Chapter One Hundred and Twelve

English was up first on Monday morning, which meant that Lila would be spending her first lesson with Asher.

She thought it was odd, as she trudged her way to the classroom against the blistering, cutting wind, that she was now feeling unsure of herself. Sure, they were dating, but… how was she supposed to act with him at school? Like they normally did? Or… was he expecting something else?

She hadn’t paid attention to how couples acted during and between classes. What should she be doing? And what were the rules at school, anyway? Were they allowed to hold hands? Was kissing allowed?

She strained to remember how she’d acted with Isaac when they were dating. They’d kissed twice, but she couldn’t remember holding his hand or otherwise being very close to him. They’d had lunch together… and he’d held her school bag… but that was it, from what she could recall. They’d talked a bit, but a lot of it was awkward silence since she hadn’t really known him then. Now, of course, she felt like she knew a bit too much…

“Lila!”

She looked up, seeing a beaming Asher standing outside their English classroom. He was wearing a jumper today, which was certainly a good idea given they were now in the coldest part of winter.

But just as she’d registered this fact, she came face-to-face with his jumper-clad torso. In the same instant, she felt her feet lifting from the ground. His arms were wrapped firmly around her, pulling her into a hug and he began to spin them both. She melted in his grasp, allowing herself to be spun without complaint. His overt happiness at seeing her warmed her from the inside out, spreading to her freezing fingertips.

“I missed you,” he finally said after completing a rotation or two, his face flushed and breathing heavy. Lila laughed, her worries about how to act having completely departed from her mind.

“I missed you too, Asher,” she smiled. He continued to look into her eyes, which seemed to get closer by the second. Lila’s eyelids fluttered shut-

“Good morning, Asher and Lila,” Ms Shard’s voice caused them to spring apart from each other, Lila’s face burning hot. Had they been about to kiss?

“G-Good morning, Ms Shard,” Asher stammered, coughing slightly and readjusting his tie.

“I can see that you’re both rather happy this morning,” Ms Shard commented. “But you are also in the way of my door, and I’d rather not see kissing students so bright and early in the morning in general, let alone those who are also blocking my way.”

“W-We weren’t-” Asher spluttered before Ms Shard gave him a doubtful look.

“It’s cold outside. Come on, let’s get cracking on those poems,” Ms Shard said firmly, holding the door open for Asher and Lila, who filed in somewhat awkwardly.

“I’d like to see your hands on your desks too, please,” Ms Shard instructed as the door shut behind them. Lila didn’t dare protest. She noticed several of her classmates nodding at them as they continued towards their desks – something that indicated to Lila that they had heard the news of their relationship. Gossip sure did get around fast here…

“As if we’re going to do anything in her classroom,” Asher whispered petulantly after they took their usual seats. Lila glanced at him, seeing that his face was bright pink.

“Y-Yeah,” she replied, looking back at her desk. She wordlessly set up her laptop and other materials, waiting for Ms Shard to commence the lesson. It felt a bit uncomfortable, that Ms Shard had specifically singled them out for that, but Lila supposed that Ms Shard would’ve seen quite a few couples in her time. She was close to retirement age, after all. Perhaps she was just overly cautious of any of those kinds of hijinks in her classroom.

Ms Shard started the lesson, talking about various techniques typically utilised in poetry writing. Lila once again wrote so many notes that her wrists creaked, a fact that seemed to draw Asher’s attention.

“You okay?” he murmured as Ms Shard turned towards the board, writing something on it.

“Yeah,” Lila whispered unconvincingly. “Just… hate poems. I have to write as many notes as possible.”

“How’re you going with the assignment?”

“Haven’t looked at it.”

“Do you want me to help-”

“Asher, Lila, please be quiet,” Ms Shard said impatiently, turning towards them with her hands on her hips. “I’m trying to teach here.”

“Sorry, ma’am,” Lila and Asher replied in unison, ceasing their previous conversation altogether.

They remained quiet for the rest of the lesson, though Lila’s wrists were still giving her trouble. Once class was dismissed, Asher immediately took her hands in his.

“Let me massage them,” he said earnestly, inspecting them both.

“S-Sure,” Lila nodded, her face flushing slightly, “but maybe we should get out of here first.”

“Good point.”

They swiftly packed up and exited with the rest of their classmates, some of whom were clearly discussing Lila and Asher. For once, though, Lila didn’t mind. In fact, it gave her a strange sense of satisfaction – as if it made her relationship with Asher more legitimate, somehow.

As soon as they were back in the open air, Asher took Lila’s right hand in his left.

“We’ll go to the STEM block, yeah?” he suggested, looking fondly down at her.

“Let’s go,” she smiled.

They set off at a leisurely pace, with Asher taking the opportunity to squeeze her hand on occasion. They didn’t speak on the way to the STEM area of campus, with Lila spending the time relishing the fact that he was holding her hand at school without a care about who saw them.

