Chapter One Hundred and Thirteen

Lila didn’t hear anything from Elise during the afternoon or night about how it went, working with Isaac after the awkwardness of Monday’s morning tea. She didn’t see any messages on Tuesday morning either as she headed to school.

She put it out of her mind for now as she grabbed her PE and Design things. Morning tea would come soon enough, and she’d be able to ask Elise then.

Lila scurried off to the Gymnasium and changed her clothes at record speed, shivering against the cold. Clutching her stomach for a sliver of warmth, she emerged into the hallway, poking her head through the door to see into the court.

There weren’t too many of Lila’s classmates sitting around just yet. But, her most important classmate was jogging on the spot just next to the doorway, close enough for her to need to avoid bumping into him.

“Morning,” Lila smiled, slipping through the doorway. Asher beamed at her.

“Morning,” he said brightly. “Ready for PE?”

“I guess so,” Lila replied as they made their way towards the stage. “It feels too cold to do any sports.”

“Agreed. I was just warming up when you got here.”

“I noticed. Almost hit you with the door.”

“A bit of risk gets the heart pumping, you know,” Asher winked at her before flopping down into a seated position on the basketball court.

“Not like I could disagree with that,” Lila responded, sitting beside him. He chuckled, lying down and using his hands as pillows.

“Did you ask your parents about Wednesday?” Asher glanced up at her, a hopeful expression flashing briefly across his face before looking towards the ceiling.

“’Course,” Lila replied with a cheeky grin that he couldn’t see. “They said no.”

“Wait, what?” Asher shot up, panic in his eyes. “Did I do something wrong?”

Lila laughed, patting him gently on the shoulder. “I was kidding – you should see your face!”

He pouted, lying back down. “Giving me a heart attack, Lila. I thought I saw the light.”

Lila playfully nudged his leg with hers. “Sorry, but it was pretty funny.”

“Ha ha. Guessing it was a yes?”

“Of course it was. They like you, you know.”

“You say that… but they liked me before we started dating. Maybe they don’t like me now.”

“They kinda thought that we were already dating ages ago… I did correct them, but it seemed like they kept forgetting or something. I dunno.”

“Oh,” Asher’s utterance was soft – almost inaudible. “Sorry.”

“For?”

“Giving them that impression before it actually happened… it must’ve been awkward for you.”

“Families are awkward regardless,” Lila sighed, lying down beside him. “God, this ceiling is filthy.”

“No kidding. To both. I think I’m seeing faces in the dust up there.”

“Anyone interesting?”

“Nah. Best face is the one right next to me.”

Lila lost the capacity to speak, her mouth instead opting for a splutter. He turned his head slightly, their eyes meeting for a split second before he swiftly looked away.

“T-That one looks like Isaac though,” he stuttered, pointing up at a spot slightly to the left. His face was bright red, and it seemed that he’d fallen back into the same shyness she’d seen yesterday. Which, after saying a line like that, was almost unbelievable.

Lila took a slow, deep breath – one that helped her organise her thoughts.

“I guess it does,” she finally said, tilting her head. “If he had a moustache.”

Asher burst into a hearty fit of laughter. As Lila listened, it lit up her soul, brightening her morning immediately. She joined in with a small giggle.

“I don’t think a moustache suits him,” Asher said after sobering up.

“Definitely not,” Lila snorted, the imagery imprinting itself in her mind’s eye. Though… speaking of Isaac…

“Have you heard from Isaac?” Lila asked, stretching her hands up to the ceiling before letting them fall limp by her sides.

“About what?”

“About whether he’s upset at Elise.”

“For the yoghurt thing?”

“Yeah.”

“I mean… I talked to him right after and he just shook his head when I asked if he was mad. He did have this weird energy in PC, but I think he was just surprised. Like I said before, Isaac’s never really expressed that much interest in girls. Well, besides you a few years ago, I guess. So, I think he was a bit taken aback that the girl he likes could act like that with him. We’ve never really had female friends before this year either, so I dunno what his impression of girls was before. Besides, you know him. Hard for him to get mad.”

“That’s true,” Lila murmured, her thoughts flashing back to when Isaac squeezed the life out of his Vegemite sandwich after finding out about Holly cheating on Asher. She’d never seen him mad like that before or since – not even close.

“Alright, class,” Ms Wright’s booming voice startled both Lila and Asher upright and they wildly looked around to see where she was stationed. “Time to play netball.”

Asher and Lila were separated once more, which disappointed Lila somewhat. She still gave it her all, despite netball decidedly not being her sport of choice. Asher seemed to be throwing himself into the sport too, though he would forget the pivoting rule with the ball more often than not.

Finally, class was over, with Lila’s team winning by a hair. It wasn’t really owing to Lila’s participation at all, but more because three of the players on her team took netball as their cocurricular of choice.

“Congratulations,” Asher puffed once they were dismissed, stepping into stride with Lila and wiping the sweat off his brow. “You played well.”

“You did far better than me,” Lila insisted with a smile. He shook his head.

“I thought I was gonna get beat up by my teammates after my third foul,” he said darkly. Then, he stopped in the hallway leading to the changing rooms.

