Chapter Thirty-Nine


    Asher seemed giddier than usual during English that Wednesday morning. Today was another analysis day. Asher’s supplementary explanations for Shakespeare’s phrasing and theatrical direction were just as they usually were, but Lila was still curious about the increased energy he was emitting.


    “Are you okay?” she asked in a low voice as Ms Shard wrote on the whiteboard. Lila took down notes as Asher leaned in towards her.


    “I’ve got debating tonight. It’s against Holly’s school. It’s actually the first time I’ll be versing her since we started dating.”


    “Oh,” Lila said, pushing her pen slightly too hard into her notebook page and causing a tiny rip. “I hope you won’t let her win just ‘cause you’re dating.”


    “’Course not,” Asher snorted, tapping his chest. “Scout’s honour.”


    Lila grinned at him and continued to take notes, adding Asher’s own thoughts below Ms Shard’s explanations.


    Bio was up next. In between taking down notes and drawing diagrams, Lila could see that Cecelia and Lucas were also giddy. Eventually, after five minutes of watching their odd behaviour, she asked what they got up to yesterday.


    “Not much,” Cecelia said, shooting Lucas a look. He chortled into his hand, quickly sobering up. Lila gave them a slightly disgusted look as she wrinkled her nose.


    “Your love is sickening,” Lila said, shaking her head. “I’ve decided I no longer wanna know what you guys got up to.”


    Cecelia and Lucas both turned bright red and stared at their notebooks for way too long. Lila bit back the smile that was threatening to appear. This was decidedly much better than a few weeks ago when Cecelia was moping. In fact, this might even be better than how they were before Lucas asked Elise to semi, what with their humourous reactions now.


    Study was the last lesson of the day. Asher was busy preparing for debating, so they didn’t talk much. Lila still didn’t see Ayla or Piper anywhere near them. By now, Lila had figured that they’d found a new spot far away from Lila and Asher, which pleased Lila greatly.


    Finally, Study was over and Lila bid Asher goodbye.


    “Hope debating goes well,” she said at the entrance of the locker room, clutching her books to her chest.


    “Thanks,” Asher smiled brightly at Lila. “See you tomorrow. We have English in the arvo.”


    “Yup,” Lila nodded, matching Asher’s smile. “You can tell me all about how you beat Mulberry Heights into the ground.”


    Asher chuckled, waving as he walked off to his locker. Lila took a deep breath before heading off to her locker. Truthfully, she was curious to see how Asher was in debating, especially since he was ‘Debating Captain material’. Perhaps she’d go along when they had a home debating match…


    <hr>


    Lila stood in the tuckshop on Thursday afternoon, having survived witnessing a major flirting session between Cecelia and Lucas in Bio, weighing up the merits of a chocolate milk versus Sunshine Punch juice. As she did so, a few conversations flittered towards her.


    “Cecelia and Lucas… dating?”


    “Not Facebook official but…”


    “… Banker… dope…”


    “Dude… Grade 12s…”


    “Banker… bodyguards…”


    “Wesley… another girlfriend…”


    “You’re kidding!”


    “Piper… psychotic…”


    “… should be expelled…”


    “… think so too…”


    “Poor Asher…”


    “Lila too…”


    “Soccer season… hot boys to watch…”


    “… prefer hockey girls…”


    “… bets?”


    “Yeah… crazy bets going on…”


    “… we’ll win… first soccer match…”


    “You’re dreaming, mate…”


    “… teacher… close…”


    “… saw that… odd…”


    Though Lila had been featured in the latest bouts of gossip, she was glad that it was sympathetic to her plight, rather than against her. The news brought life to her steps as she bounced over to the cashier, clutching both the chocolate milk and the juice and a container of potato bake.


    She met with Elise and Grace and filled them in on the latest round of rumours that she''d heard. They both seemed incredibly relieved to hear this and confirmed that they hadn’t heard much either.


    Once lunch was over, Lila’s good mood carried her through to her English class. She didn’t see Asher outside, so headed in.


    He was sitting in his usual seat, but the energy about him seemed odd, somehow. He looked dazed and teetering on the edge of being distraught. Did that mean they lost the debate last night?


