Chapter Fifty-Five

Asher and Lila didn’t interact much the rest of Friday, but he did wave at her whilst mid-stretch on Saturday morning as she arrived on Jacoval. Isaac jogged over to Lila, grinning.

“Morning,” he said cheerily. “Got any plans for today?”

“Just practice then hanging out with Elise and Grace,” Lila replied conversationally. “Heard you’re hanging out with Asher again.”

“Yup,” Isaac replied airily, stretching his legs. “Just me and him after practice.”

“What’re you two talking about?” Asher asked as he approached Lila and Isaac.

“Nothin’,” Isaac said. “Boring small talk.”

“Fisher, Wagner, get over here,” growled Mr Kovac. Lila glanced over in the direction of the Under 18s soccer team and saw, to her surprise, Theo and Zack looking over at her. They seemed to notice Lila peering at them and they both grinned and waved at her. She tentatively waved back.

From the corner of her eye, Lila saw Asher’s mouth set in a hard line as he stalked back off towards his side of the oval. Isaac’s eyes darted between Asher and Lila before Mr Kovac called for him again. He jogged off without a word to Lila.

Hockey practice was intense. Ms Wright was running them through the wringer today. It was hardly surprising as their first match of the season was this time next Saturday. By the end of it, Lila wasn’t too sure if she wanted to see a movie anymore due to her exhaustion.

“Now remember ladies, I’ll be seeing you all next Tuesday afternoon,” Ms Wright announced during her debrief. “Our first match is against Sandy Lakes next Saturday. Just because we defeated them last year doesn’t mean we will this year, so don’t get complacent. They have something to prove, after all.”

Once Lila got home, she took a brief nap before getting ready for the movies. She opened her leather wallet to check that she still had her Cinema membership card. She confirmed its presence but noticed there was a conspicuous gap in her card section. Lila ran her finger over the pocket before she remembered. She’d lent her $100 gift card to the movies to Daniel over the summer holidays and he still hadn’t returned it.

Lila knocked on Daniel’s door, but there was no response. Clare stuck her head out of her own room next door.

“Daniel’s gone out,” Clare informed her. “Went to the mall with some friends.”

“Thanks,” Lila replied. “Looks like I’ll have to break in and rob the joint.”

Clare looked at Lila disapprovingly.

“Daniel borrowed my gift card and I just need to check if it’s in his room somewhere,” Lila explained. Clare sighed.

“Do you need a hand?” she asked.

“Probably,” Lila shrugged. “His room is always a mess.”

“Give me a minute,” Clare said, disappearing into her room again. She emerged shortly after with her hair tied up and they both stood outside Daniel’s room. Lila tried to open the door, but it seemed jammed.

“That’s odd,” she murmured. She jiggled the handle and it didn’t give any. Clare tried and didn’t have any luck either. Lila squatted and looked closer at the handle. With all the videos she’d seen with Asher regarding door handles and locks, Lila was pretty sure she could tell whether there was something wrong with it.

Although, even without all that preexisting knowledge, Lila spotted the problem easily. ‘Why’s he got paper in the side here?’ Lila wondered, poking a small, crumpled bit of paper within the door handle. It dislodged and fell to the ground. She tried the handle again and it opened without any resistance.

“Weird,” Lila said to Clare, who shrugged. Lila opened the door wider, and they both entered. Unlike the last time she’d come in here, Daniel’s room looked rather orderly. His collection of juice cartons seemed to have grown exponentially along the back wall, and his desk was entirely clear except for one stack of about five notebooks.

“This’ll make finding the card easy, if it’s here,” Clare said, seeming relieved.

“Yeah…” Lila trailed off as she looked at the wall that his desk was set up against. A giant corkboard was high above it and at least forty school photos were pinned on it in various places. Some of the students she recognised – in particular, pictures of Livi and Jason sat on one side, and she could name some of Grade 11 students scattered in between, including Isaac. It looked as though the school photos had marked numbers on them, but it didn’t follow any sequential pattern that Lila could see. On Isaac’s photo, there was the number ‘10’.

“What is this?” she asked in a low voice. Clare looked up, her expression immediately becoming slack-jawed.

“I don’t know,” Clare said after a pause, peering closer at the board.

“Is he a hitman?” Lila asked half-jokingly, her mouth suddenly dry.

