Archive of Our Own ^beta

The boardroom was stuffy and warm with too many bodies inside despite the cooler air flowing from the vents. The sun was shining outside, a beautiful day of late spring with the heat of summer just around the corner. Children were playing outside, couples strolling along, and tourists snapping photos of monuments and whatever else caught their fancy. It was a lovely May Saturday.

It’s just a shame I would be spending it defending myself in my expulsion trial.

The plaintiff, Caline Bustier, fanned herself with a folder but otherwise looked prim and proper. My classmates, on the other hand, were much more vocal in their displeasure. But Alya was quick to remind them that was all for a good cause: getting one Marinette Dupain-Cheng expelled from school.

The five representatives from the Board of Education looked like they would rather be anywhere else. School was over in just a month’s time, so pursuing an expulsion when the defendant was a few weeks from graduation seemed asinine. At least that’s what I hoped they thought. It had certainly run through my mind more than a couple times.

The plaintiff’s witnesses had finished their testimonies, each one sounding incredibly similar. ‘Marinette is an awful bully’, ‘Marinette won’t leave Lila alone’, ‘Marinette stole our class trip’. I noticed how Juleka, Rose, Nathaniel, and Adrien weren’t present. Whatever their reasons, they were no friends of mine at this point. They may not have testified against me, but they certainly weren’t here defending my honor.

I sent off the group text and stood up from the table. Walking up to my judge and jury’s table, I handed out five exact copies, each one sleek and professional and thick, and took my place at the front of the room with the original binder in hand. “Ladies and gentlemen, my teacher and classmates have painted you a very unflattering picture of me. They told you the story of a handicapped victim, a helpful class, an excellent teacher all against a bully of a class representative. But I am going to take you all a few steps back, so that we may look at the entire picture and I can bring into focus the details that my classmates have so conveniently forgotten to share. You will see the story instead of an enabler of a teacher, a most gullible group of students, and an immoral liar.

“Let me start by saying it wasn’t always this way between me and my peers. We used to be friends. Perhaps not the closest, but friendly nonetheless. It was Alya that gave me the courage to stand up against my childhood bully and later gave me the strength to challenge said bully for the position as class president which I won. Once I took office, I swore to my classmates and myself that I would redefine the standards of class rep and do my best to not only meet their needs, but achieve their desires as well. For the most part, I was successful and we were happy.

“Then Lila transferred into our class, and everything fell apart. From the moment she set foot in school, nay in Paris, she began spreading lies. Lies like being best friends with Ladybug to knowing celebrities. These lies seemed to stem from the desire to be noticed and to make friends, but I uphold that it is never a good idea to lie for popularity. I was in the park on that first day of hers when I saw Ladybug confronting Lila. I wasn’t too close, but Ladybug was certainly loud enough for me to have heard our city’s heroine condemning Lila for using her name to gain attention. Lila ran away and was later akumatized into Volpina from what I understand. After her defeat, she did not return to school. I assumed she had tucked tail and abandoned Paris, but I was wrong.

“Lila Rossi returned with a vengeance, spreading even more lies. Only this time, she was now lying about being handicapped with the most outrageous stories to explain them. For example, she claimed to have gotten tinnitus by rescuing Jagged Stone’s pet kitten from being run over by a plane.” The board members all shared looks with each other in confusion.

I waved my hand. “But we’re not here to talk about that, we’re to talk about the event that inspired my teacher and my classmates to have me cast out of school so close to the day of our graduation. I am, of course, referring to the class trip that they claimed I stole from them. However, stealing implies that I have taken something that was not mine. If you all open the binders that I gave you, I will show you that this is not the case and that I had in fact done everything to bring this trip to fruition.”

Lila chose this moment to open her mouth with her eyes leaking fat crocodile tears. “Marinette, why would you…”

A gavel slammed on a little pedestal. The head of the board members overseeing my trial pinned a glare on Lila. “You all had your turn to speak and Miss Dupain-Cheng never said a word. Be respectful and show the same courtesy.”

I nodded in thanks without sparing the lying bitch a glance. “Now as you can imagine, a cruise as a class trip sounds really out of the norm. After all, cruises can get rather expensive. When holding a senior trip brainstorm meeting at the beginning of the year, it was Lila who convinced my class that it was a cruise that they wanted, and thus, they would settle for nothing less. Being the class rep, I had no choice but to go with the majority choice.

