Switching Deceit

Chapter 6

"Girl, where'd you run off to yesterday?"

"Oh, my mom wanted me to come home as soon as possible because she didn't want me in the middle of an akuma attack. She picked me up on my way home."

"Well, I'm glad you're alright."

"Thanks! You too, Alya!"

"Hey, I heard more things about Marinette," Nino said.

"Why talk about her at all? She deserves what's coming to her. She is a manipulative, psychopathic, pathetic, narcissistic, selfish, little b-"

"Alya, it's okay. I'd hate to talk badly about someone who's struggling for her life in the hospital."

"You're too kind, Lila."

"Anyway, I heard that Marinette is getting a lot better and will make a full recovery. So, unfortunately, that means she'll be back on Monday." Haha, perfect!

"How dare she!" Alya cried out like it was Marinette's intention all along to not die.

"I can't believe they didn't expel her after everything she's done!"

"Please! Stop talking about that sorry excuse for a human being! Can't you see it's making Lila upset! She's a bully! A nobody who won't make it anywhere in life, because all she ever does it cheat her way to the top even if it means bringing everyone else down."

"I couldn't have said it better babe," Nino kissed her cheek. Alya shrugged it off, but grabbed Nino's hand as a sign saying she still cares for him.

"Oh, it's okay. I understand not everyone has the best home life," I prodded. "I mean, something must've happened to Marinette to make her feel the need to hurt me, right?"

"Tom and Sabine Dupain-Cheng? They always seemed nice when we came over. They wouldn't hurt a fly!" Alya defended. "Besides, wouldn't their bakery get a bad rep if they did hurt their daughter? That seems even riskier than their blood orange and goat cheese galette."

"When was the last time you went over to their house?"

"I don't know, maybe 3 to 4 years ago?" She looked down guiltily. "Then she started changing, so the meetings slowed down. After a couple of weeks of putting up with her, we stopped hanging out after school altogether."

"So maybe her parents stopped being there for her?" I suggested lightly.

"It is derived that 97% of bullies were once bullied before-"

"Chloe," Nino muttered.

"Mostly in their home lives, specifically domestic or intimate abuse, and causes the child to turn to physical aggression, relative aggression, and/or involvement in bullying towards a peer," Max informed. "So Marinette's parents being abusive is a logical and very likely hypothesis and may prove to be true." They were figuring it out all on their own.

"It's perfectly their ideas," I thought sweetly.

"Tom and Sabine abusive?" Sabrina laughed out loud. "They let me into Marinette's room thinking I was her friend. If they abused Marinette, don't you think they wouldn't want me to see if her room had signs of abuse?"

"What did you do in her room, though?"

"I stole her diary to find something on her," She looked away in embarrassment. "It disappeared when an akuma attacked, though."

"And they didn't care that a complete stranger walked out with their daughters personal belongings?" I asked with a fake kind smile.

"I-I didn't think of that."

"You know how Marinette is mean right? She probably talked bad about all of us to her parents. So they knew she didn't like you, and they let you into her room anyway," Alya realized. "Maybe they did that on purpose with the hopes that you'd trash her room or find blackmail on her."

The class looked absolutely horrified. The thought of the real Tom and Sabine shook them to their core. How could they not notice this before? Why would anyone do that to their child?

"So?" Adrien said abruptly and wrapped an arm around my waist. "Marinette is our everyday ladybug, she should've been able to handle it, therefore Marinette has probably been wanting to hurt Lila for a while. I mean look at her." He said practically with hearts in his eyes. Oh my gosh. I secretly rolled my eyes.

"You're right!" Kim said. "When Marinette went against akumas, she never had any trouble fighting them. She never showed any fear either. That's how she attacked Lila." He copied Adrien's expression.

"It makes a very plausible theory considering how you look and your extravagant lifestyle." Max joined the let's-simp-over-Lila club.

Usually, I'd be very annoyed at 3 guys flirting with me, but this could be extremely entertaining. I'm so going to use this to my advantage.

Class went on like usual. I made sure to cut in every now and then to give them a wild story or an unrealistic opportunity.

'My mom is actually best friends with George Washington's direct descendant!'

There aren't any.

'We actually went to the White House on our last trip to America. It was incredible! The ceilings were so high and there were so many security guards! During the tour, the President came out of the Oval Office. He recognized my mom from a previous work benefit and gave us a private tour to return the favor!'

Mr. President was meeting with a foreign officer in the Philippines the week I claimed to have gone.

'I actually dated one of the descendants of Alexander Hamilton! He was Phillip Hamilton's great-great-great-great-great grandson.'

Phillip Hamilton died in a duel against his ex-best friend over political differences.

I say anything and they'll easily believe it. It was almost too easy. I don't like manipulating them. They were still once my best friends anyway, but seeing them this helpless, it hurt. I almost wanted to give in. Tell them 'Hey, I'm actually Marinette in Lila's body,' but that would never work.

They'd see through my truths like they couldn't see through my lies.