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Chapter Text

Lainey glared at Lila Rossi, the new girl in their class. She wasn’t exactly new; she was just the newest to join. "So, yeah. Italy is basically Latin, and I’m counted as Latina, " Lila bragged, everyone marvelled in amazement at the lying Italian.

"To be Latina you have to be from Latin America, something Italy is not," Lainey pointed out, "Surely you, Max, would know this. Considering Kim brags about your high grade in Geography, " Lila laughed as Max and Kim sneered at the Venezuelan.

"Of course, I know that's ridiculous, but I've had so many Latinx people agree with me," Adela smirked as she heard Lainey's growls. Preparing for Lila to be beaten by the furious Latina.

"Then they were just dumb," she mumbled, Lila pretended like she hadn’t heard what Lainey had said. Adela looked at Marinette, one of her best friends, and mouthed, 'Is this bitch for real?' Marinette sighed and shrugged her shoulders. It had been almost two years since her expulsion.

Chloe rolled her eyes. This girl obviously just wanted attention. Lila’s desperate attempt at popularity didn’t really bother the three girls. They knew if the time ever came, they could put her in her place.

Then, the time did come.

Adrien walked into class with a gloomy expression on his face. This was not normal for the blonde model. Adela, Marinette, and Nino locked eyes as Nino went to go cheer up his best friend. Lila went back to her normal seat, next to Adrien. Much to Adrien’s dismay, she began to lean in close to him while talking and even touched his arm a couple of times.

Chloe saw red, Adela noticed how uncomfortable he looked, and Lainey was still fuming about the nonsense that was Italy being part of Latin culture. "Adrien, I wanted to talk to you about fencing for a second. Can I borrow you?" Adrien looked up at Adela in relief and quickly accepted her offer. Anything to stop Lila from touching him.

"Why can’t you say it in front of me? I can talk about fencing as well, " Lila smiled. Adrien tried to hold back from hissing in pain as she noticed Lila’s grip tighten.

Adela decided she had had enough of Lila’s bullshit and was on the tether’s end when she snapped. "Because we’re not talking about fencing, more about his gorgeous fencing partner. You know Kagami? " Adela’s friendly smile hid the venom in her voice. "I just didn’t think you wanted to hear about how I’d set them up on a date, considering how tight of a grip you have on him," the class went silent.

Chloe held back a laugh while Lainey raised her eyebrows as if she were Jim from the Office witnessing Michael do something stupid.

"Adela-" Adrien began but was swiftly interrupted by Alya, who was prepared to tell her best friend off for being rude.

"Adela, I get you wanted to talk to him, but you don’t have to be rude about it," Alya was about to finish her lecture when Nino shook his hand under his head, signalling for her to cut it out. Adela was glaring at Alya, who began to shrink under the pressure of her stare.

Adela stood up and left the classroom. Mlle Bustier walked in and stared at her class in confusion, "What did I miss?" Lainey was pissed off; her ex-friend was being exiled because Lila’s lies had poisoned and corrupted her classmates’ minds. All except Adrien.

"Adela was being mean to me and Alya stood up for me. Adela was mad and left, " Chloe’s interest piqued. She had expected Lila to play the victim, but she also had expected someone, even Lainey who was furious at Lila, to stand up for Adela, when no one did, Chloe decided she would.

"That’s not what I saw. I saw you trying to control her friend and when she didn’t want you to, Alya lectured her about what was wrong or right, " Chloe said.

"Chloe, stop being a brat. We all saw Adela insult Lila, " Kim stated, Mlle Bustier gasped.

"Kim, you know we don’t call our classmates rude names. Now I know Chloe isn’t that nice of a person, " Ouch. "But that doesn't give you an excuse to be mean," Caline Bustier probably thought she was the best person on the planet after that pathetic speech, all of the class turned to glare at her. Even Sabrina.

That hurt Chloe. Chloe did the one thing no one wanted her to do in order to keep her anger under control. She got up and went to go comfort, Adela. Lainey had had enough as well, so she followed in the blondes’ direction.

The two had found Adela swearing and ranting under the stairs. Taking a seat on either side of her, the three looked at each other with mischievous expressions, each thinking the same thing. We could show them how mean we can be.

 Lila needed to be shown who ran this school, "We are going to run this school again, just like we did before Alya, Adrien and Lila showed up. I think we have become too lenient towards our class, " Lainey stated, smirking.

"Well, le grand Pari’s doors will always be welcomed to you two," opening their purses, they each took out a scrunchie they had been storing there, in case something like this had happened again. Chloe took off her glasses and placed them in her purse, undoing her hair and then tying it again with her pink scrunchie. Lainey pulled her hair out of a bun and put in her purple scrunchie and finally, Adela added her blue scrunchie.

"Do you still have your jackets?" Chloe asked. The girls nodded and headed to their lockers and took them out. The day had finally come. With their hair up and smooth leather jackets, everything felt right. As if everything was fine in the world, and now they were going to give this school its deserved queens back.

The three were done with Lila’s lies and unnecessary touching of Adrien.

And this bitch was going to feel their wrath.

Chapter Text

Mlle Bustier wasn’t very pleased with the three girls who had left her class. Adrien had offered to go get them, to which Mlle Bustier gladly accepted. Adrien was so glad to leave the class and when Lila asked to join him, he yelled, "NO," which startled the class. "I mean. It’s a one-person job, " and he ran out the door.

He looked into the locker room, where the three missing girls were on their phones, probably texting people and they looked normal. Except, they were wearing jackets. Jackets that matched their scrunchies.

"Have you got the burn blog back up?" Lainey giggled, Adela nodded and opened a new subcategory titled Lila Rossi. "Shouldn’t you add Alya and Adrien to it, I doubt that anyone has ever told them about us," Chloe snorted.

"Hmm, I’ll send them a link," Adela mused, "Oh. We should ask Nathaniel to design for us again. I think the burn blog needs some updating. "I'm sending the link to a few of our newer friends," Adrien's phone rang, confirming his suspicion: she had sent the link to everyone.

