Chapter Sixty-Nine


    “Lila, I need to blow off some steam,” Elise lamented at morning tea on Tuesday. “Can I watch you practice for hockey?”


    “Ooh,” Grace interjected, wiping her mouth. “I wanna watch too!”


    “Sure,” Lila shrugged. “Not sure how that’ll help you blow off some steam, though. Surely it’d be better actually doing it.”


    “Maybe, but I’ll take you for Maccas after. As a reward,” Elise said proudly, puffing her chest out. “Plus, exercise sucks.”


    “Well, I can’t say no to that,” Lila laughed.


    Elise joined her laughter, before whispering, “And Isaac’s working tonight. I wanna see him in action.”


    “That’s an odd request for you,” Grace frowned. “Don’t you guys work together too?”


    “Well, yeah, but I’m busy working then,” Elise huffed. “What do you take me for? Lazy?”


    “I see heaps of Maccas workers standing around and chatting constantly all the time,” Lila pointed out. “Besides, you just said exercise sucks.”


    “Yeah, yeah,” Elise waved a dismissive hand. “Well, I was paired as his buddy for a couple of shifts and I wanna see how my hard work has paid off as a customer.”


    “Is he doing front counter stuff?” Lila asked, surprised. “I thought you’d recommended him for the back.”


    Elise shrugged. “I asked one of my managers about that, and they said they were training him for both. Apparently, he’s too charismatic to just be in the back.”


    “Isaac? Charismatic?” Lila snorted. “Never thought that would be paired with him as a descriptor.”


    “Says the ex-girlfriend,” Grace smirked. Lila blushed, and Elise and Grace burst into laughter.


    After more exams, lunch with Grace, Elise, Isaac, and Asher (during which Isaac lamented that he was far too precious to have soccer practice and a Maccas shift back-to-back), and more exams, Lila was standing on Jacoval, breathing the cold afternoon air deeply into her lungs. She’d already changed and was about to make her way to her quadrant when Theo threw his arm out before her, stopping her progress. He was also already dressed for practice, and there was a sparkling intensity in his eyes that she’d never seen before.


    “Hey,” he said quickly, glancing behind him to his quadrant of the oval. “Can I talk to you?”


    “You are now,” Lila replied, blinking at him in confusion.


    “Sorry. I meant after practice. Uh, after… Asher’s gone home,” Theo added in a whisper. Lila felt even more bewildered by that qualifier.


    “Why after Asher-”


    “See you after practice,” Theo said bluntly after looking behind her shoulder for a second. He then jogged off in the direction of soccer practice.


    “What were you talking to Theo about?” Isaac asked nonchalantly from behind Lila. She spun around to face him. He frowned in the direction of Theo, rather than looking at Lila. Lila got the sense that Isaac was rather displeased, though she couldn’t think why that would be.


    “Dunno, to be honest,” Lila responded, thinking hard. What did Theo of all people want to talk to her about? Isaac looked at her for a moment before shaking his head.


    “Hope that whatever it is, it’s for something good,” he murmured before following Theo to that side of the oval. Though Lila was pretty sure Asher disliked Theo, did Isaac not like Theo either?


    Lila slowly made her way to her side of the oval, making sure to wave at Grace and Elise, who were both bundled up in scarves and gloves and sitting on the spectator stands. Practice continued as normal, with particular attention paid to strategies that would bypass the defences shown by Sandy Lakes at their last game. Lila felt fairly prepared to face them on Saturday, and left the oval with a satisfied grin.


    She quickly changed in the change room, and climbed the spectator stands to where Grace and Elise were still waiting.


    “Great work,” Grace smiled, rubbing her gloved hands together.


    “I dunno what I saw, but I assume it went well,” Elise added, also smiling at Lila. “You ready to go?”


    “Not just yet,” Lila replied, thrusting her sports bag and hockey stick at Elise and Grace. “Apparently Theo wants to chat with me about something.”


    “Theo?” Elise and Grace said in unison, exchanging a look of alarm with one another.


    “W-What would he want with you?” Grace asked uneasily, pulling her blazer tightly around her shoulders.


