Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Five

Friday. Normally a day filled with excitement for the weekend. But today, it was filled with a sense of doom as Lila sat through her first lesson, chewing on her bottom lip. Her curiosity had won in the worst way that morning. She’d taken a peek at the screenshots Zack had sent as she took the bus in, and she didn’t like what she saw. Not in the way that it wasn’t evidence – no, it was plenty of evidence. Evidence that this conspiracy had been ongoing for far too long, and reached far too many people.

Even Asher’s excitement about the success of their date, as he walked with her to class that morning, didn’t dissuade Lila’s turmoil about this. He picked up on it and asked whether he’d done something wrong yesterday, and it took all of her might to hold back her thoughts about what she’d seen. He seemed to understand once she reminded him about her phone, but she was sad to see him looking so dejected afterwards.

She could hardly hear Ms Wang through the fog in her mind. It seemed that she would need to work hard on her maths when she had the chance – otherwise, she’d fall behind.

Not willing to see Asher’s disappointed face again, Lila forced herself to think back to yesterday and the happiness she’d felt, rather than attempt to tune in to the lecture. As long as her remembrance didn’t include the ride home, she’d be set to face Asher with a smile once class was over – or so she hoped.

She felt as though it was somewhat successful by the time Ms Wang dismissed them, her heart feeling slightly lighter. Asher was standing just outside the classroom, scuffing the tip of his right shoe into the concrete, his hands in his pockets.

“Hey,” he smiled at her, though there seemed to be a glint of hesitation in his eyes. “Ready to go to your next class?”

“I am,” Lila replied with a smile of her own. Seeing him brought a welcome warmth to her cheeks and a flutter in her chest. “I missed you.”

“You did?” His eyes widened with surprise. She nodded, feeling her blush steadily deepen as he held her gaze. After what felt simultaneously like a millisecond and hours, he looked away, his expression rather chuffed.

“So, I didn’t do anything wrong after all,” he said quietly, ruffling his hair.

“I told you before that you hadn’t.”

“I know, but… I’d been thinking that you would’ve been happier this morning.”

“I am happy,” Lila insisted, shaking his arm as if to illustrate her point. They began walking to Modern History as Asher gave her a doubtful sideways glance.

“I’m serious! I really enjoyed our date. It was a good reward for handing in that shitshow of a draft for English,” Lila said with a huff.

“Your draft didn’t seem that bad, from what I ended up seeing of it.”

“Are you saying that as a reassuring boyfriend or the Dux?”

“Why can’t it be both?”

“… ‘Cause it was bad,” Lila mumbled.

Asher sighed, pulling her close. “Then, as the Dux, I certify that it wasn’t bad. Don’t fret about it. Ms Shard will give you the feedback you need to improve it, and your final will be even better.”

“I doubt she gives you feedback,” Lila grumbled. “She’s going to add a billion notes to mine.”

“She gives me enough.”

“Like, one sentence.”

“Bit more than that. Do you think my work is perfect out of the gate?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Because that’s not how it works,” he chuckled, though not unkindly. “It takes a lot of hard work, too. The same kinda hard work that I saw you put into yours.”

Lila fell silent. She still wasn’t necessarily convinced by his assertions, but there was no reason to argue the point. It wasn’t as though she’d gotten her feedback just yet, either, so she couldn’t say for certain how terrible it was in the end.

He squeezed her hand, which she returned before looking up at him curiously.

“School work aside,” Asher winked, pausing her heartbeat for just a moment, “would you go on another date with me?”

“Of course,” Lila replied instantly, trying to ignore the blush which was once again searing itself onto her face. “That’s a silly question.”

“You never know. That might change to a ‘no’ one day.”

“Why, are you planning something diabolical?”

“Diabolical?” The word barely left his lips before he burst into hearty laughter. “Definitely not. Should I?”

She laughed along with him, relieved by his playful response. “I think I can do without.”

“Hey, you mentioned that bookstore in the city,” Asher suddenly said, as though a stroke of inspiration had come to him. “Let’s go. Next weekend?”

“Promise you won’t get stolen away from me again?” Lila asked with a grin.

Asher laughed again. “Promise. We’ll actually go this time.”

“Then it’s a date.”

They reached the Modern History classroom only a few seconds later and Asher gave her things back.

“See you at morning tea,” he said with a touch of sadness. Lila’s heart jumped as she recalled what they needed to do during morning tea, her veins filling once more with dread.

“See you then,” she replied softly. The emotion behind his eyes changed to one of concern and he stayed put.

“What-”

“You’re going to be late, lover boy. Don’t you have some work to do?” Elise’s teasing voice cut Asher’s question short. He sighed, rolling his right shoulder as though it were bothering him.

“Guess so,” he replied, glancing at Elise, who looked very amused at having interrupted them, her glittering smile reminiscent of the Cheshire cat. He inclined his head before rapidly speedwalking back towards the STEM area.

“Aaaanyway,” Elise drawled, looping her arm with Lila’s and taking them both to the classroom door, “did you end up handing in that draft of yours? I didn’t forget that you admitted he was holding a date over you so you’d hand it in.”

Lila groaned. “Elise-”

“I’m only teasing. I thought about what you and Grace said on the topic and it made sense to me. So… I’ll let it go for now – the whole forcing you to do schoolwork part. So, spill. Did you?”

Lila carefully surveyed Elise’s face for a moment. She seemed very genuine – excited to hear about what Lila had to say, even.

“I did. And we went on our date yesterday after school.”

Elise squealed, prompting a stern, “Ladies, sit down,” from Mrs Popovic. They swiftly took their places at the table Grace was sitting at without another peep.

Now that morning tea was rapidly approaching, Lila couldn’t help the frown deeply etching onto her face. Some of the evidence that Zack had sent her included a list of schools that their ring had managed to infiltrate – and, from the looks of it, there were about ten-

“Lila,” Elise whispered, nudging her slightly. “Did the date not go well?”

Lila blinked at Elise. “What?”

“As soon as I asked about it, you just seemed to shut down,” Elise continued, her voice still hushed. “Did he do-”

“If you disrupt my class once more, Elise, I will have to write you up. This is crucial for the exam. Even if you don’t care, your classmates are here to learn and do well on the exam.”

“Sorry, ma’am,” Elise mumbled, leaning back in her chair.

Lila took as many notes as she could, given Mrs Popovic’s advice about its relevance to the exam, but her mind was still swimming with all the things she was bursting to tell Asher about. They’d definitely need to spend some time going through how to present the information to her Dad.