    Lila gently placed her items down and slid into her seat. They had a couple of minutes before class was due to start, so Lila turned to Asher with a sympathetic smile.


    “Hey,” she said softly. He didn’t seem to have heard her, so she gently tapped his arm. He hurriedly snatched it away before blinking rapidly. His eyes locked onto Lila’s and he looked away just as quickly.


    “Hi,” he said, clearing his throat.


    “What’s got you all jumpy?” Lila asked, her concern only growing.


    “N-Nothing,” he said, still avoiding her gaze. “Nothing at all.”


    “I feel like you know that I know you better than that,” Lila said pointedly. “Did you guys lose debating?”


    “Debating?” he asked, looking at her blankly. He then put his head in his hands, gripping his hair.


    “Yep. We lost debating. Total wipeout.”


    There was something in Asher’s tone that led Lila to believe that he wasn’t being genuine, but Ms Shard stood up, announcing the beginning of class. Today was a day that involved reading the scenes out loud. Asher was uncharacteristically quiet today, hardly reacting to anything Ms Shard had said (she started off the readings) except to correct her pronunciation privately to Lila. Class passed in this odd state, Lila’s concern swiftly growing like a bacterial infection inside her heart. Every time she tried to check in on Asher, he avoided the topic entirely. Perhaps the sting of the loss hurt more than Lila could comprehend. Maybe he was taking it particularly hard after learning he was in line for Debating Captain?


    Lila couldn’t get Asher out of her mind for the rest of the day, and the rest of Friday either. Her last two classes for Friday were Study and English, so she hoped to corner Asher and get some answers out of him. The fact that he wasn’t being forthright with what was going on ate away at Lila in anticipation as she waited for him to arrive at their usual booth.


    Surprisingly, however, Asher elected not to sit with Lila at Study. He was sitting where Piper and Ayla used to sit, given these seats were free now, his back facing Lila. ‘Did I do something wrong?’ Lila thought as she stared at his broad shoulders. Sighing, she got up from her table and wandered over to Asher.


    “Asher,” she said gently, leaning on his table. He jumped at her voice. His face looked pale and almost gaunt. The bags under his eyes looked almost more like black eyes than bags. The buttons of his shirt weren’t lining up, and his hair was sticking up in such a way that Lila could tell his hands had been almost permanently in it.


    “Whoa,” Lila said, softly reaching out to touch his hair. He slapped her hand away, turning his eyes away from her. The sting of her hand didn’t hurt nearly as much as her heart did when she looked at him in this state.


    “I’m sorry Lila,” he said, his voice shaking. “I need some time to myself. Please.”


    It seemed a bit dramatic for taking the L at debating, but Lila nodded. “Okay. I’m here when you need me.”


    She returned to her table, her heart heavy. ‘Perhaps he’ll perk up in English’, she thought, looking down at her laptop.


    Lila soon realised that it turned out to be wishful thinking. Asher was stony-faced as he sat next to Lila, not reacting to anything Ms Shard said in today’s analysis lesson. He didn’t write down any notes, nor did he even open up his copy of Romeo and Juliet.


    ‘Hopefully the weekend will set him right,’ Lila thought as she snuck a peek at him. He gave her a sideways glance but otherwise didn’t seem to realise she existed. This definitely felt far different to when he was ignoring her last term, but she couldn’t exactly place where the difference lay.


    Regardless, she’d be able to keep an eye on him during practice tomorrow morning on Jacoval. Plus, Isaac would be there, too. Surely he’d noticed Asher’s odd behaviour and would also be keeping an eye on him tomorrow morning.


    <hr>


    “Ladies,” Ms Wright called, bright and early on Saturday morning. “Today we’ll go through the practice drills again. If it seems like you guys have got a good handle on that, we’ll do some formation work.”


    An excited thrum of conversation burst from the girls on Lila’s hockey team. Formation work was sometimes tedious, but at least they’d be practicing skills for their positions, which was a whole lot more exciting than the basics.


    Lila’s eyes kept drifting towards the soccer boys during the practice drills. From her observations, it seemed that Isaac was sticking close by to Asher. Lila passed the hockey ball to her partner, who intercepted it with ease and passed it back when the sound of shouting cut across their practice. All the hockey and Ms Wright stopped what they were doing and turned in the direction of the soccer boys.