“Maybe he’s a stalker,” Clare said, looking around the room. “Though, that’s a lot of people to keep tabs on.”

Lila snorted. “Maybe he’s taking bets.”

Clare glanced at Lila, her face now serious.

“If there’s anything I’ve learned from this past year, I’m staying out of it,” Clare said firmly, crossing her arms.

“That’s new,” Lila said, surprised. Clare brought a hand to her forehead and exhaled deeply in response.

“Look, after you found out where I work, I realised it wasn’t fair to be all up in your business, or Daniel’s, without letting you guys be all up in mine. Plus, that just breeds distrust between you guys and me. So, I’m staying out of it,” she said simply.

“Is that… growth?” Lila asked, a shadow of a smile twitching her lips. Clare nudged her playfully and Lila stumbled.

“I’m still nosy, don’t get me wrong, but there’s no point being in your business if I can’t do anything about it. So, if I can help in some way, I’ll be there. But this… this looks like something I can’t help with.”

“No kidding,” Lila said softly. She stared up at the photo board again for a second. “Let’s just find the gift card and get out of here.”

Lila and Clare rummaged around Daniel’s desk and shelving for a few minutes before Lila spotted it sitting in his bottom drawer. She flipped it over and saw $64.50 marked on the back in permanent marker. Perhaps that was what was left.

“Got it,” Lila announced, waving it above her head. “Thanks for helping, Clare.”

“No worries,” Clare replied, waving a hand dismissively, “I am kinda disappointed I didn’t find it. I may as well have not been here.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Lila smiled. “The company was great, at least.”

“To be clear,” Clare said reproachfully as they left Daniel’s room, “I still don’t want you doing illegal things.”

“I heard you loud and clear last time,” Lila reminded Clare, shaking her head.

“As long as you know that,” Clare responded sternly. “That’s all I can hope for.”

Lila returned to her room and made sure that she was ready to go, slipping the gift card into her phone wallet. Elise and her Dad arrived at Lila’s house an hour or so later, and Lila climbed into the backseat.

“Hi, Mr Thorpe,” Lila said cheerily, putting her seatbelt on. “How are you?”

“I’m well,” Mr Thorpe replied warmly.

“Where’s Grace?” Lila asked Elise.

“She’s already there,” Elise grinned. “She went shopping with her Dad for groceries.”

“What movie are you seeing tonight, girls?” Mr Thorpe asked as he drove them towards the local shopping mall.

“The new superhero one,” Elise replied enthusiastically.

“I didn’t know you liked those kinds of movies,” Mr Thorpe said, his tone surprised. “You always tell me to turn them off when I put them on TV.”

“Only because you watch them on repeat, Dad,” Elise sighed, rolling her eyes. Mr Thorpe adamantly denied this. In no time at all, amongst awkward small talk, they arrived at the mall. Mr Thorpe smoothly parked at the drop-off point next to the cinema and Lila and Elise got out. Mr Thorpe rolled down his window and leaned over the passenger seat to talk to them.

“Do you need a lift home, Lila?” Mr Thorpe asked kindly. Lila glanced at Elise.

“Only if you’re able to,” Lila said politely. “Please don’t go out of your way for me.”

“It’s no trouble at all,” Mr Thorpe smiled reassuringly. “I’ll take you home.”

“Thank you,” Lila smiled back. He rolled the window up and waved as he drove off.

“Superhero movie, huh?” Lila asked, turning to face Elise. Elise beamed at Lila.

“’Course,” she cried, fist-pumping the air. “Think of all the action!”

Lila laughed. Whilst she wouldn’t have picked a superhero movie herself, she wouldn’t deny Elise the opportunity to watch one. She seemed raring to go, after all.

Grace met them at the entrance of the cinema, grinning and hugging them both in greeting.

“Hey,” Grace said cheerily.

“Fancy seeing you here,” Elise replied, bumping Grace with the side of her hip.

“Almost like it was planned,” Grace giggled, handing movie tickets to Elise and Lila.

"Thanks,” Lila said appreciatively. “It wasn’t any more than what I sent yesterday, yeah?”

Grace gave her a thumbs up, indicating that all was well, and Lila looked down at her ticket. It looked like the movie would be starting in half an hour.