Finally, just as Lila’s hand was beginning to cramp with how tense she was clenching it around her pen, Mrs Popovic dismissed them. She threw her things into her bag and hauled it over her shoulder. Perhaps she’d been too eager, given how her hands fidgeted with nervous energy as she waited for Elise and Grace to pack up. If they left quickly, Lila and Asher would be able to find a meeting room in the library. Then, once they made a plan, she’d hopefully feel less anxious.

Both Asher and Isaac were waiting for the girls as they exited their classroom, chatting about something that seemed light-hearted. They stopped talking almost immediately once the girls reached them and Asher reached for Lila’s things.

“Locker room?” Asher asked, his tone rather serious.

“Ye-”

“Yes, but you’re not keeping Lila away from us for morning tea,” Elise announced, locking her arm around Lila’s.

“Hold on-” Lila’s attempted protest was shushed by Grace.

“You two have been having morning tea and lunch together for weeks now,” Grace nodded. “It’s girl time.”

“I really-”

“Actually, that’s a good point,” Isaac piped up, linking his arm with Asher’s, who looked equally as panicked as Lila felt, “it’s been a while since we hung out, too.”

“W-What about PC?” Lila managed to say, stepping away from Elise, and looking between the group. “We have PC after morning tea, so-”

“It’s not a free lesson since we’re getting our hiking bags during PC,” Grace replied matter-of-factly. “For camp?”

Lila couldn’t sustain eye contact with Grace. Camp. Where she’d tell Grace that she knew about her sordid relationship with Ms Alexander.

“Exactly,” Elise huffed. “We’ll let you have lunch with Asher, but morning tea is for us girls. C’mon. Let’s get going to the locker room.”

Lila glanced at Asher, who seemed to be defeated by this turn of events. It appeared that Lila would need to survive just over two hours longer with her angst. She supposed it was doable, but that realisation didn’t make her feel any better.

The group moved towards the locker room, with Elise letting go of Lila partway along the journey. Lila took the opportunity to move to Asher, wrapping her arm around his in an effort to seek comfort from the tremors running through her hands. He lightly traced her knuckles with his free hand, seeming deep in thought.

“Looks like we’ll have to postpone our chat,” Asher murmured after a couple of moments of silence between them both. Asher was almost drowned out by the sound of Isaac’s laughter in response to something Elise said. Lila smiled, feeling relieved that Isaac was still getting along with Elise after that awkward museum visit.

“Yeah, we will,” Lila replied quietly, squeezing his arm. “It… wasn’t a lot of stuff, but the implication was a lot.”

Asher looked between her, Elise, Grace, and Isaac, who were just ahead of them. “I… think I get it.”

Lila nodded, unwilling to say any more than that on the topic.

They reached the locker room with only a few more words shared here and there – mostly about upcoming assessments, and Asher’s debate that night – before he reluctantly handed her things back.

“I’ll… see you after,” Asher said forlornly. Isaac clapped him on the shoulder.

“Bro, you’re acting like she’s dying,” Isaac snickered. “What, you don’t want to see my face? I thought we were buddies.”

“We are,” Asher replied stiffly.

“Then, let’s get going,” Isaac cajoled. “Get, get.”

“I’m not a horse,” Asher grumbled, though he followed Isaac’s lead much like an obedient one. The boys waved goodbye before disappearing around the corner.

“Well, that’s that,” Elise’s tone was one of utmost satisfaction. “Let’s head over to the pond after we grab our morning tea.”

They split off, with Lila briefly contemplating just running over to Asher and escaping. Instead, she ultimately decided to go along with Elise’s plan. If she played her cards right, she might be able to squeeze some information out of Elise about her progress with Isaac, which could distract her enough from Zack’s information.

Once the girls assembled themselves back together, they meandered over to the pond, commenting idly on the cold weather.

“Alright, out with it,” Elise demanded, taking her sandwich bag of dried apricots out of her blazer once they sat down, “you said you went on a date with Asher yesterday? And it didn’t go terribly, despite your mood in Modern History?”

Lila took a careful sip of water before launching into a retelling, more or less, of their date. Reliving it with Elise and Grace, who suitably reacted, actually made her feel quite a bit better after all. Her cheeks were hurting from how widely she’d been smiling by the time she rounded off the story with Asher’s defeat at the hands of himself at air hockey.

“So, even after all that, there’s something that’s bothering you,” Grace surmised, biting into a carrot stick.

“It’s… nothing to do with Asher,” Lila replied awkwardly, her good mood instantly evaporating.

“You sure?” Elise sounded rather concerned as she polished off her last piece of apricot and scrunched her bag back into her pocket. “’Cause it sounds like everything went perfectly, yet you were scowling up a storm after I mentioned it.”

“It…” Lila sighed, trying to think of a plausible story that wasn’t too flimsy. She could mention that her Mum fought with Clare… but they might ask what it was about…

“It?” Grace pressed.

Lila sighed again. There was nothing else she could use that wouldn’t fall apart with a single probing question.

“I’ve… been a bit upset this week.”

“No kidding,” Elise replied with a brisk nod. “We noticed.”

“That’s why we wanted some of your time,” Grace added kindly. “As much as you like Asher, there might be some things that you can only say to us girls, you know.”

Nothing came to mind in that realm, given how open Lila and Asher were with each other, but Lila wasn’t about to refute that.

“Well… Mum… fought with Clare. On Wednesday night. It was really ugly.”

“Seriously?” Elise sat up, her expression morphing into one of worry. “Shit.”

“It… was a bit. We ended up leaving the house and going to Asher’s for dinner.”

“Both of you?” Grace’s question wasn’t exactly impolite – more incredulous. “I didn’t know Clare knew Asher well enough to want to do that.”

“Well… he was tutoring Daniel, so they have met a few times,” Lila replied slowly. ‘Plus, he’s one of the only people who knows Clare’s secret identity as Roxy Wurld… and her boss lives with him,’ Lila added to herself.

“I forgot about that,” Elise commented, shaking her head. “Did Asher’s Dux magic work on Daniel?”

“You… could say that,” Lila replied vaguely. “Anyway, uh, so I haven’t actually seen or spoken to Mum since Wednesday afternoon.”

Elise gave a low whistle. “Damn. That’s not good. It really was that bad, huh?”

“Terrible,” Lila shivered, her mind flashing back to her Mum’s face when she was in the throes of accusing Lila of being a sex worker for just a moment.

“I’m guessing since you went over to Asher’s afterwards that you talked to him about it?” Grace asked gently.

“Well, Clare mainly did the talking,” Lila responded quietly. “Asher’s a really good listener, though.”

“That’s good,” Elise uttered approvingly. “What’re you going to do about it, though?”

Lila exhaled deeply, taking another sip of her water before answering. “Continue to avoid her until camp, then… figure it out when I come back.”

“By then, she’d have fully calmed down,” Grace said sagely.

