Chapter One Hundred and Four

Lila wasn’t enthusiastic about attending school in the rain that Monday morning. It was that cold, dreadful kind of rain that seemed to reach her from all sides, despite her umbrella.

Starting the term with Design with the sound of raindrops battering the Applied Tech building windows didn’t help to wake Lila up at all either. Though she’d been able to sleep after Asher left last night, it had been fraught with worry.

It seemed that Mr Dillon was also still in holiday mode, however, as their lesson that morning was quite tame, despite the fact that it was now Term 3.

By the time she was released, though, Lila was wide awake. She had English now with Asher. If she was this tired, was he okay?

Today, she was surprised to see him wearing a jumper over his uniform. He stood outside the English classroom, his face looking rather serious, an umbrella shielding him from the rain. Having not seen him in uniform for two weeks, Lila was struck by how well it clung to his frame – though, of course, he still wore his uniform in a tasteful disarray.

Lila’s heart skipped as his eyes lifted to meet hers, his brilliant smile brightening his otherwise tired face.

“Hey,” he said happily. “I’m really glad to see you.”

“Same here,” Lila grinned. “Been a while.”

He winked at her in response before gesturing to their English classroom, causing her stomach to flutter. “A few people are inside already, but Ms Shard hasn’t arrived yet.”

Lila nodded, trying to ignore how weak her knees were feeling, and reached out a hand to open the door, the other struggling to keep her umbrella open. Asher gently pushed both her hands away, raising his umbrella high above them both.

“Here,” he said in a low voice. “Close your umbrella. I’ll keep the rain off while you get in.”

It took all of Lila’s brainpower to not let out a squeak in response. He had stepped close to her, the heat from his body transferring to her cheeks. She gave him a nervous smile, doing just as he suggested.

A clear hush settled over the room as Lila entered. Asher followed close behind, a few drops dusting his blazer. Lila felt unnerved by the silence of her classmates, who had clearly been talking only a second ago. She glanced at Asher, who smiled serenely at her. It seemed like he hadn’t noticed their classmates’ sudden hush. Lila smiled tentatively at him before crossing over to their desks that they’d sat in for the past couple of terms.

Once they sat down, Lila could hear indistinct whispers from their classmates. Were they talking about her and Asher? It certainly felt that way.

“So, excited for the new term?” Asher asked as he scooted his chair forward.

“Not really,” Lila sighed, feeling many pairs of eyes burning a hole in the back of her head.

“Why not?” Asher replied, seeming shocked. “We’ve got our school camp this term.”

Lila had completely forgotten that was even a thing. “When?”

“Beginning of August, I think. This year is the really out-in-the-bush one. Where we have to do canoeing, bike riding, hiking, all that.”

Lila groaned. “Sounds like such a slog.”

“Probably will be,” Asher glanced at her before looking back down at his desk. “I can help carry your stuff if you need me to.”

Lila sat up straight, shaking her head immediately. “I’ll be fine. Thanks for the offer.”

Asher pursed his lips before sighing. “If you say so.”

Before Lila could say anything else, Ms Shard strolled through the door, clad in a red raincoat with a matching hat perched on her head.

“Welcome back, everyone,” she said, hurrying over to the projector. “Sorry I’m late. We’ll get started immediately, shall we?”

Lila didn’t have another opportunity to talk to Asher throughout their English lesson. Lila was surprised to find that Asher’s white lie to Marlene, about his interest in the Brontë sisters’ works being due to wanting a head start on their English assignment, wasn’t as much of a lie after all. They were supposed to analyse a collection of poems from different eras, with some of the Brontë sisters’ poems being part of the selection they could choose from. The end result was to produce a persuasive essay regarding both the evolution of influential poems and their techniques, as well as what has remained the same throughout the years.

Lila wasn’t confident at all about this assignment this time around – poems just didn’t speak to her as much as long-form books did.

“A challenge,” Asher muttered as Ms Shard was wrapping up the lesson. Lila gave him a sideways glance before murmuring her agreement.

“Wanna study at mine so we can help each other out?” Asher suggested in a close whisper, his breath tickling her ear. She suppressed her shudder, but only just.

