Chapter Fifty-Two


    “Gabriel was offended for, like, half a second,” Asher muttered once Lila took her usual spot next to him in English the next morning. “Then he said it was high time you shouted me some food. I think he was joking though. I definitely heard crying in the butler’s pantry as I headed out this morning.”


    “I’m so sorry,” Lila whispered back, feeling incredibly guilty. Asher laughed.


    “He’ll get over it. I think. I hope,” Asher added the last part in a low murmur.


    Lila couldn’t help but imagine Gabriel’s sad little face swimming before her mind’s eye. Ms Shard called the roll and the imagery disappeared as Lila instead gave Ms Shard her full attention. Once everyone was accounted for, Ms Shard started the class off with some FAQs the English faculty had received about the assignment. Asher seemed entirely devoted to the assessment once Ms Shard allowed them free time to work on it, so Lila didn’t bother him about anything else.


    Biology was up next, and similarly to English, Mr Johnson was allowing them some free time to work on their persuasive essays regarding reproductive health issues. This time, though, instead of finding concentrated silence from her seatmate, Cecelia was goofing off as usual.


    “Cee,” Lucas sighed after the fourth joke she’d cracked. “Please take this somewhat seriously.”


    “Oh, it’s so serious,” Cecelia insisted, wiping a tear from her eye.


    “I mean the assignment.”


    “Aw,” Cecelia pouted. “Why?”


    Lucas shot her a look. “I’m hoping you do well this term.”


    Cecelia sat up straighter. “You are?”


    “Yeah,” Lucas replied. “If you don’t, then I guess I’m not a good influence on you.”


    Cecelia fell silent before dragging her laptop towards herself. “You are, though,” she said after a few seconds, her face ruby-red. Lila wanted to hurl, respectfully. Though, there was something incredibly sweet in the tender looks Cecelia and Lucas exchanged every so often, their bodies clearly angled so their knees or legs were touching each other under the table.


    “You guys are vomit-inducingly cute,” Lila said with a chuckle. At least their happiness rubbed off on Lila, which made being in their presence bearable.


    “Agreed, Lila,” Mr Johnson’s voice called from behind her shoulder. Everyone at their table went rigid and Lila turned to face him. He looked less than impressed.


    “Please get to work, you three. Otherwise, I’ll separate all of you,” Mr Johnson said sternly, before walking away to another table. Lucas gave Cecelia a despairing look and she seemed to get the memo as she immediately began typing away on her laptop.


    After about 20 minutes of silent work, Lila could hear the noise levels of the classroom rise again. Mr Johnson seemed to be too engrossed in his own work to notice, so Lila decided to take a chance.


    “Guys,” she whispered, leaning over her laptop screen. Lucas and Cecelia immediately leaned in, ear first. “Have you heard about ‘the Banker’?”


    Cecelia and Lucas exchanged a look.


    “Yeah,” Cecelia whispered back. “No one knows who it is, but my younger sister borrowed money from them. Said it was pretty shady. She got so spooked that she paid the money off much quicker than the terms requested and hasn’t asked for money since.”


    “What grade is she in?” Lila enquired, opening a blank Word doc on her computer.


    “Nine,” Cecelia replied. Lila noted this down with pursed lips.


    “Why’d you ask?” Cecelia asked, her eyes shimmering with excitement.


    “No reason,” Lila lied. “Just heard the name floating around.”


    “Ah,” Lucas nodded sagely. “Y’know, I heard something else that the Banker does.”


    “Oh?” Cecelia said, looking at her boyfriend with keen interest. “What else?”


    “Well, they get Uber Eats and delivery services for people,” he said thoughtfully. “My cousin in Grade 12 gets Uber Eats, like, every day ‘cause of the Banker.”


    “Why don’t people just get their own Uber Eats?” Lila asked, frowning.


    “The Banker lets people run up a tab,” Lucas said with a shrug. “Plus, a lot of people at school only have cash since that’s how they can top up their tuckshop cards, which Uber Eats doesn’t take. And it’s generally frowned upon to get delivery at school. I think it’s so students don’t loiter around the carpark during lunch. Dangerous and all that if they get hit by a car.”