“So let’s begin by opening the binders to page two. You will notice the tabs on the sides that mark budget, fundraising, events, confirmations, and texts which will be of great importance later. As soon as the trip was chosen, I began my research. I looked up and compared prices and soon set up a budget, as you can see on pages two through five with the different comparisons and the final budget plan. I had to take into account that many of my classmates would be off on their own adventures after graduation, so the only viable time we could all take this trip together would be in April during Spring Break. Each ticket cost €939, and with 16 total passengers if we did not include any other chaperone aside from our teacher that meant the total cost for the cruise would be just over €15,000. The total cost for the round trip tickets from Paris to Le Havre port was almost €500 and the shuttle to take us from the station to the port would only cost €30 in total. With over €15,500 to raise, I warned my class that it would take a lot of work to reach our goal which they said they were more than happy to do if it meant they got a cruise for their senior class trip.”

“Excuse me.” One of the board members, an older blonde woman wearing a smart pantsuit gestured at the page. “You did all this budgeting by yourself? Where was your teacher when you were doing this research or choosing a class trip?”

I shrugged it off. “I usually do these things myself as class rep. Alya is supposed to help me as class deputy, but she focuses most of her time on her blog. Now if you would please find the fundraising tab and flip to the opening of the scention, you will find the list of all the fundraising events I put together and the people who signed up to assist in those events. Also note, however, that those events also contain the information of who showed up, who called out and at what time, and those who were no-call-no-shows. I kept this list so that I could do something special for those who helped with a spa treatment aboard the cruise paid for out of my own pocket as a thank you for their hard work and dedication. However, I later learned that they were not as willing to put forth the work as they had promised.”

The board members were scanning the pages in the binder and sharing those looks again. I hoped this was a good thing.

“The first event was a bake sale. Both of my parents are professional bakers and they raised me in the kitchen. The plan was to rise with my parents on Sunday morning and mass produce cookies, cupcakes, and my mother’s famous moonpies which this entire city knows is only made once a year during the Chinese New Year. Alix had volunteered to come in in the afternoon and assist me in decorating. I got a text message from her half an hour before she was due to arrive that Lila had told her that an old professional athlete friend of hers was visiting. Alix didn’t want to miss this chance to get advice from a real athlete and tapped out of decorating for the bake sale. If it weren’t for my amazing parents sitting just behind me, I don’t think I would have been able to finish. Monday I had announced on my social media platforms that I would be having the bake sale just outside of our school, making sure to add that there was Sabine Cheng’s moonpies for sale. Nino and Rose had volunteered to help with the sale only to call me ten minutes before they were supposed to help me set up and informed me that Lila had gotten into a fight with the athlete friend of hers and needed a lot of comforting. I struggled by myself until Aurore Beauréal saw me and offered support. I earned €864 with that bake sale and I still had a long way to go.

“The next event was a coffee stand. Thanks to my connection with Nadja Chamack, I had scored a place at her news station to sell my homemade cocoa, coffee, tea, and a small selection of scones and cakes to eat with them. Seeing as how Alya, my deputy, is an aspiring reporter, I offered her the first volunteer slot for the three days I would be at the station to which she happily accepted. It would give her a chance to encounter professional journalists and reporters and hopefully receive advice and tips to help her own career. On day one, I had only just finished handling a rush all by myself for over an hour when I finally got a chance to check my phone and perhaps call Alya to see why she was so late. I saw a text message from her, delivered almost half an hour after she was scheduled to show up, that Lila promised her a scoop on Ladybug and Chat Noir’s relationship. I got so angry that I had to call a great friend of mine who always manages to calm me down because I really didn’t want to get akumatized. Luka listened to me rant and then biked over to the station to help me on that and the next two days even though he had to take time off from work.

“This trend followed through the next three months: my classmates signed up to work in fundraising events only to text me, sometimes several minutes after they were supposed to have arrived, that they couldn’t make it and usually the excuse had something to do with Lila. It wasn’t until October when Kim had skipped out entirely of the work he had volunteered for with the excuse I learned the next day of satisfying a dare with Lila and later playing in the pool with her and his friends that I just stopped asking my classmates for help. I knew from experience what would happen: they would either say no, agree only to call and tap out, or conveniently forget.”