“Y-Yeah. At some point. It’s probably a bit early now,” she whispered back.

“You’re now dismissed for morning tea,” Ms Shard announced over the premature clatter of students standing and packing up. Lila and Asher joined the throng of students pushing out the door. Luckily, it had stopped raining, so Lila didn’t need to fuss around with her umbrella. Asher tucked one of his hands in his pocket, the other grasping his dripping, closed umbrella as they strolled towards the locker room.

“How’d you sleep?” Lila asked after a couple paces of contented silence.

“Like shit,” Asher replied candidly. “You?”

“It… wasn’t the best. Wasn’t the worst, though.”

“Well, mid-tier sleep is better than no sleep, I suppose,” Asher laughed.

Lila was about to add to that when the sound of wet, running footsteps slapping the concrete behind them caught her attention. She turned towards the source only to witness a blur running straight into Asher, who stumbled forward with an ‘ack!’.

“ASHER!” cried the figure clutching tightly onto Asher. Lila stepped back, shielding her eyes from the sun to see who it was – though she had a pretty good guess.

“I-Isaac,” Asher choked. “J-Jesus, you’re gonna kill me.”

“Sorry,” Isaac let go of Asher, who wheezed in response.

“Good to see you too, mate,” Asher eventually said after regaining his breath, batting him gently on the shoulder with his umbrella.

“Man, you are a sight for sore eyes,” Isaac sniffed, wiping at the wet patch on his shoulder. Then, he turned to look at Lila. “Oh, hey Lila.”

“Hi Isaac,” Lila snickered. “Glad to see you’re in high spirits.”

“‘Course I am. I’m reunited with my buddy after you stole him.”

“That’s a heavy accusation,” Lila laughed, holding up a hand in surrender. “I didn’t steal him.”

“Wench!” Isaac cried dramatically. Asher clapped him on the back, causing Isaac to descend into a coughing fit.

“Let’s go, dummy,” Asher smirked, pulling Isaac along with him. The trio continued on their journey towards the locker room, with Isaac launching into tales of his McExploits, as Lila had predicted. Then, just before they crossed the threshold, Isaac’s light-hearted expression waned into something serious.

“Lila, I just wanted to say thanks,” he said sincerely. “For talking to Elise. She ended up taking on far less day shifts. She still worked most nights for the extra pay, but she stopped going so hard, at least.”

Lila looked at him in surprise. “I’m glad to hear it, but I’m not sure why you’re thanking me. It’s something that I’d do whether or not you asked – she’s my friend too, you know.”

Isaac’s face turned a strange shade of pink. “I-It just… felt right. That’s all. Anyway, I’m starving.” He briskly marched off into the locker room, leaving Lila and Asher to share a bemused look.

“Somehow, I think he likes her even more than I thought,” Asher observed. “We’ll need to figure out how to bring them together.”

“We can brainstorm another time,” Lila nodded, glancing behind her. “I can sense Elise looming behind me.”

“Good call,” Asher smiled. “Here she looms. See you at lunch.”

“See ya,” Lila replied, giving him a small wave. He beamed at her before disappearing into the locker room. He’d hardly been gone a second when a pair of hands hovered over Lila’s eyes.

“Gueeeeess who?” the unmistakable voice of Elise called from behind Lila.

“Hmm… Clare?” Lila teased.

“How dare you!” Elise replied dramatically. “Have another guess.”

“Of course I know it’s you, Elise,” Lila laughed, spinning around to give her a hug. Lila noticed that her frame was still thinner than usual, but her face looked healthier than when Lila saw her last.

“Has Grace arrived yet?” Elise asked, looping her arm in Lila’s. They entered the bustling and raucous locker room at a casual pace.

“Dunno,” Lila responded with a shrug. “She might already be waiting for us.”

Lila didn’t see Grace as she packed away her things and brought out her morning tea, but once she closed her locker, Grace appeared, out of breath.

“Hey guys,” Grace said, inhaling shallowly. “Sorry I’m late.”

“Eh, you’re not late,” Elise replied reassuringly. “Come, let’s go find somewhere to sit.”