She saw a couple of students do a double take upon seeing them pass, but no one approached them. Occasionally, she’d look up at Asher and he’d smile down at her. She wondered briefly why he wasn’t speaking, but figured that perhaps… if she wasn’t misreading the entire situation… he was feeling just as she was.

They approached their usual spot where they’d break away to their classes and Asher took both her hands in his again.

“I’ll have to teach you some stretches for your wrists,” he murmured, pressing down on her hands and beginning to massage them.

“Or,” Lila replied, a mischievous smirk across her face, “I could keep going as I am and you’d feel compelled to massage me.”

Asher looked up at her, his confusion apparent, until it seemed he registered that she was being playful. He lightly tapped her left hand in admonishment.

“I’ll massage you all you want, but you need to take care of your joints and your muscles too,” he said sternly. Lila’s face flushed again and, to her surprise, his face grew pink too. She paused, looking down at their hands.

“… I’ll do those stretches. You’ll just have to let me know what they are. But you’ll have to keep your end of the deal, too,” she replied, a small smile gracing her face.

“The massages?”

She nodded, her eyes still fixed upon their hands. She suddenly felt an overwhelming tidal wave of shyness come over her, and it was taking all of her willpower to stay still.

“Of course,” he chuckled, squeezing her hands. “Sounds like a deal.”

“Morning Asher, morning Asher’s girlfriend,” the cheeky, teasing voice of Isaac floated over to them. Lila turned to face him, and, unlike the last time they were stood here and Asher was massaging her, her hands remained in Asher’s grasp.

“Lila has a name, you know,” Asher said disapprovingly.

“Oh, I know. But look how chuffed she looks now that I’ve said that,” Isaac smirked, clapping Asher on the shoulder. Lila pointedly looked away from them both, her heart racing in her chest. Was Isaac right? She certainly felt a rush of happiness flood through her when she’d realised Isaac was talking about her being Asher’s girlfriend…

‘Embarrassing,’ she thought to herself with a twinge of disappointment. Why couldn’t she keep her cool? Asher seemed to be keeping his cool quite well… as if they’d always meant to be dating. Like it wasn’t anything new. Was it… from his experience with Holly? They’d been together for about half a year – a lifetime for high school relationships…

“While I’d love to stand here like a creep and watch you two do… whatever the heck you’re doing, I’d appreciate my Chem partner to, y’know, be at Chem,” Isaac said, nudging Asher’s shoulder. Asher sighed, giving Lila’s hands one final, reluctant squeeze.

“See you at lunch, yeah?” he asked gently, placing his hands in his pockets.

“See you then,” Lila replied just as gently, hoping her wistful edge didn’t carry through.

“Alright, alright, doe-eyes, let’s go,” Isaac said firmly, pushing against Asher’s back so he’d start moving towards the Chem lab. Asher looked back at Lila, who gave him a small wave, before elbowing Isaac playfully in the side. Isaac gave chase and they disappeared in a flash around the corner.

‘Why am I so lame?’ Lila lamented to herself as she trudged the last few steps to Maths. Was she being too clingy? Would she drive Asher away?

Luckily, Maths provided ample distraction – enough so that class ended in what felt like a matter of minutes. Now that it was morning tea, Lila braced herself for a flurry of questions from Elise and Grace.

Strangely, she couldn’t see either of them in the locker room. She clicked the lock on her locker after securing her morning fruit and water bottle and still didn’t see them. It was Monday… so surely Grace wouldn’t be at a music lesson. As for Elise, she wasn’t normally delayed heading off to the locker room given how ravenously hungry she always seemed.

“Where’s Elise and Grace?” a voice from behind Lila made her jump out of her skin. She stiffly turned, coming face-to-face with a puzzled-looking Asher.

“Beats me,” Lila attempted to shrug nonchalantly, but she could tell that it wasn’t as smooth as she’d been hoping owing to how Asher’s expression shifted to worry.

“Did you want to have morning tea with me?” he asked, glancing at the time on his phone before pocketing it.

“I-”

Lila’s reply was cut off by the appearance of a clearly harried Elise and a rather relaxed Isaac rounding the corner.

“S-Sorry,” Elise breathed, hurrying past Lila to her locker. “I just had some questions about my English assignment.”

“You’re all good,” Lila replied, waving a hand dismissively. “Just got worried something happened to you.”

“Me? Never,” Elise called back.

“Why’re you here?” Lila heard Isaac ask Asher.

“I was waiting for you,” Asher replied rigidly. “You were taking forever at your locker, smiling like an idiot at your phone.”

“Not my fault I found some dope ass memes,” Isaac replied innocently.

“Sharing’s caring, you know,” Asher replied drily.