The automatic doors let the trio through, an overpowering smell of old carpet and fresh popcorn mingling with the blare of various movie ads and the crinkling of lolly packets held by patrons. Towards the back wall were drink fountains, commercial popcorn machines, and shelves filled with various lollies and chocolates. A few self-serve ticket machines sat to the left side of the manned cash registers, behind which were young cashiers dressed in 50s style, candy-cane fit-and-flare dresses or suits.

“I’ll grab some popcorn and drinks,” Lila declared, moving towards the confectionery line.

“Sure, I’ll come with you,” Elise said, linking her arm with Lila’s. Grace stayed some ways behind on a peeling, red pleather armchair in the lobby of the cinemas. Lila and Elise debated the merits of particular movie snacks while they waited. Lila picked out a medium buttered popcorn combo with a cola and a packet of Mars Pods and was glad to be able to pay for it with the gift card, given the exorbitant price tag. As she walked back towards Grace, clutching her purchases as though they were worth millions, she could see Grace talking on her phone to someone. Grace smiled and hung up as Lila approached.

“You don’t want any snacks?” Lila asked, offering her some popcorn. Grace took a small handful and shook her head.

“Nah, I’m pretty full from lunch, actually.”

“Still? It’s, like, 6 o’clock.”

Grace shrugged. Elise soon joined them, her arms full of her snacks, and checked her watch.

“Let’s sit down, yeah?” she said, inhaling a handful of her own popcorn. There wasn’t anyone checking tickets, but as they had the cinema number printed on their tickets, they knew where to go. Lila led the way to Cinema 4 and checked her seat allocation. Seemed like it was in the middle of the third row from the back. The expansive screen was blank, the lights a pale, warm yellow.

“Great seats,” Lila complimented Grace as they shuffled along the empty row. Only one couple was in the theatre already, giggling amongst themselves. Lila shivered as the aircon whooshed over them.

“I should’ve brought a jacket,” she lamented, holding the warm popcorn close to her stomach as she sat down in the correct, plush red seat. The fact that the cold was affecting her was surprising, given there was not even a centimetre of bare skin exposed, aside from her face and hands, what with her ribbed navy turtleneck, long flare jeans with a puckered seam running down vertically in the middle of her legs, and black high tops.

“Damn,” Elise said regretfully as she sank into the seat to the right of Lila. “I don’t have a spare jacket, sorry.”

“That’s okay,” Lila replied breezily. “I wasn’t asking for a jacket.”

Grace sat on Elise’s other side and seemed distracted as she tapped on her phone.

“Texting your partner?” Lila asked idly, tossing a popcorn kernel into her mouth.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Yeah,” Grace replied, switching her phone screen off and putting it in her pocket. “She was wondering what movie I’m seeing.”

“Do you guys watch movies often?” Lila asked. Elise sat forward, seeming interested in the conversation. Grace blushed.

“Sometimes, but mostly at her place. We don’t normally go out, just in case,” Grace replied somewhat evasively.

“Boo,” Elise sighed. “I know she’s not out and everything, but I’m hoping you guys can go out more often soon.”

“We have plenty of fun at hers,” Grace said, her voice cracking slightly.

“Don’t need to hear that part,” Lila laughed, taking a sip of her cola. Elise nudged Lila.

“Prude,” Elise teased. “I’m sure Grace can’t wait to fill us in with the details of her sexploits.”

“That’s a guaranteed ‘no’,” Grace said quickly, her blush deepening. Elise laughed and the girls descended into chuckles and gossip as they waited for the ads to begin.

The theatre filled slowly. It seemed that the audience today were teens around their age and young adults. Suddenly, the screen burst to life and the lights dimmed slightly. Lila absently flicked through her Snapchat stories and saw one from Isaac. He’d posted a couple hours ago a picture of the results of a game of Mario Kart on a very familiar TV. A blurry figure that looked suspiciously like Asher seemed to be falling before the screen in anguish. The caption read, ‘Rekt this loser at his own house’ with kissing face and peace sign emojis following it. Lila snorted. At least Asher was looking lively.

“What’s so funny?” Elise asked, peering over Lila’s phone. Lila held a finger to the Story so it didn’t move on and showed Elise, who evidently didn’t find it as funny as Lila did.