Chloe, Lainey, and Adela’s heads snapped to where Adrien stood, "Mlle Bustier told me to come get you guys," He felt his knee beginning to shake and he didn’t know why he was so nervous.

"Is she now?" Adela asked, crossing her arms across her chest as he nodded and quickly walked away as the three turned to face each other.

"Time to show everyone that the bitches are back," Lainey smirked.

***

"Babe, I’m just saying. I’ve known Adela since we were in diapers. She’s just protective of the one she loves. Lila was hurting my man, Adrien as well, " Nino whispered to his girlfriend. Marinette gasped as she looked at Adrien’s shocked face.

"Did she get akumatised?"Marinette asked worriedly. Adrien shook his head and sat down in his seat next to Lila. The three girls walked into the classroom with glares on their faces as they took their seats.

The class, however, was paralysed by fear. "Oh Nathaniel, I have a question," Lainey said, dropping his shocked face and replacing it with a smirk. "How do you feel about redesigning the burn blog? It could use an update, " Alix was in shock when she thought her best friend Lainey had retired as a mean girl. She had hoped it would remain that way. Now, they have come back looking more vicious than ever. Adela gave Marinette a knowing look, and the blunette smiled back as if she already knew where this was going.

"Burn blog? What’s the burn blog? " Alya asked, resentment growing as she thought the blog would rival her own ladyblog.

"The burn blog is a blog where everyone's secrets are exposed, and everyone does everything they can to avoid becoming the week's latest victim. Although, it hasn’t been used in a year, " Nino added bitterly, risking a glare at Adela’s way. She ignored it.

"Class, settle down. You can talk more about drama after class, we are already a lesson behind, " Mlle Bustier said loudly and with a clap.

***

"I thought that the Head Bitches in Charge were retired,"

"I wished that they would never come back,"

"Apparently they are going to get the burn blog up and running again. Hide your secrets. "

Those were the main whispers spiralling around the school. Adela and Lainey forgot just how good it was to be the head bitches in charge and wish they had never stopped. They were actually really grateful that Lila was that much of a brat, otherwise, the power they held right now wouldn’t exist.

"First, reclaim our old cafeteria seats, then test possible candidates who can sit with us," Lainey organised.

"We need connections. Little pets, if you will, " Adela pointed out.

"Well, I can promise you that Sabrina definitely won’t be one," Chloe said loudly, "To disloyal to be of use," The redhead in question turned around and glared at her former best friend/lover, but no one needed to know that.

The HBIC took control of the court, pushing the poor souls who dared to sit in their seats out and watched as the plebs sat at their table, half eating and half watching to see what the HBIC would do next.

"Well, Lainey, you are our ears and eyes. What information do you have that we can use?" Adela asked, Mirelle and Aurore, walked past and locked eyes with Adela and Lainey, who beckoned them over.

"Wait one second Lainey. Aurore! Mirelle! Come sit with us, " the two girls warily made their way over and took a seat opposite the three girls who smiled sweetly at them. "We have a little job for you two. Are you up for it?" gulping and nodding their heads, Adela smirked. She knew they wouldn’t dare say no.

"Well, we need you to tell Lila that if she stops lying, we'll be easier on her," Adela paused, "Aurore, tell everyone you can that the HBIC are back, this time for good. Oh, and Mirelle, please tell Nathaniel, Marinette, and Marc that they can sit with us today. Understood? " They both nodded their heads and went to relay the message and spread the word.

Marinette and Alya pulled up a chair, Chloe tilted her head, "Is your name Marc, Marinette or Nathaniel?" she snapped, Alya rolled her eyes and shook her head. A grave mistake. "Then what makes you think you can sit with us?"

"Just because you were my friend once, Alya, doesn’t mean you still are. " Adela asked, glaring at Alya. Alya was new here, so they’d give her a warning and let her go with no consequences. Everyone knew that if you were invited, you must sit with them. And if you weren’t invited, then stay clear of them.

Alya opened her mouth, but Marinette shook her head. Adela rolled her eyes and, with a wave of her hand, motioned for Alya to leave. It took the young reporter a second to realise what was happening, but when she did, she scurried away trying to avoid her friend’s deadly glare.

"How does it feel to be back?" Marinette asked, a smirk evident on her face. Adela shrugged while grinning from ear to ear. Lainey relaxed into her chair and cracked her knuckles with a small smile on her face while Chloe rolled her eyes.

"I never stopped being a HBIC Dupain-Cheng, and just because I can tolerate you doesn’t mean you can be smart with us," Chloe stated, in a matter of fact tone. "Hawkmoth will most likely have a field day with all the people he can akumatize."

"More like field years," Adela winked, "We’re here to stay, remember," Chloe laughed.

Lila had spotted them sitting there, laughing, and whispering. The whole Head Bitch in Charge thing sounded stupid, as if. She hated all the attention they were receiving. Desperate to receive some, she walked to the table. Kim and Max had both tried to stop her from her oncoming death. Even Sabrina told her a story to scare her off, but Lila was determined.

"Ugh, what are you doing?" Lainey hissed; Lila took a seat next to Marinette, who rolled her eyes in disgust. Lila feigned innocence and tried to break down into tears. She knew Adela had a heart at least.

"Well, this table was closest, and my feet were starting to hurt," Lila complained. The cafeteria had gone silent as they watched the interaction. "That’s OK with you, right?"

"You're new here, so we'll give you the benefit of the doubt," Lainey began. "I'm assuming Mirelle never told you the message we asked her to send you, and I find it hard to believe that none of your pets have told you this, but if you want to sit here, you have to be invited. And you Lila Rossi were not invited. " Adela crossed her arms over her chest.

"Wait, so Marinette was invited but I wasn’t?" Lila asked, shocked. The three girls nodded their heads. "But I know so many more people than her, I have heaps of connections with celebrities," Lila began, beginning to sound desperate. She looked back at her friends so they would take pity on her, but they couldn’t help but want to laugh. She was making a fool out of herself.