Another member of the board, this time a stately man with thick auburn hair, questioned me. “Where was Madam Bustier when you reported these repeated absences. What did she do to address her students?”

“She never did. As far as she is concerned, anything outside of classwork is my domain.” I would have persisted in my presentation had the woman not stood up to defend herself. Her rebuttal was cut off immediately by the head of the meeting and was warned to remain silent. I continued on and flipped through my binder. “Without my classmates' help, I had started pursuing all kinds of work to earn the money we needed. By early December I was growing more lethargic as I ran myself ragged. It was in Le Grand Paris where I had taken a commission from the owner to design and craft centerpieces for an upcoming dinner party that I broke down and began crying from the mental, emotional, and physical strain I had endured for months. It was at this moment that I realized Lila’s plan. She had manipulated this situation so thoroughly that she would come out on top no matter its conclusion. Should I have failed in meeting my financial goal, she would paint me as a lazy failure in the eyes of my classmates and they would berate and scorn me for failing to achieve the trip they wanted. Should I succeed, Lila would get to enjoy a lavish cruise that I had run myself ragged to earn all alone while I most likely would have been sequestered in my room sleeping off months of hard work. No matter what happened, she would be the clear winner. And I was so incredibly frustrated, feeling alone and isolated, that I could see no way out.

“That was how Jagged Stone found me.” The doors opened and the very man strolled into the room like he owned it with his pet crocodile on a leash. Penny Rolling was close behind with a phone in her hand and a scowl on her face. Not far behind them was Clara Nightingale uncharacteristically still and sneering at my class. Trailing after them was Thomas Astruc, the director of the Ladybug movie. Finally, Nadja Chamack, who had taken time off work to be here sat on a wooden bench with a recorder in one hand and her notepad in another. They all took seats around my parents. Most of the people in the room, especially my classmates, were stunned speechless. “Madam Bustier has presented her witnesses of my character, and now I present mine.”

The board glanced at one another before all seemingly coming to a silent agreement. “Please continue, Miss Dupain-Cheng.”

Alya was on her feet. “Marinette!”

“One more interruption from any of you, and I’ll dismiss this case in Miss Dupain-Cheng’s favour!” The old man snapped waspishly and Alya collapsed tensely into her seat. He nodded at me.

I cleared my throat and stood confidently. “On page twelve of the fundraising section, you will find a very different fundraiser. I’m certain you all recall the special holiday auction that Jagged Stone held over his social media platforms. If not, it was an auction held over a period of five days with two items sold daily. Each product was unique and one of a kind Jagged Stone merchandise, never to be made again by Jagged Stone’s favorite designer and honorary niece. That, ladies and gentlemen, was me. I had explained why I had been crying and my situation to Jagged when he found me and he promised to help me earn the money I needed, which at that point I was only at just under half of my goal. Usually, I would have too much pride to accept help from someone who was already so busy with their own responsibilities, but I was tired and I was desperate. He commissioned ten items themed around him and his music and he would auction them off and give me 70% of the profit. I honestly thought I wouldn’t get much from them, but I did it anyway, working all throughout my weekend, to get it done while planning more fundraising events for next semester.

“I never anticipated that the auction would get me over €180,000. €186,478 to be exact and well over my original goal. I was ecstatic. No more bake sales, no more late nights-early mornings, as I was now free to take a breather and begin planning out the class’ trip. I paid for the tickets I reserved and even purchased tickets for a festival that would be taking place at one of the cruise port stops, reserving tables at a few restaurants, and even booked a snorkeling excursion. These extra things technically paid for out of my own pocket as that auction money was earned through my business, but I really wanted to blow everyone out of the water and I wanted all of us to have a good time together. It could be my chance to reconnect with the people I had once considered my friends and I thought that by going above and beyond for them that they would finally remember that I was not the bully that Lila had painted me to be.”

I fingered the last tab, the one of the confirmations. “On the first day back in January, I informed my class that I had surpassed my goal and we would be going on a cruise. I spent the next week compiling packets for them to take home. These packets included a packing list, permission slips, the ports we would visit, the schedule and locations, and a general safety guide for traveling students. The cruise was all we would talk about for the next three months, and I later learned that my classmates had been bragging about it to other students. We were all excited for this trip and spent many homerooms discussing it among ourselves.

