Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Four

Friday had a distinctly solemn air to it. Even Asher was in a more subdued mood as he walked her to class, though they did exchange smiles every so often. Neither apparently wanted to actually broach the topic of Jason, and Lila didn't necessarily want to get into what she spoke about with Daniel either, so they talked about surface-level things.

It was the same during morning tea, even in the privacy of a meeting room. She was pleased to hear that he'd made good progress on his assignments but otherwise remained sombre.

Eventually, though, it seemed that neither could help themselves.

"What do you reckon the memorial's going to be like?" Lila asked just as Asher opened his mouth to say something.

"I was going to ask that," he said with a small smile. "I think it's going to be incredibly awkward. We just survived Monday where the school basically said that group was a bunch of terrible people, and now they have to backtrack and say he was great?"

Lila nodded. "Yeah. Probably going to be awkward as hell. I… I'm kinda worried about Alice, though."

"Alice? Oh. Right. Shit."

"Yeah. I don't know if she'd come today. I wouldn't blame her if she didn't."

"Do you think she'll be at your hockey game tomorrow? Wouldn't it be dangerous if she got hit in the stomach or something?"

"She really wanted to go to practice on Tuesday, to get her mind off things. She's always really loved hockey – more than me, at least. Plus, it's her last year. So… I think she would."

"I'm guessing you'll try to talk to her about Clare's advice after the match?"

Lila sighed. "I think so. The earlier the better."

"Good luck," he said, his tone grave. "I don't envy you."

"It's not like I can just ignore it," she replied simply. "Alice really needed help the other day. She might've made a decision by now, but it wouldn't hurt to tell her what Clare said."

They fell silent, both seemingly deep in thought.

"Did you get anywhere with the code?" Lila asked quietly.

"Nope," Asher sighed, leaning back in his chair. "All of my alphabet-related code breakers have ended up contradicting themselves, or produced a nonsense coordinate."

"Can I have a look during Study?"

"Go for your life. I'm sick of looking at it anyway."

"It's really that bad?"

"Sure is," Asher said grimly. Then, his eyes widened. "Hey, do you remember? We found a whole bunch of bits of paper at Marlene's. I reckon the pictures I took of those might show some of what was written on them. Only problem is they were taken with a disposable camera, so they could be crap. But if there were more messages with the same type of code, maybe we could find the pattern."

"The photos are still at mine, so I can definitely have a look when I get home," Lila replied, trying not to sound too excited. Maybe Asher was right – and maybe they'd figure out the coordinates really soon. Silence befell them both as Lila strained to remember any specifics of any of the pieces of paper they'd seen, but nothing particular was coming to mind.

Eventually, Asher murmured, "I've… been thinking about… the way Piper and Jason were murdered."

"It's hard not to," Lila shuddered. "Anything specific?"

Asher paused. "Well, it seems like a message, doesn't it?"

"A message…" Lila tapped her fingernails against the table. "What, with the mutilation?"

Asher nodded gravely. "I mean, it's too consistent to not be, right?"

Lila placed a finger on her chin in contemplation. "It's… like the three wise monkeys."

"Sorry?"

She looked up at him. "You've heard the see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil proverb, right?"

"Of course. Oh. Those monkeys?"

"Yeah. They originate from Japan. The three monkeys are Mizaru, Kikazaru and Iwazaru – the 'zaru' being, well, monkey and also 'do not', or, well, lack of action. It's kinda a pun, actually. 'Mi', 'kika' and 'iwa' means see, hear and speak respectively."

"That's interesting," Asher smiled, his eyes seeming devoted to Lila. "I never knew that."

She shifted, the attention both pleasing her and making her feel slightly shy. "Really? I feel like you would've."

Asher shook his head. "Remember when I told you my list of languages that I kinda know?"

"Yeah?"

"For my general knowledge base, I'm pretty Eurocentric. It's a well-known saying that's clearly made its way to the West, but I just took it at face value and moved on. Didn't realise it had Japanese origins."

"But you take Mandarin."

"That's more to cover my bases," he replied with a small smile. "Because China is so huge, the cultural lessons are really varied, too."

"I see."

Asher leaned back in his seat. "It's interesting that you compared the murders to the three wise monkeys, though."

"It makes me think that they saw or heard or said something they shouldn't have," Lila said in a low voice.

"But what would be serious enough for that?"

"No idea. But for Jason, at least, it might've been because he snitched."

"That's right, he named a whole bunch of people who were distributing into other schools. He also kept throwing Livi under the bus."

"Do we know what happened to the others? We know that Jason was in custody and then last seen when he was let out. According to Daniel, Zack seemed relatively okay after getting hit by a bus, but he might be recovering in, like, a hospital somewhere. Otherwise… Livi, Jake and Harper are a total mystery."

"So, what, one of them murdered Jason after his release?"

Lila shrugged.

"Then what about Piper?"

"Well, Jason said that Mulberry Heights High were 'feral' for morphine. That was her new school. She might've found out about the morphine ring from that side of things and wanted to turn them in."

Asher raised an eyebrow at Lila. "Was she ever that noble?"

Lila shrugged again. "Who knows? She might've wanted to use it as a bargaining chip to come back here so she could stalk you again."

"Ugh," Asher shivered. "Don't say something so horrifying so casually."

"Sorry, I can say it spookily instead?"

"Definitely not," he replied, catching her playful tone and smirking. He paused for a moment before saying, "I guess… since it all started at Forestglade College, the Headmaster could've been interested."

"Yeah, except I highly doubt it'd be enough to let her come back."

"She wasn't exactly the most logical person," Asher said pointedly. Lila couldn't disagree.

A new theory sprouted in her mind as she absorbed his words. "Or… since she was obsessed with you, she figured out it was coming from your family's hospital and was going to tell someone. Maybe confront the Grade 12s, since it would've affected you if it all came out."

Asher's eyes widened. "Could that have been what she was trying to tell me? The day she disappeared?"