"Thanks, but we already have Chloe, who has plenty of her own connections. So, we have no need for you, not even as a pet, " Adela hissed.

It was the greatest gift if you could be a pet. That’s why Marinette and Nathaniel had jumped at the chance, Nathaniel had already begun on his designs and Marinette would prove to be useful.

Lila huffed and walked back to the other table where everyone tried to comfort her, but how do you comfort someone foolish enough to tease a lion in her den?

Nathaniel Kurtzberg and Marc Anciel took a seat on either side of Marinette and began to eat their lunch and talk with the girls, because you may have had a seat today, but tomorrow wasn’t guaranteed.

Marc, Marinette, and Nathaniel were the recipients of hundreds of envious glares, but little did they know this only made their seats at the table and status as an HBIC pet more permanent. "OK, so we heard you are an excellent writer, Marc. So, we have a preposition, " Chloe began.

"Proposition, we have a proposition," Adela quickly corrected.

"Right, we have a proposition," she said to Adela, who nodded. "You can write the articles we give you for the burn blog, your boyfriend can illustrate the pictures that go with it, and as long as you do that, you will be granted immunity from being on the blog and possibly more permanent seating at the table."

Marc and Nathaniel’s jaws dropped. Of course, it was an honour, but what about their comics? "We won’t have a strict deadline and we’ll make sure you can still write your comic, we’ll even sponsor it," they promised. The two boys nodded excitedly.

"Good, now Marinette. You seem to be one of the smarter people in our class, which has granted you a temporary immunity that you can keep, unless you double cross us. Oh, the same goes for you two. It’s easy to replace people. But we want to sponsor some of your designs. We’re thinking on Monday we will wear Marinette designed clothes. You never know, it could do wonders for your commissions and small business, " Adela finished. "So, do you want to form an alliance with us?"

"Absolutely I do," the three responded in unison.

"Good, good," Chloe cooed. This was working perfectly. Soon the school would work for them and things would be returned to how they should be.

Lila and Alya glared at the six sitting almighty on their thrones, the two girls wanting to find a way to start a revolution as if they would be repeating history and treating them to the Marie Antoinette experience.

Adela watched her kingdom whisper and stare. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Chapter Text

Absolute power. Something that Adela craved. Something she thought she had, through gossip, connections, and fear.

Adela knew she was a bad person for having these feelings and the potential to ruin people's lives, but it just made her feel stronger. If only she had realised that by corrupting everyone around her and instilling fear in others, she was becoming worse than Lila. Adela was a hypocrite; she despised Lila for lying but had no qualms about doing so herself. "It's different," she persuaded herself. "I'm doing it to help people, Lila's doing it for popularity," but she knew it was a lie. She only believed herself superior to Lila because Adela's lies were compelling and plausible. Lila's were not.

The burn blog was quickly updated and improved to look perfect for its future viewers. Everyone already had their phone notifications ready for their first upload. Then on a Thursday night, Adela decided to give the people what they wanted.

Really keen people had already read the introduction page, the subcategory descriptions, but they were thrilled when an article written by Burnblogger and illustrations by Nathaniel Kurtzberg appeared in the subcategory entitled, Millie Swan.

A smirk appeared on Chloe’s face as she looked at Adela’s phone and saw the plan working out perfectly. They would start off small, build it up, week by week. Then, when the time was right, they would strike like a black mamba and take Lila Rossi down.

"I still can’t believe we’re 16 and you’re making me braid your hair for you," Chloe tsked, Adela, smiled and looked up at the other blonde.

"You know you love me," she stated, eliciting a chuckle from Chloe. Lainey rolled her eyes, watching her best friends’ banter like the old days. "The article is so good; I hope we never lose Marc. But the illustrations are just perfect, Nathaniel is just the best. " Adela flicked through the blog and added a sponsor page.

Adding Marc and Nathaniel’s names to it and a link to their work, she also added a link to the sponsor page in the comments down below (which she had noticed was beginning to explode with the number of comments they were receiving).

"I can’t wait to see what Marinette has made us. Hopefully it is worth the wait and money," Lainey said, reading over the juicy article again. "That also makes me wonder, are we paying Marc and Nathaniel?" Adela shook her head.

"They said they were more than happy to do it for free, as long as we sponsored them," Adela put her phone down as Chloe let go of the blonde’s now braided hair. She got up off the bed and headed to the closet. They missed this hanging out they used to do.

Chloe tried on a range of clothes and the girls gave their honest opinions, then Adela tried them on, then Lainey. This continued for a while until Zoe, Chloe’s half-sister, begged them to go to sleep as she had an early flight back to New York tomorrow.

On Friday morning, a meek girl with ugly ginger hair, pale with dull green eyes and freckles all over her body approached them. Millie Swan. "Why did you write about me in your blog?" she asked, tears spilling down her cheeks.

"Well, Millie. Next time you cheat on your girlfriend with your best friend, try to hide it better. You shouldn’t even be dating if you’re willing to betray someone that way, "Lainey sneered, the girl squealed and ran away. Not daring to talk to them, "We have so many secrets. The next person who talks to us might be next week’s article, " Adrien hadn’t heard what Lainey said, so he went to greet the three girls.

"Hey Adela, Hey Chloe, Hey Lainey," he waved. The girl turned to face him, ready to scorn whoever just said hi when they noticed it was Adrien. They waved back and took turns saying hello.

"What’s wrong?" Adela asked, stepping closer to Adrien, who just shook his head, in a low voice that only Adrien could hear, "Is it about your dad again?" He looked around and it seemed like no one had heard her. He discreetly nodded his head. "Photo shoots?" he nodded again.