“Then it came upon us. It was Monday, five days until we would board the train for Le Havre and take a shuttle for a week-long cruise. I remember that homeroom class so clearly. I was holding a meeting to go over the packing list and confirming everyone knew the safety procedures and scheduled departure. I remember looking up and meeting Lila’s eyes, and I remember all too well that malicious gleam that said ‘I’m about to ruin your day’ as I had seen it several times before. You see, it has become a theme of my life that when Lila opens her mouth, trouble follows. Sure enough, Lila opened her mouth and began to stir up drama.”

“’Oh, it’s this weekend?’” I mimicked in a too high, too innocent voice that sounded very similar to Lila when she portrayed herself as a distressed damsel. “Lila Rossi proceeded to spin a story of how she had been surprised with an invitation to a grand ball Prince Ali of Achu was hosting in her honor to celebrate the anti-pollution charity she had helped him build. She lamented that she was set to fly down to Achu on Friday to attend the ball on Saturday and how it would be a real shame she would have to miss our class trip.”

Two of the board members actually coughed, another choking on her water, at the mention of Prince Ali. The choking brunette cleared her throat though her voice was still raspy as she addressed me. “Prince Ali of Achu only has charities concerning orphaned or hospitalized children. He doesn’t have any environmental charities.”

I was elated that someone on the Board knew enough about Prince Ali that I didn’t have to pull out that evidence. “You are correct! I looked it up myself. However, my classmates have always taken Lila’s stories at face value without doing their due diligence.”

The brunette shot a befuddled glare at my peers. “I see.”

I continued, “As I have stated, my classmates are very gullible and take everything Lila says as gospel without ever asking for proof. So hearing her tale about this grand ball in her honor, they began demanding for me to reschedule the cruise so that Lila could attend it and still take the class trip. Being the logical and reasonable person I am, I told them that it was not possible and that Lila would have to choose which event to attend. After all, spring break was the only viable time for our class to take this trip. Many of the extra event tickets that I booked were non-refundable. That was money I would never see again, and money that I had earned with my creations. In addition, many of my classmates would be off pursuing their futures within the first week after graduation. Spring break was the only time we would all be together. I’m certain any of you would have given Lila the same answer being the reasonable and logical people you are; one or the other.

“Well, ladies and gentlemen, let it be known that my classmates are neither of those. You would think that I had spat in Lila’s face and punched her in the gut so hard she threw up cracked ribs from the way my peers reacted. They started screaming at me, yelling in my face and calling me a bully for wanting to exclude Lila from the class trip and that I was jealous of her accomplishments.” Jagged Stone scoffed behind me. “It was only at this time that Madam Bustier intervened. Not to back me up, mind you because I was supposed to be the good example and good examples don’t need coddling, but to side with the class. She proceeded to ask me if it would be possible to reschedule the cruise so that Lila could attend her imaginary ball. I informed her of all the reasons why it wasn’t and that if Lila could provide evidence of this invitation then I would book her a flight from Achu to the first port we would stop at to pick her up and pay for her hotel myself. Of course Lila came up with an excuse as to why she didn’t have one.

“Lila, once again, opened her mouth and revealed her ultimate goal. To quote: ‘Of course I will go on the cruise with you guys. It will just be so hard having to look at Marinette everyday knowing that I could have attended the ball in my honor.’”

The blonde woman stuffed her face into her hands with a quiet ‘oh god’ whispered loud enough for us to hear. The head of the trial picked up on the foreshadowing as well as his coworker. “Miss Dupain-Cheng, did Miss Rossi attempt to get you banned from this class trip?”

“She most certainly did and Madam Bustier would have let her do it, too.” I finally met my teacher’s eyes with more disgusted contempt than I’ll bet she has ever seen from a student, or anyone ever. “Madam Bustier told me, in front of the class, that she thought it would be best if I were to skip out on the cruise to make Lila more comfortable.”

The wizened man turned a heated glare on the woman. “You informed us that Miss Dupain-Cheng had been banned from the trip for bullying Miss Rossi.”