“You have Design, right?” he asked quietly, looking to his left at their classmates who filed past them with curious expressions on their faces.

“Yeah… why?”

“I can walk you there.”

“What class do you have next?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Sounds suspicious – like it’s on the other side of the school in comparison to Design.”

He gave her a bashful grimace. “You caught me. How do you know me so well?”

“I guess… it’d have to be because you’re my best friend,” Lila grinned, her heart fluttering in her chest.

“Is that all?” His eyes looked expectant, waiting patiently for her answer. She reached out for the hand closest to her, interlocking her fingers between his.

“’Course not,” she replied, her eyes flickering to his lips. Would this be a good opportunity to feel his lips against hers again?

“Off you go, you two,” Ms Wright’s stern voice shattered the moment completely. Lila instinctively stepped away from Asher, the hand that had held his jumping to her opposing elbow.

“S-Sorry,” Lila murmured, glancing at Asher once more. “I’ll see you later.”

“You better,” he said lightly, before meeting Ms Wright’s gaze. He instantly skedaddled away to the boys’ changing room without so much of a peep more. Lila began to walk down the hallway towards the girls’ changing room when Ms Wright called her back.

“Yes, ma’am?” Lila queried, turning around to face Ms Wright.

“I saw that, you know.”

“Saw… what?”

Ms Wright raised an eyebrow, her doubt about Lila’s apparent cluelessness abundantly clear. “You holding hands with Asher, of course. I hope you’re not planning on being distracted for the match on Saturday.”

“Of course not,” Lila replied, her tone subdued. Ms Wright gave her a tight smile before nodding.

“I’ll need your full attention against St Peters. You can be a lovebird afterwards.”

Before Lila could respond, Ms Wright turned on her heel and headed off in the direction of her office within the upper level of the Gymnasium. Lila scrambled to get changed before Ms Wright wanted to add anything else to her mild admonishment.

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

“You’re in a good mood,” Lila noted to a humming Elise as they leisurely walked through campus during morning tea.

“You think so?” Elise seemed bewildered, ceasing her humming entirely.

“Well, yeah,” Lila nodded, gesturing vaguely at Elise. “You’ve been humming up a storm. You do realise that Grace is the musically inclined one, yeah?”

Elise snorted. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Sorry, was it bothering you?”

“Not at all. Much better than yesterday afternoon, after all.”

Elise didn’t respond, preferring instead to survey the road they were walking across. Grace was once again at her usual vocal lesson, so it was just Elise and Lila for today’s morning tea. It was cold enough that sitting down outside sounded incredibly undesirable, but walking to the library for warmth sounded equally undesirable.

“I’m guessing, since you’re not moping around, that your shift with Isaac went well yesterday?” Lila carefully appraised Elise, who stopped in her tracks.

“Y-Yeah,” Elise finally uttered after an awkwardly long pause. “You could say that.” She began walking again, though she pointedly avoided Lila’s gaze.

“I could say that? What does that even mean?”

“We… talked about the yoghurt thing on the way to Maccas,” Elise explained quietly. “He said he wasn’t mad. Just processing. He wasn’t aware that I was into slapstick comedy.”

It was Lila’s turn to snort. “Says him. He’s pretty slapsticky.”

“That’s what I thought. But… I guess he wasn’t expecting it.”

“Well, that tracks with what Asher reckons,” Lila replied, though her eyebrows knitted themselves together. Despite all that, it was still just… odd. He needed several hours to process a two-second interaction?

“Are you sure that was all? I mean, I’m glad that it’s all worked out, but it all just feels really odd.”

Elise shrugged. “That’s all he said to me. After that, he went back to normal.”

“Does normal entail squishing the ketchup packets?”

Elise choked on the water she was sipping before breaking into a fit of laughter. Lila joined in for a few moments.

“Do you still have that ketchup packet he gave you?” Lila giggled. Elise smirked at Lila before pulling out said mangled ketchup packet from her skirt pocket.

“I’ve decided to see how long this thing will last,” Elise stated, flicking the packet with her right hand for emphasis.

“I think we’re way past that,” Lila deadpanned, staring directly at the poor, tortured packet.

“Who knows? Maybe it’ll explode.”

“And you want that to happen in your skirt?”

“Huh… you’re right. Maybe I should put it in a sandwich bag.”

“I feel like you’re missing the point,” Lila laughed incredulously, shaking her head. “Maybe Isaac’s rubbing off on you a bit too much.”

Elise had taken another poorly timed sip of her water, choking yet again. She hit her chest a couple of times before looking at Lila in clear discomfort.

“Lila, don’t say that kind of stuff,” Elise whined, clutching her head with her free hand. Her cheeks were rather rosy, which confused Lila significantly.

“What? Why?”

“Don’t you get it?” Elise looked up at Lila, her own confusion etched clearly across her face. Lila continued to stare at her blankly. “Isaac… rubbing off on me?”

“O-Oh,” Lila felt her own face getting hot, remembering quite forcefully Elise’s admission that she couldn’t stop thinking about Isaac sexually. “Sorry!”

“If I had a yoghurt tub right now, you’d be my next victim,” Elise said reproachfully. Then, she smirked at Lila. “It’s fine. Just… watch your words, alright?”

