Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Nine

By the time Lila arrived at English on Monday morning, Asher was already outside, pacing. She cast her eyes around, but it didn’t seem as though anyone else from their class was outside. He didn’t look too happy, until he caught sight of Lila. She caught sight of how pallid his face was, though it seemed to brighten as he strode towards her.

“Good morning,” he smiled, pulling her close to him. “How’re you?”

“Better than you, I think,” Lila replied, wrapping her arms around his torso and relaxing in the comfort it brought her. She felt his breathing halt for a moment. Then, he sighed.

“I’ve been thinking all night. About a lot of things.”

Lila stepped back, swinging his left arm slightly as she thought about her response. “I’d be more surprised if you hadn’t been,” she finally settled on saying.

“Were you?”

“Nah. I pretty much fell asleep straight away. I think all the stress exhausted me.”

Asher looked concerned before she flashed him a light-hearted grin.

“I feel great now, though,” she clarified. “For me, at least, not going into everything too soon helped, I think. If we have some time today, I reckon we should talk about yesterday.”

He paused, before apparent relief washed over his face, bringing with it colour back into his cheeks.

“I was kinda thinking you wouldn’t want to talk. That’s why I didn’t push it when we got back,” he muttered.

“Really?” Lila blinked in confusion. “But we talk about everything.”

“Call it… overthinking,” he replied, running a hand through his hair. “After seeing how you and your friends were yesterday, I realised both how close you are, and how it’s been affecting you. Not just the whole Grace thing, for obvious reasons.”

“Oh,” Lila uttered softly. He noticed that?

“I’ve known that I’ve got a lot going on, but… well, you’re going through the wringer, too. Just by some of your comments, it peeks through. Like with Grace, when we were waiting for our lunch to be ready. I also saw how concerned you are with making sure Elise is happy – and, by extension, Isaac too. Plus… it’s going to be a big week. Your English draft is due-” Lila made a sound of distaste, but he powered on, a flicker of a smile turning the corners of his mouth, “-And we have a few things to resolve this week.”

He held her gaze, the meaning behind his stare crystal clear. Lila made to respond when Ms Shard appeared, looking rather harried for a Monday morning.

“Morning, morning,” Ms Shard said quickly, readjusting the bundle of documents in her arms. She stepped forwards to enter the classroom before pausing and turning to face Asher and Lila.

“Asher,” Ms Shard stated simply, peering over the rim of her glasses at him. He straightened up, glancing at Lila briefly (which prompted her to step away from him) before looking at Ms Shard.

“Yes, ma’am?” he queried, fidgeting with his hands for just a moment. He shoved his hands in his pockets as he waited for Ms Shard to elaborate.

“I’m glad that it turned out well,” Ms Shard replied mysteriously.

“Uh-”

“Your plea,” she added. “After getting support from the teachers.”

Lila furrowed her brow before understanding smoothed them out again. Ms Shard was talking about his efforts with the Banker situation.

“Ah. Yeah. I’m glad it turned out well, too,” he said, relaxing his tense shoulders.

“Who knows what I would’ve done without Indian,” Ms Shard chuckled. “Anyway, enough chatting out here. It’s freezing. Go on.”

Asher and Lila wordlessly filed in to the classroom where everyone else was already waiting. Ms Shard noisily set herself up by the teacher’s desk, declaring that today would be dedicated to finishing up the drafts for their assignment. After begrudgingly working on it with Asher over the weekend, Lila wasn’t excited to actually finish it off. She’d almost hoped that what she prepared would be good enough, but she wasn’t a total idiot – despite what it felt like at times.

“C’mon,” Asher whispered, gesturing to her laptop bag. “I know you’ve got some work to do on it still.”

She huffed, but didn’t dispute it. The class was almost deathly quiet, with the sound of rapid typing serving as the soundtrack to her thoughts. She hadn’t looked over what she’d done since Saturday, so it was only coming back to her in bits and pieces. What did her last bullet point even mean? It may as well have been written in a different language…

Once class was dismissed for the day, Lila sighed with relief. She’d managed to write down a few more paragraphs, but if she was going to produce something legible enough to receive a half-decent mark, she’d need to continue working on it tonight.

“You seemed like you were getting into the groove,” Asher commented as he packed away his things. “Did you need more help with it?”

“I think I’ll be fine,” Lila replied wearily. “Just… gotta find the motivation.”

“How about this for motivation,” Asher smiled, his eyes twinkling with anticipation. “It’s due on Thursday, just after lunch. It’s also late night shopping on Thursday. So… we can go watch a movie, or grab some dinner, or just hang out at the shops. To celebrate.”

Lila stopped her packing routine to give him her full attention. “Is that a date?”

“Can be,” he said loftily, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “There’s an arcade-”

“It’s a date,” Lila nodded, zipping up her laptop bag with an air of finality.

“Only if you hand your draft in on time.”

She deflated, her mouth forming a small, protesting pout. He laughed, picking up her bags and adding it to his own collection.

“It’s motivation. I can’t just reward bad behaviour.”

“Rude. Also, don’t let Elise hear you say that.”

He exhaled heavily, shaking his head in disbelief. “She didn’t bring it up again, did she?”

“Nah. Not yesterday, anyway. I think she was a bit preoccupied with Isaac. Or, perhaps, her lack of Isaac.”

“I hope she’s forgotten all about that fake excuse,” Asher shuddered as they exited the classroom, hand-in-hand.

“Doubt it. As soon as you let your guard down, she’ll be back,” Lila sighed.

“You make it sound like a bacterial infection.”

“Pardon?” Lila looked at him in bemusement and he snorted.

“When you get antibiotics, you need to finish the whole thing, even if you feel better. Otherwise, your infection will come back to bite you. Is that not something they teach you in Bio?”

“Oh, yeah. Exactly like a bacterial infection in that case.”

He snorted again and she grinned at him before settling back into seriousness. “Elise means well. She can just get a bit stubborn.”

“I noticed.”

“It’s one of those things that drives me crazy, but I’m a bit stubborn too, so it’d be hypocritical of me to get mad at her.”

“I also noticed.”

“Not like you’re not stubborn.”

“Never said that.”

She met his gaze and saw that his expression was quite playful. She stepped closer to him, wrapping her arm around his before holding his hand again. “It has its perks, I guess,” she acquiesced.

“Such as?”

“If I wasn’t stubborn, I probably wouldn’t be here.”

“Well, that’s rude.”

“I just mean… well… you tried pushing me away.”

“Didn’t try very hard,” Asher laughed.

“Still tried. But a part of me just couldn’t let go. And I’m glad.”

“I’m sure that was your massive crush on me, not stubbornness.”

Lila felt her face start burning and she buried it against his arm. He chuckled.

“I’m only joking. It was probably your curiosity. I doubt you had a massive crush on me back then.”

“Don’t bet on it,” she muttered, lifting her head slightly to catch his expression. His own face was an interesting shade of red – not as deep as hers had to have been, but still noticeable.

“Did… you figure out when you started liking me?” he sounded incredibly nervous, looking instead at the path rather than anywhere near Lila. “I know you said that you were bothered about the fact that I was dating someone at the start of the year.”