Lila paused. Given the intensity of the fight, she wasn’t quite sure whether that would be the outcome – but in the absence of anything telling her otherwise, she decided to try and be positive. “Yeah,” Lila murmured, taking a bite of her apple.

“Sorry,” Elise said after a few moments. “I kinda brought down the mood.”

“It’s alright,” Lila replied. “I know you’re worried about me. It comes from a good place. Besides, you didn’t know.”

Elise remained quiet, seeming deep in thought, when a cheeky smile began to form on Lila’s face.

“There is something you can do to make up for it, though,” Lila grinned.

“Really?” Elise looked interested in this prospect as she straightened up.

“Yup. Give us an update on Isaac.”

Grace seemed just as interested in this as she also straightened up, her eyes fixed on Elise. Elise’s face instantly turned a bright red and she looked down at her lap, rather than at either of them.

“T-There’s no news,” Elise finally said regretfully. “I… I’m just glad we’re on speaking terms again.”

“Who told you he had a crush on someone else?” Lila asked, raising an eyebrow.

“H-Huh?”

“Well, you said that you found out that he likes someone at work,” Lila pressed. “Who said that?”

“Good question,” Grace murmured, her eyes still glued to Elise.

“… Reilly,” Elise said reluctantly. “She… she kinda thought he was cute, so she tried to hit on him. That’s when he told her, apparently.”

“And he didn’t tell her who it’s on, right?” Lila questioned.

“Well, no-”

“So, he could’ve been talking about you,” Lila concluded, tapping her chin.

“He wasn’t,” Elise replied flatly, shaking her head. “No way.”

“Why no way?” Lila countered.

“Because,” Elise said defiantly, “it’s impossible.”

“But-”

“Lila, seriously,” Elise’s voice sounded desperate now.

“But have you asked him?”

“No-”

“Then-”

“Lila,” Grace piped up, “Lila, give it a rest.”

Lila huffed. She felt like she’d been getting close to having Elise realise the flaws in her thinking, but she didn’t want to fight with Grace, either. Not yet anyway. That… would come next week.

“Look, I know you mean well,” Elise said softly, reaching out to touch Lila’s arm. “Maybe… one day I’ll be brave enough to say… something.”

“Okay,” Lila sighed. “I… I’m just really excited for the idea that you two would get together.”

Elise’s face was an almost impossibly deep shade of red as she sat back. “R-Really?”

“Of course. You guys honestly seem great for each other.”

“Do we?”

“I think so as well,” Grace chimed in. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile as much as you do around him after how many years of us being friends?”

Elise looked thoughtful, her cheeks remaining just as bright. “Y-You reckon?” she finally stammered.

“Yes,” Grace replied emphatically. “You’ve seen it too, right Lila?”

“Oh, definitely,” Lila smiled. “I honestly never would’ve picked it, before this year. But, now that I’ve seen how you two are with each other, I feel like there’s no other option for either of you except to date.”

“You… actually think that? Even though he’s your ex?” Elise asked, clutching the hem of her skirt.

“He was hardly a boyfriend at the time,” Lila replied, her tone reassuring. “I barely consider him an ex, it was so brief and long ago. Besides, I’m with Asher now. There’s no way I’d be hung up on Isaac when I’m dating someone like Asher.”

Elise still didn’t look convinced, so Lila leaned in. “Even though we dated, which, mind you, it’s not like we even went outside of school on an actual date or anything, it doesn’t mean that you can’t date him. He’s still a good guy – just not for me. I’d actually feel really relieved if you guys did start dating. I feel like you’d be in good hands.”

Elise pursed her lips. It seemed as though she wanted to say something – refute Lila’s claim, perhaps – but she just exhaled deeply.

Grace swiftly and tactfully changed the topic – to gossip, mainly. Apparently, someone in her art class was mysteriously leaving the paint lids open and driving the art teachers insane. Lila’s mischievous suggestion that it was Isaac earned a couple of laughs, and eventually the girls stood up, ready to head to the Gymnasium to collect their hiking bags.

“I still can’t believe we have to collect these stupid things the Friday before,” Elise wrinkled her nose as they waited in line. “They’re so gross, too.”

“I know, but what would you rather? Overload yourself by mistake and then have to lug it up a mountain and whatever else, like we did in Grade 9?” Grace asked sensibly. Elise made a begrudging sound of defeat at this.

The Grade 11 PC teachers stood in front of rows of hiking bags, marking students off as they collected their assigned bags. Once the pandemonium subsided and Lila was holding a musty, green hiking bag with an air of disgust, Mr Morrison made a couple of announcements regarding the procedure for Monday morning. It was similar to the previous camp that they’d had like this and they were dismissed about ten minutes before PC was supposed to end – presumably so that they could put their bags in their lockers.

“What a slog,” Elise yawned, her hiking bag on her shoulder.

“Much better than the last camp we had,” Lila reminded her. “We just had to bring all our stuff in plastic bags and shove them into the hiking bags the morning we arrived. At least this time we can test the weight, and whatever else.”

“True,” Elise conceded with a grimace. “I had to leave so much stuff behind.”

The sound of two pairs of jogging feet caught Lila’s attention and she turned to face the source. Both Isaac and Asher had caught up to them, seeming slightly puffed.

“You’re all going to your lockers, right?” Asher asked breathlessly.

“Yeah. Gotta put this floppy bag somewhere,” Lila replied, shaking said floppy bag. “Plus, I need to get my stuff for Japanese.”

With that, the group travelled to the locker room together, the general discussion now turning to the camp itself. Isaac sounded quite keen, which, given his background as a scout, made a big deal of sense to Lila now. Grace sounded dejected to be going, but she clarified that she at least was keen to spend time with them all. On one hand, Lila would have preferred Grace to drop out and stay home, as she seemed to want to do instead, so that Lila could avoid the impending conversation. But, on the other, she wasn’t sure she could keep her knowledge about Grace’s relationship in any longer.

“Wait, you can’t ride a bike,” Asher suddenly said, stopping the entire group in their tracks. Lila stared at him with wide eyes.

“A-And?” she asked.

“There’s a whole mountain bike riding activity,” Asher clarified. “At least, if it mirrors the previous camp. What did you do back then?”

“I… was in the Ute with our camp counsellor,” Lila replied, wincing at the memory. “He was a bit of a maniac. I think he wanted us to still have fun while we were in the Ute, but it really felt like he tried to hit every pothole, tree root, and rock that came our way. Maybe he wanted some insurance money or something.”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Oh. So… I guess you’d do the same?” Asher queried.

Lila shrugged. “Probably?”

“Should I pretend I don’t know how to ride a bike?”