“Yes ma’am.”

They continued their meandering stroll, cycling through other topics of conversation. Eventually, it seemed that they were both sufficiently warm enough to sit under the tuckshop’s sails at an empty set of table and chairs for the remainder of morning tea. Once there were ten minutes left to spare before PC, Lila and Elise reluctantly collected their empty wrappers and bits of fruit skins and headed back, disposing of their rubbish along the way.

They chatted and gossiped about various things, including Ayla’s continued absence. Truthfully, Lila was beginning to get worried. It was now the second day of week two, yet Ayla had definitely not been at PE that morning. Was she still away?

“Don’t fret so much,” Elise said kindly as they approached the locker room. “If something bad happened to her, the school would tell us. Like how they told us about Piper.”

“I… guess so,” Lila sighed, pressing her hands together. Even if Elise was right, it did nothing to quell her burgeoning curiosity about the reason why Ayla wasn’t showing up to school anymore.

“Damn, it’s hot in here,” Elise complained, tugging the sleeves of her jumper up. “I’m tempted to take this off.”

“I mean, you can come back after PC to get your jumper,” Lila reasoned.

“True,” Elise inclined her head towards Lila in acknowledgement. She then took her jumper off before laying it across her arm.

Lila’s heart stopped. She grabbed Elise’s sleeve before she could disappear towards her locker. Was she hallucinating?

“E-Elise, what’s that?”

“What’s what?”

Lila wordlessly pointed at the unmistakable purplish bruises around Elise’s wrists – bruises that were faint, but undeniably there. Elise jerked out of Lila’s grasp, her demeanour shifting into one of tenseness, her easy-going attitude vanishing instantly. Elise brought her hands behind her back, poorly attempting to hide them.

“U-Uh, i-it’s nothing,” Elise stammered, stepping backwards. “I just bumped them on a table.”

“Elise, those look like finger marks.”

“Crazy how similar my table looks to a hand.”

“Elise,” Lila’s tone was firm – almost a warning.

“Whoa, what’s going on here?”

Lila turned to face the questioner. Isaac and Asher were standing just behind her, both looking perplexed by the situation they’d stumbled into. It was Asher who had spoken. Before Lila could answer, Isaac opened his mouth.

“Looks almost violent,” he said, his eyes darting between Lila and Elise, who had defensively pressed her back against a locker.

“I’m not being violent,” Lila snapped, affronted by Isaac’s suggestion. He raised his hands in surrender.

“Alright, alright, geez. What’s going on?” he asked, now exchanging a look with Asher.

Lila glanced at Elise, who looked even more panicked than she had a second ago. It seemed like she was begging Lila not to say anything, but… surely Isaac would be just as concerned if he saw the bruises. Given Elise’s feelings for Isaac, perhaps he’d be able to draw out the information Lila needed so she could figure out who hurt Elise, and what she’d need to do to make sure it didn’t happen again.

“Elise got hurt,” Lila said, touching her own wrists. “She’s got bruises here.”

Asher’s eyebrows almost flew into his hairline as he stared at Elise, seemingly in shock. Isaac, by contrast, brushed past Lila and stood before Elise, hoisting his lunchbox so that it hung from his left wrist. He held out his hands as if in a silent demand to be shown her bruises. She reluctantly placed her wrists in his hands and he carefully inspected them.

“Jesus,” he murmured, almost too quietly for Lila to hear. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Elise replied softly. “You don’t need to worry about it. It doesn’t hurt. At least, if you don’t touch the bruises.”

Isaac nodded before gently lowering her hands out of his grasp and shoving his hands in his pockets. He took a deep breath and then turned to face Lila.

“It’s my fault,” he said, his expression looking incredibly guilty. He stood in such a way that Elise was almost entirely shielded by his body. “She slipped at Maccas yesterday and I grabbed her before she could fall.”

“Ah,” Lila uttered, looking behind his shoulder towards Elise. “Why’d you say that you hit them on a finger-shaped table, Elise?”

“Sorry… I… didn’t want Isaac to look like a bad guy,” Elise mumbled, her voice barely audible from behind his shoulders. “If I said he grabbed me, you might have thought something bad happened. Especially since I threw my yoghurt tub at him yesterday, and, I dunno, I said to you that I thought he was mad at me.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Isaac whipped his head around to look at Elise before looking back at Lila. “I-”

“You didn’t need to worry about that,” Lila interrupted Isaac. He immediately fell quiet as she continued. “I know Isaac’s not the kind of guy to just be aggressive or whatever. I told you yesterday that I doubted he was mad.”

No one spoke, Lila’s statement lingering in the air for slightly too long. Then, Isaac brought a hand to the back of his head.

“Aw, shucks, Lila. It’s nice to know that you think so highly of me,” he said, a strange, breathy laugh escaping his lips at the end of his sentence.

“I mean, you just said you saved one of my closest friends from an accident at work,” Lila replied matter-of-factly. “I feel like I know you well enough to believe you. Plus, you’re almost too honest for your own good.”

He lowered his hand, meeting her eyes for a brief second before nodding again. “I guess you’re right.”