    “Dunno,” Lila sighed, looking behind her to see where he was. Asher was just walking off his quadrant of Jacoval when he looked up at Lila curiously. He walked over to the three girls with a grin.


    “Came to watch me practice?” he asked Grace and Elise. They both scoffed simultaneously.


    “Like we could see you from this spectator stand,” Elise said drily. “Besides, watching Lila practice hockey is far more entertaining.”


    “You’re definitely right about it being more entertaining,” Asher said playfully. Lila chuckled in response, though her stomach twinged as she tried to search the oval for Theo. What did he want to talk to her about?


    Asher glanced at Lila. “Not going home yet?” he asked.


    “Not yet,” Lila replied, still searching. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Theo emerging from the direction of the changing room, dressed in his usual school uniform and a school bag on his shoulder.


    “Say ‘hi’ to Daniel for me,” Asher said casually. “Tell him I missed him today.”


    “I’ll be sure to pass along your tender message,” Lila smirked. Asher playfully winked at her, before turning to head off towards the change rooms. He stopped dead in his tracks when his eyes fell on Theo, who was gradually drawing near the spectator stands.


    “Why’s he coming this way?” Asher asked, his eyes flickering to Lila. Lila shrugged.


    “Beats me. I’ll tell you if he says something interesting,” Lila said nonchalantly.


    “I…” Asher trailed off before shaking his head. His eyes seemed troubled, a small crease in his brow only adding to this impression.


    “You?” Lila asked, raising an eyebrow.


    “Never mind,” Asher responded quietly. “I’ve gotta get some study in.”


    “Finally!” Lila cried. “Been worried about that.”


    “Uh, why?” Elise asked, having been watching the exchange between Lila and Asher like a tennis rally. “He’s the Dux. I think he’s got that all covered and some.”


    “I guess it’s been hard to study when I’ve been constantly over at Lila’s place. Her room’s not big enough for both of us to study,” Asher said, his voice strangely louder than usual. Elise and Grace stared at Asher, seeming gobsmacked by this new information. Lila blinked at Asher in confusion and was about to ask why he’d said that when she was distracted by the sight of Theo halting in his steps, an oddly solemn expression crossing his face. Asher ruffled his hair for a moment before glancing at Lila again.


    “See you tomorrow,” he said simply before hurrying off to the changing rooms. He didn’t seem to acknowledge Theo at all as he passed. Theo watched him go, readjusting his bag on his shoulder, before turning back to Lila with a smile.


    “Care for a walk?" he asked once he was within a reasonable distance of Lila. He glanced uneasily at Grace and Elise, who still seemed shocked by Asher’s declaration.


    “U-Uh, sure,” Lila replied, scrambling to stand. “I’ll be back, guys.”


    Elise waved her off, her face tightening to one of apprehension. Grace similarly looked grim.


    Theo put his bags down on one of the spectator seats and began walking with Lila along the edge of the oval, away from both the changing rooms and spectator stands. This silence was definitely awkward as Lila tried running through all the possible things that Theo wanted to talk to her about. Considering he was the Dux for Grade 12, it wouldn’t be anything related to schoolwork. Perhaps he wanted to apologise for Livi’s behaviour, like Vi had? But... did he really need to do that like this?


    Theo shoved his hands in his pants pockets, his breath rising before him like a fog with secrets to hide. He threw a look behind them, towards where Lila’s friends were still patiently watching after them. Lila couldn’t quite figure out why she felt this way, but he seemed distinctly nervous. Perhaps it was because of the constant, flickering sideways glances at her, and the frequent opening and closing of his mouth. Suddenly, walking alone with a Grade 12 boy she hardly knew in the semi-dark seemed like an awful idea, especially one so fidgety as Theo.


    Without warning, he turned to Lila, inhaling deeply. She stopped walking, her curiosity rooting her legs into the cold, grassy field.


