Thanks to the art teacher allowing the kids to use the room after class and between classes, Adrien and his team of helpers on the album had secured the room over lunch break. The first track of Pretty when I cry was done, and he'd bought it in to show everyone that was helping, that way Nathaniel could get an idea for a cover art draft and Marinette could get an idea for the outfit for the music video.

They all listened in awe at the track, amazed Adrien wrote everything by himself and at how much he'd improved with vocals since joining kitty section.

"So? Any good?" He asked.

"Dude that was fucking amazing" Nino said.

"I already have a million ideas" Marinette added, already drawing up designs.

"Same, I can totally work of your suggestion and make it fit that vibe" Nathaniel replied.

Adrien smiled, glad he's done well. He closed his laptop and looked over at the work the artists were doing, which was coming along really well.

"I'm thinking pyjamas, those old fashioned two piece sets. That way you can have the imagery if of sitting in front of a vanity beauty queen style like you're getting ready in the morning you know?" Marinette suggested.

"That's perfect, and it'll match the cover art. I'm going for silky sheets, mascara stained tissues and a broken youth look" Nathaniel replied.

Adrien was go glad he had such artistically talented friends to help him, he couldn't do this alone. Sure he had industry connections he could use since he was the child of two famous people, but he wanted it to be personal to him and authentic. So he was doing everything from scratch with the help of his friends.

"I love the guitar too, it's so moody" Nino said.

"Ok I know, it's perfect. How's lessons going with Luka by the way?" Marinette asked.

"Really well, I'm still not that great at holding the strings down at the right pressure though" Adrien replied.

He was really enjoying guitar, he loved piano as much as his mother did but guitar was quickly becoming special to him as well. Especially since Luka was such a good teacher.

"Speaking of Luka, I heard he slept over the other night" Nath bought up.

"Oh yeah! Tell me the details dude what was it like" Nino teased, nudging his friend.

Adrien's cheeks went red remembering the events of that night. He definitely didn't need to disclose all the filthy things they said to each other while high off lust.

"We just... hung out that's all" Adrien replied.

"Suuurree" Nino teased.

"Dude you're talking to another bisexual here. You can't fool me" Nath snickered.

"I'll admit I'm a little curious, I did date him after all what did I miss out on?" Marinette teased.

They were teasing him in good fun, they wouldn't push him to spill anything if it made him uncomfortable. But hey, teenagers like to tease their buddies about this stuff it was like a rite of passage.

"Well... without going into the gritty details it was..." Adrien began.

They all looked at him eagerly for an answer.

"Very... VERY pleasing"

He got a series of immature snickers and 'oooohhh's in response, the group gently shaking his shoulders.

"I don't see anything on your neck man, what did you get up to?" Nino joked.

"Who said it was on my neck?"

"OOOHHHHHH FREEEEAKY"

The group laughed like a bunch of immature 12 year olds, in truth none of them could take this seriously. They all loved a good tease, none of them were above a 'haha 69 420' joke.

"Congratulations on joining the lack of virginity club" Nath laughed.

"Oh yeah, who's in the club at this point? it's been a while since a new relationship in the group happened" Adrien replied.

"You're the most recent dude, we're just waiting on Mari" Nino teased.

"Shut up! I have dudes lining up at the door waiting for a taste of me" Marinette sassed back.

"More like girls lining up at the door, I heard someone with an annoying as sister has a crush on you" Adrien said.

Apart from Adrien's album and Lila suddenly coming back, the news going around the class was that apparently Zoe was majorly crushing on Marinette. No one was really that surprised, they all got that vibe from her.

"Oh yeah, I'm flattered, really. I just wasn't expecting it, still processing that..." Marinette said.

"Zoe, Kagami, who's next? You gonna steal my girlfriend?" Nino joked.

"Wait Kagami?" Nathaniel spoke up.

"I mean she's never said it out right but Adrien and I get those vibes"

Marinette seemed to attract more girls than boys at this point, she was starting to wonder if maybe she should just go for it and see how it works out.

They all chatted and giggled at crushes and relationships as any old friend group did, having fun and without a care in the world. But the fun was immediately sucked out of the room when the door opened, and that annoyingly familiar voice spoke up.

