Chapter Eighteen


    Given her Maths assignment was due in a couple of weeks, Lila decided that the time potentially spent practicing that weekend with Asher would be better used on Maths. She let Asher know as much during their next English lesson, and he counter-offered with having one more practice session the day before their presentation. It sounded reasonable to Lila, and she accepted the offer in a hushed whisper. He gave her a thumbs up which he switched to a ‘rock’ formation and Lila rapidly followed up his challenge with her own ‘rock’. This time Asher won their scissors, paper, rock battle, and they shared a quick grin before settling back to ignoring each other.


    Throughout the rest of the week, Lila kept an eye out for Piper after her unsettling behaviour on Wednesday afternoon. She didn’t see Piper too much, to her relief, though she did notice that Piper would behave very possessively over her locker. When she brought it up to Elise and Grace during their lunch in the library on Friday, Elise and Grace simultaneously announced that they had seen the same thing.


    “She never opens it all the way!” Elise said, chewing her sandwich animatedly.


    “If someone unexpectedly comes up behind her while she’s at her locker, she slams it shut,” Grace nodded, delicately biting into a carrot stick. “Do you think she’s hiding something? Or is she just private?”


    “Hmm…” Lila murmured, scratching the top of her head briefly. “I can’t say for sure.”


    “Now that you’ve pointed it out, I’m so curious about what’s inside,” Elise pouted.


    “It’s probably not relevant to anything,” Lila said, shaking her head. “She doesn’t seem to spend a lot of time at her locker from what I can see.”


    “That’s true,” replied Grace, finishing her carrot stick with apparent relish before adding, “After you told us about it, I haven’t stopped wondering what her deal was on the bus the other day.”


    “Same,” Lila said truthfully, frowning at the table they were sitting at. “I’ve been trying to think of an answer, but the only theory that fits well is that she’s good friends with Holly and mad on her behalf. But I can’t verify that, of course.”


    “Well,” Elise interjected with a flourish of her hands. “I reckon I could! Remember Reilly?”


    “Are they that close?” Lila asked, surprised.


    “Reilly said to me that they were pretty close. They both do cheerleading. She’s actually met Asher, too, as Holly’s boyfriend.”


    “Well, yeah, they go to Maccas together. That’s how you found out he was dating Holly,” Lila pointed out.


    “Oh,” Elise chuckled, swiping open her phone. “I totally forgot about that.”


    Lila laughed along with Elise before Elise looked back up at Lila and Grace. “Annnnd sent!”


    “You’re just straight up asking her?” Lila asked, eyes wide.


    “’Course. She’s always on Snap and we’re not always on shift together.”


    “Is she meant to give Holly a discount?” Grace asked, raising an eyebrow.


    “Apparently, she works at the Mulberry Heights Maccas,” shrugged Elise, eyes locked onto her phone screen. “I dunno for sure, but that’s what Reilly said, and clearly she gets a discount somehow.”


    “Interesting,” said Lila, tapping her fingers along the table. “I wouldn’t have thought she would work at somewhere like Maccas.”


    Elise shrugged again. “I mean, I work there, don’t I?”


    “Well, yeah, but she’s a cheerleader and part of debating. Where does she get the time?”


    “Probably weekends,” Grace reasoned in a whisper, looking around them furtively before continuing. “I mean, you set up visits with Asher on the weekends pretty easily when that should be the time he’s seeing Holly - if she didn’t have weekend commitments.”


    “Oh,” Lila said simply. “I… never thought of that.”


    “Ooh, Reilly got back to me!” Elise said excitedly. She looked at her phone for a moment before shaking her head. “Reilly doesn’t know Piper, at least.”


    “That doesn’t necessarily mean that Piper isn’t friends with Holly,” Lila pointed out. “But I guess my theory is looking a bit shakier now.”


    “You’ve got Study again after this right?” Grace asked, turning towards Lila, another carrot stick in her hand.


    “Yup, then I’ve got English. I am beyond glad this week is over soon,” Lila sighed, biting into a sweet chilli chicken strip.


    “Saaaame, it feels like the end of the term is so close but so far,” Elise whined, flopping onto the table.


    “Have you given any thought to who you’d want to go with to semi-formal?” Grace quietly asked. Lila choked on her chicken and chugged some water to dislodge it from her throat. Elise sat up, staring at Grace in apparent surprise.


    “No, actually,” said Elise, looking back down at the imprint of her face on the table and attempting to wipe it away. “I completely forgot we have to get all that stuff sorted too.”


    “I don’t have anyone in mind either,” Lila said after swallowing hard. “What about you Grace? Does your partner go here?”


    Grace turned beet red as she aggressively bit into her carrot stick. “N-No,” she finally said, her voice higher pitched than usual as she stared at her lunchbox. Lila cast a suspicious look at Grace but didn’t probe any further.