“Isaac was at Asher’s place. It looks like he took the loss very well,” Lila explained, pointing at Asher’s figure with her free hand.

“Oh,” Elise said, still unamused. Elise’s own phone buzzed and she patted her pockets before pulling it out. She glanced at it for a few seconds before sucking on her own drink. The tell-tale sound of it being empty rang out embarrassingly loud across the theatre. It didn’t seem like anyone else took notice though.

“I can’t watch a, like, two-hour movie without a drink,” Elise complained, getting up.

“I’m starting to get hungry,” Grace said, also getting up. “I’ll come with you for a refill and get my own snacks.”

“We can share,” Lila insisted, but Grace shook her head.

“You’re so far away,” Grace smiled. “Plus, I want caramel popcorn. Ooh, and maybe an ice cream. Stay here and save our seats, yeah?”

“Okay,” Lila acquiesced, slumping in her seat. Elise and Grace began to collect their belongings.

“I can keep an eye on those,” Lila said, gently grabbing the hem of Elise’s cardigan so she didn’t escape too quickly.

“It’s fine,” Elise replied, waving her box of popcorn at Lila. “If I don’t hold this when I go up to the counter, I’ll forget I have it and buy more. Then I’ll have way too much popcorn to eat.”

“Fair enough,” Lila said, letting go of the cardigan. She watched them shuffle awkwardly out of the still-empty row and walk down the stairs, chatting amongst themselves. Five minutes passed with one painfully unfunny comedy movie trailer and a retirement village advertisement with no re-emergence of her friends. Lila’s popcorn supply was about a quarter of the way through, so she tried to pace herself better.

As she contemplated cracking into her Pods, two males approached the left side of Lila’s row. She sat up straighter in case they needed to move past her, but the male closest to her stopped in his tracks. The light of the next ad shone across his face and her mouth fell open.

“Asher?” she asked in disbelief. The male behind him craned his neck and Lila saw it was Isaac.

“Yo! Didn’t know you were seeing this too,” Isaac said happily, waving at Lila. Asher remained immovable, his arms full of snacks.

“You gonna sit down or what?” Isaac asked, gently pushing him forward. Asher turned and looked at Isaac.

“What seats are we in?” he asked, his voice slightly high-pitched. Isaac pulled out two tickets and peered at them.

“20G and 20H,” Isaac finally said.

“I’m 20F,” Lila stated. “Elise and Grace are sitting on the other side of me, but they went to grab some snacks.”

Asher slowly sat down next to Lila and placed his food gingerly in his lap. Isaac sat down on Asher’s other side with a heavy sigh and placed a drink cup in the cupholder on Asher’s left. He then placed another drink in the nearest cupholder.

“You got my M&Ms?” Isaac asked. Asher nodded and handed him a packet, the M&Ms clattering loudly within.

“Hi,” Lila said tentatively to Asher once he settled in his seat. She was pretty sure that this was the closest she’d ever sat to Asher, as their desks in English were a decent size and Asher always sat a cushion or so away from her on his couch in the rumpus room. With the warmth radiating from Asher, Lila no longer felt like she needed a jacket.

“Hi,” he replied, though his eyes were narrowed. He whipped his head around to Isaac, who was mucking about on his phone, snickering to himself.

“Did you plan this?” Asher asked suspiciously.

“How could I plan this?” Isaac retorted, chucking an M&M in his mouth. “We only just decided to come here after I destroyed you at Mario Kart.”

“He didn’t destroy me,” Asher said quickly, glancing at Lila.

“I saw the evidence,” Lila chuckled.

“Sick photo, huh,” Isaac chortled, shoving a few more M&Ms in his mouth. The cinema darkened, and the opening theme began to play.

“Ah shit,” Isaac whispered after turning his phone off. “I gotta go to the bathroom. Save my seat, yeah?”

Before Asher could reply, Isaac shuffled out of the row, holding his bag of M&Ms and drink close to his chest.

“Comfort snacks for the bathroom, I see,” Lila murmured. Asher snorted and they proceeded to watch the title sequence in silence. The absence of Elise and Grace worried her, now that the ads were over. Where were they? Did something bad happen to them? She opened her phone to send them a message, but a disgruntled person from behind her asked loudly that she turn it off. She reluctantly did, chewing on some popcorn with more force than necessary.