“Anyway, that’s besides the point,” Isaac said quickly with a shake of his head. “Aren’t you meant to be harassing some teachers or whatever? Instead of your girlfriend?”

“I’m not harassing Lila,” Asher asserted with a dramatic flair in his tone. “Just saying hi.”

“Well, say hi with less drool next time. Come on,” Isaac winked at Lila before once again pushing Asher away. “See ya later!”

“Gosh, Isaac can be such an ass, can’t he?” Elise said disdainfully, watching them go whilst armed with a yoghurt cup and a peach.

“I mean, sure, but you like the guy,” Lila smirked. “You’d have to deal with it if you guys start dating.”

“At least he’s cute. Makes up for it.”

Lila was about to respond when she felt a tap on her shoulder. It was Grace, sucking in a deep breath.

“Hello,” Lila greeted her, standing back to let her pass easily down the aisle. “Where were you?”

“Left my bag in the Music room,” Grace replied breezily, placing said bag into her locker. “I’m starving. Let’s get going.”

The trio set off towards their usual haunt against the frosty atmosphere, bemoaning the cold and upcoming assessments. No one touched on the topic of Lila and Asher until they settled into their usual seated positions, digging in to their various snacks.

“Sooo, Lila…” drawled Elise, a devilish smile across her face. “What happened?”

“Tell us everything!” Grace insisted, readjusting her posture so that she was stick-straight.

With an uncontainable smile, Lila retold the events of their picnic. Much like Clare, both Elise and Grace squealed and delighted at appropriate points – with dramatic gasps littered here and there.

Once Lila was done, including her recollection of their two kisses, Elise waggled her eyebrows suggestively. “I’m assuming, once you guys headed back upstairs, there was some… action?”

“Definitely not,” Lila replied, shaking her head for emphasis. “We’ve only kissed twice… honestly, I’d kinda thought kissing wasn’t for me until I kissed Asher, since my first kiss was so bad.”

Elise raised an eyebrow and Lila quickly amended her statement.

“What I mean is that… well, it seems like it depends on, uh, how you feel about the guy, and all that. Or girl-” she shot a quick look at Grace, who nodded approvingly, “-I’m sure, if you ever get to that point with Isaac, you’d be fine.”

Elise blinked rapidly at Lila before looking back down at her yoghurt. “I-uh… yeah… maybe. I‑If I do.”

“I’m sure you will,” Grace said encouragingly, rubbing Elise’s shoulder comfortingly. “Any progress on that front? You can’t have Lila and Asher hogging all the relationship spotlight.”

“None,” Elise replied abruptly, emptying the tub into her mouth. “Haven’t thought ‘bout it.”

“Really?” Lila tilted her head curiously. “I mean, you kinda implied that you were thinking… y’know, sexu-”

“Shhh,” Elise hissed, her face immediately aflame with red. “Don’t say that out loud!”

“What, what?” Grace asked, looking between them both like a particularly observant periscope.

“It’s nothing,” Elise shook her head almost violently. “J-Just… something we were talking about when we tried to find you at your music lesson.”

“O-Oh,” Grace looked slightly wounded at the fact that Elise wasn’t forthcoming with what the issue was. With a heavy sigh, Elise finally relented. She gestured for Grace and Lila to huddle forward.

“Lila and I were talking about having sexual thoughts about our guys,” Elise whispered, “and how to stop it. Came to the conclusion that it’s impossible.”

“I see… I didn’t take you to be so prudish,” Grace laughed, biting into a carrot stick. “Any reason for that?”

“It’s… just… well, they’re wandering around campus all morning tea aren’t they?” Elise explained, waving a hand at the ‘campus’ surrounding around them. “They could just pop up out of nowhere. It’d be a disaster if… well, if Isaac knew what I was thinking. Since… we… haven’t, well…”

“I get it, I get it,” Grace nodded sympathetically. “They do have a habit of popping up out of nowhere, don’t they?”

“Sure do,” Lila murmured, taking a look around to see if they were nearby. They weren’t, so she shuffled forward into the huddle. “Anyway, no, we didn’t do anything else besides kissing. I… kinda keep chickening out from kissing him again.”

“What, why?” Elise looked bewildered, taking a long, slow sip of her juice box.

“It… well… we’ve been really close friends for so long… and I really want to, but… maybe it’s moving too fast or something. I dunno what it is. I wish I did, so I could sort it out. But he hasn’t tried either,” Lila finished her explanation with a sigh.

“It can be hard to adjust to a new relationship in the beginning,” Grace said sagely. “I know exactly what you mean. It was like that with my relationship. Like, the fact that now you’re dating brings a whole different level to everything. Something deeper. Something that can be intimidating. It’s only, what, day two? You’ll get used to it in time.”

“Thanks, Grace,” Lila smiled. “That’s kinda comforting.”