    “Do you want to go together?” Lila asked, looking between Elise and Grace.


    “Is that even allowed?” Elise asked darkly.


    “I don’t see why not,” shrugged Lila. “It’s not like we can force any guys to go with us instead. They’d need to want to.”


    “I guess it’s okay,” Grace replied softly, “a-as long as it’s with you, Lila.”


    “Plus, there’s nothing against us joining a dance or two if someone asks on the day, right?” Lila asked.


    “I don’t mind,” Grace said, slowly chewing the rest of her carrot before finally looking up at Lila with a smile.


    “Can we go as a three?” Elise asked, sipping her juice box loudly.


    “I don’t see why not,” Lila supposed. “Though, if you have a better offer, I don’t mind if you split off.”


    “That’s okay with me, too,” Grace nodded. “A-And if you get an offer too, Lila, that’s cool.”


    “Oh God, I’m more than good,” Lila said, waving a hand dismissively. “While I hope to get to the bottom of the rumours, I don’t want to just throw myself back into the shark’s jaws. I know I’m stupid, but I’m not that stupid.”


    Grace seemed relieved and smiled at Lila again before picking at her food. Lunch continued on as usual and the trio parted ways reluctantly once it was over. Lila trudged up the stairs to where her Study teacher was already seated, looking through her various pieces of marking, and signed in.


    She took her normal place in the secluded booth. Looking up, she saw Piper and Ayla sign in and head over to their own usual places. Lila assumed that they would be working on English, given it was due today, and tackled her own work. She didn’t notice whether Piper had been looking at her that lesson, but decided she wouldn’t worry about that for now. Now that time was speeding toward her presentation with Asher, she was feeling rather anxious.


    ‘Better to invest my energy into something I can fix now,’ she thought, opening the criteria sheet for her Maths assignment. ‘Otherwise, I won’t be able to do anything in the end.’


    Predictably, once she set herself up in her English class after Study was over, it was abuzz with panicking students. Ms Shard simply marked the roll and let the students drive their own objectives for the day. The assignment was due at 4pm, after all.


    “Are you nervous?” Asher murmured, leaning in close to Lila. She wasn’t until he’d asked that so close to her, his body heat seemingly transferring to her cheeks. Her mouth suddenly felt very dry, but she looked down at her laptop, trying not to look at him.


    “I-I’m good,” she said stiffly, typing in her password.


    “This might be a bit presumptuous of me, but I don’t think we have anything to worry about,” he continued, stretching his arms out in front of him and lying across his desk. “I triple-checked that we matched the criteria sheet.”


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    “I trust you,” Lila said simply, giving Asher a sideways glance. Their eyes met and both quickly looked away.


    “I’m glad,” he replied, shifting slightly in his seat to turn his head away from her. “I think I’ll take a nap…”


    They didn’t talk for the rest of the lesson, though Lila constantly checked that they had, in fact, submitted the correct documents to Turnitin. She also flicked through the script and PowerPoint to ensure she hadn’t forgotten what they had written and ran through it in her head a couple of times. Eventually, Ms Shard lightly tapped Asher on his shoulder with a few papers.


    “Are you needing to go to sickbay?” she asked, concern clear in her motherly tone.


    “No, ma’am,” Asher replied, sitting up with a yawn. “Just a bit tired.”


    “I did see that you and Lila had uploaded your assessment early,” Ms Shard said. “Considering we only have about twenty minutes left before it’s the end of the day, I suppose I’ll allow you to do… whatever you’re doing.”


    “Thanks, ma’am,” Asher said, slipping back into his original position, still facing away from Lila.


    Lila smiled to herself as she continued going through their assessment. Asher had worked hard all term. He deserved a bit of rest.


    <hr>


    Lila could hardly remember what happened between Friday afternoon and Wednesday afternoon. She had tried out Asher’s study methods over the weekend and weeknights and found that she did understand the content for her exams better. The only reprieve she allowed herself was during lunch. Now that English was handed in, she and Elise wandered around or sat in their usual lunch spot on Monday and Tuesday as Grace was holed up in music lessons.


    During her lunchtimes with Elise, whilst traipsing about the school campus, Lila did catch some comments regarding herself and Asher. They mainly referred to Lila as desperate, with not much substance behind them now. Which, at this point, didn’t bother Lila as much as they once had. Elise, on the other hand, seemed far angrier on Lila’s behalf than Lila had ever been about them. The fact that the rumours were still featuring in daily conversation with their cohort, however, gave Lila pause. As time went on, the persistence was definitely odd, but solidified her resolve to continue with her current plan of seeking out Piper once the English presentation was over.


