Chapter Three
In the comfort of her room, Lila tightened her fuzzy teal blanket around her shoulders as she stared at the blinking vertical line on her Word document, her right leg propped up on her chair. The week had flown by and although Lila and Asher sat next to each other in English class a couple of times that week, they had hardly exchanged a word. To Lila’s disappointment, however, Asher still looked just as worn as he had when confessing his family secret to her in the seclusion of his library.
But now it was Friday night. And she hadn’t written anything else since her visit to Asher’s. So she was effectively screwed.
“This isn’t good…” she muttered to herself, leaning her head against her leg, frowning. With Asher clearly under the pump, she didn’t want to stress him any further. Not that he had any confidence in her own ability to analyse Daisy’s character.
‘He’s right though… she’s not a particularly complicated character’, she thought, rhythmically tapping the edge of her laptop in time to the blinking cursor.
She stayed like this for a good while until a knock at her door sounded, startling her.
“Yeah?” she called, swivelling her chair to face the door. Her brother Daniel was standing in her door frame, his arms folded in apparent displeasure.
“Out with it,” he barked.
“Out with what exactly?” asked Lila, miffed.
“Where have you put the j- YOU BITCH!” Daniel leapt forward, arms outstretched towards the bottle of mango nectar sitting peacefully upon Lila’s desk. Lila quickly stood up, placing herself between her brother and the juice defensively.
“Get your own juice.”
“This is our juice,” growled Daniel, trying to bat away her sturdy frame.
“Not anymore. You gave my number to a random guy. Remember? Fuck your juice privileges.”
“That juice is my right as the youngest in this household, thankyouverymuchyouarse.”
“Nuh-uh. Don’t give my number out to strangers.”
“I’d hardly call Asher a stranger,” scoffed Daniel, straightening up and puffing out his chest and cheeks simultaneously, emulating a ruffled pelican almost perfectly. “Bro’s been stalking you since the second grade.”
“He has not,” retorted Lila, crossing her own arms defiantly.
“Uh, yeah he has. Are you dense? Did you just think he was a friend?”
“He’s never been my friend.”
“Clearly. Hence why he asked me and not you for your number. And actually, why did he need it anyway?”
Lila flushed, her breathing suddenly laden with embarrassment. “School project. You didn’t ask him before you threw out my digits?”
Daniel gave a derisive snort. “Nuh. Biology?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.
“English, you dick! Get out!” Lila tossed the nearest cushion from her collection of at least ten brightly coloured ones on her bed at Daniel’s face.
“Not without my juice!” Daniel cried, leaping forward and slapping Lila aside, triumphantly securing the juice before scarpering out of her room. Lila could hear his maniacal laugh through the paper-thin walls and sighed heavily before plonking herself back down in front of her laptop.
Her phone was lit up with several messages from Elise. She was on shift at McDonald's tonight, but it seemed like she was on break.
You’ll never guess what, Elise had texted the group chat between herself, Lila and Grace.
What, Grace had already replied.
Lila couldn’t see any further messages from her lock screen, so she opened it, bracing herself for some ridiculously inane McGossip. However, upon opening the group chat Twisted Bitches’r’Us, Lila saw a blurry picture of a guy and girl standing in line at their local McDonald's, wrapped in a romantic embrace. Lila squinted, zooming in to see further detail. It looked like Asher, for sure. She’d almost memorised the various untidy folds in his uniform by now. Out of concern, of course.
OMG is that Asher and a girl, Grace had sent with a bunch of shocked emojis.
YES. She’s hot toooo. Looks like she goes to Mulberry Heights. Must be smart, Elise had replied, adding a shrugging emoji.
Lila locked her phone before throwing it at her bed. Whatever.
She sullenly sunk further back into her chair. Lila briefly wondered if Asher’s girlfriend knew about his missing Mum. Surely she did… but then he’d said only his Dad and the help knew…
Lila’s phone buzzed again. Groaning, she leaned over to pick it up. It was a text message from Asher.
I was hoping for an insightful email tonight, the message read. The project is due in four weeks.