They found a spot near the locker room that was insulated enough from the cold to be comfortable.

“So, what’d you get up to?” Lila queried, looking at both of her friends over her tub of yoghurt.

“Went to Adelaide,” Grace replied nonchalantly. “It was fun. Caught up with some family, hung out a bit. Ended up being really busy sightseeing and shopping, though. Got back on Saturday.”

“Sounds nice,” Lila smiled. “Did you get up to anything else besides work, Elise?”

“M-Me?” Elise spluttered, spilling a few cookie crumbs onto her dress. She brushed them away hurriedly.

“Yeah,” Lila furrowed her brow in confusion. “Was it an unexpected question?”

“N-No,” Elise responded, shaking her head. “I just thought Grace would say more.”

“Sorry to disappoint, but I really don’t have much more to say,” Grace shrugged, dipping a carrot stick in hummus. “Most of the stories I’ve got don’t make sense unless you’re family. I do have some pictures of food I ate, but they’re also on Insta.”

“Well, Elise, anything to add?” Lila questioned playfully.

“Nah,” Elise said, “if I wasn’t working, I was at home resting. Pretty boring.”

“Fair,” Lila nodded.

“What about you, Lila? What’d you get up to?” Elise swiftly inquired, placing another cookie in her mouth.

“Uh…” Lila tried to recall what she had gotten up to. Her memory was rather blank after the interview with the police – almost as if they’d wiped it. “Uh, I guess I hung out with Asher for a bit, then he went to Vanuatu… I went to Bounce with Clare, and then the Mudgeeraba Show with Daniel, Mum, and Dad. When Asher came back, I went over again, then he went over to mine yesterday. We played some board games with Clare and Daniel. Had some tocino.”

‘Broke into a house… investigated a creepy-ass farmhouse… went to the police station… tried to file a missing person report…’ Lila added internally.

“Are you guys dating yet?” Grace asked, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

“No… we’re not,” Lila sighed. “You’d definitely know if we were. He’s… been kinda confusing me, actually. But…” Lila lifted the chain she’d hidden under her school uniform, exposing the pendant of the necklace Asher had given her. “He got me this while he was away.”

“Ooh,” Elise and Grace cooed in unison, leaning forward for a better look.

“That’s kinda romantic, don’t you think?” Grace suggested, waggling her eyebrows at Lila. Lila’s face turned crimson as she tucked it back under her uniform.

“M-Maybe? I mean, people get souvenirs for friends, too,” Lila said awkwardly. Romantic, huh…

“Sure, but that’s usually, like, a keychain. Maybe a snack. Not a beautiful silver necklace,” Elise replied plainly.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“Well, he did get me a few other things, too. A fan, a book, a bag, some other stuff. He said…” Lila stopped herself from saying anything more. Her friends would probably freak out and misunderstand if she told them what Asher had said when he gave her the rest of her souvenirs.

“He said…?” Elise pressed, her expression expectant.

“Nothing,” Lila replied, her face deepening in colour. “He said… nothing.”

“I think all three of us know that’s bull,” Elise said shrewdly, tilting her head. “C’mon… what’d he say?”

Lila sighed, relenting. “He said he bought me a gift for every day that he missed me.”

“He WHAT!” Elise squealed. “Lila, that’s the cutest shit I’ve heard all day.”

Lila buried her face in her hands as Grace joined in on the squealing. Despite the fact that it was embarrassing, how big a deal her friends were making it out to be, it reassured Lila that she’d been right. It was a big deal – worth all the time she’d spent thinking about what he’d said after coming home on Saturday night.

“Okay, okay, but what’s his deal?” Elise finally huffed after sobering up. “Like, how can he say and do all that but not ask you to be his?”

“I don’t know,” Lila whined through her hands. “I’m too scared to ask what he’s waiting for now.” She abruptly looked up at them, suddenly remembering their encounter with Holly at the shops. “Especially ‘cause we saw his ex at the shops in the first week of holidays and he said he felt nothing towards her. I thought… now that he wasn’t hung up on her, we’d surely start dating. That’s logical, right?”