Lila felt a wave of goosebumps burst across her skin, almost causing her teeth to chatter. "I-I have no idea."

Asher pressed his lips together before tapping the table in contemplation. "They're good theories, at least. They tie Piper and Jason together, and even the potential message behind the way they were killed."

"It's hard to believe that one of the Grade 12s murdered Piper and Jason, though," Lila said slowly. "I mean, from what I knew of them. Which wasn't much."

"People can have dark sides. But it might've also been someone from a different school."

"So… maybe Mulberry Heights." Lila stopped. Holly's boyfriend had been named by Jason in the interview, and he'd seemed pretty aggressive to Lila. He could be a suspect.

She eyed Asher carefully. He was pensively staring at the table. She'd never told him about Dylan's attitude towards Holly, and just naming him as a suspect might sound biased without that information… but she doubted he'd want to hear any of it.

He met her eyes. "You look like you want to say something."

"N-No. Nothing."

The doubt on his face made her sigh.

"Alright… well… I didn't want to tell you before because, well… I don't think you'd want to hear it. Since… it's to do with Holly and her boyfriend."

His expression turned grim, but he didn't say anything, clearly waiting for her to continue.

"When… we had the game at Mulberry Heights," she said softly, feeling every fibre of her being begging her to stop talking. She stared at her hands as she continued despite this. "I heard Holly and Dylan fighting. Um, at first… she was saying things like someone meant nothing to her, and he challenged that by saying that she was looking at 'their' profiles and she said it was only 'cause she was bored. Then he asked if she was just pissed that their plan didn't work." She took a deep breath, unsure for a moment if she'd censor herself, but the reason for her telling him this would be lost if she did that. "Then he said to 'just fucking block the cunts and call it a day'. That it was done, had been for months, and they needed to worry about Mars." She stopped speaking, for her trembling hands were distracting her.

"The… planet? I'm pretty sure it's still in orbit."

Lila glanced at him. Whatever emotions he had at the moment seemed incredibly guarded – including whether he was joking around.

"I think they're naming her baby that. Uh, she said something about how he should stop swearing 'cause the baby can hear him. Then Dylan said, 'Mars, your Mum's a stupid bitch' and to 'block that ex and his new girlfriend already'. It… seemed like she was crying, or about to, after he left to go warm up. I don't know for sure, though, since Isaac showed up. I… I'm only bringing it up because it seems like he might be aggressive. Someone who could hurt somebody."

Asher let out a long, deep exhale before rubbing his chin. "Yeah, I hated hearing that."

Lila slumped in her seat, now feeling foolish for bringing it up. She should've listened to her instincts-

Asher's expression morphed into one of absolute disgust. "If anyone's a cunt, it's him for speaking that way to a girl." He met Lila's gaze before looking apologetic. "Sorry for my language."

"No, it's okay," Lila replied automatically. It wasn't quite the reaction she'd thought he'd have, though it was close.

"Don't get me wrong, she's trash and it's probably karma. But even still – that's not how someone should treat their girlfriend or any girl, actually. If I'd heard that, I reckon I'd have punched him."

"Even though… y'know, after what she did to you?"

"If Holly hadn't cheated on me, and all that, I'd probably punch him twice." He placed his head in his hands as he looked seriously at Lila. "It's not because I have any feelings for her, or because I want to defend her. She's irrelevant in this scenario, except for the fact that Dylan was being an asshat to her. Swap her out for anyone else, except you, and I'd feel the same. He needs to straighten the fuck up. Especially if he's planning to stick by her when she has the kid."

Lila blinked. "And… if it was me?"

He looked away. "I'd… rather not say."

"… Okay."

"Only because it'd incriminate me."

"Not that I don't already have enough dirt on you."

The barest hint of a smile flicked the corners of his mouth upward. "All I'll say is that… if he, or anyone else, spoke to you like that… they might find themselves on a park bench like Piper and Jason."

"Oh no, is that Triple 0 on my phone listening to every word you say?" she teased. He laughed, reaching out a hand to hers. She let him take it and he kissed her knuckles.

"You're precious to me, Lila, and I intend to defend you like I mean it," he murmured.

She squeezed his hand, feeling a hard lump in her throat. She swallowed it down before saying, "I feel the same about you, you know. I'll defend you, too."

"I hardly need defending."

"Same."

He kissed her hand again. "If that's the case, then we're even."

She looked into his sincere eyes, feeling them draw her forward – almost across the table. She pressed her lips together, halting her impulse to kiss him. Before her desire could overrule her sense, she decided to ask Asher something that had been bugging her since she'd seen Holly and Dylan's argument.

"What do you think Dylan meant by their 'plan' not working?"

He glanced at her, holding her hand tighter. "Beats me. Should it mean something to me?"

"Well… not necessarily, but it's been bothering me. At least, it feels like he was talking about us, right? The ex and the girlfriend, that's us."

Asher gave her a dark look. "She cheated on me with a few people," he said bitterly, his hold on her hand tightening even further. "There's probably a few exes with new girlfriends."

Lila pulled out her phone. "I had her on Insta. Did you still have her on your socials?"

Asher shook her head. "Didn't block her, though."

She opened up Instagram and searched for Holly's username. Nothing.

"Can't find her," Lila said, glancing once more at Asher. He reluctantly pulled out his phone and tapped on it for a few moments.

"Looks like she's blocked me on Facebook," he confirmed. He shrugged before pocketing his phone and holding her hand once more. "Probably should've blocked her when everything went down, to be honest."

"Asher… this might be a conspiracy, or at least a massive leap, but what if they both planned what happened to you?"

Asher paled. "What do you mean?"

Lila sighed. She wasn't too sure. "It's just a thought. I mean, why would he say that in basically the same breath as telling her to block us?"

Asher paused. "What, that she planned to get pregnant with his kid while she was dating me?"

"Maybe not that, but, well, your family is rich. She could've found out she was pregnant and tried to trap you, so that you'd feel obligated to take care of her and the baby."

He looked disturbed. "It sounds like I shouldn't say this, but it's not actually a bad plan."

