Marinette had finally had enough. Things had gotten so much worse at the school lately. The whole class had turned against her. Not even Adrien was trying to defend her anymore. He had tried in the beginning, but his father made it clear that Adrien was not to have any conflict with Lila or he would be pulled out of school. When he noticed that the class had also started to turn against him the longer he defended Marinette, he immediately stopped and started to ignore her. It hurt Marinette deeply that not even Adrien, who knew about Lila’s lies, would stick by her. The school faculty had also turned against Marinette. Despite Lila’s “lying disease” being known by the school, they still believed every awful thing that Lila accused her of. She was given multiple detentions, and was even suspended a few times. Marinette’s parents stuck by her through it all, but even with their support, Marinette couldn’t stay at Dupont. Enough was enough.
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Marinette started applying to new schools as soon as she made up her mind. There were many fantastic schools in Paris, and several of them had an amazing art program, which would be essential for her future design career. Marinette had really hesitated to leave her class, but after the most recent unwarranted suspension and how the class had been treating her, Marinette was done. Tikki also approved of the decision, as she had been worried that the negative energy of the akuma class was going to get her holder akumatized before much longer. It would be immeasurably better for Marinette to get away from that class. Soon, Marinette received dozens of acceptance letters from the schools she applied to. They all took one look at her portfolio and application and wanted her to attend their school. Marinette is, after all, a very impressive and accomplished teen.
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Marinette decided which school she was going to and sent all her enrollment paper work with her parent’s help. She was out of Dupont and at her new school by Monday. She hadn’t given any notice at Dupont, but she doubted that they would even notice she was missing. They hadn’t cared about her presence lately, unless Lila had made up some story about her. While she was apprehensive, Marinette quickly grew accustomed to her new school, and made a lot of friends. She loved her new school and all her new friends. She was really happy.
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Marinette was right. The class didn’t notice that Marinette was no longer attending class. But Mrs. Bustier did. She did think it was odd, Marinette hardly ever missed school. But Mrs. Bustier just assumed that Marinette was sick or something and would be back soon. After all, Mrs. Bustier hadn’t heard anything about Marinette not being in class, so it couldn’t be too serious. Probably just a bad cold.
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But weeks went by and Marinette still didn’t come back. Mrs. Bustier was growing less confident as the days went by. Where could Marinette be? It didn’t make any sense. Surely if Marinette was sick enough to miss weeks of school, her parents would have called to explain. Mrs. Bustier was walking through the park on her lunch break, when she saw her. Marinette was sitting at a small café, surrounded by a bunch of kids that Mrs. Bustier didn’t recognize. They were laughing and having a great time, eating lunch. Mrs. Bustier was shocked. Marinette must be skipping school! Mrs. Bustier couldn’t believe how far her former star student had fallen. It was time to teach Marinette a lesson. So, Mrs. Bustier called the truant officer for the school district.
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Officer Garnier arrived at the bakery later that day, just before close. He had been sent to inquire about Miss Dupain-Cheng and why she hadn’t been attending classes. When he was invited in to the apartment, he was expecting the parents and student to deny being truant or make up some excuse, like an illness. Instead, he was told that Marinette actually wasn’t a Dupont student. And that Marinette had been attending classes, but at her new school. He was also interested to hear that the school hadn’t contacted the family regarding their daughter’s attendance before calling him. It was clear to Officer Garnier, as he was leaving, that he would need to make some calls.
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The next day, Mrs. Bustier was called into Mr. Damocles’ office. When she arrived, she saw Mr. Damocles’ looking nervously at the people sitting in front of him. The man was obviously the truant officer for their district, based on his uniform. And Mrs. Bustier recognized the woman as the head of the board of education. The woman turned to Mrs. Bustier as she came in and fixed her with a cold glare. “Mrs. Bustier, when you noticed that Miss Dupain-Cheng hadn’t been to class lately, why didn’t you contact her family before calling Officer Garnier?” Mrs. Bustier stammered for a moment, before answering. “Well, at first I assumed Marinette was simply ill, but then I saw her at a café so I knew she had to be skipping.” Officer Garnier rolled his eyes. “For your information Mrs. Bustier, I spoke with the family last night and Marinette was not skipping. She was simply on her lunch break at her new school. She transferred weeks ago and neither you nor Mr. Damocles had any idea.”
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Needless to say, things didn’t get better from there. Both Mr. Damocles and Mrs. Bustier tried to defend themselves and their actions, but it was to no avail. They were both immediately suspended, pending an investigation into their behavior. Of course, the investigation revealed their blatant pattern of favoritism, their handling of bullying, and how Miss Dupain-Cheng had been treated. Once everything came to light, the two educators were immediately fired. The school went through major changes in how they handle bullying, and other problem areas that were revealed by the investigation. Lila was also expelled after Officer Garnier looked into her absences and found out that she had actually been truant for months and lying to her mother and the school the whole time. The board of education also reached out to the Dupain-Cheng family and apologized for what their daughter went through. They also offered to accept Marinette back if she ever wanted to return to Dupont. But Marinette was happy at her new school and never went back to Dupont. She continued to enjoy life at her new school, with her new friends, and never thought about the akuma class or Lila again.