“His reflexes were kinda insane, actually,” Elise piped up. “Thanks again, Isaac. You really helped me out.”

He smiled at her in response. Then, he checked the time on his phone.

“Oh man, we’re gonna be late,” Isaac announced, rapidly walking away from them. He looped his arm in Asher’s and began to pull him around to their side of the locker room. “See you guys later!”

“See you,” Lila responded, though she wasn’t quite sure either of them heard her, given the speed at which they rounded the corner. She turned back towards Elise, who was shoving her jumper back over her torso.

“Here,” Lila said, pulling it down properly.

“Thanks. Uh… I really am sorry for lying,” Elise replied, her tone rather awkward. “I just… panicked, I guess. I mean, Isaac’s such a great guy, so I wanted to protect him.”

Lila inwardly melted at the sweetness of Elise’s statement.

“Don’t worry about it,” Lila said sincerely. “With a reason like that, I’m not upset that you lied. It’s so you to protect him like that. It seemed almost instinctual.”

“Y-Yeah,” Elise smiled tentatively at Lila. “I’m just gonna grab my stuff.”

“Good idea. C’mon, before Ms Wang tells us off for being late.”

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

“What’s on the menu today?” Lila questioned, collecting the lunchbox that Asher offered her with both hands.

“I think it’s some kind of rice paper roll thing,” Asher replied, offering her his free arm again. “Shall we go somewhere to find out?”

“I just wanna make sure Elise and Grace are having lunch together. What’s your plan, Isaac?”

“Lunch with the wenches, of course,” Isaac replied lazily, leaning against a nearby locker.

“Careful, you’ll get another yoghurt tub thrown at you,” Asher teased.

“I’m happy with that as long as it’s not blueberry flavoured,” Isaac shuddered with such force that the lock on the locker rattled slightly. He stepped away from it, giving it a once over as though he’d broken it.

“Luckily it’s mango today,” Elise declared, appearing next to Lila and brandishing said mango yoghurt towards him. He shrank away from her, causing Elise to giggle before advancing once more with it.

Lila cast a look around the bustling locker room. Grace wasn’t in sight anywhere, but now that Elise and Isaac were here, perhaps Lila could wander off with Asher. She looked back at Elise, pressing her lips together in contemplation.

“Go on,” Elise gently pushed Lila towards Asher. “We’ll wait for Grace. You don’t need to worry.”

“You sure?”

Elise nodded. “Enjoy your lunch.”

“Alright. You guys enjoy your lunch too,” Lila replied, giving Elise and Isaac a small wave goodbye.

Lila and Asher exited the locker room, with Lila shivering considerably.

“Where’s your scarf?” Asher asked, looking down at her. “Do you want my jumper?”

“I left it in my locker,” Lila lamented. “Maybe I should go back for it?”

“I’ll wait here. Pass me your lunchbox.”

Lila did so before hurrying back inside. She could see Elise and Isaac standing exactly where she left them. They looked to be talking about something.

Lila was about to complain about her idiocy at having forgotten her scarf when something Isaac said stopped her movements altogether. It was fragmented but laden with pain.

“… killing me.”

“Isaac…” Elise sighed in response, moving to touch his shoulder. It didn’t seem like she noticed Lila hovering just nearby. “Like I said, it’s okay.”

“It’s not,” he replied, holding his head in his hands. “It’s really not. I don’t want to hurt my friends.”

Lila tiptoed closer, but it seemed that was a mistake. Elise’s eyes flickered to Lila and she took a step back from Isaac.

“Back again?” Elise’s voice sounded falsely cheery.

“Yeah. Forgot my scarf. Everything okay?” Lila looked directly at Isaac, who visibly avoided her gaze.

“Yeah,” he said, clearing his throat. “Everything’s fine.”

Lila nodded, though her doubts lingered. She grabbed her scarf out of her locker and threw it around her neck, all the while feeling the uncomfortable, prickling sensation of both Elise and Isaac’s eyes on her.

“See you guys later,” Lila smiled once she was done, giving them another wave goodbye. They returned it without saying a word and Lila took that as her cue to depart as quickly as possible.

“I think you need to talk to Isaac,” Lila said breathlessly to Asher upon reaching him.

“What? Why?” he queried, passing her lunchbox back to her.

“I think he feels really guilty about grabbing Elise like that,” Lila explained, continuing their journey down the path away from the locker room.

“I see… not sure what I could do about that, though.”

Lila frowned. That was true enough, but…

“Maybe just talk it through with him, at least,” Lila suggested. “Help alleviate the guilt by being logical.”

“I mean, logically speaking, perhaps he should feel guilty for grabbing her so hard,” Asher replied with a playful twinkle in his eye. She nudged him lightly before he spoke again.

“I see what you mean, though. I mean, it sounded like just a freak accident almost – it’s pretty unlikely that it’d happen again, and Elise said it was fine. He’d feel even worse if he just watched her fall on her face or something.”

“Yeah. Well, I just… I’d feel bad, letting him wallow like that, but I don’t think I’m close enough to him to have that conversation. He seemed really sincere, at least.”

Asher paused before smiling at Lila. “Thanks for thinking of him.”

