The Salt Files (MLB)

A Liar's Downfall

Lila doesn't turn in an assignment, blaming Marinette and claiming that she stole her paper. Marinette is done with Lila and the High Road advice.

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"Ok class, please pass your essays to the front of the classroom!" Mrs. Bustier announced. Lila turned pale, completely forgetting about the assignment. But she had a backup plan that would sure take the heat off her. 

Mrs. Bustier looked at every paper to make sure everyone turned it in when she noticed Lila's was missing. She looked up at the student, already noticing her worried appearance. "Lila, where's your essay?"

Lila started up her fake tears, gaining everyone's attention. "Y-you see..." And the liar went on to explain what happened. She claimed that Marinette stole it and ripped it up before class. 

The class, being the naive sheep they are, believed her every word and started calling Marinette names and accusing her of being jealous. Marinette however, was not in the mood.

She spent half her night doing paperwork for trips as the Class Rep and the rest of the night battling an akuma who was akumatized for a nightmare. By the time she got home, she only got 15 minutes of sleep before she had to get ready for school. Needless to say, she was not gonna have any stress and getting herself akumatized because only one side of the story was being heard. 

Some friends, right?

"I didn't take her essay," Marinette yawned. "She got here before me, anyways." She glanced at Adrien, mentally preparing for the glare. But instead, she saw the model with his head down, like he was asleep.  She noticed Adrien looked just as tired as she did, but didn't question it. She was still mad at him after all for suggesting the high road.

"You're lying! Just give Lila back her homework." Alya glared at her ex-best friend.

"Marinette, you need to set an example and give her back the essay if you have it." Mrs. Bustier agreed. The bluenette just wanted to go home and take a nap.

"I. Don't. Have. It."

"Young lady, I will not have that attitude in my class. Go to the Principal's office." Marinette rolled her eyes and was packing up her stuff when Adrien rose his head from the desk. He looked ready to burst, like he had a bad dream. 

Definitely not Plagg warning him of what would happen if he didn't help Marinette. 

"Why would Marinette take the essay and destroy it? Doesn't seem like something she would do." The class was taken aback. Adrien usually sided with them. They just waved it off as sleep deprivation, so he wasn't thinking straight.

"Because, Adrien, she doesn't like me! You know this!" Lila sniffed. Adrien looked at her, dead in the face.

"She doesn't like you because you decided to lie in the first place. And I just let it happen." The class gasped.

"She can't be lying-" Kim started.

"The amount of injuries she claims she has and doesn't have a single cast or bruise?" Marinette put up a finger.

"The number of celebrities she claims to know but half of them are dead." Adrien mumbled.

"The countless other things she did if you only checked the cameras." Marinette glared at her teacher. 

"I bet if you look up anyone Lila has said she knew, the only source would be the Ladyblog." Adrien looked done. Alya wanted to prove him wrong so she decided to search. The class saw she was struggling and growing frustrated and decided to help. 

Adrien looked at Marinette apologetically. It was like they were having a telepathic conversation.

I never meant for it to go this far, I thought she would have stopped by now.

I did too, but I guess it's better now than later. What about her being akumatized?

I realized it was just going to happen anyway, so what's the point?

Alya's sigh of frustration broke them out of their chat. She slid down into her chair, realizing that Lila could have actually been lying the entire time. Nino was about to say something but Alya beat him to it.

"You knew she was lying?!" She all but screeched.

"I thought she wasn't hurting anyone and I didn't think it would get this serious." Adrien deadpanned.

"My blog is ruined because of her!"

"It's ruined because you didn't fact check. Don't pin that on Lila. You didn't have to believe her stories, you chose to. That's no one's fault but yours." Marinette looked at the liar, who was trying to make a getaway. Ivan followed her gaze and yanked her back into the room, shutting the door behind them.

The class proceeded to get their anger out, with Marinette and Adrien on akuma watch. Nino was hurt that Adrien knew and said nothing, but he understood why he didn't do anything. He would slowly learn to forgive his friend, but he wouldn't forget how he just let them bully his childhood friend.

Once the class was finished, Alya turned to Marinette. "Marinette-" She started, but the girl raised her hand to silence her.

"Don't. It took, what, almost a year for you to finally listen and do your research? And then come back and apologize and expect us to be friends again? I don't think I can be friends with you, at least not right now. If anything, this taught us that not everything is as it seems. So, your apology could be fake too, and I'm not going to risk it." Marinette grabbed her things and led Nino and Adrien to the door. 

"We are leaving. It's best for us to remove ourselves from this toxic environment." The trio left without another word, and kept walking as the class descended into more chaos.

They didn't regret not looking back.

945 words