“Asher, I think they’d remember from the last camp,” Lila laughed, shaking her head. “I’ll be fine. It’s not the worst experience in the world. I can do all the other activities anyway.”

Asher looked doubtful, but he didn’t add anything else. Eventually, the group reached the locker room and broke away from one another to shove their bags into their lockers and grab their things for the next lesson. Asher swiftly reappeared beside Lila as she locked her locker and they set off towards the Language Block, saying goodbye to their friends as they left.

“So, how was your morning tea?” Asher asked with a grin that suggested to Lila that his ended up being quite good.

“It was nice, actually. Well, to hang out with my friends generally. Conversation-wise... well, they’d picked up on how upset I’ve been, so they asked why,” Lila sighed, folding her arms across her chest. “So, I said Mum fought with Clare.”

Asher’s grin faded. “You didn’t tell them the why, right?”

“Of course I didn’t. But I did say we went to yours after.”

“Oh. I see.”

“I also tried to get Elise thinking about talking to Isaac about her crush on him.”

“And, by that expression, it doesn’t look like you were very successful.”

“Not really. She does seem a bit anxious about the fact that Isaac and I briefly dated. I keep telling her it’s fine, and that she should go for it. Honestly, if I’d known the future would be like this, I would’ve said no to him. So much more trouble than it was worth,” she lamented.

Asher chuckled before shaking his head. “You didn’t know, though. Can’t take it back, either.”

“You would’ve preferred it, too,” Lila said pointedly. His face fell into one of contemplation.

“I’d… been thinking about it, actually,” he said thoughtfully. “It was pretty uncomfortable at first, and made me really insecure but… I dunno, maybe I would’ve felt worse about the fact that my first kiss was with someone else if you hadn’t kissed Isaac. It’s weird, but… I dunno.” He sounded frustrated as he frowned. “Actually, I take it back. I have no idea what this feeling is.”

“I think I kinda get it,” Lila replied, her tone careful. “Well, you do have a little more experience, but it’s not like we’re completely uneven.”

He glanced at her before nodding. “Yeah.”

“So, what happened at morning tea for you?” Lila asked, moving on before she could think any more about the fact that he’d made out with Holly. Asher smirked in response.

“I mean, hanging out with Isaac is never dull,” Asher replied with a slight laugh. “He asked me how I felt when I found out that he got into gambling debt. Said he’d been thinking about it for months. I told him I was real mad that it took ages for him to tell me. Like, I was upset that he was in gambling debt – but more because he’d fallen into it and got trapped. I don’t think any friend would be happy about watching their friend struggle like that. But, really, I was more mad that he kept it from me for so long, y’know? Told him that then he got super quiet and said ‘sorry’ like he was a little kid. He said he’d tell me straight away the next time he gets into gambling debt, then I decked him.”

Lila snorted and Asher grinned before adding, “He didn’t find it quite that funny, but I think he got the message. I mean, $3k! Just think how long he’d been doing it before he figured out he couldn’t handle it anymore.”

Lila shuddered. She didn’t really want to think about how long it’d been, but it probably would’ve been at least a few months.

They split off not long after to their language classes, with Lila once again falling into her thoughts about the evidence she’d received. Being with Elise and Grace for a slice of time during morning tea was something that she hadn’t realised she’d missed as much as she had, but it really had put a damper on sorting out these worries.

Luckily, they were just going through content they’d previously learned in Japanese today, so Lila didn’t have to worry about falling behind. It wasn’t like Asher would be able to help her if she did.

Finally, she was released for lunch and almost immediately found herself in the arms of Asher.

“Let’s go,” she urged, stepping back and taking his hand. “I think I’m going to explode.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound good,” he replied, letting himself be dragged along to the locker room.

“It’s not,” Lila responded. “Not at all.”

They hurried along, with Lila shoving her things amongst the hiking bag at record speed. It seemed that Asher was just as speedy as he appeared behind her, lunchboxes in both hands.

Given how quickly they rushed over, it didn’t take long for them to find an empty meeting room. She sat down with a grateful sigh – one that seemed to come from the depths of her soul. She hardly took notice of what she was eating as she opened her lunchbox and began chewing away. It seemed to be some kind of deli roll, but beyond that, she wasn’t sure.

“Here,” she said after swallowing. She passed Asher her phone after opening her chat with Zack. “Read through it.”

He tentatively picked up her phone, his eyes darting down her screen as though skimming through their conversation. She watched as a smile tugged at his lips before disappearing altogether. She heard him inhale sharply before bringing her phone closer to his face as if to inspect it pixel by pixel.

“Seriously?” he eventually said, his eyes meeting hers.

“Seriously.”

“What the fuck?”

“Don’t look at me like I have the answers.”

He closed his eyes before running his hands through his hair, looking far more unsure than she’d seen for quite a while.

“So… from what I can see… Zack and Jake handle on-demand drops, often with very little notice. Some of them are more regular, but it looks more ad-hoc. Because of that, they’re entrusted with the most amount of stock, that they guarded in that science lab of theirs. Now they’ve just got it in their lockers… which is wildly stupid, but I guess no one’s noticed so far that they’re just… throwing morphine around campus like it’s no one’s business.”

He looked back down at her phone with a disgusted expression. “Then, there’s about ten other schools that are part of this ring. They obviously don’t have nearly as much stock as our school does, so whenever there’s a game, Jake, Zack, and Jason distribute them. But it doesn’t seem like they’re the only ones doing deliveries – this is just what Zack has access to.”

“Yeah, ten is a lot for only three guys to spread it to. I’m thinking the girls have to palm it off as well, but we don’t know for sure.”

“It looks like it’s been going on since late last year – at least, that’s when Zack came on board.”

“That lines up with when my Dad’s investigation commenced.”

“Yeah. But… I dunno, I reckon Jason had to have been building up a market before bringing others on board, right?”

“That’s how most businesses start off.”

Asher was quiet for a few more moments before turning her phone screen off and passing it back to her.

“Looks like there’s at least a partial list of clients, a drop schedule, some mentions of it actually being called morphine, but they tend to call it juice more than anything else. Then, there’s confirmations of the other schools they hit up, and some dates of when new batches are brought into campus for them to guard,” Asher noted, tapping his fingers on the desk between them. “More than enough for your Dad, right?”

“Plenty,” Lila confirmed. “Especially the shipment arrivals – hopefully that lines up to when the drugs go missing in the Hospital, and they can keep narrowing it down from here.”

“That would be good,” Asher murmured, pressing his lips together. Then, he placed his head in his hands. “Lila, how the hell are we going to explain it to your Dad?”

“I don’t know.”

They remained silent for a while before Asher sighed heavily. “Well, are we giving him the folder of stuff from the farmhouse?”