Quickly, though, the movie thrust them into action, and Lila found herself absorbed in the punchy narrative and the glamour of the special effects. Some ways into the movie, Asher tapped her shoulder, waggling an open bag of Maltesers in her direction. She gratefully took a few and offered her bag of Pods to him, and he took a few as well.

During a lull in the action, Lila leaned in towards Asher’s ear and whispered, “Did you talk to Isaac about the loan?”

“Yeah,” he whispered back. “He reacted as you said he would, but I was firm. He said he wanted to at least pay me back, and that he’d go into betting again, but I shut him down. Told him he needs a job, so he’ll probably mope about that for a bit. But at least I have his permission to pay off the loan. Let’s go visit on Monday.”

“Sure,” Lila smiled, returning to her original position. About halfway through the movie, Isaac still hadn’t reappeared, and Asher seemed to be concerned.

“I’ll just check on him,” he whispered, putting his snacks in his seat as he stood up.

“Can you check for Elise and Grace too?” Lila asked softly. He nodded and left. After a few minutes, Asher came back, shaking his head.

“The dummy got trapped in the wrong theatre,” he muttered to Lila as he sat back down, careful to avoid the snacks. “Looks like Elise and Grace also got trapped there. The doors got closed, but they’re too invested to come back to this movie, apparently.”

“How does that even happen?” Lila asked, bewildered. “Surely they got the hint when they walked in and we weren’t there.”

Asher shrugged, and Lila recapped the few minutes he’d missed. She began to shiver as she turned her attention back to the screen, and Asher looked over at her.

“You okay?” he asked in a low voice.

“S-Sorry,” Lila replied with an apologetic smile. “Just a bit cold.”

Asher began taking off his brown suede-like jacket.

“What’re you doing?” Lila asked, but he shushed her.

“Just take it,” he said, pulling at his shirt so it fell on him properly. She gingerly took his jacket and put it on. Wearing it felt almost like she was receiving a constant hug from Asher – it was really warm and smelled like his deodorant. The thought of hugging Asher made Lila glad that the theatre was so dark. She was sure that her face was bright red and she didn’t need Asher to see that.

“Feeling better?” he asked after a couple minutes.

“Yeah,” Lila said quietly, tightly pulling the oversized jacket around herself. “Thanks.”

Finally, the movie wrapped up and the lights brightened slowly. Asher made to leave, but Lila pulled at his shirt.

“There’s usually a scene after the credits,” she said, looking away from his face. “S-So you don’t need to leave yet.”

He slowly sat back down and sure enough, there was a humorous after-credits scene with a hook to the next potential storyline. A few people in the theatre clapped and everyone that was still sitting down began to leave.

Lila had finished her drink and popcorn, but there were still a few Pods left. She followed Asher outside the theatre, grasping her bag of Pods after disposing of her rubbish. They discussed their enjoyment of the movie and scenes that they found particularly entertaining, laughing occasionally. They didn’t walk far before they saw Isaac, Elise and Grace leaning against a wall along the hallway to the lobby.

“Hello,” Isaac said bashfully. “We got lost.”

“Big time,” Lila replied shortly. Elise poked at the jacket she was still wearing.

“Where’d you get that?” she asked. Lila blushed again and quickly took it off.

“T-Thanks, Asher,” Lila said as she returned it, avoiding eye contact with him. Asher looked down at her in surprise but nodded and put it back on.

“No worries,” he said, a faint smile across his face. “Glad it kept you warm.”

Elise and Grace glanced at each other, and Isaac smirked. No one spoke for a few seconds, before Isaac asked if they had dinner plans.

“No,” Grace said swiftly. “We could get burgers?”

“Burgers sound great,” Isaac said triumphantly, leading the way out of the theatre. “Let’s go.”

The apparent awkwardness between Asher and Lila’s friends made Lila incredibly aware that this was the first time besides semi that they had all hung out together as a group. The five of them picked a booth, with the girls sitting on one side, Lila against the wall, and the boys sitting on the other, Asher directly in front of Lila. They ordered and sat in strained silence for a few minutes before Isaac sighed.

“I need a job,” he lamented. “Anyone working anywhere that has openings?”

Elise perked up. “As a matter of fact, the Maccas I work at does. I can see if they’d hire you.”