Leading him away from the bustling of the entryway to the locker room, she sat him down on a bench and sat next to him. "Ok, tell me about it. But first, do you need a hug? "

Adrien initiated the hug. When he finally pulled away, she realised he had been crying and she rubbed his back soothingly. "I’m just so exhausted, all of the time, whether I’m busy racing to fencing, Chinese lessons or going from one photo shoot to the other. And it’s not like Lila makes the photo shoot easier. She just always has to be touching me, making it look like we’re dating, acting like we were dating. She’s also a diva and insists that she doesn’t have to follow the rules and that they needed her-I am sorry for ranting, I’m just frustrated, "Adrien vented.

Adela shook her head, "Hey, don’t worry about it, everything will be fine." So, Lila was not only getting fussy during photo shoots but handsy as well. With the right information and the perfect way to spin this story, Adela could make her out to be handsy with more than just Adrien.

Adela informed her posse of the dirt on Lila and how they now had more power over her than before; all they had to do now was keep collecting it."If you want to dig up dirt on someone, you can’t be afraid to get your hands dirty," Adela whispered.

"We have to keep digging. I want this article to be extra long and juicy," Lainey whispered.

"Or we can make it into a series, keep the viewers on the edge of their seats for all the gossip," Chloe said. Adela nodded, something had to be done about that psycho girl. It was a shame, not to Adela, Chloe, and Lainey because this was everything they could have ever wanted and dreamed of, but to the innocent people who could be dragged into it because this was how it was going to go down.

Marinette had worked hard on the girls' outfits for Marinette designed Monday, a trend the HBIC planned to start, and despite being overworked, she couldn't help but be proud of the outfits she had created.

Even better, she couldn’t wait until the HBIC would model her flawless designs around the school while looking absolutely powerful in them.

Chapter Text

Marinette's designs were faultless. Adela had arrived at school wearing black leggings and the latest Marinette made HBIC jumper. Adela wore it with a dark blue mesh top underneath and blue peep-toe pumps. Her hair was tied back in a blue scrunchie. Lainey wore a violet jacket with a matching scrunchie. She was dressed in black long Jonnie Lexii boots, a purple mini skirt, and a lilac button-down blouse. Chloe wore a pink version of the jacket and scrunchie, a short, strapless pink dress that went all the way down to her knees, a small gold heart necklace, a few gold and silver bracelets, and black suede platform stilettos.

"The designs are fantastic, Marinette!" Adela exclaimed.

"How much did we owe you this time?" The blunette smiled and shook her head in response to the compliments.

"I couldn't make you pay for it. You three look g-gorgeous in it, and I'm glad you can just wear it, " Marinette said, lowering her head to cover her blush.

"Well, Dupain-Ow," Chloe started. Lainey had jabbed her in the ribs, giving her an incredulous glance. "Sorry, I mean thank you, Marinette," Marinette grinned at the blonde, who, despite her tough exterior, felt a little warm on the inside. Was Marinette always so adorable?

"Anyways, have you heard any more Lila lies?" Lainey inquired, interrupting Chloe's thoughts just as she was about to think of something horrendous. Marinette shook her head, "Damn, I might actually have to listen to her," Lainey sighed. Adela's eyes snapped on Brook Delacour, who seemed to be following Lila around, but snickering with her other friend, Fleur, when Lila wasn't looking.

"We may not even have to get our fingers dirty," she stated. They all snapped their heads at where the group was, waving Brook and Fleur over, "Brook! Fleur!" she called out. The brunettes turned to face them and paled. Slowly they made their way over, but they started grinning when Lila asked where they were going.

"Why are you leaving me for them?" Lila asked, shocked, "I thought you said you were into fitness, Brook. I know this personal trainer who is amazing. I'm sure he would give you a discounted price if I asked, " Adela scoffed, ready to retort when Adrien appeared behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder, shaking his head.

"Be careful," was his only words of warning before he left, a miserable look in his eyes. 

"Thank you so much for the suggestion, Lila," Fleur laughed at Brook, "but unfortunately, I'm too busy running my own fitness program," Chloe, Adela, and Lainey all raised their eyebrows, impressed by the normally quiet girl's statement.

"I'm impressed, Brook. Everyone usually adores Lila, " Lainey sneered, Brook and Fleur went quiet, "So tell me, when did you realise, she was lying?"

"Are you kidding me? The whole school knows she's lying, except for your class, who are a bunch of dumbasses, no offence. Principle Damocles, a complete moron and Mlle Bustier the enabler, " Fleur giggled, Brook, shrugged.

"Then why do you follow her?" Chloe asked, "Do you have any of her recent lies?"

"We followed her because we wanted a laugh. Some of her most recent lies, which we are sure are lies because we actually know the people, have been entertaining. She's dating Adrien Agreste, Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Marc Anciel were  threatening  her in the bathroom. You are part of a cult. Don't ask which one, " Brook rambled on, Lainey and Adela shared a look and burst out into laughter.

"Did she tell you about Mr. Jagged Stone's lost kitten and how she got tinnitus after finding it?" Chloe asked in a borderline mocking tone, Brook and Fleur burst out into laughter this time.

"She did not, did they believe her?" Adela nodded, Brook and Fleur exchanged a look, "Are you trying to initiate us into becoming pets?" Fleur asked, Adela, crossed her arms over her chest.

"Do you think you can stand listening to her, at least until we can churn out an article about her and her lies?" The two brunettes nodded and the HBIC grinned at the same time, "Oh, yeah. It's all coming together now, " Lainey snorted.

"Did you just quote the emperor's groove?" Chloe laughed, then shooed Fleur and Brook away while Adela winked at Lainey and Chloe, causing Lainey to giggle, "Anyways, I need to go to the bathroom. meet you in science? " The blondes nodded and headed off to class while Lainey went the other way.

As she entered, she was slammed against the wall and her phone went flying out of her hands, "What the f-" she was interrupted by Lila covering her mouth with her clammy hands. Lainey licked it and Lila pulled it away, hissing.

"I don't know who you think you are, but I am not letting you get in the way of running this school," Lila threatened. Lainey growled and pushed Lila to the ground. The Italian yelped as her ass hit the cold stone floor.