“I think we should,” Lila said quietly. “He might not have that, and it helped us figure it out.”

“And how are we going to explain where we found it?”

Lila shrugged before an idea struck her. “I mean, you live with the CEO. Maybe you could just say that… you found it in the study, and that you also know that my Dad’s on the case from conversations with your Dad. But you thought it was important to look into because you recognised that Evelyn’s son is the Head Boy?”

“That’s giving me a lot of credit.”

“Sure, but you do happen to be the Dux.”

“And what if your Dad asks my Dad to verify all that?”

“He won’t,” Lila stated confidently. “I think.”

“Well, that’s as good a guarantee as any,” Asher replied sarcastically. Then, he sighed once again. “Sorry, that sounded rude.”

“It’s not like it’s untrue,” Lila responded, her voice small. “But… I do think my Dad will be discreet. It’s part of the job.”

“Suppose so.”

Asher didn’t seem pleased by this, but sighed in defeat without any further complaint.

“So… how are we going to give him the screenshots?” he asked after a couple of seconds.

“I… think I’ll just have to transfer them to a USB or something. He… doesn’t need to know that we kinda got this through blackmail.”

“What if he asks how we got it in the first place?”

“Any way you can swing it to say that Zack just willingly gave it to you?”

“Why me?” A flash of terror crossed Asher’s face.

“I mean, I can try and find a reason, but he’s going to see through it since he’s sorta raised me. He wouldn’t really know any of your tells as well as he would mine.”

Asher looked very stressed by this plan. “It’s true, but I’m going to fold if he even breathes a breath of doubt.”

Lila laughed. “That’s all he breathes, I’m afraid.”

“Then I’m screwed.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll just say that… we just asked the weakest link in the group about it. And he was just ready to tell us because he felt guilty.”

Asher paused. “… It’s lame, but not unbelievable,” he said reluctantly.

“That’s perfect. Less questions if it’s lame.”

“Are we going to give your Dad the footage of the deal?”

Lila bit her lower lip. It proved, without a doubt, that it wasn’t just all talk. But her flimsy explanation about ‘just asking’ the weakest link would suffer a dramatic bullet hole.

“We’d have to. I mean, we could say that we started looking into it because of what you found when you were going through Daniel’s books. But since we didn’t have any leads or evidence, we tailed them until we found something,” she said reluctantly.

“You’re not going to tell him about Theo?” His question was as piercing as his gaze. It… wasn’t as though she liked Theo in particular… but… he also wasn’t quite a part of the ring. Would her Dad get that nuance? Theo kept out of it as much as he could to protect his future – the same kind of future that Lila envisioned for Asher, really. One with lots of possibilities. With all of that combined, throwing Theo’s name out there didn’t sit right with Lila.

Her silence seemed to tell Asher something that he wasn’t happy about as he shook his head. “Fine,” he muttered sullenly.

“W-We can,” Lila stammered.

“Like I said, it’s fine. It’d be another piece of evidence, to say that we heard about it from someone, but your explanation suffices.” His statement was sharp – sharper than she thought he intended, but he didn’t take it back.

“We’ll tell him-”

“Don’t… make it worse.”

Lila pressed her lips together to prevent herself from saying anything more. It really would be okay to tell her Dad about what Theo said. Was there any way that she could explain to Asher where her moment of hesitation had come from? Was… there any real way for her to dissuade Asher’s lingering feelings regarding Theo?

“Asher-”

“Anyway, was that all?” He was staring at his hands, which clutched the sides of his lunchbox.

“Asher.” Her utterance caused him to look up at her, his eyes blank. “Asher, I thought you weren’t jealous of Theo.”

“I’m… not,” he said, forcing the words from his mouth like it were poison. “Just… wouldn’t mind if he got expelled.”

“Asher-”

“Sorry. That was unnecessary.”

“Look. Asher, it’s… I don’t know how to put this, so I’m just going to say it and hope you understand what I mean. But… it’s just… it wouldn’t sit right with me if he got expelled, since he didn’t actually do anything. It makes me feel like it’s destroying his chances for something he didn’t do, and he was the one who gave us this lead to begin with – so, we kinda owe him. But, at the same time, it is crucial that we tell Dad about it. It ties everything together.”

Asher rubbed his forehead. “You’re right. He didn’t actually do anything, from what we know, plus he gave you that info. I doubt we would’ve figured anything out if he hadn’t told you about the morphine, to be honest. I’m just… getting clouded with my emotions. That’s all. It’s irresponsible of me, I know, and I’m trying not to be. Logically, I know I have nothing to worry about, but my brain just doesn’t want to let it go. You’re probably sick of it by now.”

“Sick of it wouldn’t be the right way to put it, but I’m concerned, I guess. I don’t want you to keep feeling that way, and I feel like I’m not helping it.”

He grimaced. “Lila, I’m not blaming you for my messed up thoughts.”

“I didn’t say that you were. But, if I wasn’t defending Theo, even with logic behind it, you wouldn’t feel this way, would you?”

“I… probably wouldn’t, no.”

Lila held back her sigh. “Alright. I’ll stop.”

“Lila, don’t feel like you have to for my sake. I trust your judgement, and I trust you overall,” he said, lowering his hand to the table once more. “So, please don’t feel like you have to because of me.”

Lila was about to add to that – tell him that she was happy to, to keep his peace – when he whispered, “Please kiss me. I… need it.”

Had he ever asked so directly before?

“Sorry. You don’t have to. It just slipped-”

Lila had already stood up, pulling him into a hug. It meant that his face was in her chest since he was still seated, but she didn’t mind. In fact, she found she rather liked the feeling. He stiffened for a moment before wrapping his arms around her waist. She smiled, running her fingers through his hair for a moment but instead of continuing, she sat down next to Asher, her eyes intently on his face. He was flushed and his demeanour suddenly appeared very nervous. It was rather cute, actually, and she couldn’t hold back anymore.

She pulled him by his tie until their faces were mere centimetres apart. Her breathing quickened ever so slightly before she rested her hands on his shoulders and brought her lips to his. His body instantly reacted to hers in a way that surprised her, what with how tightly he pressed himself against her. If he kept going, he might make her fall backwards out of her chair, but he didn’t seem to notice. Instead, his tongue brushed against her lower lip, and she felt herself losing control of her breathing as her tongue met his. Her stomach swooped, her mind melting into a haze that could only hold on to this spine-tingling sensation.

‘Please don’t stop,’ she felt herself begging internally since she was unable to command her vocal cords to say it aloud. They hadn’t shared a kiss quite like this for a while, and her lips were aching to feel more and more.

