Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Three

The last day of camp started as the previous had – with Lila waking up to birdsong. Unlike yesterday, though, Grace and Elise were still in the tent, snoozing away peacefully. Lila checked the time – 7.08am.

She slipped out of the tent and towards the showers, grateful that she’d packed enough clothes for the trip. The line was shorter than yesterday, which signalled to Lila that most of her campmates were sleeping in.

Feeling the warmth rushing over her woke her up considerably – enough so that she could turn her mind to Grace. Would Grace try to talk to her soon? Should she just disregard Isaac’s advice and check in today?

Would they even have an opportunity to talk if this morning was dedicated to breakfast, packing up and travelling back to school? Grace would probably want to talk somewhere private, which would be hard to come by with all the activity that Lila anticipated.

With that, her decision was made for her – she’d have to wait. It likely meant that Grace would talk to Ms Alexander in the meantime, but at least Grace had had some time to think on her own these past couple of days. Hopefully, she’d been able to see Lila’s point of view…

Lila emerged from the shower, feeling resolute at the very least. For now, she could put the Grace situation to the back of her mind. Now that it was Friday, she needed to switch gears and think about Ayla’s information again, and tell Asher what she’d learned – and why they needed to keep an eye on Marlene again. The picture she’d seen still gave her the creeps, so she wasn’t concerned that she’d forgotten any details at least.

She’d also need to find out as much as she could about what happened with the Grade 12s while she and Asher had been away. Hopefully, her Dad would be forthcoming, considering she’d brought crucial bits of information to his attention, but he may not know the intricacies of what happened to their schooling lives, like suspensions or expulsions. Daniel was probably more suited for that type of update, but he might’ve stayed home for the latter half of the week, so he might not know much either.

Grace and Elise seemed to be stirring just as she returned to the tent. She wordlessly packed her toiletries and old clothes into her hiking bag and gathered what remained behind in a small pile to make it easier for herself when it came time to pack up everything else.

Neither Grace nor Elise spoke by the time Lila left again for breakfast. Overall, camp had been a good experience – one that had been tainted by how the conversation with Grace went, but ultimately Lila did manage to have some level of fun. She tried to bring that thought to the forefront of her mind as she looked over the common area in an attempt to find Asher. She looked to the left, but he wasn’t-

“Boo,” Asher’s voice on her right was low, sending tingles down her spine. She immediately turned to face him to find him smirking at her, his eyes bright and well-rested.

“Good morning,” she smiled. “You look awfully happy this morning.”

“Of course I am,” Asher confirmed with a serious nod. “We get to go home.”

“Are you sick of camp already?” Lila asked curiously.

“Well… it’s been long enough,” Asher replied sensibly. “Besides, you still haven’t told me your reasoning.”

“For?”

“Going to a café. Besides the fact that she’ll be there.”

Lila shot a furtive look behind him. Mr Vanderbilt was strolling by, his bucket hat firmly on his head. Stalking Asher’s potentially murderous maid was not something she wanted to reveal in front of anyone, let alone Asher’s PC teacher.

“Don’t worry about it. You know I’ll tell you,” Lila responded carefully.

“I know, but… well, now that I’ve gotten curious, I can see why you’ve been relentless until you found the answers,” he laughed. “It sucks.”

“I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it sucks,” Lila frowned. “Once you get the answers, it can be really satisfying. Especially when you’re nosy.”

He smiled at her before shaking his head. “I can’t believe you willingly enjoy overthinking.”

“Only for some things,” Lila replied softly. “If there’s a mystery, there’s some fun in trying to find out if I’m right or not.”

“Do you still have fun if you’re wrong?”

“Of course. Perhaps especially so.”

He looked bewildered. “I thought you like being right?”

“Everyone likes being right. But, if I’m wrong, figuring out why I was can be half the fun. Or, at the very least, just finding the answer is satisfying in and of itself – no matter how I got there.”

“I don’t get it at all.”

Lila’s eyes flickered up to his. They seemed entirely lost by the notion she’d put forward to him, which made her smile. “While I like putting the jigsaw pieces together, and it’s really satisfying when I finish the puzzle myself, the end product is a prize in and of itself – worthy of framing and hanging up in my mind.”

“I… guess,” Asher replied reluctantly. “Looks like I’ll just need to watch and learn from you. Maybe I’ll end up appreciating it one day.”

“I hope so. While overthinking comes with the territory, knowing the answer brings with it this kind of sweet relief.”

