Chapter Sixty-Five


    “Earth to Lila,” Elise''s voice called at morning tea the next day. Elise, Grace, and Lila were sitting in their usual spot on the grass, bundled up considerably. Lila snapped out of her reverie and looked at Elise, somewhat confused.


    “What’s up?” Lila asked, bringing her apple to her mouth.


    “You’ve been staring at that apple for a few minutes, smiling like it’s your full-time job. Honestly, forget about Drapple, Lilapple is where it’s at.”


    Lila rolled her eyes at Elise, sinking her teeth into her apple pointedly. Jokes about shipping Draco Malfoy and green apples aside, had she really zoned out for that long?


    “Did something good happen yesterday?” Grace questioned, biting delicately into a piece of cucumber, hiding her mouth with her other hand.


    “Not... really,” Lila replied as she swallowed her bit of apple.


    “Then what’s up with all the smiling? Sounds very mysterious,” Grace grinned, her tone taking on a teasing, conspiratorial edge.


    “Didn’t Asher go over to tutor Daniel yesterday?” Elise placed a finger on her chin, emphasising the question.


    “Sure did,” Lila responded shortly, taking another bite of her apple. "He’s coming over again tonight and maybe the weekend.”


    “Just how screwed is your brother?” Elise asked, raising an eyebrow and surveying Lila closely.


    “Pretty screwed,” Lila laughed. It wasn’t a lie.


    “Sounds like it,” Grace nodded. She shared a look with Elise and smirked. “Also sounds like you’re pretty excited for Asher to go to your place after school,” Grace added.


    Lila sighed, putting her finished apple core into her empty sandwich bag. She was blushing slightly while her stomach swooped at the thought of Asher’s imminent arrival at her house, but she hoped to play it off.


    “I figured something out after Asher helped Daniel, actually,” Lila said gradually, a giddy smile brightening her face. Her realisation regarding her feelings for Asher was something she wanted to tell Grace and Elise. She’d been swept up in her feelings all day and wanted to share it with someone she could trust, even if it was just to giggle about it. Grace and Elise leaned in, their eyes twinkling identically in anticipation.


    “Figured what out?” Isaac’s curious voice made the girls almost leap out of their skins.


    “Isaac,” Elise hissed exasperatedly. “You just killed the mood. Read the room, dude. Or the outside, I guess.”


    “What mood?” Asher asked, casually flopping onto the ground beside Lila.


    “Oh, come ON! I thought we’d settled on lunch, not morning tea too,” huffed Elise. “Morning tea’s almost over, anyway. Why are you guys here?”


    “We wanted to stop by,” pouted Isaac, dramatically wiping away non-existent tears. “You’re being so mean.”


    “To check that we were still having lunch today,” Asher clarified, glancing uncertainly at Lila. A wave of tingles crashed over her, and her blush deepened. She looked down at the remnants of her morning tea with great interest, suddenly unable to find her voice.


    “Yes, yes, lunch is still on. Now go away and don''t come back,” Elise snapped. “Lila was about to tell us something important.”


    “Ooh,” Isaac cooed, wedging himself between Grace and Elise forcefully. Neither seemed happy about this. “I like important stuff.”


    Asher propped himself up on his elbows, looking at Lila expectantly. She refused to meet his gaze.


    “I-It’s not really important,” Lila finally said quietly. She was hyper-aware of her breathing and heartbeat as she shifted her position so she was angled away from Asher.


    “Righto,” Elise said promptly, waving her hands at Asher and Isaac as if to shoo them like pesky house flies. “Begone, fools.”


    Asher looked crestfallen as he made to stand up.


    Isaac glanced between Asher and Lila before protesting. “Nah, nah, you can’t leave us hanging like that.”


    Asher promptly fell back into his previous position.


    “You guys butted in,” Elise retorted. “It’s probably girl talk or something.”


    “We’re part of the girls,” Isaac insisted, flipping imaginary hair over his shoulder. “Come on…”


    Lila didn’t want to say what she’d actually been thinking of saying in the presence of Isaac and Asher under any circumstances. Besides, she was still trying to work out what she wanted to do with her feelings. But, as Isaac’s eyes gleamed with keen interest and Asher’s curious stare bore into her, Lila knew she had to say something.


    “I-I was just about to say,” Lila stumbled through her words but continued, looking at a nearby eucalyptus tree. “That I figured out that Asher’s really smart.”


    The silence falling over the group was almost comically dramatic. Elise, Grace, and Isaac sighed heavily in unison.


    “I hope I’m smart,” Asher replied with a half-smile and a light brush of pink on his cheeks.


    “Look, not to put you down or anything, but… we been knew,” Isaac said, placing a hand onto his forehead.


    “I’d hate to think that Asher keeps winning Dux as a fluke,” Elise concurred. “If only I could be so lucky.”


    “It took you this long to notice?” Grace asked, seemingly holding back a laugh.