“Sounds logical to me,” Grace said soothingly. “Do you want one of us to ask what he’s waiting for?”

“No,” Lila replied firmly, dropping her hands. “Definitely not.”

Grace and Elise exchanged a look.

“If you say so,” Grace said doubtfully. “You look like you want to know, though.”

“He’ll… he’ll talk to me about it, I’m sure. I just don’t want to pressure him,” Lila said in a small voice, absently playing with the hem of her dress.

“Now that you say that, it’s probably a good idea,” Grace replied wisely. “Pressuring him would probably get you the opposite result, what with how anxious that guy is.”

“You’ve noticed he’s anxious?” Lila was surprised by this revelation. Grace never really took notice of guys in general.

“Lila,” Grace responded through pursed lips. “If the dictionary had pictures, his face would be right next to the word for anxiety. At least, that’s how it’s been when we have lunch with him and you guys aren’t interacting, for whatever reason. Poor guy’s most likely overworking himself, both in school and with figuring out what he wants to do about the fact you guys like each other.”

“Agreed,” Elise added. “I’m sure he’ll work it out sometime soon.”

Lila sighed despondently. While she’d said that she’d wait for Asher, for however long it would take, she hadn’t realised it would take longer than this. Not that she wouldn’t wait – but it would’ve been helpful to prepare her hopeful heart from being broken at every opportunity that passed them by.

A few beats passed in silence before Lila’s friends changed the conversation to a TV show they were mutually watching, eventually moving on to other normal topics. It definitely helped lessen some of Lila’s disheartened feelings, at least.

They wrapped up their morning tea with some McGossip from Elise – mostly about how Isaac fumbled with the fries dispenser, known affectionately as Frankie, resulting in everyone having to measure basketfuls of fries per hand for a couple days – and entered PC with high spirits.

The mood turned dour, however, when Ms Wang sombrely greeted the class.

“I hope everyone had a… pleasant break, for the most part,” she began, folding her arms across her chest and leaning against her desk. There was not a sound emitted from any of the students, with each person staring intently at Ms Wang. Though she wasn’t ordinarily the most cheerful teacher, this was an entirely different level of severity than they’d experienced thus far during the several years they’d spent under her care.

“You might be aware that one of your cohort, Piper Baker, was expelled last term. While she is… was… no longer a student of Forestglade College, it would be remiss to not inform you all that she has unfortunately passed away-”

Immediately, the class burst into a flurry of whispers. Lila cast her eyes around at her classmates – most seemed to have been aware of the news, but a couple of students here and there looked as though Ms Wang had grown a second head in front of them.

“Students, please,” Ms Wang called, gesturing for her students to settle down. They did so, mostly with overt reluctance.

“As I was about to say, there will be an assembly later in the week formally announcing this, however the faculty wished to inform you all before the assembly, to prevent it from being a horrible surprise to this cohort. Our school counsellors have been advised and are prepared to meet any extra demand that may be required during this time. You are all encouraged to add to the memorial wall inside the Counselling Services building, and there will be a group therapy session running during lunch breaks for the next two weeks at this stage.”

Ms Wang peered around the room before a glimmer of disgust crossed her face.

“I strongly advise against any research into her death. It is not for the faint-hearted, and absolutely disgraceful that a news outlet publicised those details. If you already have and you are disturbed by the contents of what you have found, the counsellors are available for extra support.”

It felt as though a vacuum had sucked all of the sound out of the room. Everyone was incredibly still, as though simultaneously daring not to breathe. After a few painful seconds, Ms Wang spoke again.

“Additionally, if I hear any of you speaking disrespectfully, or otherwise not treating this situation with the utmost respect that this deserves, I will not hesitate to give you detention. This is not a light matter. Even if you weren’t friends with Piper, or knew her, you need to be mindful that many students and teachers here did. That is all. The rest of this class is dedicated to free time – but remember to keep the noise to a minimum.”

Ms Wang seated herself behind her desk, looking through her laptop with narrow, focused eyes.