"And if she cheated on you with a bunch of other guys, could she have tried to run the scam on others?"

He shuddered. "A scam like that at sixteen?"

"Based on Dylan's attitude towards her, it seems more like his scam than hers. I mean, she tried really hard to get you to sleep with her, right? But if she had a whole bunch of other guys on the side, why would it matter to her if you did or didn't? Except that you have money, and she wanted to be taken care of."

"That's the grossest thing I've heard all day."

"Sorry."

"… Thinking back on what she did and said to try and get me to have sex with her, though," he said slowly, now avoiding Lila's gaze, "it really came out of left field at the beginning of the year. As in, we hadn't even talked about anything like that until she one day just asked to go all the way. She first talked about it right after we started working together on our English project." He grimaced before continuing, "I told you before that I thought my crush on you had disappeared until then. I'd contemplated trying it with her, to get you off my mind, but it felt way too soon. We'd only been together for about three months at that point, and she was basically a stranger before we started going out."

Three months was too soon? Lila felt slightly deflated. They'd only just reached one month. Would she have to wait at least two more months?

'Don't be desperate,' she thought to herself as she looked at the table between them. 'So what if it's two more months?'

Asher suddenly jumped, letting go of her hand and fishing around in his pocket. He pulled out his phone again and shoved it back in his pocket just as quickly.

"We've gotta go," he said hurriedly, swiftly collecting their rubbish. Lila checked the time – he was right; they'd almost need to run to the Gymnasium to make the assembly on time.

"Did you set an alarm or something?" she asked as she tucked her chair in. He opened the door for her with a shake of his head.

"Nah, that was Isaac, telling me to stop making out with you and go to the assembly. I think he's already waiting there."

Lila rolled her eyes. "He's so annoying about all of that."

Asher smirked, taking her hand as they speed-walked to the Gymnasium. "It's probably 'cause making out with Elise is on his mind, but he can't bring himself to ask her out."

Lila sighed. "Maybe we need to literally smoosh them together like Barbie dolls."

Asher chuckled. "Maybe we should."

There weren't many students milling around the library as they left since it was really close to the start of the assembly, so Lila took the opportunity to talk once more about Dylan – just to see what Asher thought of him as a suspect in the murders. She wrapped her arms around one of his and stepped closer to him so that she could keep a low volume just in case.

"So… since Dylan has shown himself to be a bit aggressive, he could be a suspect," she said, glancing at Asher. He looked back at her and shrugged.

"I guess so. I only know of him from debating and soccer, and he's always just seemed normal. Though, I guess it turns out that he is deplorable. Especially if he tried to get Holly to scam me with her pregnancy," Asher frowned again.

Lila nodded. Then, she swallowed back a gasp. "I don't know when he started dating Holly, but… what if that's why he murdered Piper, if he did it? I doubt Piper wouldn't have stalked Holly, what with Holly's connection to you. Dylan might've noticed, or felt threatened, or, well, wanted to protect her and so murdered Piper?"

"I don't think he's the protective type," Asher replied disdainfully. "I mean, if your theory is right about their plan, he basically pimped out his girlfriend, since there were other potential fathers for her baby."

"It's weird but some abusers are also very protective of their victims," Lila said matter-of-factly. "Something like how they feel like they can harm the victim, but no one else can. Especially since it's all about control."

"Huh… gross." Asher shuddered again. "Well, we can put him on the suspect list, I guess. Piper being killed for stalking Holly, then Jason being killed 'cause he got caught as the ringleader for the morphine ring and throwing Dylan under the bus – both of those make sense."

Lila cast a look around, finding that more students were coming into view now that they were closing in on the Gymnasium. She relaxed her grip on him and put some distance between them. He seemed to get the hint and switched gears to talk about something light.

The steps into the Gymnasium were just ahead and Lila noticed Isaac and Elise chatting at the top. They both seemed to be in a good mood, and she nudged Asher, gesturing towards them.

"If only they could see what we all see," she said forlornly. Isaac's laughter reached them as they ascended the stairs and Asher sighed.

"I'm sure it'll happen one day," he murmured. Lila met his gaze and gave him a mischievous wink, lightly bounding up to the top.

"You two look cute and cosy over here," she announced with a grin. "You guys talking about your clearly mutual admiration for each other?"

Isaac and Elise immediately looked horrified, their faces red, and they instantly stepped back from each other. Asher appeared just behind Lila with a similar grin.

"I don't think I've seen you this happy all term," Asher nodded at Isaac, whose face only deepened in colour.

"C-Come on, Lila, Grace is saving us seats," Elise said hurriedly, gripping Lila's arm and pulling her forwards. Lila waved at Isaac, who still looked horrified, and Asher as she was led away.

Lila couldn't hide her giggling as they pushed through the crowd of students searching for their seats.

"Lila," Elise bemoaned once they were far enough away from the boys. "Why'd you embarrass me like that?"

Lila smirked. "It's not like I lied. You two look really good together."

"Stop teasing me," Elise whined, tugging Lila into their row of seats. "He's not into me."

"He so is."

"He was only looking like that because we were talking about Anika," Elise replied softly, letting go of Lila.

"So why did you look so happy?" Lila said just as softly. Elise took her seat next to Grace as Lila sat down on her other side.

"… 'cause he's cute. Especially when he's in a good mood."

"And I'm guessing he's always in a good mood when you guys are talking?"

"Lila, don't be stupid. I don't think I can face him after that."

"Sure you can. I think you could even kiss him."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Elise whipped her head around as if trying to see if he was lurking nearby. Of course, he wasn't anywhere near them.

"Stop that," Elise hissed, her face red. "You're putting all these thoughts into my head."

"But if they become unbearable then you'll just have to act on it, right?"

"What are you guys gossiping about over there?" Grace asked, leaning forwards to look at Lila over Elise.

"Nothing," Elise said, her face stony.

"Quite a lot, actually," Lila grinned. "You should've seen how Elise and Isaac were talking outside the Gymnasium just now. All smiles and everything."

