"Faceless Future" Book 2 of "Secrets Unraveled" Trilogy |COMPLETED|

Chpt 23: Lila, Max? Really? And, Hello Adrienette!

Marinette and Adrien stood holding their trays looking for a table.  Marinette noticed Max and Lila heading to a table at the far side of the room.

"I see Lila's back at school again.  Where was she supposed to be this time?  Not Achoo again was it?" Marinette said with a disbelieving snort.

Adrien looked over at Marinette.  He knew why Marinette disliked Lila.  Lila was a liar.  She went out of her way to goad Marinette and to try to turn people against Marinette.  Why, Adrien didn't know.  Lila was impossible to understand.  But, unfortunately Lila was also a skilled liar who was exceptionally good at complimenting people and telling them what they wanted to hear.  And, since Lila seemed to only have her sights set on ruining Marinette, and she was careful with what she said in front of an audience, no one else saw what he and Marinette had seen and everyone else liked her.  They were in the definite minority.

"Just try to let it go," he said quietly to her.  "We'll step in if it seems someone is going to get hurt.  It's all we can do at the moment."

Marinette gave another snort.  "How can Max stand her!" she exclaimed.

Adrien took a breath, trying to keep himself from getting frustrated about talking about Lila and Max. Again.  "You know why.  She pays attention to him and tells him how smart he is.  Who wouldn't like that? We could all stand to have more of that sometimes," he muttered that last part almost to himself, but apparently not quietly enough to keep Marinette from hearing.

Marinette put her tray down on the nearest table and then took Adrien's tray from him and set it down next to hers.

"Have I been falling down in the adoration department?" she teased, taking his hands.  Adrien blushed, avoiding her eyes.

"Marinette!  You know that's not what I meant.  It's just, I think everyone likes to be told that they are admired.  It feels good.  And that's one of Lila's talents.  If you didn't know her, you'd think she was sincere," he said, embarrassed that Marinette might be thinking even a little that he was complaining that she didn't tell him often enough how wonderful he was!

She released his hands and sat down at the table.  Adrien took the seat next to her.

"Okay, I'll be done talking about Lila," she said.  Adrien gave a sigh of relief.

"So, about Friday . . ." Marinette said, segueing to another topic that interested her even more.

Adrien took a bite of his food and shook his head as he chewed.  He swallowed before saying "Nope!  You're not getting anything out of me!" He gave her a satisfied smile, glad she was looking forward to their date.

"But, how will I—" Marinette was interrupted by four of their friends joining them at the table.

"Hey, Adrienette!" said Rose, smiling innocently at Marinette and Adrien who gaped at her in return.

"What?!" they both said in unison.  Adrien had even stopped eating in his confusion.  He looked over at Marinette and noticed that she had an outraged expression on her face.  Uh oh, he thought, if we have another smushed name she's going to have a meltdown!

"You know.  You guys have been dubbed 'Adrienette' by that new blog.  There were the cutest photos of you two on there!  Were you at that new café?" Rose asked them as she took a seat and looked over at Marinette for confirmation. Everyone else sat down, interested in what Rose was talking about.

Adrien closed his eyes tightly, looking like he was in pain, and shook his head just waiting to see what Marinette was going to do now.

Alya noticed Adrien's expression and was so curious to know what it meant.  She didn't have to wait long.