“Well, it’s hard not to, when I’m trying to set him up with Elise. I’m glad she’s okay, but if he keeps feeling so guilty, he may end up pushing her away.”

“That’s a very serious outcome,” Asher said gravely before pointing to where they’d sat yesterday. “Here again?”

Lila nodded, following him through the lawn and sitting down under the roofed area. She passed Piper’s circle of friends yet again, which was still missing Ayla. They seemed to hardly notice Lila and Asher, evidently focusing more on their food than their surroundings.

Today’s lunch consisted of handmade rice paper rolls with soft slices of pork, various vegetables, and a peanut butter dipping sauce. It was delightfully fresh and flavourful.

Eventually, as Lila’s stomach grew full, her mind turned to something else that had been bothering her. Or, rather, was concerning her somewhat. They’d kissed twice on Saturday, but it didn’t seem as though Asher wanted to kiss her again. Did she do something wrong? Did he… not enjoy it like she had?

She fiddled with the hem of her skirt, biting gently on her lower lip. Should she just go for it? But what if he didn’t want to? If she pushed him, would he think she was just like Holly, who pressured him for sex-

“Lila?”

Her eyes snapped to Asher’s searching ones, his brow slightly creased. It looked as though his face was mere centimetres from hers.

“S-Sorry,” Lila turned her eyes to her skirt again, feeling her cheeks heat up. “Did you say something?”

“Said a few things… everything okay?”

“Yeah. Just… deep in thought.”

“I’ve got a dollar and your bank details.”

A slight smile flickered the corner of her mouth. “My thoughts aren’t worth your dollar.”

“Sure they are. In fact, I can give you ten, at least.”

Lila laughed, finally resting her eyes on his face. He looked relieved as he smiled at her.

“Attempted bribery aside, you can tell me anything, you know.”

Lila’s heart thumped in her chest. Anything? Even if he ended up rejecting her desire? Her fingers twitched involuntarily, her mind tossing a coin to help her decide. This dance that they were doing, between holding back what was on their minds and being open and honest with each other – even over the past couple of days – was giving her a headache.

“I don’t want to pressure you, though,” he added, his face incredibly serious.

She swallowed, her bravery cracking into two. Her coin toss had failed to give her any insight. “I appreciate it, Asher.”

A glimmer of disappointment rippled through his eyes as he leaned back, though he didn’t say anything in return.

Would she ever get over this? They’d finally progressed to being a couple, but she still couldn’t see through the cloud of doubt descending upon her heart.

He gave a small sigh before shuffling closer to Lila. “How was the food?”

“The… food?”

“Well, I know you’re never bothered by Gabriel’s cooking, so perhaps a change in topic would help stop you from frowning so much.”

“Sorry. I didn’t realise I was frowning.”

“She says with a frown,” he chuckled. He reached a hand over to her face, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear, the slight brush against her skin quickening her heartbeat once more.

“S-Sorry.”

“Now you’re the one in an apology loop.”

“S… you’re right. I’ll stop frowning.”

“You can frown really hard for good measure if you need to,” he laughed as she readjusted her posture.

She frowned at him and he laughed again. She joined in with her own laughter before they sobered up and fell into a comfortable silence.

“You said that you’d said a few things before, when I was spacing out,” Lila noted after a few moments. “What were you saying?”

“Oh. Yeah, I was just updating you about the whole Daniel thing.”

“Wait, what update?” She straightened up entirely, her eyes wide and searching his for a clue about the update.

“It’s nothing big,” he insisted casually. “Just that I’m almost done getting all the teachers we need on board. Surprisingly far more teachers were in on the whole Banker thing-” he cast a furtive look around as he whispered ‘Banker thing’ before continuing at his normal volume, “-than I realised. Like, almost the school’s whole list of teachers.”

Lila sighed forcefully. Having a brother like Daniel… was also certainly headache-inducing.

“I haven’t checked in on him, about whether or not he wants you there when we tell our parents about it,” Lila said after a brief pause. “Or… generally, really.”

“You should probably do that,” Asher recommended with a nod. “He’s… well, if I were him, at thirteen, I’d be terrified.”

“Yeah… I’ll check in on him tonight.”

“Good, good…” Asher trailed off, checking the time on his phone. “I think it’s time we headed back to class.”

After packing up and heading back to the locker room, hand in hand, they stood just inside the door, neither one seemingly wanting to move any further.

“I… guess I’ll see you later, at practice,” Asher said reluctantly, giving her hand a squeeze before slipping out of her grasp.

“Yeah,” Lila replied softly, bringing both hands together in front of her chest. “See you then.”

Luckily for Lila, it felt as though she blinked and she was already on Jacoval, geared up for hockey and ready to go through the drills Ms Wright set in preparation for their match on Saturday.

Lila snuck a look over at the soccer side of the oval every so often when she had the chance between drills, managing to avoid Ms Wright’s ire at being distracted by Asher. It seemed that all the hockey girls were entirely focused on today’s practice, with not even a hint of unrelated discussion or gossip passing through anyone’s mouths.