    “Yo,” Cecelia said in a low voice, leaning in even further than she was before. “I actually saw Ms Woodward picking up an Uber Eats bag at the carpark the other day. Do you reckon the teachers are in on it, too?”


    “Surely not,” Lila said incredulously. “Ms Woodward probably got it on her own.”


    “It was a pretty big bag,” Cecelia replied doubtfully.


    “Maybe all the teachers pitched in, or something. Why were you in the carpark, anyway?” Lila asked curiously.


    “I had an orthodontist appointment,” Cecelia replied sadly. “I was waiting for my Dad to take me. I’m getting fitted for braces next month.”


    “You’ll still look cute with braces,” Lucas said quickly. Lila looked down at her laptop as Cecelia spluttered, her face red. Cecelia and Lucas seemed a centimetre away from kissing before Mr Johnson appeared at their table again.


    “Can I have a look at your progress?” he asked Lila. It was definitely more of a demand than a request by the way Mr Johnson looked expectantly at Lila. Lila obliged and he nodded to himself as he scrolled through her assignment. Lucas and Cecelia, both blushing furiously, showed Mr Johnson their laptops as well and he seemed satisfied enough.


    “Alright, carry on with your work. No kissing in my classroom, Greenwood and Walters,” he said gruffly before walking off. Lila let out a heavy exhale.


    “He never calls anyone by their last names,” Lila said in a hushed voice once he was out of earshot. “You guys need to be careful.”


    Cecelia and Lucas exchanged another look before Lucas turned an even redder shade and Cecelia burst into a fit of giggles. Lila sighed, opening her investigation notes again surreptitiously on her laptop. Was there anything else that she needed to know from Cecelia and Lucas?


    “A-Anyway,” Cecelia said after her giggles subsided. “How’s you and Asher? I’ve heard that people are seeing you guys going into empty meeting rooms in the library, like, every day.”


    It was Lila’s turn to blush now.


    “W-We’re just having lunch together,” Lila said, looking down at her laptop screen. “Nothing else.”


    “Sure,” Cecelia said, waggling her eyebrows teasingly. Lila glared at her, and she stopped.


    “Nothing will happen between Asher and I,” Lila said firmly. “He… doesn’t want to.”


    “That didn’t sound like you don’t want to,” Cecelia said quietly. Lucas seemed confused as he looked back and forth between Lila and Cecelia.


    “I’m fine being friends,” Lila said, her throat suddenly dry. She leaned over and picked up her water bottle before taking a long drink.


    “If that’s what you want,” Cecelia finally said with a shrug.


    “Yeah,” Lila replied, avoiding Cecelia’s piercing blue-grey eyes. Mr Johnson loomed menacingly over Lucas’ shoulder for a moment and the trio hurriedly resumed their work for the rest of the lesson.


    <hr>


    Asher was already waiting next to Lila’s locker as she approached at the beginning of lunch. His hands were empty. It seemed like he didn’t know what to do with them as he kept putting them in and taking them out of his pockets.


    “You look real shifty,” Lila laughed as she opened her locker and put her materials inside.


    “Practicing for when I join a gang,” Asher joked. They headed off towards the tuckshop, updating each other on what they did after English today. Once they got in line for the tuckshop, however, Lila urged Asher to just listen.


    “For what?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.


    “Rumours,” Lila replied dramatically. “This is where I’ve been hearing stuff all year. I’ve got more to tell you, but it’ll have to wait until we sit down.”


    “Righto,” Asher sighed, sticking his hands in his pockets. He looked down at the ground and Lila looked off to the side. Looking at Asher would have been far too distracting for Lila to hear anything of importance. The line slowly crawlled forward, but nothing seemed to be catching her interest. More gossip about who was dating who, and students complaining about schoolwork until –


    “This line blows, man.”


    “Tell me about it.”


    “Should we just hit up the Banker?”


    “For what?”


    “Food, dude. We can get Uber Eats. Plus, we don’t have to pay up straight away.”


    “What can you get?”


    “All sorts. Sushi, Maccas, Subway. Anything you can imagine.”


