who are we (if not who they've made us to be)?

Three

Marinette glared at herself in the mirror. Growling slightly, she turned away, just as the door to the bathroom opened. Lila entered, concern written across her features.

"Marinette?" Lila asked. "Oh, are you crying?"

Marinette scoffed. "No, I'm not."

Lila flinched like she'd been struck. Looking at the ground, she held her wrist to her chest.

"I can sense that you don't like me, but I don't understand why. We barely know each other," Lila pleaded. Marinette huffed under her breath.

"Wait, so you mean... When you told us Lila was lying about being Ladybug's best friend...?" Alya trailed off. Marinette rolled her eyes.

"I wasn't just being jealous, no. Honestly, it hurt a lot that you thought that. I've never been like that with Kagami. A bit rude at times, yeah, I'll admit that. But actively targeting her or trying to make people hate her just because I'm jealous? I would never."

"Still. You were a bit harsh. It was just one lie."

Marinette scoffed. "Right. One lie."

"Don't tell me it's because of this new seating arrangement in class?" Lila guessed. When Marinette turned her nose up, Lila took that as a yes. "It is? Of course! You're jealous because I'm sitting next to Adrien, because... you would have given anything to sit there yourself! You know what? It's really not worth fighting over a boy! You and I could be friends, and who knows? I might even be able to help you with Adrien!"

"She's right, Marinette! I mean, fighting over a guy is dumb," Alya tried to convince her. That, more than having to hear Lila spewing crap once again, made Marinette mad.

"It wasn't about a boy!" Marinette snapped. "It hasn't been for a long time! Sure, at the beginning, I was jealous and skeptical because of my crush but are you seriously saying that I wouldn't have eventually gotten over it!? Do you really see me as that crazy of a person!? I'm friends with Kagami and we don't have a problem! What mattered was her lying to my friends, to the people I cared about. What mattered was her pretending to be your friends and giving you empty promises! What mattered was being replaced, like I didn't matter now that some shiny new girl came in! You shoved me to the back of the class! You didn't even ask how I felt about it! And sure, one of us had to sit in the back to accommodate her tinnitus—which while I'm at it, I would like to point out is a total load of bull—but why did it have to be me!? Why did you kick me out and turn on me when I was just trying... I was trying to protect you..."

Marinette hid her face in Nino's chest, ugly sobbing. This wasn't how she wanted it to go. This wasn't how she wanted to tell her friends that them siding with Lila hurt. But she couldn't hold it in anymore. Couldn't face baseless accusations and being looked at like the enemy. It hurt, to be discarded so easily. Nino hugged her, rubbing a comforting hand up and down her back.

"It's okay, Nettie," He whispered. "It's okay. I believe you. I'm sorry. It's okay."

Marinette growled, "You and I will only be friends the day you stop lying, Lila!"

Lila gasped, faking hurt.

"I can't prove it, but I know for a fact you don't have tinnitus, that your wrist is just fine, that you don't know Prince Ali because you've never even set foot in Achu and that, despite what you got Alya to write on her Ladyblog, Ladybug has never saved you, let alone being best friends!" Marinette scowled, crossing her arms. In between blinks, Lila's whole demeanour changed. From sweet and caring to the cold, manipulative girl Marinette knew Lila really was. Lila laughed slightly.