Chapter Text
A redhead girl fixed her eyeliner while she sat on a piano at François Dupont Music Room, almost as if she owned the room.
In reality, she basically owned that place, considering how the Principal was her uncle and she came from a rich family.
This girl’s name was Aria Doré, daughter of Clint Doré, the rich CEO of Clint Industries (a metallurgical company) and one of the most feared crime bosses of Paris.
She had many talents. She knew how to sing soprano, she knew how to play the piano, she was a member of the Theater Club, part of the Student Council, the one with the best grades, and a chess champion.
And, although she looked like a kind and caring girl at first, she was secretly evil. And not just “regular spoiled rich girl” kind of evil. She was REALLY evil.
Evil enough to manipulate others, evil enough to ruin the grades of students she didn’t like, of framing them for heinous things to get expelled, and evil enough to hire men to beat up her rivals.
The school either feared her or hated her. There was no one as powerful as her. Not even the Mayor’s daughter, Chloe Bourgeois, could compare to what she could do.
“Marinette, can you please stop your livestream. The noise is bothering me,” Aria requested in a gentle tone. Still, the bluenette knew her best friend could be anything but gentle.
“Right away, Aria,” Marinette agreed, turning off her livestream. Marinette and Aria had been friends ever since preschool.
Before Aria, the bluenette felt like she was nothing. Just someone who was ignored by everyone with no remarkable talent. But ever since she became friends with the redhead and Lovelle (whom I will talk about later), her life changed.
With the help of the Doré family name, Marinette managed to become famous on the internet because of her designs and sweet nature.
Although her fashion creations were terrible, the simple fact that one of the children of the powerful Doré family showed interest in them was more than enough for people to adore them.
Marinette herself wasn’t the nicest person ever. She had developed an obsession for her classmate, Adrien Agreste, and, ever since, she has kept all of the competition away.
“Aria, what are we doing here?” the bluenette asked, a bit confused.
“Marinette, darling, have you heard about the new exchange student?” Aria questioned, with the same eerily calm smile. Marinette growled.
“Lila Rossi! That girl who was all over my Adrien in the entrance!” the bluenette fumed.
In reality, Lila was just speaking to the blonde model, but it was enough to trigger an unreasonable amount of jealousy.
“Precisely. I asked Lovelle to bring her here so we could all have a nice chat about how things work here in Dupont,” the redhead explained.
Almost as if on queue, the girl, Lovelle, had barged into the room carrying a sack that seemed to carry the exchange student.
“Hi girls! Have I missed something?” the matchmaker greeted the two, smiling as if she hadn’t just kidnapped a person.
Lovelle looked like an adorable girl on the outside. She was always pink, had a cute smile, and all her outfits had a heart motif. However, the number of students she attacked because they either disagreed about her advice or were threats to her romance with her prince charming (Sora Saito), begged to differ.
Lovelle had her own club at school, where, in theory, she helped students figure out their sexualities and helped them find soulmates.
But, in reality, this club was just a creepy cult, where Lovelle brainwashed students into agreeing with her view of the world, and where she tried rewriting their sexualities and genders to fit the idea she had of the person based on a ‘sixth sense’.
There was also the fact that she had a “magical gem” in the center of the room, which told her the best path for each person to follow… which was just a rock she found and put glitter on. Or the ‘monetary donations’ each member was forced to give to be a part of said club, but it’s best to leave this story for another day.
“Lovelle… what is this supposed to be?” Aria inquired, fuming on the inside.
“Oh, it’s Lila Rossi! She is in the sack,” Lovelle explained, unable to notice the issue in the situation.
“Lovelle, when I asked you to bring Lila here, I meant for you to gently bring her here… not for you to kidnap her with a sack like a barbarian,” Aria explained the issue, her anger more visible. Lovelle grew nervous at the redhead’s reaction.
“Well… I am at least sure no one saw me carrying the body,” Lovelle tried to laugh to ease the atmosphere, but Aria didn’t seem to be finding the situation funny.
The matchmaker, afraid of angering her best friends even more, decided to simply release Lila from the sack.