Lila pursed her lips, considering his question as they continued walking towards the STEM area. She hadn’t really thought about it, beyond recognising that tidbit – if only because she couldn’t pinpoint a beginning. Though…

“I’d… always thought you were kinda cute,” she said after a few tense moments. “So… it must’ve been a while. I say that ‘cause when you were home from school, after the whole… well, you’re never away from school, so I think you know what I’m talking about. A-Anyway, I asked Isaac if he knew how you were, and at that point he didn’t know the full story. He thought you were a bit sad, or sick, but I said that you never missed school. He seemed surprised that I’d noticed that much. But… I don’t think it was an actual crush, anything before this year. Or, if it was, it was really surface level. Once I started to get to know who you were after we were paired for English, it was all over.”

He was silent for a few seconds – long enough for Lila to look up at him. His face was a much deeper shade of red and he was covering his mouth with his free hand. Their eyes met and he lowered his hand.

“I… I feel like the biggest idiot,” he laughed again, though it rang hollow. “Seriously. I gave up… when I really could’ve just… tried. At all. A-And maybe we would’ve gotten together before that shitstorm with my ex could’ve ever started.”

Lila smiled gently at him, standing before him so he’d stop walking. “Asher, we’re here now, right? It happened in the end. Who knows, if we got together earlier, perhaps it wouldn’t have worked out. I think we needed to be best friends first – otherwise, I might not have fallen as hard as I have.”

She reached up to touch his face and he caressed her hand, pressing it against the side of his face and briefly closing his eyes.

“Dwelling on the ‘what ifs’ is just so easy, though,” he murmured. “But… if I dwell on it, I’ll miss out on what’s actually happening in the here and now. And that’s a terrifying prospect.”

She smiled again, though he couldn’t see it. “Exactly. Let’s focus on the fact that we’re here now, and enjoy it. You’re not an idiot – you didn’t know, and it’s not like I had clearly articulated it in my mind until last term, anyway.”

He nodded, slowly opening his golden-brown eyes, which shimmered in the dappled sunlight streaming down upon them. The intensity of his gaze was magnetic, the seriousness behind it almost blinding her. “You’re right, like always… but… you’ve fallen hard for me?”

Suddenly, she wished to disappear by any means necessary. It had slipped out and there was no way to take it back. Truthfully, she’d hoped he hadn’t caught onto it. It was too early to say things like that. It’d freak him out, right?

“I-”

“Yo! You guys are sure taking your sweet, sweet time. Just about organised a search party for you. Chem’s almost started- whoa, no need to look so mad at me, dude.”

Lila had never felt more glad for Isaac to interrupt what she was saying in her life. She spun around to face Isaac, who seemed defensive, his hands raised.

“Why do you look so happy?” Isaac looked utterly bewildered.

“Never mind,” Lila said swiftly, retrieving her bag from Asher’s shoulder. “Gotta get to class! See you at morning tea, Asher!”

She skedaddled like she’d never skedaddled before – clumsily, but with speed. She turned the corner without a second glance at the boys, her rush disguising the blush etched onto her face.

She was antsy all through her Maths lesson, hoping beyond hope that Asher had forgotten about what she said. She wasn’t confident that he would’ve, knowing him, but… she still wasn’t prepared to answer his question.

Something about revealing the depths of her feelings to Asher set her on edge. Again, she wasn’t sure that it had reached the point of love – not yet, anyway. But it was certainly more than just an idle crush. Was it still her fear of rejection that was holding her back? She thought she was over that. Especially since he hadn’t actually rejected her.

She slid her bookbag and laptop bag over her shoulder and peered out of the classroom windows. Asher was standing just outside, his face seeming rather annoyed. Had she pissed him off by not answering his question?

Lila took a deep breath and reluctantly joined the throng of classmates battling to leave.

“Hello,” Asher said once she reached him, his expression changing into one of mischief. “Got an answer for me?”

“A-About?”

He gave her a disbelieving look. “You know what.”

Lila sighed. Of course he wouldn’t just let it slide. She could feel the redness from her cheeks making its way to her ears and she readjusted her scarf.

“I wouldn’t just say something like that without it being true, you know,” she said, looking to the concrete footpath instead of his face.

“But… I want to hear you say it,” he replied softly, his tone sounding rather sad. She glanced up at him and he smiled, his eyes tinged with that sadness she’d thought she heard. She fidgeted, her heart pounding in her chest. Lying or getting out of this somehow were both terrible options. And… if he wanted to hear it… then, surely, he wasn’t rejecting her again. Maybe, it would even make him happy.

“I thought you knew,” she responded quietly.

“Definitely not,” he said firmly. “If… you don’t want to say it, that’s okay. We’ve got a bunch of Grade 12s to find-”

Lila clutched the sides of her skirt, finally finding her courage. She looked directly into his eyes, which stopped him from speaking altogether. “Asher, I’ve fallen hard for you.”

His eyes were wide, and it looked as though he wasn’t breathing at all. Her eyes caught sight of his trembling hands before he took her by the shoulders and pulled her into his chest.

“Thank God. I thought I’d misheard,” he whispered, squeezing her tightly. “I’ve fallen hard for you, too.”

Lila felt her eyes prickle as his words registered in her mind. She’d suspected, sure, but hearing him say it was entirely different. She hadn’t realised just how much it would mean to her – and how much she wanted him to say it again.

But, instead of saying it again, he kissed the top of her head and stepped away, taking her bags and her hand in one swift motion.

“We’ve got lots to do,” he said, his voice shaking. Was it from nerves? “Need to put this stuff away, then head over to the library.”

“Should we check the lab that the Banker used to be run from?”

“With how quickly they abandoned it on Friday? Doubt they’d be there, and I also doubt they’d be in the new spot – but someone there might know where they are.”

Without another word, she let him lead her away by the hand, her other on her boiling-hot face. It was like Asher to not get distracted… but she wished that they’d take a little more time to talk about what he’d said to her.

Instead, he spoke about their English assignment, which she ruefully participated in. He was almost ready to submit his draft, apparently, which made Lila feel worse about the status of hers.

They also didn’t speak about yesterday, though Lila considered that to be a more tactical move, rather than an avoidance one. The closer they got to the locker room, the more likely it was to run into one, or all, of their friends.

They separated once they arrived and Lila took out her morning tea with a sigh. Had Daniel ended up firing the Grade 12s yet? She hadn’t asked – given how unsure he was about it last week. If he had fired them, then she had absolutely no idea where they could have scattered to.

“Hey, Lila,” Elise’s voice pulled her from her thoughts and she looked up. Elise looked rather cheerful for a Monday, taking a large bite from her apple as she waited for Lila to respond.

“Hey,” Lila smiled, checking behind her to see whether Asher had returned. He hadn’t.

“Yesterday wasn’t too bad,” Elise added, swallowing harshly. “The gelato was nice.”

“So nice that your shirt needed a taste,” Lila teased. Elise snorted. She looked like she wanted to say something else when Asher spoke from behind Elise.

“Ready?” he asked Lila. Lila glanced at Elise, who waved her on.

“I’ll see you at PC,” Elise grinned. “Go on.”

Lila and Asher both exchanged goodbyes with Elise before moving to the exit.

“Isaac not at his locker?” Lila asked curiously as they crossed the threshold into the outside world.

