As they claimed their seats, Adrien was aware of dirty looks being thrown in his direction.

Is this how Marinette felt when Lila lied about her?

Alya leaned forward in her seat. "Adrien, I'll talk to some of the girls. I'll get them to do that critical thinking thing you mentioned. And I'll try to get Kim to apologize. What he said was just stupid."

"Thanks Alya, I appreciate it."

Miss Bustier entered the room. "Alright class, let's get started."

"Miss Bustier!" Rose called, putting her hand up. "I think it's best if Adrien left. Lila shouldn't have to be in the same room as her abuser!"

"Abuser? What's going on?"

Adrien dropped his head into his hands, exasperated.

"Adrien touched Lila inappropriately, and when she told Gabriel about it, he fired her!"

Miss Bustier looked horrified. "Class! This sort of thing is really none of your business! If this did happen, Lila needs to come to talk to me about it in private. I would like to be accommodating, but I find it unfair to deny class to someone without due cause."

"There is due cause!" Max yelled.

"I have heard nothing about this from Lila herself, or Mr. Damocles. Has a restraining order been filed? Has any sort of investigation been launched? I find it extremely hard to believe Adrien would do something like this."

"That's what Gabriel said!" Lila wailed. "He said Adrien was a perfect angel and he'd never do anything wrong! No one's believed me yet! So why would Mr. Damocles?!"

There was a knock at the door.

Miss Bustier held up a finger, asking for a moment of silence, before she went to open it.

Gabriel Agreste, looking minutely more frazzled than usual, strolled into the room, in person.

Adrien swallowed and clenched his fists.

The room was silent and tense.

"Adrien, may I talk to you out in the hall, in private?"

Trembling, Adrien answered. "No. You read my note."

"There's nothing for you to be afraid of. Stop being so dramatic."

"I think I have every right to be afraid of you." He whispered, the damn of emotions he had held back all morning just threatening to burst.

Marinette got up from her seat, only to sit next to him, her arm around his shoulders.

The action didn't go unnoticed by anyone.

Gabriel's nostrils flared. "Did you tell her?"

"No." Technically, not a lie. "I haven't said anything to anyone. She just...saw I was upset."

"About what?" Asked Kim. "That you lied about Lila?"

Gabriel's steely gaze pierced Kim, forcing him to shut up. "This is none of your business, shut up."

Kim swallowed and shrank into his seat.

"Now," Gabriel continued, hedging his words. "I need to clear up some of what happened last night. It seems that you have assumed the worst. I don't want to discuss it in front of your peers. Step into the hall with me."

Marinette squeezed his shoulder.

"No. I don't want to. I'm not comfortable with that."

"I don't care about comfort right now, Adrien. I care about—" he bit his tongue, censoring himself. "I care about our family."

"If you care about our family, then know I'm scared of you."

Gabriel exhaled roughly. "You don't need to be."

"The evidence says otherwise." Adrien spoke softly. "So either say what you need to say, or go. I'm not moving."

Gabriel ran a hand through his hair, loosing some locks and becoming even more frazzled appearing. "Please?"

Adrien shook his head.

Gabriel rolled his eyes, and considered his words. "I told you I trust you. I'm...sorry, about what happened last night. It wasn't fair, but I was...paranoid, and frantic. That caused my regrettable actions."

"Did you ever find it?" Adrien asked.

"No. And I don't think I will. I have reason to believe I've been betrayed. So it's over." He breathed a long sigh. "There's no reason for you to stay away."

"With all due respect, Father, I need some time to trust you again. And forcing me to come home won't magically fix that."

Gabriel was quiet for a moment, clenching and unclenching his fists. It looked like he wanted to yell, to fight, to grab Adrien by the wrist and drag him out.

But he did none of those things.

"You're a good kid, Adrien. I surmise you'll be a great man. A better man than I ever was. I'll give you your space." He placed Adrien's phone on the desk. "Just, please text me every once in a while, just so I know you're safe. Alright?"

Adrien took it. "I can do that."

"I'm sorry it came to this." It looked like he had more to say, but he hesitated with so many eyes on him. So he just didn't say anything and headed for the door.

"Mr. Agreste?" Miss Bustier asked.

He stopped in the doorway.

"It seems like there's a bit of...a catastrophe going on in my class at the moment. I was hoping you could shed some light on the situation?"

"This is none of your business, Madame. Adrien and I will clear it up."

"With all due respect, sir. Lila has already gotten everyone involved. My students seem to want Adrien to leave the class."

