Chapter Seventeen


    True to Asher’s word, he seemed entirely dedicated to his schoolwork upon returning to English class on Monday. Whilst Lila and Asher were still ignoring each other as much as they could in English, now that it was close to the time that they would need to hand in their scripts and PowerPoints for marking, they were forced to break the fa?ade a couple of times to show Ms Shard that they were, indeed, working collaboratively. By the end of the lesson, they quietly agreed to meet up on Wednesday night again to run through the presentation and speech to ensure it was polished. By the seriousness on Asher’s face, Lila figured that he wouldn’t focus on anything else besides their assignment on Wednesday, which suited her just fine.


    Lila had spotted Piper on her normal bus route, and around the lockers between classes, which she noted with curiosity. Somehow, Piper seemed to stay tantalizingly close but also way too far for any kind of meaningful interaction. Oftentimes, Piper would manage to disappear into any lingering crowds, with Lila unable to keep up in any capacity. It frustrated Lila, but she couldn’t dedicate any more time to the intricacies of Piper’s schedule besides what she could incidentally see.


    Grace and Elise also tried their hands at following Piper when they could, though that also proved fruitless. What Lila did manage to figure out by now was that Piper was already seated in the back of the school bus in the mornings and would stay on after Lila got off in the afternoons. Without a doubt, that meant that Piper could have noticed Lila changing her stop when she went to Asher’s after school.


    It also seemed that Asher’s dedication was transferring to Lila as she knuckled down to tackle her upcoming assessments that Monday and Tuesday. Lila didn’t even pay attention as to whether rumours about her and Asher were still floating about, as she’d taken to holing herself up in the library to get some extra study in, much to the chagrin of Elise, who reluctantly followed Lila, and the delight of Grace, who eagerly brought her own study materials.


    Lila also took solace in the fact that PE on Tuesday morning didn’t have any room for any more rumours – the class was practising group dances, which required the ''feminine'' roles to be inside a circle of ''masculine'' roles. They would complete a few steps together in ''feminine'' and ''masculine'' pairs before twirling to the next partner. Though this meant that Lila and Asher danced together a couple of times, it had been so brief that Lila had barely noticed she was in Asher’s arms again until she’d moved on to the next person.


    Her newfound dedication to study got to the point that, despite the fact that Clare’s Uni semester had begun, Clare still found the time to check in on Lila with bowls of cut fruit or snacks in the evenings before she left to hang out with her friends.


    “You’re working so hard,” Clare said affectionately on Wednesday morning as the two sisters ate breakfast before heading to their various educational institutions for the day.


    “I try,” Lila said sheepishly.


    “I’m sure you’ll do great on your exams,” Clare said with a yawn, sipping her cup of coffee. She’d been looking progressively more tired lately, but Lila reasoned that Clare was trying to readjust to starting classes again.


    “Thanks, sis,” Lila smiled. “By the way, tonight I’m going over to Asher’s again to practice for English. I’ve already told Mum, but just in case. You can save the fruit for next time.”


    Clare didn’t say anything and instead leaned across the table to pinch Lila’s cheek and ruffle her hair with a cheeky grin.


    “Not my hair,” complained Lila, shoving a mouthful of Milo cereal in her mouth hastily before smoothing down her hair.


    “But you’re so cute,” Clare squeaked as she smacked Lila’s hand out of the way so she could ruffle her hair again. Lila dodged, grabbing her bowl of cereal and drinking the milk out of it. After dropping it back down on the table, Lila ran off upstairs to brush her teeth, almost kneeing Daniel in the stomach in the hallway as he grumpily stomped his way to the kitchen.


    “Oi!” he shouted.


    “Sorry!” she called back through a mouthful of toothpaste, speeding through her morning routine. Her first class of the day was English – she couldn’t be late.


    <hr>


    Asher confirmed the plan for Lila to come over again that night at the end of English in a low murmur. Lila managed to survive the rest of the day amidst a flurry of assignment prep whilst waiting to head over to Asher’s. Though, now that she was in Study, her last class for the day, Lila’s enthusiasm and concentration had waned almost entirely.


    Lila sat in the same booth that she usually did and found Piper and Ayla in her field of vision. The way that they were sitting meant that whenever they looked up, they could see Lila, which made her feel a bit self-conscious. They were relatively quiet today, concentrating on their laptops and flipping furiously through various books. With the level of concentration they had, Lila was definitely looking at them far more than they looked at her during their Study period.


