Chapter Fifty-Six

Lila contemplated bringing Asher’s jacket on Monday morning but decided against it. If Asher invited her over again, she’d bring it then. Plus… she enjoyed the sight of it hanging off her desk chair.

Before Lila left for school that morning, her Dad popped his head into her room. He was already dressed for work, though it seemed as though his suit was of a nicer calibre than usual.

“I’ll take you home today,” he announced.

Lila blinked at him blankly for a moment before realisation hit. “I forgot that was today.”

“Thought you might,” he grinned. “4pm, Headmaster’s Office. Have a good day.”

“You too, Dad,” Lila waved as he shut her door. Today was going to be busy.

English was her second class of the day, and she slid into the seat next to Asher with not a moment to spare. Design had run slightly over that morning, what with Mr Dillon fielding questions left and right about their Design assignment.

“Morning,” Asher said jovially as Lila pulled out her laptop.

“Morning to you too,” Lila replied smoothly, typing her password in.

“Lunch again?” he asked in a low voice as Ms Shard began to go through today’s agenda.

“Yeah,” Lila responded shortly, looking at him in confusion. “Weren’t you going to settle the loan today?”

Asher sighed. “I want to. Well, I need to. But I just get this… eerie feeling from Livi that I can’t wrap my head around.”

“I get what you mean, but it’ll be fine. I’ll be there as your witness.”

“Thanks,” Asher smiled. They didn’t have any more opportunities to talk as they dove straight into working on their English assessment.

Lunch rolled around and Lila had just finished putting her Maths textbook and laptop away when Asher arrived, two lunchboxes in hand.

“It’s a part two to the wraps,” he said simply. “Since we didn’t really eat them when we talked to Livi last time.”

“Thanks for the heads up,” Lila grinned, pulling out a wrap from the depths of the lunchbox. It looked like a teriyaki chicken wrap encased in cling wrap. Asher followed suit and they both took off at a leisurely pace towards the STEM area of campus, eating and walking. They spoke about the movie again, with Asher sharing a couple theories that he’d clearly ruminated on over the weekend. One of them was truly wacky, and Lila felt like she’d almost died choking on her wrap due to the laughter that had overcome her.

They arrived at the usual lab that Livi and her squad sat in and found a similar amount of students as last time hanging around outside. It seemed as though the runners hadn’t come back with food just yet - everyone was empty-handed, at least. Lila noted that a few students were giving them suspicious glances and figured it was probably because they’d brought lunchboxes.

Asher took a deep breath once they stopped outside the lab’s glass door. His hands were shaking as he reached over to open it but Lila stopped him.

“You seem really nervous,” she stated sympathetically. “Take another deep breath. Count to ten. I’ll do it with you.”

They both inhaled deeply for ten seconds before exhaling slowly. Asher seemed to be trembling less and he smiled at Lila.

“Thanks,” he said appreciatively. “We make a good team.”

“Sure do. Let’s go,” Lila said, returning his smile.

Asher pushed the door open, and Livi called out to them.

“Welcome back,” she said cheerily. “Here for more entertainment? Or for business?”

It seemed like all the usual people were in here, though it wasn’t just Theo concentrating on schoolwork today. Harper and Jason seemed to be pouring over notebooks as well, typing every so often. Vi was reading a new book, and Zack and Jake stood at their regular posts next to Livi at the teacher’s desk. Lila’s eyes met Zack’s and he quickly looked away, shifting slightly.

“Hey Lila,” Theo said monotonously from his table, waving at Lila.

“Hi Theo,” Lila replied, curious as to why he was greeting her today. Jason glanced up at them and smiled, but otherwise didn’t have much of a greeting.

“Business today,” Asher said, ignoring everyone else and marching straight up to Livi. Zack and Jake stiffened and Livi blinked at Asher in surprise, before beaming.

“Excellent,” she said, nodding. Lila also stepped forward and just managed to catch Asher leaning in towards Livi’s ear and whispering, “I’m paying a loan for someone else.”