He turned and looked at her. "What? Whatever for? She's got nothing to do with this."

"Could you explain what Lila said to you yesterday?"

"Miss Rossi?" Gabriel looked back at her, eyebrows furrowed, and then at Adrien. "Oh. I had forgotten. I didn't speak to Miss Rossi yesterday. Adrien and I had a long talk about trust. He confided that he wasn't uncomfortable around her because she touched him in a way he didn't like, and asked that he not model with her anymore. I made the decision to fire her. I served her severance papers, and one of my managers contacted her. I didn't talk to her at all."

"Mr. Agreste! How can you be so cruel to me?!" Lila shouted, real betrayal in her voice. "You said you trusted me! I could come to you about any problems I had! And I did! Your son molested me, and you fired me instead of believing me! And now you're acting like it didn't even happen!"

"Do you have your severance papers with you?" He asked.

Lila's eyes widened. "No, they're at home with my mother."

"I have a copy on my phone. Along with all severance letters we serve, because they are fairly similar in terms and conditions." He took it out, and pulled it up. "Here, Madame, if you wouldn't mind reading this." He handed the phone to Miss Bustier. "Since Miss Rossi wants an audience, I will give her one."

Miss Bustier studied the screen for a moment. "This looks like a scanned pdf of a letter, signed by Mr. Agreste. It reads as follows:

"'Mme. Lila Rossi,

"I regret to inform you that we have decided to terminate your contract with Gabriel as of today. This decision is based on several conditions, as witnessed and corroborated by several Gabriel employees. These conditions include unprofessional behavior on set, including excessive noise when asked to be quiet, not following instructions, and yelling at other staff; tardiness and unexplained absences, falsified resume, and sexual harassment of another Gabriel employee. As per the terms of your contract, you will receive the allotted amount of your last modeling session, as enclosed with this letter. Please be advised as you apply for further employment, putting Gabriel on the application as a reference will automatically forward this letter of termination to your next employer. If you would like to reapply at Gabriel, you may do so after a two year waiting period. A second termination will result in a complete ban from Gabriel, including all positions of employment and communications with employees. Depending on the severity of your terms of termination, Gabriel reserves the right to seek legal compensation.

"Signed, Gabriel Agreste."

"Thank you," Gabriel took his phone back. "In case you didn't realize, I work with a lot of models. There are situations where changing happens in front of other people. We take sexual harassment very seriously. Adrien came to me first about this, and so I acted on it. If you want to counter sue and maintain that he's at fault, feel free to do so. But, if it turns out you're lying about this, and it goes to court, you're looking at jail time."

Lila swallowed. "I'm not lying. I never lie."

"Like the time you lied to get into my house? Sure. I'll see you in court then."

"Wait..." Lila paled. "We don't need to take this to court. Just bring me back on as a model, and I'll drop the whole thing."

"No." Gabriel shrugged. "I don't make any decisions without my lawyer present." He turned towards the door. "One last thing," he glanced over his shoulder at Marinette. "Take care of him, Miss Dupain-Cheng. He's fragile." And then he left.

Desperate to not lose this game, Lila started her crocodile tears. "No! It can't be! I can't afford a lawyer! There's no way I'll win this case! I'll lose just like all the other girls!"

"Wait a second," Mylene spoke up, hope in her voice. "You were just telling us last week that your uncle is one of the top attorneys in Florence! Surely he'll help you!"

Oops.

"Oh...yes, I guess...I had forgotten about that."

"I think you're going to need a good lawyer if you're going to continue to lie." Spoke Chloe, standing up. "I'm sorry Miss Bustier, I think we need to clear this up before class even starts, don't you think?"

Miss Bustier sighed. "I still maintain that we don't need to be discussing this, but I know no one is going to be paying attention in class after all of that's been said." She walked around the front of her desk, leaning against it with her arms and legs crossed. "This is a very serious issue. This isn't a courtroom, and I'm not making any judgement calls. If there truly is a problem here between Adrien and Lila, it will be solved in the courtroom." She narrowed her eyes at her students. "But you all see and talk to each other every day. Rumors and one sided stories are going to spread either way. I'd rather have everyone have the same information and draw their own conclusions to maintain their own relationships. Nothing said here is to leave this classroom. So, let's talk."

Marinette had yet to move from Adrien's side. And she hadn't spoken since coming into the classroom.

Ever since Miracle Queen, Marinette had been disappointed in Chloe. There had seemed to be some hope for her, and yet Hawkmoth's—or Gabriel's rather—temptation to get the bee back had just been too strong.