‘AKA, ages’, thought Lila, turning off her phone’s screen. Her phone buzzed again.
Can you come over again tomorrow? Or Sunday. Idm.
Lila sighed and unlocked her phone. I’ll send it soon, not that I have anything exciting to send. I don’t think we need to meet tho
This isn’t about the project. Sorry to disappoint, came Asher’s near-instant reply.
What then, Lila replied instantaneously, regret hitting her as quickly as she had sent the text. She probably should’ve waited. Now she sounded too eager.
I need help.
----------------------------------------
Lila paced outside the two ornate oak front doors that stood as the gateway between the plebian road and the mansion within which Asher was surely waiting. She’d taken the opportunity to get here by way of sneaking a driving lesson with her Mum in as a way to sweeten the deal to letting her come over to a boy’s house on a weekend.
“Ooh, my girl is working on her independence!” her Mum had cooed before buckling herself into a harrowing experience on the road. It was no doubt made more terrifying by the fact that Lila’s heart was beating a mile a minute independent of her maneuvering of a metal hazard in the shape of a Holden SUV. But no matter. Lila knew her parents wanted her to get her provisional licence as soon as possible so she could be a bit more independent. Independence was, in fact, one of her Mum’s favourite concepts for her children, having fled her home country to seize a better life for herself and her siblings. “Life in a country such as Australia is a gift”, she preached. Something not to be squandered. Nowadays, Lila was generally allowed to go anywhere as long as she took the opportunity to drive there herself under the supervision of one of her parents.
But now that she was here and her Mum had zoomed off, Lila was deeply regretting it. Scratch that, she was regretting her whole existence at this point – especially the fact that her lilac sundress had difficulty buttoning up by her chest this morning, despite having had too much room the summer before. Even so, she wasn’t about to admit defeat. Plus texting her Mum while her Mum was driving was dangerously distracting, and then it would be a waste for her Mum to immediately set out again after getting home. Though at this point, Lila wasn’t sure whether she was just making lame excuses to try and convince herself that she was better off going inside than wiling away her youth languishing on Asher’s family’s very expensive porch.
Counting to ten whilst inhaling helped to stem her nerves in most circumstances, so Lila resigned herself to testing it out here. She closed her eyes and had only arrived at ‘six’ before the doors swung open.
“Been here long?” Asher leaned against the doorframe, clad in navy shorts and a crumpled grey singlet. Though he was on the skinnier side, Lila’s eyes traced the unmistakable lines of toned muscles bulging slightly from his biceps.
“Not at all,” she replied in a voice slightly higher than usual. She coughed and looked up at him expectantly, slowly moving her backpack from her shoulders to her front to hide the buttons that were currently fighting for their inanimate lives.
“Good. It’s bad manners to have you pacing out here for too long. Plus the neighbours might notice.” He opened the doors further and ushered her inside. Being a Saturday, there would be no Gabriel, which disappointed Lila slightly. Kicking off her shoes and placing them in the designated rack, Lila was surprised to also see house slippers waiting for her behind the doors. Particularly as she had almost toppled over them.
“Marlene’s suggestion,” Asher said, gesturing to them.
“A death trap?” asked Lila, collecting her balance before sliding them on. They were a size too big, but definitely new.
“Sure. But if you’d rather cold feet, feel free to ignore her hospitality.”
Lila couldn’t tell whether he was joking or not but followed him down the hallway nevertheless, still wearing the slippers. As she approached the kitchen, she could see a lithe, young woman in a fawn apron over a black t-shirt and pants arranging a bunch of small finger sandwiches on a plate similar to the one that held cheese and crackers the week before. The woman looked up from the plate and beamed at Lila.
“Welcome, welcome,” she said, quickly washing her hands in the sink in the middle of the island before drying them off with her apron. She held out her hand and Lila shook it with a smile.
“Marlene,” the woman introduced herself with a nod, “heard a lot about you from Mr Wagner, of course.”
Asher again pointedly looked away from Lila, seemingly far more interested in the island bench stools than the interaction between Lila and Marlene. Marlene smirked and pushed the tray towards Asher.
“I’m finished with these, by the way. You can bring them with you.”