The Italian girl, after being freed, was obviously scared about what was happening, but was slightly calmed down by Aria offering her a helping hand to get up.
“My apologies, Miss Rossi, it’s just that my friend Lovelle can get… quite intense whenever she is passionate,” the redhead apologized, trying to fix the damage that Lovelle had caused.
“Hi to you again, Lila!” the matchmaker greeted the Italian, acting as if she hadn’t just put her in a sack.
Lila was still trembling from what had just happened, so she didn’t even notice the pianist analyzing her.
“Good bone structure and acceptable weight. You need some more skirts and makeup, but I think you will fit perfectly,” Aria commented, leaving the Italian girl even more confused.
“What’s going on here?!” Lila shouted, worried about the situation she found herself in.
“Oh, apologies. I think I haven’t presented myself yet. My name is Aria Doré, and these two are my friends, Marinette and Lovelle.”
Lila furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.
“You see, we know that you are new at school, and I thought it was fair for us to warn you about some peculiar things about our school,” Aria continued.
“Peculiar?” the Italian girl asked.
“Yes. I know it might not look like it, but… the truth is that the students from François Dupont are envious creatures,” the pianist disclosed.
“Envious?!” Lila questioned.
“Shocking, I know,” Aria commented.
“They are envious of my talents, Lovelle’s club, and Marinette’s creativity. They are a bunch of wicked creatures,” the pianist continued.
“My friends and I quickly heard about you and your amazing feats, and I couldn’t help but fear for your safety,” Aria lied, hoping she was managing to wrap the new student around her finger.
“And since we, talented and beautiful girls got to stick together, we decided that you should join our group, you know? So we can keep you safe,” the pianist offered.
“You want to keep me safe?” Lila asked, smelling something fishy.
“Exactly. But, of course, to be our friend, there are a few… policies you need to agree with,” Aria replied.
“… policies, you say?” the Italian girl questioned, starting to feel her anger boil.
“Just some basic things. Like, for example, interacting with the boys we have crushes on. And, if you are forced to do it, for any reason, sharing every step with us afterwards,” the pianist started listing.
“Eh?” Lila puzzled.
“It’s a basic thing in friendship, you know? Only a bad friend would steal a friend’s boyfriend,” Aria smiled.
“Next, you can’t mingle with the ‘bad crowd’ of François Dupont. You can’t befriend someone who bullies your friends, right?” the pianist continued.
“And last, but not least, you can’t outshine in whatever competition we both take part in,” Aria spoke.
“WHAT?!” the Italian girl screamed, finding this one of the most absurd.
“I know it sounds bad out of context, but it has a logic, you know? For you all to stay safe, I, the daughter of Principal Damocles, need to stay above everyone else. This way, I can be your protector,” the pianist finished her explanation.
“So, do you want to be our friend?” Aria offered once again.
At that moment, Lila couldn’t control herself anymore, and she started laughing like a maniac.
“What kind of fool do you think I am?” the Italian girl questioned, unable to believe in what the girl in front of her was saying.
“I am unable to find this situation funny, Miss Rossi,” the pianist sneered, frightening her friends in the process.
“Maybe you are too delusional to notice what you are saying. Don’t worry, I will gladly explain it to you,” Lila joked.
“Basically, for me to be your friend, I would have to report my daily routine to you, only talk to those YOU deem worthy, and basically nullify my talents so you can stay in the spotlight,” the Italian girl spoke.
“Just so you know, Aria, I have been taking care of myself for a long time. I don’t need anyone to stay safe. Especially a cheap attempt at impersonating Regina George,” the new student mocked Aria.
“So, no, Miss Doré. I don’t need your friendship. Have a nice day!” Lila exclaimed, immediately moving to the door so she could leave those three weirdos behind.
Marinette, after receiving a signal from Aria, immediately ran to lock the door.
“What the hell do you think you are doing?!” Lila yelled, angry at how those three had just locked her in that room.
Aria, then, pulled her by the arm to the center of the music. And they just stared at each other for a while.
“Are we going to have a problem?”