“He was, actually. But he said he was going to hang out with the soccer boys again for morning tea and lunch today,” Asher replied, his brow furrowed. “Odd.”

“I hope Elise knows that and isn’t just waiting for him.”

“Should I tell her?”

Lila looked behind her at the door before looking back at Asher. “I’ll go. You can start walking to the library.”

“Like hell I’m going to do that,” Asher bristled. “I’ll go in with you.”

They doubled back, with Lila privately glad that he’d rejected her suggestion. They hadn’t made it very far when Lila caught sight of Elise talking to Isaac. She stopped in her tracks.

“What?” Asher queried before his eyes moved over to Elise and Isaac. “Oh. Looks like we don’t need to say anything.”

“Do you reckon they’re talking about their relationship?” Lila tried to not let her excitement get out of control as she continued to look at them both.

“In the locker room?” Asher raised an eyebrow sceptically at her. “With everyone around? Besides, look at their body language. Somehow, it’s even more awkward than yesterday.”

Lila sighed in disappointment. “I thought I’d imagined that part.”

“Isaac’s coming this way. Let’s go,” Asher said hurriedly, taking her hand and pulling her back outside. They kept walking, heading towards the library at a brisk pace.

“I know they said that they’d heard that the other likes someone at Maccas, and that’s why they’re avoiding each other now,” Lila said after a few moments of silence and significant distance between them and Isaac, “but something doesn’t feel right with that.”

“You reckon there’s a conspiracy?” Asher seemed to ponder this as he pressed his lips together.

“Well, it just makes me think there’s someone at Maccas who’s meddling,” Lila shrugged. “I mean, they both hear the same thing about each other? Someone’s trying to mess up all our hard work.”

“Or it’s just a bad case of ‘broken telephone’.”

“What?”

“I think I’ve heard it called ‘Chinese whispers’, too,” Asher clarified.

“Oh. Maybe. It didn’t take long for Grace and me to pull the fact that Elise liked him out of her, but we’re her best friends. It seems like the opposite for you, though.”

“Yeah,” Asher shook his head with a wry smile. “He keeps a tight lid on that kind of stuff. Probably ‘cause I didn’t react well to him dating you. Likely decided it was more trouble than it was worth to tell me those kinds of things.”

“Would he tell anyone else?”

“I’d be appalled if he did.”

“So… no firm consensus on that.”

“Nope.”

Lila fell silent, hardly paying attention to where she was going as she thought more about it. Was it just a coincidence that they both heard the same thing? Or was there something more sinister going on? She couldn’t recall Elise mentioning any friends at Maccas, besides Riley – though, Riley was more a source of information about Holly than a friend. Sure, Lila was privy to more McGossip than was probably appropriate – but there wasn’t anyone who stood out to Lila that Elise might’ve trusted with her secret crush. Especially since he worked with her – and took on as many shifts as he could so that he could keep an eye on her.

It was a shame that Isaac actually had a legitimate reason to be doing that, what with his want to pay Asher back. If he didn’t, then Elise might’ve picked up on the fact that Isaac was working so much with Elise because he also liked her and was concerned about her wellbeing.

“What floor was it again?” Asher’s question sounded as though he was underwater for a moment. She blinked at him before recognising that they were standing outside the doors to the library.

“Uh, first, I think,” Lila said, her tone incredibly unconfident. “If we’re really stuck, I guess we could ask Daniel.”

“True,” Asher inclined his head as he opened the door for Lila. This door led them on to the second floor, so they both made their way to the staircase leading down.

There was a lot of chatter emanating from the first floor, which comforted Lila. She was probably right about the Banker’s new home being down here. It all sounded to be coming from students.

“… She’s not here.”

“I’m so glad…”

“… bit of a bitch, aye…”

“Rude…”

“… not wrong…”

“… made… hell…”

Lila exchanged a brief look with Asher, who seemed to have also heard the comments. By ‘she’, Lila could only infer that people were talking about Livi. If Livi wasn’t here, Lila doubted that the rest of the Grade 12s would be.

Once the first floor came into view, Lila noticed quite a few groups of students – more than what she’d seen at morning tea outside the lab. Perhaps most of these people were new customers, now that the existence of the Banker’s operations had been both legitimised and advertised on Friday.

Classroom 1.01 was just ahead and there didn’t seem to be a line. Lila and Asher exchanged another look before Asher stepped forward and opened the door.

“Wel- oh. It’s you guys,” a familiar voice said as they entered the classroom. To Lila’s surprise, it was Daniel sitting behind the teacher’s desk. Beside him was Ms Wang, sitting at one of the desk configurations for students and eating a fruit salad from a glass Tupperware. Otherwise, it was devoid of anyone else.

“Daniel?” Lila couldn’t help but ask.

“What, you forgot your brother? I didn’t think Alzheimer’s started that early,” he replied sarcastically. Lila noticed Ms Wang trying her best not to laugh.

“Well… it’s not that. I’m just… surprised you’re here,” Lila stated, as though it were obvious.

Daniel gave a long-suffering sigh. “Turns out I didn’t need to fire anyone. Livi and her group just didn’t show up. When I figured it out, I came here. So… that means I’m stuck doing the hard yards.”

“Poor you,” Lila smirked.

“Yes, poor me. Do you know how many guys have already come in here to ask where Livi was? And then when I told them I didn’t know, they asked if I knew her number.”

“Did you give it to them?” Asher queried.

“After the earful I got from Lila about giving you her number? Heck no. Livi’s already mad at me, I didn’t want her to come strangle me. I’m shaped like a twig, you know. I’d probably snap like one, too.”

Ms Wang subtly coughed; her eyes fixed on her fruit salad.

“You gave him an earful about that?” Asher looked perplexed.

“Said I shouldn’t give randos her number,” Daniel shrugged.

“I was a ‘rando’?”

“Apparently back then. Not anymore, though, what with the fact that your lips-”

“Jesus, Daniel, are you trying to embarrass me in front of my PC teacher?” Lila cut him off, her face a deep scarlet.

“Succeeding, apparently,” Daniel chuckled.

“I’m not here,” Ms Wang said casually, though the corners of her mouth were lifted in a slight smile.

“Forgive me, ma’am, but I don’t think people who actually aren’t here say ‘I’m not here’,” Asher responded, a playful grin on his face.

“Would you rather I participate in this conversation?” Ms Wang quipped, her tone serious. “I, for one, would rather not know about where lips have been.”

“Good point,” Asher replied swiftly.

There was an incredibly awkward silence in the room now. If there was a trapdoor to certain doom beneath her feet, Lila would have gladly pulled the lever herself.

“Anyway, why are you here?” Daniel questioned, rocking back on his chair. “Business?”

“Well… sorry to add to the list of people who’ve asked, but you really don’t know where Livi is?” Asher enquired after a quick glance at Lila.

“Thought you didn’t like her,” Daniel raised an eyebrow at him.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“I don’t. So, it’d be good to know where she is, so she doesn’t sneak up on us.”

“Does she do that?”

“Do you, or don’t you know?” Lila interjected, crossing her arms.

Daniel shook his head. “’Fraid not. Though, when I first asked her to be a part of this, I think she sat on the oval. Not Jacoval, sorry – Kennedy.”

The Kennedy oval was one that was patrolled by teachers during morning tea and lunch, and much easier to reach than Jacoval. The only problem was that it was almost on the opposite side of the school from the library – closer to Tuckshop.