Ms Wright seemed relatively pleased by this turn of events, releasing everyone on time after giving an encouraging pep talk. Lila wasn’t too convinced that they’d beat St Peters on Saturday, but she was definitely motivated to try by the time she trudged off the oval.

She hung around the edge of the oval, waiting for Asher’s soccer team to wrap up for the afternoon. It looked like Mr Kovac was regaling them with his own pep talk, at least, so she settled for leaning against her hockey stick for support while she waited.

After a minute or so, the boys were dismissed and began wandering off the oval. Asher and Isaac were hanging around behind the rest of the group, looking as though they were talking seriously about something. Lila was curious to know what the topic of conversation was, but perhaps Asher would tell her if it was anything important.

“Congrats, Lila.”

A voice she hadn’t heard in a while startled her. She turned her head to face the speaker. Theo was smiling at her – a relaxed, genuine one she hadn’t seen since their date at the aquarium.

“Me?” she asked, pointing to herself. He gave a hearty chuckle, placing his hands in his pockets.

“Well, I don’t see any other Lila’s around,” he replied in his trademark drawl.

“Oh. For what?”

“For locking down Asher, of course.” He looked at her now like she was missing a few marbles.

“Oh. It… feels odd that you’d congratulate me about that,” Lila responded honestly, standing up straight, her eyes trained on his face. He had an odd half-smile as he explained himself.

“Maybe it is. But after I tried to kiss you and you said you liked Asher, I really didn’t mind the idea of you two getting together. Then, you slapped Livi and defended him against her… well, bitchy ways. After that, I was rooting for you guys a whole lot. He looks so much more relaxed than I think I’ve ever seen him at practice. Not wound up at all.”

“I see.”

“I think… well, it’d probably be more painful if you got with someone who wasn’t Asher, or close to his kind of calibre as a person,” Theo added thoughtfully. “Like I said before, I didn’t mind losing to Asher.”

“I think I get it,” Lila replied slowly. “Thanks, I guess.”

“Well, that’s all I wanted-”

“Lila!”

Lila looked past Theo’s shoulder to find Asher jogging up to her. Instead of stopping short of Theo, as he had previously when he came across them in conversation, he brushed past Theo and scooped her into his arms, lifting her off her feet and spinning her briefly in greeting.

“Hello,” she giggled once he set her down, her face flushed.

“Hey,” Asher grinned. He turned to Theo, his left hand intertwining with Lila’s right. “What’s up, Theo?”

“Nothing much,” Theo said casually, nodding at the two of them. “I was just finished talking to Lila. See you on Saturday.”

Lila wasn’t exactly sure whether his facial expression could be categorised as ‘happy’ or ‘pleased’ in any way, but he at least didn’t look upset at Asher’s display of affection. They watched Theo go, his hands still in his pockets. Once he was far enough away, Asher glanced at Lila.

“What was Theo talking to you about?” he asked, a hint of hostility in his voice at the name ‘Theo’.

“He was just congratulating me,” Lila replied soothingly, rubbing the back of Asher’s hand with her thumb. “Well, technically us, I suppose. For us getting together.”

“Oh,” Asher’s expression turned from one of suspicion to utter surprise. “That’s good of him, I guess.”

“Yeah,” Lila agreed, taking a look around behind Asher. “Where’s Isaac?”

“Here,” Isaac announced with a flourish from beside Lila, making her jump. “I was here the whole time, actually. Well, since Asher treated you like a rag doll. Sickening.”

Lila snorted, though she was glad to see that Isaac seemed to be back to his normal self.

“Hey, you wanted this,” she pointed out with a short laugh.

“Well, I thought I did until I witnessed whatever that was,” Isaac winked playfully at Asher. “Seems like having lunch to yourselves is a good idea. I don’t think I could handle 35 minutes straight of this,” he made a hand gesture as if he was sprinkling water at them to emphasize his point. “Way to make us singles feel bad.”

“It’s not so intense at lunch,” Lila replied with a shrug. She felt Asher’s hand twitch in her grasp in response.

“Sure, Jan,” Isaac looked at her doubtfully before giving them both a cheeky grin. “Anyway, see you tomorrow!”

He jogged off the oval, seeming in high spirits following their conversation.

“He seems happy,” Lila noted once he was out of earshot.

“He does, doesn’t he,” Asher murmured. Then, he looked at Lila intently. “It sounded like you weren’t quite so happy with us not being so intense at lunch.”

Did it? Lila’s cheeks began to feel hot and she cleared her throat uneasily. She hadn’t meant to sound that way.

“I’m not unhappy,” Lila found herself saying with a shake of her head. “Being close to you… is good enough. Truly.”

“You say that so sadly,” Asher frowned. “Is there something wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Lila shook her head again. “I’m just… adjusting.”

“Adjusting?”

“Well…” Lila swayed on the spot, the feeling of uncomfortableness weighing upon her stomach like cement. “It’s a bit of a change. Going from best friends to dating. I guess I’m just unsure of myself.”

“Unsure of yourself?” He repeated this in a whisper, his eyes glued to hers.

“Don’t you two have homes to go to?” Ms Wright’s voice interrupted their conversation abruptly, her sports bag full of hockey balls, cones, and other training paraphernalia slung across her chest. “Preferably separate ones.”