    “Fuck it, let’s go.”


    Lila turned whilst placing her hands on her hips, as if she was trying to stretch her back. She saw two older boys that she didn’t recognise leave the line, grumbling to themselves.


    “Should we follow them?” Asher whispered, bending down to reach Lila’s ear. His breath tickled the side of her neck and she instantly brought her shoulders up to hide it.


    “:N-No,” she whispered back, folding her arms across her chest. “We need more than that.”


    “That seemed really interesting,” Asher said insistently, crossing his own arms.


    “Yeah, but like I said, I have some info that I got this morning. Let’s just stay here. Plus, I’m hungry,” Lila shot back. Asher sighed and relaxed his stature. Lila listened out for more snippets of gossip as they moved through the line.


    “… exchange students…”


    “… next week, yeah?”


    “Yeah… homestay… my place…”


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    “Cool!”


    “Cecelia and Lucas… dating?”


    “Bro… old news…”


    “Aw…”


    “Asher… Holly?”


    Lila heard Asher take a harsh breath but kept listening for other news.


    “… broke up, I think…”


    “Where… hear that?”


    “Maccas… she was crying…”


    “I forgot… work at…”


    “Same sometimes…”


    “Ugh… so poor…”


    “… Banker?”


    “Oh yeah! Should visit… what classroom?”


    “Changes… maybe… science?”


    “… so far!”


    “Teachers would shut it down…”


    “True… Banker’s a hero…”


    A hero? Lila exchanged a glance with Asher and he nodded, confirming that he’d heard the same thing. They were finally admitted into the tuckshop by a stern-looking teacher who was eating a few fries from a Maccas packet. Lila nudged Asher and jerked her head towards the direction of the teacher as they entered through the automatic doors.


    “Weird,” he noted, glancing at Lila. “Can’t get that on campus.”


    He then stopped in his tracks as he took in the large tuckshop with curious eyes.


    “Whoa,” he said after a few seconds. “This place is dope.”


    “Have you never been in here?” Lila asked with a laugh, crossing the room towards the fridges. Asher followed her, his jaw agape.


    “Nuh,” he said finally, opening the fridge next to the one Lila was standing at. “At least, not since they built this one. I remember going to the dingy shed version once a week as a treat.”


    “A treat?” Lila laughed again. “Compared to Gabriel’s cooking, I’m sure it was a massive downgrade.”


    “Try as he might, he still hasn’t found a way to perfectly preserve an icy pole in my lunchbox,” Asher replied dryly. Lila picked up a bottle of chocolate milk and Asher picked out a soft drink. As they perused the rest of the tuckshop, more rumours floated towards Lila’s ears.


    “I think… saw… Ms…”


    “Wesley… kinda hot…”


    “EW!”


    “… expelled for sure…”


    “Kinda sad…”


    “… bodyguard duty… miss him.”


    “Just be one…”


    “Grade 12s only… plus… girl.”


    “Ah.”


    “… guy or girl?”


    “Who?”


    “The Banker, dummy.”


    “… surely secretary… is… Banker?”


    “She’s… super cute.”


    “How much do you owe?”


    “… hundred bucks…”


    “Bro, that’s a lot…”


    “I’ll be fine… interest free for now…”


    “… classroom?”


    “Language Block… I think…”


    “No, no, STEM…”


    “Really?”


    “Tuckshop sucks… Uber Eats…”


    “Careful… teachers… catch you…”


    “Ha! Catch me? They do it too…”


    “Cash…”


    “… both. Cash and card…”


    “Dude… the Banker is insane…”


    “Who even are they?”


    The conversations then devolved into complaining about upcoming assessments. Lila felt as though she’d heard enough and cast a look at Asher who gave her a thumbs up. Asher then spotted the freezer and gleefully picked up a rainbow paddle pop. Lila half-expected him to hold it above his head, but he seemed to have restrained himself. Lila picked up a cup of chocolate ice cream and they moved along to the hot food. Asher blinked as he took in all the choices.


    “How do you ever make it out of here alive?” he asked Lila in a low voice as they waited in line. “There’s just so much to choose from.”