Lila checked her phone. If they were going to see if Livi was there, they’d have to go right now.

“Thanks,” Lila said, pocketing her phone. “See you later.”

“Bye, guys,” Daniel replied, his tone slightly despondent. “Visit again if you’re bored, yeah?”

“If you’re not an ass,” Lila responded loftily, halfway out the door.

“No guarantees.”

“Then no guarantees on our end, either.”

She looked back at Daniel, who stuck his tongue out at her. She snickered, closing the door softly.

“Looks like we’ll have to jog a bit,” Asher said once they begun climbing the stairs to the second floor.

“Guess so.”

They hurried along down the road towards Tuckshop and the Kennedy oval, chatting only very minimally about things unrelated to Daniel, Livi’s group, and their friends. Their list of no-go topics seemed to be growing faster than they could spend a private moment to let out their thoughts.

“So,” Asher’s voice was slightly puffed as they neared the Tuckshop, “we can go through here, or up and around the hill-”

“Through, please,” Lila huffed in response. “I don’t think I’ll make it up the hill.”

“Good. I don’t think I would, either.”

They descended the stairs to the Tuckshop, with Lila casting a look towards where Zack and Jake had played cards last week. The boys that they’d played with were still there, but there was no sign of either Zack or Jake. With that mental note in mind, she carried on.

It was another couple of minutes before they ended up outside the entrance to the Kennedy oval. Lila hadn’t speed-walked that fast anywhere for a while and definitely needed to catch her breath. Luckily, Asher seemed the same.

“… You’d think we’re unfit,” he wheezed, placing his hands on his knees.

“It’s more that we haven’t warmed up, or taken a break,” Lila said sensibly, sucking in a deep breath.

“I’ll take that as an explanation.”

She laughed and he grinned at her, straightening up.

“See anyone?” he asked her after a moment.

“Not from here.”

“Alright. Let’s go.”

“You know we don’t have hats, right?” Lila said as they started to head down into the oval.

“… Ah, shit. Maybe we can charm the teachers into letting us off the hook?”

“You’d probably get away with it,” Lila pursed her lips. “I wouldn’t.”

Asher bit his lip in contemplation, looking over at the expansive oval. There were lots of pockets of students here and there, all appropriately hatted, and two teachers floating amongst groups.

“If we stick to where the trees are on the edges, we might be able to spot them, and we won’t attract the attention of the teachers,” he finally murmured. Lila didn’t have a plan to the contrary, so she nodded.

“Alright. We’ll try that.”

They stepped on to the oval, with Lila bracing herself for the immediate attention of a teacher. Neither of them seemed to notice, so she relaxed a little, sidling over to the cover of nearby trees. Asher trailed behind her, his eyes looking out at the oval.

She turned her attention that way, too, eyeing the groups of students who were loafing around. None of them included Livi or her group of friends that Lila could see. She sighed in frustration, looking up at Asher.

“See them?” she asked. He shook his head.

“Not at all. But, it’s not like we’re close enough to see people on the other side of the oval, either.”

“Should we continue following the trees?”

“Not like we’re getting answers here.”

They kept under the cover of the trees, following the left side of the oval past the empty cricket pitch. Lila could recognise a few more of the students that came into view, but there still wasn’t any of the Grade 12s they were looking for.

“What now?” she whispered to Asher, shielding her eyes from the sun. “Keep going?”

“… For a little bit,” Asher whispered back. “Just down there.”

He pointed to where there was a break in the trees. She trudged over that way, still looking out at the oval. Still no Livi, or the rest of them.

“… Should I ask Theo where they-” Lila stopped her sentence upon seeing the disgusted look on Asher’s face. “Never mind.”

He wiped his face with a sigh. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to look at you like that.”

“No, no, it’s fine. I get it. Sorry for bringing him up.”

“It’s not a bad idea. Just… would rather it be a last resort.”

“Okay.”

She looked back at the oval, straining her neck to see if they were on the other side still. Not having a hat was really inconvenient.

Then, her eyes met those of one of the patrolling teachers.

In an instant, her heart plummeted right through her stomach.

“Asher, we gotta go,” she said urgently, shaking his arm.

“What, why?” he questioned.

“Where are your hats?” the stern voice of the teacher that Lila had drawn the attention of rang out.

Lila felt her blood run cold. Their chance at escape had slipped by.

“D-Did we need them?” Lila’s voice was shaky, her eyes trying to take in anything – anyone – else. But, as the teacher raised her hand to grip the brim of her hat, Lila couldn’t tear her gaze away from the three diamante stars adorning her slim, pale wrist.

“I would hope so. That’s been the rule for this oval since before I even started here,” Ms Alexander stated, readjusting the brim of her hat so her face was more visible. Lila had never been so close to Ms Alexander before and was surprised to see how young she looked. She couldn’t have been out of Uni long. In fact, how long had it been since she started at Forestglade College? Lila had never paid attention, since she’d never been musically inclined. She did, however, notice Asher’s posture stiffen beside her.

“Sorry, ma’am,” Lila said, casting her eyes down at her shoes. How had Grace given Ms Alexander the bracelet so quickly? Had Grace gone to see her this morning? Last night? Grace wasn’t anywhere in sight, and Lila had been looking carefully at who was on this side of the oval. Besides, if Grace knew Elise would otherwise be alone at morning tea today, there was no way she’d ditch her, and Elise hated going anywhere further than Tuckshop. Always said it was a waste of time that could be spent lazing around.

“I like your bracelet,” Lila found herself saying, her words sounding robotic. Why couldn’t she get a grip lately? She’d been saying all sorts of things that she instantly regretted.

“Thank you,” Ms Alexander smiled, looking down at it fondly. “I like it too. It was a gift.”

‘Good to know my choice was the right one,’ Lila thought cynically, glad that her mouth hadn’t expressed that thought.

“We’ll get off the oval now,” Asher said quickly. “We didn’t know we needed hats here. We don’t normally go this way.”

Ms Alexander pressed her lips together, resting her eyes on Lila. “You’re Lila, correct?”

If it were possible for Lila’s heart to go straight to the core of the Earth, it would’ve been in this moment. Lila settled for a rigid nod, not trusting her mouth to keep a lid on the fact that she knew about Ms Alexander dating a student.

“And you’re Asher, I believe?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Ms Alexander paused for a few moments – long enough for Lila to feel sick with anxiety.

“I’ll let it go for now. If I see you two here again without a hat, I’ll have to give you a written warning and possibly detention.”

“Thanks, ma’am,” Asher said through gritted teeth, grabbing a hold of Lila’s blazer sleeve. She stumbled behind him as he took her back to where they’d entered the oval. They left without a word shared between them, the silence stretching on until they had well and truly passed the Tuckshop.

“… I guess that’s one plus to your friend… knowing a teacher,” Lila stated darkly. “The teacher’s less inclined to punish you.”

Asher gave another one of his hollow laughs. “It’s about the only plus, Lila.”

“I… helped Grace buy that bracelet.”

“Jesus, really?” He looked at her with wide eyes. “When?”

“Yesterday. I couldn’t say no. Not when… I’d normally have jumped at the chance to help.”