He pursed his lips before smiling at her once more. “Hearing you say that makes me feel so much more glad that I asked you for help, back in February. It’s like… you actually want to do all this.”

“I already told you I did.”

“I know – but I think my jigsaw puzzle, about figuring out why you’ve felt that way, is almost complete.”

“Did you add in the fact that I liked you into that jigsaw puzzle of yours?”

“No, actually,” he replied incredulously. “I didn’t realise-”

“I didn’t realise at the time, either, but now I’m pretty sure that it was one of my motivating factors. Being close to you then, and now, of course, feels… right.”

“Damn. I think I need to go see an optometrist,” he murmured. “I was so blind for so long. It’s kinda crazy, considering how much I thought about you.”

Lila laughed before falling silent, her brow furrowed. Asher… see an optometrist? For some reason, that sounded incredibly familiar – but why?

“Hey, looks like breakfast’s ready,” Asher said suddenly, gesturing to a point behind Lila. She turned, seeing that a line had indeed formed in front of the makeshift breakfast bar. Her thoughts on the phrase would have to wait – her stomach was beginning to rumble.

There was hot food once again, which Lila eagerly loaded onto her plate. Once they both had their breakfasts dished out, they headed to a spare spot on the tarp.

“Isaac sleeping in this morning?” Lila asked as she scooped some scrambled egg onto her fork.

“Yeah, he was still asleep when I left the tent. I kept him up again.”

“What’d you do?”

He paused before shovelling a substantial amount of bacon into his mouth. She patiently waited for him to swallow, which he did with the help of some orange juice.

“Just talking,” he finally said, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

“About?”

“Nothing much. Just guy stuff.”

“Guy stuff?”

“Yeah. I almost forgot we have soccer again on Saturday.”

Lila groaned. “I forgot about hockey, too.”

“Three more matches,” Asher nodded. “Well, unless we make it to finals. Then there’s another, of course.”

“What’s your chances of getting through to the finals?”

“I would’ve said probably not high… except for the fact that we beat St Peters, then tied the game after.”

Lila grinned at him. “You better make it through. I want to sit on the stands for your whole game and watch, you know.”

“What, are you guys not going through to the finals?”

“I doubt it. Alice and Willow will probably be gutted, since it’s their last year, but we were thrashed by St Peters. We’d only catch up if we score a ton of points in our next few matches – but that’s hard to do in hockey.”

“I see. Well… I’ll try my best,” he smiled with a twinkle in his eye that felt much like a promise to Lila.

“I’ll be cheering you on.”

They exchanged another smile before they continued to eat. Isaac eventually made an appearance, initially looking rather worn out. He eventually came back to life after eating and they chatted casually until it was announced that they had to pack up and get ready to head to the bus.

Lila was incredibly glad that this was the last time she’d have to pack up her tent with Grace and Elise. They were still rather silent, with Grace looking far more subdued than Lila had seen over the course of this camping trip.

Lila zipped up her hiking bag, making sure her blanket and anything else she’d need for the bus trip were at the top, before throwing it onto her right shoulder, her left holding the tent bag. She hesitated for a moment, wondering if, despite her conclusion this morning, she should turn around and ask how Grace was going.

With a deep breath, Lila marched back to the common area. Flip-flopping like this wasn’t a good idea. She needed to stick with her plan, especially since it was made with sound reasoning. There really wouldn’t be an opportunity to talk about the situation in private here, and after they arrived on campus, Lila and Asher would need to move quickly to catch Marlene at ‘Beans & Biscuits’ before her shift ended.

Lila’s return to the common area had been good timing, actually. The students who were already finished packing up their own tents were helping to clean up the rest of the facilities, and Lila jumped in, the busyness occupying her mind, too.

Finally, once all the tents were piled into the Ute that Rachael would be driving away, Mick, Henry and Rachael gave a general debrief to the students. Lila tightened her hold on her hiking bag as Mick pointed out some of the memories the students had made on this trip, earning a chuckle or two from everyone. There had been plenty of good ones, sure, but Lila was starting to regret not having made more with Grace and Elise.

Asher glanced down at her before shuffling closer. “Everything okay?” he whispered as Henry complimented the students’ survival skills.

“Yeah,” Lila replied just as quietly. He looked thoroughly unconvinced, but instead of saying anything more, he lifted her hiking bag from her and placed it on his free shoulder.

“Thanks,” she muttered.

“No need to thank me,” he murmured back, readjusting his shoulders.