    “Shouldn’t have said anything,” Lila lamented, sighing as she looked at the grey sky. It was doing a decent job of reflecting her current mood.


    “Probably not, aye,” Isaac teased, also looking up at the sky. He clapped his hands onto his thighs and stood up. “Let’s go to PC, mate.”


    The two boys left, waving at the girls who returned the wave.


    “Lila, you’re a terrible liar,” sighed Grace once Isaac and Asher were well out of earshot.


    “I can lie pretty well,” Lila countered, her face burning bright.


    “What was that, then?” Elise snickered.


    “I can lie when I have notice,” Lila mumbled.


    “What were you actually going to say?” Grace asked, her azure eyes peering directly into Lila’s soul. Lila sighed.


    “Nothing, now,” she said abruptly. “The moment’s gone. Passed us by. Never to return.”


    “How dramatic. Let’s go, then,” Elise suggested, dusting herself off and getting up.


    Lila was glad that they didn’t press the point in PC either. Now that the moment had passed, she was suddenly feeling anxious about telling Grace and Elise. Especially around their PC classmates, some of whom she’d been classmates with since the beginning of her school life at Forestglade College. Besides… after the rumours from the beginning of the year, the thought of starting something up again before she was ready to do something with her feelings made her physically ill.


    Bio with Cecelia and Lucas ended without much fuss, though Cecelia couldn’t stop giggling about something that Lila didn’t want to know about. Lila was surprised, though, to see Asher standing at her locker, holding two lunchboxes once lunchtime came around.


    “Oh,” Lila said softly, taking one of them. “Thanks. I’d thought that was for when it was just us. I’d actually brought lunch for today.”


    “You don’t have to eat this, then,” Asher said quickly, but Lila brought the lunchbox to her chest and out of his reach.


    “My sandwiches can’t compete with anything Gabriel makes.”


    “I don’t want to inconvenience you,” Asher murmured. “Sorry.”


    “You’re conveniencing me rather well,” Lila smiled.


    “I should’ve mentioned something.”


    “Asher, it’s all good. Don’t stress about a lunchbox,” Lila laughed. “Where’s Isaac?”


    “He’s still at his locker. What about Elise and Grace?”


    “They shouldn’t be far off.”


    Everyone assembled together fairly quickly after this, and they made their way to a spare meeting room in the library. It seemed that Lila’s attempted confession to Grace and Elise earlier this morning was virtually forgotten by all parties. They talked and laughed as a group, talking about the progress of their assignments and study, Isaac’s first shift tomorrow afternoon and Asher’s home debate. No one mentioned anything about Daniel, or Livi and her group of friends – which Lila was more than happy to do without for the moment. Asher appeared to be in high spirits, and Lila snuck several glances at him as he joked with Isaac, Elise, and Grace. Looking at him even more carefully, he seemed healthy and well rested. This change from the beginning of the year hit Lila hard, her stomach flipping as she compared the various states of Asher that she’d been privileged to see –


    “You’ve just been staring at me today. Are you good?” Asher asked, tilting his head to the side with a small, uncertain smile. Lila jolted out of her thoughts. Lila instantly recalled where she’d heard these words before – that had been one of the first things Asher had said to her this year. Though instead of looking at her with thinly veiled annoyance, his face was full of gentle concern and perhaps a hint of self-consciousness.


    “S-Sorry,” Lila replied, looking down at her empty lunchbox. “Just thinking.”


    The background chatter of Elise, Grace and Isaac bickering about the merits of Disney Plus over Stan as a streaming service fell away as now everyone stared at Lila.


    “Didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” Lila added uneasily. Asher shook his head.


    “Doesn’t make me uncomfortable,” he grinned. “You can stare at me all you want, as long as you’re not upset at me. You’re not, right?”


    “Definitely not,” Lila replied, matching his grin with her own. They maintained eye contact for slightly longer than necessary, and Isaac and Elise went back to their critical analysis of each streaming service, Grace piping up every so often with her own observations.


    “Lila,” Asher suddenly said in a low voice, leaning close to her face. She stared at him in response, the tips of her ears turning pink. He was really far too close to her – it was hard to breathe. “Can you come with me for a moment?” he asked, sincerity deep within his eyes.


    “S-Sure,” Lila said tentatively, standing up.


    “Just need to talk to Lila real quick,” Asher said into the void, given Isaac and Elise’s conversation was becoming far more heated. Grace nodded, seemingly only half-paying attention as she looked much more absorbed in Isaac and Elise’s debate.


    Lila followed Asher outside the meeting room and out of the library entirely. He didn’t look back at her, nor did he say anything. They eventually reached a secluded walkway alongside the library and nearby art rooms and he turned to Lila, hands in his pockets.


    “Yes?” Lila asked, her stomach clenching. He seemed awfully serious. Had… he noticed something different about Lila? He wasn’t reading her mind, surely – that was impossible. But… maybe he thought she liked him and he was about to just reject her outright.


