Chapter Text
Lila flounced into Miss Bustier's classroom on the first day of school. She was greeted by smiles, waves and even gifts from her peers as tokens of their summer travels. She offered them syrupy sweet words and perfect grins, before taking her seat across from Alya and Nino in the front row of the room. They were all 16 now, and the class had now gotten well and truly adjusted to revolving around the sun that was known as Lila Rossi.
Their class representative, who had replaced their previous one. Lila said, not yet two days from Marinette's premature departure, that she felt so bad for the girl. She wanted her legacy to be continued, despite their differences, and felt honoured to take her place. Of course this was accepted instantly by her classmates, and soon enough she filled the holes in all their lives. She listened to Rose perform for Kitty Section, watched Netflix and had sleepovers with Alya, listened to Nino's music and cosied up to Adrien.
Soon enough, it was as if the bakers' daughter hadn't existed.
She smiled at the stragglers as they entered the room, and Miss Bustier took her position at the front of the class.
"Good morning students and welcome back," she smiled warmly, "I trust you all had brilliant summers."
"None as good as Lila's, Miss!" Kim chirped up and the class buzzed in agreement.
Lila batted an arm playfully, this was too easy.
"Well, Miss Bustier, I didn't want to sound boastful... But I did have a gorgeous holiday at my Italian villa on the south coast. You should have seen Prince Ali's face when I swam across the entire Mediterranean... But, oops- I've said too much," she giggled and the class turned to each other in awe. In actual fact, her mother had gone into meetings for the entire six weeks, so she'd spent most of it editing her own wiki page. But no one needed to know that.
"It sounds lovely, Lila," the teacher smiled, but her demeanour changed as she glanced out into the courtyard. The students turned to see Principle Damocles giving Miss Bustier a nod, before walking back to his office.
"Now, students," the teacher began, "We will be having a new student joining our class this year."
"To replace Marinette?" Alix piped up, feeling a little defeated. If anything, Alix had been one of a tiny percentile to actually have believed Marinette and felt bad for the girl, and felt cowardly for not standing up and saying anything.
"Good," Alya muttered, sharing a glance with Adrien.
"No... Marinette never actually left this school, she just took an early leave under her own circumstances," Miss Bustier explained, earning a few tuts from the class, "But she and the new student will be joining our classroom."
"I can't believe that she'd dare to show her face here again," Rose huffed, "Especially after the way she treated Lila. It was despicable!"
"Definitely," Max conceded, "Her behaviour was most discourteous."
"Amen to that!"
"Yeah Miss, what the hell?"
"Like I said," Rose carried on, "You can't do that to Lila!"
"Class please," the teacher chided softly, "The issue has been buried. Marinette has to return to school at some point."
Separately, Lila was having her own quiet turmoil. Marinette was coming back? She smirked softly to herself; as if she'd have anything to worry about now. In fact, this was perfect. Bring Marinette back so she can see how much her classmates hate her and how she had essentially replaced her existence? Rub some salt in the wound and take the new student in along with her existing minions? Perfect.
Lila stood dramatically and huffed a sigh, before looking towards her class and teacher,
"Listen everybody, i-it's okay. I honestly know in my heart of hearts that Marinette is not an evil person. I think we should give her a chance to learn from her mistakes," Lila offered sweetly. The class awed, and Miss Bustier nodded.
"Okay class," the teacher said, "Here they come.
The class craned their necks to see the two students coming. But something was off,
"Miss Bustier," Alya questioned, "There are two new students?"
"No... At least, there shouldn't be," Miss Bustier frowned, walking out of the door way to better see the students.
The whole class watched, as two figures stalked towards the room. On the left, walked a tall, well-built guy with lightly tanned skin and luscious blonde hair. It piled across his head, leaving the sides shaved; revealing stark green eyes beneath where his hair drooped. He was wearing a black v-neck and ripped jeans, topped with a leather jacket and a black backpack slung lazily over his shoulder. He was extremely good looking, stomping across the courtyard. He was a sharp smirk tugging at one side of his mouth, revealing a glowing set of white teeth.
"Felix?" Adrien exclaimed, hopping up from his seat. Why wouldn't his father have mentioned something this big?