Mick checked his watch before sharing a look with Ms Wang and Mr Vanderbilt. It seemed like it was time to leave.

This time, the hike didn’t go past the waterfall – instead, it was a much shorter journey further up the mountain they were on. Shorter didn’t necessarily mean less arduous and Lila was delighted for it to be over as she spied a bus idling alongside the road just ahead of them.

Just like it had been before they left on Monday morning, instructions were given to the students to pull out anything they needed for the bus ride back to school before bags were stored in the storage compartment. Head counts were made, and each of the students thanked the camp counsellors, who waved them on, before climbing up the stairs and settling into their seats.

Lila and Asher were among the last to board the bus and she took one sweep of the seating arrangements as she crested the stairs. It seemed that Grace had made the same arrangements with Amy as she had on Monday, resulting in Elise and Isaac sitting together with Grace and Amy just behind them. There was a spare seat in front of Elise and Isaac so Lila headed that way.

Elise and Isaac gave them both brief smiles as Lila and Asher slid into the empty seat. Lila fluffed out the blanket she carried, covering herself and Asher, before looking out the window. She could see the camp counsellors speaking with Ms Wang and Mr Vanderbilt, though she had no idea what it could have been about aside from a thank-you from their teachers.

“So, any thoughts about what you’ll order from ‘Beans & Biscuits’?” Asher’s voice pulled her attention to his grinning face.

She shook her head. “Not really. We normally go for breakfast, so I have no idea what their other food options are.”

“That’s true,” Asher tapped his chin in contemplation as Ms Wang and Mr Vanderbilt boarded the bus. “Do you reckon it’d be too early for lunch?”

“We’d have to see. How are we getting there, anyway?”

“George will take us to mine, then I guess we’ll walk? Unless you want me to ask him to wait for us to put our stuff down.”

“A walk… sounds good,” Lila replied carefully. She’d still need to be wary of who could be listening in to their conversation on the way to the café, but she reckoned that she should be able to let him know at least some of the things she’d learned from Ayla on the way.

“Alright, everyone,” Mr Vanderbilt’s tired voice silenced all conversation immediately. “It’s a two-hour bus ride back to school. You’re free to leave afterwards but if you can’t for whatever reason, you’ll have to remain in your PC classrooms until the end of the day.”

A small buzz of excitement began to build but Mr Vanderbilt simply sat down. The bus driver seemed to take this as a sign to start driving.

Unlike the journey here, most of the students were rather quiet. It seemed like everyone was pretty tired – Lila included. She settled herself next to Asher, leaning against his shoulder. She glanced up at him and he smiled at her, reaching over to touch her face. After so many days in his presence without much physical contact, the mere brush of his fingertips kickstarted her heart into a race she hadn’t expected, her cheeks filling with warmth.

“I’m really glad that we can go home,” he said quietly, his eyes not leaving hers as his fingers traced her skin. “Being unable to kiss you has been tougher than I thought.”

“I’ve been feeling the same,” Lila admitted softly, her eyes fluttering shut to enhance the sensation of his hand on her face. They remained like that for a little while before a disapproving cough sounded from behind them.

“We’re not even doing anything,” Asher sighed, pulling his hand away and sitting back in his seat with a tad bit of petulance.

“Yet,” Isaac replied. “You can go do whatever after you get off campus.”

“You’re so weirdly intense about this,” Lila huffed. “I think you need a hobby.”

“Got one,” Isaac retorted. “Saving you guys from certain doom.”

Lila snorted. “That’s a bit dramatic.”

“On the contrary, you’re not being dramatic enough,” Isaac countered.

“I feel like the more you keep going on about this, the more tempted I’m going to get,” Lila said.

“Don’t you dare.”

Lila laughed, though she did scoot closer to the window instead of Asher. The bus ride proceeded without much in the way of conversation or interest for a while. The residual effects of sleeping uncomfortably during the camp, along with the emotional rollercoaster she’d experienced all week, were lulling her into sleep the longer the bus ride went on.

Eventually, though, Asher nudged Lila’s shoulder a few times. She opened her bleary eyes, confused by the unexpected contact. How long had she been asleep? Had they already arrived at school?

“Your phone has been going off,” he explained as she rubbed her eyes.

“W-What?” she yawned, patting the pocket that held her phone. She pulled it out and saw that she’d indeed received plenty of notifications. Judging by the time, they were about halfway through the bus trip.

It looked to be reminders for her phone games as well as text messages from Daniel – but those hadn’t been sent just now. Her phone must’ve received signal while she’d been asleep, which meant his texts could come through. She looked up at Asher, suddenly wide awake.

