Chapter Twenty-Four

Lila turned to see Asher standing cautiously in the hallway, dressed in a crumpled, white singlet and loose, grey, sweatpants. He looked at her with a mixture of curiosity and a different emotion that Lila couldn’t comprehend in her current state.

“You look like you’ve been chased by bears or something,” he finally said.

“I can tell you for a fact that I wasn’t chased by bears,” Lila replied, breathing heavily. “They don’t exist in Australia.”

“Touché,” replied Asher lamely. “Uh… not to say that you’re unwelcome here, but… why are you here?”

Asher’s words opened her floodgates without warning, taking Lila completely by surprise. She began to break down in sobs as every emotion she had felt over the past week caught up to her in the safety of his house. Asher reached out to grab her, but pulled back at the last second, seeming unsure of what to do.

Lila slowly sunk to the tiles, her tears taking over her body entirely. She couldn’t manage to get a single word out to Asher – her lungs wouldn’t let her. She tried to reign it in, but couldn’t even muster the strength to stand.

“L-Lila?” Asher asked hesitantly, lowering himself to the ground as well.

The sound of shuffling slippers echoed through the hallway amongst Lila’s blubbering.

“Lila,” Gabriel’s voice floated down to her, clearly concerned. “Oh dear…”

“What do I do?” Asher asked desperately, panic raising the pitch of his voice.

“Let’s take her upstairs,” Gabriel suggested. Asher and Gabriel tried to pull Lila up by her arms, but she still couldn’t stand.

“I think you’ll need to carry her,” Gabriel said after a few attempts. She attempted to apologise, but all that came out was a whimper intermingled with heaving sobs. Lila felt Asher’s sturdy arms envelop her as he picked her up with Gabriel’s assistance. She heard the jingle of her bags getting lifted, and though she couldn’t say for certain, thought that Gabriel likely picked them up.

“Thanks, Gabriel,” Asher muttered, adjusting his position so he was carrying her princess style. Lila couldn’t fight back against this course of action as she still struggled to breathe and stop her tears. Asher slowly carried her through the house, his breathing becoming heavier with each step. Lila could hear Gabriel following close behind. Asher carefully made his way up the staircase, still holding Lila.

“Allow me,” Gabriel said once they reached the top of the staircase. Despite her convulsive crying, Lila heard a door open and Asher began walking again. At last, Asher lowered her down, and Lila recognised that she was on Asher’s couch in his wing of the house.

“I’ll be just downstairs if you need me. Let me know what’s happening, please,” Lila heard Gabriel murmur. She then heard the sound of her bags gently landing on the carpet.

“Of course,” Asher replied. The sound of the door closing followed soon after.

Lila continued to bawl her eyes out for quite some time. Asher remained silent as she did so. Eventually, her breathing deepened and her flood of tears softened to a snivel. She wiped at her eyes, embarrassment now taking root within her. She hadn’t meant to break down like this, and especially not in front of Asher. She slowly sat up, a headache forming. Asher silently passed her a cup full of what looked like water, and she took it from him with a weak smile.

“S-Sorry,” she said, before gulping down the drink. It was indeed water.

“Don’t be,” he replied awkwardly. He avoided her eyes but sat down next to her, holding his own cup.

“What happened?” he asked gently.

“What didn’t happen?” Lila replied, her eyes sparkling with more tears again. She groaned and wiped them away aggressively.

“You don’t need to be embarrassed,” Asher said quietly, taking a sip from his cup. Lila nodded and took a few deep, quavering breaths, looking down at her lap.

“I… I don’t know where to begin, honestly,” Lila said softly. She looked back up at Asher, who met her eyes now. They were full of comforting warmth and concern.

“D-Do you know a girl named Piper?” she finally asked, tearing her eyes away from his.

“Only enough to know that she’s in our cohort,” Asher said, suspicion colouring his tone. He leaned back into the couch.

“Well, she’s the one who’s been spreading the rumours,” Lila said, shuffling her feet along the floor. “I narrowed it down by figuring out she was connected to 11B, since Isaac thought the rumours were starting there, and who was connected to both Brittany and Ayla. It was between Piper and Mia, but Cecelia spoke to both of them and Piper lied about her knowledge of the rumours. She said she hadn’t heard anything, but Brittany confirmed to Elise that she spoke to Piper when Brittany saw us outside Bio. Ayla confirmed to me personally that she told Piper about them around the same time as well. And people have been saying that Piper knows way too much about me, even though I’d never really spoken to her until today.”

Lila’s words tumbled out of her mouth and she barely took a breath during her explanation. She glanced at Asher, who looked troubled, but was clearly listening to what she was saying.

“Okay…” Asher trailed off.

