Chapter Text
i.
It was a fact that Lila Rossi was a pathological liar. Her first lie was innocent enough, made at the sweet age of three. It was about a piece of candy she had eaten that her parents had forbidden and when confronted, the lie came easily on her lips. She was kinda baffled that her parents didn't see through her act and that she was free from all consequences.
So she took it as normal.
Her mother once lied to her about her father, she could tell. That she loved him, cherished him. Lila could see it in her eyes, on the glares that contained resentment towards her dad, and she heard the truth on the shouts her parents gave to each other when they thought she was asleep. Her sweet, adoring mother.
So she mistook it as normal.
A lie became two. And then three. And then she gave up on counting.
Since then her lies were not that innocent.
She grew up distorted, with a flat and uninteresting personality she believed no one would care for (she once tried, not lying. deep down she knew that lying was bad, like her nana once told her 'the boy who cried wolf until no one believed him no more'.) but when she tried to tell the truth she could only find ashes in her mouth. She felt like a piece of cellophane, isolated from everyone and not interesting to check out. She was ignored when she showed her true colors.
So she gave up on trying to be honest.
Her first years on primary school weren't… the best. She wasn't being paid attention, by either the alumni or the personal. She began to grow sad. Then irritated. So she sat in the corner and began to observe her peers. Maria didn't like spaghetti. Luca wished to meet a famous singer. Julie wanted to become a astronaut.
Lila Rossi felt lonely.
So she began to experiment.
"I also don't like spaghetti!" Lies. "I know this singer, I have an autograph of him!" Lies. "My dad is an astronaut!" More lies. And they believed her. And they became stupid by fault.
She played them like a fiddle, and they didn't even notice. They were hypnotized by her silver tongue, and they were totally unaware. She could command them at ease, do what she asked without hesitating. She began to see them as foolish, as no one could tell her lies from the truth.
(neither could she, the longer her song of fallacies went on and on)
If someone started doubting what she said, she would be already gone, her mother's job taking her elsewhere. Or she would basically turn everyone against them before they could call out her lies if she didn't leave soon enough. Her father stayed though.
At the age of 11 she knew the fact that men couldn't be trusted.
Italy, Spain, Colombia, Japan, England… She didn't keep the count. She didn't remember the faces, but she knew they would remember hers. She made sure of it. The pretty, foreign exchange student with fascinating tales to tell, a kind soul who would know exactly what to say. She could adapt to any situation, had an easy time on learning the language of the country she was in; by observing the new people around her, forming a careful mask to fit with the environment.
Behind it though. Well.
A truly rotten person, a crying child who didn't receive her parents love; whose mother was kind but truly foolish to believe her filthy lies, and left her to her own accord; a girl with a vapid and uninteresting personality who only could do wrongdoings. Her palms were scarred, the thoughts on her head wouldn't stop and only got louder and louder and she could only muffle her cries with a towel on her mouth, telling how much of an ugly person she was and-
But then the next day she greeted her school companions with an easy going smile, like nothing had happened the night before.
(no one noticed the scars in her palms)
Lila Rossi went through this cycle over most of her childhood and early teenage years, getting used to it. Making supposed friends, getting the most popular guy on the school and then returning to her home to have her daily breakdown.
That was normal. It's fine.
Her parents divorced and her father barely has had any contact with her or her mother who still held hope for over five years. It's fine. It wasn't like she cared anyways.
She wanted all the attention to herself at school. She wanted to be the only one in the spotlight, and hated anyone who would dare to rob it. Lila Rossi was so desperate for attention that she would crush those she deemed her opponents for the it without empathy. They were below her anyways, scum under the sole of her foot.
(in her home, though. there was no spotlight. no place to shine. she was alone, her parents missing and she abandoned. just alone alone alone)
She gave up on the idea of love, convincing herself that she was above it, that it was a dumb emotion to have and would ruin her ambition (what was her ambition even?) Her heart fluttered when she saw a cute girl, but she ignored it. It's not like it was normal anyways.
So she dated boys. Even if she didn't feel anything for them but contempt.
All was fine. She had absolute control over her life.
(fake it until you make it)
So when she was told that she would go to Paris, she sighed and went through her usual routine. Do a background check, analyze her classmates and make ways on manipulating them to her advantage.
School: Collège Françoise Dupont. Most popular students on the collège: Adrien Agreste…. Superheroes…: Ladybug and Chat Noir.
Superheroes. She snorted, how foolish. Only children playing heroes behind their masks.
(she was an expert on masks)
The superhero thing took her by surprise, but she didn't think it would be that much of a challenge. Like every other school she had gone through. Her classmates were going to be so gullible, and she didn't think the dumb superhero issue would be difficult to manage. Nothing was going to break the status quo, she thought, disappointment blooming on her mind.
Oh, how innocent and foolish she was.