Caline Bustier looked paler than usual. I answered for her. “Bullying Lila Rossi? Oh no, sir. In fact, I avoid Lila as if she were a contagious leper. I hate her lies, her manipulation, her little mind games, and the way she always manages to twist the context of my words into some kind of attack against her. I avoid being in her presence as much as possible to prevent myself from being suspended and possibly arrested for physical assault. I don’t even have her phone number because I do not want it polluting my contacts.

“Anywho, I very nearly exploded on my enabler of a teacher, but managed to choke down the searing rage and desire to maim down and set her straight. I reminded her that I was the one who did all the planning and organizing without her help, all of the reservations were under my name, and how students outside of the class had a bigger hand in helping fundraise for the trip than any of my classmates alongside how over half of the funds was technically a donation from me. I straight up told her and everyone else who had cheered when Bustier requested I stay home that I would sooner gouge out my eyes than allow them to enjoy the fruits of my labor when they had done nothing to earn it while I sat at home. And, not wanting to face the collective wrath of my classmates, I decided to skip out on class for the rest of the day.”

"Understandable. You have more self control than I did at your age." The auburn haired gentleman huffed irritably while glaring at the plaintiff's side.

I wandered along the front of my assigned table where my binder sat. "As you can imagine, I was quite emotional. All of the work I had poured into this trip, all the hours of sleep I lost and the commissions I had to put off or outright reject, all meant nothing thanks to Lila. I was fighting with my feelings so as not to become another one of Hawkmoth's monsters, but I was just so tired. I was tired of Lila and her little games and her unwavering desire to ruin my life in any way she could. She had succeeded in isolating me from my friends and soiling my standing with my teacher. I just threw myself into what looked like an empty room to be alone and cry. I found out a few minutes later that I had walked into Madam Mendeleiev's office and she had seen my whole breakdown. She got the story out of me as to why I had become akuma bait and offered me comfort. I told her that I was going to cancel the entire trip just to spite them. It was then that she reminded me that it would be a shame for all my hard work to go to waste. She added that she had never been on a cruise before.

"So we began secretly switching around the names on the reservations and getting signed permission slips from her students. Thankfully, her class is just a little smaller than mine so I was able to maintain my spot on the trip. All the while, I had to endure my classmate's taunting me about all the fun they would have in the cruise without me. Constantly, they were rubbing it in my face that I was not allowed to go. The only thing that kept my mouth shut and my hands to myself was the knowledge that they would not be going on the cruise with me.”

I opened the binder to the last section: texts. “Everyday from Monday to Saturday morning, I received nasty text messages from Alya, Kim, and even Lila who had gotten my number from Alya. The last one was from Lila and, as you can see, blatantly shows that she knew what she had done and was reveling in my isolation from my classmates. To quote: ‘Thanks for the cruise, Marinette. I’ll be sure to enjoy every moment. Have fun in that run down shack you call a house.’ You will see in the next photo where the message continues how I confirmed that this was in fact Lila Rossi and she confessed that it was Alya that gave her my cell number. These text messages are still on my phone if you would like to review them as evidence.”

The board leader held out his hand and I allowed him access to my archived messages.

Lila and Alya shot to their feet with what I’m sure was denial and/or accusations on their lips, but the harsh glare from the board leader had them collapsing back in their seats shooting their own glares at me. Kim, on the other hand, stared at the floor in shame. Each board member examined the messages to ensure that they were not merely photoshopped and returned it to my care. "Did you report these text messages to your teacher, Madam Bustier? Or any teacher?"

I shook my head in denial. "I saw no point in telling Madam Bustier anything concerning my classmates. What's the point when she would just tell me to suck it up and be the bigger person?"

Bustier visibly shuddered under the combined glares of her superiors. "I see. Continue."

"Day of the launch, Saturday morning. I knew the schedule down to the second and had hired a shuttle to take Mendeleiev's class to the bus station right after Bustier's shuttle left. Funny enough, we ended up next to each other in another line. Apparently, Madam Bustier was having trouble acquiring her class' tickets. Madam Mendeleiev used my name, as that is the name I booked all the tickets under, her name as the registered guardian, and the password I had requested a few days earlier."

The brunette smirked behind her fist. "I'm going to wager a guess that your class wasn't too happy about the switch."