How many second chances could a girl get? Of course she was going to stand up for Adrien. He was her oldest friend.

Marinette opted to watch patiently and see just where this went.

"Lila, we know what Mr. Agreste said and what his timeline was. What happened to you yesterday, if you would share?"

"I don't know…it's just so painful." Lila wiped a tear away. "But, yesterday, after Marinette burned me with her coffee—"

"When did that happen?" Miss Bustier asked, patiently.

"Right after class. You had a meeting and we were all hanging out and talking. Everyone witnessed it."

"The coffee was cold, and I tripped." Marinette defended, exhausted over this plot point.

"Either way," Lila continued. "I went to the bakery and told Marinette's mother what she did. She called my mother and told her that I deserved what happened to me!"

Miss Bustier frowned. "Sabine said that?"

"That's what I'm saying!" Nino scoffed.

"So then I went to Mr. Agreste."

"Why?" Asked Alya. "What prompted that?"

"W-well at first, I wanted to let Gabriel know what kind of company his son was keeping, but then when I got there, everything spilled out! I confessed that Adrien molested me and he fired me!"

"So, when did you punch Adrien?" Asked Max.

"Afterwards! Adrien came home and he tried to grab me and threaten me! I punched him!"

"What time did that happen?"

"Right after school."

"I was with Marinette until 8 yesterday. You can ask my bodyguard, and her parents."

"And I have the text you sent me at 6." Nino held up his phone. "You were still with her then."

"Th-then it was after 8!" Lila clarified. "I wasn't paying attention to time!"

"Okay." Miss Bustier spoke calmly. "Now, Adrien. What about you?"

His eyes slid over to Marinette's for reassurance.

She squeezed his hand.

"After the coffee incident, I ran to the locker room to catch up with Marinette. She wasn't doing well, and I offered to walk her home. Then we noticed an akuma coming after her, so we tried to run. She almost got akumatized, but she fought it off. Then she cried for a while. I stayed and watched out for another akuma. Then, we went to her house just as Lila was leaving. As she passed, she said 'I'm going to your father next' while smiling."

"That's not true!" Lila shouted.

"Lila, Adrien was quiet and patient through your account. You need to let him speak."

She huffed and fell into her seat.

"I stayed at her house for a while until my father called, telling me to come home. He said that he 'knew' Marinette was violent. I knew that he thought that because of Lila. So I confessed that I didn't feel safe around her, and that he shouldn't trust her. He allowed me to stay with Marinette for dinner, and then when I came home, we talked more in length about how I felt. Then…things happened…and well. I don't want to talk about it. But Lila wasn't at my house when I came home. Last time I saw her was when she was leaving the bakery."

"Okay," nodded Miss Bustier. "You've both given your side of the story. You're both accusing the other of inappropriate behavior. One of you is lying. But until you admit it, we'll never know. But, this moment will shape the perceptions of your classmate's opinions. I hope everyone sees how dangerous lying and manipulating is. Does anyone have anything they want to say as character testimony?"

Chloe raised her hand. "Adrikins, I'm going to put you on blast." She grinned wickedly at him.

He shrugged, helpless.

"Adrien Agreste, male model, top student, all around great guy, is desperately, hopelessly, and pathetically in love with one Ladybug."

Nino snickered from Adrien's side. "Oh, we been knew."

"Every time Adrien and I talked, he would dissolve into talking about one of three women. A. His mother, of whom he missed dearly and was a saint of a woman. 2. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, of whom he respects and admires. And lastly, and most importantly, Ladybug. He talks about her the most. Ladybug this, Ladybug that. I love—loved Ladybug as much as the next girl but honestly, it was a little annoying. 'I wonder how soft her hair is. Are her eyes the same bluebell blue without the mask? I wonder how far she could throw me? Do you think we could make it work if we dated?'" She mocked a gagging sound. "Never once did say anything sexual about her. Never did he ever mention Lila. And never has he had any sort of romantic relationship with anyone."

There were nods around the classroom, as students agreed with this logic.

"However. Lila has lied to me, personally. She told me she had a secret code that got Ladybug to come to her when she needed help. It didn't work, and I almost got akumatized over it. Furthermore, as we have already discussed, it was Lila's evidence that got Marinette expelled, and Lila's admission to having some stupid disease that reversed the punishment. Are all of you numb nuts starting to see the pattern here?"