"As in your cousin Felix?" Nino asked, moving to stand behind him.
"And who's that?" Mylene asked, and their eyes bulged at the sight of the girl next to him.
She was at least a foot shorter than him, pale skin contrasting from her choppy, raven bob. Cartilage piercings crept up her ear lobes, and her blue eyes matched the intensity of their shine. She was wearing a black spaghetti strap tank top and a red tartan skirt, paired with long black socks. She, unlike the boy beside her, seemed disgusted to be coming into class. The pair stopped a few feet from the door, and the boy grabbed the girl's shoulder to stop her from going any further,
"It's not too late to back out, you know," Felix said, glancing down at her.
The girl shrugged, "It's not like I have a choice now," eventually letting a half smile form on her lips.
"Good, now come on," he slung his arm around her shoulder and they trudged towards the door.
They stepped into the room, to be met with surprised faces and gaping mouths. Shell shocked, they took in their new and old classmate.
The girls rocked back and forward on her heels in the silence, and looked towards the blonde, "Now what?"
Felix gestured towards the teacher who spoke up, "Class, I'd like you to meet Felix Agreste, or as some of you may have known, Adrien's cousin."
The class seemed too baffled to speak, except for Lila who sprang forward to his side, a clear agenda on her mind.
"It is so nice to finally meet you Felix," she gushed, "Adrien has often recounted how much he loves his cousin, so I'm glad you're here! I could be your friend and maybe show you around later?" Lila beamed right at him, ignoring the girl at his side.
Felix smiled lazily, "I don't know. I kind of brought me own pocket sized tour guide with me, thanks."
Lila's smile faltered and the girl beside Felix sighed,
"Okay ,pocket sized? Really?" she asked, deadpanning as Felix smirked at her and bit the side of his tongue,
"You volunteered."
The girl rolled her eyes and turned back to the class, in particular Lila who was standing in front of her.
"Aren't you going to welcome me back?" the girl smiled, eye lids low as came up close to the other girl, "Oh wait, my mistake."
The girl stepped back, turning to look at her class teacher, "It's good to see you again, Miss. I see my term as class representative is already over. You chose an honest and excellent replacement."
Everyone stared at her. No obvious sarcasm to her words, no anger or sadness. Just a lazy smile.
"I, uhm-" the teacher swallowed and nodded, "Welcome back Marinette."
The girl nodded to her class mates with the same content smirk, "I trust my seat in the back is still available. That was really thoughtful of you all."
She walked up to her seat, tossing her bag across the bench and lent back in her place. Everyone's eyes watched her, mainly in confusion. Some were in disgust, like Adrien and Alya who watched in annoyed disappointment from the first row. She shot them a bright smile and a wink, silencing both their expressions.
"Right, Felix, you go and sit next to Marinette. I'm sure it will be nice for you to both readjust together," Bustier collected herself. Felix gave her an exaggerated nod and a smile, before strolling towards the back. Lila panicked, springing to raise her hand.
"Yes Lila?" the teacher asked.
"Miss Bustier, if I may, shouldn't Felix sit next to me? As class representative I think I would be perfect to show Felix the ropes and help him feel welcome." She knew she was pushing, even for her, but she was unsure of Felix's connection to Marinette and wanted to do everything to ensure it wouldn't stop her from attaching herself to the boy. He was attractive, even more so than Adrien. Marinette, she had to admit, had changed too. She looked older, more intimidating. She needed to work fast.
"Felix?" Miss Bustier asked.
Felix cocked his head at the Italian girl, turning back to the other girl at the back. The latter shrugged, and Felix raised his eyebrows at her. Marinette gave him a look to say 'it's up to you.'
"Go ahead Felix," Marinette smiled warmly, "Lila was always such a kind, welcoming peer to me when I was here."
The entire class stared at the girl as if she had had a brain transplant. What was she playing at? Although she was obviously being sarcastic, the genuine sweetness to her smile made her ex-friends question her words. Felix, on the other hand, just shrugged, before dumping himself and his belongings next to Lila. The girl made sure to snap out of her confusion to beam coyly at Felix, before sneaking a glance at Marinette while the teacher settled them into their courses. Marinette simply laced her fingers, sitting forward, resting on her elbows and smiled contentedly.