“Oho,” Livi replied, sitting back, her eyes sparkling. She flipped her notebook over and flicked to a partially filled page. “Got a name or amount?”

“Isaac Fisher,” Asher replied in a low voice. Lila heard a pen drop from one of the occupied tables and looked over to see that everyone, including Zack and Jake, was staring at Asher.

“I-Isaac?” Livi repeated hesitantly.

“Yes. I believe he owes somewhere in the vicinity of 3k,” Asher responded stoutly.

“He does,” Livi affirmed, looking down at her notebook. “Are you looking for a payment plan?”

Asher shook his head. “No, I can get the cash today.”

“C-Cash?” Livi gaped at Asher as though he’d grown two extra heads. She exchanged a look with Zack before sliding out from behind the desk.

“I’ll just need to make a couple of phone calls,” Livi said gingerly. “I won’t be long. Zack, please keep a close eye on Asher.”

Zack nodded and Livi left the room. The silence was pressing in on Lila’s eardrums. At least everyone besides Zack had stopped staring at them.

“Do you think she’s calling the real Banker?” Lila whispered to Asher. He shrugged, though it seemed his nerves were getting to him again by the way his teeth were clenched. No one spoke until Livi returned about five minutes later.

“Alright,” she said, seeming breathless. “You won’t be able to clear it today, sorry. As you can appreciate, it’s a very large amount. We need to get a few things in order, including a secure drop-off point. I’ll have to schedule a proper meeting for this, too.”

She pulled out another book, which appeared to be a diary. She flicked through a couple of pages before jotting down some notes.

“I’ll text you the meeting point and time 24 hours in advance,” Livi stated, glancing up at Asher. “And we’ll suspend the upcoming interest charge since you can pay for it right now and it’s our fault for not accepting it today.”

She scrawled another note down before putting the diary away. She then pulled out a piece of paper. It looked like a templated statement of payment.

“Please fill this out, and note that it’s on behalf of Isaac, and sign here and here. Oh, and Lila, if you could sign here as a witness, given the amount, that would be great too.”

They filled in the paperwork together and returned it to Livi, who looked at it with satisfaction.

“Great,” she smiled, nodding. “At the moment, the drop-off will be about a week away.”

“Will it be with the Banker?” Asher asked suddenly. Livi paused and narrowed her eyes at him.

“Yes,” she answered bluntly, nodding again. “You’ll be dealing directly with the Banker. The Banker will have several bodyguards during the drop-off, so don’t try anything funny.”

“Are we not dealing directly with the Banker now?” Lila interjected. Livi sighed.

“You two probably think you’re very slick, but I’ve got your number. I know you’re snooping for information. Why? I don’t know and I don’t care. My answer doesn’t change. I could be. I could not be. For all you know, Jake could be the Banker. But you’re not going to know now. I do note that since you’re paying off the highest loan we’ve had on record, you’ll need to deal directly with the Banker, whoever they are, when they’re prepared and ready. Alright?” Livi finished her speech by crossing her arms and glaring at Asher and Lila.

“So why can’t we know now since we’re going to know eventually?” Lila pressed.

“So you can’t try anything between now and your meeting. I don’t know how well you understand how seriously we take this, but I’m telling you right now, the identity of the Banker is kept very secret for the safety of the Banker. Which could be me or could not be. Point is, I’m not budging on that.”

“Alright,” Lila replied, holding her hands up in a ‘surrender’ position. Livi dropped her glare and instead smiled mischievously, the twinkle in her eyes verging on malice.

“Theo, you should ask Lila out now,” Livi called. “He hasn’t stopped talking about you, Lila. You might even be his first girlfriend.”

Asher whipped his head to Theo, who looked distinctly bored with Livi’s antics.

“I’m not going to do that here,” Theo said lazily, adjusting his glasses. “My succeeder will probably try and knock me out if I do something like that in front of him. We’ve got soccer training tomorrow and I’d rather not be nursing an injury before our first match on Saturday.”