"You would be correct. They caused quite a scene while Mendeleiev handed out assigned tickets. But before we walked away to enjoy the nice cruise I had planned, Madam Mendeleiev made sure to give Bustier everything she would need for her class' previous trip; a five day bus tour of the castles of France. The same trip they had called lame and stupid when compared to a cruise."

The board leader barked a satisfied laugh. His peers seemed to share the sentiment even in their silence. "So it appears to me that you organized a cruise trip all by yourself and enjoyed it with the people who appreciated the effort to bring it to fruition in place of your classmates for whom the trip was originally intended."

It appeared to be that I had this case in the bag. "That's right. Of course, my classmates were very unhappy and I faced a lot of verbal abuse from most of them that my teacher did nothing to stop as I believe she too was upset at the last minute switch. However, this behavior is nothing new from Madam Bustier and I returned to school prepared for her neglect. I can give you pictures of the things my classmates did to my desk, locker, and my things if you need more evidence. Additionally, you can question my character witnesses to testify on my behalf."

The brunette board member hummed in disbelief while flipping through the binder. "That's alright, I think we’ve seen enough."

Alya was on her feet again. “Are you serious?! She gave our class trip to another class and joined them! That has to be against the rules! This is completely unfair!”

Many of the board members glared or rolled their eyes. The head of the trial, firm and unyielding in the middle of the table, answered her calmly in a venom laced tone. “What’s unfair is how your class president, who was voted into office by her classmates, was forced to organize, prepare, and fund a class trip that was so far beyond expectations all by herself. What’s unfair is that over half the budget came out of her own pocket. What’s unfair is that her peers and teacher tried to exclude her from that very same trip to satisfy one girl’s emotional needs at the cost of another’s. It is incredibly unfair that a teacher would push to have that girl expelled from school mere weeks before she graduated out of sheer spite.”

I knew Alya well enough to know that she was not about to back down. “She was trying to exclude Lila from the trip out of jealousy!”

The blonde woman clicked her tongue. “Miss Dupain-Cheng has proven otherwise. She made very logical and valid points as to why the trip was scheduled for when it was and why she was unable to accommodate Miss Rossi when she made a last minute declaration of a clash in schedules. Honestly, even if that ball was real, Miss Rossi should have approached Miss Dupain-Cheng in private to discuss her options and not stir up drama by announcing it in the middle of the final meeting before the class trip.”

My ex-best friend dug in heels, determined to die on the hill she had chosen. And die she would, may her reputation and dream career rest in peace. "But Marinette is a bully! She bullies Lila so the time; pushing her down the stairs, calling her horrible names…"

"Can you provide proof of these alleged occasions?"

Alya seethed, "No, but…"

"Have you witnessed these occasions yourself or are you just repeating stories that Miss Rossi told you?"

She shook her head violently. "I never saw anything, but that just means…"

"So what proof do you have that Miss Dupain-Cheng has bullied Miss Rossi?"

Alya set her hands on her hips and stood proud and tall. "We have text messages sent by Marinette to Lila full of slander and threats! Show them your phone, Lila!"

The girl in question paled a little, but recovered with a cautious smile. "Oh of course! I have it right here!"

The man in charge of the trial raised a sardonic eyebrow at the girl. “You want to bring it here where we can see?”

Lila’s eyes flashed with malevolence before it was suppressed in the blink of an eye and replaced with that too familiar mask of a helpless victim. She stepped up to their table, but would not relinquish her phone. “See? It’s all right here!”

He held out his hand. Lila pulled back. “I need to investigate the messages to insure that you are not presenting false evidence, which would not only result in the dismissal of Miss Dupain-Cheng’s case but also the beginnings of yours.”

“Of course they’re real messages! Show ‘em, Lila!” Alya barked angrily from the plaintiff’s bench. Her allies called out in agreement, though some of them with much less confidence than they had earlier.

Lila was backpedalling. I knew for a fact that those so-called texts were the product of a fake text creator that anyone could pull up on the internet. She said as much when she cornered me in the bathroom after the entire class had yelled at me. A quick tap would reveal her lie and would land her in far more trouble than an expulsion trial. Not only would she be charged with the presentation of false evidence, but I would be able to pursue a lawsuit against her for slander and defamation atop the cases Jagged Stone and several other people she had lied about were already building on her even now. “O-Of course this is real. I just have a lot of private things on my phone and I don’t want you going through it.”