    “I-I’ve been meaning to ask,” Theo stammered, adjusting his glasses with force. “A-After exams. Godammit, Theo. Keep it together.” He’d mumbled the last part so quietly that it was only an estimation on Lila’s part that he’d said that. He tugged on his ear, looking past Lila’s shoulder. His face was cast in shadow, so she couldn’t make out the intricacies of his expression. The silence stretched on between them, and Lila felt the beginning stages of her metamorphosis into a tree taking hold in her legs – or perhaps it was hypothermia. He took a couple more moments to nod to himself before looking fiercely into Lila’s eyes.


    “After exams. This weekend. I was wondering if you’d like to go to the aquarium. With me,” he finally said robotically.


    “A-An aquarium?” Lila stuttered, reeling from Theo’s question. She definitely hadn’t expected a question about an aquarium.


    “We can also grab dinner after,” Theo added, his voice cracking and posture seemingly deflating before her eyes. “If you’re up for it.”


    “D-Do you mean as like a d-date?” Lila’s teeth began to chatter, despite her face feeling very warm.


    “Yeah. I guess I do,” Theo stated. His usual lazy confidence had entirely vanished in the face of this statement.


    “I’ve never thought about going to an aquarium before,” Lila replied, realising slightly too late that that was wholly irrelevant to Theo’s question.


    “We can go together,” Theo said, his voice sounding abnormally small now. “How does Sunday sound?”


    “Sounds great,” Lila responded automatically, before her mind could catch up to what her mouth was saying. She closed her eyes, instantly regretting her words. There was no way to take that other than a yes. A date? With Theo? This bit Livi had started with Theo dating Lila was dragging on far too long... surely, he wasn''t serious? But, by his immediate reaction, Lila had a foreboding feeling in her stomach that he was very serious.


    “Oh, thank God,” Theo exhaled, breathing heavily into his hands and rubbing them together. He grinned at her, the widest and brightest that she’d ever seen from him. “I’ll walk you back. Are you cold?”


    Lila shook her head. Her whole body felt entirely warm now as they walked back towards Theo’s bag. Lila couldn’t muster the courage to say anything on this journey back, and Theo filled the quiet air with a light hum that she didn’t recognise.


    Elise and Grace were huddled together on the spectator stands, eyeing Theo with overt suspicion. He smiled at them as he picked up his bag, and Elise shivered in response.


    “See you on Saturday, Lila,” he said softly, looking at her briefly. Under the harsh light by the spectator stands, Lila could now see that his cheeks were entirely red.


    “I didn’t mention this, but I got my license a few weeks back. I’ll pick you up,” he added in a low voice, avoiding her gaze.


    “Okay,” Lila replied absently. He grinned at her again.


    “Gotta go!” he said, cheerily waving at Lila before sprinting off in the direction of the carpark, his school bags thumping against his back.


    “What just happened?” Elise immediately demanded, standing up and pointing at Lila in an accusatory way.


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    “I… he… Theo… asked me out on a date,” Lila said faintly, finding it harder than usual to string together words.


    “WHAT?!” Elise shrieked.


    “And you said no, of course,” Grace said in more of a question than a statement. Lila held her still-burning face in her hands.


    “I said yes,” she whispered.


    “WHAT!” Elise shrieked again. Lila thought she heard Grace hit Elise and looked up. Elise was rubbing her stomach and scowling. She picked up Lila’s hockey stick and bag and started stomping down the stairs, Grace following close behind.


    “What about your crush?” Grace whispered upon reaching Lila, looping their arms together. Lila looked down at the ground as they walked towards the bus station. The Maccas was a few stops away by bus, but they could walk if they needed to.


    “I panicked,” Lila said softly. “And then Theo seemed so excited… I couldn’t take it back. Besides… maybe I should think about trying to get over my crush on Asher.”


    “Why would you want to do that?” Elise asked, walking backwards ahead of Grace and Lila, swinging Lila’s hockey stick haphazardly. Lila looked at Elise in confusion.


    “You guys were the first to suggest it,” Lila pointed out.


    “Well, he had a girlfriend then,” Grace piped up. “He’s single now.”


    “He’s still not over her,” Lila sighed. A tear was threatening to escape and she used her free hand to wipe at her eyes. “He probably won’t ever be, to be honest.”


    “I doubt that,” Elise said, smiling comfortingly at Lila.