Grace shot Elise a serious look. "You should just go for it. Stuff Anika. You're better anyway."

"You don't even know who Anika is," Elise replied, folding her arms across her chest petulantly.

"Don't need to. You're amazing," Grace responded with a nod. "Isaac would be stupid to go for her when there's you, you know."

Elise sighed. "Guys-"

"Students," the booming voice of Mr Lockwood forced everyone into silence immediately. Chairs squeaked in the distance, but no other sounds could be heard at all. No one else was on stage yet and the onstage screen was slowly descending behind Mr Lockwood – signs that they weren't quite ready yet, though the black banners were already in place. Mr Lockwood was dressed in all black today, which seemed fitting for the occasion.

Lila wondered what kind of relationship the Headmaster, Head Boy and Head Girl had. Not just Jason and Harper, but the roles themselves. Surely Mr Lockwood would've had a lot to do with them, if not before this year due to their co-curricular commitments, then throughout the year.

If Mr Lockwood had liked Jason from their interactions – which Lila would assume so, given his position and ability to be charismatic when he wanted to be – then this would likely be a much tougher memorial assembly on him than Piper's was.

"The assembly will begin shortly. I ask for your full attention and respect for the duration of this assembly." His expression was as complicated as Lila expected his emotions to be if she was correct in her assumptions. He departed from the lectern, disappearing behind the stageright curtains. Jason's school photo slowly made itself known on the screen, his broad grin and piercing blue eyes a chilling reminder of the life that he'd had when this was taken at the beginning of the year.

Silence prevailed for a few moments before students began to speak in hushed tones to fill the time. It wasn't long until the procession began with Toby and Hannah taking their places – the ones that had ordinarily been occupied by Jason and Harper – next to Mr Lockwood. The Vice Captains for the Middle and Primary Schools also took their places, along with the usual teachers, who were also dressed in all black, and the Chaplain. It seemed that the Vice Captains for Senior School positions were empty, now that Toby and Hannah had 'upgraded' to being the Head Boy and Girl.

Mr Lockwood returned to the lectern, clearing his throat. "Good morning, students. As mentioned, today's assembly is incredibly serious. Today, we are gathered to remember Jason Whitley. As you all know, he was the Head Boy up until this week." He gave a heavy pause, and Lila felt a wave of awkwardness settle across the student body. "He had been a student at Forestglade College since kindergarten and made numerous friends, won tennis championships, and had excellent grades. In essence, he was, for a long time, the embodiment of a stellar student who took every opportunity the College had to offer him."

A flash of disdain crossed Mr Lockwood's face as he said this, but it quickly disappeared. "On Tuesday, the school was notified of his passing. His loss is felt by a vast number of people – friends, teachers and family members of Jason alike. He also made valuable connections with students of all grades during his time as Head Boy. Though his departure from the school may not have been the most positive, it would be remiss to say that he left an indelible mark and legacy upon this College – one that will likely endure for years to come. We ask that you please respect his family at this time. There are extra support resources available at the Counselling Services building, and the details for his upcoming memorial are on the screen behind me."

Just as he had for Piper's memorial assembly, Mr Lockwood turned and faced the screen, which changed to display the details for a memorial over at a local crematorium – a different, more expensive one than Piper's. A minute of silence was called before a collage of images and videos of Jason during his time at Forestglade College began to play. This segment was far longer than Piper's, and Lila could hear sniffles from students around her once more. The Grade 12s sat ahead of the Grade 11s, but she couldn't tell whether Alice was in the crowd ahead. There wasn't any outright sobbing at least, and Lila continued to watch the photos and videos flicker past. There were quite a few of him with Zack and Jake, a few with Harper, a couple with Livi and an assortment of selfies with several Grade 12s – including Alice.

Lila knotted her hands together, the picture flashing past as quickly as it'd appeared. Evidently, Alice had submitted something for the assembly.

As though the picture had sparked something, Lila noticed a student stand before rushing off towards the bathrooms. It took just as long for Lila to register that it was Alice as it did for Willow to dash after her. No one, not even teachers, outwardly reacted to this, though Lila was tempted to follow them.

Did Alice have deeper feelings for Jason than she'd expressed to Lila and Willow at practice? The selfie seemed to have been taken at school and Lila wondered if it had been taken before or after they started their casual fling.

Lila remembered Willow's description of Jason being a bit of a 'player', and Livi's statement of Jason being a 'love 'em and leave 'em' type. She wondered how many people he'd been with that were sitting in the crowd right now. What type of feelings did they have, watching this memorial? Were there any in her own cohort?

Alice and Willow returned just as Mr Lockwood introduced a choir performance, this time singing a song that Lila didn't recognise but was beautiful nonetheless. It seemed to cause more tears to fall from those around her, and Lila couldn't help but feel the emotions transferring to her as well.

Following this were a couple of speeches from students detailing their experiences with Jason and his qualities – one being Jason's cousin from Grade 10, another being one of Jason's friends from Grade 12 – with the final speech to wrap up the assembly being from another Grade 12 student that was about living on for others in their stead. Lila thought she could hear an Alice-like sob during this particular speech, but, of course, she couldn't be certain.

Following the final speech, the choirmaster led the school into a rendition of the school song. Today, the Grade 8s were lucky enough to pack away the chairs, which meant that the Grade 11s could proceed with their usual schedule. Regrettably, that meant Lila had to go to a class that she didn't share with Asher, but at least they were both headed to the Language Block.

It didn't take long for Lila to find him in the crowd. He was just ahead of her and she tightly hugged his arm, startling him for just a moment.

"Oh, hello," he laughed, brushing her cheek affectionately. "Excited for Japanese?"

Lila sighed. "I love it, but I'm not keen for my exams."

"A feeling felt by everyone, I'm sure."

"What, are you keen for exams?"

He glanced at her before smiling. "I mean, once exams are over, it means we'll be hanging out more."