“Don’t be dramatic,” Livi pouted. “Asher’s not even interested, otherwise they’d be dating right now. Wouldn’t you?” Livi smiled broadly, her eyes fixed on Lila and Asher’s faces.

“Let’s go,” Asher said to Lila, his voice tense with urgency.

“So soon?” Livi asked, her smile transforming into something less jovial as she cocked her head to the side. It was definitely off-putting. “And without an answer. Tsk, tsk. I’m sure you’re burning to know, Theo. Zack, too.”

“Lila,” Asher said, his face pale and voice taking on a desperate edge now, “we’re going.”

Lila didn’t need to be told a third time. She spun around and followed Asher as he strode across to the exit.

“Bye-bye,” Livi called chirpily as Lila and Asher promptly left, the glass door banging shut behind them. Lila glanced back and saw through the door that Livi’s smile had dropped completely as she rubbed her forehead.

Try as she might, though, Lila couldn’t get Livi’s question out of her head. It was as if Livi had plucked out what had been plaguing Lila recently – that Asher had told Isaac he didn’t want to date her and didn’t like her in that way – like she’d seen the inside of Lila’s brain itself. But… seeing Asher’s reaction to the question… it seemed that Livi was right. He wasn’t interested, and the suggestion that he would be had made him angry.

‘You should ask him, though,’ a voice within Lila said.

‘No, I shouldn’t,’ Lila internally replied to the voice firmly. ‘’Cause if the answer is what I think it is, then what was the point?’

‘And what if the answer isn’t what you think it is?’

Lila shook her head, dispelling the thought. She wasn’t interested in getting hurt today. Asher was marching ahead of her, quickly disappearing through the crowd that swarmed a harried-looking Nate. Lila pushed through the students, almost jogging to keep up with Asher. Once they left the STEM area and began walking along the pavement towards the library, he slowed his pace. Lila huffed as she reached him, only seeing now that he was visibly shaking.

“Y-You okay?” Lila wheezed, clutching her side. He gave her a sideways glance and continued towards the library, slowing his pace even further.

“Yeah,” he uttered. Lila doubted this, but Asher didn’t elaborate. They shut themselves into an empty meeting room again. Asher slapped his lunchbox down onto the table, unzipping it with slightly more force than necessary. He unearthed a small Tupperware container of crystalised pineapple and apricot pieces and shoved a few in his mouth, breathing heavily.

‘He’s more than mad,’ Lila thought, her heart sinking. She cautiously unzipped her lunchbox and pulled out her remaining lunch. She picked at her own pieces of crystalised fruit, pushing them around her container with her finger. Eventually, Asher’s breathing sounded more stable, though Lila didn’t want to look at him, for fear of meeting furious eyes.

“I want to dig into Livi,” Asher finally announced. “And the others, too. They’re hiding something.”

“Besides the fact that one of them is the Banker?” Lila questioned, still looking at her fruit pieces.

“Definitely.”

“How do you figure that?”

“It’s… a feeling I have.”

“A hunch?”

“Could call it that.”

Lila leaned back in her chair. There were a couple of Grade 12 girls in her hockey team that she could probably talk to tomorrow afternoon.

“I can try and get some intel from my teammates tomorrow,” Lila said, her eyes flickering to Asher’s face. His jaw was clenched tight, and for a split second their eyes met. Lila couldn’t figure out the emotion hiding behind his irises before he looked away again.

“Good idea. I’ll see if I can corner someone from my team that knows them well. It’ll be hard since Theo and Zack play soccer too.”

Asher’s statement lingered in the air between them. There was a viciousness behind the names ‘Theo’ and ‘Zack’ that struck Lila. As far as she could tell, neither of them had done anything to Asher.

“Do you dislike Theo and Zack?” Lila asked quietly, watching her hands knot themselves together in her lap.