Asher nodded and obediently picked up the tray before walking towards the library. Lila stepped out in front of Asher to open the door and let him through, to which he muttered a ‘thanks’ before crossing into the library.
Closing the door behind her, Lila took in the sight of the library yet again. There was something so cosy about this place that she felt she could spend years in there, buried in books.
Asher set the tray down at the same table that they had sat at last week. His laptop, notebook and novel were already set up, along with an empty coffee mug.
“I read through your email this morning,” he said, settling in before his workstation. “It actually was quite good. I was surprised.”
Lila didn’t respond as she pulled out her materials, sitting down where she had sat last time. She wasn’t quite convinced that he had realised that what he said fell under the definition of a ‘backhanded compliment’, and she wanted to exude a sense of calm rather than offense. It was too early in the morning for combativeness.
“Ah,” said Asher, typing away at his laptop without looking at Lila. “That sounded like a jab. Sorry. I meant that your thoughts were intriguing, I hadn’t actually arrived at that conclusion myself. I’ll definitely be incorporating your points into the presentation.”
“All good,” said Lila simply, twisting her hands together under the table. Working with Asher always made her feel as though he was a stern teacher or caregiver disciplining her.
“Lunch will be in about two hours,” said Asher, peering over at Lila briefly, as if to gauge her enthusiasm about this fact. She was, in fact, enthused, but just nodded, trying not to let it show. The sides of his mouth seemed to twitch, but Lila wasn’t sure whether that was an involuntary spasm or the suppression of a smile.
Silence pressed on Lila yet again as she scuffed her slippers across the tile under her chair. It was definitely her least favourite part about working with Asher. “So… what did you need help with?”
“Well, have you given any thought to the design of the presentation?”
“Not really,” Lila answered honestly. Her mind had been racing since accepting Asher’s invitation to come over, such that she barely remembered the project at all.
“I’d suggest you think about it over the next hour.” Asher’s gaze felt like it could pierce through her.
“I thought it wasn’t about the project?”
Asher sighed, pulling out his phone and rapidly typing something on it. A second later, Lila’s phone buzzed.
Marlene is standing outside.
A shrill chill ran through Lila’s veins as she looked back at Asher in horror.
She’s been keeping tabs on me. Uncomfortably so. She’ll be busy preparing lunch in an hour or so, so we’ll talk then.
Lila nodded in response and began to pull together the design aspects of the presentation. Eventually, Asher caught her eye and closed the lid of his laptop. Lila followed suit, glancing at her phone clock – about 45 minutes had passed.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“Coast should be clear now,” he murmured quietly. Lila nodded in response, leaning forward in her chair slightly. Asher rubbed his chin slowly, his eyes darting to various points in the library as though trying to gather his words.
“I need your help, Lila. But only yours. As much as I think your Dad could be helpful, I don’t want to stress my Dad out any further.”
“Okay. What can I do?”
“I… that’s what I’m struggling with. My Dad… he’s been throwing himself into work at the hospital. But he still says we can’t get anyone involved.”
“Asher… do you think he had anything to do with your Mum’s disappearance?”
Asher held his face in his hands at the suggestion. “… I can’t rule it out. He’s just being so weird. Gabriel and Marlene too.”
“It’s a weird situation,” Lila acknowledged softly. “Are they being suspicious, or are they just trying to cope?”
“I can’t say for sure. All I know is Mum disappeared on the 28th of December. Her phone, keys, wallet, everything is still here. People don’t just leave without that stuff… right?”
“Not generally of their own accord.”
Asher looked up at Lila as though she had something incredibly profound. “That’s what I said to my Dad, but he told me to just ignore it.”
Lila nodded sagely, tapping her chin contemplatively. It was unusual, but she still could have left voluntarily.
“What does your Mum do for work?”
“She works from home doing social media marketing. She’s always on the phone or her laptop. That’s why Gabriel is here during the week, to make sure she eats, she works so much. Dad sometimes works from home too.”
“And I’m guessing her laptop is still here?”
“Actually, that’s the only thing that is missing. At least, that I’ve seen.”