“Really?” Isaac said, seeming taken aback at Elise’s readiness to help him.

“Yeah,” Elise replied with a nod. “It’d help me, really. A couple people quit, so I’ve been busting my ass picking up all these extra shifts. They almost cried when I rostered tonight off.”

“Isaac’s allergic to hard work,” Asher interjected, his tone only half-serious. Elise and Grace stared at him.

“Don’t be rude,” Isaac admonished Asher. “That’s only slightly true.”

“I’ll be sure to recommend that he works in the back then,” Elise said drily.

“Sounds great,” Isaac cooed, his eyes sparkling in admiration.

“The back is far harder than the front or drive-thru.”

“Oh.”

They all burst into laughter. Food arrived only a few moments later and they all dug in.

“How was your movie?” Isaac asked after a few bites of his burger. Asher looked at him suspiciously once again but seemed to resign himself to answering.

“It was pretty good,” Asher said, wiping his face with a napkin. “I won’t watch it a second time, though.”

“Damn,” Isaac sighed despondently. “I’m sad I missed it.”

“What did you guys end up watching?” Lila asked, glancing at Elise and Grace from the corner of her eye.

“Oh, the new Pixar movie,” Grace said swiftly. “It was pretty mid.”

“Mid?” Elise and Isaac asked in unison. They exchanged a look before both falling silent. Lila blinked, her eyes darting between Elise and Isaac.

“Yeah,” Grace continued, seeming not to notice Elise and Isaac’s reaction. “Too many weird songs at odd places.”

“That’s just a musical,” Asher laughed.

“I would’ve thought that you’d like musical numbers,” Lila pondered.

“I do when they make narrative sense. But half of those came out of nowhere,” Grace sighed.

“It was pretty funny though,” Isaac cut in.

“Eh,” Grace shrugged. “Maybe?”

“Nah, nah,” Elise said, shaking her head. “I heard you laughing.”

“Wasn’t me,” Grace replied with a confused expression. “Must’ve been Isaac.”

“It was pretty high-pitched,” Elise insisted.

“Sounds like Isaac,” Asher and Lila said at once. Asher met Lila’s eyes, and she looked down at her plate. Lila thought she caught sight of Isaac face-palming, but when she looked up again, he seemed to be concentrating on his food.

“Are you stealing Lila away for lunch this week again?” Grace asked Asher suddenly. Lila glanced up at Asher, and his face seemed pink.

“Y-Yeah,” he finally said, swallowing roughly and avoiding Lila’s eyes.

“You’ve been having lunch together pretty often,” Elise said loftily. “You guys doing anything in particular during lunch?”

“J-Just eating,” Asher replied, though he didn’t seem confident in that answer. With Isaac sitting right against him, it was no wonder that Asher couldn’t elaborate that they were also investigating the Banker. Though, their lunches had actually started as a way for Asher to come to terms with his thoughts and feelings after their latest discoveries – particularly the CCTV footage of Marlene that they had seen. They definitely couldn’t divulge that nugget of information, either.

“Uh huh,” Elise replied with a smirk. “Eating food, I take it?”

Asher and Lila simultaneously reddened. Asher cleared his throat and Lila took a drink of water as if it was a shot.

“We talk as well,” Lila said hurriedly. “Wander around sometimes.”

“You guys seem really close,” Grace observed, daintily dipping a chip in sauce.

“Well, yeah,” Asher replied as though it was obvious, his voice suddenly firm. “Lila’s my closest friend, besides Isaac.”

The silence befalling the group was palpable, and Lila wanted to sink into the floor, never to rise again. She hadn’t expected to ever hear that from Asher, but now that he’d said it, she didn’t know how to feel. It… didn’t seem like he was lying, though.

And, as Lila thought about it, she realised that Asher was one of her closest friends at this point, too. In fact, he might even overtake Elise and Grace if they kept hanging out as closely as they had been this year. Especially given the secrets Lila and Asher shared that Lila would never be able to tell Elise and Grace. Including entering a nightclub illegally and stalking Asher’s maid.

Lila felt strangely faint as she picked at the remains of her burger, her eyes fixed on her plate. She was sure her face was matching the red brickwork in the restaurant. Her mind raced as she tried to reconcile what Asher had said and what she should respond with.

“Sorry,” Asher murmured. “I don’t know where that came from.”