“Not at all,” Asher replied stiffly. Lila wasn’t convinced by his response but didn’t push it. Instead, she finished off her lunch and snapped her Tupperware closed.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“What do you reckon Mr Lockwood will say to our parents?” Lila queried. Asher stared at her quizzically for a moment before his eyes widened. He stood up, panic alight on his face.

“I forgot about that,” he despaired.

“What time is your meeting?”

“4.30,” Asher responded shortly as he clutched his head. He flopped back down into his seat, seeming defeated before the battle had even begun.

“You’ll be fine,” Lila said gently. “Like you said, she’s been expelled. And you already told your Dad.”

“I’m not worried about my Dad’s response,” Asher sighed. “I’m worried about the level of detail Mr Lockwood will go into. To be honest… I’ve had nightmares about it.”

Lila sat up bolt upright. “You have?”

He grimaced. “Yeah. I can’t shake the feeling of revulsion and just… the idea that she invaded my privacy that much and followed me around, to my house, stole my things… it’s…” Asher couldn’t continue his sentence and instead looked down at the desk. Suddenly, he seemed much smaller and riddled with nerves as he laced his fingers together. Lila reached out to touch his arm comfortingly but clenched her fist instead.

“I can’t take the feeling away,” she whispered. “But I’m here for you. I… whatever you need, just let me know, alright?”

Asher nodded solemnly before running his hands through his hair. “I don’t know what I need,” he confessed. “But I think you being here with me could be part of what I need.”

Lila’s heart skipped a beat and she felt the beginning stages of a blush creeping across her cheeks. As Lila tried to think what Asher could mean by that, he looked up at her, flashes of pain and anger vying for dominance across his face.

“And what makes it worse is every time I start to feel sorry for myself, I just remember your phone going off nonstop and the photos plastered all over the boys’ bathrooms. It makes me furious, that she did that to you. For just existing as my English partner. It’s… a rollercoaster in my mind, whenever I’m reminded of all of this,” he explained quietly, though Lila could sense the simmering fury beneath his words.

“You don’t need to get angry on my account,” Lila insisted softly. “What Piper did to you was far worse.”

“Honestly, I can’t even tell if it was or not,” Asher said exasperatedly. “She didn’t directly attack me, at least. Sure, she was a major creep and spread a whole bunch of rumours over the years, but I was never in real danger.”

“She probably would’ve escalated, Asher,” Lila frowned. “I don’t think you could discount that you were in danger.”

He shrugged. “Nothing like that happened, though. But you… she was absolutely horrible to you. Not only did she slander you, but actively encouraged the whole school pretty much to sexually harass you. If there were more Harrisons, or if it went on for much longer, you could’ve been seconds away from…” Asher cut himself off, his voice breaking. Lila knew what he meant, though. She smiled forlornly at him.

“Asher, like how you say nothing happened to you, nothing like that happened to me, either. So it’s fine.”

“For the last time Lila, stop saying it’s fine,” Asher snapped, glaring at her. She was taken aback and he seemed to notice. His glare fell away and he rubbed his face.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “My frustration got the best of me.”

“It’s-” Lila stopped herself from saying ‘fine’ and instead tried a different statement. “I understand.”

Asher seemed deep in thought for the rest of lunch. By the time they returned to their lockers, they had barely said a few words to each other. Lila returned the empty lunchbox with a “Thanks”, and Asher nodded in acknowledgement, still seeming embedded within his mind.

Next up was Japanese, which entailed the arrival of ten Japanese students from a co-ed private school in Shizuoka. They wore their Japanese school uniforms, which the class immediately cooed over. As there were twenty students in the class, Lila was paired with her classmate, April Huntley. Ayaka Matsudo joined them at their table, hiding a smile behind her hand. She bowed upon approaching them, and Lila and April immediately began speaking in Japanese with Ayaka.

Ms Takahashi roamed around the classroom, ensuring that all the students were getting along. Once she was satisfied, she stood with the teacher who had come with the Japanese exchange students and spoke in rapid Japanese with her.