“She wasn’t scheduled for a work trip or anything?”
Asher shook his head. “She hasn’t gone on one of those for a few months. She usually tells me a month in advance so I can…” he trailed off, swallowing hard. “Uh, so I can get used to the idea of her not being around for a bit.”
Asher’s eyes glistened as he spoke before he looked toward the ceiling, clenching his jaw. Instinctively, Lila reached out and touched Asher’s shoulder gently. He unclenched his jaw, but remained stiff, still looking up at the ceiling. They sat in silence for a few moments before Asher’s phone buzzed on the desk, startling them both.
“Shit,” said Asher, staring at his phone. “I’ve got to make a call…”
“Don’t mind me,” said Lila, smiling reassuringly. “Go ahead.”
“Thanks…”
Asher crossed the library, phone to his ear. “Hey babe, what’s up?” He gave a backward glance at Lila before slipping out the door. It closed behind him with a soft click. Lila exhaled heavily before reaching out for a sandwich on the tray. It looked to have cream cheese and cucumber inside. Absently, Lila took a bite and began scrolling through her messages to see what she’d missed. There were a couple from her family group chat, including one where Daniel asked their parents for some juice if they were at the store. 'That boy sure loves his juice,' thought Lila with a smirk, reacting to his message with an eye-roll emoji.
A message from Elise to the Twisted Bitches’r’Us flashed on Lila’s screen as she took another bite of her sandwich. Lila double-tapped the message to open up the group chat, rolling her shoulders back to stretch them.
Soooooo I found out her name, the message read. Holly Reid. So basic. Apparently she’s friends with Reilly, I saw Reilly give her a discount today.
Omg lol, replied Grace, she went to my primary school. Did ballet and cheer
So she’s fit and hot. Unfair, replied Elise.
He’s on the phone with her now I think, Lila sent, typing it out clumsily with her left hand. Even called her babe lol
So he’s either serious about her, or she asked to be called that, replied Elise.
Lila reached over for another sandwich as a few more messages came rolling in. This one seemed to have thinly sliced ham and cheese, which she bit into with zest as she scrolled through the messages, which detailed several theories as to how Asher had come across Holly. So far it looked like ‘Tinder’ was winning the battle.
As Lila grinned stupidly at her friends’ messages, Asher slid back into the room. Lila almost threw her phone down before adjusting herself so as not to appear suspicious. He seemed lost in thought again.
“Does Ho- your girlfriend know about your Mum?”
“Huh?” asked Asher, seemingly surprised that Lila was still there. “Oh. No, she doesn’t.”
Lila stopped herself from asking why he hadn’t told her, though the question burned in her throat regardless.
“We’ve been dating for only a few months,” clarified Asher, as though he could read Lila’s enquiring mind. “I… guess I don’t want to… I don’t know, it’s…”
“It’s up to you who you tell,” said Lila. “You don’t need a reason.”
Asher nodded, though it seemed automatic – as though he wasn’t actually present.
“A-Anyway, what else?” Lila asked apprehensively.
“Oh. Well, I don’t think she went off on her own,” said Asher, still seeming dazed. “But I can’t help but think someone here knows something.”
“That’s a start,” replied Lila, nodding affirmatively. “Have you asked any questions?”
“Dad told me not to. Besides, I don’t even know what to ask.”
Lila grabbed a pen from her pencil case and twirled it through her fingers, before creasing open her notebook to the middle seam. She sketched out a table with several columns. In the first, she wrote the following questions:
‘Where did Asher’s Mum go?’
‘What is the motive for her disappearance?’
‘Who knows where she went?’
‘What was Asher’s Mum doing when she disappeared?’
In the next column, she wrote the following:
‘What evidence do we need to be sure of the previous questions?’
In the last column, she wrote the following:
‘Evidence details’
Lila then pulled out her collection of highlighters and wrote ‘Asher’s Dad’, ‘Gabriel’ and ‘Marlene’ underneath the header ‘Legend Key’ and highlighted each a different colour.
Lila pushed her notebook towards Asher for him to look at. It was crude, but Lila was pretty sure it seemed similar enough to an investigation plan she’d seen in her Dad’s office.