They relaxed back out of the huddle, remaining in a comfortable silence for a few moments before Lila sat up in alarm.

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“I almost forgot,” she said breathlessly. “Asher kinda suggested that he and I should just have lunch together… at least, for this week.”

“I’m kinda surprised that you’re not having morning tea with him, too,” Elise responded lazily. “What is he even doing during morning tea?”

“All will be revealed in due course,” a voice stated somewhat ominously, drifting from high overhead the girls. They looked up in unison to see Asher grinning down at Lila, with an unimpressed-looking Isaac to his left.

“He’s been literally saying that ever since he started dragging me around school to harass the teachers,” Isaac said gloomily, folding his arms. “Sometimes I dunno why I’m even there.”

“Don’t you want to keep me company?” Asher looked affronted.

“Well, that’s fine,” Isaac nodded, “but my brain is only so big, you know. I can’t keep thinking of theories as to what you’re doing.”

“Are you really not involved?” Lila asked, glancing between Asher and Isaac. Isaac’s expression turned grim.

“Definitely not,” he shook his head with a long-suffering sigh. “It’s not all bad, though. Probably better than hanging out with you three and leaving him on his lonesome.”

“Why don’t you go with Asher to do whatever mysterious things he’s doing?” Elise queried. Lila surveyed her carefully. Elise’s cheeks were certainly rather rosy in Isaac’s presence – though it seemed as though he hadn’t noticed this fact.

“Can’t, I’m guessing,” Lila stated, looking up at Asher for confirmation.

“I wish you could,” Asher said earnestly. “But… it’s kinda a conflict of interest…” he trailed off with a meaningful look towards Lila. From what she could tell, it seemed as though the sister of the Banker campaigning for his operation to be sanctioned would have far less impact than the Dux of one of the senior school cohorts. That much, at least, sounded fair enough. Though… it would be nice to wander around with Asher…

“Anyway, is it alright if I whisk Lila away for lunch?” Asher questioned, looking more at Grace than Elise.

“Whisk away,” Grace smiled. “Who am I to come between a brand-new couple?”

“Well-” Isaac seemed about to say something before falling short immediately.

“Well?” Lila blinked at him.

“Uh, well, I mean, lunch w-was for the group of us, and all that,” Isaac’s voice carried a rather flustered air alongside his reddening face. “S-So, it’s kinda sad, that we’re apart and all that.”

“Oh man,” Asher’s face looked conflicted as his eyes flickered towards Lila and back to Isaac. “We don’t have to, if that makes you feel better-”

“No!” Isaac cried dramatically, placing the back of his hand on his forehead. “You’ve already broken my heart. I’ll just have to find solace with these wenches.”

“Hey! I’m not a wench, doofus,” Elise protested, swinging a leg towards his shin. He jumped out of the way, looking somewhat like a cartoonish rendition of a burglar running away with a sack of goods.

“Could’ve fooled me,” Isaac cackled, sticking his tongue out at Elise. “Or are you an old maid in disguise?”

“I feel like you’re both thinking of different definitions of ‘wench’,” Grace observed carefully, biting into her last carrot stick. “Should probably clarify before you lose your shins, Isaac.”

“Good point,” Isaac huffed as he deftly jumped over another attempted kick from Elise. “I mean the girl version of wench. Dunno why you’d jump to the other definition-”

His sentence was halted by an echoing donk from Elise’s empty yoghurt tub connecting with his shoulder. Elise was fire-engine red, her breathing sounding decidedly chaotic. She collected the tub and stood up, dusting herself off as everyone watched in stunned silence.

“As fun as this was,” Elise cleared her throat before continuing, “I think it’s time for class. Coming, Lila and Grace?”

Both Lila and Grace scrambled to collect their empty containers and wrappers before standing up.

“Y-Yeah,” Lila stammered, the awkward atmosphere of Elise’s rubbish toss constraining her lungs. “Let’s go.”

The fact that Isaac had remained quiet after Elise had tossed her tub at him perturbed Lila as they walked back to the locker rooms in utter silence. Neither Asher nor Isaac followed them to the locker room, though when Lila looked back at them before they disappeared entirely, it seemed that Asher was talking to Isaac. Was he checking on Isaac? Isaac hadn’t seemed upset… but at the same time, he hadn’t cracked a joke as he normally would, either.

As they grabbed their materials for their subsequent classes, Lila finally decided to say something.

“Hey, Elise? What was that?” Lila asked as she closed her locker shut.

“What was what?” Elise responded, an air of nervousness in her shaky tone.

“The yoghurt toss,” Grace interjected, hoisting her bag over her shoulder.

“I just… wanted to chuck it at him,” Elise replied quietly, locking her locker.

“I dunno what kind of reaction he had, but that was a bit awkward,” Lila noted.

Elise groaned in frustration. “I thought he’d laugh.”