    Lila pressed her lips together. “I dunno, but… it’s not just you guys who suggested dating someone else. Vi did, at debating a while ago.”


    “Vi?” Elise narrowed her eyes. “You’re listening to her?”


    “Well, she’s not Livi. She actually… was kinda comforting. She also apologised for Livi’s behaviour.”


    “Look,” Grace said gently, unhooking her arm from Lila’s. “Like before, we’re not going to try and force you, but are you sure you want to give up on Asher?”


    “I’m not,” Lila admitted quietly. “But I can’t have a crush on him forever when he’s already kinda shot the idea of us down.”


    “Lila, you keep saying that but have you actually asked the guy?” Elise said sternly, throwing her arm up to flag down an oncoming bus.


    “I don’t need to,” Lila replied despondently. “Besides, if I do, and it’s true, then… I don’t know how I’d handle that.”


    The bus squealed to a stop and the trio boarded. It was virtually empty, but they didn’t sit down, electing instead to stand near the front. They swayed with the bus as it took them down several streets in relative silence before exiting right outside the Maccas.


    “I said this before, Lila, but being vulnerable is how you get anywhere with things,” Grace said softly once the bus departed with a roar. “Maybe you should try asking before you move on with Theo.”


    The smell of fries and oil hit them as they passed through the automatic doors. It was chockers with couples, families, and kids in school uniforms, which was unsurprising, given it was already 6pm. The ringing of multiple fryers reverberated around the store, along with the hurried footsteps of several workers alongside the whirring of blenders. The cacophony was almost overwhelming until Lila adjusted to the sounds – rush hour was definitely not pleasant.


    “Ah,” Elise smiled broadly, taking in a deep sniff. “Chaos.”


    “Chaos that you don’t have to fix,” Lila added, craning her neck. “I can’t see Isaac from here.”


    “Can barely see anything besides customers,” Grace said pointedly. “Are we ordering at a kiosk?”


    “I can put the order through a kiosk but I’ll need to pay at the counter for my sweet, sweet discount anyway,” Elise lamented with a shrug.


    “Looks like it’ll be a battle royale to get to the counter,” Lila quipped. Elise snorted in response.


    “Guess we can at least order what we want while we wait for the crowd to die down,” Grace sighed. Elise and Lila murmured their agreement to this plan. Lila scrolled through the offerings on the touchscreen kiosk nearest her.


    “You know, I go through literally everything on this menu every time I go in, but I always end up getting nuggets,” Lila shook her head.


    “Be more adventurous then, I dunno what to tell ya,” Elise drawled, watching Lila continue going through the menu.


    “I feel like I''m hungry enough to eat the whole place, but I’ll probably just get a cheeseburger meal,” Grace commented idly. Lila selected her tried-and-true 10 McNugget meal with an orange juice. She stepped aside to let Grace investigate the offerings herself. By the time Elise started her order, the crowd had dispersed significantly.


    Elise picked the ‘pay at counter’ option and the girls shuffled forward to the currently unmanned counter. Elise showed a surprising amount of patience while she held the receipt with her order number, waiting for someone to go to the POS system.


    “Sorry for the wait, what can I- why are you three here?” Isaac’s displeased voice arrived before he did, in all his red-uniformed glory. Lila managed to stifle a snicker.


    “Gotta reward this one for her hockey efforts, but after what happened after practice, I’m not sure she deserves it,” Elise said lazily, leaning across the counter. “Where’s your Crew Trainer or buddy?”


    “I think they saw you before I did and didn’t bother coming over,” Isaac shrugged. He looked at Elise expectantly, his hands on either side of the POS system. Elise looked down at it, though it must’ve been upside down at that angle.


    “You remember how to put one of these through?” she asked Isaac, waving the receipt in her hand. He scoffed.


    “Not only did you show up on your day off, but you’re also training me on your day off. Woman, you might as well just call it a day and get behind here,” he grumbled, pressing various buttons on the screen.


    “What’s got you all grouchy?” Lila smirked. “Is it cause we caught you in the act of contributing to society at large?”