“They’re texts from Daniel,” she whispered, leaning closer to Asher. She placed her phone between them and opened her conversation history with Daniel.

I know ur away but damn

Lila clicked on this message and saw that it had been sent after lunch on Monday.

Heckas, followed immediately after.

She frowned. That told her absolutely nothing.

“He’s… not the most talkative over text, is he?” Asher chuckled.

“Not really – but this is stupid,” Lila replied, pursing her lips as she scrolled.

So Livi’s group got called to the Headmaster’s office, was Daniel’s Tuesday afternoon update. It was followed by a skull emoji.

Yoooo y r the popo here?? was Daniel’s Wednesday morning update. Raiding lockers????

The… popo? He probably meant the Police, right? In that case, it was far more serious than a mere expulsion, if the Police resorted to an on-campus raid. There were no more updates, which worried Lila. She quickly switched to the family group chat, as another notification was waiting there, before rolling her eyes. The notification was a demand from Daniel for orange and mango juice on Thursday afternoon. Clearly, he was fine.

“Never mind not being talkative,” Asher said with a raised eyebrow. “He’s just not a good storyteller.”

“He’s always been better with numbers,” Lila sighed. “Should I ask him for more info?”

Asher peered at her phone for a moment before shaking his head. “Nah. He’ll be in class, and I doubt we’d get a coherent update anyway. Maybe you can ask him when you go home?”

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“I’ll have to,” Lila replied, changing from her text history to a phone game that required internet. “My curiosity won’t budge until I do.”

“Fair.”

Her mind was still conjuring up theories about what could have happened as she impatiently waited for the journey to be over. Her phone games weren’t able to entertain her enough to forget about it for now, and she eventually turned her phone off, watching the scenery flash from the countryside to the highway.

With about half an hour to go, Ms Wang stood up, facing the back of the bus. Mr Vanderbilt also stood, his face weary. He looked to have aged ten years since they left the campgrounds.

“Alright, students, we have an important announcement,” Ms Wang called, though her tone was incredibly reluctant. It evidently caught everyone’s attention as they instantly stopped talking and looked ahead at their teachers.

“I regret to inform you that the Head Boy and Girl were expelled on Wednesday,” Ms Wang began. The students erupted into frantic conversation, which was silenced by Mr Vanderbilt demanding so. “Several other Grade 12 students were also expelled.”

“Holy shit,” Liam’s voice carried over the hush. Ms Wang gave him a stern look, seeing as he sat in the front, as she continued though it was without direct reprimand.

“We are notifying you of this now so that it won’t be a shock to return on Monday with this news,” Ms Wang continued. “Additionally, there will be an assembly held first thing on Monday morning. That means formal uniforms, blazers and stockings. For everyone,” Ms Wang cast another stern look, this time at everyone sitting on the bus. The tension was palpable as Ms Wang remained silent for another moment. “Please refrain from unnecessary gossip and rumours in the meantime. As I said, the school will provide an announcement with the official explanation on Monday.”

Both teachers sat back down, and Lila felt a wave of unease come over her. The bus was quiet for a few more seconds before the noise picked up, hardly allowing her room to think. Jason, Harper and several unnamed others. Had it been everyone who was part of that group?

Lila looked up at Asher, who seemed just as uneasy as she felt by the news.

“Damn, straight to expulsion? Seems… quick,” he said in clear disbelief.

“Yeah,” Lila uttered, folding her arms across her chest. “Whatever the Police found must’ve been significant enough to run straight to expulsion, rather than what they did with Piper – suspend first, then give them a second chance.”

“Jesus,” Asher breathed, placing a hand over his mouth. “I… knew it’d lead to something like this, logically, but… I can’t stop feeling sorry for them.”

“They would’ve known the risks. Well, everyone except Zack, probably,” Lila responded. “Besides, it was wrong.”

“I know that,” Asher said with a heavy exhale. “I just… couldn’t imagine being expelled. Especially since Term 3 is halfway over. I think… I’d feel like my life was ruined.”

“And that’s why I don’t want you guys to get detention,” Isaac piped up. Lila froze. How… much had Isaac heard? Things like the mention of Police, and knowing that it would lead to something like this – that wasn’t information that made sense based on the announcement alone.

“Isaac, detention and expulsion are wildly different,” Asher replied plainly, turning around to look at Isaac. “Detention’s whatever. I don’t even think they go on your school record.”