    “Just pick whatever jumps out at you,” Lila replied with a shrug. “This how I live the plebian lifestyle here.”


    “I don’t think I’d consider this ‘plebian’,” Asher said, frowning. Lila asked for a serving of spaghetti bolognese along with a side of steamed veggies from the tuckshop lady. Asher clearly panic-requested a serving of fried rice and some sweet-chilli chicken tenders, seeming forlorn as they moved along to the cashier.


    “… Do you want my food?” Lila asked as they waited in yet another line.


    “Nah,” he said, poking at the chicken tenders. “I’ll break this up into the fried rice.”


    Lila nodded and, once it was her turn to pay, snatched Asher’s food so quickly that he barely had time to react.


    “All together, please,” she said to the kindly middle-aged cashier. She smiled and scanned the items and Lila paid for it with her student ID.


    “Lila,” Asher said, his tone disappointed, once they exited. “You didn’t have to pay for me.”


    “Well, I figured I didn’t want you to lie to Gabriel,” Lila said loftily. “He said it was high time that I shouted food for you, so I decided to do just that.”


    “When you said you’d ‘treat me’, I thought you were just going to get me, like, an ice cream,” Asher replied as they began to make their way to the library. Lila shot him a look.


    “Did you even have money to begin with?”


    “’Course I did,” Asher replied hotly.


    “On your student ID?”


    Asher immediately snapped his mouth shut.


    “That’s what I thought,” Lila chuckled, opening the library door for Asher to go through. They found an empty meeting room again and dived right into their food. Asher seemed especially keen as he tore up one of his chicken tenders and tossed it into the fried rice, mixing it together with the bamboo disposable fork that he’d received from the cashier. He kept glancing at his paddle pop, as if worried it would disappear.


    “You know, we can eat the ice creams first,” Lila suggested. Asher’s eyes flickered to hers and he then immediately tore into the paddle pop. She chuckled again and opened her own ice cream cup. Asher offered Lila a bit of his second chicken tender, which she graciously declined.


    “Never had these before,” he said as he began tearing the other up into pieces and dropping it into his fried rice. “They look weird.”


    “They’re pretty good,” Lila said, mixing up her spaghetti. She eyed Asher as he bit into a piece of his chicken tenders and couldn’t help but smile at the curious look on his face.


    “This is… interesting,” he said, taking another bite. “I don’t know whether I’d call it ‘good’, but it’s not bad.”


    “I just think you’ve been spoilt by Gabriel’s cooking,” Lila laughed.


    “Probably,” Asher shrugged. They continued to eat in silence for a while. Eventually, Lila looked up at Asher as he was drinking his soft drink. His eyes met hers and he spilt a little of his drink.


    “W-What’s up?” he asked, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.


    “I was just thinking about this whole Banker thing,” she said with a sigh. “I feel like we got some good information, but I also don’t know where to go from here.”


    “I see,” he said, capping his drink. “Let’s go over it, then.”


    “Well, I talked to Daniel yesterday about it. He doesn’t know who the Banker is, but he’s borrowed money from them. He said that a girl does all the transactions, but she might not be the Banker. Said she was an ass and ripped him off. Isaac told you that he’d been tipped off about the Banker’s existence by one of the soccer boys’ younger brother. Cecelia’s younger sister borrowed money from the Banker, and she’s in Grade 9. And… the other day, when I got a drink of water, there were some younger guys talking about the Banker. There’s just something about the fact that it’s always ‘younger’ students having interactions with the Banker that makes me wonder if they’re themselves in a younger grade.”


    “Hmm,” Asher murmured, placing a finger on his chin. “What about the bodyguards from Grade 12? How could a younger student convince some Grade 12s to act as bodyguards?”


    “If the Banker is giving out loans for 3k, I reckon they have a substantial enough cash flow to legit ‘employ’ them,” Lila replied with a shrug. “Though, the Banker could be in Grade 12 and they’re just getting their friends to help them.”


    “It’s weird, though,” Asher said, leaning back in his chair, frowning at the table between them. “You said you started hearing things about the Banker last term, right? If it was coming from Grade 12s, surely more people in our grade would be using the Banker. We would’ve heard about it from more firsthand accounts by now, rather than through younger siblings?”