Towards the end of the class, Ayaka produced two small packets of stationery and provided one each to Lila and April, expressing her gratitude. They tried to politely refuse the gifts, but Ayaka insisted. Lila felt that the language exchange had been generally successful, with any confusion quickly cleared up with the intervention of Google Translate. It turned out that Ayaka was very interested in anime, which delighted both Lila and April.

“Alright class,” Ms Takahashi called five minutes before the lesson ended. “The exchange student that you’ve been assigned will be following one of you this week, and the other next week. You can discuss amongst yourselves who will go first, and where to meet your student. You can have lunches with your student, or you can arrange for them to have lunch with their own classmates. I trust you can work that out amongst yourselves. At the end of the day, the exchange students will need to congregate on the lawns by the main carpark, so please don’t forget to return there before going home. They’ll also be there in the mornings, so please don’t forget to pick them up from there too.”

Ms Takahashi repeated her instructions in Japanese, and Ayaka turned expectantly to Lila and April. Lila’s stomach dropped as she realised that Ayaka would be following her around whilst Lila was doing, admittedly, shady stuff.

“I don’t mind when,” April said to Lila. Lila looked between April and Ayaka anxiously. Next week she was scheduled to attend the drop of $3k in cash at an unspecified time and location. Would Ayaka be in attendance? There was no way to make that not look suspicious. Then there was the fact that Lila would be digging into Livi and the other Grade 12s this week. Although, if Lila released Ayaka for lunch with Ayaka’s classmates, perhaps that would be fine…

“Oh, actually,” April said hurriedly as she looked through her school diary. “I can’t do this week. I have a couple of things on Thursday and Friday that I’m out of school for.”

Lila glanced at April, wondering briefly what things would necessitate April to be pulled out of school – but it wasn’t her business. Besides, she didn’t know April at all.

“No worries,” Lila said, though she had many worries. “I can look after Ayaka this week.”

“Thanks,” April smiled. “Sorry, I know I just said I didn’t mind when.”

“No, no,” Lila shook her head. “I forget stuff all the time.”

Ayaka suggested swapping contact information, which Lila accepted. She already had LINE, as she used that to communicate with previous Japanese exchange students, so it was pretty easy. Ayaka followed Lila to Modern History and they spoke in a mishmash of English and Japanese about their high school experiences along the way.

Lila’s Modern History teacher had already gotten the memo that two Japanese exchange students would be joining them over the next two weeks, and so didn’t bat an eyelid when Lila pulled up a chair for Ayaka. Grace and Elise were delighted to get to know Ayaka, though admittedly communication was rough. They were quickly silenced once class began, and Ayaka seemed curious about what they were learning. Lila tried her best to explain, but her language skills were sorely lacking for that.

Lila hung around the lawn with Ayaka by the main carpark until her homestay family came to collect her after school ended. Lila introduced herself politely, and mentioned that tomorrow afternoon she had hockey practice and invited Ayaka to watch. She had discovered that Ayaka’s school didn’t have hockey as a sport on the way here, and the homestay family agreed.

With all that politeness and smiling, Lila felt almost entirely drained by the time she made it back to her locker. To her surprise, Asher was pacing in front of her locker, looking concerned.

“Where were you?” he asked as soon as he laid eyes on her.

“I didn’t know you’d be waiting for me, sorry,” Lila responded sheepishly.

“I guess I didn’t say I would be,” Asher replied with a sigh, ceasing his pacing.

“I’ve been assigned a Japanese buddy for the week,” Lila explained, putting her things away. “She’ll be coming with me to class and she can either have lunch with me or go have lunch with her Japanese classmates.”

Asher’s eyes widened – he looked almost fearful.

“Someone’s going to be following you around all week?” he croaked.

“Well, yeah,” Lila replied, slightly perplexed by the intensity of his reaction. “It was either going to be this week or next week, but April had a couple things come up.”

“Alright,” Asher sighed again, rubbing his face. “I’ll tell Gabriel to prepare a third lunch for tomorrow.”