“The Isaac I know would’ve,” Lila concurred. “Wonder why he didn’t.”

“Do you think I’ve stuffed it now?” Elise’s eyes shimmered for just a moment before she blinked, the effect disappearing instantly.

“Doubt it,” Grace replied soothingly. “You’ll probably have to sort it out with him at lunch.”

“Now I’m curious to see that unfold,” Lila smirked.

“Maybe you should just bury me instead,” Elise huffed.

“No chance,” Grace shook her head. “Be vulnerable, or else you’ll just miss your chance with him altogether.”

“Miss it, huh…” Elise trailed off, her expression thoughtful.

“C’mon, let’s go to PC,” Lila suggested, inclining her head towards their classroom.

It was yet another free time class, with Ms Wang typing rapidly on her laptop. Of course, her usual requirement for having low noise was made loud and clear.

Just as the girls settled in, with Lila opening a YouTube video on her laptop, the familiar yet unexpected sound of someone drawing up a seat next to her caught her attention.

It was Liam – her PC classmate who also happened to share her English class. He wasn’t particularly known for being the brightest by any means. She remembered the time that he said that Asher would “hand out all sorts of tips before running when the going gets tough”, insinuating that Asher was the kind of guy who would get someone pregnant and flake out on the responsibility of raising a child… what did he want?

“Uh, why are you here?” Elise asked at the exact same time that Lila opened her mouth to ask the same question.

Liam waved a hand at Elise as if to shush her. “Talking to Lila,” he said dismissively with a strange glint in his eyes.

“Why?” Grace asked, raising an eyebrow. “I don’t think you’ve spoken to her in your life.”

“Your guard dogs are something else,” Liam said reproachfully as he continued to look at Lila.

“They’re my friends, not guard dogs. Not that you’d know what friends are,” Lila retorted, the statement burning in her throat. How many people could he offend in one conversation?

“Chill, chill,” Liam replied in a condescending tone that evoked rage rather than ‘chill’, holding up his hands in surrender. “I’m just here to check that those dating rumours are true.”

“What dating rumours?” Lila asked impatiently.

“About you and Asher.”

“That’s not a rumour,” Lila crossed her arms over her chest, narrowing her eyes at Liam defiantly. “It’s not your business either.”

Liam shrugged. “Maybe, maybe. I’m just curious, y’know. I heard Ms Shard tell you two to keep your hands on your desks, and after what happened to Holly… well, are you pregnant?”

Before Lila could respond, Elise slammed her hands on the table, standing up with her face twisted in rage.

“Elise,” Ms Wang warned, eyeing the four of them over her laptop. “You look eager for some maths questions.”

“He’s bothering us, ma’am,” Grace called out, pointing at Liam.

Ms Wang sighed, gesturing for Liam to come closer. He gave the girls a sulky look before shuffling over to Ms Wang. They spoke for a few moments in hushed voices before she sent Liam on his way. He didn’t come back to Lila’s table.

The rest of PC passed by without incident, though Lila was still fuming. Who the hell did Liam think he was?

Elise and Grace seemed to agree with Lila’s question as they angrily discussed his transgression on the way to Modern History. Lila wasn’t quite so in the mood to join in, but it was amusing hearing Elise refer to Liam as a dim-witted mosquito that she couldn’t wait to swat.

They seemed to tire themselves out of the insults and outrage by the time Modern History started, and remained otherwise silent as their teacher went through the next assignment – apparently meant to test their critical analysis of primary and secondary sources in the context of various women’s movements throughout recent history.

Finally, it was lunch. Lila, Elise, and Grace hurried on to the locker room amidst the spitting rain splattering against their clothes.

“You’re still having lunch with Asher, right?” Grace asked as Lila shoved all her things into her locker.

“As far as I know,” Lila replied, a nervous smile breaking across her face. She wasn’t sure why she was feeling nervous – it wasn’t as though she’d never had lunch alone with Asher before. But… perhaps this lunch had far more meaning than all the others combined.

“You’re still gonna talk to Isaac, right?” Grace queried, looking over at Elise. Elise paused her frantic pushing of her towering schoolbooks, hat, multiple jumpers, and whatever else she was storing in her locker.

“… Yeah,” Elise sighed, placing a hand on her forehead. “I probably should at least apologise for chucking things at him. I hope he’s not mad at me.”

“I’m not,” Isaac’s voice interjected behind Lila. Elise pressed against her locker with a small shriek. Lila looked at her sympathetically – Isaac had an uncanny ability to appear at the exact moment that Elise was talking about him.

Isaac blinked at Elise, his lips twitching in unveiled amusement. Lila looked back at Elise, who was still squished against her locker, as if to pretend that Isaac wasn’t there. As Lila felt a smile cross her lips, a singular strong, sturdy arm reached around her from behind, pulling her gently into a broad chest. She didn’t have to guess who it was as she brought a hand to his arm.