    “I want to bring something for dinner. Maybe not tonight, and not tomorrow since I’ve got debating until late, but Saturday or Sunday. What does your family like?”


    “You… took me all the way out here… to ask me that?” Lila blinked in confusion at him.


    “Well, the next opportunity I had was in English class, but we’re practicing for our exam. And then it’d be on the bus, but I’m just conscious of… y’know. The rumours still. I don’t want to start something up again, even though Piper’s gone. Then the next opportunity would be with Daniel there, but I kinda want it to be a surprise for him, too. Since he’s worked so hard up until now.”


    “I see…” Lila trailed off, though it still seemed odd that he wanted to speak with her privately like this. Surely this was something they could’ve brainstormed as a group, or even a conversation they could have had whilst Isaac and Elise were squaring up.


    “I’d been thinking about something traditional, like adobo or tapsilog, but I don’t know whether that’s too weird or overstepping, then I was thinking something like a lasagna or a quiche, or maybe a dessert instead of dinner, or maybe both-”


    “Asher,” Lila interrupted him as he began to pace, his rambling increasing in speed. He looked back at her with wide eyes, one hand entangled in his hair and the other in his blazer pocket.


    “Yeah?”


    “You’re overthinking. We occasionally eat traditional things, but we’re a white family too. You don’t have to bring food over, but if you want to, literally anything will be fine. Except for something with macadamia nuts, Daniel is mildly allergic to those.”


    “Just macadamias?”


    “Yeah. The doctors did a full test for him, and it’s literally just macadamias. I always tell him its nuts.”


    Asher snorted and Lila beamed at him, pulling her shoulders up in pride for that one.


    “Hey, Lila,” a familiar, lazy voice called out from behind Lila. She wildly looked around and saw Theo walking past them. He stopped a couple metres short of them, a calculating smile creasing his face.


    “You guys aren’t making out here, are you?” he asked, clearly amused.


    “N-” Lila attempted to refute this, but Asher stepped between Lila and Theo, glowering.


    “And if we were?” Asher asked, drawing himself to his full height, arms crossed. Theo seemed shocked as his eyes flickered between Asher’s face and Lila’s. Then, he smirked.


    “Forgive me for not believing you,” Theo replied with a carefree shrug. “Lila’s face tells me all I need to know, though.”


    “What’re you doing here?” Asher’s voice took on an interrogatory tone, as though he’d caught Theo doing something he shouldn’t have been.


    “You might want to settle down, mate,” Theo laughed, shaking his head. “I’m just taking a wander. Nothing illegal about that. Besides, after all the injuries you’ve given me this term alone, I’d think twice about being so accusatory. I am a Prefect and your senior in many ways.”


    Asher seemed like he wanted to say something else, but he instead gripped Lila’s arm.


    “Let’s go,” he murmured.


    “W-Why?” Lila hesitated, not moving.


    “Did you want to stay?” Asher asked, raising an eyebrow. Lila could see over Asher’s shoulder that Theo was still looking at them, seeming puzzled.


    “Not necessarily, but-”


    “Great,” Asher said bluntly, pushing her away from Theo as he tightened his grasp on her arm. Lila glanced behind Asher’s shoulder to see Theo looking pensive. He met her gaze with a smile.


    “Looking forward to seeing you on Saturday,” Theo winked, seemingly speaking only to Lila. He turned on his heel and rapidly walked away.


    “You really don’t seem to like Theo,” Lila said quietly, as she let herself be pulled in the direction that Asher had guided her towards. Her mind was reeling in confusion. What just happened?


    “I don’t dislike him,” Asher responded through gritted teeth. He let go of her arm and didn’t elaborate.


    “It… doesn’t seem like it,” Lila replied, thoroughly unconvinced. “You can keep your secrets, though.”


    “It… feels like he’s signed me up to a competition that I don’t want to compete in,” Asher admitted quietly after a few moments of silent walking.


    “What would that be?” Lila asked, her lips pursed. Was it a weird Dux thing? She glanced at Asher. He’d brought a hand to his face, which seemed bright red. He looked like he was struggling to answer before his eyes met hers.


    “Nothing important. At least, nothing important for you to know about.”


    “Why wouldn’t you want to compete against Theo?” Lila pressed. “I’ve seen you. You’re pretty competitive. Though, I guess you’d have to be, to beat out literally everyone in our year for top spot in grades.”


    Asher shook his head. “It’s… hard to explain.”


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    “I can pick things up pretty quickly.”


    “I don’t doubt that.” Asher sighed heavily. He stopped walking, tugging at his hair for a moment, his eyes distant – looking beyond Lila at something unseen. He began walking again before continuing to speak.


    “I guess… I prefer competing in things that I know I have a fair shot at winning.”