    ‘Well, if I can’t focus on my schoolwork, perhaps I can think about my plan…’ Lila thought with a sigh. She picked a particular notebook that was virtually devoid of any notes and opened it to the middle. What would she even say to Piper? When? How?


    ‘I know I told Asher I could handle it, but I don’t even know what I’m doing,’ Lila thought despondently as she jotted down notes regarding what she knew about Piper so far. Piper was in 11B, friends with both Ayla and Brittany (the renowned gossip Queens), was at least a stop or more further than Lila on the bus route, suddenly began to raise her grades, would tell people that she was close with Lila for indeterminate reasons, and it was theorised that Piper would then use that as a way to legitimise what she was telling people about Lila…


    But why? This point had been niggling at Lila once she had learned about Piper’s potential involvement in the rumours swirling around Lila and Asher. Was she just swept up in the fervour of the rumours? Or was she vindictive? Could she be friends with Holly and mad on Holly’s behalf? Unfortunately, Grace wasn’t close enough to Holly anymore to get information in that regard, but that was Lila’s top theory in the absence of Piper’s perspective.


    Lila pondered further as she reread her notes. Should she confidently assert her position that Piper was definitely involved, or try a softer approach to see if Piper would admit it herself?


    Lila suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to look up. Upon doing so, she saw Piper whipping her head towards Ayla. Was Piper staring at Lila? Did Piper know Lila was looking into her? Or was Lila just hyper-aware of Piper’s movements now?


    Lila didn’t make any further headway into her plan of action by the time Study finished, on account of being increasingly paranoid that Piper was looking at her. Lila threw all her belongings into her bag and dashed to her locker, taking everything else that she needed before slamming it shut and hurrying towards the school bus station. All the while, despite her speed, Lila would catch glimpses of Piper here and there, but that was to be expected. They would be travelling on the same bus, after all.


    Lila took her usual seat on the bus and stared out the window, waiting to see when Piper would appear. Eventually, Lila realised that Piper was already sitting at the back. Goosebumps erupted across her whole body as Lila tried to think when Piper could have slipped past her notice. She couldn’t.


    Try as she might, Lila couldn’t relax her muscles as they journeyed through the suburbs surrounding Forestglade College. Upon reaching Asher’s stop, Lila snuck a peek at Piper who remained seated at the back. Piper glowered back at Lila and Lila hurriedly got off the bus, shivers running down her spine. What was Piper’s deal?


    Lila checked behind her shoulder to ensure Piper wasn’t following before making her way to Asher’s place, hand on her chest to try and steady her furiously beating heart. She needed to calm down before knocking on the door. If Asher noticed how spooked she was and asked, Lila wasn’t sure whether she could make a convincing enough lie. If he found out the truth, he would definitely seek to pry Piper’s name out of Lila and confront her himself.


    Lila took a deep breath and counted to ten before knocking on Asher’s front doors. Asher immediately opened the right-side door, still in his uniform, his shirt untucked and hair a mess. He seemed rather distracted, merely giving her a tired smile before letting her inside.


    Gabriel was bustling about in the kitchen as usual, humming to himself. Lila greeted him with a sunny smile, which he delightedly returned.


    “It’s good to see you Lila,” he beamed. “I’m pleased to say that Ivaan will be joining us for dinner today.”


    Lila froze. Asher’s Dad? She quickly glanced at Asher who gave her a half-hearted shrug.


    “Let’s get set up in the library,” he said simply, leading the way. Lila waved goodbye at Gabriel as she struggled to match Asher’s pace. It felt like he was almost sprinting.


    Asher’s study materials were already set up in the library at their usual spot, a plate of various fruits, cheeses, and crackers in the centre of the table. Lila put down her school bag and set herself up. As Lila had predicted, Asher didn’t mention anything that wasn’t related to their English project or other upcoming assessments. Lila wasn’t sure whether he had noticed that her demeanour was slightly off or whether she was playing it cool enough that he couldn’t notice.


    The run-throughs of their presentation today were much smoother than Saturday. Lila only stumbled a couple of times through the script, and it seemed that Asher had more patience today as he didn’t mention her mistakes, nor did he seem annoyed. After an hour of practice passed, he nodded satisfactorily to himself.


    “Great work, Lila,” he said, still looking down at his printed script. “If you want, I reckon we can upload all our materials to Turnitin tonight.”


    “Are you sure?” Lila asked, scrolling through the slides she had prepared, checking for grammatical errors.


    “Yup,” Asher said, looking up at Lila. “It’ll be fine.”


    “Well, I’ll just double-check, just in case…”


    “Go for it,” Asher smiled before looking back down at his script.