    “Maybe the reason why it’s always younger students is because younger students can’t work? I mean, Elise works at Maccas and probably wouldn’t be interested in a loan. Maybe the younger grades are just the right target audience.”


    “You can start working from Grade 9 if you’re that keen and old enough, but you’re right. Maybe the younger students just need money because they don’t have other means.”


    “Does Isaac work?”


    Asher shook his head. “No. So it’s kinda stupid that he got a loan to begin with and I told him as much. Probably why he’s in so much debt, he couldn’t figure out how to pay the Banker back.”


    “Or he just thought he’d do well on some of his bets,” Lila reasoned. Asher let out another sigh. Then, he looked up at Lila, as though something new had just occurred to him.


    “What do you reckon that thing about hitting up the Banker for food was?” Asher asked.


    “I completely forgot I didn’t tell you,” Lila said immediately with a sheepish grin. “According to Lucas, the Banker also lets people order Uber Eats under a tab and they take cash. His cousin in Grade 12 uses it all the time. Cecelia also seemed to think that maybe the teachers are in on the Uber Eats thing, too.”


    “Seems like some of the rumours going around agree with her,” Asher nodded. He folded his arms again as he seemed to contemplate the information that they currently had.


    “Well, I think we’ve got enough to make a couple solid theories,” Lila said slowly. “Then we just need to work towards solving both. Since only one can be confirmed, it’ll become clear as we investigate.”


    Asher looked up at her as she pulled out her Notes app.


    “Do you have a theory?” she asked. He shook his head before pausing.


    “Actually, I might,” he said. “I think we could follow the idea that the Banker is someone in Grade 12. They probably started by buying their mates Uber Eats, maybe ‘cause they have a job that pays into their bank account. Then, they diversified – probably by making them pay back with interest or something – and went into the lower grades since they can’t get jobs to get money, or at least the jobs that they can get pay terribly.”


    “Alright,” Lila said, writing down the key points of Asher’s theory. “My theory is similar, but a bit different. I think it has to be someone in Grade 12 as well since to start this off you need money, right? I also think we would’ve heard who it was by now if they were in our grade. I actually think they started this by loaning money first.”


    “Really?” Asher said, clearly surprised. “How’d you figure that?”


    “Couple of reasons. The name – ‘the Banker’. If they started with Uber Eats, surely their moniker would be something food-related.”


    “Moniker?” Asher asked, grinning.


    “Sorry, nickname,” Lila clarified. “I can sometimes get into a habit of speaking differently.”


    “I know what ‘moniker’ means,” Asher said, his grin even wider now. “Just didn’t expect you to. It’s… kinda cute.”


    Lila flushed, avoiding his eyes. “A-Anyway,” she said, attempting to move on so she could get back to her theory. “Uh… what was I saying… right, ‘the Banker’.”


    It didn’t work. She’d lost her train of thought.


    “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you,” Asher said apologetically. “You were saying there were a couple reasons why you thought the Banker got their start by loaning out money first.”


    “R-Right. There’s the moniker,” Lila glanced at Asher, who seemed to be listening intently. “And there’s the fact that I only heard about the Uber Eats stuff really recently. I’d been hearing about the Banker loaning out money to students early last term. They’re also pretty smart, by targeting the younger grades for loans and the older ones for food, so I’d lean towards someone with a business mind. Maybe it’s someone from Grade 12 who’s finishing the Diploma in Business. Plus, I doubt running Uber Eats for Grade 12s and even teachers would give you the ability to lend out enough that Isaac would be 3k in debt on its own.”


    “Those are all pretty good reasons,” Asher stated, nodding. “Makes me feel like we shouldn’t look into my theory at all.”


    “No, no, we should. There’s no reason why we should narrow our focus now,” Lila said as she typed down her points. “Besides, it looks like we both agree that the Banker is among the Grade 12 students.”


    “You really do talk differently sometimes,” Asher laughed. Lila flushed again, but tried to ignore the comment as she continued typing.