“Hello,” Asher murmured in her ear, squeezing her gently. She squeezed the arm she was holding in return, her smile turning into a wide grin.

“Hello,” she said back, swaying slightly before turning to face him. As she did so, she caught sight of Grace looking as though she was about to burst from happiness, her smile being so bright and full.

“Hungry?” he asked, raising the two lunchboxes in his left hand after letting go of her. She nodded before turning back to Elise, Grace, and Isaac, who had sidled past Lila and Asher.

“You guys having lunch together?” Lila queried, gesturing at all three of them.

“I gue-” Elise began before Isaac shook his head.

“Nah, I’m having lunch with the soccer boys. Haven’t for a while and I wanna talk about this weekend’s game,” he said casually. There was something strange in the way that he said this – an odd reluctance that Lila couldn’t place. Was it more of a pre-planned meeting?

Asher looked just as surprised as everyone else, almost perfectly matching how taken aback Elise looked.

“Do I need to be there?” Asher inquired, tilting his head.

“Nah,” Isaac waved a hand dismissively. “I just wanted to hang out with them today. See ya later.”

He immediately moved past Asher and Lila again without a backwards glance. Elise’s eyebrows were knitted together, her eyes shining with both apparent worry and sadness.

“He said he wasn’t mad,” Lila said soothingly. “Next match is against St Peters. They’re always really tough.”

Elise pressed her lips together before looking down at her lunchbox. “… Yeah.”

Asher’s eyes darted between Elise and Lila before looking at where Isaac had disappeared to.

“Are you worried about the yoghurt toss at morning tea? He really doesn’t care… at least, I thought so,” Asher trailed off, narrowing his eyes as he continued to think.

“You’re not great at this whole comforting thing, are you?” Elise replied sullenly. Asher winced, looking back at Lila with round, fretful eyes – eyes that asked her to help him out of this bind.

“If he is a bit upset over it, perhaps some space would do some good,” Lila said quickly. “Might need to clear his head or something.”

Elise brought a fist to her forehead, tapping it gently. “… Alright. Let’s go sit somewhere, Grace.”

“I-If you want, we can have lunch with you too,” Asher suggested.

“I don’t want to intrude on you guys having lunch,” Elise smiled at him forlornly. “Since you guys just got together, and all. Plus… don’t you want some privacy?”

Asher’s face immediately turned pink, and he seemed to struggle to find an appropriate response to Elise’s statement. She left the locker room with Grace in tow, leaving Asher and Lila rather alone.

“… I didn’t upset her more, did I?” Asher questioned uneasily.

“I think she was already upset,” Lila responded quietly. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure it’ll all blow over.”

Asher sighed before passing her a lunchbox. “I’ll believe you for now… plus, eating sounds far more enjoyable than worrying.”

Lila snorted and he grinned at her, offering his arm for her to take. She wrapped her free hand around his arm and they set off at a leisurely pace, Lila letting him lead the way. The fresh petrichor intermingling with the cold air pleasantly reminded her that it had just rained, though it had abated for now.

“How were your classes?” Asher asked as he looked down at Lila with a small smile. She returned it with an easy-going one of her own.

“They were okay. Well, except…” she stopped herself before shaking her head. He didn’t need to know what Liam said.

“Except?”

“It’s nothing.”

“You can tell me.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” Lila clarified with a slight shake of her head. “But… you don’t need to know.”

“Well, that sounds suspicious,” Asher laughed. “C’mon, try me.”

“It’d just make you mad.”

“Me? Mad?” his eyes sparkled with mirth, his tone light and teasing. “Never.”

“I mean… you don’t need to know,” Lila repeated, though she sounded far less convincing than previously.

“Maybe, but you’re being way too shady for me to just let it go,” Asher chuckled. “Surely it’s not so bad that you can’t tell your b-boyfriend.”

He stopped in his tracks, the pink returning to his face again. “S-Sorry,” he mumbled after a brief pause. “Just… got really… I dunno. Ha, wow.”

He bashfully brought a hand to the back of his head, ruffling his hair. “You don’t have to tell me, i-if you don’t want to.”

Lila carefully surveyed him, which seemed to deepen the flush gracing his cheeks. “Are… you shy?” she asked in a whisper, her eyes searching his.

“N-No,” Asher looked away from Lila, his face almost glowing with clear embarrassment. “Not at all.”

They stood in the pathway connecting to the Home Ec building for a few moments, with Lila’s heart beating rapidly in her chest. Not only was Asher clearly lying about being shy, he looked… almost too adorable to bear. It was stirring her own feelings of shyness – of grappling with the fact that this time last week, they were just friends – and, before her brain could let her know what her body was doing, she reached up on the tips of her toes and softly kissed him on his cheek.