    It was Asher, yelling at Isaac. Lila had never seen him yell at Isaac before.


    “… DONE!” she heard Asher scream, his face contorted with uncharacteristically unbridled fury.


    “Asher-” Lila heard Isaac plead loudly.


    “LEAVE. ME. ALONE!” Asher bellowed. The rest of his team had stopped to stare at the two of them as well. Asher stood there for a moment, heaving, before he sprinted off the oval. Everyone, including Lila, stared after Asher, mouths agape. Lila could hear their soccer coach spluttering for a moment. Isaac placed his hands on his hips, looking at the ground for a moment before sprinting after Asher. They both disappeared in the distance within seconds.


    Ms Wright turned to the hockey team, seeming uncertain before clapping her hands.


    “Okay, ladies, back to drills. I’m just going to talk to Mr Kovac. I’ll be right back.”


    Lila slowly turned to her drills partner, who shrugged at her before lowering into the receiving position. Lila’s heart wasn’t in practice anymore, but she tried to be present enough to at least not be a hindrance. Ms Wright spoke with Mr Kovac for a good twenty minutes and when she returned, she gave Lila a meaningful look before announcing that they wouldn’t be doing formation work that morning. The rest of the girls groaned, but Lila was secretly thankful. She definitely wouldn’t be able to focus on formation work today. Neither Asher nor Isaac returned to practice for the soccer team for the rest of the practice session.


    After practice was over, Ms Wright pulled Lila aside, letting the rest of the girls go on ahead to the carpark.


    “I’m only mentioning this to you,” Ms Wright began with a sigh, “because it’s been pretty clear that you’re on good terms with Asher.”


    Lila blinked at Ms Wright in surprise. She hadn’t realised that the teachers would notice that kind of thing.


    “Apparently he’s not doing so well,” Ms Wright said delicately. “No one knows why, but you might need to check in on him - if you’re good friends, of course. I’m surprised that he took his anger out on Isaac like that, though, so please treat this as a suggestion rather than a request.”


    Lila nodded solemnly and Ms Wright dismissed her. ‘Check in on Asher, hey…’ Lila thought as she left the oval and buckled herself in the driver’s seat of her Mum’s car, L-plates already adhered to the windshields.


    Once Lila and her Mum safely made it inside, hockey stick in tow, she contemplated sending a message to Asher. Though, he had asked her for space…


    Sighing, she flopped backwards onto her bed, staring at her phone. Should she message Isaac, maybe? Did he know what was going on with Asher?


    Lila thought back to earlier in the year when Asher described his difficulties with asking for help. “I don’t even say this kinda stuff to Isaac or Holly…” he’d said. Pulling together how he’d been acting over the past couple of days, it seemed pretty clear to Lila that Asher was asking for help… But in saying that, he also hadn’t asked Lila for help directly…


    Lila clicked open Insta and began scrolling through her feed, tapping her index finger along the edge of her phone rhythmically. A post from Holly that she’d made a few days ago popped up in Lila’s feed.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ‘Shopping Spree by the Bay!’ the caption read, a few heart emojis following it. The covering photo was of a few shopping bags sitting on a bed. The next photo was a picture of two hands intertwined with each other. Lila’s stomach turned slightly as she recognised that the masculine hand belonged to Asher. It looked as though Holly had also had her nails freshly done. Lila double-tapped it by accident as she zoomed in to see further details. Heart jolting and eyes wide, Lila contemplated ‘unliking’ the photo but decided against it.


    Lila continued to scroll through Insta for a few more minutes before throwing her right hand to her side and staring up at the ceiling. Lila took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She could hear her heat beating steadily in her chest. After a couple moments, she exhaled in frustration, rubbing her eyes.


    ‘Alright,’ she thought. ‘I’ll just ask Isaac… hopefully Asher’s talked to him.’


    Lila grabbed her phone and opened Snapchat. She flicked through a couple of Stories before opening her chat with Isaac. As expected, their previous conversation had disappeared.


    Hey, Lila sent. A minute passed, with each second increasing the anxiety stiffening her shoulders before Isaac replied.


    Hey back, it read.


    Asher seemed pretty upset, Lila sent, inhaling sharply, her phone trembling in her hands.