“I’m sure Ayaka will have her own lunch,” Lila said quickly.

“Probably, but I think we should be hospitable, yeah?”

The determined look on Asher’s face gave Lila pause. She opened her phone and sent a message to Ayaka, stating that she didn’t need to bring food for tomorrow. Ayaka replied, indicating she understood this.

“Are we going back to Livi tomorrow?” Lila asked, slipping her phone back into her pocket. “Perhaps we’d be able to gather some leads for our investigation into their group if we see them again.”

“We can,” Asher nodded. “That way we can show Ayaka around, too.”

“… it’s a bit shady, though,” Lila said quietly. “Are you sure it wouldn’t give the wrong impression?”

“We could tell her it’s some sort of club,” Asher said as he checked the time on his phone. “Let’s start heading to the Headmaster’s Office.”

They meandered over towards the Headmaster’s Office within the sleek, white and modern Administration Building, which was next to the old, brick Office Hub which lacked any kind of TLC on its exterior. Lila wasn’t quite sure why the Administration Building and Office Hub were separated like this, though she supposed they served different functions.

They rounded the corner towards the almost clinically tidy waiting room outside the Headmaster’s Office and saw Lila’s Dad already sitting down on a plush armchair, leafing through some papers.

“Hi Dad,” Lila greeted him with a nervous smile. The time was awfully close to their 4pm appointment, and her heart rate seemed to be going as fast as her mind as she tried to anticipate what Mr Lockwood would say.

“Who’s this?” her Dad asked, slowly standing up and abandoning his papers. He reached out to shake Asher’s hand.

“I’m Asher,” Asher said assuredly. Her Dad’s eyes sparkled with a playfulness that made Lila feel even more nervous as Asher firmly shook his hand.

“So you’re Asher,” her Dad grinned. “I’ve heard a lot about you. I don’t believe we’ve ever really met, though.”

Asher quickly shot Lila a look and she instead inspected the armchair her Dad had been sitting in, her face burning.

“No, we haven’t met,” Asher confirmed. Lila glanced up and saw him straighten his tie and smooth down his hair with trembling hands.

“I’ve heard you’re the Dux of Grade 11,” Lila’s Dad said smoothly. “I hope you’ve been teaching my daughter some tricks of the trade.”

“Dad!” Lila groaned. Asher gave a small chuckle.

“I have, actually. I haven’t heard back whether my tricks have been useful or not, though.”

Lila blushed again. “They’ve helped,” she admitted. Asher seemed thrilled with this and looked as though he was about to say something in excitement when the door to Mr Lockwood’s Office opened. From this vantage point, Lila couldn’t see who opened it.

“I guess we’re going in,” Lila said to Asher, her anxiety spiking in her voice.

“Good luck,” Asher replied, his eyes seeming downcast. Lila attempted to smile reassuringly at him, though she wasn’t sure whether she’d managed it. Lila’s Dad packed up the papers he’d been looking at into his laptop bag and slung it over his shoulder.

“Time to go,” Lila’s Dad said gently. They both made their way into the Headmaster’s Office, passing Mr Lockwood as they did so.

“Welcome,” Mr Lockwood said, closing the door behind them. His office was relatively bare, with a couple of monstera plants dotted around the office. A portrait of Mr Lockwood and his wife and children sat in full view on the shelves lining the left-hand side of the room. His desk looked to be a heavy, impressive-looking, L-shaped wooden desk. A desktop computer and two monitors sat along the smallest part of the L, facing the right-hand side of the room. Two chairs with metal framing sat before his desk, clearly inviting Lila and her Dad to sit on them. Her Dad shook Mr Lockwood’s hand and Mr Lockwood gestured for them to sit down before sitting down himself.

He poured two glasses of water for them from a carafe sitting on his desk before inhaling deeply and adjusting his rectangular glasses upon his nose. He looked directly at Lila’s Dad.