    “To know you have a fair shot at winning Dux is impressive. Where do you get the confidence from?”


    “You’ve seen our cohort. Everyone cares far more about Cheer and Rugby than grades.”


    “Touché. So, what’s different about this?”


    Asher inhaled sharply, actively refusing to meet her curious eyes. “It’s simple. I know I’d lose against Theo. But… losing against Theo is one of my biggest fears. Well, losing against anyone, Theo or not, about this is one of my biggest fears, at least.”


    Truthfully, it was all sounding rather vague to Lila, but she nodded, trying to understand.


    “How can you be so sure you’d lose, though?” she asked as they approached the library.


    “He’s just better than me in every way,” Asher replied, shrugging. “I’m like the cheap, inferior copy.”


    Lila frowned. “That’s not true. I’d say that you’re the upgrade.”


    His face turned a deep scarlet and he swiftly looked away from Lila, mumbling something under his breath that she couldn’t quite catch. She was about to ask before Asher shook his head.


    “Anyway, that’s my issue, not yours,” Asher said quickly, opening the door to the library for Lila. She frowned but didn’t push the issue. If it wasn’t her business, then it wasn’t her business.


    “You guys took a while,” Grace said, rising from her chair as Lila and Asher returned to the meeting room. Isaac and Elise were shooting daggers at each other on opposite sides of the room, their arms crossed.


    “What happened to them?” Lila asked, gesturing as she sat down.


    “Their debate ended in a draw,” Grace smirked. “Neither of them want to admit defeat. They kept coming up in a draw at scissors, paper, rock, too.”


    “That’s rare,” Lila replied, “Elise always wins those. We’ve banned her from playing anymore.”


    “I know,” Grace whispered, her face fixed in genuine surprise. “It was really weird.”


    Asher checked his phone. “It’s time for us to go, guys,” he announced, looking particularly intensely at Isaac. Isaac flashed him a grin and relaxed his pose.


    “I was worried you wouldn’t come back for me,” Isaac said dramatically. “Getting left behind with girls like these ended up being much worse than I’d hoped.”


    “You’ve hung out with them just fine on your own before,” Lila pointed out, lifting an eyebrow in disbelief.


    “That was when we had a common goal,” Isaac said loftily.


    “What goal?” Lila queried, tilting her head slightly. Elise immediately stood up, glaring at Isaac.


    “Well, I-I needed help with my art project from Grace,” Isaac responded awkwardly. “A-And Elise just happened to be there at the time.”


    “I didn’t know you could get help with your art project,” Asher responded with interest. “Isn’t that against the rules or something?”


    “It was just for some references,” Grace interjected, clearing her throat. “He can’t draw female hands very well.”


    “Hands are just the worst,” Isaac huffed. “I feel like an AI every time I try drawing ‘em.”


    “Fair enough,” Asher said, looking none the wiser as to Isaac’s plight.


    The group promptly dispersed from the library and to their lockers. Elise took the opportunity by the lockers to question Lila. Grace had already fled towards her Music class, and there weren’t many people around them at this time.


    “Where’d you go with Asher?” Elise demanded, fiddling with her lunchbox in agitation.


    “Just by the library,” Lila replied with a shrug.


    “What’d you talk about?”


    “He wanted to know what to bring for dinner.”


    “Huh?” Elise looked at Lila in bewilderment.


    “He’s tutoring Daniel, remember? He wanted to bring something for dinner at some point.”


    “Oh. Is that all? He couldn’t ask when we were all in the library?”


    “No, I couldn’t,” Asher replied stiffly, standing behind Elise with a slightly imposing aura. She immediately squeaked and scuttled away to her locker.


    “Why?” Lila asked, locking her locker and slinging her bookbag over her shoulder. Asher seemed uncomfortable, his eyes darting around the space behind Lila.


    “Just… felt a bit claustrophobic in there,” Asher finally said, the tips of his ears turning a slight pink shade. “I got a bit used to it just being us two at lunch.”


    Lila could feel Elise’s eyes burning a hole in the back of her head.


    “I don’t mean anything by it,” Asher said hurriedly, not meeting Lila’s eyes. “It was fun being with everyone at lunch.”


    “Don’t mean anything by it?” Lila asked quietly, her heart seemingly lowering in her chest. She heard an audible slap behind her and turned to see Elise with a hand on her forehead.


    “You okay?” Lila asked, reaching to gently pull Elise’s hand away.


    “Don’t mind me,” Elise shrugged Lila off. “Just suffering from immeasurable disappointment.”


    “Disappointment?”


    “Yeah, just remembered that I accepted a shift for tomorrow. Means I’ll be working with Isaac.”


    “Is that a bad thing?” Lila queried.


    “Sure is. Don’t know how I’ll get any work done if he’s as ridiculous at work as he is at school. Anyway – I’ve gotta run. Bye!”


    And with that, Elise bolted out of the locker room, bag swinging on her shoulder.