    Could say that, Isaac replied. He sent a shrugging emoji. About what, idk


    Lila sighed. Of course Asher hadn’t said anything to Isaac.


    Ok, Lila replied. Thx


    U can message him, Isaac sent quickly. But idk if he’d respond


    I might, Lila sent back. Did you end up reading the book?


    Duuuuuuuuude, Isaac sent instantly. I diiid. Can I bring it back to u on Mon?


    Dummy, Lila replied. Monday’s a public holiday. Labour Day


    Ah, Isaac replied, a sad face following it. Tues then


    Ya, Lila sent. I’ll bring the second one


    Isaac sent a Bitmoji of himself cheering. Lila chuckled and turned her phone screen off. She contemplated messaging Asher for a little while before biting her lower lip. She wasn’t sure, exactly, why she was hesitating so much. If he didn’t want to talk to her, he didn’t have to. But if he did, would he be angry with her, like he was with Isaac?


    “I’m doing it,” she said to herself firmly, opening her phone again.


    Hey, she texted Asher. She saw that he opened it pretty quickly, but five minutes passed without a reply.


    You don’t seem okay, Lila sent, biting her lower lip again. Can I help?


    Asher opened it again, but five more minutes passed without a reply. Lila jiggled her foot on the edge of the bed nervously as she waited for a response. After ten minutes, Lila turned her phone screen off. But, she turned it back on again and tried one last message.


    Do u have plans for Monday? Public holiday, she sent.


    No, Asher replied instantly. Don’t want any


    ‘Well, at least he’s still alive,’ Lila thought with a grimace.


    Okay, Lila replied. She could take a hint.


    <hr>


    Tuesday morning was baffling. She had English and Study with Asher in the morning, but he was even more morose and subdued than he had been at the end of last week. His eyes didn’t even light up when Ms Shard went through an analysis of the latest reading. Ms Shard called on him, though, to answer her question regarding Mercutio and Benvolio’s conversation in Act 2, Scene 1. He stood up, banging his legs on the desk. Lila blinked up at him in surprise. No one normally stood up in English to discuss anything.


    “Lady Macbeth demonstrated that women can be as ambitious and cruel as men, and her manipulativeness showed how remarkably powerful the women in the shadows of their husbands could truly be in that time,” he said robotically. Ms Shard tilted her head, staring deeply at Asher before he sat back down, knocking his copy of Romeo and Juliet off the table. He didn’t seem to have noticed as he thrust his hands in his hair, looking down at the desk.


    “… okay,” Ms Shard said, confusion heavily lacing her gravelly voice. “Thank you, Asher. Would anyone else like to answer my question regarding Mercutio and Benvolio’s actions within this scene?”


    A low rumble came from their classmates as they all looked at one another, perplexed, though no one dared to laugh.


    Once Ms Shard released them from English, Asher immediately walked in the opposite direction to the library for Study. Lila picked at her nailbeds as she tried to decide if she should follow Asher or head off without him. A few of their classmates stared at Lila as they passed, but no one said anything to her. Lila groaned and began to head off in the direction that Asher had gone. At the very least, if he was going to miss Study, Lila needed to know so she could tell the supervising teacher.


    Lila couldn’t see Asher outside any of the Language Block classes, but a voice coming from an open window a few rooms ahead caught her attention.


    “… going on?” the voice said. It had a slight accent that seemed familiar to Lila, though she couldn’t figure out why that was. She crept forward, ducking under the windows in an effort to hear more.


    “Mr Barsch, I’m quitting debating.”


    That was Asher’s voice. Lila slightly lifted her head to see into the classroom. Asher was standing, his back facing Lila, in front of Mr Barsch, who was sitting on the edge of the teacher’s desk. A PowerPoint regarding some German phrases was still shining on the white projector screen.


    “You’re not serious,” Mr Barsch’s baritone voice projected through the empty classroom. He stood up now, staring at Asher with wide eyes, looking akin to a stunned mullet.


    “My decision is final,” Asher said firmly. Lila could see him cross his arms, and she sunk back down to a squatting position, her eyebrows wrinkling in confusion.