"You're messing with the wrong Head Bitch In Charge,  Lila , if you lay a HAND on me EVER again, I will pummel you into the ground, understand me?" the Latina growled, Lila pushed herself off the ground to try and intimidate Lainey. Lila was just a head taller than the Latina.

"You're not as dumb as the others and you actually fight back, unlike  Marinette,  but there is one thing that you don't have. The ability to manipulate people. Adela does. She's the brains of the group, " Lila pushed Lainey against the wall, "Chloe has the looks," Lila put her finger on her chin. "What do you have? Sure, the brawns. But they will never respect you. Because, to them. You are just the bodyguard, " Lainey grabbed Lila's hair and yanked it to the ground. 

"You're not going to tell anyone about this encounter," Lila whimpered, "and if you do, just know that I may not be the 'smartest' person in the group, but I know how to get rid of the body," "Oh, and if you tell anyone I threatened you, you might end up on the burn blog this week, which is a shame considering we're trying to save you for lucky last," Lainey said as she let go of Lila's hair and walked away.

***

Lainey walked into class and sat down next to Adela, telling her what went down in the bathroom. "She what?" Adela exclaimed, Mlle Mendeleiev turned around, ready to send whoever was talking to detention. When her eyes fell on Adela, she pretended nothing had happened and continued introducing the lesson. Adela glared at the board, watching as the Italian entered the class.

"Sorry I'm late, Mlle." Lila looked towards Lainey and Adela, who was glaring at her, "I tripped down the stairs and now I'm in pain," she smiled, Kim shot up from his seat and helped her into her seat. She thanked him.

"What a simp," Lainey giggled.

"Wait, I thought he was dating Max?" Adela inquired; Lainey looked perplexed.

"Um-No, they are pretty straight," Kim made sure Lila was comfy and everyone crowded around the table, asking her if she was OK.

"Damn, I didn't know."

"Everyone return to your seats! "Ms Rossi, be more careful next time; you don't want to end up in the hospital," Mlle Mendeleiev said as everyone returned to their seats.

"This time," Adela added. Alya was about to yell at her ex-best friend when Marinette beat her to it. 

"No, no. She's got a point, " Alya and Nino's jaws dropped at Marinette's words. Alya was now convinced that Adela and her posse were corrupting her innocent best friend. Adrien sighed and shook his head. Marinette's eyes dropped and Lila gave her a victorious smile.

"Class! Pay attention. Now, can anyone tell me the difference between a nuclear reaction and a chemical reaction? " Adela shot her hand up in the air, Max attempted to raise his hand but Mlle Mendeleiev pointed at Adela, "Yes Ms Van Der Zant."

"A chemical reaction breaks bonds; in a nuclear reaction, its nuclei emit particles and/or rays. Also, in chemical reactions, atoms are rearranged. However, in a nuclear reaction the atoms are changed into atoms of a different element. This list is not exhaustive and there are more differences, " Adela stated. Mlle Mendeleiev nodded and smiled at her.

"Absolutely right Ms Van Der Zant," Mlle Mendeleiev threw her a lolly. (Lol, my science teacher used to do this if we won Kahoot)

"As Adela was saying, you need to know these differences for the upcoming exams," the class groaned. Adela copied down all the notes from the board as Mlle Mendeleiev continued the lesson.

***

"But Mr. Damocles!" Lila whined; Adela tried to contain her smirk at the scene in front of her. She had gotten one of her pets, Aurore, to break into Lila's locker. She didn't really need to break into it considering the school wasn't fond of locks for some reason, even though they had many rich students in the school who were quick to announce J'accuse. Aurore was tasked with planting a stinkbomb. "Someone made my locker stink. Aren't you going to investigate it? " 

Adrien saw Adela, Chloe and Lainey trying to contain their laughter. Adrien knew Chloe was mean and Adela had a mean streak, but he didn't know his closest friends were cruel. He didn't know Lainey that well, so he didn't expect much from her. When they tried to constantly embarrass Lila, it made him frown. He had begged them to take the high road like he had told Marinette, but they didn't listen. Nothing good could come out of this, he concluded. Lila was good at what she did (Well, not good enough to convince him and Marinette) and he didn't particularly like Lila, but he wouldn't wish anything on her. Especially whatever the HBIC had planned for her.

Walking out of the locker and to his bodyguard's car, Marinette followed him. "Adrien! Are you OK? " she asked.

"No, I just found out I didn't know some of my closest friends as well as I thought I did," he stated, slamming the car door. 

Everyone was leaving when Lila had approached the three girls, sitting on the bench giggling their heads off, "I knew you had something to do with this," she pointed her finger in Adela's face. The blonde grabbed her finger and squeezed it tight.

"Get. Your. Finger. Out. Of. My. Face." she growled, standing up. Chloe and Lainey joined her, "If you want to threaten one of us in the privacy of the bathroom, make sure all three of us are there instead of being a pussy and only threatening one of us," and they walked out of there.

Lila knew she had to do something, so she pulled out her phone and dialled her cousin, Damien. "Hey Damien, it's me. Your favourite cousin, how do you feel about visiting Paris and possibly helping me dethrone the wannabe plastics?"

Chapter Text

Damien Rossi had arrived in Paris for three weeks. Lila's mother assumed that Lila was looking forward to meeting her dear cousin, and Lila was. Just for nefarious purposes.

Damien's mother was simply relieved to be rid of him. She had just recently gotten him out of Rehab (a fact she was not proud of), and she had become more wary and protective of him after his father died. Damien had quickly become addicted to alcohol. Damien was only relieved to be free of his banshee mother. Mlle Rossi was happy to help her sister-in-law and see her nephew again.

"Caro nipote, you're staying in the guest room. Mia amore, show him his room, " Mlle Rossi instructed, and Lila nodded, followed by her cousin. 