“Fuck,” Asher said softly, his shoulders shuddering. It was evident that it wasn’t from the cold. “Probably better off that you went along with it, but that’s jarring.”

“It confirms that they’re dating, at least,” Lila replied morosely. “Not that I wanted any more confirmation.”

“Yeah.”

“… Still want to talk to her next week?” Asher queried, his voice as gentle as the hand that grasped hers.

“I don’t think I could hold out much longer.”

He was quiet – pensive.

“That teacher’s not going to be there at camp, is she?” he finally asked.

“Doubt it. I think it’s only PC teachers for our grade that’re going.”

“Good. If it’s like the last bush camp, we’ll have enough free time to have a conversation. Can probably use the excuse of giving Isaac and Elise some time to themselves.”

“Yeah… I don’t feel good about it, though.”

“I’d be worried if you did. Look, as hard as it is, and as hypocritical as it is for me to say, try not to think about it until then, alright? You’ll just work yourself up, and if we’re not doing anything about it this week, then it’s not productive.”

Lila nodded slowly before letting out a long breath. “Should I talk to Clare about it?”

Asher gave her a serious look. “And say what?”

Lila pursed her lips before answering him. “Give her a hypothetical. See what she reckons I do about it all.”

He sighed deeply, his eyes darting to either side of Lila. “I don’t know whether that’s a good idea. It could help, but wouldn’t it cause trouble if she figured out who was involved?”

Lila paused. “Maybe.”

“Look, I just think we should tread really carefully with this one. But… if you think on it and really feel strongly that you need her advice, then… at least just let me know before you do.”

“Deal.”

They didn’t exchange any further discussion about Ms Alexander or Grace on the rest of their journey to the locker room. In fact, neither seemed up to talking, instead preferring to hold each other’s hands in comfort.

The closer they got to the locker room, however, the more Lila couldn’t get the idea of Grace with Ms Alexander out of her mind. She was trying to do as Asher suggested – not think about it – but in the absence of any leads about Livi and her group’s whereabouts, it was all Lila could think about.

Which meant that Lila needed to employ her excuse again so that she could ‘legitimately’ avoid Grace. Ultimately, it wasn’t as much of an excuse this time, since Asher had promised a date on Thursday if she handed in her English draft…

“See you at lunch,” Asher said upon reaching her locker. She looked up at him, wishing for him to not leave her. His eyes seemed to convey the exact same thing and she gave him a small smile.

“See you then.”

Grace and Elise were already settled in the PC classroom when Lila arrived. She tried to avoid meeting Ms Wang’s eyes but failed miserably. It seemed that Ms Wang was still amused by their morning tea interaction with the way she tried to suppress her smile.

Once a minute or so passed, Ms Wang stated that she would give everyone some free time before having a serious discussion towards the latter half of PC, to give all their classmates time to get to class. It sounded rather important, though Ms Wang deftly avoided any follow up questions.

Lila set herself up with her laptop, opening her English draft with a reluctant sigh.

“What’s with the sigh?” Elise murmured, looking over at Lila.

“I don’t want to do this assignment,” Lila sighed again. “But Asher-”

“If you’re about to tell me he’s forcing you to do work, I’ll call the Police,” Elise replied flatly. She didn’t look to be joking.

“Like I said before, he’s not forcing me,” Lila was beginning to feel incredibly exasperated – almost enough for her to get up and choose a different table to sit at. But she remained where she was.

“Elise, I know you mean well, but give it a rest. It’s not like he’s doing something illegal,” Grace laughed. “What would the Police even do? They’ve got specific parameters for criminal investigations, you know.”

Lila closed her eyes, trying to stop herself from thinking on Grace’s statement for too long. The things she said, now that Lila knew… could Grace seriously not see how it could apply to her relationship? She opened her eyes again and stared down at her laptop.

Elise pouted, crossing her arms. “Yeah, but seriously. Lila probably thinks it’s not controlling ‘cause he’s promised her a date or something if she gets it done, but that’s still manipulative.”

Lila tried not to show in her expression that Elise was dead-on about the date part. Though was it manipulative? Even if it was, it was ultimately for her benefit. If she didn’t hand her English draft in on time, it would send ripple effects down to the rest of her grades, since Ms Shard would need to deduct marks for a late submission.

“I told you before, no one likes meddlers,” Grace replied plainly. “All you’re doing is just making sure she won’t tell you if something’s wrong. She’ll end up hiding stuff from you, you know.”

Elise fell silent, though her hands were clearly fidgeting. Had Lila driven Grace to hide stuff from her? Was that why Grace hadn’t said anything about dating a teacher? Or… was it because Grace knew it was wrong? Or – worse still – Ms Alexander was forcing Grace to keep it quiet? Was that not manipulative?

“You wouldn’t hide stuff from me, right Lila?” Elise asked quietly, her eyes fixed on her hands. Lila’s face began to heat up, though for once it was not in response to Asher making her heart thump. No… this was shame. She’d hidden a lot from Elise and Grace over this year – and she wasn’t keen on making any of it known right now, in the middle of PC.

“Actually, never mind,” Elise shook her head furiously. “You’re allowed to keep secrets. People usually have good reasons to keep secrets.”

Lila met Elise’s gaze and Elise smiled in return. Elise herself had kept the fact that her Mum was seriously sick a secret, hence why she was working so hard to help pay off her schooling. Elise had also lied, straight to Lila’s face, about going on exchange to Germany. Which ordinarily would’ve offended Lila, if she wasn’t embroiled in her own plentiful secrets. Elise was right, though. People usually did have good reasons to keep secrets.

If Lila wasn’t in PC right now, she probably would’ve started to break down from the guilt weighing on her. She wanted to be forthcoming with Elise and Grace, just as she always had been before this shitstorm of a year.

She wanted to giggle with Elise and Grace about the insane amount of duck statues in Marlene’s cottage, the dance moves she saw Gabriel pulling on CCTV and the way that she’d found out about Clare’s job. She wanted to tell them all about how the Banker situation went down, the morphine ring hiding within the halls of their school, how adept Asher was at breaking in to places, and how she was questioned by Police over Piper’s death. She wanted to commiserate with them about the fact that she’d been the last to see Piper alive, besides Asher, and Piper’s killer, and the fact that the place that seemed to hold the secrets of Piper’s last moments was completely burned down.

And… tell them that Asher’s Mum had disappeared, and how it’d been affecting Asher – to ask them, her usual trusted confidants and wells of advice, if she was doing everything she possibly could, or was she missing something? And, burning deep within Lila at this very moment, was the desire to tell Grace, point blank, that Lila knew she was dating a teacher at their school.

There was so much more – and all of it Lila had to protect. Most of it was structurally part of an invisible castle of cards. One false move, one slip at the wrong time to the wrong people, and perhaps it would all come tumbling down.

“Lila, are you okay? You look really pale,” Grace’s soothing voice was accompanied by a touch that was both subtle and searing in its force upon her shoulder. She jerked away.

“Yeah. Sorry. Just thinking about this assignment. Draft is due on Thursday. You’re right, by the way. Asher promised me a date to celebrate handing this in. I’ve been struggling with it all term, and it was still in dot points until he sat me down on the weekend. It was actually super helpful. We’re in Grade Eleven now, so it’s only natural that I want to take this seriously.”