His face radiated a heat that transferred to her cheeks as she let herself back down onto the ground. Their eyes met and he gave her a trembling smile.

“Y-You win. Fuck, I’m shy,” he admitted swiftly – almost too quick to catch – before tearing his eyes away and grabbing her hand. “Let’s sit down.”

He pulled her towards the spot he usually sat at with Isaac under the roofed area near the Home Ec building.

“Not the library today?” Lila asked, trying to keep her composure after his confession to being shy. If she kept thinking about it, she’d be overwhelmed with shyness too.

“Nah,” Asher said candidly, unzipping his lunchbox. “I thought it’d be a good change of pace to sit outside.”

“It’s a bit cold, though,” Lila observed as she unzipped her lunchbox.

“Is it? We can go to the library,” Asher immediately started getting up before she grabbed the bottom of his blazer.

“It’s fine. We’re pretty insulated here. The fresh air is nice.”

He lowered himself back down to the ground. “If you say so.”

They started digging in to today’s rendition of wraps in silence. As it had been over the weekend, somehow, they subconsciously shuffled close together, their legs touching slightly. Her eyes drifted over to the grassy area in front of the Home Ec building, and she recognised the group in the middle as being Piper’s friendship group. They looked morose, with a distinct lack of laughter in comparison to the last time Lila encountered them here. She glanced down at her food with a heavy sigh.

“What’s up?” Asher asked, swallowing his food roughly. “Do you not like the food?”

“It’s… not that. Just… well, Piper’s friends are over there,” Lila gestured vaguely towards them.

“Ah… I didn’t realise…” his eyes looked distant as he looked down at his own food. “I don’t think we should really talk about it here. Since… well, my experience with Piper definitely wasn’t positive.”

“That’s fair,” Lila nodded, taking another bite. She couldn’t help but look at the group again – noticing now that Ayla was distinctly missing. Was she still not at school?

“What were you going to say before?” Asher piped up after a minute or so of silence. “That you thought would make me mad.”

“Before you got shy?” Lila smiled at him, her tone playful. “I guess I can tell you, as long as you don’t get mad. I’m surprised you remembered.”

“Of course I remembered,” Asher bristled, seeming offended that she thought he’d forget. “Your curious nature is starting to infect me.”

Lila laughed. “I didn’t think it was contagious. Should you see a doctor?”

“It’s… only about certain things,” Asher said evasively, his eyes trained on his lunchbox. “Things concerning you, mainly.”

“Me?” Lila straightened up, wanting to immediately know more. “Like what?”

“Things you say. Your reactions to what I say. Uh… that’s a-about it.”

“That sounds like a lie,” Lila leaned forward, closing the gap between them. “What else?”

His eyes flitted to hers and he gulped audibly, shuffling backwards. “I-I-”

Lila sat back, shaking her head. He looked far too uncomfortable. “It’s okay. I don’t want to push you.”

He breathed a sigh of relief. “I’ll tell you one day… hopefully.”

“I’ll wait for that day,” Lila smiled before becoming serious once again. “A-Anyway… uh, so what I was going to say before…”

She summarised her strange interaction with Liam in PC, complete with what he had asked about her being pregnant, and saw, with little surprise, that Asher’s face was contorted with anger.

“What the fuck?” he managed to utter once she was done, as though his words were poison seeping through his teeth.

“I told you you’d get mad.”

“Of course I’m mad. Who even just asks that? Especially when you’re not friends. Heck, even if you were friends – that’s just so… I don’t even have the words.”

“I know. I’m sure it’s just a moment that’s passed… but it reminded me that, I guess, we haven’t really cleared up that it’s not your kid.”

Asher exhaled deeply, sounding much more like a hiss than a sigh. “We haven’t, no. I thought people would forget about it.”

“They probably have. I think… Liam just remembered ‘cause of what he said last term, and also since he’s in my PC class.”

“I didn’t think he had much capacity to remember anything, let alone something that happened last term.”

Lila shrugged. “I can’t decipher what’s in his mind. I’ve never wanted to, and I don’t think I’ll start now. I’m curious about a lot – but Liam? Definitely not, especially after today.”

Asher gritted his teeth before shoving the rest of his wrap into his mouth. After he swallowed, he met Lila’s gaze.

“Should I talk to him?”

“Definitely not,” Lila insisted, shaking her head almost violently. “It’s not like it’d achieve anything. The moment’s long gone.”

“Alright… well, if he says anything else, let me know. I’ll let it go for now – unless he starts shit again.”

Lila nodded. “I will.”

Asher’s body relaxed considerably after Lila’s promise, and he started a new conversation about something they were watching together. Lila eagerly responded, glad that his anger seemed quelled and for this light-hearted turn in their conversation.

In the blink of an eye, lunch was over, with Lila and Asher parting ways in the locker room.