The brunette woman sneered down at the teenager. “Hand over your phone or it will be rejected as evidence and we will assume you are lying and act accordingly.”

I smiled with endless glee at Lila’s still form. Adrien was right in the end I guess, at least partially. Liar-la had lied herself into a corner in which she could not get out. She would lose no matter what she did and she knew it. Seeing her panic in the situation she had created was incredibly satisfying. Finally, a group of competent adults are handling Lila the way she should have been handled from the very beginning.

In a moment of panic, Lila’s arm flew sideways and her phone went flying. The delicate device crashed into the floor and broke apart into three pieces. Lila cried and held her arm close to her chest portraying herself in a most pathetic light. “Ah! Muscle spasm! I’m so sorry, I get them occasionally. The last time Marinette pushed me down the stairs…”

“Convenient. We’re done here. I hereby find Marinette Dupain-Cheng innocent of all accusations. Case dismissed.” The gavel came down. “As for you, Miss Rossi, we will be seeing you real soon. You as well, Caline Bustier.”

Both Lila and my teacher froze in horror. My classmates processed in silence before Alya was on her feet and roaring at the board. “WHAT?!? Are you SERIOUS?!? You’re just going to…?!”

“That is enough!” The board leader was on his feet and glaring down at the plaintiffs with such disdain that it made me tremble. “Miss Dupain-Cheng provided sufficient evidence to prove her case whereas you all merely gave verbal slander in addition of recounts of the stories Miss Rossi has shared yet has no evidence to back them up. It is plainly obvious to see that Miss Dupain-Cheng has been made into some kind of scapegoat by her own teacher, which we will be having a very long discussion about, Miss Bustier.”

Alya was holding her ground. Honestly she was so stubborn she probably would better suit the Ox Miraculous, not that I’d ever trust her with one ever again. “But Marinette is a bad person! She stole from Lila! Pushed her down the stairs! She even got expelled for it, if only for a day!”

Caline blanched and gawked at Alya with terror. The five board members, on the other hand, had all frozen stiff with looks of enraged disbelief. A muscular salt and pepper haired man who had remained silent throughout the trial pinned a now quiet Alya to the floor with his cold blue glare alone. His voice was deep like thunder and resonated in the room like an impending storm. “What did you just say?”

Lila seemed to pick up on the mood and curled in on herself to appear smaller. Alya, on the other hand, wasn’t one to keep her mouth shut. She swallowed under the pressure and pursued his inquiry. “That’s right! Marinette was caught with an answer sheet in her bag and accused Lila of planting it on her. They were both sent to the principal’s office when Marinette pushed Lila down the stairs where Lila hurt her leg! During break, we saw the Principal open Marinette’s locker where he found Lila’s heirloom necklace because she had stolen it earlier in the day! Principal Damocles expelled her on the spot and, for some reason, revoked it the next day.”

The board leader snorted in disbelief and twisted his head to look at me. “Can you clarify this… situation?

People who are willing to listen to my side of that particular shit show? “Certainly. First off, that was a mock test for a class I have always done well in that was only worth a class work grade. If I ever were to cheat, which I would never, it wouldn’t be on something worth so little in the terms of points. Secondly, I never touched Lila. She walked down the stairs, curled up, and started wailing about me having pushed her. Thirdly, that necklace of hers, which she is wearing right now, is a Gabriel fox tail pendant that debuted last year. You can find his logo on the back of it, so it couldn’t be a family heirloom. And finally, the lock on my locker is broken and anyone could have, and has, gotten into it despite the six requests to have it fixed that I've submitted that have gone unanswered. Damocles didn’t even allow me a chance to defend myself or check the cameras before expelling me in front of the entire class.”

The board leader exhaled through his nose. “Miss Dupain-Cheng, you are free to go.”

“If you would wait in the lobby, I would like to talk to you about an opportunity to take your final exams here so you no longer have to attend school.” The brunette waved to me, not removing her harsh gaze from my teacher. “As for you, Madam Bustier, you will be hard pressed to find a job as a dog groomer when I’m through with you.”

“Damocles will be hard pressed to find any job when I’m through with him.” The blonde was on her phone, her manicured nails clicking against the screen.