Then, his passion slowed, almost as quickly as it had started, and he pulled back whilst he held her arms by her sides. His breathing was laboured and his cheeks were rosy – both things that she knew to be true of herself. He brought his forehead to hers, squeezing her arms before letting go of her altogether.

“Almost… lost myself,” he murmured.

“I would’ve liked it,” she said quietly, shuffling back in her chair. She combed the ends of her hair with her fingers, wishing that they had for even a moment.

“Don’t say that,” he replied, turning his eyes towards his lunchbox.

“But I would’ve.”

“I… should say don’t tell me that. I might just let it happen.”

“And you don’t want to?”

“It’s not that…” he paused, giving her a sideways glance, his cheeks burning a deeper shade of red. “I’m not ready. Besides… we’re at school.”

Lila reached for his hand and placed it in hers. “I understand.”

He sighed, intertwining their fingers together. “Thank you.”

They sat there for a few moments before Lila stood up and returned to her side of the table. The fluttering in her stomach didn’t wane any, and she felt like she couldn’t look at his face anytime soon. Could she convince him that giving in was a good idea? After all, with the look in his eyes after they separated, he seemed to like the feeling just as much as she did.

‘Don’t think like that. He’ll be ready when he’s ready,’ she chastised herself. It still hadn’t yet been a month since they started dating, but it was getting harder and harder to push her desires down. If only he wasn’t as attractive as he was, or if he didn’t make her feel as good as he did – then… she might be able to keep a lid on it with less disappointment.

Lila decided to finish off her lunch, rather than engage in more topics of discussion. They had Study next before finishing off the week with English anyway, and she still couldn’t lift her eyes to his. Asher did the same, and it didn’t seem that he was in the mood to continue talking, either. By the time lunch drew to a close, the atmosphere between them shifted from slightly awkward to content and comfortable.

When they returned to the library for Study, with laptops and books in tow, Lila arranged themselves so she didn’t have to look at Ayla behind Asher’s shoulder. He didn’t comment on this, but she was pretty sure he noticed the reason as he squarely sat in front of Lila with a comforting smile.

“So… you haven’t forgotten about my debate tonight, right?” Asher said after ten minutes of silent work. Lila halted her typing.

“Of course not,” she replied with a frown.

“I’m glad,” he chuckled before growing serious once again. “But it does mean that we’ll probably run into Livi and Vi, even from a distance.”

Lila had forgotten that part. “Shit.”

“Yeah. I mean, not that we’re going to give your Dad evidence against them, since we don’t have anything concrete, but… well, if he starts sniffing around, he’ll likely find out that they’re involved. It… could mean that they get expelled, you know.”

“I know. Way to make me nervous about seeing them again.”

“Sorry. I thought a reminder would help.”

“It is better that I have a reminder than get blindsided,” Lila conceded reluctantly. “I hope I don’t have to see them, though.”

“Same.”

She contemplated returning to study when Asher stretched his arms over his head and closed his laptop.

“Lila, I don’t think I’m going to be able to concentrate until we fully settle our plan,” he said, placing his head in his right hand. “Are we going to go through it with your Dad tomorrow? After the game?”

Lila set aside her laptop. “I reckon so. Mostly because… I just want to be able to stop thinking about it.”

“So… guessing I’m coming over tomorrow?”

“I should probably ask,” Lila replied, taking her phone out. She opened her text messages to her Mum before stopping altogether. They still hadn’t spoken, about the fight or anything else, and she wasn’t too keen to start that up again by asking if Asher could come over…

Lila swiped to the family chat. It hadn’t been used since last week, when everything was normal. Should she message there? What if her Mum responded? Her Mum… would probably say no right away, since she also seemed mad at Lila. Plus, her last words to her Mum weren’t exactly conducive to being allowed privileges.

She quickly flicked open her messages with her Dad. Out of all the options, asking him seemed the safest. Her Dad replied almost instantly, confirming that it was okay.

“Looks like it’s fine,” Lila replied, placing her phone back into her pocket.

“Good,” Asher nodded, breathing a sigh of relief. “I’m keen to get this over with, too.”

They shared a small, tentative smile before resuming their studying. She was starting to feel accomplished with the amount of work she was getting done when Asher lightly tapped the edge of her laptop screen.

“Time to get to English,” he said, zipping up his laptop bag. “Then, we wait for the debate.”

English was dedicated once more to working on their assignments, and, to Lila’s surprise, she didn’t find herself battling so much with it. Perhaps it was the clarity that her mind now held since their resolve to bring their investigation to her Dad tomorrow had been solidified, but she didn’t want to question it too much.

Once class was over, they scurried back to the locker room and collected their things, including their hiking bags. She’d almost forgotten that she’d need to pack this thing over the weekend. Did she have everything she needed? Or would she need to go shopping?

“Staring at it won’t make it pack itself,” Elise’s teasing voice called her attention. Lila glanced at Elise before sighing.

“I know, but I seriously haven’t given camp a thought. I have no idea what to pack.”

“Well, lucky for you, there’s a list on the Announcements board on the Grade 11 website,” Elise replied as she sailed towards her locker. She pulled out her hiking bag and belongings before returning to Lila’s side.

“Thanks for the tip,” Lila replied, locking her locker. “Got work tonight?”

“Sure do,” Elise nodded. “With Isaac again.”

“I’m sure you find it such a shame,” Lila joked. Elise seemed as though she was going to say something in response before the sound of Isaac’s laughter intermingling with Asher’s caught their attention. Lila turned around and smiled at Asher. He jostled the bags from her arms and placed them on his shoulders, earning a small snicker from Elise, which he didn’t seem to notice.

“Well, have fun with your shift, you guys,” Lila smirked. Isaac’s face turned a slight shade of pink. Lila glanced at Elise, whose face was equally as pink. Could they really not see that they liked each other?

“I’ll try,” Elise replied, her voice sounding rather shy.

“We’ll be late if we don’t leave now,” Isaac said, looking towards the locker room door. “C’mon.”

Elise and Isaac both waved goodbye at Lila and Asher, who returned the wave. Once they were out of earshot, Lila shook her head with disappointment.

“And they still don’t seem to realise that they totally like each other,” she sighed.

“Are we really ones to talk?” Asher replied, raising an eyebrow. Lila felt her face flush. She had been quite convinced that he didn’t like her back when she confessed.

“Guess not,” she acquiesced. He laughed, taking her hand in his.

“It just means that we need to make sure it’s really obvious during camp,” he said. “We’ll get there, I’m sure.”

“You’re right. We’ll get there,” Lila responded, her tone determined. “Even if it kills me.”

Asher chuckled, gently tugging her towards the exit. “Bloody well hope it doesn’t.”