“I know they are, but I still think you’d think your life is over-”

“Doubtful. Besides, unless you’re planning on expelling me yourself, I think I’ll take my chances with detention. Expulsion is not on my to-do list.”

“Why do you think they got expelled?” Elise’s question shut both boys up before they had a chance to continue the argument.

“Must’ve been bad,” Isaac responded darkly. “The Head Boy and Head Girl?”

“Do you think they murdered Piper?” Elise asked.

“Jesus, what? Where’d you get that idea?” Isaac’s voice was bewildered.

“What else could it have been? Surely the school protects the Head Boy and Girl as much as they can,” Elise replied snappishly. “Those are, like, untouchable positions.”

Lila picked at her nails. She had considered telling Isaac about the investigation yesterday, but now she was unexpectedly apprehensive about divulging the fact that, technically, she and Asher were involved in the expulsions. Again, since they’d been involved in Piper’s, too. Besides, though she knew it was a likely outcome, to have it confirmed like this was a whole different ballgame. Just what had the Police found?

She exchanged a look with Asher, who subtly shook his head as if he read her mind about telling people about their involvement.

“Clearly, they were banging on campus,” Liam’s obnoxious voice floated over to them, followed up with an unsettling guffaw.

“What, the Head Boy and Girl?” Callum’s equally obnoxious voice asked. “And a whole bunch of other Grade 12s?”

“Would you get expelled for that? Not suspended?” piped up Michael.

“Boys, what did I just say about rumours?” Ms Wang’s sharp voice stopped their snickering immediately.

“Sorry, ma’am,” came the glum chorus from said boys.

Lila reckoned it was an interesting theory that only boys would come up with. Of course, the truth was far different than whatever scenario was running through their minds.

Lila did suppose that with Jason and Livi’s reputations for promiscuity, those two could have done something like that on campus at least once – probably not together, though.

She glanced back at Elise and Isaac, who seemed deep in thought.

“What’s your theory, Isaac?” Lila asked. He looked at her for a moment, as though he hadn’t heard what she said.

“I… think it could be something along the lines of a party gone wrong. Busted with alcohol, probably,” he said after a moment. “Definitely not murder.”

Elise pouted. “Way to shut down my theory.”

“Why would the Head Boy and Girl want to murder Piper, of all people?” Isaac countered, his apparent bemusement increasing by the second.

“Why wouldn’t they? She was such a creep!” Elise retorted.

Something in Lila shifted. Piper had been a creep, but… Lila couldn’t get the imagery of Ayla’s shaky tears staining Lila’s shirt out of her mind.

“You make it sound as if she deserved to be murdered,” Lila replied. Elise grimaced, her body language immediately descending into awkwardness.

“That… wasn’t my intention,” Elise mumbled.

“I know. Still, though. She had people who loved her, who would probably get upset if they heard what you said,” Lila said softly. She turned back to the front of the bus, unsure why she’d said that. She was ultimately glad, in a twisted way, that Piper had been murdered since it meant she couldn’t stalk Asher and Lila anymore – and yet… it felt wrong to express that kind of thing aloud, after seeing how devastated Ayla still was about her death.

Asher looked at her curiously, but she refused to meet his gaze. He’d understand once she got a chance to tell him what happened with Ayla. Probably.

“A-Anyway,” Isaac interjected tentatively. “What’s your theory, Asher?”

“For?” Asher twisted in his seat to look back at Isaac.

“… the expulsions?”

“Oh. Drugs.”

“Drugs?” Isaac repeated, his voice raising in pitch. “Drugs?”

Lila shot Asher a warning look. As he looked back at her, she could see that it only dawned on him just now that he’d let something slip.

“Y-Yeah. I mean, if it’s not alcohol, it’d have to be drugs, right?” Asher hurriedly added.

“What, like marijuana?” Elise queried.

“Why’s that the first one that comes to your mind?” Isaac questioned.

“Better that than cocaine, right?” Elise responded matter-of-factly. “Besides, I don’t like anything up my nose.”

“I-I guess,” Isaac spluttered.

“I don’t have any particular drugs in mind,” Asher replied just as matter-of-factly.

“What about you, Lila? You got any different theories?” Elise asked conversationally.

“M-Me?” Lila stammered. She could feel Asher’s eyes boring into her as she contemplated an acceptable answer. “Uh, plagiarism?”

“Plagiarism?” Isaac’s surprise was evident in his tone, somehow overtaking his previous displays of surprise. “You think they got expelled for plagiarism?”