Lila quickly turned back, catching the uncertain glance that Alya and Adrien were giving her. Maybe she'd have to talk to Marinette later and see what she was up to.
The hour crawled by uneventfully, with the classmates chatting and discussing their summers in between their work. Bustier had been generous in allowing them to have the first lesson to settle, but the return of the bluenette had left everyone even more shaken up.
"Can you believe her?!" Alya exclaimed, walking ahead of Lila, Adrien and Nino in their now usual clique. Lila just frowned and Adrien sighed,
"I can't believe she knows my cousin. This is all really strange," he muttered, glancing over to the pair. They looked content enough. Taking a better look at Marinette showed that she was almost entirely different from how she'd been before. The last time they had seen the girl was when she was stony faced, shuffling around school alone without any regard of their presence. Prior to that, she'd tried her hardest to expose Lila. It resulted in a lot of tears and shouting on her part, while Lila remained composed and sweet. Adrien had decided to let go of the one truth he shared with Marinette; after all it would only cause more harm then good.
In any case, Lila had proven to been as sweet and kind as Marinette had been, so he didn't see any reason to chastise her for her past behaviours. Any who, Ladybug hadn't been seen in Paris for at least five months now, and Adrien speculated that perhaps she was somehow a friend of Marinette's, and wanted to take time off.
Despite all of this, Marinette seemed relatively unphased. If anything, her and Felix looked close.
"I think I know where they met," Adrien said, and his friends looked to him,
"This summer, my dad told me that Felix was going to be doing some shooting in England for a campaign. It was this fashion-y course, so maybe Marinette went on that too."
"Probably," Alya said, and Lila broke her silence,
"Well its great that Marinette came here with a friend, even if she never exactly warmed to me. Maybe we can show Felix that we also want to be friends with him," she said decidedly, but Nino looked unsure,
"I don't know, Lila dude. He brushed you off pretty hard this morning and Adrien, didn't you say he was kinda cold?"
"That's one word for it," Adrien sighed. He wondered how someone as sweet and soft as Marinette (had been) could possibly get along with someone like his stoic cousin.
The eyes of his friends followed his, and they looked over at the pair.
Marinette was cackling with laughter in front of a smirking Felix who stood, leaning against the courtyard wall.
"Their faces," the girl finally breathed from her laughing attack. Felix also couldn't contain his smile,
"You sure know how to act, Dupain-Cheng, I'll give you that."
"Yeah well, it will give them something else to talk about," she rolled her eyes.
Alya frowned, "I am shell-shocked. I cant believe she would even show her face back here and now-"
"Babe, don't think too much into it," Nino soothed his girlfriend.
"Well, can you blame them? Do you think they ever expected to see you here again after what happened with Lie-la?"
Marinette shrugged, and turned to slouch against the wall beside him, folding her arms. Felix didn't even have to enunciate the word differently and she still knew what he meant.
"You, uh, you doing okay though?" Felix changed demeanour, "It can't have been easy to go in their and see her in your place."
"You think I didn't have to live with that anyway?" Marinette scoffed. She caught Adrien and Alya looking at her across the way. She glanced over either shoulder as if to ask if their was anyone they were looking at behind her, and they quickly looked away.
"Yeah... It just looks like they wiped you out completely," Felix grimaced and Marinette looked up at him. Surprisingly, however, she smiled.
"Good," she said, shrugging, "I had a chance to change my attitude over the summer, and that's what I did."
Felix's smirk was back once more, "S'not the only thing you changed," he said, pointing to her attire and twisting a strand of her short hair, "Don't think I didn't notice the guys throwing you looks when we walked in. I might just have to get you a collar, Nette."
Marinette scoffed, thumping his arm. He chuckled and slung his arm around her, and they walked away.
"So, you gonna unravel the ball of string yet?" Felix murmured to her softly, as they passed their gawking classmates.
"Yeah..." Marinette smiled, "And I know just how to start."
"The reveal?" he questioned.
"The reveal," she smiled back at him. She reached up to give him a peck on the lips, before they strolled down the hallway.
"Wonder what they're so smug about?" Kim grumbled, joining the group at the bench, and Lila simply bit her lip,
"I'm not sure Kimmy. I'm not sure."