She returned his smile. "I feel like you keep saying it in a positive way so that eventually I'll turn my mind around on the idea that exams are horrible."

"Busted," he grinned. "Look, they're unavoidable, so it doesn't matter how you feel about them. You can be as grumpy as you want, but I doubt that feels any good. So, why not think about it positively?"

"You know, I never expected that kind of outlook from you."

"Why's that?"

"Well…" she wasn't sure whether she should say that he tended to be on the moodier side, but was interrupted by the brash voice of Isaac, who slung his arm across Asher's shoulders.

"You're always such an anxious overthinker, my guy. Makes you grumpy as anything, and serious as heck. Quiet as heck, too."

Asher immediately shrugged Isaac off. "Way to call me out, dude. Also, why were you eavesdropping?"

Isaac laughed. "Eavesdropping? More like on guard for appropriate behaviour. Which…" he gently removed Lila's arm from Asher's and took her place, bumping her away with his hip. "There, that's better."

Asher frowned, shaking Isaac off again.

Isaac cackled. "That's not beating back the allegations."

Asher's frown deepened and he pulled Lila close to him. "I'm a happy guy," he said petulantly.

"With me and Lila, sure. But when you're in class, you've got mad resting scholar face," Isaac replied.

"Resting scholar face?" Asher blinked.

"Like resting bitch face, but yours is scholarly. Anyway, I'm heading off this way," Isaac said, waving goodbye to them both before he diverged over to the path that would take him to Engineering. They watched him go for a moment, then continued towards the Language Block, with Lila's arm back around Asher's.

After a few paces, Asher looked down at Lila. "I'm not grumpy as anything, right?"

Lila suppressed her smile as she answered. "You can be a bit moody, but I think everyone can be."

Asher sighed. "But I'm the happiest I've ever been."

"Not with that sigh," she teased.

"Lila, I just want you to know that I am, though," he said softly. "Because of you."

"M-Me?"

He nodded, halting their progress on the pathway. "I really am." He took her hand and gently pressed it against his chest. She could feel the 'L' pendant beneath his shirt and she smiled broadly. It seemed he'd made good on his promise to wear it.

"You've made me the happiest I've ever been, too," she said softly, feeling it once more before letting her hand drop.

"And the saddest," he murmured, turning back to the path.

"Asher-"

"C'mon, can't be late. Especially since exams are close."

Lila sighed, allowing herself to be taken to class. He left with a whispered goodbye, which she returned.

Her Japanese class was dedicated to study and she threw herself into it – mostly because she needed to, but also so she could stop her mind from replaying the sad look on Asher's face before he hurried them to class.

He seemed in a slightly better mood when she met with him outside her class once it was lunchtime, which increased even further as they sat in an unoccupied meeting room with their lunches.

As Lila opened hers, a realisation came to her.

"Asher, what day is it?"

"Friday," he replied, opening his Tupperware container of chicken carbonara.

"No, no, the date."

"The… 18th of August?"

"Isn't that Gabriel's birthday?"

Asher paled, dropping his fork into his pasta. "Shit. I didn't get him anything."

"I think we should, after everything he's done for us this year."

"What though?"

Lila pursed her lips, contemplating the idea deeply. "What about… a disco ball?"

"A… disco ball?"

"Not one to put up in the ceiling, but like the little stand-up light things. So he can have disco parties in the butler's pantry."

Asher's eyes lit up. "That'd be perfect."

"Here," Lila said, taking out her wallet. She passed along a $20 note, which Asher immediately pushed back.

"Take it," Lila said sternly, placing her hand over his. "I want to contribute to a birthday gift for Gabriel."

He looked unsure so she gave him another stern look.

"Please," she insisted.

"… Okay," he relented, opening his wallet and placing the note inside.

"You better use it," she replied. "None of this keeping it so you can use it on me again."

He winced. "It's like you read my mind."

She grinned at him. "Or I just know you really well."

He returned her grin. "As expected of my best friend."

They continued to look at each other fondly before Asher gestured at her food. "Eat up, otherwise I'll have to tell Gabriel on his birthday that you disliked his food."

She obliged. It was delicious, the sauce clearly made by Gabriel himself. Once she was done, she looked up at Asher.

"Are you going to get it today?"

"Of course," Asher nodded. "I know a shop that sells them, so I'll just ask George if he can make a quick detour."

Lila smirked. "You know a shop that sells disco lights?"

"Well, yeah. I saw them when we went to that stationery store on our date to the mall."

"Oh." She thought back to when they'd looked inside that store, picturing exactly the stand that it had been set on. "I can't believe you remembered that."

"'Course," he replied, snapping his empty Tupperware shut. "Why wouldn't I remember a date with you?"

"That's not what I meant."

He winked at her playfully. "I know."

She blushed, zipping up her lunchbox in an effort to look busy. He chuckled and she thought for another moment that now might be a good opportunity for a kiss.

But, instead of a kiss, he started chatting away about a show he wanted to watch with her once their exams were done. She watched as his enthusiasm began to build, and she found herself engaging in more lighthearted conversations, with no mention of Jason or today's assembly.

Study, however, changed the lighthearted nature of what she wanted to talk to Asher about. After signing in, Lila noticed that Ayla was conspicuously absent from her usual spot. Was she simply studying elsewhere, or was the murder of someone else in the exact same way as Piper affecting her enough to not be at school?

"I don't think Ayla's here," Lila murmured as she slid into their usual booth. He passed her bag along to her and she unpacked her laptop and English notebook. She logged in to her laptop and opened her assignment as Asher settled himself in as well.

"I haven't seen her today," Asher replied once he'd set up, though he sounded disinterested. He instead looked slightly smug.

"So, I ended up doing some research into those three wise monkeys," he said, his eyes sparkling. "Did you know there's a fourth?"

It sounded familiar, but the details weren't coming to the forefront. "A… fourth?"

"Yup. I think it's called Sezaru. Do no evil." He paused, looking intently into her eyes. "If it is depicted with the others, it tends to cross its arms or cover its genitals."

