Salt Prompt-All those times that Marinette has been babysitting the twins and Chris, she was actually supposed to get played. Both sets of parents had been sending along money to give to her, but Alya had been pocketing it without anyone knowing. Nino and the parents are under the impression that Alya has been paying her friend, while Marinette has no idea that she is owed money. Lila had convinced her that a "Real" friend would be happy to do it for free & that Alya deserved the money more.
"That necklace is so cute, Al!" Lila giggled as she 'admired' the gaudy necklace Alya had just bought herself. It was a mess of metal rose charms and bulky coloured stones tossed together. Lila wanted to burn it, but didn't dare tell Alya.
"Well, your advice allowed me to have some extra money to treat myself." Alya giggled, then showed Lila the matching earrings to the necklace. They were seated in Alya's kitchen, her family gone for the day. "I swear, you're the best friend any girl could ask for."
"Well, you do work pretty hard with your blog. And you're so kind to give me so many interviews." Lila purred, her green eyes narrowing slightly. "Besides, you deserve that money. What would Marinette do with it anyways?"
"Probably buy materials for her important clients." Alya snorted, then took a long sip of her smoothie. "Can you believe she actually turned me down in making my spring gala dress because I wouldn't pay? She's always made my dress for free, what's changed now?!"
"Yeah, taking that babysitting money for yourself was the best thing you ever did. She's just a greedy bitch." Lila giggled, and Alya soon joined in.
Neither of them saw Nora hang up her cell phone and leave the room.
Alya was on cloud nine, staring at herself in the mirror, giving herself a little spin as she admired her new dress. She smiled when she heard the knock on the door.
"Alya, mom and dad want you in the kitchen." Nora's voice was slightly muffled through the door.
"I'll be down in a minute!" Alya called out, so eager to show off her new dress to her parents, since she had been so stressed about a dress for the gala. They'd be relieved that the problem was solved.
But at the sight of hers parents, as well as Nino and Marinette and their families, Alya froze.
"We need to have a long talk." Her mother growled softly, crossing her arms.
In the end, her parents had made her return everything she had bought. She had had all of her electronics taken away for a year. She had stomped her foot about that, but her mother threatened to keep it all away until she turned eighteen. That had shut her up fast.
She was still haunted by the disappointed look in her boyfriend's eyes when he found out the truth. Marinette was now being given every ounce of Alya's allowance to make up for all of this mess. And she has screeched when Nino had offered to take Marinette to the spring gala, since Alya was grounded from that too.
No one talked to her anymore. Not even Ladybug.
Where had everything gone wrong?