Lila’s rapid explanation came out in a tumble, but she didn’t elaborate any further. Hopefully, Elise got the point and would back off for the moment. Her energy to discuss this further was waning, after all.

PC progressed without a word, which helped Lila actually get stuck into her work, for about fifteen minutes before Ms Wang clapped her hands and stood up.

“Alright, class. It’s time to get serious,” she said sternly. “The focus of the rest of this lesson is about mental health, warning signs and what to do to help yourself or others.”

Ms Wang pulled up a video on her laptop onto the projector, which went through those topics in detail. There seemed to be an emphasis on ensuring that one should let people who are experiencing difficulties to speak about it with subtle encouragement, rather than asking intrusive and invasive questions, and how to encourage others to seek professional help. It was a heavy video – and one that Lila took very seriously. Considering the talk she was planning to have with Grace at camp next week… she needed all the strategies she could get in case it all went south.

Ms Wang advertised the counselling services available at the school before she opened the floor for questions, of which there were a surprising amount. Once all questions were answered, Ms Wang dismissed the class for the day.

“Well, that was dark,” Elise sighed as the trio headed off to Modern History.

“I’m surprised they wanted to talk about that kind of stuff all of a sudden. Maybe they had a few reports coming up from the grief counselling about Piper?” Lila posited.

“Probably,” Grace nodded. She paused for a second before peering at both Elise and Lila. “You guys are alright, right?”

“Yeah,” Lila replied quickly. “Right as rain.”

Elise responded in kind.

“Good,” Grace smiled.

“What about you, Grace?” Lila questioned, looking down towards the ground.

“Just fine,” Grace responded lightly. There was something about it that didn’t sit right with Lila but… was it her place to probe, after all that?

She didn’t have time to ponder this any further once Modern History started, given the complexity of their assignment.

Once class was over, Lila stretched, her brain stuttering as it tried to switch gears to her new task at hand – finding the Grade 12s.

“Aw,” Elise cooed as she stood, slinging her bag over her shoulder. “Asher’s waiting for you. That’s cute.”

“He is?” Lila whipped her head around to look where Elise was pointing. Sure enough, there was Asher, hands in his pockets and looking off in the distance.

“That’s sweet,” Grace grinned. “Honestly, I wish my partner could do that for me.”

“Why doesn’t she? Doesn’t she go to this school?” Elise looked puzzled as Grace coolly zipped up her laptop bag.

“She does. But she’s not out,” Grace finally said.

‘As a groomer,’ Lila thought, the snarky nature of this statement surprising her. She needed to get out of here before she said something she regretted. Again.

“But two girls hanging out isn’t suspicious,” Elise whispered, pulling Lila and Grace close to her as she did so.

‘Unless one’s a teacher,’ Lila added internally.

“Sorry, can’t keep Asher waiting,” Lila said swiftly, moving past Elise and Grace at a half-jog. Her attempts at staying calm were instead suffocating her.

Asher immediately beamed once she approached but instead of greeting him, she took him by the hand and began pulling him in the direction of the locker room. He staggered behind her, clearly perplexed as to what was going on.

“You okay?” he asked after a second or two, speeding up enough so that he could walk next to her instead of being dragged.

Lila cast him a sideways glance before shaking her head. “I’m one wrong move away from just telling Grace what I know.”

Asher squeezed her hand. “Ordinarily, I’d say we can shuffle things around… but-”

“No, no. This is more important, especially if we want to bring it up to my Dad. Waiting any longer, after the whole sanctioning thing, is just going to get riskier – either in the fact that they’ll hide evidence, or they’ll get good at their new processes. Now’s the time to strike.”

Asher sighed heavily, squeezing her hand again. “If it’s too much, we can-”

“Nope. I’m not giving up. We’re getting close to finding what we need,” Lila replied resolutely. “C’mon, let’s grab our food and hats.”

“Back to the oval again?”

“You bet.”

They did exactly that, passing Isaac on the way out of the locker room. He didn’t say anything more besides a quick hello, his face rather pale. Lila almost stopped to ask if he was okay, but Asher instead tugged her arm towards the exit.

She followed his direction, glancing back briefly at Isaac.

“He’s freaking out about tonight,” Asher explained in a low voice, placing his hat on his head. “I keep telling him it’s fine.”

“There’s nothing you can do about it,” Lila said reluctantly, placing her hat on her head too. “He’s just going to have to find out himself.”

“I know,” Asher sighed, shaking his head.

They continued down the path towards Tuckshop, both pulling out their chicken wraps from their lunchboxes and eating as they walked. Lila briefly wondered whether Asher had asked Gabriel to make something handheld for lunch, but just as quickly decided that he must have. It seemed up his alley to think of that.

The Tuckshop was packed with students lining up to get food. It hadn’t been that long ago that Lila would’ve been in that line, if life hadn’t taken her on this trajectory with Asher. And she wouldn’t have known anything about morphine deals happening just under her nose.

She confidently strode past various tables and chairs full of students until Asher gripped her arm, rooting her to the spot.

“What’s wrong?” Lila murmured, looking up at Asher. He jerked his head to the left, which she followed with her eyes – which landed on Zack, Jake and Jason, sitting around a table towards the back. None of them seemed happy about this predicament, nor did they seem like they were gearing up for a deal. Was today one of those days where nothing of that sort happened? Or were they waiting for a trigger of some kind?

“Did you want to stay here and watch?” Asher whispered in her ear, pulling her close in to a hug as if to disguise his question.

“I need to know where Livi is,” Lila replied after contemplating his question and looking up at him. “At the very least, to see if she’s doing something else for the ring.”

Asher looked conflicted by this until he nodded. “Alright. It would be good to keep tabs on all of them, rather than just these three. Livi’s definitely related to it somehow, but we haven’t figured that out just yet.”

“If we find her quickly, we can come back here and observe from a distance,” Lila suggested. He met her eyes for a second before nodding yet again.

“Sounds good.”

With that, they continued their journey to the Kennedy oval. As they got closer, Lila began to feel nervous. Would they encounter Ms Alexander again? Perhaps they should turn around and observe Jason, Zack and Jake after all.

But she powered on, instead deciding that figuring out where Livi had escaped to was far more important. Besides, her hat offered more protection than just from the sun.

They emerged onto the oval, with Lila immediately checking the teachers on duty. Neither of them was Ms Alexander, which brought immense relief. Maybe Lila could solely focus on finding Livi without the reminder of further distressing and illegal activity.

Asher seemed just as relieved as he looked down at her.

“Where to, boss?” he smiled.

“Boss? I got a promotion?”

“Of sorts.”

“In that case…” Lila pursed her lips as she surveyed this section of the oval. There was no sign of Livi, Vi, Harper or Theo here. “Let’s go towards the back there. But keep close to the trees for cover.”

“Yes, boss.”

She smirked at him and he winked in return before doing as she suggested. This time around, they went towards the right side of the oval, their pace more akin to a casual stroll to continue avoiding undue attention.

“See anyone?” Lila murmured after a few paces.

“Not… here.”

“Sounds like you have.”

“Well, I hadn’t until I just saw an awfully familiar person jump up and start wearing a hole in the ground.”

“Wh-”

He gently took her hand and pointed it towards a female student several metres ahead. Lila squinted against the sunlight, attempting to see who it could be.