“Well, if it’s not anything else,” Lila explained uncomfortably.

“Can you even get expelled for plagiarism?” Elise enquired.

“I’d expel ‘em for plagiarising,” Asher cut in. “Do your own work.”

“Of course you would,” Elise replied as though it was obvious.

“Well, we can add that theory to the maybe pile,” Isaac said thoughtfully. “Wonder what it’ll end up being.”

“We’ll find out on Monday,” Asher said sensibly. “Just gotta be patient.”

“Nah, I bet the Grade 12s in our soccer team will know,” Isaac replied enthusiastically, leaning forward in his seat. “We can ask them tomorrow.”

Lila was glad Isaac couldn’t see her directly as she visibly cringed in her seat. Chances were that Zack was one of the students who had been expelled, and it was 50/50 whether Theo had been expelled as well. It would probably be a very sore subject for the soccer boys, but she wasn’t going to allude to that.

“Sure,” Asher responded noncommittally. “If we’ve got time.”

Their conversation about the Grade 12s faded into more discussion about assignments, which Lila felt far better engaging with. Gradually, the scenery outside became far more familiar to Lila and she nudged Asher, who was talking to Isaac about their Chem assignment.

“We’re almost at school,” she said.

“I’ll let George know,” he replied, pulling out his phone. “I’m ecstatic to get off this bus.”

“Same,” Lila nodded. “Starting to get hungry, too.”

“Perfect,” Asher grinned. “I’ve got a place in mind.”

She smiled at him in response. It didn’t take long for Ms Wang to stand up again, announcing that the bus was almost at school now, and reminding students to take all their things with them.

As soon as the bus parked, the students went into a flurry, scrambling to get off whilst chatting away – mostly about the Grade 12s.

Stepping off the bus after a polite thanks to the driver made Lila’s excitement stir. Finally, she would spend some time with Asher, away from everyone else – particularly Isaac. If nothing else, it meant she could tell him about the photo Ayla showed her, and openly discuss the expulsions.

Plus… they were going on another date. Sure, it was really to keep tabs on Marlene – perhaps even see if her body type matched the figure in the window – but Lila couldn’t help but remember the fact that the last time they were at Marlene’s café, they hadn’t yet been dating.

“Lost in thought?” Asher asked, readjusting his shoulders so that both of their hiking bags sat on his shoulders nicely. She hadn’t noticed that he’d gone to grab them.

“A bit,” Lila replied bashfully.

“Well, I’ve got internet on my phone now. I can transfer you a dollar,” he grinned. She playfully bumped his shoulder.

“Stop trying to buy me off.”

“But it makes you smile every time,” he protested. Lila paused. Did it?

She felt a blush rising on her cheeks before three sharp claps interrupted her train of thought. Looking over at the source, she saw Ms Wang and Mr Vanderbilt standing with their right arms in the air. Lila obediently raised her right arm, glancing at Asher as she did so to ensure he also followed suit.

“Alright. Now that everything is out of the bus, you are all dismissed. If you can’t go home, please sit in your assigned PC class. I realise that you may not have your laptops or study materials on campus – so it will be free time until the end of the day,” Mr Vanderbilt called out. There was a pause. “Well, go on,” he gestured at the students to move along.

They didn’t need to be told again. Gleefully, the students separated, with most heading over to the carpark or bus station. Lila caught Isaac and Elise’s attention with a goodbye wave, which they returned.

“Reckon they’re gonna hang out for the rest of the day?” Lila queried as Asher led her to the carpark where George was undoubtedly waiting for them.

“I think Isaac mentioned he had a McShift,” Asher replied with a shrug. “He said he was taking advantage of the earlier start so he could go home earlier and sleep off his post-camp exhaustion in time for the game.”

“Oh,” Lila uttered, slightly disappointed. “I’d kinda thought that maybe they’d stick together.”

Asher shrugged again. “I still reckon that they’re getting closer, so it should be fine.”

Lila sighed, taking one of his arms in her own. He looked down at her, his eyes widening with surprise before softening alongside his smile.

As she suspected, George’s taxi was trundling in the waiting bay. He immediately jumped out to help Asher place the hiking bags into the trunk once they were close enough, and Lila pleasantly greeted him before climbing into the taxi. The journey to Asher’s was filled with Asher recounting some of their camp activities, to George’s evident amusement.

The familiarity of Asher’s house elicited a feeling of comfort over Lila as George parked the taxi. It was almost as though, despite the chaos surrounding her, there was a stability here that she could melt into.