Alya screeched in absolute rage. “You’re letting her GO?! She was expELLED!!!”

“Yeah.” The brunette smirked, “Illegally. Damocles does not have the power to expel a student no matter the circumstance. The most he could have done was suspend Miss Dupain-Cheng and then organize an expulsion trial. So thank you, Miss Césaire, for informing us about Damocles and his little misdeed. We’ll be sure he is dealt with properly. Now I do believe the case has reached a conclusion. You are all excused. “

My parents and cohorts surrounded me as I left. When the doors opened, three different lawyers dressed to kill walked past with manilla packets in their hands. It was a few moments later that I heard Alya’s scream blaring down the hall as she received the news that she and Lila both were being sued several times over. Jagged and Clara cackled madly with the arms swung over one another’s shoulders wearing matching shit eating grins. A redheaded cutthroat by the name of Rosanne Richards caught up to my parents with satisfied air to match her confident stride. “Mrs. Cheng, the first of your lawsuits have been delivered. All that’s left is for me to pay a visit to Principal Damocles. I’ll be sure to contact you when the trial is ready to move forward.”

“Excellent. Thank you, Rosanne.” Her and my mother bumped fists.

“Anything for my sparring buddy.” Rosanne smoothed out her cashmere pants and shot me a wink with her crystal clear gray eyes. “And have no fear, Mari-baby. Those illiterates have practically knotted their own nooses with all the evidence they’ve left lying around on the social media accounts for us to find. Be sure to save any messages they may send you and document the date and time if they confront you in person.”

Suddenly, Alya raced past my entourage and stood before me with her chest heaving and looking ready to go to war. “Marinette, how could you?!”

I was shielded from her vision by my lawyer, my parents, and my clients. Rosanne’s voice was cold and brutal the way it cut through the air like a knife through soft butter. “If you are referring to the suit she has filed against you, I believe you’ll find all the reasoning you need inside that folder I gave you not even a minute ago. I believe you also were informed of the restraining order that went into effect tomorrow, but I’m sure my client would prefer to distance herself from you now.”

“But… But Lila….”

“Yes I’m sure you must be very devastated to learn that the girl whose ass you’ve been kissing is a fork-tongued, honorless rat with the acting skills of a b rated porn star, but that is hardly our problem.” Jagged, Clara, and my father giggled like children as Alya coughed and sputtered at Rosanne’s crass language.

Wanting to face the worst of my traitors and have the final word, I pushed through the throng of protectors to face her head on like she was always want to do. “I warned you, Alya. I warned you so many times to fact check Lila’s stories, verify them just for your blog’s sake. Instead you dismissed me as some kind of jealous harpy while accepting everything Lila told you as truth without question. As if that wasn’t bad enough, you truly thought the absolute worst of me when you blindly accepted her wild stories about me bullying her and took action against me! You destroyed my things, tore up a sketchbook, and sent me horrible and nasty texts detailing just how evil of a person I am. Frankly Alya, at this point, I don’t want to hear whatever criticisms or excuses that are just waiting to pour from your mouth like vomit. Yours and everyone else’s little stunt in trying to ban me from a trip I planned, and that wonderful break I spent surrounded by positive influences and sunshine, helped me realize that I am not obligated to pour my time and effort into a burning and broken bridge. Relationships of all kinds are a two way street and you obviously no longer want to have a friendly one with me. So Alya, it has been fun and I will cherish the good times we had, but this is goodbye and farewell. Good luck in your future endeavors. You’re going to need it.”

I felt a heavy hand pat my shoulder in camaraderie. I tried walking away only for Alya to shift back into my path. She tried reaching out to touch me and backed off when the action was met with a round of threatening growls and glares. She looked ready to fall apart and so so angry, but she was no longer my concern. It hurt to see someone I once loved like this, but the memory of all she did hurt even worse. “Marinette… is this some kind of joke? Is that it? Are you punishing us for not believing you? Because trust me girl, lesson learned! I’ll never ignore you again. There’s no way you’re actually going to sue me. You wouldn’t sue me over a misunderstanding.”

Jagged snorted a derisive laugh and Sabine and Clara shared a mocking grunt. I narrowed my gaze on Alya’s watery orbs. “Oh yeah? Try me.”