The Elites: A Miraculous Ladybug Fanfic

Fallout

Marinette had just walked back into the ballroom with Luka when Alya came up to them.

"Hey, Alya, have you seen Chloe?" Luka asked.

Alya ignored him, looking straight at Marinette. "You are never going to believe what happened."

"What?" Marinette asked in bewilderment. She had never seen Alya look so intense.

"Lila is spreading rumors that you're using Adrien for his status and cheating on him with Luka!"

"WHAT?!" Marinette and Luka shouted.

"That's ridiculous!" Marinette said. "Where's Lila?"

"Still by the punch table."

It seemed an apt place for a confrontation.

Marinette took off, leaving Alya and Luka behind. The anger she felt tripled when she saw Lila with Adrien, Chloe, and Kagami. Her eyes landed on the sash she had fixed only a week earlier.

Lila hadn't deserved her help.

"Lila Rossi." Marinette's hands seized upon the sash. She ripped it from the dress, leaving a section of fabric trailing down Lila's front. "How dare you?"

"Marinette!" Chloe cried.

"She's a liar. She's been spreading rumors about Luka and I." Marinette gave her a hard stare. "After everything I did for you. I kept your secrets! And betrayal is my thanks?"

"What secret?" Adrien asked. His green eyes were wide.

"Lila is a scholarship student," Marinette announced.

"What?" Chloe said. "So, you've been lying to us this whole time?"

"I can't believe you!" Kagami joined in.

Lila shrank back. "But Kagami," she whimpered.

"You were using us," Chloe shouted. "I'm so stupid. I should have realized earlier."

"Okay, maybe we should all take a deep breath and consider why Lila was lying in the first place," Adrien said.

"No!" The girls cried in unison.

"You!" Chloe stepped in front of Marinette. "You're no better than Lila!"

"Me?" Marinette failed to see how any of this was her fault. "I never pretended to be someone else."

"Didn't you?" Chloe's eyes were filling with tears. "We were never really friends. You were just using me to get information about Lila. Why didn't I see it? Every time we were together, you were always asking me about her."

"Wait, you were stalking me?" Lila glared at Marinette. "That's how you found out my secret?"

"Are you forgetting that Lila's been lying to you for over a year and that she's been spreading rumors about me?" Marinette grumbled.

She couldn't believe Chloe was so angry.

"Rumors?" Chloe shoved a piece of paper in Marinette's face. "Explain this then."

Marinette took the paper and smoothed it out. Her eyes glided over the words. They looked like song lyrics, but who... her eyes stopped on the phrase "sincere melody."

Luka.

"I've never seen this before," Marinette said honestly.

"Clearly it's about you," Chloe hissed.

"Let me see," Adrien took the sheet from Marinette's hand.

"Wait!" She flushed with embarrassment.

Adrien skimmed it. "I think this is the least of our worries right now," he said casually.