Nino stood, ready to present his own opinions. "Lila has promised us connections. She's boasted about people she knows to get us parties, favors, and whatever else we need. But not once has she followed through. And not to mention all the ailments she's claimed to have."

"It's not fair to pick on someone for being disabled, Nino." Kim argued back.

"I'm not. Because she's not disabled." He pulled up his tablet. "I started keeping a list of her ailments, so Alya and I could make sure everything we did as a class was inclusive to her." He raised a brow. "I don't think Lila keeps track of her own illnesses." He cleared his throat. "Ahem. Tinnitus in the left ear. Tinnitus in the right ear. Arthritis in the left wrist, arthritis in the right wrist. Ulnar necrosis in the left wrist. Fibromyalgia. Multiple Sclerosis. Cystic fibrosis. Asthma. Glaucoma. Seizures. Vertigo. OCD. ADHD. High blood pressure. Low blood pressure. Heart murmur. Anemia. Allergic to wheat, dairy, gluten, chocolate, soy, nuts, mold, shellfish, corn, cats, dogs, feathers, wool, polyester, and hot peppers."

"That's all correct." Lila stated cooly.

"Except you eat pasta for every meal, and you only mention your allergies when someone brings in food, making yourself the center of attention. And you never seem like you're in any pain unless it's convenient to get out of an activity. My grandma has MS, and it's no joke. Also, I double checked with the nurse this morning to make sure I didn't miss anything. I shared my list with her, and she was really concerned because she didn't have any of that on your file. She only had one thing written down. Do you know what it was?"

Lila just stared at him, daring him.

"Mythomania. Pathological lying. So your lying disease was the only truth you told. I deduce this was put on your file after you told Mr. Damocles."

Lila frowned at him. "Nino! I thought we were friends! How could you turn on me and lie like this? I know you and Adrien are friends but—"

"But nothing! Lila, you're not my friend! You don't listen to me, you don't remember things I tell you, unless you can twist them to your favor! I mention an artist I like? You suddenly know them. You inspired them. But they're shy and don't meet with fans. I mention a movie I like? You were there during production. You know the director. But he's out of the country on holiday. It's the same story over and over. What's my brother's name?"

Lila stammered. "It's...it's Mark!"

"It's Chris, and you've babysat him before!"

"I have short term memory loss!"

Marinette snapped her fingers. "Nino, make sure to add that to her list of illnesses."

"Oh my god." Alya breathed.

"What?"

"That right there. I saw it. Her lying in real time. She didn't even hesitate, just lied to cover her tracks. She's been doing that the whole time!"

"That's what I've been saying." Marinette stated, calmly.

"I noticed this not too long ago," continued Nino. "I assumed she was just exaggerating for attention. A storyteller. It was harmless. But yesterday, when she outed Marinette's crush, lied about the coffee, and then went to tattle at the bakery? That was too much. I realized her lying wasn't just telling stories. She was really dangerous. Especially in a time with Akumas."

Marinette and Adrien both tried not to smile, hiding the joy that that wasn't a problem anymore.

"So what's it going to be, Lila?" Chloe asked, arms crossed. "Are you going to fess up now? Or are you going to go to court with Mr. Agreste and face jail time?"

Lila's jaw shifted as she gnawed on her tongue. "Can I speak without being interrupted?"

Chloe scoffed. "Only if you aren't going to lie your way out of this."

Lila narrowed her eyes at her, but didn't reply. Instead, she explained, "some of my stories are exaggerated."

Someone snorted.

"I wanted to be the interesting new girl. I didn't mean any harm in it. I was just telling you all what you wanted to hear. But apparently this was horrible according to Marinette. She threatened me in the bathroom, and said that she was going to expose me as a liar. I told her that that wasn't going to happen. But she insisted that the truth was more important to her than friendship. I think it was jealousy. Adrien was being friendly, and Alya interviewed me. Suddenly, all her hard work and generosity didn't matter, because I was more interesting. She kept up warning me, reprimanding me like I was a child, and trying to humiliate me in front of everyone. I knew the only peace I was going to get would be to get her to leave."

Alya folded her arms. "So you…fabricated evidence to get her expelled?"

"To be honest, I just wanted to shake her up, get her to realize what she was messing with was dangerous and unfair. I didn't know Mr. Damocles was going to expel her."

"Shake me up? Is that what you were trying to do when you laid on the floor at the bottom of the stairs and pretended I pushed you down?"

"You wouldn't back off!"

"I just wanted you to be honest with people! Lying like you were was going to lead to disappointment! I didn't want you hurting my friends!"