Lila sighed. “Yes, ma’am. We’ll move along now.”

“Yes, yes, please do. I have to wait here in the cold to ensure all the students leave the oval safely, you know. You’re still my charge even though practice is over.”

“Mr Kovac’s gone, though,” Lila observed, giving the oval a quick once-over to confirm this.

“Don’t get me started with Mr Kovac. However, we take it in turns to supervise the stragglers. Go on, your parents must be wondering where you are.”

She gestured towards the carpark. Lila and Asher simultaneously said their goodbyes to Ms Wright before plodding up to said carpark. Ms Wright hung far behind them, meandering at a much slower pace.

“You know, I feel like Ms Wright is pretty against the idea of us dating,” Asher mentioned in a low whisper to Lila as they cleared the top of the hill.

“I don’t think she’s against it, per se,” Lila pressed her lips together as she considered her interactions with Ms Wright that day. “I think she’s more concerned that I’ve got my head in the game for Saturday.”

“Well, that tracks, I guess. Ah, Clare’s giving me a death stare. Looks like that’s my cue to go.”

Lila smiled at Asher as he met her gaze. He looked hesitant for a moment before pulling her into another hug. His heartbeat was both stable and strong – utterly soothing to Lila’s senses.

“See you tomorrow,” he whispered softly. “Don’t forget, you’re coming to mine after Study.”

“I’d never forget,” Lila replied truthfully into his chest. She’d been counting down the hours before she’d be able to hang out with Asher in the privacy of his house again, though she wouldn’t tell him that. Not now, anyway.

“Good. Get home safe.”

“You too.”

He let go of her and readjusted the school bag on his shoulder. He gave her a small wave goodbye before walking across the carpark to Marlene’s awaiting car. Lila sighed once more before shuffling over to Clare’s car.

“Damn, Lila, I was worried I was gonna turn 40 while I waited for you,” Clare said in greeting as Lila climbed in.

“Very funny,” Lila replied sarcastically.

“I’d say I try, but it always comes so naturally,” Clare responded loftily. Lila rolled her eyes playfully.

“You seem like you’re in a good mood, sis,” Lila commented as Clare smoothly drove away.

“Me? Well, Asher hugging you like that was pretty cute,” Clare smirked. “Seeing you happy is always gonna make me happy. Unless it’s because you’ve done something to make me miserable.”

“Of course.”

“And I just came back from seeing Alex.”

“Probably should’ve led with that,” Lila grinned. “I take it that you still think dating him officially is a good idea?”

“Lila, you wouldn’t believe how good of an idea it is,” Clare said bashfully. “Though I don’t think I should give you the details.”

“I’m beyond good, thanks,” Lila replied instantly. “Spare me, please.”

“Noted.”

Lila leaned her head against the car window, her mind replaying Asher’s touches throughout the day. The more she thought about each one, the more joy she felt – manifesting in happy swaying in her seat. Once or twice, Clare glanced at her but seemed to wisely decide that not addressing her giddiness was the best option.

Upon arriving home, though, Lila wearily took off her shoes and stumbled her way upstairs. She had said to Asher that she’d talk to Daniel… but she was starting to feel the effect of practice upon her body.

She opened the door to her room and dumped her belongings inside before pressing a hand to her forehead. She didn’t want to leave her brother in the lurch if he was feeling as Asher had suggested. She also didn’t want to disappoint Asher by avoiding this conversation with Daniel.

With a little more resolve than she had before, Lila crossed the hallway and knocked on Daniel’s door.

“What?” he called disapprovingly.

“Can we talk?”

There was a pause. “I guess so.”

Lila let herself in to Daniel’s room, taking in the surroundings. It looked much the same but had a distinct lack of paperwork in comparison to before Asher provided Daniel with the Square solution.

He wrinkled his nose as he took in her appearance. “You want to talk to me before taking a shower?” he queried, spinning in his chair to face her properly.

“Yeah. Otherwise, I’d just go to bed and fall asleep,” Lila folded her arms across her chest before lowering them by her sides. She didn’t want to look combative for this conversation.

“I guess I’ll let you sit on my bed,” he gestured towards it and she promptly sat down.

“How’s it going?” Lila asked once she settled herself in.

“Eh,” Daniel shrugged. Then he shook his head. “I’m guessing you mean the Banker stuff, rather than me.”

“Well, you are the Banker. So, both.”

Daniel ran his hands through his hair before sighing. “’Salright.”

“Marginally better than ‘eh’.”

“Well, the Square system is great, but working with Livi… is a shit show.”

“… Eh?”

He rolled his eyes at her before elaborating. “She’s been real pissy. I’ve been getting fed complaints from customers about her attitude, some from her own group too, and I don’t want to sit down and talk to her about it. Especially since we’re still in a grey spot with this whole sanction stuff. If I rock the boat with her too much, she might get to the Headmaster before we do…”

“I’ve got a backup plan,” Lila smiled slightly at Daniel. She still didn’t want to give him details about the morphine ring that was being run with his money, but… if all else failed… she could resort to that. A morphine ring was decidedly much worse than operating as the Banker.