After a cheery goodbye to George, Asher pulled their hiking bags to the front doors before unlocking them. He stepped aside to let Lila through before shuffling in and closing the doors behind them.

“Gabriel,” Asher called, his voice echoing down the hallway, “are you here?”

There was silence before a great clattering sounded from the butler’s pantry. Lila and Asher exchanged the briefest look possible before hurrying towards the source.

Of course, the source was Gabriel, who met them by the island bench, wiping his hands on a paper towel.

“Welco- Lila! You’re here as well,” Gabriel beamed, continuing to wipe his hands on the paper towel.

“Hello, Gabriel,” Lila smiled. Her eyes flashed to his hands. A small pool of blood was spreading throughout the paper towel. “Are you hurt?”

“Me?” Gabriel looked down at his hand before shaking his head with a laugh. “Par for the course in this profession, my dear. I was preparing some vegetables to accompany dinner when Asher surprised me.”

“Sorry,” Asher replied instantly, letting go of their hiking bags and hurrying towards an upper cabinet in the right corner. He opened it and pulled out a box of various plasters and bandages before heading to Gabriel’s side. “Here, show me.”

“No, thank you,” Gabriel replied, screwing his brow to indicate that he found offence in Asher’s suggestion. He plucked the items from Asher’s hands before turning around. “Thanks for these. Now shoo.”

“Gabriel-”

“You’ll hurt my pride far more than this knife did my finger,” Gabriel responded, shooting a warning look at Asher. “I’ll be fine.”

Asher’s expression was doubtful, but he relented all the same, picking up their hiking bags. “If you’re sure. Lila and I were planning on going to a café for some food. Were you going to-”

“No plans here,” Gabriel confirmed, inspecting a box of band-aids. “This has hindered me some. Go have fun.”

Asher exchanged an unsure look with Lila before they shuffled towards the stairs. It didn’t take Asher long to put their things into the rumpus room and they headed back down.

“See you later, Gabriel,” Asher said as they passed the kitchen. Gabriel popped his head out of the butler’s pantry with an energetic wave and about three plasters wrapped around his thumb. Lila was tempted to ask if Gabriel was okay again but he disappeared before she could try.

Asher gently took Lila’s hand as he led her to the front doors.

“Still feeling hungry?” he asked as he opened them for her.

“Definitely,” Lila smiled as she put her shoes on.

They began their leisurely journey towards the shopping district, the warmth from his hand bringing another smile to her face. She had definitely missed this over the week.

Since it was a Friday morning, nearing 10.45am, the street they were walking along was entirely devoid of both cars and people. With that, she could at least tell Asher why they needed to go to the café whilst there was some level of privacy.

“So… you’re probably still wondering why we’re going to ‘Beans & Biscuits’,” Lila said quietly.

“Yes,” Asher instantly replied. “I’ve been racking my brains, but I’m coming up empty besides just because she’s been at the top of our list for a while.”

“Well, that’s part of it,” Lila admitted, “but something happened at camp.”

“Yeah, you kinda alluded to that.”

“When Ayla and I talked, after coming back from the beach, she mentioned a few things,” Lila began, glancing around once more to see if anyone was in the vicinity. There wasn’t, so she continued. “She was in love with Piper.”

“Damn,” Asher uttered incredulously. “Seriously?”

“Entirely. It… really shocked me. I hadn’t considered that anyone would have those kinds of feelings for her and, for some reason, I’d never thought Ayla would be lesbian.”

Asher paused before shrugging. “It never occurred to me whether she was or wasn’t. Though, I have heard a few stories of guys being turned down by her over the years.”

Lila thought back to when Cecelia mentioned that Lucas had confessed to Ayla last year and ‘gotten destroyed’ by her, whatever that meant. That made quite a lot of sense now.

“Anyway, the day we saw Piper at the shops, Ayla had actually tried to hang out with her. She said she was going to confess to Piper, but Piper had something important to do. She didn’t say what specifically, but Ayla got a selfie from Piper later that day.” Lila cast another look around – the street remained desolate. “A selfie with Mr Snugglebutt.”

Asher’s grip on Lila’s hand tightened. “What?”

“At the farmhouse.”

“Holy shit.”

“And… this is really creepy, but… in the window, behind Piper, was the figure we saw. Except I could see a little more detail of it and it looked feminine,” Lila added the last part in a whisper. Asher stopped walking, his eyes wide.

“You’re joking.”