"Hi guys! Have you seen my art portfolio? I can't find it anywhere!"

Lila...

She waltzed in like she owned the place, looking around the room for this supposed portfolio.

"Sorry, haven't seen it" Nino said, a little annoyed at her presence. After finding out what she'd been doing to Adrien he started to resent her.

"Hmm, where did I put it? I hope it's not lost forever I have some reeealllyyy important work in here. Some of my award winning drawings" Lila replied.

Adrien hadn't even seen her pick up a sketch pad. She did take some art classes that Marinette's mum ran, but award winning drawings? He doubted that.

"We haven't seen it in here, must be in another classroom" Nath said.

Nath still didn't know much about Lila's antics, but he sat next to her in last years lass so he was aware how much she talked peoples ears off. He picked up on the shift in mood as well, clearly the others didn't like her. He figured they must have had a fight or something.

"Man, I hope I wasn't stolen or something... hey, what are you all doing?" She said, walking over to look down at the work they all had laid out on the desk.

"Helping Adrien with the album cover" Nino said.

"Oooh, it looks good! You know I was on an album cover once. Maybe I can help?" Lila replied.

Bull shit. Adrien knew that was a lie.

"Actually were already pretty much done with the planning and decided on the final deign. We're just adding touches" Marinette said, hoping to her get away.

Whatever she was doing here she was determined, she just wouldn't leave. She squeezes between Marinette and Adrien, leaning over the desk to get a closer look at the drawings. Marinette made eye contact with Nino opposite her and they gave each other annoyed looks. Adrien tensed up, he didn't like her so close after all she'd done to him.

"These will look really good! I bet the streaks in your hair will really make the colour pop hey Adrien" She said.

"Y-yeah, I like that the colour matches the flowers on the outfit" Adrien replied.

She reached out to touch his hair, grabbing one of the green streaks and twirling it through her fingers. Adrien tensed even more, wanting to swat her away but he was frozen.

"You know the green really suits you, it's almost the same green as your eyes" Lila said.

"T-thanks, I guess... I did it to match Luka" Adrien replied.

He hoped bringing you his boyfriend would get Lila to back off, but she stayed put. The others could tell Adrien was uncomfortable, the way he gripped his knees and avoided eye contact told them all they needed to know.

"I bet Luka loooovveeed it" Nino said, in hopes that the mention of Adrien's boyfriend would get rid of her too.

"He did, he figured I can take the two green streaks on the side and pull them back into a green ponytail" Adrien replied. 

"You two are so cute" Marinette added.

Lila finally let go of Adrien's hair, but she didn't move away. She put her hand on his shoulder and acted as if it were normal.

"Marinette didn't you date Luka?" Lila asked.

Oh now she was making Adrien uncomfortable AND bringing up the complicated love triangle that happened? What the hell was she trying to achieve here.

"We did, it was a mutual breakup. We agreed we were just better as friends, in fact we're still friends" Marinette replied, immediately shutting any kind of backing for a rumour.

"You know Adrien, I was surprised to hear you picked Luka of all people. He didn't seem like your type" Lila said.

Was she blind? Luka is EXACTLY Adrien's type. Dark hair, kind and caring, brave, protective, musical... he was practically his soulmate. The group watched her hand closely, it slipped off his shoulder and down his back the way a supportive lover would gently rub your back when your sad.

Adrien was still frozen though, he wanted to whack her away and tell her to fuck off but he was just... frozen.

"Well turns out he really is my type. Nothing could ever break us up... nothing" Adrien replied.

If it was him she was trying to gain, he shut that down fast. Making it very clear that he was Lukas boy and no one else's, no one could come between them. They loved and trusted each other completely.

Something seemed to shift in Lila, but her fake smile stayed plastered on her face.

"I suppose I'm just surprised you ended up with Marinette's Ex, isn't that a little awkward?" She asked.

"No, actually I find it cute. I'm glad Luka found someone that works for him, right Adrien?" Marinette spoke up, getting annoyed.

"Right. We're all still friends" Adrien replied.