She laughed, and they wandered over to the library. The rest of the afternoon followed much like the last time Asher had a home debate – they hung out in a booth on the top floor of the library, waiting for time to pass in each other’s company. Unlike the last time, though, Asher didn’t seem nearly as nervous. She commented on this and he seemed surprised.

“Well, yeah,” he shrugged. “Can’t fumble the bag as hard as I did last time.”

“You didn’t do that bad.”

He shook his head. “It was horrible. I thought I was going to get murdered by my teammates.”

“Sounds a bit dramatic.”

“You have no idea how intense debating can get. If there wasn’t a ban on fisticuffs, I’m sure it’d get settled in the end with a punch-off sometimes.”

Lila laughed and he grinned at her.

“I reckon the snacks might be set up by now. Wanna check them out?” he queried.

“If you think I’d say no, you mustn’t be paying attention to me,” she teased. He grinned at her in response.

They trudged downstairs, with Asher quite laden under all the bags he was carrying for them, despite her insistence that he give her some. He was quite right – the snacks were set up. He immediately made a beeline for the TimTams, passing her one as she joined him. They chatted freely about what his topic for tonight could be, and the snack offerings, before her eyes caught sight of both Livi and Vi approaching.

“Uh oh,” she murmured, instantly turning to face the other direction. “Here comes Livi and Vi.”

“Did you want to head to the classroom?” he murmured back, taking a bite of a TimTam.

“Is it open? What team are you even in tonight?”

“Beats me. To both-”

“Oh, here’s the lovebirds,” Livi’s loud, obnoxious voice called from behind them.

“Were you looking for us?” Asher replied, spinning around to face them. “Isn’t that a bit sad?”

Livi spluttered for a moment and Lila turned around as well. She could see Vi looking incredibly amused.

“No, I was not looking for you,” Livi eventually huffed.

“Seems like a lie,” Asher said flatly. “I think I should put a restraining order in.”

Lila snorted and he winked at her. She liked that he was confident enough to fend Livi off, now that they were together. There really wasn’t anything that Livi could say that would make him falter now, despite her previous best efforts.

“Besides, I thought you said we were boring,” Asher continued, tossing the rest of his TimTam into his mouth.

“You are,” Livi replied loftily.

“Then… you’re talking to us again, why?” Asher slowly blinked at Livi. Livi’s face started to turn a light shade of red as she walked towards the snack table.

“You were just blocking the snacks,” Livi retorted.

“That explained nothing,” Asher observed, taking Lila’s hand. He glanced at her before looking back at Livi.

“Can’t wait until I don’t have to see your face around campus,” he said lightly, gesturing for Lila to walk forwards. She squeezed his hand as a warning to stop him from saying any more.

“Just for that, I think I might stay an extra year,” Livi laughed, though her eyes were cold – malicious, even.

Asher opened his mouth, as if to say something else, when Lila squeezed his hand again, pulling him towards the classrooms where the last Grade 11 debates were held. Once they were out of earshot, Lila solemnly looked at Asher.

“Asher,” she whispered disapprovingly. “You’ll give it away.”

“It’s Term 3,” Asher replied, though his eyes did convey some level of worry. “For all intents and purposes, they’ll be graduating at the end of next term. Besides, she might not get expelled.”

“I know,” Lila said through a grimace. “But Vi might have considered that you weren’t referring to that.”

“If they thought that my comment was linked to something else, I’d bet that they’d think they’re paranoid. It’s a bit of a leap.”

Lila sighed. It was a bit of a leap, but at the same time, there was no harm in being too careful.

“I take your point, though,” he added. “It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

They continued to stand around outside these classrooms before they were joined by Sofia and Abdul, who were both busily snacking on muffins.

“Hey,” Asher greeted them. They mumbled their own greetings, and he smirked before turning to Lila.

“We’ll be starting up soon,” he said gently. “So… you’ll need to wait for me again.”

“That’s alright,” Lila smiled. “That means the Grade 12s will be hiding away, too. So, unlimited access to snacks.”

He chuckled. “Hope you save some for me.”

“No promises,” she grinned. “Better hope they do a restock after the debate.”

It was at that moment that Mr Barsch appeared, clapping his hands together. Under his left arm looked like two transparent folders with blank sheets of paper and pens.

“Hello, Group A,” he said before doing a double take. “Hello, Lila.”

“Hello, Mr Barsch,” Lila responded warmly.

“Are you joining the debate?” Mr Barsch asked, his tone clearly joking.

“Definitely not,” Lila laughed. “I think I’d die.”

“Eh, dying’s a rare side effect,” Asher interjected humorously. “Not impossible, though.”

They all shared a chuckle before Mr Barsch grew serious.

“Sandy Lakes have all arrived on time, and we’re ready to get started. They’ve already picked the topic and since you’re here all together, I’ll put you into one team. I’m sure Group B is coming this way shortly. So, with that, Asher, pick a hand.”

Asher picked the right hand, and Mr Barsch took out a slip of paper from his right suit pocket and handed it to Asher.

“Topic is ‘that no one should be able to post online comments anonymously’,” Asher said as he read the slip of paper. “Positive. Well, let’s get going, I guess.”

Mr Barsch passed Asher one of the transparent folders and Asher looked back at Lila.

“Won’t be long,” he said, hoisting all their bags onto his shoulders again. “See you soon.”

Then, he swiftly leaned forward, giving her a quick peck on the lips. She heard both Sofia and Abdul make sounds of varying degrees of shock, before registering Mr Barsch’s sound of clear disapproval.

“Alright, alright, go on,” Mr Barsch said sternly, gesturing to their requisite classroom. “It’s already open.”

Asher grinned at Mr Barsch before leading the way into said classroom. Mr Barsch remained outside, watching them enter. He then turned to Lila.

“Well, this is certainly quite a different circumstance than the last time you observed,” he commented idly. Lila simply nodded. The last time she observed, it had been Asher’s first debate back since he had broken up with Holly. And… she’d just figured out she’d liked Asher. It felt like an age ago now.

“His enthusiasm has returned since then,” Mr Barsch added. “I think that’s your doing.”

“Surely not,” Lila replied, shaking her head. She looked at where Asher had disappeared before looking back at Mr Barsch. “He’s naturally enthusiastic.”

Mr Barsch gave a sharp laugh. “I had thought it would never return for a moment. But, after that debate, he seemed much better – even though they lost. He’s even pushing the rules, which I thought I’d never see.”

Was he referring to the fact that Asher kissed her despite Mr Barsch standing there? With the twinkle in Mr Barsch’s eyes, it seemed likely.

“I hope you enjoy tonight’s debate,” Mr Barsch said after a moment, inclining his head.

“I’m sure I will,” Lila responded with a smile. He turned and disappeared around the corner – likely to round up the rest of the Grade 11s who were in Group B.