“I understand that you received my letter,” Mr Lockwood began. “This is a very serious matter, Mr Moloney.”

“Please, call me Rob,” Lila’s Dad interjected. Mr Lockwood nodded in acknowledgement before continuing.

“Rob, I am sorry to advise that Lila was the victim of truly unsettling behaviour from one of our former students. Upon being advised that there was an issue, the school launched an investigation into the behaviour and suspended the student.”

Mr Lockwood reached into a drawer and pulled out the photo of Lila that had been plastered across the boys’ bathrooms. Lila’s Dad picked up the photo and his eyes bulged in obvious fury though he remained silent. Mr Lockwood spoke again.

“Our investigation found that a female student was entering most of the boys’ bathrooms early in the mornings with a stack of these photos. Inspections revealed that these were put up on the doors, walls and mirrors within the bathrooms. She would then enter these bathrooms throughout the day with more photos. It seemed that some students would take them down, but they would be replaced rather quickly. I understand that this led to Lila being contacted by calls and texts.”

“Have you looked into who contacted Lila?” Lila’s Dad asked solemnly.

“We determined that an investigation into who contacted Lila would be an unproductive use of resources. Nothing ended up arising from the contact that we’re aware of –” Mr Lockwood glanced at Lila, who nodded. “– so it was deemed unnecessary.”

“I understand,” Lila’s Dad replied with a heavy sigh but the emergence of a vein popping on his neck hinted to Lila that he was distinctly unhappy with that turn of events. “What is the name of the student?”

Mr Lockwood seemed to hesitate, but eventually answered, “Piper Baker.”

“Are you able to provide me with the contact information for her parents?”

Mr Lockwood appeared to consider this request before nodding. “I shall email you what we have in our records. Piper was expelled earlier in the term, so these details may have changed.”

“Thank you.”

“I would like to advise you, Lila, that if you and Asher continue to be a couple, you should be cautious outside of school grounds. Whilst Piper has been expelled, we cannot guarantee that her behaviour has stopped.”

Lila’s face immediately turned crimson as she spluttered. “W-We’re not- Asher and I-”

Mr Lockwood and Lila’s Dad seemed to not take notice of Lila’s incomplete protests.

“I have encouraged Lila to seek counselling from our school psychologist,” Mr Lockwood carried on. “I have also advised our security personnel of Piper’s description and that she may not, under any circumstances, set foot on our campus. Security is also aware of who Lila is, in the very unlikely event that she needs assistance. We will also check in on Lila every so often, to ensure that she is safe and any concerns can be addressed.”

Mr Lockwood finished speaking, his face severe. Lila’s Dad glanced at Lila before asking for further details regarding Piper’s actions. Mr Lockwood ran through those that pertained to Lila until Lila’s Dad was satisfied. Lila noticed that Mr Lockwood avoided saying much about Asher’s involvement in all of this, but her Dad didn’t press for details regarding it.

“It was a consideration, as to whether Lila should remain in this school,” Lila’s Dad said finally. “But, taking into account the seriousness with which this has been treated, I don’t think removing Lila is entirely necessary. However, if anything further does arise, we will be looking at what options are available to us.”

Lila’s Dad’s words hung in the air for a few moments. To Lila, it sounded like a veiled threat, but Mr Lockwood didn’t comment on whether he shared that impression.

“I understand entirely,” Mr Lockwood replied diplomatically. “This is a very serious matter. Of course, it was a surprise when Lila told me point-blank that she didn’t want to be in a school, private or not, that couldn’t keep its students safe. I’ll be very candid. That has still stuck with me and guided every action the College has taken afterwards.”

Lila’s Dad seemed oddly proud as he looked at Lila after Mr Lockwood said this.

“I’m glad that Lila felt safe enough to say that to you,” Lila’s Dad responded. “That is a good sign.”

They wrapped up the meeting with some pleasantries and another handshake. Upon exiting, Lila’s Dad exhaled heavily.