“P-Piper’s terrifying,” Lila whispered, her voice catching in her throat. She took another sip of her water.

“I’ve been following her all week,” Lila said, inhaling deeply. “Asher, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to compromise my investigation. I didn’t have much evidence that it was Piper to begin wi-”

“Lila,” Asher cut her off firmly. “Just tell me what happened.”

Lila silently pulled out her phone and flicked to her Gallery. She opened the landscape photo of Piper hiding in the hedge, looking at Asher’s house which was also in frame. Lila passed her phone to Asher, who jumped up upon grabbing it, knocking his drink to the floor.

“What the fuck is this?” he hissed. “How does she know where I live?”

“I… don’t know,” Lila said truthfully. “I just saw her get off at a different stop than usual on Monday and followed her here. I don’t know what she was doing, but she never noticed me. It… seemed like she was really focused.”

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Asher stared at Lila’s phone for a few seconds. Then, he put it down on the coffee table, face-up. He suddenly walked towards his bedroom.

“Can you give me a sec?” he asked, opening the door.

“S-Sure,” Lila replied, pointedly looking away from his bedroom, though she was curious about it. She heard him stomp inside. It sounded as though he was fiddling with some blinds, and she heard him swear before he returned.

“She can definitely see into my bedroom from there,” he said, looking incredibly disturbed. He sat back down and picked up his now empty cup with shaking hands. Lila didn’t comment on this as she took another sip of her drink. Then, swallowing hard, Lila pulled the photo of her and Asher out of her blazer pocket and handed it to Asher, who stiffened.

“I saw this,” Asher said in a voice that badly suppressed his anger. “In the bathrooms. I… was furious. I kept pulling them down when I saw them, but they just kept coming back.”

“Look carefully,” Lila said, still averting her gaze.

“… this does seem different,” Asher said slowly, bringing the photo closer to his eyes. He suddenly looked at Lila in realisation. “My face isn’t blurred here.”

Lila nodded. “I think this is the only one that has your face clearly shown.”

“Where did you get this?” he asked, still staring at the photo.

“It was stuck to the inside of my locker on Tuesday.”

“Huh?” Asher asked, his mouth falling open in apparent shock. “Inside your locker?”

“Trust me, I was freaking out when I saw it,” Lila said bitterly, looking up at the ceiling briefly. “Turns out my lock could be opened with a sharp hit.”

Asher gave a low whistle and ran his fingers through his hair.

“A-Anyway,” Lila continued, putting the photo back in her blazer pocket. “I don’t remember seeing anyone outside your house when this was taken. But after seeing Piper outside your house on Monday, it was pretty easy to guess that she could have taken this photo as well.”

Lila’s phone suddenly lit up as another unknown caller’s attempt at reaching her flashed on the screen. Asher picked up the phone again, frowning.

“Who’s this?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Lila said, putting her face in her hands. “Ever since those pictures went up in the bathrooms, my phone has been getting calls and texts non-stop from guys.”

“How many have you gotten?” Asher asked, his voice suddenly a low rumble. He looked at her, his eyes flashing in apparent anger.

“Probably over fifty calls and over a hundred messages,” Lila guessed. “You’re welcome to take a look.”

He scrolled through her missed calls list and messages quickly, his face gradually reddening in fury.

“Lila, it’s Thursday night. They only started going up in the bathrooms on Wednesday morning.”

“I know,” Lila replied. “I’ve… just been ignoring them now. I picked up the first couple of calls ‘cause I didn’t know my number was plastered all over the boys’ bathrooms. The callers asked how much I charged and what services I was offering… As if.”

Lila swallowed hard, trying not to cry again. Asher didn’t say anything further as he put her phone face down on the coffee table.

“S-So, my PC teacher pulled me aside today. And she asked me if I was offering sexual services… they’re about to open an investigation into this. So, I confronted Piper this afternoon. Now that the teachers were getting involved, enough was enough.”

Asher nodded, his eyes not leaving Lila’s face.

“I don’t know how else to put it, but she’s deranged, Asher. She’s been stalking you since like Grade 8. Her locker… is full of pictures of you. But you’re never looking at the camera. A-And I think she’s stolen some of your things. Her locker is like a godamn shrine to you.”

Asher closed his eyes, putting his head in his hands. Lila wasn’t sure what he would be feeling, but repeating what she had seen was making her nauseous all over again.

“She’s the one who’s been starting rumours about you,” Lila continued. “She said it was so you’d be… undesirable. And she tried to start some about Holly when you guys started dating, but no one cared about them. Then she saw we… well, that we were getting closer this term. And she saw it as an opportunity to ‘kill two birds with one stone’, she said. She… said she loves you and wants to marry you, and that I was getting in her way. She also said that… essentially she planned that Holly would leave you because of the rumours.”