“I wish I was. I almost wanted to throw up, but I tried not to react too much. Ayla noticed that I looked a bit freaked out though, and she… she mentioned that she’s wondered whether Piper had taken a picture of her murderer.”

Asher’s face visibly paled as he brought a hand to his mouth. His eyes were subtly shifting side-to-side, as though he was running through a million thoughts in his mind. Then, he spoke.

“You said… it looked feminine. Do you reckon it looked like Marlene?”

“It was mostly indistinct, but the body type looked similar enough. I thought asking for the selfie would be weird, so that’s all I’ve got. I… I just think we should keep some more tabs on Marlene again. Just in case. I mean, the farmhouse is… well, was, connected to your house. We know that she knew about the farmhouse since she was the only one who could’ve taken the pictures of the farmhouse out of the stack of photos we had. It just keeps lining up.”

Asher visibly swallowed, his eyes troubled. “Yeah. You’re right.”

They stood for a few more moments, neither one moving nor saying anything until Lila sighed. “I didn’t mean to ruin your lunch, though.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Asher replied, though it sounded hollow. “It… well, it’s bringing more weight to the idea that Piper was murdered at the farmhouse. And… I know that Marlene couldn’t have murdered her, but she could have had an accomplice. An accomplice that we might see at the café.”

“Yeah. Maybe.”

Asher took her hand again, bringing it to his lips. “Let’s go, then.”

She squeezed his hand and they continued their walk, both evidently deep in thought. The idea of Marlene with an accomplice sounded hard to believe, but at the same time, it made sense. She could have killed Piper for stalking Asher via an accomplice, which is why she fled to Vanuatu – for an alibi.

Had she done the same thing in December?

Lila’s heart began to pound as she remembered the notes they’d compiled about Marlene, way back in the Term One holidays. Marlene… had been away, visiting family from the 23rd to the 30th of December. Evidently, she hadn’t been called back earlier to cover Gabriel when he went to sort out the theft at the Coolisimo Nightclub, which may have meant that, even though Asher had thought she stayed local to the area, she was ‘out of town’ and unable to come back earlier. It also meant that she was away when Asher’s Mum went missing on the 28th…

“Where are we sitting today, boss?” Asher’s voice sounded distant, as though they were a football field apart. She blinked up at him.

“O-Oh. Well, I think… we could sit where we normally sat, outside. Where we saw the… uni student that she assaulted,” Lila grimaced at these words. Marlene had proven herself to be capable on her own to do some serious damage to someone else. “But ideally, we want to be able to see her without her noticing us.”

“I doubt she’d think we’d go to the café after camp,” Asher said slowly, intertwining their fingers together. “We could probably get away with sitting inside since she won’t be expecting to see us.”

“We’ll have to see if there’s a good vantage point in there,” Lila nodded.

The shopping district was in full view now and Lila could see it was bustling with people – mostly the elderly and middle-aged women. Here and there were some very young families, too. Despite this, though, the shopping district wasn’t packed – just moderately busy.

She hoped it meant the café was busy enough for Marlene to not have a spare moment to look around, but she’d have to see.

“Here goes,” Asher smiled at Lila as they slowed their approach towards ‘Beans & Biscuits’. “Time for some lunch and some good old… reconnaissance.”

Lila laughed, shaking her head. “We’re not military, you know.”

“I know. Yet, anyway.”

“Yet? Are you planning to go into the military?” For some reason, the idea of Asher going into the military made her feel uneasy.

“Not necessarily the military – but the government in general sounds interesting.”

Lila wrinkled her nose. “Does it?”

Asher shrugged. “To me, yeah. I was thinking about signing up for the youth parliament program, actually.”

That made Lila feel uneasy for different reasons. Youth parliament? Sounded boring. But… if he wanted to do it, there was no reason for her to be unsupportive.

“That could be interesting. I can see why you’d want to go for it, since you like debating.”

Asher’s eyes sparkled. “Wanna join with me?”

“I… I’d have to think about it,” Lila replied somewhat awkwardly. “It sounds intimidating.”

“Could be fun. Besides, we’d be together.”

“I’ll look into it, but no guarantees.”

He grinned at her. “Deal.”

With that, they’d reached the door to ‘Beans & Biscuits’, with Lila’s stomach suddenly flipping at the thought of seeing Marlene again. A wave of paranoia settled over Lila as Asher placed his hand on the door to open it.

Would Marlene see them? Would she know they suspected her? How could they keep their presence hidden from her?

Asher swung open the door with a familiar tingle.