"You're kidding," Lila gasped. "You think that's why… they did that to Jason?"

Asher nodded grimly. "It fits, at least. It makes me think you were definitely on the right track with the three wise monkeys thing. There's a message there for sure. With that…"

He slid his phone towards her with anticipation. With a thrum of realisation, she picked it up and signed in, opening his Photos app. She sat his phone in the middle of her laptop's keyboard, looking at it intently.

"These letters… there's something weird about them," she said after a few moments. She pulled her notebook to her and flipped it open to the middle, the pages of their first foray into investigative activities appearing before her. She lightly brushed her fingers across the page detailing Asher's observations of the lead-up to his Mum's disappearance before turning to the nearest blank one. Once the holidays started, they'd really need to look back at all of this and see if anything had changed…

She wrote the code down afresh:

WU° EP' RY.EO" 3

QTE° PW' RT.OW" 2

"What's weird about them?" Asher asked after she put her pen back down.

"Well… there's only 10 numbers, right? 0 to 9. So… why these letters specifically? Why not A being 1 or 0 or Z being 1 or 0?"

He tilted his head quizzically. "I don't know. I tried to put it through a whole bunch of ready-made ciphers, and none of them worked. Neither did my brain."

Lila pressed her lips together, narrowing her eyes. Coordinates could only use numbers 0 to 9, since those were the only ones that existed, and she'd already established with Asher that the '2' and '3' referred to the four cardinal directions.

She glanced down at her keyboard in contemplation. It looked like all the letters in the top row of her keyboard, except for 'I', were used, and none in the rows below.

Frowning, she wanted to try something. It probably wouldn't work, but…

'If I used QWERTYUIOP in place of numbers, what would the results be?' she thought. 'But… what's 1? Is it Q or W?'

She tapped the tip of her pen onto her notebook a couple of times. She'd just have to write down both variants. She wrote the following:

If 0 was Q and W was 1, it would be:

16° 29′ 35.28″ S

042° 91′ 34.81″ E

If 1 was Q and P was 0, it would be:

27° 30′ 46.39″ S

153° 02′ 45.92″ E

She looked down at what she'd written.

"What do you reckon about this?" she asked, pushing her notebook to Asher. He took it from her before looking at her in surprise.

"How'd you do that?"

She felt her face flush again. "I… figured out that the only letters in this were from the top row of the keyboard. So I just substituted them with numbers based on how the letters sat in that row."

"Damn," he uttered softly. He looked down at her notes and then back at her once more. "Looks like I was right."

"Huh?"

"Y'know. When I said that you'll find something that solves it in an instant after I've agonised over it for ages, and then I get to look at you in awe and jealousy… consider me looking at you in awe and jealousy." As he said this, she could see exactly what he meant. He was certainly looking at her with eyes that sparkled in awe and jealousy.

"Well, I don't know if I'm right," she said, suddenly feeling shy. "I could be completely off base."

"Only one way to find out. Let's plug 'em into Google."

He opened up his laptop and rapidly typed out the first option, ensuring that he included the appropriate degree symbol, and tilted it so they could both see. Pressing enter revealed…

Nothing.

Lila deflated slightly. "See, I was wrong," she murmured, biting her lower lip in disappointment.

"Well, hang on," Asher said comfortingly, pulling his laptop back to him. "We haven't tried the second one yet."

He rapidly typed again before turning the screen so they could both see once more. He pressed enter. It took a moment to load – but… load it did. And this time it wasn't 'nothing'.

"The… Forestglade Private Hospital Morgue?" he whispered in confusion. She stared at it for a moment before looking back at the numbers.

"There seems to be fewer numbers than I figured out," she said, pointing. He peered over at his screen.

"Looks like Google rounds them up," Asher said with a nod. "Your numbers are fine."

"If… that's the case… then is the message telling us to go there?" she asked nervously. Though she'd been curious about the old room underneath the morgue, going to the morgue itself was terrifying. She didn't want to see a dead body under any circumstances.

"Or… is it a threat?" Asher muttered, staring back down at his phone. "Saying we'll end up there."

"If we do what, though?"

Asher shrugged. "We could already be on the hit list. Or… it's a warning about us following Marlene."

"But Marlene wouldn't threaten you, surely."

"Her accomplice might."

Lila fell silent. That… was true.

Suddenly, Asher grabbed his phone and brought it closer to his eyes. "Wait a minute… there's something else here."

"What?"

He zoomed in on something on his phone before showing it to Lila. "It looks like there's a really faint arrow pointing downwards, along with 'QOEE'. It was so faint, I didn't see it at the time, but it's in this corner here."

She struggled to see what he was looking at, at first, before she finally saw it. A downwards arrow and 'QOEE'?

"Since the second code worked, this must be…" she trailed off as she concentrated on her keyboard again. "1933."

"Lila, what year was that copy of the blueprint Mr Snugglebutt tore up made?"

Lila whipped her phone out of her pocket and hastily scrolled through her photos. She'd only registered it as being from the 1930s before, but now it was undeniable – 1933.

"1933," she confirmed. "So… is someone telling us to look at the room below the morgue after all?"

Asher's expression turned frustrated. "Like hell we'd be able to."

"Well, we haven't tried-"

"Lila, like I said, everything's locked behind access cards."

"Surely there's, like, a back entrance? Access cards didn't exist in 1933."

He sighed. "Let's… just… visit the hospital. You'll see what I mean." He eyed her carefully before adding, "Besides, should we follow instructions from a message sent to us via cat? We don't even know who's trying to communicate with us – except that this wasn't sent by Marlene, even though she owns Mr Snugglebutt. At least, I think she does."

Lila sunk in her seat. "… I guess you're right."

Asher sighed again. "We'll still go."

"We don't have to."

"You say that, but I've made you sad again."

She pulled her laptop towards her. "No, you haven't. You're just being reasonable. Smart. Cautious."

"Unadventurous. Joy-killer. Scaredy-cat."

"Don't be silly."