The procedure for tonight’s debate followed like the last one that she’d seen, except this time, Asher was the second speaker. She caught his eye as he sat down in the second speaker’s seat and he beamed at her. He definitely seemed enthusiastic, as Mr Barsch had said.

She pressed a hand to her lips, remembering for just a moment that he’d kissed her before going to write his speech. For some reason, her mind conjured up the memory of how he’d leaned in towards her before the last debate. Now that she’d seen that movement from him again and again, she began to wonder if he’d almost kissed her back then.

The beginning of the debate ceased all the nonsense running through her mind. She straightened up in her chair, committing herself to paying attention. Asher furiously took notes during the opposition’s first speaker’s speech, seeming entirely engrossed in this task. Then, once he stood, ready to begin his own speech, he smiled at Lila. Her heart raced just a little, her ears zoning into the comforting, familiar sound of his voice. He was far more relaxed than the previous home debate, and his confidence seemed to ooze into every word he enunciated. She found herself nodding along to every point he made, given how compelling they were.

Once his speech was over, she clapped as loudly as she could, earning another grin from Asher as he sat down. Lila lost a significant amount of interest in the rest of the debate as she watched Asher fall back into his unreasonably attractive focus, his intense scribbling making her curious. What points was he shuffling along to Sofia, today’s third speaker? What would she end up integrating into her speech?

The debate soon drew to a close, and Lila attentively listened to the adjudicator’s final remarks. To her chagrin, Asher didn’t win Best Speaker – but she supposed it was fine since it was awarded to Sofia, and Forestglade College ended up winning the debate overall.

Finally, everyone stood, ready to go home for the evening. Asher was almost instantly by her side, his eyes alight with the rush of tonight’s win.

“Congratulations,” Lila grinned. He returned the grin with his own.

“Thanks. Shame I wasn’t able to concentrate fully, but it was a good one in the end.”

“Really? You looked like you were focusing well, and you sounded confident.”

He chuckled. “I’ll agree with you if that’s what you think. Means I did my job well. But, I was actually in two minds the whole debate. Tomorrow’s got me on edge.”

Lila gave him a sympathetic smile, bumping him lightly with her shoulder. “That’s fair enough. I’ll be glad when it’s over too.”

He bumped her shoulder in response before pulling out his phone. “Marlene should be here. Let’s go.”

Asher grabbed their bags, with Lila trying once more to offload at least some of them to no success, and they started to make their journey to the carpark. Lila had paid enough attention to recall some points that he’d made, and they spent some time discussing them. Asher seemed quite pleased that she’d brought it up as he eagerly delved more into the topic, the energy in his voice increasing with each step.

Lila was so enthralled by his passion that she almost didn’t notice when they passed by Livi and Vi. When she glanced back behind her, she saw that they seemed subdued. If she had to guess, it appeared that they’d lost their debate. She looked back at Asher, who smirked but didn’t say anything about either Livi or Vi.

Instead, he changed the topic, as though just remembering something.

“Abdul and Sofia were amazed that I kissed you in front of Mr Barsch,” he said with a laugh, taking her hand. “Said I was pretty bold.”

“You seem to like that idea,” Lila replied, swinging his arm gently. “Mr Barsch told me that he thought he’d never see you pushing the rules.”

“What can I say? I couldn’t just leave without a goodbye kiss.”

Lila giggled, leaning into his shoulder. “No, you couldn’t have.”

He squeezed her hand. “They also said I’d changed a lot, since last year. I… don’t know if that’s a good thing or not, but strangely, I don’t really care. You seem to like me as I am, and that’s far more important to me.”

Lila’s heart skipped a beat. She did like him as he was, that much was true – but did it extend further than that? Surely… it was too early for that. Right? Was there someone she could ask?

With horror, her mind intrusively brought up the memory of Grace telling Lila and Elise that she’d told her partner that she loved her. On one hand… Grace was the only person Lila knew who had said something like that, but on the other, she didn’t want to ask about how Grace figured out she was in love with her Music teacher.

‘Looks like I have to take a page out of Asher’s book and just… keep thinking about it,’ Lila thought to herself. ‘No way am I asking Grace.’

They reached Marlene’s car only a moment later and Asher opened the door for her.

“After you,” he smiled, his eyes twinkling under the light of the carpark light just above. She thanked him before sliding into her seat and greeting Marlene. He placed their things in the boot before sitting up the front, next to Marlene.

“Lila, would you like us to stop and get some food?” Marlene asked politely as she began to drive. From Lila’s memory, there were leftovers that she could heat up at home – or, if Daniel or someone had eaten it all, she could always just have some cereal. Dinner of champions.

“I’m alright,” Lila replied. “Thanks for the offer.”

“I’m starving,” Asher interjected, turning around in his seat to look at her. “Sure you don’t want some Maccas, maybe?”

“Isn’t there food waiting for you at home?” Lila asked.

“Eh, I’m so hungry, I’d be able to eat both,” Asher shrugged. Lila was about to refuse the offer again when the sound of her stomach rumbling interrupted her.

“… Actually… if you wouldn’t mind, Marlene,” she said quietly, feeling somewhat ashamed.

“Of course,” Marlene said genially.

Asher told Marlene about his debate as she drove to the nearest Maccas which happened to be the one Elise and Isaac worked at. Lila gave her order to Marlene, who ordered at the drive-thru speaker. She didn’t recognise the voice of the person who took their orders of meals and desserts, but since Elise and Isaac were on tonight, she was sure they’d see at least one of them working the drive-thru.

Once they reached the presenter window, Lila dejectedly realised that her prediction was wrong. They must be working the front counter or something tonight, which made sense for a Friday night. From what Elise had told her in the past, Friday nights tended to be hectic for walk-ins, since they could hold way more customers in there than the drive-thru.

Lila gratefully received her food once Marlene passed it to her, and it wasn’t long until they arrived at her house. Asher hastily unbuckled himself, practically inhaling the rest of his ice cream cone as he did so.

Once he collected all her things from the boot, he walked Lila to her front door. She tested the handle and noted that it wasn’t locked.

“Thanks, Asher,” she said, taking her bags into her arms. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you then,” he smiled with a hint of nervousness in his eyes. His eyes darted up to her house before resting on her face. “Get some sleep, okay?”

“Only if you do,” she replied with a meaningful look. He chuckled.

“I’ll try.”

“Good. Now, come kiss me.”

He chuckled once more, a grin spreading across his face. “Coming right up.”

This was far tamer than the one they shared during lunch but she still enjoyed it, especially when he brushed his fingertips against her cheek. He stepped back with a small smile.

“Goodnight, Lila.”

“Goodnight, Asher.”