    Lila blinked after Elise, before shaking her head.


    “Let’s go to English, yeah?” Asher suggested, shrugging.


    <hr>


    Lila let Asher go ahead of her, armed with her house keys, and into her house as she collected the mail. Daniel hadn’t been on the bus with them today. Lila severely doubted that Daniel would be home before them even if a Grade 12 student drove him home, given the mayhem in the suburbs surrounding Forestglade College that afternoon.


    Though Lila should have expected this situation to arise, she hadn’t anticipated having Asher in her house, relatively alone. Sure, Clare would be there, but what would Lila even do with Asher while they waited for Daniel? At best, he wouldn’t be arriving for another half an hour.


    “You coming?” Asher had turned around and poked his head out the front door.


    “S-Sorry,” Lila replied, hiking her scarf up higher around her face and clutching the bits of mail in her left hand tightly. He didn’t need to see her blushing at being caught spacing out. He disappeared back inside the house and she followed.


    Lila kicked her shoes off in the entryway. Asher was nowhere in sight now. Where had he gone?


    “Can’t keep you away, can we?” Clare’s voice floated from the kitchen. Lila almost groaned, but held it in as she edged towards the kitchen. Lila was about to enter, but instead flattened herself against the wall just outside the kitchen.


    “No, ma’am,” Asher laughed, his voice sounding rather jovial despite his previous interactions with Clare. “Daniel needs a bit of extra help until the exam period is over.”


    “Is that all that’s keeping you here?” Clare’s voice had taken on a mischievous edge. Lila’s breath hitched as she strained to hear Asher’s response.


    “Well… I’m sure you know the answer to that one.”


    “Enlighten me.”


    ‘And me,’ Lila thought to herself, pressing against the wall even more.


    “Lila’s basically my best friend. Of course Daniel’s not the only reason I’m here.”


    “Best friend, you say,” Clare murmured. Lila couldn’t tell, given she couldn’t see Clare’s face, whether Clare was satisfied with that answer. Lila, though, felt an overwhelming amount of pressure on her lungs, coupled with dismay flooding her heart. Had he friend-zoned Lila?


    Lila peeled herself off the wall and made her way inside the kitchen. Clare was sipping a cup at the counter, scrolling through her phone. Asher was staring outside the kitchen window.


    “Do you guys want juice?” Lila asked cheerily. At the very least, she wanted to pretend she’d heard nothing for now. It wasn’t the first time she’d heard Asher address Lila as such. Though, this time, the fact that he’d felt strongly enough to tell Clare he felt that way caused flitters of energy to bounce through her stomach.


    Both Clare and Asher accepted Lila’s offerings of juice, and she gave Clare the bundle of mail she’d collected before pouring juice for everyone and divvying them out.


    “Hope there’s nothing for me,” Clare sighed as she looked through the pieces of mail. “Ah, shit, spoke too soon.”


    She tore into an enveloped marked with the State Government’s insignia. “A fine. Great.”


    “What were you in such a hurry to get to?” Lila smirked, sipping her juice. Clare rolled her eyes at Lila before casting her eyes back to the fine.


    “Like I’m supposed to remember that, I drive ever- oh. It was for a last-minute shift. Do you reckon I could get Gabriel to pay it for me?”


    Clare looked at Asher, extending her lower lip in an exaggerated, pleading pout.


    “I dunno. Maybe?” he said uncertainly, collecting the fine from Clare’s hands. “I guess it’s not the biggest fine you could get. Maybe he could have it as a tax write-off or something.”


    “Didn’t know fines worked as tax write-offs,” Lila said incredulously.


    “Honestly, I’m just spitballing,” Asher sighed. “But I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if Roxy asked him.”


    Lila snorted and Clare shot her a disapproving look.


    “Thanks anyway,” Clare said, smiling at Asher. He looked back down at the fine and hesitated.


    “I can ask Gabriel,” Asher said after a moment.


    “I was only joking,” Clare said instantly, reaching over to take it from Asher’s hands.


    “It wouldn’t hurt to ask, at least,” Asher insisted, pocketing it inside his breast blazer pocket.


    “Well, I guess I’m not about to grab it out of your blazer,” Clare replied frankly. “Thanks for going out of your way.”


    “No worries.”


    “I have a few,” Clare joked, swigging her juice. “Speaking of, where’s Daniel?”


    “He wasn’t on the bus with us, but that’s not unusual,” Lila shrugged. “Probably got caught up talking to friends. I doubt he’s far away.”


    “Do you mind pizza?” Clare asked, glancing at Asher. He pointed to his chest.


    “Me?”


    “Yeah, you. Mum and Dad are doing something in the office until late tonight, so they gave me money for dinner. I can get pizza, Chinese food, fish and chips, whatever. But I have a hankering for pizza.”


    “Can’t go against a hankering,” grinned Asher. “Pizza sounds great.”