"That's a fine excuse. But are you sure you weren't a little bit jealous?"

Marinette groaned. "Jealous? No. Worried? Yes. I didn't like the way you were hanging off of Adrien—"

"Oh, like the way you're hanging off him now?"

Marinette prepared to retort, before Adrien wrapped his arms around her, and hugged her tightly.

"She's not hanging off of me," Adrien explained. "She's the only thing keeping me steady right now."

Nino was quick to squeeze his shoulder in reassurance.

Marinette hugged Adrien tight, and then continued. "I was worried about the way you were hanging around with Adrien. Like I said, the lies you were telling could only lead to disappointment, like it has with Nino. You might think they're harmless, but when you constantly let someone down, you do a lot of damage."

Something about that sentence got Adrien right in the gut. It was just like his father. He was trying hard to save his mother, and thought disappointing Adrien wasn't a big deal in the long run. But instead, he left lasting damage. Self doubt, trust issues, and hopelessness. Marinette was right.

"Oh, like you don't lie and bail on everyone all the time anyways? Do you know how many times I had to pick up babysitting for Alya and Nino because you suddenly 'forgot' about some other obligation? Or all the times you gave a flimsy excuse to leave a hang out? Alya told me all about it. You're hiding something big."

Miss Bustier spoke up. "This conversation is supposed to be solving what happened between Lila and Adrien, whatever Marinette has to do in her free time has nothing to do with it."

"I think it does!" Lila argued. "It's very hypocritical for Marinette to point her finger at me and call me a liar, when she's doing the same thing!"

Miss Bustier frowned. "She has been slacking in her representative duties…"

Marinette gaped at her. "I thought you were on my side!"

"I'm staying neutral." Miss Bustier said firmly. "I think it's important we get our grievances out so we can have a more wholesome learning environment. It's up to you to answer. You're not under oath."

Marinette frowned. True, she could lie. Though it would be a really sucky time to do so. Furthermore, Hawkmoth was gone, so her identity wasn't as crucial to hide. But she really didn't want Lila to know, especially after that stunt she pulled with Oni-chan.

"Whatcha thinking about, Marinette?" Asked Lila, "trying to come up with a convincing lie?"

"I'm trying to weigh the consequences of telling this truth. Because it's not just my secret. So therefore, it's not right to share it. I haven't done anything wrong, so I don't think I'll explain myself." She shrugged.

"Petty." Lila bit.

"I think it's fair." Alya disagreed. "If it's something that affects others, she shouldn't have to share."

It affected everyone in Paris actually, not just her and Chat Noir. And so Marinette let out a breath of relief.

"Okay," stated Alix, trying to clarify what had happened. "So, Marinette knew you were lying, so you 'accidentally' got her expelled to get her to leave you alone. But what I don't understand is why you're bringing up beef with Adrien all of a sudden. We thought you guys were together, and you modeled together…and then he started dating Kagami. What's the story there?"

"I'm not dating Kagami." Adrien clarified. "I considered it, but…I don't actually have any feelings for her. I just didn't know how to say no. But as I said, I told my father I didn't like the way she was touching me. This had been going on for a while…"

"What prompted you to tell your dad?" Alya asked.

"Well, after what happened yesterday after class, I walked Marinette home. She had almost gotten akumatized, and I wanted to watch over her. Lila had gone to the bakery and told Sabine her side of the story. She was about to bring down the hammer, but I asked her if she trusted Marinette. That…that made me wonder if my father trusted me. If I could go to him with my problems and he would understand. Lila went to him and told him her side of the story as well, and he called me home. But I asked if he trusted me, and then told him I didn't like Lila and…well, everything else. We continued the conversation when I got home. I'm assuming that since I actually made a stand, he took it seriously."

"Wait wait," Alya spoke. "Lila, you went to tattle at the bakery, and to Gabriel?"

"I thought Gabriel should know about the kind of friends he's keeping."

Adrien laughed. It wasn't a funny laugh, it was actually very painful, as he remembered a cutting blow from last night. "Lila spied on me for my father. He used her to find out what was going on in class."

"Ew." Nino stated. "That's super skeevy."

"Um, I'm a spy? Why don't you talk to little miss 'I followed Adrien and Lila and fished a book out of the trash'?"

Heads swiveled back to Marinette.

"You should be glad I followed you! Adrien got taken out of school for losing that book! He'd be gone for good if I hadn't rescued it from the trash! You stole it from him and threw it away!"

The heads swiveled back to Lila.