    Lila conducted a couple of checks of the script and slides before uploading both to Turnitin. Asher leaned over to see her screen as she waited with bated breath to see their originality score. It came in at 3%. Checking through the matches, it was all quotes from The Great Gatsby. Lila stretched, relieved.


    “Let’s take a break,” Asher suggested, also stretching. “My brain is getting fried, plus dinner is still a while away.”


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    “Gladly,” Lila grinned, grabbing a few grapes from their snack platter. The silence between them today felt comfortable – warm, even. They scrolled through their phones and snacked until eventually, Asher broke the silence and suggested they run through the presentation a few more times.


    Once finished, Lila checked the time – it was only 5.30pm. She guessed that dinner wouldn’t be for another hour or so. Asher looked at his phone, frowning.


    “Well, I’m out of ideas on what we should do,” he said, running his fingers through his hair.


    “I guess we could study on our own?” Lila suggested reluctantly. She’d been studying all day and she wasn’t keen on more study, but would if Asher wanted to. Surprisingly, he shook his head.


    “No ma’am,” he said, taking an apple slice from the platter. “Breaks are just as important as study, you know.”


    “Oh?” Lila said curiously. “What’s your usual study routine?”


    Asher looked sheepish. “It’s nothing really special,” he replied, his cheeks slowly growing pink.


    “You can let me in on the secret,” Lila said, a grin spreading across her face. He wasn’t normally so meek.


    “I guess you’re trustworthy,” he said, appearing to bite back a smile at his words. “I guess one of my biggest tips is to recite what I’ve learned to myself. I also quiz myself out loud. It’s… a bit embarrassing, to be honest. I don’t hold back when trying to relate the information to my experiences. I have a hard time keeping it just in my head, though. I get weird looks when trying those methods around other people.”


    Lila took another bunch of grapes and chewed on them thoughtfully.


    “I see,” she said. “I can see why that would be useful.”


    “Yeah,” Asher replied. “When I hear myself say something that doesn’t make sense or just sounds ridiculous, I go back and review the material before quizzing myself again. I also handwrite as many notes as I can. I find that using my body and listening to my own thoughts connects the dots effectively for me. Typing doesn’t give me the same effect. I’m not too sure why, but I think it has to do with the fact that handwriting is a very conscious thing. I can touch type with my eyes closed, so I find that typing’s only really helpful when I’m just trying to put my thoughts to paper in the first instance, not when trying to learn or memorise content.”


    Asher briefly paused, tapping his chin thoughtfully before continuing again. “I also give myself frequent breaks. A twenty-to-thirty-minute break every hour or so usually works for me. If I go for much longer, I don’t retain anything. It was hard not to feel guilty at first, but I figured if I wasn’t being productive, what was the point in going so long anyway?”


    “Tips from a master,” Lila replied, impressed. “You’ve definitely put a lot of thought into your study techniques. I usually just re-read everything until it feels like I don’t know English anymore.”


    “Does it work for you?”


    “Eh… mixed results.”


    Asher chuckled, cutting himself a slice of cheese and putting it on a cracker. “If what you’re doing isn’t working, I’d suggest trying one of those methods. Writing down notes in your handwriting, quizzing yourself, reciting the content, frequent breaks – those kinds of things could help you out.”


    “Thanks,” Lila smiled, “those sound like good tips.”


    “We do all learn differently, though,” Asher added seriously. “So please don’t shoot the messenger if those techniques suck.”


    Lila laughed heartily, tossing a couple more grapes into her mouth. Asher joined in her laughter momentarily before they fell into an easy silence again.


    “Seriously, though,” Asher said through a mouthful of cheese. “I don’t feel like studying at the moment.”


    Lila dropped her voice to a low whisper. “I’m guessing you don’t want to talk about your Mum today?”


    Asher shook his head violently. “Dad’s home. I can’t guarantee where he is in the house at any given time. He’s very… quiet.”


    “I see,” Lila leaned back in her chair. “That’s okay.”


    “Thanks for understanding.”


    “No worries,” Lila said, before standing up. “Got any board games? Or something fun to do?”


    Asher blinked up at her as though she said something in Tagalog. “W-What?”


    “Haven’t you heard of fun before? Or is it board games that have got you stuck?” Lila asked playfully.


    “Of course I’ve heard of fun,” Asher replied defensively, also standing up. “It’s just… well, we do have board games, but no one really plays them.”


    “Oh,” Lila replied, taken aback. “That’s kinda sad. They must be really dusty, then.”


    Asher shrugged. “Probably.”