    “That’s exactly right Lila, I, in my stupid hat and red-ass uniform, am working to pay TAXES like a good citizen under the watchful eye of you layabouts,” he huffed.


    “I doubt you’ll be earning enough to pay taxes,” Lila snorted disbelievingly.


    “I’m working my ass off here. Let me do my civil duty,” Isaac protested. “It’s hard work for me to be diligent, you know.”


    “But seriously,” Lila said sternly, swallowing her impending laugh. “What’s got you all antsy?”


    “Bro, I’m just tired,” Isaac sighed. “I’m the dummy that decided a shift straight after practice was a wise move.”


    “Aww, is the poor widdle McBaby suffering from success?” Elise chortled. Isaac bristled.


    “McMaybe I am. Gimme the number,” he said, reaching for the receipt still clutched in Elise’s hand. Elise obliged and they watched as he frowned, hesitating as he looked at the POS system. He looked up at Elise, as if to ask for help, before gritting his teeth and tapping the screen.


    “Aaaand ya fucked it,” Elise said, leaning her head over and pointing at the screen. “Grab Andy, will ya? Need him anyway for his code.”


    “And I was doing so well, too,” Isaac replied despondently as he shuffled off towards the back of the Maccas. He reappeared shortly after with a male, worn-looking, 20-something McManager in a grey shirt. He had tattoos trailing up both arms of various video game and anime characters and several piercings in his ears, which his brown, chin-length hair did a poor job of covering up.


    “What’s up, Elise,” the manager said tonelessly, rapidly tapping on the screen. “Can’t leave this place alone?”


    “Clearly, Andy,” Elise laughed, tapping her card on the EFTPOS reader.


    “Can you take on an extra shift tomorrow? 6-10pm,” Andy asked, giving Elise the receipt. Elise’s body went rigid for a moment before she gave him an easy-going smile.


    “’Course. Who am I covering this time?”


    “This one,” Andy jerked a thumb over at Isaac, who threw up a peace sign at Elise.


    “You got two shifts back-to-back as a trainee?” Elise asked with a low whistle. “Mr Popular. Why’re you giving this one up?”


    “Figured out that my Engineering exam is going to knock me flat on my ass,” Isaac replied simply, turning around to the Automatic Beverage Dispenser and passing over Lila’s juice, Grace’s Coke and Elise’s Sprite to their eagerly awaiting hands.


    “Don’t you have to study?” Lila asked Elise curiously. Elise shrugged.


    “Probably. But I’m in McNeed, and where I’m McWanted, I’ll McGo,” Elise responded brightly. Andy rolled his eyes at Elise and walked back towards the direction he’d come from.


    “Somehow I get the feeling that your McPuns are not so warmly received by your coworkers,” Lila observed.


    “You’re McRight,” Isaac confirmed with a nod. “But it’s part of Elise’s McCharm.”


    “Didn’t know I had any,” Elise said drily, sipping on her drink. Isaac laughed slightly too hard as he retreated to the back of the restaurant, presumably to get the rest of their order ready. It didn’t take long for Isaac to return, laden with bags of food. He gave them theirs with a grin after double-checking their order. After securing their bags, Elise led Lila and Grace to an empty booth in the dining area of the Maccas.


    “So, Lila,” Elise said conversationally after grabbing her food and popping open a burger box. “Grace and I’ve got a couple questions for you.”


    “Like what?” Lila asked warily, half-drowning a nugget in sweet and sour sauce.


    “I thought Asher was tutoring Daniel,” Grace interjected, shoving a couple of fries into her mouth. “Why’s he hanging out in your room?”


    “He is tutoring Daniel,” Lila sighed as her nugget slipped out of her fingers and into the rest of the sauce tub. She fished it out and threw it into her mouth. “But he comes into my room after dinner while waiting to get picked up. It’s hard for him to get back into it when he’s only got, like, twenty minutes after dinner.”


    “Is that all?” Elise asked loftily, biting into her burger.


    “Yeah. He’s been raiding my bookshelf.”


    “Raiding your bookshelf?” Elise snickered.


    “That sounds like a euphemism if I’ve ever heard one,” Grace added with a giggle.