"That wasn't part of my descriptors."

It was Lila's turn to sigh. "Well… let's just keep it in mind. It's not like we'd be going anytime soon anyway."

"I'll put it in my calendar so we don't forget."

"For when?"

"First Saturday of the holidays. It'll be relatively busy then with visitors and the like, so it's less likely we'll be noticed."

"Alright. Thank you."

Asher shook his head. "If we don't follow this lead, then we'll never know who sent it or who's watching us or their intentions. It… makes sense to try at least a little."

"If you're sure."

"I'm sure." He gave her a small smile. She smiled back at him.

"Let's get to studying," he said after a moment.

"Let's."

Study and then English passed her by as she took the opportunity to get her work done. Though Asher wasn't forcing her in the slightest, his encouragement helped her take her studies a bit more seriously. It was by no means a bad thing.

Once Ms Shard released them, Lila walked with Asher at a leisurely pace to the locker room.

"So… I'll be seeing you on Monday," she said quietly, her arm around his.

"Yeah," he replied forlornly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'd be really upset with myself if you lost your Dux position. You've been the Dux since it started being counted, after all. So, by all means. Besides, we'll be together over that long weekend. It's basically the same amount of time we would've spent together, just all at once. It makes up for it. Plus, I'm going to be really excited when you accept your Dux award onstage, you know. I might even whoop and cheer."

He laughed, squeezing her arm against his ribcage. "Thanks for understanding. I'll probably die if you whoop and cheer though," he smiled.

"Please don't," she said sincerely. "I'll need to cheer you on next year too, after all."

His smile widened even more, a faint blush dusting his cheeks. "I… can't wait."

They separated in the locker room to grab their things before walking to the bus station once more, hats firmly on their heads. For a Friday, there weren't too many people around and they took the time to slow their pace.

"Don't forget to grab Gabriel's gift," Lila said after a few moments of tranquil silence.

"I won't. I already asked George anyway, and he's happy to do it since I know which store I'm going to. I'll let you know how it goes."

"I'm looking forward to it," she grinned. "I'm sure he'll be really pleased."

"I'm sure too. It's a great idea since he's always grooving in there anyway."

The mention of Gabriel reminded Lila of their subsequent conversation after her gift suggestion. There was something still bothering her, about the frequent connections to Asher's Dad's hospital. She'd considered that his investigation was case closed – but was the mysterious note writer telling her it wasn't at all?

Something was niggling at her – telling her to look in her Dad's case file again. So much had happened since the last time she looked, there was no chance that he wouldn't have stored something else in it. At a minimum, there should be details of Jason's murder in there since he was highly connected to the missing drugs, and his involvement showed where they went – that it wasn't just an administrative error within the hospital, and had criminal intent.

Asher's expression still seemed pretty stoked at the idea of giving Gabriel such a gift – so much so that she didn't want to bring his mood back to seriousness. But… he should know what she was planning.

"By the way," she said in a low voice, bringing a hand to her inner breast pocket, "it looks like I'll be using your gift after all."

He blinked rapidly at her in bemusement. "Not to say that I'm displeased by the idea since I'd rather them be useful, but why?"

She cast a quick look around. No one seemed to be listening in. "I need to see the case file again. Dad would've added stuff to it. Maybe the interviews with the other members of the morphine ring, or confirmation of some of the things Jason said. There should also be something about Jason's murder in there since he was so closely connected to the missing drugs. For, like, closure. For the file."

Asher's eyes flickered to where her hand was still on her chest and she quickly dropped her hand to her side. Was he checking her out or checking out where she kept her set of lockpicks?

"Alright. Let me know what you find, yeah?" he said with a nod.

"Of course I will."

Now that the bus station was within line of sight, there were far more students milling around, so neither of them continued their conversation.

Her bus arrived shortly and Asher swiftly gave her a goodbye kiss. This one seemed a bit different to the others – almost like he didn't want to pull away. He did, though, and she gave him a slightly puzzled look.

"I'll miss you like crazy," he confessed, squeezing her hand. "Over the weekend."

She felt herself growing giddy by this concept – yet another reminder that, actually, he genuinely wanted to be with her. "Same here, Asher. Stay safe and I hope you study well."

"You better stay safe, too," he said firmly, squeezing her hand yet again. "I'll see you on Monday."

"See you then."

----------------------------------------

Clare was definitely home as Lila had seen her car on the way up to the front door after getting off the school bus. Lila wanted to take the opportunity to tell her, in general terms, what Daniel had said that she could say – especially since Daniel wasn't yet home. She also wanted to know exactly what Clare had said to Asher the other day since he hadn't been forthcoming with that information. So, with that, Lila knocked on Clare's door as soon as she dropped her bags off in her room.

"Yeah?" Clare called.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure."

Lila opened the door and saw Clare sitting at her vanity, beating her face with a beauty blender.

"You going out?" Lila queried as she sat on Clare's bed. Clare's eyes gleamed as she turned to look at Lila.

"Of course," she said ecstatically, the beating increasing in intensity. "Can't miss my first shift back."

"Nice," Lila grinned. It was nice to see Clare so excited about returning to work – a far cry from her anxiety attack about it.

"I feel like I'll be rusty," Clare lamented, turning to her mirror and inspecting her foundation. "Maybe I should be 'Rusty Wurld' for the night."

Lila snorted. "I think people might think you're a dude."

"You're right – but that'll make it more entertaining, right?" Clare chuckled. Lila watched as Clare looked through her eyeshadow palettes before her sister squinted at her through the vanity mirror.

"What's up?" Clare asked, halting her search.

"Well… a couple of things. What did Alex think of dinner?"

"Oh, he was shy as anything," Clare laughed, resuming her search. "But he enjoyed his time. He especially enjoyed how panicked you were after his vegetarian joke."

Lila rolled her eyes. "I didn't want to offend him or make him starve on his first visit."

"Don't get me wrong, your panic was much appreciated by both of us. Unnecessary, but helpful to know that you cared enough to panic. As for the food, he's asked me if Mum can teach me how to make it."