    “Mum and Dad have been staying later in the office recently,” Lila said quietly. “Do you know why?”


    “Not a clue or a care, to be honest,” Clare replied nonchalantly. “It makes moonlighting as Roxy far easier.”


    “Are you ever going to tell your parents?” Asher asked, taking a drink out of his cup.


    “Maybe when I’m sixty,” Clare laughed. “They don’t need to know.”


    “You know, I’ve been thinking,” Lila said suddenly. “What if Dad has an investigation at Gabriel’s club or something?”


    “Why would he do that?” Clare asked, panic rising in her voice. Lila glanced at Asher before looking down at the counter.


    “No reason,” Lila replied swiftly.


    “Well, don’t make me panic for no reason,” Clare complained.


    “Sorry,” Lila responded softly. They sat in silence for a minute or so before Lila topped everyone’s cups of juice up again.


    “I’m going to put my stuff away,” she announced after replacing the juice in the fridge. “Did you want to put your bags in my room?”


    “U-Uh, sure,” Asher replied, picking up his bags from the floor.


    “Remember, Lila, your door has to be open,” Clare sang as they departed. Lila rolled her eyes and stomped upstairs, Asher trailing behind. They put their bags down in Lila’s room as Lila contemplated what to do while they waited. Asher looked around her room with keen interest today. She had a few photos of her family, Elise, Grace, and other friends throughout the years up on her wall, with fairy lights encircling it, that Asher paid close attention to. He reached out a hand, gently touching the photos from semi-formal with a soft smile. Lila realised too late that she’d stuck the strip of photos of her and Asher from the photobooth on this wall as well. She hoped he wouldn’t point it out…


    “Hey, that’s me,” he said suddenly, pointing at one of Elise, Grace, and Lila in sports uniforms, their arms over each other’s shoulders and beaming. It was taken when they were in Grade Seven at their first middle school sports carnival.


    “Really?” Lila asked, coming over to have a look.


    “Yeah!” Asher said enthusiastically, pointing to a boy with slicked back hair and an incredibly neat sports uniform. His shirt was tucked into his shorts, and he wasn’t looking at the camera. Next to him was a much younger looking, round faced Isaac, who was turned towards Asher, grinning.


    “I’m surprised you could pick yourself out, just by the back of you, in this tiny ass photo,” Lila said incredulously. Asher’s face flushed in response.


    “I remember this photo being taken,” he said simply, shifting his attention to her cushion collection on her bed. “Plus, it’s not hard to single out the excessively tidy kid at a sports carnival.”


    “How can you remember this photo being taken?” Lila asked curiously. “You’re not even looking at the camera.”


    “I’d heard Ms Ricci telling you guys to pose as she took the photo,” he said lightly, inspecting a fuzzy teal cushion. “I didn’t want to ruin the photo, though.”


    “I kinda wish I had a photo of baby-faced Asher,” Lila chuckled. “Should’ve looked at the camera.”


    “I might’ve if I would’ve known you’d put it on your wall,” Asher responded in jest. “Maybe you could ask Piper if she’s got any spares of younger me.”


    Lila wrinkled her nose. “I’d rather not see her again in this lifetime, or any others proceeding this.”


    “That would be great, wouldn’t it,” Asher sighed as he squished a sequined cushion.


    “I wonder what school she goes to now,” Lila pondered as she adjusted the books on her bookshelf underneath the photo wall.


    “Wonder no more,” Asher said darkly. “Mulberry Heights. I now have twice the reason to avoid that school.”


    Lila gasped, swiveling to face him. He’d moved along to her desk, bending low to observe the trinkets on it. “What? How do you know?”


    “Mr Morrison told me a week or two back after Physics. Thought it was in my best interest to know.”


    “Do you reckon she’s stalking Holly now?”


    “If Holly’s even still going to school,” Asher replied grimly. His voice sounded taut with emotion. He paused before poking at Lila’s plastic pink pen caddy. Lila sighed. She hadn’t meant to bring Holly up, but her curiosity got the better of her.


    “Sorry,” she murmured, continuing to reorder her books.


    “Don’t be,” Asher said shortly. “It’s fine.”


    “I don’t think it is,” Lila replied lightly.


    “Truthfully… over the past few days… and especially after lunches with just us two, I’ve been feeling a lot better about it all.”


    Lila dropped a book onto her foot, but held her immediate pain reaction in. She held onto the edges of the bookshelf, bowing her head towards it as the pain flooded up her leg. Despite her best efforts, Asher seemingly noticed.


    “You all good?” he asked.


    “Y-Yup,” Lila’s voice was embarrassingly shaky. She twirled her foot to loosen it up. “I’m glad you’re feeling better about it.”


    “I wouldn’t say I’m over it, though,” Asher added. “Honestly, I don’t know how anyone would get over their first girlfriend cheating on them within the first couple of months of dating to the point of getting pregnant without knowing who the father is. Especially when you’re definitely not one of the options. It’s made me pretty nervous to date again.”