    “My family play board games every so often, but I’ve got two siblings I can bully into playing with me,” Lila said matter-of-factly. “I guess it must be different for only children.”


    “Yeah,” Asher replied, walking to a particular bookshelf on the far back wall. “Mum was the only one who really made time to play them with me. Gabriel sometimes, too, but as I got older, I guess no one really suggested it as much. I can’t even remember the last time I played any of these.”


    He knelt to look at the bottom of the shelf, which evidently housed a number of board games. Lila followed behind, curious to see what kind they had. It looked like a rather standard collection, though there were a few that Lila didn’t recognise. Some seemed word-related or educational, which was definitely not part of her family’s board game interests. Asher pulled out a set of Jenga blocks.


    “I guess we could warm up with this, at least,” he said, standing up again and inspecting the set. They walked to an empty table this time and built the Jenga tower. They battled via scissors, paper, rock to see who would start (Lila won), and then their tournament to discover the best player began.


    Playing Jenga with Asher was certainly an interesting experience. He seemed to light up in ways Lila hadn’t seen before as his competitive streak shone through. Lila found herself dramatically commentating each move Asher made and he quickly caught on and commentated her moves as well. They continued that way for some time, hilarity ensuing as each move elicited progressively more ridiculous commentary and light roasting (some of which included how Lila would simultaneously be the worst and best engineer to grace the planet, and how Asher’s pincer grip could outcompete a particularly angry crab), to the point that Lila knocked over their first tower from belly-laughing too hard.


    “Yes!” Asher cried, fist-pumping the air before dissolving into laughter as well. They repeated the process a few more times, their stream of laughter almost entirely continuous, until a loud knock sounded on the library door.


    “I’ll get it,” wheezed Asher, stumbling to stand. Lila tried to keep herself together as she smiled stupidly in the direction of the door. Asher opened it and Gabriel poked his head in, looking energetically about the room.


    “I thought there were about ten people in here!” he joked, beaming jovially at Lila. “Dinner’s ready.”


    “Is it that time already?” Lila asked, rubbing her stomach, and looking at her phone’s clock. An hour had passed.


    “Indeed,” Gabriel confirmed, disappearing from the entryway. “I’ll collect Ivaan.”


    At Ivaan’s name, Asher froze momentarily, all joy seemingly sapped from his body at once.


    “You okay?” Lila asked, crossing the room to join Asher at the door.


    “Y-Yeah,” Asher replied, shaking his head in direct contradiction to his assertion. “All good.”


    Lila didn’t push any further so as not to ruin the carefree mood they had fallen into and followed Asher to the dining room. It looked as though they were being treated to a chicken with marsala risotto, complete with roasted asparagus, judging by the steaming serving dishes set out in the middle of the table. Four plates and sets of cutlery were set up today, one of which was at the head of the table.


    Now that the high from Jenga had faded slightly, Lila suddenly felt nervous as she shakily tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smoothed down her uniform as best she could. She felt glad that, though a trash bag would look better, she was wearing the formal dress today. She’d never met Asher’s Dad (at least, not that she could remember), and didn’t know what to expect. Asher hadn’t said much about his Dad except that he was suspicious that his Dad had something to do with his Mum’s disappearance.


    It didn’t take long for two sets of footsteps to reach their ears and Lila turned to see Gabriel leading a tall, handsome man into the dining room. He had a strong nose and cheekbones, light-olive skin, salt-and-pepper hair, and dark eyes framed with luscious eyelashes. He was also dressed smartly in navy-blue business attire. Lila recognised the unquestionable resemblance between father and son immediately. Though Asher’s features were certainly fairer than his Dad’s, Lila still felt as though she was looking at what Asher would look like in the future.


    Lila instantly felt a sense of familiarity in Asher’s Dad’s features. Given she was also biracial, she found this feeling comforting – most biracial people that she met found a special type of connection upon realising they were in the company of other biracial people. It was as though their shared yet individual struggles with their identity instantly bonded them together.


    Lila stood to greet Asher’s Dad. He looked surprised to see Lila, but his face broke into a welcoming smile as he moved forward to shake her hand firmly.


    “Welcome,” he said, his deep voice smooth like honey and exuding an infectious sense of calm. “I’m Ivaan.”


    “Nice to meet you, Mr Wagner,” Lila said, her voice wavering only a little. “I’m Lila. A classmate of Asher’s.”


    “Please, call me Ivaan,” Ivaan replied, his eyes twinkling. “I’ve heard a lot about you from Asher.”


    Lila quickly glanced at Asher, who was still seated and now gently prodding the placemat under his dinner plate as if it was an archaeological discovery, his ears pink.