“What is this?” asked Asher, running his finger down the legend key.
“A plan of sorts,” replied Lila, shoving her highlighters back into her pencil case. “A starting point, at least. That way we can get some focus on what we want to know.”
“I see,” murmured Asher, tapping ‘Asher’s Dad’ a couple times before pulling out his own pen. He began to input what he’d already told Lila with great deliberation plainly on his face.
“Do you remember how she was before her disappearance?” Lila asked as Asher’s pen began to slow down.
“Normal, I guess. I… didn’t really take notice. Mum was, well, like Mum.”
Lila nodded, raising her right hand to her chin as though rubbing it would cause answers to come tumbling from her mouth. Asher continued to write in the notebook before suddenly looking up at Lila, eyes wide and sparkling with realisation.
“She sent Gabriel home early,” he said in a hushed, urgent tone. “The 27th. Said it was a Christmas gift, to go on his leave early. But he insisted on staying – his leave wasn’t supposed to start until the 30th. Gabriel actually has no one to go to, and he said as much. He… also said we were like his family. Mum couldn’t get him to leave fast enough. Even Dad tried to talk to her. But… but she said Gabriel needed to go.”
Lila lightly rapped her fingertips along the edge of the desk. While not necessarily odd on its own, in the context of Asher’s Mum’s disappearance, it certainly stood out. Did she have other reasons for having Gabriel leave?
Lila flipped her phone right side up and flicked through her calendar app. The 27th of December was on a Tuesday.
“Does Gabriel make Christmas dinner?” Lila asked, locking her phone screen.
“Yeah, actually,” replied Asher. “We have Christmas at our house. It’s usually a big deal. Our family come from all over Australia. Last year my cousins from England even came down. They left the morning of the 27th, and it was after Mum came back from the airport that she told Gabriel to go and not come back.”
“Did everyone leave then?”
Asher nodded briefly before stopping himself.
“Everyone except my Uncle Prakash. Dad’s brother. He left midday on the 28th with my aunt and their kids back to Sydney… Mum and Dad took them to the airport too, and after she came back she locked herself away in her study for a bit. Then…” Asher glanced at his phone before looking back up at Lila. “Then I went over to Holly’s place. Uh, my girlfriend.”
Lila adjusted her position uncomfortably, trying not to convey that she already knew Holly’s name. Asher didn’t seem to notice anything as he leaned forward on his left elbow and ran his fingers through his hair.
“I didn’t know you were mixed,” Lila said softly. Asher gave a shrug. “Doesn’t really come up in everyday conversation. My grandmother was Indian. Insisted her kids have Indian names to not lose her culture, but I don’t really think 'Ivaan' and 'Prakash Wagner' works as well as she’d hoped. She let them carry on Pop’s last name though as a compromise.”
Asher reached forward, grabbed a finger sandwich, and took a bite before swallowing hard. “You’re mixed too, aren’t you?”
“Certified Wasian,” smiled Lila. “Mum’s from the Philippines. She’s the eldest of six kids and left to find a better life for her family. Dad’s traced his family back to somewhere in Ireland, but his side’s been in Australia for generations.”
Asher’s phone lit up once more and he picked it up with a sigh. “Sorry, Holly’s calling again… she’s unwell. I’ll be back.” He threw an apologetic look Lila’s way as he exited through the library doors yet again.
Lila pulled her notebook back towards her, reading Asher’s notes. She turned to a new page and labelled it ‘Timeline’ and drew a rather wonky vertical line down the middle. At the bottom, she wrote ‘Disappearance’ and began to jot down the events Asher described chronologically along the timeline, with Asher’s visit to Holly written just above ‘Disappearance’.
So engrossed was she that she hadn’t realised Asher’s return until he pulled out his chair to sit in yet again.
“Sorry,” said Asher again, “she’s a bit needy when she’s sick it seems…”
“That’s okay,” replied Lila, “I’m sure I would be too.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, she wanted nothing else than to shove them back in, but instead opted for a hurried, “I mean I would be too with my boyfriend! If I had one, I mean.”