“Kiddo, I’m so sorry this happened to you,” he said, pulling Lila into a hug. “If there’s any more trouble, even if it’s unrelated to this, you have to tell me straight away, alright?”

Did trouble include trouble Lila was throwing herself into? She wasn’t about to tell her Dad about her attendance at a 3k drop off to the mysterious Banker, or her plans to break into Asher’s workers’ cottage, or her investigation into Asher’s Mum’s disappearance. But, she promised her Dad that she would tell him straight away about any upcoming trouble. He beamed at her, and they began to walk through the waiting room before Lila’s Dad stopped suddenly.

“Hello, Ivaan,” Lila’s Dad said pleasantly, his face breaking into a wide smile. Lila looked up and saw Asher’s Dad standing a few metres away next to Asher, who looked like he wanted to throw up. Lila stared at her Dad in confusion as he approached Ivaan and shook his hand with gusto.

“Hello, Rob,” Ivaan replied, his own tone equally as pleasant. “I had no idea that you were Lila’s father.”

“And I had no idea that you were Asher’s,” Lila’s Dad laughed. “What a coincidence!”

“A coincidence indeed,” Ivaan smiled. He then turned to Lila. “Hello, Lila. Are you keeping well?”

“Y-Yes,” Lila replied hesitantly, still reeling from the fact that her Dad knew Asher’s Dad. How did they know each other? She met Asher’s eyes, and he seemed just as shocked.

“Wonderful,” Ivaan responded warmly. “I’ve heard that Gabriel has been preparing lunch for you lately. I take it that it’s been enjoyable?”

Lila’s Dad now stared at Lila as she replied that it was much appreciated and very delicious. The door to the Headmaster’s Office swung open again, and Ivaan took his leave. Asher trailed behind, exchanging a look with Lila briefly. She waved at him and he grimaced back before closing the door behind him.

“Well, that’s that,” Lila’s Dad said, gesturing for Lila to follow him. Lila remained silent as she contemplated what Mr Lockwood had said, along with the fact that Lila’s Dad knew Ivaan. She felt comforted by the fact that Mr Lockwood had taken this all very seriously. All in all, it wasn’t as terrible of a conversation as she had convinced herself it would be.

“While I’m unhappy that this all happened to begin with, I am quite pleased that the school has taken some serious action,” Lila’s Dad said to her as he drove them through the suburbs back towards home. There was a significant amount of traffic at this time of day, though they had not come to a complete standstill just yet.

“I am too,” Lila replied quietly, staring out the window. The silence between them grew as Lila’s Dad concentrated on driving home before Lila couldn’t beat back her curiosity any more.

“How do you know Ivaan?” she asked, folding her arms to her chest. She saw her Dad give her a surprised look out of the corner of her eye.

“He’s a client,” her Dad said simply. “For my PI work. I can’t say anything though, due to confidentiality provisions, but I’ve been working with him for a couple of months now.”

Lila’s heart seemed to stop in her chest. Her Dad was investigating something for Ivaan. Did that mean he was investigating Asher’s Mum’s disappearance? If so, then… did that mean Lila could be relieved of that task?

‘He’s not going to say, though,’ an intrusive voice inside her head sang. ‘If you’re wrong and you give up the goose, it’s all over.’

‘I know,’ Lila told the voice, pressing her lips together. ‘Plus, I want to know myself now. It’s not like Dad could tell me anything about the investigation anyway, including what he finds. And that’s not going to satisfy Asher. Besides, if Asher’s Dad hired my Dad to investigate Asher’s Mum’s disappearance, surely Asher would’ve told me if he knew?’

‘Who knows?’ the voice replied.

‘No, Asher would for sure tell me,’ Lila thought confidently. ‘He’d definitely tell me.’

‘If you say so. Unless he wants to keep using you and he’s hiding it so you stick around.’

‘Shut up,’ Lila firmly told the voice. Intrusive thoughts were seriously no joke, but this one wasn’t going to win. Lila wouldn’t doubt Asher.