    “Though, I must say,” Ivaan added, “I didn’t realise Asher had a different girlfriend now.”


    “W-We’re not dating,” Lila squeaked, her face immediately burning a bright red. “He’s dating Holly still. We’re just… uh, partners for our English presentation.”


    “Oh, of course. My mistake,” Ivaan smiled apologetically as he moved to the seat at the head of the table. “Unfortunately, being as busy as I am at the Forestglade Private Hospital, I can sometimes get a couple details wrong. I apologise if I made you uncomfortable.”


    “No, not at all,” Lila replied quickly. She didn’t dare look at Asher as she sat down herself. Gabriel dished out the food to everyone’s preferences before taking his own seat. As expected, dinner was delicious and another relatively speechless affair. Ivaan tried some mild small talk here and there, asking how school was and how their project was going. Lila, in turn, asked how Ivaan’s workshop went, and all questions were met with the same vague “Good” answers. Ivaan wasn’t exactly unfriendly – just quiet, as Asher had told her. Not much more was said as they reached the dessert portion of their dinner, which today consisted of a caramel slice and vanilla bean ice cream.


    “That was scrumptious as always,” Lila said to Gabriel, patting her stomach once she was done.


    “I can always count on you to be so complimentary, Lila,” Gabriel said pleasantly, smiling warmly at her as he collected their plates and brought them to the kitchen. Lila could hear the front door open and close.


    “Ah, Marlene!” she heard Gabriel call out cheerily. “Another day, another night shift. I assume your appointment went well.”


    “Hello to you too, Gabriel,” Marlene’s voice floated down the hallway. Lila and Asher glanced at each other, and Asher quickly said goodbye to his Dad before they both scrambled toward the library.


    “Study hard you two!” Ivaan called behind them. Neither Lila nor Asher replied in their haste to get away.


    Once in the safety of the library, Lila texted her Mum that she was ready to get picked up. Upon receiving a ‘K’ from her Mum, they noiselessly packed away the Jenga game and Lila packed up her study materials. Lila could sense, however, that Asher seemed a bit deflated after dinner, as he distractedly tried to put the Jenga game back on the shelf but instead made others topple over. Sighing, he rearranged the games before standing back up, scratching the side of his nose.


    “Are you sure you’re all good?” she tried asking. Asher wordlessly nodded, turning away from Lila, and began packing his own materials away.


    “How’s your plan going? About she-who-must-not-be-named,” Asher suddenly said, looking intensely at Lila as he waited for a response.


    “She’s not Voldemort,” Lila snorted. “I’m planning on having the chat with her after our presentation at the moment.”


    “I see,” he said tersely, continuing to pack away his things. “You’ll let me know if you need a hand, right?” he added after a pause.


    “Of course,” Lila replied reassuringly. “You’ll be the first to know if I failed.”


    “Well, let’s not hope for failure,” he said with a tight smile.


    “I won’t,” Lila said. “But it’s always smart to prepare for the worst.”


    “I can’t disagree with that.”


    Once packed, Lila returned to the board game shelf to inspect what else was there. She grinned as she picked up a weathered copy of Monopoly and dangled it at Asher.


    “Next time we should play this.”


    “No,” he groaned, walking towards her. “Absolutely not.”


    ‘He didn’t say I wasn’t coming back…’ Lila noted, her cheeks tinged with pink as she replaced it on the shelf. She pointed a couple more out to Asher, and he agreed or vetoed accordingly until a horn sounded outside.


    “Oh, that’ll be for me,” Lila said, grabbing her things.


    “Yeah,” Asher said softly, his eyes seeming overcast with an emotion Lila couldn’t place with certainty. “I’ll let you out.”


    “Are we going to practice again this weekend?” Lila asked abruptly when they were at the front doors, turning to face Asher. His expression quickly changed to one of contemplation.


    “Not sure,” he said, typing in the security code. “We can if you want.”


    “Okay,” Lila replied as she pulled her shoes on. “I’ll think about it and let you know?”


    “Sounds good. Uh, goodnight, Lila.”


    “Goodnight, Asher,” Lila replied with a small smile and wave at Asher, which he returned. He closed the doors behind her and she skipped to her Mum’s car, which already had L-plates on the front and back windshields, trying, and failing, to stop grinning. After getting into the driver’s seat, Lila scraped the car along the gutter slightly as they drove away, her Mum frantically yelling in a mixture of Tagalog and English. The rest of their journey home was uneventful though, and Lila’s good mood didn’t dissipate at all.