Asher pulled Lila’s notebook towards him, leaving Lila’s awkward comments unaddressed. “What’s this?”
“A timeline of sorts,” replied Lila, wholly relieved that the topic had now changed. “It might give us some clues as to where we should look into.”
“I see…”
“Has your Mum’s work asked for her?” Lila asked, recalling Asher’s previous advice that his Mum worked from home.
“That’s actually a good question. I don’t know. They haven’t asked me, at least, but I would think they’d ask Dad.”
“Maybe write that in the table,” Lila suggested. Asher complied before turning back to the timeline, continuing to review it.
“By the way… does your girlfriend know?” Lila asked, looking down at her hands which had twisted into knots in her lap.
“Mm? About Mum? Like I said before, she doesn’t.”
“W-What about me? Being here, I mean.”
“Oh.” Asher looked up, squinting at Lila as if appraising her like a second-hand watch at a pawn shop. “I have talked about the project, and that you’d be coming over from time to time until it’s done. Why?”
“Just curious,” Lila replied with a shrug. “I mean, it’s not really like you publicise the fact that you’re in a relationship.”
Asher closed Lila’s notebook gently, and leaned back in his chair, looking at her now as though he’d found a valuable inscription inside the watch band. He slowly brought his pen to his lips, which was creeping into a half-smile.
“Jealous?” he asked, eyes twinkling with mirth.
“No,” replied Lila, almost too defensively. She shook her head before adding, “It’s just unexpected. Everyone is usually so excited when they’re going out with someone, it’s hard to keep it quiet.”
“Sure,” shrugged Asher. “But it’s more exciting when it’s a secret, isn’t it?”
“Is it exciting because it’s a secret, or because you can let people in on the secret?” Lila asked, raising an eyebrow. Asher opened his mouth before promptly chuckling.
“Dunno. Guess I’ll have to figure that one out.”
“How did you two even meet anyway?”
“Debating. Our school does round-robin tournaments with theirs and a couple others. She… she’s incredible. They always say that third speakers always get the short end of the stick, but somehow she knocks it out of the park each time. I don’t think we’ve ever beat her school when she was third speaker.”
Looking at Asher’s bright smile as he professed his delight over his girlfriend’s prowess, Lila could tell without a doubt that he was absolutely smitten. Somehow, the news felt like a knife had punctured a hole in her stomach, leaving her hollow. ‘Maybe I’m just hungry…’ Lila thought, patting her stomach as if to check that she was in fact intact. A low but painfully audible growl vibrated through her abdomen.
“Hungry?” Asher asked.
Lila glared down at her stomach before answering with a small injection of petulance, “Maybe…”
“I think Marlene was finishing up soon, I can check if you’d like?”
“No, no,” Lila said, desperately trying to convey the fact that she really, really did not want him to check on when food would be ready. “It’s fine.”
“… I’ll check.” Asher stood up, putting his pen on the desk.
“NO!” yelled Lila, surprising even herself, let alone Asher who immediately sat back down. “Sorry, no thank you. It’ll be ready when it’s ready. Nothing we can do to change it.”
“Sure…” replied Asher, his voice seemingly layered with uncertainty.
They both sat in silence now, looking in the far corners of the library. Lila picked at the skin of her nail beds until they were raw. Taking a deep breath, Lila broke the silence again.
“Look, you can let me know what you want to do from here. I think I’ve started you off, at least, with a plan.”
“Thanks… I’ll think about it. I have a rough idea, but I think I just need to write down what’s happened and let you know. In the meantime, you should really get to work on the PowerPoint.”
Lila raised an eyebrow at Asher before smirking. “Yeah, yeah, Mr Dux. I’ll do that.”
----------------------------------------
Lunch turned out to be a less-than-exciting affair, much like dinner with Gabriel, however, the stark difference between a professional chef and the occasional cook was clear.