Lila and Damien were opposite to one another. Lila resembled her mother more, with olive skin, green eyes, and brown hair and she wore more chic outfits. Damien inherited his mother's dirty blonde hair, fair skin, freckles, and blue eyes. He wore more casual clothing, such as t-shirts and jeans. Once they had reached the room, Damien began unpacking his clothes while Lila stood in the doorway smirking at him. The room was dull, with simple white walls and wooden shelves stacked high with classic literature ranging from Pinnochio, his favourite childhood novel, to Alessandro Manzoni's most famous work, The Betrothed. He had a small wooden dresser and a wooden bed frame, as well as pastel green sheets and pillows. At the very least, his Zia remembered that he liked green and reading.

"You know how much I despise this. Do you recall what happened the last time I intervened? Everyone assumed we were-" Lila had stood next to his suitcase on the bed as he went to put away his shirts (which he surprisingly had a lot of).

"Damien, please!" Lila almost screamed, crossing her arms over her stomach. "I don't care if you despise it; do I need to remind you of Isabella Penisi?" Damien let out a sigh, slamming the dresser shut.

"Puttana," he hissed, "You always do this, you drive me to my breaking point then tell my mama that I need anger management class and that I must be drinking," he started to pack while talking. Lila stood up and pinched his ear, pulling him back so he would stop what he was doing and listen to her.

"Listen to me carefully. You will do whatever I want, whenever I want, or I will tell everyone how you dr-"Lila got started.

"Okay, fine. Could you please tell me who these girls are? "He inquired, his voice dejected. 

"Adela Van Der Zant, Lainey Villanueva, and Chloe Bourgeios," Lila said, smirking.

***

When Adela's phone rang, Marc, Nathaniel, and the HBIC's were in Chloe's room, carefully crafting the burn blogs next juicy story. "Brook? What is it?" Adela asked, Chloe and Lainey's heads snapped towards the corner where Adela now stood. "Slow down, Lila is with whom and where are they?" Marc and Nathaniel stopped what they were doing to listen in on the conversation. "What's that, she has a cousin? Is he adorable? Wait, don't respond to that.  This is new to me; I had thought she was a demon sent by Satan, " Chloe let out a snort.

"He's probably a demon as well," Chloe speculated with a smirk, while Lainey lifted her eyebrows and covered her laughter with her hand. Adela nodded and put her finger to her mouth.

"All right, thank you." Adela hung up the phone and went to the blog, where she opened the immunity tab and entered Brook's name. "She deserves it," she said as Marc began typing furiously on his laptop once more.

"Make sure to include his STD past. Michel is notorious for not wrapping it up," Lainey said, Marc snorted, and Nathaniel lifted his eyebrows and stared at Lainey, "I just know this stuff. That's why my hair is so long, it's full of secrets, " Chloe and Adela burst out laughing as Nathaniel shook his head.

"I believe we should go to the park. This Lila and her cousin thing is a little suspicious, " Chloe said, while Adela shook her head at the other blonde's suggestion, "I mean, what if this is a trick to get into Adrien's pants? " Lainey let out a snort.

"How does it work exactly? 'Adrien, hello! This is my cousin. I heard you like him, and the only way you can fuck him is if we have a threesome, ' wait— " The group's hysterical laughter disrupted Lainey. "I'm glad you thought that was funny," Chloe took out her phone and opened a note labelled "quotes," which she added to if someone said something amusing.

"I think you're all missing the fact that Adrien is an innocent cinnamon roll," Adela said. "Not only does he not like her, but he will never let someone 'get in his pants,' not even Lady-" Adela covered her mouth with her hand while everyone's eyes widened.

"No, you were making a statement. Finish it! " Chloe demanded, and Marc and Nathaniel exchanged a 'Did you hear that, too?' glance "Is Adrien in love with Ladybug?" As Marc and Nathaniel quickly returned to their work, Chloe and Lainey asked in unison. Adela muttered something and went to the restroom, while Lainey and Chloe couldn't stop laughing.

***

The girls had finally agreed to go to the park to assess the situation and see if there was anything to be concerned about. They knew Lila had been waiting for them when they arrived. Lila made a not-so-subtle reference to the three girls who were much too overdressed for the occasion. The boy, who appeared to be a few years older than them, maybe four or five, turned to face them.

"Why is practically everybody else here?" groaned Lainey. The party in question had also noticed them. Rose, Juleka, Kim, Max, Alya, Nino, and Sabrina surrounded the two Italian cousins, while Marinette, Adrien, and Alix arrived at the same time as the HBIC. 

"Would you mind saying something in Italian to me?" Rose pleaded, diverting everyone's attention away from the six people who had just joined them. The blonde boy shrugged.

"Um, sure," his accent was heavy, and Adela couldn't understand a word he said. "Aiutami, cosa ho fatto per meritarmelo?," (I had to use Google translator, so sorry if I made a few mistakes.) Lila glared at him before realising everyone was looking at her.

"What exactly does that mean?" Alya inquired. Damien opened his mouth to tell her what it really meant, but Lila cut him off.

"He said he's so happy to be here," Lainey snorted at Lila's sad attempt to 

"I can loosely translate it as Italian and Spanish are oddly similar. All I know is that he isn't thrilled to be here. Aiutami sounds similar to Ayúdame, which means "help me, please." Adela gave a sly grin. "Make a note of it. That could come in handy later. "

Chapter Text

Adela's major flaw was that she didn't know when enough was enough. That's why she was so adamant about the HBIC remaining intact. Lainey's major flaw was that she was rough and didn't care whether and how she hurt people as long as she intimidated them. Chloe's major flaw was that she didn't always think before she spoke.

Adrien was well aware that all of this HBIC childish nonsense was ludicrous. Mean Girls was a movie, not a lifestyle! But he knew there was nothing he could do, and besides, he liked that Lila wasn't clinging to him anymore; the class was more peaceful now.

Marinette had designed a plaid dress in the HBIC colours (blue, purple, and pink) with a white blouse underneath. They wore necklaces with their first initials on them, pulled their scrunchies back into their classic hairstyles (Lainey wore hers in a messy bun, Adela wore hers in a high pony and Chloe in a side pony), and wore an array of rings, heavy makeup (except Adela, who prefers to keep it light), and blue, pink, and purple bangles.