“C’mon,” Asher muttered, gesturing towards her. “We could get a bit closer.”

“Alright.”

They shuffled that way, still sticking close to the trees. It wasn’t long before Lila realised that it was Livi, pacing with a distinctly agitated energy. She seemed to be paying no attention to her surroundings except to a student sitting with their back against a tree, a book in her lap. The distinct, red hair flowing down to her told Lila that this student was Vi. There was no one else in their vicinity, and it seemed that Livi was becoming angrier with each passing second.

“We can chance it,” Lila whispered, pointing to a spot in the shade only a few metres from them. Asher seemed unsure before nodding.

They reached their targeted spot, settling down with eager ears and faces turned away from both of them. Eventually, after some straining, Lila caught on to Livi’s voice.

“… dare he!”

“Livi,” Vi sighed. “I told you it wouldn’t last.”

“But why?”

“Because,” Vi replied simply, “you were too brash.”

“It’s not like we have a lot of time. We needed to take advantage-”

“You were too obvious. Of course as it grew, he’d need to adjust a few things.”

“But sanctioning?”

“Of course. It’s the most obvious outcome, besides shutting it down.”

Vi was certainly sharp.

“But Jason-”

“Livi,” Vi’s voice was harsher now. “We’re not in a private classroom anymore. Complain about the Banker all you want, but anything else is off limits. You don’t know who’s listening.”

“No one cares about what we’re saying-”

“You want to ruin the other business, too?”

Lila held her breath. Other business? Surely this was implicating them in the morphine ring, if Livi said anything more now.

But it seemed that Vi’s words had finally sunk in.

“Of course not.”

“Good. Shame we lost Theo, but he’d never been interested in it beyond giving general advice.”

“You think Harper’s still-”

“She would’ve told us like Theo did. If you’re that pressed, she’s just over there with the Dancettes.”

“Like hell I’d talk to her in front of the Dancettes.”

“Then don’t worry about it. Just do what’s decided and keep it on the down low.”

Lila couldn’t see what Livi or Vi were doing, but judging by the silence, Livi was heeding Vi’s command.

What was Vi’s role in all of this? It seemed like she was far more intelligent than Livi – but far less charismatic. Lila could imagine that Livi would try and get more customers – perhaps… the ones who asked Daniel for her location? Then… was Vi part of the planning of other things?

Lila looked out over the oval from this vantage point, trying to see Harper. There was a rather large group of girls towards the centre – were they the Dancettes?

‘If Vi reckons Harper’s here… then maybe I don’t need to find her myself,’ Lila thought to herself. She exchanged a look with Asher. She gestured to the exit and he nodded again. So far, their reconnaissance went well. She at least knew now that she could find them out and about, rather than holing up in another classroom. Tomorrow would be a good opportunity to follow Jason’s group, especially if their next drop was via another card game.

They passed Jason, Zack and Jake again near the Tuckshop, sitting in exactly the same spots and saying nothing to each other. Given they weren’t speaking, Lila thought that there wouldn’t be much utility in observing them. Besides, if they caught on to Lila and Asher today, they might refrain from making other moves too soon. They needed to remain covert if they were going to get any evidence this week.

She looked up at Asher, who returned her gaze with a curious one of his own.

“What’s up?” he queried, taking a bite of the brownie that he’d carefully extracted from his lunchbox.

“I… just think we have a bit of time to talk. I just don’t know where.”

He pulled out his phone, briefly checking the time. “Well, I reckon if we hurry to the library, we might be able to find a spot.”

“Sure they’re not all taken up?”

Asher shook his head. “Not at all, but at the same time, we can’t really just talk in the open. Nothing else we can do but try.”

They briskly walked over to the library, with Lila eager to sit down at the very least and finish off her lunch, even if they couldn’t find a meeting room. They searched the top floor first, finding all of them full.

“Reckon we could have a chat in the Banker’s room?” Asher joked.

“Why not, it’s not like Daniel or the teacher assigned to the room have ears,” Lila replied with a smirk. He chuckled, gesturing for Lila to go ahead of him down the stairs.

Just as Lila thought that they wouldn’t have lunch on the second floor either, a door swung open to their left. A few students who looked to be in or around Grade 10 left, laughing and chatting about something that sounded like an in-joke. They didn’t even look at Lila or Asher as they left, which suited Lila just fine.

“After you,” Asher said, inclining his head towards her. She smiled at him and entered. There were some crumbs on the table, which she brushed away. She opened her lunchbox and grabbed her brownie, her eyes resting on Asher as he sat just across from her. Now that they were entirely alone, with not even strangers around, he looked absolutely exhausted.

“I just wanna go home,” he lamented, leaning backwards on his chair.

“That’s rare,” Lila replied, offering him some of her brownie.

“It’s yours,” he said as he stretched his arms above his head.

“Might give you some pep.”

“It’s not that,” he murmured. “Just… mentally tired. So much has been going on, and it’s been hard trying to keep my mouth shut.”

“No kidding,” Lila sighed. “Where do you want to start?”

“Let’s… start with Isaac and Elise,” Asher said reluctantly. “They were really weird yesterday.”

Lila nodded as she had another bite of her brownie. “They were.”

“What’s our next plan to get them together?”

Lila paused. “I’d been hoping that they’d get together yesterday.”

“Same, but after hearing that they think the other likes someone else, it makes sense why they haven’t made a move.”

“What do you think our next move should be?”

“Well… we’ve got camp next week, so I guess we just have to try and get them to pair up as much as possible.”

“Before or after we talk to Grace?”

Asher ran a hand through his hair, seeming to ponder this deeply. “That depends. When do you want to talk to Grace? At the start, or at the end of camp?”

“I… I’d rather get it out the way, I think,” Lila said, fidgeting with her hands. “It’d be good to have camp as, well, a breather. But I won’t be able to breathe if we have to keep it a secret until the end. Plus… if we talk about it too late, when Grace talks to her girlfriend next, her girlfriend will be able to just get in her mind. But if we give Grace time to think about it, then she might be able to decide how to go ahead on her own.”

“Even if it ruins camp for Grace?”

Lila slumped forward. “There’s no winning, is there?”

“Not for everyone.”

“Then… I guess… I have to ruin camp for Grace,” Lila whispered in defeat.

“Well… we’ll be doing that,” Asher said, touching her arm. “You won’t be alone.”

Lila met his earnest gaze. The reminder that she wouldn’t be alone during such a conversation was something she’d sorely needed. Relying on Asher was something that felt really easy. A small flash of guilt did pass through her, but with the way he seemed so willing to help, it quickly dissipated.

“You’re right. We’ll be doing it together,” she smiled. “Thank you.”

“I wouldn’t be able to sleep if you just did it on your own. After all, we both saw it. And… I want to be there to support you.”

“I appreciate it,” she smiled again, this time grasping his hand in hers. They remained like this for a moment before Asher pulled back with a sigh.

“So, I guess after we talk to Grace, we can see about pairing Isaac and Elise together enough that they just talk about the whole crush thing, at the very least,” he said, glancing at her as if to seek her approval.

“Guess that’s all we can do for now.”

“Then… let’s talk about the elephant in the room.”

“The what?”

“Haven’t you- oh. You’re making a joke.”