    When Grace was able to join them on Wednesday, the trio hung out at the library instead, insulated from the rest of their classmates and the rumours. Lila couldn’t concentrate on anything else besides her presentation for tomorrow morning, however. Grace and Elise tried to engage her in some discussions, but her responses were painfully non-committal. After realising they weren’t going to go far in this vein, both girls changed tactics and tried to give Lila some tips regarding the presentation tomorrow.


    “Thanks, guys,” Lila said, sadly stabbing at her potato bake. “I appreciate that you’re trying to help me. I’ve seen some of my class’s presentations, though, so I have a good idea of what not to do.”


    “You’ll be great,” Grace said soothingly, patting Lila’s shoulder comfortingly. “After all, you’ve been paired with Asher.”


    “Yeah,” Elise said with a vigorous nod, “and there’s no way you’d do worse than me. I had a coughing fit during my presentation. My partner was going to murder me right on the spot.”


    “I don’t think they’d be able to mark you down for that,” Lila said doubtfully, “especially since it sounded like it was an involuntary reaction.”


    “Who knows,” shrugged Elise. “But at least it’s over with and I don’t have to think about it again. Look on the bright side! You’ll be done and you won’t have to hang around Asher anymore if you don’t want to.”


    “Yeah…”


    Lila had Study yet again that afternoon and still couldn’t settle her nerves. After signing in with her teacher, she made her way to her usual spot that she had been sitting in since the beginning of term. Lila stopped a few metres short of the booth. A familiar person sitting in it today, their back facing her.


    “Asher?” she asked curiously, sliding into her usual side of the booth and sitting in front of him.


    “Hey,” he said casually, looking up at Lila from his laptop. “You know, it’s taken me seven weeks to realise that since we have PE together, we also have Study together.”


    “Oh,” Lila replied, pulling her laptop out of its case. “To be honest, I didn’t realise either until you just told me.”


    Asher laughed heartily. “Glad I wasn’t the only one!”


    “Where have you been sitting this whole time?” Lila asked, opening up one of her assignments that she was working on.


    “The other side of the library,” replied Asher, vaguely waving a hand toward the back of the library. A large pole connected to a wall that stood in the way of where he was pointing. Lila hadn’t been to that side of the library often, though she knew that behind the wall and pole was an area of tables and chairs that were set up for Study. This area could also be segregated by room dividers. It was also one of the only areas on this floor that could be reached via the second entrance to the library without Lila noticing, especially since she wasn’t interested in trying to sit there at all. That was mostly due to some occasions where she had been chased out for last-minute classroom changes last year due to remodelling works, so she hadn’t even bothered trying this year.


    “I didn’t realise you were over there,” Lila replied.


    “Yeah, most of the guys sit over there,” Asher said dismissively. “But they’ve taken to playing Minecraft on a new LAN server lately, so it’s been really rowdy. It’s been driving me crazy now that we’re this close to the end of the term and none of them want to take it seriously.”


    Asher glanced at Lila before casting his eyes back down to his own laptop. “I actually saw you sitting here by coincidence on Friday when I went for a walk to get away from them. I didn’t want to say anything ‘cause you seemed to be concentrating… I hope that doesn’t sound stalkerish.”


    “Not at all,” Lila replied, blushing slightly. “Sorry I didn’t notice you.”


    Asher shook his head. “No worries. Actually, you’ve got a pretty cosy nook here. I wouldn’t have noticed this existed if I didn’t come across it by accident.”


    “No one really sits on this side of the library,” acknowledged Lila. “It’s why I like it here.”


    Her eyes flickered past his left shoulder and rested upon Piper, who was without a doubt glaring at her. Almost as quickly as Lila had laid eyes on Piper, Piper dropped her gaze to engage in a conversation with Ayla. Lila’s stomach dropped – was Piper starting a rumour about her and Asher again?


    ‘Shit,’ Lila thought, lowering herself in her seat so she was mostly blocked by Asher’s shoulders. Not that it would help her now as Piper had already seen her.


    “What’s up?” Asher asked, looking down at her in apparent surprise.


    “N-Nothing,” Lila replied. “Just trying to get comfortable.”


    Asher nodded and said nothing further. Lila couldn’t tell Asher to go away – that would be way too suspicious now that they were about ten minutes into Study. Lila also still couldn’t tell Asher about Piper, especially now that Piper was sitting so close to them. But, all the same… she probably should say something to him.


    “S-Should you really be sitting with me?” Lila asked in a low voice, leaning forward to keep her head down. Asher blinked at her for a couple of seconds before realisation struck.


    “Shit, sorry,” Asher said hurriedly, beginning to pack his things away. “I just thought it’d be good to study together. I didn’t want to be alone or with the guys, and you’re not loud at least.”


    “You don’t need to run away,” Lila whispered. “Our presentation is tomorrow. If anyone asks or says anything, they’ll figure it out after tomorrow. I just wanted to remind you that we should be… distant to some degree at school still.”