    “Asher, I can’t see why you’d want to quit. Please reconsider,” Mr Barsch’s voice implored. “We won last week against Mulberry Heights. You even won Speaker of the Night-”


    Asher cut Mr Barsch off. “I’m sorry, but that’s it from me. Good luck finding a new Debating Captain for next year.”


    Asher burst out of the door to the classroom and began stalking off towards the library without crossing paths with Lila. Lila wasn’t sure that he knew she was even there. Lila lifted her head, peering into the window again. Mr Barsch had his glasses in his hands, the left arm resting on his lower lip as he eyed the carpet. Lila’s eyes darted back to Asher’s distant form as she tried to make sense of what had just happened. Asher had been doing debating for so long, and he wanted to quit in the middle of the debating season?


    Lila sucked in a deep breath before getting up and following Asher. Lila tried to keep up with Asher as he just about tore up the path in his haste to get to the library for Study, but he remained far ahead of her. By the time she made it to the library, Asher had set his belongings away from Lila’s booth. She didn’t try talking to him again, though she couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d heard.


    ‘What’s going on?’ Lila thought to herself as she absently flicked through her maths textbook, her eyes not registering what was on its pages. She looked up to where Asher was sitting – he hadn’t seemed to have moved a muscle from the time that he’d sat down. She twirled her pen in her fingers as she continued to muse.


    Asher, quitting debating? She’d never have guessed that he would be capable of quitting debating, given it was one of his longest-running co-curriculars. Though it burned her up inside, not knowing what was wrong, she also knew she couldn’t rush him.


    <hr>


    Lila remained quiet throughout the rest of Tuesday and even into Wednesday as she continued to ponder what had happened that made Asher behave that way. Given Holly had recently made an Insta post featuring Asher, and it wasn’t taken down, Lila was sure that they hadn’t broken up… Mr Barsch had said that they won their debating match against Mulberry Heights and Asher had even won Speaker of the Night… Isaac didn’t know why Asher was upset, so it was unlikely a fight between them…


    ‘Could something have happened with his Mum?’ Lila thought suddenly, dropping her pen in PC class that Wednesday morning. ‘Maybe they found a body…’


    Lila shook her head. That was something that Asher surely would have told her about. Right?


    “Lila?” Grace gently nudged Lila’s arm, bringing her back to reality.


    “S-Sorry,” Lila said, looking at Grace and Elise. “What’s wrong?”


    “Well, nothing’s wrong with us, but you’ve been frowning and sighing up a storm,” Elise said in a low voice.


    “Ah,” Lila said, putting her pen down on the desk with a heavy exhale. “Have you noticed Asher being a bit… odd lately?”


    “Girl, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Asher be normal this whole year,” Elise replied, rolling her eyes.


    “He has been different, though,” Grace whispered, looking very seriously at Lila. “I noticed it too. He pushed a pull door then nearly ripped it off its hinges. He only stopped ‘cause Isaac was with him, but he didn’t seem to be talking to Isaac either.”


    “Okay, that is odd,” Elise conceded. Their conversation was cut short by the presence of Ms Wang over Lila’s left shoulder.


    “Lila, can I please speak with you?” Ms Wang asked gently. Lila looked over at Ms Wang before standing up quickly.


    “S-Sure,” she said, straightening her uniform.


    “Elise, I’ll leave you in charge,” Ms Wang said, smiling warmly at Elise, who flushed and nodded.


    Ms Wang led Lila away from the PC class, catching the attention of some of Lila’s PC classmates, though they didn’t say anything to either Ms Wang or Lila. Ms Wang walked down the hallway towards a spare meeting room a few doors down. Lila felt as though she was experiencing déjà vu as Ms Wang tapped her staff ID card on the receiver and opened the door for Lila, who anxiously walked in. It immediately took her back to when Ms Wang had confronted Lila about the photos Piper had put up around the boys’ bathrooms.


    “Please take a seat,” Ms Wang said, gesturing to the seat in front of Lila. She tentatively sat down, her eyes not leaving Ms Wang’s face.


    “The teachers have noticed that Asher has been… unusual, lately,” Ms Wang said with a sigh. “We believe it may be due to the fact that Piper was allowed back on campus.”


    Lila felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Out of all the possibilities for Asher acting like he had, she hadn’t considered this as one of them.