Adrien interrupted Lainey, Chloe, and Adela as they walked up the steps to the college. "I need to speak to you three," he ordered, raising her eyebrows at him; Adela had never seen him behave so angry before. The girls wanted to entertain him by following him to the locker room. "Why are you doing this?"

"What are we doing, Adrien?" Lainey asked, crossing her arms over her chest, Chloe and Adela following suit. 

"Why can't you just ignore her like I do, instead of acting like the plastics?" Adela scoffed, and Chloe arched her forehead.

"How did you learn about plastics?" Chloe inquired.

"I watched it, and contrary to popular belief, I know pop culture references," he replied, "Forget about her and focus on yourself; she'll calm down, I'm sure."

"If you ignore it, it'll go away? Is that what you think? So did we, and did you see where that took us? Her continuing to spread lies and sexually harass you," Adrien shook his head as Lainey lectured him.

"Being mean to the bad guy has never resulted in anything good. You're as bad as she is," Adrien mumbled the last sentence under his breath and was about to leave when Lainey yanked his shoulder back, harshly. 

"What did you say, Agreste?" Adrien pulled Lainy off of him and rubbed his back. It was still sore from the Akuma attack the week before, and Lainey's tight grip sent a sharp jolt through his shoulders.

"I said, by doing this, you're becoming just as awful as she is, if not worse," his tone was more hostile than he intended, but his shoulder hurt and he wanted to get out of there before he said anything that would get him akumatised.

"Get out!" growled Chloe. Adrien was shocked; he was used to Chloe being rude, but not to him.

"Gladly," he said as he exited the locker room, and Adela sighed. He had no right to tell them what to do, but he was like a little brother to her, even if he was four months older.

"We aren't as horrible as she is; we haven't tried to get someone suspended or expelled," Adela tried to reassure herself, but she was left wondering if Adrien was right.

***

Lila's popularity was dwindling. Nino and Alix didn't want to be associated with her for their own protection, Alya wanted her best friends back, Max saw through the Italian's lies, and Nathaniel just didn't like the way she looked. She exuded an evil aura. Juleka had become wary of the Italian after her twin brother told her of all the horrible things his girlfriend, Marinette, had told him about Lila. Sabrina, Kim, Mylene, Ivan, Rose (much to Juleka's chagrin), and Damien, on the other hand, were all wrapped around her pinky.

The HBIC didn't bother showing up to class and instead texted everyone in the class. "

We have more dirt on you all than you can imagine.

This is a message to everyone who believes this is a joke and a punishment for one student in the class who deserves it.

At the end of the day, whoever has the S pin will discover a secret of theirs on the Burn Blog for the whole school to see.

"

Everyone soon realised Adrien had it, and he was not permitted to remove it unless he persuaded someone else to wear it. Marinette offered to take it, knowing full well that Adela, Lainey, and Chloe would never reveal her secret, but Adrien quickly declined. He cared too much for Marinette to ask her to do something like this for him.

His phone rang as the gorilla drove him home, and he expected it to be Kagami or his father, but instead, he saw the Burn Blog. Adrien sighed as he read, "L.R. has happily been akumatised several times to spite M.D.C." He didn't know how he persuaded Lila to take his badge or how the Plastics realised she had accepted it, but he was glad he didn't have to deal with that.

They'd only recently begun using initials in the Burn Blog, so everybody inferred who the Plastics were talking about and anonymity remained. Lila had received some angry texts in response to the blog's most recent addition. She had no idea why she had said yes to Adrien. She thought they wouldn't notice if she took it, or that they were bluffing.

"What the fuck is going on, Lila? Aside from that, I have no idea how they obtained my phone number. What the hell do they know? " Damien yelled, "Giving yourself up to a psychopath like Hawkmoth? Merda- That sounded wrong-" Lila fixed her gaze on her cousin.

"I need to get back at them, but I'm not sure how," Lila realised.

"Why don't we just do what we did before?" Damien inquired, sitting next to her and burying his face in his hands.

"They don't care how the class perceives them," Lila mumbled, hissing, "Funcolo."

"I have a proposal," Damien said, letting go of her and rubbing his hands over his face.

"Perfect," she said, "Shoot."  Damien pitied the girls he was about to hurt, but he needed to get away from his family, especially Lila.

"Well, but after I tell you, you can't use whatever blackmail you have on me," Lila said as she extended her hand to shake it. He screamed, "And no crossies!"

Chapter Text

Mylene Haprele hoped for many things, including the success of her boyfriend's band,  good grades, and maybe a Miraculous. What she didn't want was to be a teen mother.

"Mylene was looking for what? A pregnancy test?" Lainey inquired, her jaw-dropping. "How do they—I mean, he's like a big guy and she's kind of... little," Adela scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Are you writing this down, Marc?" Adela inquired, and the ardent writer nodded his head and typed furiously. Marinette's eyes expanding, clearly conflicted, went unnoticed. They were attempting to destroy her friend's life.

"I'm not sure, but what if Mylene is just buying a pregnancy test for someone, like that time in Gossip Girl?" Chloe speculated. Nathaniel snorted and shook his head.  He panicked as he noticed all eyes were on him.

"I mean, she's not a doormat; if she bought something like that, it would have to be for Rose. Since she is dating Juleka, she most likely isn't. The other person is Lila," Nathaniel reasoned, Chloe smirked at him.

"Well, she can either out Lila or whoever she's purchasing it for, or she can confirm her pregnancy, preferably in public, perhaps on the Burn Blog?" Chloe proposed.

* * *

When Ivan's phone rang, he was practising with the band. For the time being, he ignored it. But it appeared that Juleka and Rose had also received the notification, so Luka decided to stop practising while they went to check their phones. It was the Burn Blog. "M.H. Pregnant or aiding a friend?" read the headline. Ivan cried and dropped the phone on the floor, Rose and Juleka's eyes widening as they read it as well.