At this, Asher clenched his fists, slowly looking up at Lila.

“Please tell me you were able to stop her,” he spat.

“She… said she wasn’t going to stop until she buried me into the ground.”

Asher’s nostrils flared as he stood up and walked away from Lila. Though she couldn’t see his face, an overwhelming sense of wrath emanated from him. His shoulders and toned biceps were tense, his fists clenched so tightly that they were white, thick veins protruding from his arms. Even from a distance, Lila could hear him exhaling heavily as his body shook. This was the most enraged that Lila had ever seen him. He seemed apt to burst into flames at any second now.

“I’m done,” he finally snapped. “I’m talking to her tomorrow morning.”

“What are you going to say?”

“The truth,” Asher said, shooting her a look full of venom. It took her aback. Lila almost didn’t recognise that this reaction was most likely directed at Piper rather than her. “That there’s no way someone as vile as her would ever have a chance with me. That I hate her and that will never change. She’s crossed the line so far that it’d be quicker to walk around the Earth to get back to the line than it would be for her to turn around.”

Lila nodded, looking back down at her lap. “I see.”

“I can hardly comprehend the gravity of her actions myself, but she’s stalked me, she’s stalked you. She’s made my life miserable with her incessant rumours. And the one time I find some light in my life, she’s tried to destroy that too by trying to break me and Holly up. The rumours she’s pulled out of her ass have put you in danger with Harrison, and now all these guys are hitting you up for something you’d never offer. Harrison thought he could have his way with you over a rumour about you freely sleeping with m-me,” Asher coughed strangely, not meeting Lila’s eyes, before continuing.

“A-and Connor. Now that all these people know your number and think you’re ‘whoring’ yourself out, it’s a ticking time bomb before someone else tries something. And she doesn’t have any remorse for her actions. She’s not going to stop. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a worse person that’s been within throttling distance of me.”

“Are you going to report her to the teachers?” Lila asked quietly.

“I’d rather we report it together,” Asher said. “After seeing you… well… y’know. I realised how badly this has been affecting you. I feel stupid now, actually. All I’ve been worried about all this time is how to make sure this doesn’t get back to Holly… But you’ve really being going through it.”

Lila hung her head low, but otherwise didn’t say anything in response. He crossed the room and buzzed the intercom.

“Gabriel, feel free to prep dinner,” Asher said after a moment. Gabriel’s voice swiftly came through the intercom.

“Okay, Asher. I’ll make enough for Lila as well.”

“Thank you,” Asher replied. He took his finger off the intercom and turned back towards Lila. His face was stony, but he gave her a somewhat reassuring smile.

“I’m not angry with you, Lila. I appreciate all the investigating you’ve done, and everything else. I just don’t know how I’ll be able to control myself tomorrow morning.”

“I’ll go with you,” Lila said quickly. “If it gets too much, I can step in.”

Asher nodded at Lila. “Okay. Seems it’s time to team up again.”

Lila smiled at these words. “Yeah.”

They spent the next hour or so watching some YouTube videos in relative silence. They jumped across a few genres – from Let’s Play videos, to dog grooming, to improv skits and anywhere in between – while they waited for Gabriel to let them know dinner was ready.

Dinner today consisted of beautifully cooked lamb chops covered in a mint sauce, garlic roasted veggies and home-made gravy. Whilst it was simpler than the other meals that Gabriel had cooked thus far, it was by no means of a lower standard. Dessert was crème brûlée again, and it felt as though Lila’s spirit was being healed by Gabriel’s cooking. Like most of the dinners Lila had enjoyed in Asher’s home thus far, his Dad was absent. Secretly, Lila appreciated this fact. If he was home, he surely would’ve heard her breakdown and it was bad enough that she had embarrassed herself in front of Asher and Gabriel because of it.

“That was amazing as always,” Lila said with a bright smile once she finished her dessert. Gabriel beamed at her in response.

“I’m glad to see that you’re looking much happier,” he said cheerfully.

“It’s all thanks to your cooking,” Lila grinned.

“Hey!” Asher pouted. “Surely I helped?”

The three shared a laugh and Lila messaged her Mum to collect her. Asher and Lila went back upstairs and watched another video or so. It wasn’t long before the sound of a car horn advised them that Lila’s Mum had arrived.

Lila put her bags over her shoulders and followed Asher down the stairs again. He punched the security code into the security system and opened the door for Lila.

“Thank you for hearing me out,” Lila said, turning to face him briefly.

“Thank you for telling me,” Asher replied, a grim smile on his face. “Not that I’m happy with anything you said.”

“Sorry I couldn’t give you any better news,” Lila said sarcastically.

“I was just teasing.”

“I know. Same here.”