Lila’s classmates remained quiet for a minute or so before chatter began to slowly fill the room. Lila pulled her blazer closer to herself, the nausea she’d felt in the police station resurfacing with a vengeance. Each day that passed made Piper’s death feel more real – and it hadn’t felt quite so real as it had at this moment. Was it because she was surrounded by people that had known Piper? People that had vastly different opinions of Piper than she did? People that would need grief counselling to deal with her death?

“You okay?” Grace asked Lila in a low voice.

“Yeah,” Lila replied unconvincingly. “Just… it’s all horrible.”

Both Grace and Elise shuddered.

“Definitely,” agreed Elise. “I hope the police are close to catching whoever did this.”

“Same,” Lila concurred in a murmur. She hoped that the information she gave to the police was helpful, at least. Although, she wasn’t sure how it could be – she hadn’t seen anyone who might’ve been following Piper, and they had the CCTV of Piper at the shops. It wasn’t as though she’d really told them anything new…

Glancing nervously at Elise and Grace, Lila wondered if she should tell them about her interview with the police. She should keep it confidential, right? They didn’t really need to know…

Deciding against it, Lila instead listened to Grace and Elise’s theories about the killer. They had remained more or less the same as the theories they’d put into the Twisted Bitches’r’Us group chat, and Lila didn’t have any new ones to add.

Class eventually wrapped up, with Lila heading off to Maths on her lonesome – then it was lunchtime. With a yawn, Lila packed up, ready to take a brain break from the increasingly difficult math problems she was facing.

Already choosing to meander leisurely to the locker room, she was surprised to find Asher and Isaac waiting for her just outside her classroom.

‘Looks like there’s no ‘leisurely’ about this journey,’ Lila thought with a smile. She could be in worse company, after all.

“Hello again,” Isaac said smoothly. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“You make it sound like it was a coincidence that you two were just standing outside here,” Lila smirked.

“Definitely a coincidence,” Asher replied with a wink. Lila’s cheeks immediately began to turn pink, and she promptly looked away from Asher. She could hear Isaac stifling a chuckle but didn’t want to look at him, either.

“Let’s go,” Lila insisted, her voice clearly flustered.

“Yeah, we better,” Isaac responded. “My stomach’s gonna eat itself.”

They set off towards the locker room, with Asher and Isaac debating the latest development in a book they were reading. As their debate became increasingly heated, the book sounded more and more intriguing – perhaps Lila would ask to borrow it once Asher was done with it.

Lila shoved her textbook into her locker and rounded up Elise and Grace for their customary group lunch. They met Asher and Isaac at the exit, with Asher bashfully handing Lila a lunchbox. She smiled at him in thanks, and the group headed off to the library whilst bemoaning the cold weather.

“How did your other classes go?” Asher asked conversationally, easily falling into step with Lila.

“Honestly, I feel a bit lost already,” Lila frowned. “It seems like I’m really going to have to knuckle down this term.”

“Makes sense,” Asher nodded. “Anything I can help with?”

“P-Probably,” Lila stammered, fiddling with the zip on her lunchbox. “B-But you don’t have to. I’ll figure it out.”

“Are you sure? Studying alone can be really discouraging,” Asher replied, his eyes softened with kindness.

“For now, yeah,” Lila said, a blush spreading slowly across her face. In no time at all, the group settled into an empty meeting room in the library, assuming their usual seating arrangements.

Lila opened her lunchbox, exposing several chicken Caesar pitas, alongside an assortment of brownies and mini cupcakes.

“Seems like Gabriel spent a lot of time with these,” Lila observed, picking up a pita.

“Yeah… he… really locked himself away this morning. Didn’t even see him, just the two lunchboxes sitting on the kitchen counter. I called out to him, but he didn’t say anything,” Asher sighed, also picking up a pita.

“Do you think it’s because of… yesterday?” Lila asked in a low whisper. His eyes flickered to hers before looking back down at his lunch.

“Probably. I wanna talk to him about it, but I think I should give him some space for now. Uh… have you given any more thought about whether you’re coming over on Saturday and Sunday?”

The sudden unrelated question gave Lila pause.

“I’m happy to come over both days,” Lila finally said. “But I’d probably want to shower after practice on Saturday.”