    “What we would like to do is conduct another surprise search of Piper’s locker in the presence of yourself and Asher this afternoon,” Ms Wang continued, maintaining eye contact as she spoke. “Hopefully, if Asher can see that Piper isn’t continuing her activities, he will be more at ease.”


    Ms Wang broke eye contact from Lila briefly as she stared at the wall behind Lila.


    “I know that it’s a faux pas for teachers to admit that there are favourites, but I’m sure you’re well aware of the value Asher adds to the College. It’s quite clear due to his standing as a long-running Dux, plus his achievements in debating and in soccer.”


    The seriousness of Ms Wang’s words hung in the air between them. A lengthy pause passed before Lila cleared her throat.


    “Okay,” Lila said. “If you think it might help Asher, I’ll get him to come around to the lockers straight after school finishes again.”


    Ms Wang smiled warmly at Lila. “That would be much appreciated.”


    ‘The only problem is getting him to listen to me…’ Lila thought bitterly as Ms Wang led her back to PC. At least they were finishing off the day with Study again, which would give Lila enough time to ask Asher to hang back after school for another search of Piper’s locker.


    Lila couldn’t concentrate on anything else for the rest of the afternoon and was jittery by the time she signed in for her Study class. Asher was again sitting away from Lila’s usual spot, but she took a deep breath and marched up to him.


    “Asher,” she said sternly. He seemed dazed, his appearance somehow even worse than last Friday, when she’d last taken a proper look at him. He didn’t respond, his eyes staring unblinkingly at his black laptop screen. Lila gently touched his shoulder and he almost fell backwards off his chair, his face reddening when his eyes flickered to meet hers.


    “W-What?” he asked in a strained voice. He cleared his throat and looked at Lila expectantly. Lila looked around them, trying to see if Piper or Ayla were nearby. She couldn’t see anyone within earshot, let alone Piper or Ayla, so she answered him.


    “We’ve been asked to attend a surprise inspection of Piper’s locker after school today,” she whispered. Asher looked at her blankly, before recognition sparked in his eyes.


    “I-Is that all?” he asked, looking down at his laptop. He entered his password incorrectly twice as Lila watched. Truthfully, it wasn’t all Lila wanted to talk to him about, but decided to back off for now.


    “Yeah, it is,” she said, starting to walk away.


    “I hadn’t even thought about it over this past week,” Asher said softly, still looking at his laptop. Lila turned to him in surprise.


    “Not at all?” she asked, her disquiet increasing tenfold as she registered what he’d said.


    “Not even once. Thanks… for telling me.”


    Lila took that as her cue to sit back down at her own desk, which she did, a million thoughts running in her mind. So, he wasn’t acting this way because of Piper?


    Lila whiled away the time, disturbed and unsettled by this new information. Given the gravity of Asher’s shift in behaviour, Lila had been sure it could only be due to something as serious as Piper’s stalking…


    Lila packed away her things a few minutes before class ended and headed back over to Asher, her laptop bag and bookbag on her shoulders.


    “Let’s go,” she said quietly. Asher didn’t move, so she tapped him on the shoulder again. As soon as he laid eyes on Lila, he nodded solemnly and obediently packed away his things.


    They walked in silence towards the locker room, which was again guarded by Ms Wang and Mr Johnson. Ms Wang greeted them, which Lila returned in kind. Asher looked ahead, past Mr Johnson and Ms Wang, his eyes glassy. Ms Wang and Mr Johnson exchanged a glance before Ms Wang led Lila and Asher into the locker room silently.


    As it had been the last time they had inspected Piper’s locker, the locker room was devoid of any other students. Also just as it had been last time, Mr Morrison and Mr Lockwood were already waiting by Piper’s locker. Piper was off to the side, looking incredibly pale and like she was about to faint any second now. Mr Morrison and Mr Lockwood smiled as they approached, though their smiles quickly faded upon taking in Asher’s appearance. Mr Morrison and Mr Lockwood looked grimly at each other, before Mr Morrison cleared his throat.


    “Piper, as discussed, please open your locker.”


    Piper began shaking from head to toe, silent tears streaming down her face. While this wasn’t a new sight to Lila, her curiosity had definitely been piqued. It was an odd reaction for a girl who had nothing to hide.