"You told me before that you wanted to get upskilled in cooking so that you'd be a bit more 'girlfriend' material. How's that going?"

"Well, I can make a few quick desserts, and a couple roasts, since I go to Alex's on Sundays pretty often."

"So, quite improved, then?"

"Much. Though, I still don't enjoy cooking as much as I thought I would by the time my lessons were over."

"You even took lessons? When?"

"During the week. They were on Wednesdays, and only for a few weeks."

"Wow. You really went all out."

Clare smiled sheepishly. "I was pretty stressed about it."

"At least your fringe grew out nicely," Lila smirked.

Clare snorted. "He liked the fringe, but if I decide to get one again, please shoot me."

"Noted," Lila chuckled. Clare looked through her eyeshadow palettes again.

Lila shook her head, taking a deep breath to avoid being too confrontational from the get-go. "What did you talk to Asher about?"

Clare didn't speak; instead, she preferred to open one of her palettes and swipe at the colours.

"Clare?"

She slowly turned towards Lila. "Maroon or pink?" she asked, placing the two shades on her wrist and showing Lila.

Lila sighed. "Is there a theme tonight?"

"Only the return of the top dancer."

"Ah, yes, Rusty World. How could I have forgotten?"

Clare rolled her eyes before looking down at her palette. "What about bronze? Or an orange shimmer?"

"Does orange even work on our skin tone?"

Clare closely inspected the colour. "I've never used it."

"Go maroon."

Clare happily turned her entire body back to the vanity.

"Clare…"

"What?"

"What'd you say to Asher?"

"Who?"

Lila glared at Clare, who she could see was trying not to laugh in the reflection of her vanity.

"Don't be an idiot," Lila said, folding her arms in annoyance.

"I'm assuming you asked him."

Lila huffed. "I did, but he didn't tell me anything."

"Good man."

"Clare, please tell me."

Clare turned back around, her eyelids half-covered in the maroon eyeshadow. "All I did was tell him the truth."

"Of what?"

Clare shrugged. "The truth."

"Of what?"

"Just that you're upset."

Lila groaned. "Clare, now he's upset. He's been making all these weird comments about making me sad, or me crying and not telling him."

"Oh, good, he's noticed."

"Clare! I thought you were on a no-meddling streak."

Clare placed her makeup tools on her vanity with a slap before facing Lila once more, her expression incredibly severe despite her half-finished makeup. "I was until you were distressed like that in my car. I told you, I don't like the fact that you seem to think that you're not important."

"That's not what I said."

"It's called reading between the lines, Lila."

"Did you psychology me?"

Clare snorted. "If it were that easy to psychology you, I would've stepped in far earlier and I'd know why you were snooping around Coolisimo."

So Clare had narrowed it down to snooping. Shit.

"Look, Asher's my boyfriend. I'll deal with whatever I'm feeling with him."

"But you haven't been. Instead, you've been bottling your feelings to the point that you don't even know what they are until they explode."

Lila didn't have a rebuttal to this, which seemed to satisfy Clare.

"Anyway, the fact that you're standing here confronting me about it must mean that something changed," Clare said, looking at Lila shrewdly. Lila couldn't look at her sister as she felt her cheeks warming up.

"Bullseye," Clare sang, resuming her makeup routine with gusto. "Glad I helped."

"Clare, you made him upset-"

"I didn't make him anything. If he's upset, that's because he knows he's not treating you the way you want him to."

"But Clare, I don't want you to pressure him either. I'm already doing enough of that on my own."

Clare looked at her dubiously through her mirror. "From what I heard, he's not feeling pressured by you."

"He's just saying that."

"I don't think so," Clare replied, her tone vague enough for Lila to feel wary. What had he told Clare?

"He… hides his feelings on the topic. He's said that he'd tell me later, or that he's not ready to talk about that to me. So he'd be hiding that I'm pressuring him, since… it'd make me look bad. Which it does."

"Eh, I told him to cut the bullshit when he's talking to me about you. You're too important for him to do that with me. From there, he was almost a bit too honest. I think he's still scared of me," Clare smirked, this observation clearly amusing her. "Besides, it doesn't make you look bad to me. Just desperate," she finished matter-of-factly, humming now as she placed more makeup on her face. With that, Lila was sure that she wasn't going to get anything else out of Clare on the subject. Truthfully, Clare had probably said more than she'd realised.

"Whatever. I guess I'll drop it," Lila relented. Now, she just had to talk about the last thing that was on her mind.

"I talked to Daniel," she said with a weary sigh.

Clare swivelled around to face her properly. "What'd he say?"

"Well, since you weren't forthcoming, I don't see a reason to be either."

Clare frowned. "Lila-"

"Plus, I promised Daniel."

Clare sighed. "Guess I can't force it, then."

"Nope. Anyway, after we talked, he said he felt a bit better about it all and that he's sorry about how he was with Alex since he was a bit of a dick."

"Could say that again. Not that Alex minded. He's got a bunch of younger cousins that he babysits from time to time. He gets what kids are like."

Lila paused. "Maybe hold back on calling him a kid," she suggested.

Clare raised an eyebrow at Lila through the mirror before sighing once more. "… I guess you're right. He'll always feel like a kid to me, but… he's growing up."

'Not as fast as you, according to him,' Lila thought.

"Anyway, that's all I wanted to say," Lila said after watching Clare carefully layer false eyelashes atop her real ones. "Uh, enjoy work, I guess."

"I will," Clare grinned. "After the chat with Mum and seeing how our parents were with Alex, it's taken a huge weight off my shoulders. I'll probably go flying."

"Well, don't fly too hard."

"No promises."

Lila quietly left Clare's room before shuffling into her own. Study was, regrettably, calling her name, so she dedicated herself to it for the rest of the evening. Realistically, she was also using it as a means to stop thinking about everything that had happened this week. She needed a break, and if study was the only means to get it since she wasn't with Asher, then so be it.