    “Should we try and get Uber Eats tomorrow?” Lila asked after finishing up her notes.


    “I think Gabriel would have a heart attack if we don’t take his food two days in a row,” Asher said, his tone seeming somewhat serious.


    “Alright, let’s just try and find out how to get Uber Eats tomorrow and then order on Friday. Maybe we’ll catch a glimpse of the Banker that way,” Lila said, typing out the plans on her phone again.


    “Please forgive me, Gabriel,” Asher shivered. He gave Lila a thumbs up, and she smirked before putting her phone away.


    “You’re a brave soul, Asher.”


    <hr>


    The last class of the day was Study, and true to Asher’s previous disposition, he remained entirely devoted to assessment. Lila briefly wondered whether this was part of his escapism, given everything that’s happened, though figured it was actually more so just part of Asher’s ‘intrinsic motivation’.


    She turned her mind to study and was relatively successful until the arrival of Mr Morrison. He looked grim as he knocked on the table between Asher and Lila, causing both to jump. They both removed their earphones and looked at Mr Morrison inquisitively.


    “Hello, sir,” Asher said. “Are you here to talk about Physics? I didn’t think you’d have the answers to the questions I asked so quickly.”


    Mr Morrison laughed. “No, no. I see you’re currently working on it now, though.”


    Asher immediately closed his laptop. “My draft is coming along, sir.”


    Mr Morrison laughed again, though it seemed forced. He reached into his blazer’s breast pocket and pulled out two thin, white envelopes – one marked for Asher and one for Lila.


    “Mr Lockwood asked me to provide you with these. Please give them to your parents. I understand that it’s for a meeting on Monday afternoon. Only one parent is required.”


    “Can I open it?” Asher asked, taking the one Mr Morrison offered him. Mr Morrison handed Lila the other one and she placed it on the desk in front of her.


    “I don’t know what’s written in them, but it has your name on it,” Mr Morrison said simply. “All I was asked was to provide these to you and ensure you both knew that your meeting with Mr Lockwood is on Monday. I believe the times are written in the letters. I’ll see you in class tomorrow morning, Asher. Have a great afternoon, you two.”


    Asher and Lila bid Mr Morrison ‘goodbye’ and watched him leave. As Lila looked at the envelope on the desk, her heart began pounding. She hadn’t spoken to her parents at all about Piper, or anything that had been going on at school, and now she had to call one, or both, to a meeting with the Headmaster about it…


    “You’ll be fine,” Asher said quietly. Lila glanced at him.


    “I haven’t said anything to them,” she said.


    “I’m sure they’ll understand,” he replied with a sigh, pocketing his letter in his own blazer pocket. “It’s not like you’re in trouble.”


    “I guess,” Lila sighed. Perhaps she could enlist the help of Clare in explaining the situation to her parents. Not that Clare had the full picture, anyway. But… at least Clare didn’t dislike Asher now. Surely if her parents found out what being around Asher had led to thus far, they wouldn’t be so amenable to her hanging out with him all the time. And she needed to get into that cottage. She needed to figure out where Asher’s Mum went. These were non-negotiable, now that she was this far into it.


    ‘At least it wasn’t as bad as what happened to Asher,’ Lila thought to herself as she held the envelope with trembling hands. She felt stupid now, though. She had forgotten to think of a game plan in the four weeks it had been since Piper was expelled, with everything else that happened. Piper seemed like such a distant memory now…


    “Have you told your Dad?” Lila asked softly. Asher’s eyes flitted towards her before looking back down at his laptop.


    “Yes,” he said simply. “Just enough to get the picture. He was furious, but since she’s been expelled, it’s not like there’s anything more he can do.”


    “I see,” Lila nodded. Hopefully, her parents would be fine with it too, once she explained that Piper was expelled.


    “You can tell your family about my part in it,” Asher said, rapidly typing on his laptop. “That she was fixated on me, at least. You just got caught in the crossfire.”


    “Thanks,” Lila replied. “I don’t know how they’d react, to be honest.”


    “She’s been expelled. Getting angry about it won’t do anything.”


    “Tell that to my Asian Mum.”


    “Fair. Good luck, then.”