"Ivan—Is everything all right?" When Luka inquired, the drummer shook his head.

"Mylene's pregnant," the entire room became silent as the girl in question entered, all eyes fixed on her. Ivan stood up and challenged her, asking, "Is that true?" while pointing to his phone. Mylene was taken aback by the headline.

"I-I How did they find out?" She sobbed and fell to the floor as Ivan pulled her tight. They were just about to turn seventeen.

***

"Congratulations! This will be awful for your career but fantastic for your Instagram,"  Lila cried as she grabbed Mylene's hands. "Of course, we'll always be here to support you two," Adela snarled, rolling her eyes.

"Of course, everyone supports the teen mother instead of letting her face the consequences of her actions, what a slut," Chloe snarled.

"Chloe, you're a slut as well. Should I remind you-" Her half-sister, Zoe Lee, began.

"Zoe! Who allowed you to return to school?" Chloe was taken aback and inquired.

"I went to see my father for a week," Zoe sighed, "and I believe it's great that they're helping her; she needs it.  She'll be seventeen in two weeks, after all," She said her goodbyes to the three and proceeded to the locker room.

"Of course that loser knows people's birthdays," Adela chuckled, rolling her eyes at the siblings. "Anyway, why can't anyone else see the flaw in this? Is that Dupain-Cheng?" Chloe shrieked. Adela let out a sigh.

"Let's go find something else. We want Lila, not the idiots who get in our way." Adela sighed, watching Adrien march straight past her with his head down. 

He would have shoulder barged her if he was even a smidge meaner.

"He'll come back to you, you're like an elder sister to him, and he loves you," Lainey assured her.

"I don't think he does anymore."

***

"Not cool, Mylene's secret shouldn't be the school's business," Nino said as he crossed his arms across his chest. Adela sighed and shook her head.

"Are we going to do this, or are you going to lecture me?" she snarled as she rubbed her throbbing head. Nino sat down next to her, taking the files from his backpack and throwing them down on the bench.

"Here's everything I've ever got on Gabriel Agreste, but you know CPS will just throw Adrien in the system. Not let you just take him out of Gabriel's clutches," the DJ pointed out, shaking Adela's head.

"I know exactly what I'm going to do; I've already planned it. Nathalie assured me that everything would work out, that she had moved on from her ridiculous little obsession on Gabriel." Nino kissed Adela's forehead and drew her into a hug.

"He'll never forgive us for this," he guiltily said, as he let her go.

"I think he will, just give him some time," neither teen had noticed the Italian sneaking out from behind the bookshelves, shooting the perfect angle with her reusable camera. Nino and Adela appeared to be too intimate from where she stood.

"Gabriel would want to hear about this," she thought to herself as she packed her belongings and prepared to print the photo to take to school and show all her 'friends' tomorrow. Damien was correct. She only had to wait until the right moment. If she had hurried, she might not have realised Adela was affectionate to those she cared about, which would be her undoing.

Lila didn't know how she got this lucky.

Chapter Text

Mr. Villanueva was out of the house and this was the only time that Lainey was allowed to be on her phone. He had forbidden her from buying one and her mum had secretly bought her one to spite him. Lainey was talking about the HBIC group chat that Adela had had when her mum was leaning against her door frame, with a washing basket in her arms.

"You're hanging out with Chloe and Adela again? That's great," Serena Villanueva said, sitting next to her daughter, who had jumped six feet in the air. Lainey and her father may have never gotten on, but her mum was one of the most amazing women she had ever met. Serena was badass, but, at the same time, soft and caring. 

"Yeah, we need to prove to this girl in our class and the rest of the class that the HBIC is not to be messed with," Lainey replied, finishing her text in the group chat. They had planned to meet up and find out more. Serena sighed.

"You remember when we watched Mean Girls for the first time?" Serena inquired, and Lainey nodded, "So you remember how Cady was such a nice person and Janice's best friend, kind of like you and Alix?" Lainey groaned.

"What has this got to do with anything?" Lainey snapped. Serena smacked the back of her head. "Sorry."

"Cady got in too deep. She was worse than Regina. I'm just going to make some parallels. You three are Cady, going in with goodish intentions and heading out worse than Regina, who, for the sake of this, is that girl," Serena pointed out, which made Lainey scowl. 

"Don't compare Regina to Lila," Lainey hissed. Serena rolled her eyes.

"But she is. You think you're so much better than her, but you're ruining all your friendships. It's so much better to just be a nice person. Why do you think that trying to act like all those teens in the movies and shows will make you better than people? Lila obviously has something going on in her life. By becoming this head bitch in charge, HBIC, you are telling everyone that you are insecure, that you want to be how men think women act. Aren't you supposed to be the feminist in the house?" Serena chuckled. Lainey scoffed.

"We could never be as bad as her," Lainey growled.

"Well, from what I've heard, Lila was just lying to fit in until Marinette and Adela made it a whole big thing because those girls never lie. Then Lila must have panicked and kept up an act that she wouldn't have needed if you had given her the chance to show that she needed support and friendship. I know you hate redemption arcs, but people aren't bad because they're sociopaths. People are bad because they have made the wrong choices, and they have backstories. You, Chloe and Adela want power and you have everything you could ever want. You three are just mean girls. In high school, I despised girls like you, and no one idolized you. They fear you-"

"I know, that's what we want-"

"No Lainey! If you can't see the error of your ways, then I've failed as a mother. "I'm going to finish this washing load and then go get groceries," her mother said as she walked out of the room and to the washing machine.

"Damn, she's right. Isn't she?" Lainey sighed to herself. She had to finish this feud with Lila, no matter how important it was, and her mother was right. Lainey was worse than Lila and she needed to steer away and try and reconnect with her friends.

Lainey: Hey Alix, Nath, Kim. I apologize for agreeing to this HBIC thing; can we meet up? I want to say this in person.