“U-Uh, before I go,” Asher said, doubling back to face Lila. “W-What do you reckon about hanging out? After school? At mine. O-Or wherever.”

“Today?”

“Not necessarily. But, like, during the week. We could study, if you want. I know English is giving you trouble at the moment.”

Lila pondered this for a moment before smiling at Asher. “I’ll check with my parents. I reckon today’s a bit soon, and we have practice tomorrow after school… so, Wednesday?”

“Wednesday sounds perfect,” Asher replied breathlessly, the excitement reaching all parts of his face. “I gotta get to class. See you later!”

He disappeared around the corner not a second later, and Lila smiled in his wake. Her worries about being too clingy seemed to have been unnecessary. He seemed just as pleased as she was about the fact that they were dating.

The remainder of the school day passed without much incident. Her last class was Biology, but today Cecelia was away sick. Lucas sat at their usual table, but was undoubtedly subdued. Lila checked that he was okay, and that Cecelia was okay, and he’d responded yes to both without much elaboration. She decided to leave him alone otherwise, though she did note that he seemed almost glued to his phone – behaviour that she hardly saw from him, in class especially.

The bell rang and Lucas sped off without much of a goodbye to Lila, his face marred with concern. If what Lila knew of Lucas was anything to go by, he was most certainly hurrying off to visit Cecelia, or otherwise check in on her in a more meaningful way than through texts.

Lila meandered over to the locker room, ready to go home for the day. School today was actually far more tiring than she’d anticipated, now that it was over.

As she sorted out her school bags, ensuring she took home her Maths homework lest she fall behind, Elise passed by without greeting Lila. In fact, Lila hardly noticed until she looked over and saw Elise robotically sorting out her own school bags.

Lila clicked her lock shut and swung her bag over her shoulder before slinking over to Elise.

“Hey,” Lila said gently once she was within speaking distance. Elise jolted slightly, evidently having been spooked by Lila’s approach.

“Oh, hey,” Elise replied, her face oddly tight with forced neutrality. “What’s up?”

“You managed to slip past me without saying anything,” Lila observed.

“Did I? Sorry. Bit distracted.”

“Everything okay?”

Elise sighed, closing her locker and facing Lila. “… In theory, everything is. But… I can’t help but worry that Isaac’s mad at me.”

“Oh, Elise,” Lila responded sympathetically, stepping closer to give her a hug for comfort. “I’m sure you don’t need to worry about that at all.”

“I can’t help it,” Elise despaired, quivering in Lila’s arms. “I mean, we work together too. I just… don’t want this weird energy when we work together again. I don’t know why, but he’s somehow always on shift with me. And if it’s going to stay like this forever… I don’t know if I could cope.”

Lila pressed her lips together tightly to avoid telling Elise the reason – that Isaac was worried about Elise working at Maccas without him around, and that he, without a doubt, had a massive crush on her. Lila wasn’t quite ready to betray Isaac’s trust like that – not until she was sure that Isaac and Elise were organically getting closer to dating. So, instead, she just simply held Elise tighter.

“There you are.”

Once again, Isaac’s uncanny ability to appear right when Elise probably didn’t want him around was in full working order. Lila turned to face him, and he had his school bag slung casually over his shoulder. Elise looked like she’d rather avoid him than stand here, but she nodded and stayed put, opting to respond to his statement.

“Here I am,” she stated plainly, picking up her school bag. “Why are you here?”

Isaac leaned against a nearby locker, folding his arms across his chest. “Seeing if you’re ready.”

“For… what?” Elise looked at Lila as though she would have a clue. Lila shrugged – she really had no inkling either, especially if Elise didn’t know.

“For our shift tonight? Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten again.”

Lila’s eyes snapped to Isaac. There was something off about the way he was speaking to Elise and the way his eyes were ever-so-slightly narrowed. Was he actually mad? Should Elise even work a shift with Isaac if he was mad at her? Should Lila say something?

“O-Our shift?” Elise frantically searched her blazer pockets for her phone. She found it and rapidly tapped on it. She looked up at Isaac, her face pale with obvious nervousness. “I-I didn’t realise you picked up Sam’s shift. Guess we do have one.”

“The life of a plebian casual,” Isaac’s facial expression melted into a soft smile, his usual warmth returning. “Let’s go.”

He nodded at Lila before turning on his heel and walking towards the exit.

“B-Bye,” Elise quickly waved, her face cherry-red, before dashing after him, her bag swinging wildly on her shoulder.

Lila watched them go, seeing Elise meet him at the door. Elise’s body language seemed incredibly awkward, as though she really didn’t want to go with Isaac. She was really concerned about how he felt about the incident at morning tea – that much was painfully apparent.

‘Hopefully they’ll work it out,’ Lila thought before hoisting her own bag higher on her shoulder. ‘I’m sure she hasn’t blown her chance with him.’