‘Though Livi could counter it by saying that Daniel was funding it all and therefore knew about it… she might even say it was under his orders, as his employee…’ Lila shut her eyes upon registering this thought. It was a valid counter argument, one that technically had receipts, and, with how crafty Livi seemed, entirely within the realm of possibility. The more she thought about this whole arrangement and how it intertwined with Daniel, the more complex this game of chess became. Especially if throwing Daniel under the bus roped in their Dad due to the ring’s possible connection to his investigation into the hospital for Asher’s Dad.

Her head was beginning to throb, but she decided to park all of those thoughts in the back of her mind. She wasn’t here to worry herself to death about scenarios that weren’t immediately happening, after all.

“I’m guessing you don’t want to let me in to this backup plan of yours,” Daniel finally said after a few moments of silence. She opened her eyes and saw that he looked strangely tense. “I was expecting you to continue on, but you kinda just… powered down. You sure you should be talking to me? Maybe you should go to bed.”

Lila clapped her hands to the sides of her face, effectively waking her up. “Nah. I need to make sure you’re okay.”

He looked surprised. “Why?”

Lila let out a frustrated sigh, lowering her hands onto her lap. “Because sanctioning it is a big step, and telling our parents is an even bigger step.”

Daniel audibly gulped before reaching for a carton of juice on his desk. He drank straight out of it before offering it to Lila.

“Ew,” she blinked at him in response.

“Your loss,” he said before chugging the rest of it. “You’re right though. I’ve been pretty stressed about both of those things. I think I’m balding prematurely over it.”

Lila snorted. “You’ve got enough hair that you can afford to lose a few strands.”

Daniel smirked at her before exhaling loudly, capping his carton and placing it back with slow, deliberate movements. “I don’t wanna do it.”

“Do what?”

“Tell Mum and Dad. Get this whole mess sanctioned. Be the Banker.”

“I’m not surprised about any of that,” Lila nodded. “But what are you going to do about cancelling those things?”

“I should rephrase. I don’t want to do any of those things… but I know I have to. Well, I guess the whole Banker thing is optional but… I can’t say I haven’t had some amount of joy doing it. Besides the bonkers cash flow, it’s…” he frowned, seemingly searching the recesses of his mind for the right words. “It’s been fulfilling, in a way. I was out of my depth, but now that Asher’s set me right, it’s made me realise how much I’ve been doing. And… after he said I should be proud, especially when looking at what I’ve achieved, I’ve really been feeling it.”

He paused before looking at Lila seriously. “You guys dating yet?”

“You didn’t see on Facebook?”

“I’ve got you limited on my Feed.”

“Well, that sounds like a supportive little brother.”

“Not like you post anything that needs to be supported.”

“Rude.”

He chuckled before staring at Lila in realisation. “Wait… that means you are, right? Like, if I check, I’ll see that you guys are?”

Lila nodded and Daniel gave a low whistle.

“Finally,” he said heartily, a relieved grin on his face. It quickly rolled into a cheeky one as he added, “Maybe I’ll remove the limitation.”

Lila rolled her eyes before smiling at him. “I know you said before that you were kinda pushing him towards the idea. So, thanks.”

He waved his hand dismissively. “Probably would’ve happened on his own at some point.”

“I don’t think so. He… he kinda said he liked me for years but didn’t make a move or tell me. I think he would’ve left it alone if I hadn’t told him I liked him.”

“But you did,” Daniel reminded her. “Oh, wait, I encouraged that too. Huh, maybe I am the catalyst for your relationship. You should pay me.”

“I think you’ve got enough money.”

“Well, I won’t disagree with you… but I won’t agree with you either.”

Lila snorted again and he grinned at her once more.

“So, have you thought about whether you want Asher in on our conversation with our parents?” Lila queried, leaning back and rolling her ankles.

“I have… and I’m kinda conflicted still.”

“What if I invite him over anyway, and if you want him there, he can come with us. Otherwise, I’m sure he can entertain himself while we’re gone.”

“You make him sound like a dog or something.”

“He’s an only child. He’s got ways to pass the time.”

Daniel fell silent for a few moments, drumming his fingers along the armrests of his chair. “Alright. Do that, I think. That way if I need him, he’s right there.”

“Roger that.”

“What day?”

“Dunno. What day works better for you?”

Daniel tapped his chin. “You’ve got a game on Saturday, right?”

“Sure do.”

“Is Saturday afternoon or night too soon?”

Lila shrugged. “This conversation’s for you. Don’t look at me to decide your schedule. I’ll just make myself available when I can.”

“… Saturday it is, then. I… think I’ll need Sunday to emotionally recover.”

Lila looked at him sympathetically. “Now that you’ve said that, that’s a good point. I’ll let Asher know.”

“Thanks.”

Lila stood, stretching her arms above her head. “Anything else you want to talk about?” she asked, swallowing back a yawn.

“Nah. Go have a nap or something.”

“You sure have become bossier since becoming the Banker.”

“That’s a lie and you know it, egghead.”

Lila nudged him on her way past to display her discontent with being called an ‘egghead’ and he snickered.

“Better an egghead than a dickhead,” she teased before stepping out into the hallway. “See ya later.”

“Bye, sis.”