    “Guys,” Lila frowned. “You already know that’s not what I meant.”


    “No plundering the literature?” Elise waggled her eyebrows.


    “Or pillaging the volumes?” Grace cackled.


    “There’s absolutely no ravaging of the tomes, thank you very much,” Lila countered, her frown twitching into a grin. They descended into laughter and resumed their dinner in silence for a couple of minutes before Elise piped up again.


    “Are you still going to go on the date with Theo?” she asked, wiping her mouth on a napkin.


    “I can’t really think of a reason why I shouldn’t,” Lila replied quietly. “I mean, sure I like Asher, but it’s not like Theo asked me to be his girlfriend. Maybe I’ll end up losing my crush on Asher and then being around him won’t hurt as much anymore.”


    “Why does it hurt?” Grace asked softly.


    “It… I guess it hurts because I wish it’d be different. And I can’t tell him that I like him. Even though I want him to know, I don’t want to know what he thinks because I have a good idea that it won’t end well for me. It’s a lot harder than I thought, having a crush on one of your best friends. Especially when it won’t work out.”


    Elise and Grace exchanged a glance before simultaneously sighing.


    “Right, well, let’s just focus on the date for now,” Grace said calmly. “What’s the plan?”


    “Well, he asked me to go to an aquarium with him,” Lila replied, feeling lighter now that the conversation had moved away from her feelings about Asher. “Then we’d get dinner after.”


    “An aquarium, huh,” Elise said thoughtfully. “Have you ever wanted to see the wet zoo?”


    “I’ve never thought about zoos, wet or not,” Lila responded honestly. “It should be nice.”


    “Do you think Theo is cute, at least?” Grace asked curiously. “I really have no frame of reference. He’s too… male for me.”


    “Well,” Lila frowned for a moment, trying to conjure a picture of Theo in her mind’s eye. “He’s decent enough. I mean, he does soccer.”


    “You really like soccer boys, don’t ya,” Elise teased, sucking on her drink. Lila rolled her eyes playfully at Elise.


    “Are you gonna tell Asher about it?” Elise asked after a couple moments. Lila shook her head vehemently.


    “He doesn’t need to know. Besides, I already know he doesn’t like Theo. I doubt he’d be supportive of me going on a date with the guy.”


    “A-And what would the reason for that be?” Grace interjected hesitantly, picking at her remaining fries.


    “Huh?” Lila shot her a suspicious look. Grace gestured for Lila to answer the question.


    “The reason? Dunno. Asher doesn’t like competition and even though Theo is in the grade above us, he’s technically competition,” Lila shrugged. “I don’t see why Asher’s dislike of Theo is important.”


    “Have you considered that Asher could be jealous of Theo?” Elise asked, raising an eyebrow.


    “Of course,” Lila replied, somewhat defensively. “He’s kinda told me that he thinks Theo is better than him in every aspect. I’ve already told Asher that that’s not true, though.”


    “That’s not what I mean,” Elise shook her head. “What if Asher dislikes Theo because Asher likes you and he thinks Theo is going to take you away from him?”


    Lila looked at Elise incredulously before she began to laugh. “Don’t be ridiculous,” Lila finally managed to say. “If that was true, Asher wouldn’t be giving me signs that he doesn’t want to be with me, surely.”


    “I’m with Elise on this one,” Grace uttered quietly.


    “Please don’t get my hopes up,” Lila whispered, suddenly unable to look at either of her friends. Lila could see their postures stiffen from her peripheral vision. No one spoke for a minute or so.


    “Sorry,” Grace mumbled.


    “I just…” Elise muttered simultaneously.


    “Let’s just talk about something else,” Lila sighed, staring up towards the front counter. Not many people were waiting for food inside anymore. She saw Isaac flag down a couple and pass over a bag and some drinks with a beaming smile.


    “Is Isaac doing well?” Grace asked Elise hurriedly.


    “Wh- Oh. Yeah, he’s a natural at customer service. Not so natural with the POS system, but he’ll get better. Just wish he wouldn’t muck around so much in the storage area.”


    “Waddya mean?” Lila blinked as she looked at Elise. Elise gave a long-suffering sigh.