Lila stared up at Asher and saw him covering his face with his hands. Did he think she was rejecting his statement regarding their friendship?

“You’re one of my closest friends too, Asher,” Lila said softly. “You… don’t need to be embarrassed.”

Asher whipped his head up, his eyes piercing into her own. It seemed, yet again, like he was searching within the depths of hers to find a lie hidden within. But there was no lie to be found.

“Alright,” Elise announced, standing up suddenly. “I’m busting. I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll go with you,” Grace said hastily, also standing up. They exited the restaurant as if they were escaping a fire. Lila watched them go, unable to beat back the growing wariness she was feeling. They’d been acting so odd lately.

Isaac looked between Lila and Asher for a moment before getting up.

“Ah shit,” he said, looking towards where Grace and Elise had disappeared to. “I got nothing,” Lila heard him murmur under his breath before he dashed out of the restaurant, following Grace and Elise.

Lila finished eating her food without looking at Asher. After about fifteen minutes of surprisingly awkward silence between Asher and Lila, Elise, Isaac and Grace returned, all grinning like a squad of Cheshire cats.

“Why are you guys acting so weird?” Lila asked once they sat down.

“Weird?” Isaac repeated. “This is how I normally am.”

“You’re batty at best,” Lila stated playfully, her mind flashing back to last term when Isaac slid down the hill, waggling his banana, and trying to comfort Lila whilst attempting to swipe her food simultaneously. The group broke into laughter, though Lila noted that no one answered her question properly.

Eventually, the group began to discuss upcoming assessments, the first matches of soccer and hockey on Saturday, and Grace’s upcoming music competitions. After another half an hour, everyone had finished their food and they rose as one, walking towards the drop-off point near the cinema.

“Do you need a lift home, Grace?” Elise queried as the wind rushed past the group. Lila huddled close to Elise, regretting giving Asher back his jacket.

Grace nodded. “Yes please, if your Dad doesn’t mind.”

Elise gently separated from Lila as she stepped away and called her Dad. Lila slinked over to Grace, holding onto her arm softly. Grace responded by rubbing Lila’s shoulders.

“You’re freezing!” Grace gasped, pulling Lila close. Isaac and Asher glanced at each other for a moment before Isaac nudged Asher. Asher looked back at Isaac in apparent confusion then unzipped his jacket and held it out for Lila to take again.

“Here,” he said, looking towards the ground.

“I-I’m okay,” Lila replied, her teeth chattering. Asher stared at her with a raised eyebrow and Grace stepped away from Lila. He wordlessly draped his jacket across her shoulders. It warmed Lila instantly and she pushed her arms inside the sleeves.

“You can give it back to me next time you’re over, or whenever. I’ve got a few jackets,” he said, placing a hand on his opposing shoulder hesitantly. Isaac tapped Asher on the arm and pointed at an approaching grey car.

“That’s our ride,” Isaac noted, waving at Grace and Lila. It wasn’t a car that Lila recognised, so she supposed that it must belong to someone related to Isaac.

“See you on Monday,” Asher said directly to Lila.

“See you then,” Lila replied with a small wave. “And thanks, again.” Asher smiled at her before following Isaac’s lead. They both climbed into the car Isaac had pointed out and it slowly departed. Elise returned not even a second later, her brow furrowed in puzzlement at the state of the situation.

“Where’d the boys go?” she asked.

“Their ride came and picked them up,” Grace replied simply. “Asher kindly donated his jacket to Lila yet again. He’s never getting that back.”

“I’m so embarrassed,” Lila bemoaned, holding her head in her hands. “I can’t believe I didn’t bring a jacket. Asher probably thinks I’m irresponsible.”

“I highly doubt that,” Elise responded plainly. “He’s probably just glad you won’t freeze to death.”

“Yeah,” Grace agreed. “You don’t need to be embarrassed. You guys are close friends. I’m sure you’d gladly lend him a jacket if he was cold.”

Lila fell silent as she drew Asher’s jacket closer around her body. “I suppose so,” Lila admitted with a sigh. Elise’s Dad arrived after about ten minutes, and the trio climbed into the car, greeting him. Lila regaled him about the latest movie, without spoilers, though this car ride was quieter than the way in. It seemed that everyone was exhausted.