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Alya was having a hard time continuing to gush over Lila’s “friendship” with Ladybug. But she had to, if not for her but for Marinette. She had been clinging to Lila for months, and as much as it pained her to see the looks of betrayal on Marinette’s face, she had to do it.
“Lila, tell us again how you saved Jagged Stone’s kitten!” Alya resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her own words. As a reporter that had personally interviewed the rock star, she new that Jagged much preferred his reptile to a kitten.
Just as Lila was about to begin her false tale of heroism, Marinette walked in. It was hard, but Alya controlled the urge to run over and hug her best friend. She faked a sneer and turned back to Lila. A little rude, perhaps, but she couldn’t take the chance of Lila knowing she was faking. “Oh, hi Marinette!” Lila’s voice cut through Alya’s thoughts. “I was just telling the class about how I saved Jagged’s kitty.” Alya almost puked at the false kindness in the girl’s voice. Behind the radiant smile, Alya could just barely make out a smirk of satisfaction. /Just another month/, Alya assured herself. /One more month and I’ll be able to expose Lila and all the lies she told./ Marinette, obviously irked, gritted her teeth and said ”How nice. Maybe one day I’ll convince Uncle Jagged to introduce the public to his kitten. What was the cat’s name again..?” “Jagged told me he named it Fur. Fur and Fang,” Lila lied effortlessly, living up to her name. “Oh, how cute!” Marinette perked up, her face dropping as soon as she turned her back to the group. /A long, long month/, Alya thought, knowing there were battles between the two ahead.