She laughed and Asher joined in.

“Anyway, yes, the morphine ring shaped elephant. We have to plan our next steps,” Lila’s voice had grown serious. “We need to see another deal.”

“I’m sure it’ll happen soon,” Asher replied confidently, leaning back on his chair again. “They diversified to St Peters, even though the Banker had been sanctioned. Means they’re making their own moves independent of how the Banker’s business is going.”

“I know – so we have to act quick.”

“Agreed.”

Lila turned this over in her mind for a moment before looking up at Asher again. “I’m hoping there’ll be a deal sometime tomorrow during morning tea or lunch… but training’s on tomorrow. I know we said no to you acting as a mole, but we might have to send you in go grab some ‘juice’ with the boys after training.”

Asher’s eyes glimmered with excitement before he cleared his throat. “I’m sure it’ll be a last resort.”

Lila appraised him for a moment. “You sure you’d be able to keep your cool if you were?”

“Of course,” he looked affronted by the suggestion that he wouldn’t. “You know me. Coolest guy around.”

She smirked. “To me, sure, but remember you’re a nerdy goody-two-shoes to everyone else.”

“That does sound uncool.”

“It’d probably change if everyone knew how adept you were at those lockpicks you keep in your blazer.”

“Eh, maybe not. I’d probably get upgraded to weirdo, though.”

She snorted. “Me too, then. But we’ll think about sending you in. I still would rather not, but… well, you seem enthusiastic at least.”

He grinned at her before becoming serious once again. “We didn’t record what Livi and Vi were saying just now.”

“We didn’t know that they would be saying something. It happened so quick, too.”

“Yeah. It made me think, though. I know we’re going to try and take photos of a deal going down… but… should we try and record some conversations?”

Lila shook her head. “No way. We can only record conversations we’re a party to. My Dad’s drilled in that much to me, at least. Photos, and maybe videos, are necessary here… but conversations would need you to be a mole for sure, which is very risky.”

“True… and I guess increasing our list of crimes is probably a bad idea.”

“Definitely.”

Asher exhaled deeply. He met her eyes for a second before looking towards his hands. “So… after the deal, you’ll blackmail Zack?”

“Yup.”

“That sounds like we’re adding to our list of crimes.”

“I know… but we have no other choice to get the info we need. Zack would definitely let something slip – but we need to press him on it. He won’t just give it out without some pressure.”

“I guess… but how are you going to do that?”

“Well, through texts.”

“And if he figures out it’s you?”

“That’s another reason why we should do all this before camp. If he figures out it’s me, fleeing on a school trip is the best course of action.”

“You’re not fleeing forever.”

“I’m not, but if nothing happens while we’re gone, then we can go to Mr Lockwood once we come back. Also, that’s presuming that Zack would know it’s me. How would he? It’s not like he’s ever texted me.”

“You sure? Your number was all over the school.”

Lila’s breathing stopped. She couldn’t be sure, actually. But…

“I’ll just get an eSim. Something cheap, since I only need it for a week.”

“Is it easy to get one of those?”

“I… think so? I know Clare’s physical sim card got busted last year, so she just went online and got an eSim.”

“Alright. If you need money-”

“I’ve got it.”

“You sure?”

“Of course I’m sure,” Lila frowned at him. “What do you take me for? I’m just as able to source my own money.”

“Even though you don’t have a job?”

“Chores. Allowances. I save what I can after I go out. Lots of methods. You don’t need to worry about me. Thanks for the offer, though.”

“… Alright… so… do you have an actual timeline?”

“I think… if we’re able to get some evidence tomorrow, we’d start before practice. Then give him a day and watch what he does. Hopefully, he doesn’t tip Jason off.”

“I doubt he would,” Asher said firmly. “Getting blackmailed is embarrassing, you know. And Jason seemed really pissed off when Zack used some of it on Theo, and at the Assembly. I think Zack would want to avoid saying anything to Jason if he could help it.”

“That’d be good if it turns out that way… since I’d check in again on Thursday. Maybe his deadline should be Thursday afternoon? I think… if we swing it that Jason’s trying to throw Zack under the bus, he’d decide pretty quick. Self-preservation and all that. If he’s not convinced, I guess we could say we’d cut him a deal or something.”

“Would we?”

Lila pursed her lips before shrugging. “Dunno how that works. I’m sure if he cooperates with my Dad, he’d do something. But Zack doesn’t need to know all that. Besides, I’ll be disconnecting the number as soon as we’re done.”

Asher gave a low whistle. “You know, you sound kinda terrifying.”

“You reckon?”

“Yeah… well… it’s a bit ruthless.”

“Not like they don’t deserve it, at this point. Especially since Daniel’s in the firing line. Plus, you upgraded me to ‘Boss’. Gotta act like it somehow.”

He chuckled before looking concerned. “Are we going to tell him about it?”

“I’ve been thinking that we’ll have to. Maybe when we tell Dad… just so that Daniel’s prepared. Since we won’t be there at school next week.”

“It’s good that there’s a teacher with him in the room for morning tea and lunch. I doubt Zack or Jason, or whoever else, will try anything with a teacher just there.”

“Yeah. There’s that, at least.”

Asher checked the time on his phone before standing abruptly. “We’ve gotta go. I think that plan sounds solid, at least. Let’s hope something happens tomorrow.”

“Realistically, we could wait until Wednesday, too.”

“True. Ready to go?”

Lila zipped up her lunchbox, checking she hadn’t left anything behind, before she returned to the locker room with Asher, both contemplatively silent. Blackmail was a step up from what they’d previously done, but there was no other way to get the information and evidence they needed. She wasn’t interested in becoming a customer herself, and they likely wouldn’t want Asher as a customer because of his reputation. Sending Daniel in was absolutely out of the question, especially if they’d stopped working with him… but she was beginning to feel uneasy about the prospect of getting caught.

She was sure that Zack wouldn’t figure out that it was her – he’d probably blame whoever his customer at the time of the deal was, if anything – but what if he went to Vi? She seemed to have a working brain, at least. Would she be able to pick up that Lila was the blackmailer?

She continued to think about what they’d talked about and seen today throughout her next two lessons, hardly realising that the school day was over until she saw Asher waiting for her yet again outside Bio.

“Ready to go home and work on your English assignment?” he asked with a gentle smile. Lila groaned.

“No.”

“Lila-”

“I’ll do it, but I won’t be happy about it.”

“I’ll fix that on Thursday night.”

“Promise?”

He grinned at her, lacing their fingers together. “Of course.”

Falling in to their after-school routine – grabbing their things, putting their hats on, chatting casually and heading over to the bus station – was beginning to feel to Lila as though it had always been this way. How had she gone home without his company?

The teacher on hat duty was Ms Shard, who didn’t seem to notice them slip by. Lila’s bus rolled to a stop before Lila could truly relish his presence.

“See you tomorrow,” he said forlornly. She reached up to touch his cheek, which seemed to light up his eyes just a smidge.

“See you then,” she smiled, standing on her tip toes, her lips meeting his with a sweetness she wished to bring with her. His hand rested on her waist for a slight moment before he pulled away.

“Get home safe. I… I’ll see you later,” he finally said, his eyes flickering to the bus. “It’ll leave soon.”

“You get home safe too. Goodnight.”