    Without another word, tears still falling, Piper opened her locker before scuttling back, facing away from everyone. Stuck to the inside of the door were more pictures of Asher. They were all recent. One showed Asher smiling while talking to Holly at an unfamiliar school, and another showed Asher laughing heartily with Lila at ‘Beans & Biscuits’. Both of these photos seemed to have been taken from very far away. The view of ‘Beans & Biscuits’ in particular struck Lila as being very familiar. A second passed before Lila recalled that this was exactly the same view as she had seen from the bookstore along the shopping street.


    There was another picture of Asher at soccer while he was dribbling around some cones, and another two pictures showed Asher looking away from the camera around campus. Lila’s terrified eyes drifted up to the top shelf of Piper’s locker and she saw the corner of soccer shorts slipping over the edge.


    “What the fuck,” Asher said, in a voice that seemed to have given up all hope. “Again?”


    With a bang, he slammed the door wide open before snatching the soccer shorts from the top shelf with his left hand. He simultaneously pulled down all the photos with his right hand. He slowly turned to Mr Morrison, Mr Lockwood, and Ms Wang, who all looked suitably pale and horrified as they took in the contents of Piper’s locker. None of the three teachers dared to admonish Asher for his language, their startled eyes resting on his face, which seemed to have darkened with rage.


    “I’m out,” he growled, shoving as much of the shorts as he could into his pocket. “If you need me, I’ll be anywhere else.” He began to walk off, tearing up the photos he’d collected. Not once had he looked at Lila. The teachers and Lila could only watch his departing figure in pure shock before they all turned to look at Piper. She had her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking while she whimpered. Mr Lockwood glanced at Lila, who was suddenly feeling nauseous, before looking down at Piper.


    “Ms Baker,” he said quietly, his tone incredibly grave. “You’ll have to come with me, please.”


    “S-Sir,” Lila cut in, stepping between him and Piper, tears welling in her eyes.


    “Yes, Lila?” Mr Lockwood asked, blinking at her in surprise.


    “Sir, I don’t wanna be in a school, private or not, that can’t keep its students safe,” Lila managed to say, a sudden burst of courage overpowering her desire to shirk away from the responsibility that she felt was weighing on her. In any other circumstance, Lila was sure she wouldn’t have been able to say anything at all, but now that Asher had left, he couldn’t speak up for himself.


    “Neither would I, Lila. Please travel safe on your way home today,” Mr Lockwood said, looking down at Lila, a complicated emotion underlying his otherwise professional demeanour.


    Mr Lockwood and Mr Morrison headed off towards the Headmaster’s Office. Ms Wang gingerly held Piper by the shoulders and steered her along the same path, casting a backwards look at Lila that seemed to convey a mixture of pride and anguish.


    Lila buried her face in her hands, pressing into her eye sockets lightly for what felt like half an hour, but couldn’t have been longer than a minute. Piper’s locker was still open, but Lila felt queasy even looking in its direction. She’d followed them to Marlene’s café and they hadn’t noticed…


    She headed home for the day, waiting anxiously for another email from Mr Lockwood. That didn’t arrive until nearly 10pm, just as Lila was getting ready to go to sleep. It read as follows:


    Dear Asher and Lila,


    Forestglade College takes the safety of all its students seriously. Piper Baker has now been expelled from Forestglade College. The College is considering its options in regards to increasing security on campus and any external legal avenues.


    Thank you for your assistance. I invite you to seek counselling with Mrs White. She may be able to assist you with coming to terms with this matter.


    I also invite you to consider whether any formal legal action or advice is required. I will be advising both of your parents at a private meeting in the near future. I will provide you each with a physical letter to be provided to your parents once the details of the meetings have been confirmed.


    As before, I request that you keep this private. I am aware that it may not be private for long, however disciplinary matters regarding students, past or present, are not for wider discussion.


    Kind regards


    Greg Lockwood


    Headmaster


    Forestglade College


    Lila plugged her phone back in to its charger, now far more restless than before. She hesitated for just a moment before sending a quick message to Asher.


    Piper’s expelled, she sent. She saw that Asher opened her message, but after several minutes, Lila turned her phone screen off and fell into an uneasy sleep.