"How was I supposed to know it was important?"

Marinette threw her hands up in the air. "It doesn't matter! It didn't belong to you! So don't throw it away!"

"You know, I'm glad you brought that day up, Lila. Because that was when I knew you had a lying problem."

"You knew she was a liar a long time ago?" Asked Nino.

"Of course. But I didn't know she was being malicious. Like you, I thought she might just be lying to get attention. In fact, it worked for a little bit. I thought she really was friends with Ladybug. But then Ladybug herself came up to us and blew that lie out of the water."

Lila jutted out her jaw, trembling with anger.

"Ladybug called her out too?" Asked Alya.

"It makes sense," Adrien continued. "Why would Ladybug be happy about anyone claiming to be a weakness to her? Alya, you were already targeted a lot just as the leader of the Ladyblog. Of course she'd be pissed about a civilian painting a giant target on their back."

Alya gasped, "oh my god! I didn't even think about that when I posted that interview! Lila, you could have been targeted and hurt! Not just by Akuma, but anyone else who wanted to know Ladybug's identity!"

"Well, nothing happened." Lila shrugged. "Ladybug and Chat Noir would protect me no matter what, anyways!"

"Yes, like how Chat Noir saved you from Kagami when you 'twisted your ankle'?" He put in quotes.

Lila gaped. "How did you know about that?"

Marinette was wondering the same thing.

"Chat Noir helped me sneak a bag out of my room last night. Then we talked."

"Oh, so now you're friends with Chat Noir?" Kim scoffed.

"Not particularly. He helped me out a whole lot last night, but I haven't spoken to him much before that."

"Ugh, you keep mentioning last night like it was the biggest thing that's ever happened, and yet you refuse to talk about it! Now Chat Noir was there? What else?"

"Adrien has already stated that whatever happened between him and his father is private and that they don't want to talk about it." Miss Bustier reminded, patiently. "If it has nothing to do with Lila, then I don't think he needs to bring it up."

"But isn't omitting the truth still lying?" Asked Lila. "Both Marinette and Adrien are being dishonest and hiding things, and I find it extremely unfair to be accused of lying if they aren't telling the truth!"

"And I think if whatever they're hiding has nothing to do with you, Lila, it doesn't need to be brought up." Said Alya, crossing her arms.

"Alya! You don't believe me? What about standing with your fellow woman?"

Alya frowned. "Okay, Adrien's been my friend longer than you, and I find it hard to believe he'd do anything wrong. And second, I'm supposed to believe you because we're both girls?"

Kim shot to his feet, "As I said previously, men can't be molested! Especially models! I think you're just being a coward, Agreste!"

Adrien hunched his shoulders.

Seeing the opportunity for a teaching moment, Alix reached over and grabbed Kim's butt, making him yelp and shuffle away.

"What the hell was that?!"

"What? Didn't like it?" Alix asked with a coy smile.

"Uh, no? Not from you."

"Because you aren't attracted to me?"

"I mean, yeah?"

"Now imagine if I was Lila and you're Adrien."

It was like a lightbulb went off above Kim's head. "Oh." He turned to look at Adrien. "I get it. I'm so sorry."

"While I don't agree with the method," Miss Bustier explained, "I'm glad you see what the problem is, Kim. No one should be touched without their permission, no matter how 'attractive' the perpetrator is."

"Attractiveness is a sliding scale anyways." Added Alya, "just because some people find Lila and Adrien attractive, doesn't mean everyone does. And Adrien already mentioned he's not attracted to Lila."

"Yeah, I guess…I just don't see it. Lila is really pretty!"

Adrien just shrugged. "She's just not my type." He looked to the teacher. "Miss Bustier, I think we're kind of going around in circles at this point. Can we wrap this up?"

"Sure. Does anyone have anything else they want to add or need clarification on?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Good. I'm sorry to air out dirty laundry, but I really wanted to avoid gossip. Right now, this classroom is your world. When you grow up, scandals and mistakes will be made by all sorts of people. I want to teach you now to do your research and not just blindly follow whatever source you find first. Alright?"

"But we didn't solve anything." Rose lamented.

"Our goal was not to find out who did what to who. It was to bring both sides of the story forward, and allow everyone to consider who they are going to believe versus who they won't. It's up to you to decide if you are loyal even when faced with deception. And if you can be open-minded enough to listen to others."

The room was silent as she let them all milk over that thought.

"Then let's get into today's social studies lesson. I think there's some practical crossovers between what just happened."