“I mean, same,” Asher replied quickly. She met his gaze before he began to splutter, his face a bright pink. “A-As in, showering after practice. I-I’d need to. By myself.”

“Dude, what the heck are you talking about?” Isaac suddenly called out to them, shaking his head. “You’re making it hard to think over here with your blundering.”

Asher shot Isaac with a glare before taking a savage bite of his pita, effectively ending his ‘blundering’. Lila bit back a grin that Asher definitely noticed, and hurriedly started eating.

“Anyway,” Isaac said conversationally, “you said you were in Adelaide? Does that mean you didn’t see your boyfriend over the holidays?”

“B-Boyfriend?” stammered Grace. Lila whipped her head around to look over at Grace, who seemed to relax after a second.

“Ah, yeah. Nah, we… weren’t able to see each other,” Grace said casually.

“That’s a shame,” Isaac replied. Lila watched as his eyes flittered to Elise before looking down at his banana. Now that Asher had pointed it out this morning, Isaac’s apparent crush on Elise was getting more and more obvious.

“How’s your scheduling going, Elise?” Lila piped up, giving Asher a meaningful look.

“Mine? Pretty busy,” Elise shrugged. “Why?”

“I was just thinking that we should hang out as a group sometime again,” Lila said swiftly. Of course, she hadn’t been, but perhaps a group outing would provide an opportunity for ‘Mission Cupid’.

“Ah,” Elise bit into her sandwich, seeming contemplative. “I could see about scheduling some time off from Maccas…”

“Let’s find a day,” Lila insisted, pulling out her phone. Everyone else followed suit, nominating several days before settling on a Sunday, several weekends from now.

“What should we do?” Elise queried, putting her phone away.

“You know, there’s an interesting exhibit over at the museum,” Asher suggested.

“What about?” Lila inquired.

“I think it’s a new dinosaur one. But they have other stuff going on too. Best part is, entry is free,” Asher explained. “The gelato shop’s nearby too, plus a few nice restaurants.”

“Deal,” Elise declared. “You had me at ‘free’.”

All too soon, lunch was over. Lila hauled herself to Japanese, feeling far more tired than she’d expected. By the time Modern History arrived, Lila could hardly concentrate on anything anyone was saying. Luckily, today’s session was just devoted to going through the assignment – something that Lila didn’t need to actively think about just yet.

Then, the first day of the term was over. Leaving Modern History with Grace and Elise in tow, Lila was ready to fall asleep at the first possible opportunity.

“I don’t need to go to the locker room, so I’m just going to head home from here,” Grace said, waving at Elise and Lila.

“See you tomorrow,” Lila replied. Elise followed up with her own goodbye and Grace shuffled off with a smile.

Lila linked arms with Elise, leading her towards the locker room.

“Bit odd that Grace is just leaving like that,” Elise murmured after a couple metres.

“It is a bit,” Lila concurred. “I just chalk it up to being the first day. She probably doesn’t need to take home any homework or anything like that.”

“I suppose,” Elise sighed. “You know, she’s been with her partner for a while, but still hasn’t introduced them to us. Do you reckon she doesn’t trust us?”

Lila paused. “I… don’t think it’s because she doesn’t trust us. I mean… we all have some things that we want to keep private. Like how you kept quiet about why you were working so much. It’s probably because it’s not just her secret, but a secret she’s sharing with someone else. I mean, she said her partner wasn’t out yet. Some people take decades to do that.”

Elise frowned. “I… guess. Sometimes… it’s better to keep things private. For the sake of other people.”

Lila glanced at Elise. Of course, Lila was only guessing Grace’s motivations, but if she was right – well, who better to relate to that than Lila? Aside from the coming out thing. Elise looked somewhat withdrawn as they walked in silence to the locker room. Was it still bothering Elise that Grace was hiding the identity of her partner?

Not that it didn’t bother Lila, what with her nosiness, but… there was something different about Elise’s silence. Some kind of deeper meaning that Lila couldn’t quite grasp, but was tangible enough to feel.

“Did you end up telling Grace?” Lila asked gently.

