously knew that Lila was a liar and would ruin things for the class, so why didn’t she stay in Mrs. Bustier’s class to help. The class all started yelling at Marinette, asking her how she could abandon them. Marinette was fed up, and jumped to her feet. “Here’s a thought. Maybe if you had actually listened to me, your supposed friend, you wouldn’t be in this mess. Maybe if you had listened to me, you wouldn’t have been tricked by a liar. Maybe if you had listened to me, we would still be friends. I’m not even mad at Lila anymore. For all that she hurt me, she showed me who my true friend is. But, I sure am disappointed with you all. Now if you will excuse us, Alya and I are going to find a new place to eat.” Alya and Marinette gathered their stuff and left the class standing in the park alone, gaping after their lost friends.