    Upon hearing Asher’s words, Lila’s stomach began to twist itself into knots. Envisioning Asher dating someone else… that wasn’t something she was sure she could handle. She swallowed heavily, picking up the book that had attacked her. She suddenly felt a presence behind her left shoulder and she turned to see Asher peering at her bookshelf. She jolted, dropping the book on her other foot. She couldn’t hold back her exclamation this time and swore. She dropped down to the floor, moaning in pain and rubbing where the book had hit her.


    “Sorry!” Asher said emphatically, picking up the offending book and resting it on the shelf. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”


    “No, no,” Lila replied weakly, still rubbing her foot. “I didn’t hear you come up behind me.”


    “Sorry,” Asher said again, kneeling down next to her. “How’s it?”


    “Sore,” Lila breathed. “It’s fine, though.”


    “What’re you guys mumbling about over there?” Clare’s voice floated from the doorway. Lila looked up at Clare, who had her arms folded and her eyes narrowed in suspicion.


    “Just dropped a book on my feet,” Lila said, standing up tenderly. Asher also rose from the floor and gently held her arm.


    “Here, sit on the bed,” he said softly, leading her there. She didn’t protest. Once she was sat on the bed, she saw Clare’s expression had changed to a knowing smirk.


    “I’d say carry on, but I don’t think dropping books on your feet is a good pastime to have,” Clare snickered. “Glad to know your moaning isn’t for anything Jesus wouldn’t approve of.”


    “Get out!” Lila shouted, throwing a cushion at Clare, who gleefully cackled as she artfully dodged it. Clare disappeared from the doorframe entirely, and Lila heard Clare skip towards her own room and close the door.


    “Sorry, she’s so embarrassing,” Lila grumbled, her face flushed. Her eyes travelled to Asher’s own bright pink face. He nodded in acknowledgement, but otherwise didn’t look at Lila or say anything. He instead walked back over to her bookshelf and examined the offerings here.


    “You’ve got a good fantasy collection,” he said after a while, clearing his throat. The stinging in her feet had subsided considerably and she shuffled over.


    “Any you haven’t read?” she asked.


    He gingerly picked up a couple. “There’s a few more, but these seem the most interesting.”


    “Go for your life,” Lila smiled. “I’ve read those. That one’s a bit gory, and the other one has really cool worldbuilding. I think that one started as a webnovel, too.”


    “Thanks,” Asher grinned before looking down to read the blurbs of both books. Lila checked the time. If Daniel was on his usual bus, he should be home right about now.


    “I’m just going downstairs to check if Daniel’s nearby,” Lila said to Asher as she stood up. “I won’t be long. If there’s anything else you want to borrow, go for it.”


    Asher nodded again, though this time it seemed more absent. Lila smiled to herself as she made her way downstairs, the pain in her feet having receded entirely. She had almost reached the front door when it was wrenched open from the outside. Daniel blinked at her in surprise, his chest heaving like he’d sprinted here.


    “Sorry… I’m late,” he puffed, hurrying inside and kicking his shoes off. “I was talking to my coach.”


    “Good news, I hope?” Lila asked as she changed course to pour Daniel a juice in the kitchen. He followed her and received his cup gratefully, downing it in one continuous gulp. She poured him another one, and this time he didn’t drink any of it. Instead, he beamed at her.


    “I’m back on the team!”


    “Amazing! We gotta tell Asher.”


    The siblings climbed the stairs, with Daniel diving into an ecstatic breakdown of the current state of his team. Daniel seemed to be glowing with excitement, a far cry from his gloomy disposition yesterday. Lila’s heart felt warm as she remembered how Asher had encouraged Daniel. If Asher hadn’t helped Daniel, Lila was convinced that Daniel would’ve sunk lower and lower in his despair at trying to keep up with the books.


    ‘I’ll have to thank Asher properly, once this is all over,’ Lila thought to herself whilst she popped her head into her room. Asher was seated on the ground now, reading the book Lila had pointed out as gory, a small pile of books stacked next to him.


    “Daniel’s home,” Lila said, knocking on the door. She hoped it would gently break Asher’s concentration. He slowly looked up at her before his eyes shone with realisation.


    “Oh, yeah, that’s why I’m here,” he said sheepishly, standing up and stretching.


    “Just how absorbed in that book were you?” Lila chortled. He chuckled.


    “A bit.”


    “Here,” Lila said simply, handing Asher a bookmark that was sitting atop her bookshelf. “So you don’t lose your place.”


    “Thanks.”


    After Asher marked his place and put the book down, they crossed the hallway, armed with their cups of juice, and into Daniel’s room.


    “Welcome,” Daniel greeted joyfully after Lila closed the door behind them. “Guess what, Asher.”


    “What?” Asher asked, matching Daniel’s energy.