“W-What?” Elise stared at Lila with wide eyes. Lila could feel her tense up in Lila’s grasp.

“About your Mum?”

“Oh. I haven’t managed to get her alone just yet. I was hoping to ask if she was free this afternoon, but she hurried off so fast.”

“Makes sense,” Lila replied, tilting her head so it briefly rested on Elise’s shoulder. “How are you going, with everything? You look a lot better. Isaac said you stopped taking on as many shifts.”

At the mention of Isaac, Lila noticed Elise’s cheeks redden.

“He did, did he?” Elise muttered. She pressed her lips together briefly before sighing. “While Mum hasn’t gotten any better, I had a look at my savings and it looks like we’ll make it through. I was just so anxious to get as much money as possible but… after talking with you, it made me realise that I was overdoing it. That… I can’t earn money if I get hurt. I’ve felt a lot happier over the past week than I have this whole year-”

“Hey Elise,” a voice behind them said cheerily. Both Lila and Elise stiffened, turning only to come face-to-face with Isaac. “I think we’ve got a shift together tonight.”

Elise looked flustered, her face a deep scarlet colour. “H-How long were you standing there for?” she stuttered.

“Uh… a few seconds,” Isaac replied warily. Lila could have sworn a flicker of a smile crossed his face. Elise exchanged a wide-eyed look with Lila, who blinked back at her in return. It was an odd reaction for Elise, but Lila supposed that she probably didn’t want to get into her Mum’s medical history and her money struggles with Isaac. How much had he heard?

A beat passed and Elise cleared her throat, tilting her head in apparent confusion. “Do we have a shift though?”

“Yeah. Did you forget?” he mimicked her head movement, looking just as confused. She continued to stare at him for a moment before her face turned an even deeper shade of red. She tucked her hair behind her ear with a shaking hand, suddenly looking incredibly nervous.

“T-That’s right, we do. A-Are you going by bus?” Elise stammered, glancing at Lila.

“Uh, yep. I- uh, thought you’d want to come with me.”

Lila looked between them both, a small smile creeping across her face. As an outsider, it was so obvious that they liked each other. But, now that neither of them were meeting the other’s eye, Lila wasn’t convinced that they noticed that fact.

“It’ll be easier if I, um, get changed on campus,” Elise said, looking down at her shoes. “You can go on ahead without me.”

“I’ll get changed here as well,” Isaac replied quickly. “It… well, I don’t think you should go alone. Not when they haven’t caught the psycho.”

“That’s a good idea,” Lila piped up. “You guys should go together. It’s dangerous, Elise.”

“Y-Yeah. I guess so,” Elise murmured, her expression somehow even more nervous than before.

“Go on,” Lila encouraged. “You’ll be fine as long as you’re together.”

“Alright. Let’s go,” Elise said, nodding at Isaac. He returned her nod before strolling off into the locker room. Elise and Lila followed suit, heading to their section of the locker room.

“How’s your progress with Isaac?” Lila asked Elise in a low voice as they pulled out their school bags. Elise stopped moving for a second before slinging her bag over her shoulder.

“… Haven’t made any,” Elise sighed, avoiding Lila’s gaze. “I’m still… adjusting. To not overworking.”

“Maybe now’s your chance,” Lila grinned playfully. Elise vehemently shook her head, her face a bright pink.

“Definitely not,” she squeaked. “I-”

“Ready to go?” Isaac asked from behind Lila, making her jump.

“Yeah,” Elise replied, clasping her hands together in front of her. Isaac ruffled his hair, looking somewhat bashful.

“See you tomorrow, Lila,” Isaac said softly, placing his hands in his pockets. He started walking towards the door without a backwards glance.

“B-Bye,” Elise said hastily, hurrying after him.

“See ya!” Lila called behind them. They didn’t look back at her. She watched them go with a grin. It looked like they were talking about something, but Lila couldn’t hear anything from this distance. Isaac opened the door for Elise and they disappeared, walking off in the direction of the nearest changing rooms.

‘They’d be so cute together,’ Lila thought to herself with a sigh. She definitely needed to start thinking about how to help them with that…