Before she could try anything else, the bell went signalling lunch was over. Great, she'd wasted a bunch of time the group could have used to work on the album.

"Oh! There's be bell, I'll see you in class guys!" Lila said.

She finally let go of Adrien, and turned to leave. As soon as the door closed Adrien shivered and cringed into another plane of existence.

"That sly bitch..." Marinette sighed.

"What... just happened?" Nath asked, sensing the tension the whole time.

"She's up to something, it's so obvious. You ok Adrien?"

Adrien needed to process that for a moment, he felt icky. He really didn't like her touching him.

"Yeah... I just... need Luka to kiss me or something to wash away her touch" Adrien sighed.

"Was there some kind of falling out I'm not aware of?" Nath asked.

He, like most of the class weren't aware of all the stuff that happened behind the scenes back when Adrien was a model. While it was clear something bad happened he was confused. Marinette and Nino looked at Adrien for permission to tell him, to which he nodded.

"Back when she was working for the company with Adrien she was constantly harassing him. Like...sexually. She was always so touchy even after Adrien kept telling her to back off, and now she's... well, we don't know what she's trying to pull but clearly it's something. She seems rather interested in getting close to Adrien, even if there's nothing in it for her anymore because Gabriel is behind bars" Nino explained.

Nathaniel processed that for a second. All last year he was sitting next to someone who constantly harassed his friend? And he had no idea? Fuck... she was good at hiding her true colours.

"She- excuse me? She... fuck." Nathaniel muttered in disbelief.

The door to the room opened again, this time it was a much more pleasant face.

"Hey, you guys coming?" Marc said.

"Oh, yeah we're just packing up" Nathaniel replied.

Marc sensed something was wrong, there still being a tension in the room.

"Is something wrong? You seem... angry" he asked, coming in to help pack up.

"It's a long story... but heads up, avoid Lila" Nino said.

"Lila? What'd she do?"

Marc wasn't even in the class last year so he was even more in the dark about everything than Nath was.

"Long story short, back when I was a model she'd always... harness me. In... THAT way. She just came in to talk or something and did it again... she kept trying to touch me" Adrien sighed.

If Marc had a drink he'd have done a spit take.

"What? Jesus Christ, you ok Adrien?" He asked.

"Yeah just... feel icky" Adrien replied.

While he was glad more and more people were starting to understand Lila was a bitch, he just wanted her to leave him alone and go away. He had his mums, Luka and now 4 friends on his side though. Whatever she was trying she'd have to get through them.

"I should have said something just then, I'm sorry man. I just... I mean I couldn't believe what I was seeing I just froze! She really had no shame whatsoever, just going straight for your hair and then your shoulder" Nino said.

"Don't worry about it, it always makes me freeze too" Adrien replied.

Marc and Nathaniel looked at each other a little worried, being very much both boys and in a relationship they could see this whole thing from a queer perspective as well, and something about it alarmed them.

"Maybe... she thinks there's something wrong with you dating Luka..?" Nath suggested.

"What makes you... well..." Marinette began, realising what he meant.

"Dude... the random comments about Marinette dating him and the 'awkward ex' thing... maybe she's jealous of him?" Nino said.

"Either that or she has some kind of issue with the fact Adrien picked a BOY over her..." Marc pondered.

Adrien felt there was more to it than that, but there definitely did seem to be some jealously and disapproval in there as well. He didn't appreciate her dragging Luka into all this...

"Dude you've got like an army of helps now, if she pulls some bullshit again call us and we'll rock her shit" Nino said.

"Agreed I want an excuse to deck her for almost getting me expelled" Marinette added.

"If there really is some homophobic undertones to this I swear to god she can catch these hands" Nath joined in.

"Count me in I can't believe she's harassing you like that" Marc said.

Adrien smiled, he had great friends. He felt a lot safer knowing they had his back. Not only them but his mums and Luka himself too. And hey... if worst came to worst he DID have the power to cataclysm...

"Thanks guys" he smiled.

"The only one touching you is Luka, count on that" Nino said.

The more Lila tried to move in on her little plan the more Adrien felt it wasn't just some kind of jealousy or for fame, there was something else she wanted from him. But he didn't know what it was yet.