    “I’m back on the touch team!”


    “Woo!” Asher crowed, fist-pumping. “I knew you could.”


    “All thanks to you,” Daniel replied, a bashful grin on his face. Asher vehemently shook his head.


    “Thanks for the compliment, but I’m honestly shockingly terrible at touch. It wasn’t me who made the team. Take credit for your own merit,” Asher replied, winking at Daniel. Daniel didn’t reply, but his grin grew wider. To Lila, it even seemed more confident.


    Asher sank into the chair at Daniel’s desk, perusing the still-open notebooks from yesterday.


    “Do you need to study, by the way?” Asher asked, glancing over his shoulder at both Lila and Daniel. “We are in week eight, after all. Only two and a half weeks left before we’re on school holidays again.”


    “What about you?” Lila asked, sipping from her cup and sitting on the edge of Daniel’s bed.


    “I’m good,” Asher replied, dismissively waving a hand. “I’ve adjusted my study schedule to account for this.”


    “’Course you would,” Lila laughed, shaking her head. “Honestly, I could use some time to study.”


    “Knock yourself out. Actually, don’t, that would be counterproductive. Anyway, it’s exam week next week for us, at least,” Asher said, his head bent low to the desk.


    “I guess I could use some study time too,” Daniel sighed. “Are you going to study in your room, Lila?”


    “If you don’t need me here, I don’t see why not,” Lila responded, eyeing Daniel. He seemed deflated, but Lila thought that was more because of the thought of studying, rather than her leaving or the Banker situation.


    “I reckon it’ll be fine,” Daniel said affirmatively. “I feel so much more relieved about this whole thing, now that Asher’s on the case.”


    “I aim to please,” Asher said with a short laugh, spinning around in Daniel’s chair, looking between Daniel and Lila.


    “Righto, well, I’ll leave you guys to it then,” Lila smiled, standing up. “If you need anything, let me know.”


    It didn’t take Lila long to become engrossed with her revision, which she had thankfully kept on top of this term thanks to Asher’s study tips. She was definitely feeling far more at ease with her studies this term than she had in a long time, at least. ‘Yet another thing to thank Asher for…’ she thought to herself as she chewed the end of her pen whilst working through a math problem. A knock sounded by her open door.


    “Yeah?” Lila called without turning around.


    “Pizza’s here,” Clare’s voice announced. Lila stretched in response. It was time for a break, anyway.


    She met the boys in the hallway between her room and Daniel’s and they all clambered downstairs without much discussion.


    “You all seem very serious,” Clare observed with a twinkle in her eye once everyone assembled in the dining room with plates of pizza. “I hope you all get good grades. Well, I know you will, Asher. Daniel and Lila definitely need more than one prayer, though.”


    “Rude,” Lila snorted, taking her usual seat.


    “Not untrue for you, though,” Daniel added, smirking cheekily at Lila. She rolled her eyes playfully at them before grinning herself.


    Clare initiated most of the small talk during dinner today, though whenever she asked questions about what Asher was helping Daniel with, he kept his answers very guarded. Clare didn’t seem to notice – or perhaps she was still sticking behind her no-nosiness rule – as she didn’t press for more details other than the brief ones Asher mentioned.


    Once dinner was over, everyone went back upstairs.


    “Are you going out tonight?” Lila asked Clare as Daniel and Asher shut themselves in Daniel’s room. Clare shook her head.


    “Nah, Gabriel didn’t need me today since it’s a Thursday during study block at Uni. A huge bulk of our guests are Uni students, or at least Uni-aged,” Clare explained. “I’ll just be in my room, though.”


    “Alright.”


    Lila resumed her study with great fervour now. She was so absorbed that she hadn’t realised the time until Asher gently tapped her shoulder. She almost toppled out of her chair, her heart racing so fast she couldn’t breathe for a second.


    “Sorry,” Asher said apologetically. “Marlene’s here to take me home.”


    “Oh. I’ll walk you out.”


    Asher collected his belongings and the books he was borrowing from Lila and they traipsed downstairs.


    “Find anything interesting in Daniel’s work?” Lila asked casually whilst Asher put his shoes back on, holding his things as he did so.


    “Not concretely, no.”


    “How boring.”


    “I’ve only scratched the surface yet. Just double checking his maths, mainly,” Asher responded, a hint of defensiveness in his voice.


    “I mean, I’m not hoping that you’ll find something interesting,” Lila laughed. “But surely looking at all this is dull, right?”


    “Nah, not for me,” Asher smiled, collecting his stuff back from Lila’s hands. “See you tomorrow. Don’t forget, we have a home debate tomorrow afternoon.”


    “Of course I wouldn’t forget. It’s in my calendar.”


    “Good. Have a good night, Lila. See you tomorrow.”


    Lila’s heart skipped a beat. She almost wished that Asher would say that again. “You too, Asher.”