    “I sent him to refill the sauces the other day, and he was gone for like five minutes. I went looking for him and he was just… I dunno how to describe it. He was just there squishing all the ketchup packets with this really weird grin on his face. Kinda like he was a mad scientist cooking up a plot to take over the world. Asked him what he was doing and he just handed me a really warm ketchup packet and said “They were cold” before grabbing the filled sauce tubs and leaving.”


    Lila burst into laughter. “What the heck?”


    “I think you just walked in on a really disturbing part of his psyche,” Grace said solemnly before also bursting into laughter.


    “What’d you do with the ketchup packet?” Lila asked after sobering up. Elise pulled one out of her skirt pocket and plopped it onto the table. It looked rather beat up, like someone had been pressing on it continuously.


    “EW!” Grace leaped up, moving away from Elise. “Why do you keep that on you?”


    “I didn’t know what to do with it,” Elise started laughing with an edge of hopelessness into her hands. “But it’s really squishy.”


    “So you keep it in your school uniform?” Lila couldn’t hold back the giggle fighting its way out her mouth as she said that. “Looks like you’ve tortured the poor thing.”


    “You and Isaac are just as bad as each other,” Grace declared, still looking horrified.


    “I think this is what happens when you get two slime kids to work together at Maccas,” Lila replied, her breathing now under control. Grace wrinkled her nose.


    “Could never get behind slime,” she said disdainfully. She relaxed next to Elise, staring down at the forlorn ketchup packet.


    “You don’t look very McHappy, Grace,” Isaac observed loudly as he approached their booth, dragging a dustpan and brush. His eyes fell on the packet and he gasped.


    “What did you do to Jerry?!” he cried, daintily lifting it from the table. “He’s hardly red anymore!”


    “Well if you’re going to name your sauce collection, don’t give me custody,” Elise snorted derisively. “Also, how do you even know that that’s ‘Jerry’?”


    Isaac looked at her and sniffed dramatically. “A father always knows his children. You monster.”


    “Get cleaning, idiot,” Elise retorted. He spun away from her and started sweeping the dining area, giving exaggerated sighs every so often.


    “Righto, well, I’m done if we wanna leave Moaning Myrtle alone to clean up,” Elise proposed.


    “I’ll see if Clare can pick me up,” Lila said, grabbing her phone. Clare replied instantly.


    “She literally just left the drive-thru,” Lila laughed incredulously, shaking her head. “Do you guys need a lift?”


    <hr>


    Lila laid awake in her bed that night, despite it being past midnight. Her body was exhausted, but her mind was racing her heart as if competing to see which was faster. Did Theo actually like her? He’d never said that, but he definitely seemed like he did. Or was he just continuing with Livi’s games?


    Then, of course, there was the overwhelming feeling of guilt and regret burning in her chest. She liked Asher, so why was she even going on a date with Theo? If Theo actually did like her, then wasn’t she just leading him on? But then, if she went on the date and ended up moving on from Asher, wouldn’t that be better?


    Lila could hardly keep up with her whirlwind of emotions. She checked her phone. It was 12.33am. She had her Bio exam in a few hours. Cursing silently to herself, she contemplated trying to cram some more for it when a message flashed on her screen.


    Curious, Lila opened it. It was from Asher.


    Did you tell Daniel I missed him?


    ‘Why’s he asking me that just after midnight?’ Lila thought, shaking her head.


    Yeah. He missed you too, Lila replied.


    Good. Can’t sleep? Asher instantly sent back.


    No. Got my Bio exam today, Lila responded. She couldn’t tell him the real reason.


    You’ll smash it


    I hope so. Why aren’t you sleeping?


    A minute passed. Lila sighed. Perhaps he ended up falling asleep.


    Just can’t. What did Theo end up wanting?


    Lila’s heart stopped for just a second. She hadn’t thought of a cover story, and she didn’t want to tell him about the date.


    He just asked a question. About hockey.


    Another pause.


    I see. I’m going to try and sleep. Night.


    Goodnight, Asher


    Lila plugged her phone in and turned to face the wall. She may as well try sleeping, too.