    Asher slowly put his things back on the table. “That makes sense.”


    “Did you still want me to come over tonight?” Lila asked, her whispering even quieter than before.


    “I guess that depends on if you think we need more run-throughs,” Asher replied, matching her volume. “I did say to Gabriel that you would be coming today.”


    “Oh,” Lila replied, suddenly feeling guilty. If Gabriel was preparing for dinner already, she didn’t want to waste his efforts.


    “He shouldn’t have started making dinner yet,” Asher said, as though reading her thoughts. “I can let him know when school finishes what the plan is, and he’ll still have enough time to adjust.”


    “Okay,” Lila said, chewing one of her fingernails anxiously.


    “Let’s just see if we need to after practicing,” Asher said quickly, straightening up. Lila reluctantly followed suit and they began to practice their presentation again for the rest of their allotted Study time. Lila couldn’t detect any mistakes in their last couple of practice runs, much to her delight.


    “I reckon we’ll smash it,” she beamed at Asher, packing away her materials. For some reason, he looked troubled.


    “Asher?” Lila asked, halting her movements and giving him her undivided attention.


    “H-Huh?” he looked around before packing away his own things. “Sorry. I got lost in my own thoughts for a minute there. Yeah, seems like we’re all set for tomorrow. Don’t think you need to come over today if you don’t want to. It might be better off if you get as much rest as possible.”


    Lila bit her lip as she weighed the pros and cons quickly in her mind. She felt pretty confident that they had their presentation down pat, so she didn’t really need to go over tonight. Though, she was curious about what Gabriel would be making for dinner.


    “I… think I’ll just head home,” Lila finally said. “You’re right about the rest thing. I need to keep my energy up for tomorrow morning.”


    “All good,” Asher said, his voice sounding slightly off. He cleared his throat before adding, “I’ll see you tomorrow for our presentation.”


    <hr>


    Standing in front of her classmates, Lila’s knees shook with sudden fear. She’d practiced and practiced and practiced the presentation with Asher, but now that she was standing here, her classmates staring up at her blankly, she felt consumed with self-doubt and nerves. Asher, by contrast, seemed as cool as a cucumber as he set up their PowerPoint on the projector. Once it was set up, he walked over to Lila, holding the pointer.


    “You’ve got this,” he whispered, smiling at her encouragingly. “It’s not that different to when it’s just us. We’ve done this a billion times now.”


    Lila nodded, exhaling slowly. Asher gently pressed the pointer into Lila’s hand as it was her job to change the slides before he briskly walked to the other side of the projector screen. She unsteadily shuffled through her palm cards, ensuring they were in the right order. Both Lila and Asher then looked expectantly at Ms Shard, who sat directly in the middle of the classroom. She gave them a thumbs-up and clicked a button at the top right of her stopwatch so it would begin timing them.


    Framing the presentation in the mindset that it was just another run-through helped significantly as Lila watched Asher talk through the introduction with confidence, not even referring to his palm cards once. Lila knew that Asher believed in her ability to carry on the presentation, which eased her mind some. Taking a deep breath, she took over their presentation at the appropriate time, imbuing her own brand of confidence into her gestures, tone and gait.


    ‘We work really well together,’ Lila thought as she passed the baton back to Asher, who picked up where she left off perfectly. Glancing at the audience, she could see Ms Shard and several other classmates watching them in rapt attention. Whenever Asher introduced a new point, Ms Shard nodded to herself, writing down notes with a barely perceptible smile. It looked as though they were doing great thus far.


    The rest of the presentation flew by quickly as Lila got into the rhythm of her portions, her self-esteem blooming with each sentence that captivated her audience. Upon Asher’s final concluding statement, a smattering of applause sounded from their classmates. Someone even cheered, though Ms Shard’s death glare cut it short.


    “Well done,” Ms Shard said with a mysterious smile. Lila could see that her compliment was genuine, but how ‘well’ Ms Shard considered their presentation went couldn’t be determined from it. Lila could hear some classmates whispering praise, and others gave her a thumbs-up as she passed them to get back to her seat.


    “Now, Devon and Xavier, please set up for your presentation,” Ms Shard called as Asher closed down their PowerPoint. Devon and Xavier collectively groaned as they stood up and shuffled to the front.


    “Ma’am, can we just skip out? How are we going to top that?” whined Devon.


    “Boys, just give it a good crack and it’ll be all over,” Ms Shard said sternly, clearly not impressed with their attempts to get out of their presentation. Snickers and giggles followed Ms Shard’s words as Xavier glumly opened their PowerPoint.


    “I think that was perfect,” Asher whispered warmly once he sat down next to Lila. “Best run-through we’ve done yet.”


    “Yeah,” Lila smiled. “Thanks for your hard work.”


    “Same to you, too.”