‘Not that there’s anything wrong with spaghetti and meatballs’, thought Lila as she twirled her fork in her meal, particularly as the meatballs were undoubtedly hand-prepared and the sauce didn’t taste like it was storebought either. Evidently, Marlene had put as much effort as she could into their humble lunch, which Lila very much appreciated. Unlike Gabriel, however, Marlene did not join them for lunch, which had the unfortunate effect of allowing the awkward silence to cling even tighter to Lila and Asher upon leaving the library. Lila deeply regretted leaving her phone behind, particularly as she was attempting to remain entirely fixated on her meal.
“What time do I need to leave today?” asked Lila, stabbing a meatball and inspecting it as though it would give her a time.
“Whenever you’d like,” replied Asher through a mouthful of spaghetti. “The spare room is still made up.”
“I-I’ll go after lunch then,” announced Lila, a strange shrill note carrying through her statement.
“That’s fine.”
Lila quickly shovelled the rest of her lunch in her mouth, adrenaline suddenly flowing through her veins. Once done, she half-sprinted to the library and sent a message to her Mum, requesting to be collected. Lila’s Mum sent an exceptionally large thumbs-up emoji in response and Lila exhaled deeply in relief. She began packing away her things when Asher’s voice called out to her from the doorway.
“You seem like you’re in a hurry,” he said, a peculiar, fleeting expression crossing his face. Was it sadness? Surprise? Relief? Lila couldn’t place it.
“Yeah, I’ve got to work on my Biology assignment,” Lila said, knowing full well she had absolutely zero intentions of looking at that assignment until the week it was due.
“I can respect that,” Asher responded with a nod. “Sounds important.”
“Yeah, it’s like 50% of my grade or something ridiculous.”
Asher gave a low whistle. “Glad I’m not doing Biology then.”
“You’d think it was cruisy,” Lila shrugged, zipping up her backpack, the only thing missing being her notebook. Lila crossed the room towards Asher, clutching it to her chest, suddenly aware, again, of how tight her dress was after finishing lunch.
“Here,” Lila passed Asher her notebook. “You can keep it for now. This one is just for English. You can give it back to me when we have class next.”
Lila could have sworn the tips of Asher’s ears turned pink as he took a step back, distancing himself from Lila some.
“I swear I don’t bite,” Lila said, frowning.
“I know you don’t, but I’d rather you not stand so close to me.”
Lila took a step back herself before spinning around and collecting her things hurriedly.
“Lila, sorry, that sounded rude. It’s just…” Asher brought a hand to the back of his neck and gave her a sideways glance. He violently shook his head. “Nothing. It’s just nothing.”
“Well, it sounds like something if I can’t even give you a critical notebook without admonishment,” said Lila sternly, turning towards him and crossing her arms. She sounded like her Dad now but was suddenly too annoyed to care about her sudden verboseness.
“I… you’re right. I was just thinking about Holly and I want to respect that we’re in a relationship.”
Lila cocked her head to one side, eyebrows furrowed deeply. “What does that mean?”
Asher looked even more uncomfortable than he had during their many awkward silences combined. “I don’t think I worded that right…”
“You’ll need to clarify, yes,” Lila said impatiently, the weight of her backpack feeling as though it had gained ten kilograms.
“I just think that, as I’m in a relationship, I should respect that she’s my girlfriend and should remain appropriate with females.”
Lila stared at him for a moment before bursting into laughter.
“O-Oh my god,” she wheezed, wiping tears from her eyes. “You sound like a robot. ‘Females’.”
Asher stiffened at the suggestion, which really didn’t help subvert Lila’s assertions.
“Well, it's whatever. I said my piece. I’d like a firm boundary, please,” he said, his tone dead serious.
“Roboticness aside, I think it’s admirable enough that you’re thinking about that,” Lila said, having recovered from her giggling fit. “I’ll respect it.”
“Thanks,” replied Asher, looking relieved, pressing Lila’s notebook to his chest briefly. “I’ll finish up with this and give it back to you next week.”
“Yeah, I’ll need it for the assignment.”
“Maybe you should come collect it tonight the-”
“Nope,” Lila shook her head. “Biology, remember? I don’t have the time, sorry.” In reality, she’d had enough of being around Asher for the moment. Her head was starting to spin.
“Okay. I’ll walk you out then.”