Chapter Seventy-Five


    The next morning started off with PE, the activity for which deviated from the norm. Once all the students assembled and the roll was marked, Ms Wright announced that they would be going on a walk.


    “A walk?” Lila heard Connor grumble behind her. “In winter? This sounds like condoned torture.”


    “It’s either a walk, or we all play dodgeball,” Ms Wright said sternly from next to Connor. Lila heard him squeak in reaction to Ms Wright’s words. Connor notoriously hated dodgeball, given his proclivity to be targeted mercilessly.


    “Shame. I love dodgeball,” sighed Lila, glancing over at Ms Wright. Ms Wright turned to her and nodded.


    “We’ll put it on the agenda for next term,” Ms Wright replied, smiling kindly down at Lila. “I thought a walk would help get these tired brains flowing for the last stretch of Term 2. Besides, that was an empty threat. I don’t have the energy to deal with dodgeball today.”


    The class congregated into one conglomerate, with Asher standing beside Lila. They set off, with Ms Wright stating that they’d walk to the nearby koala sanctuary. If they had time, they’d also be let loose on the nearby playground.


    Asher and Lila walked at a moderate pace, with Lila wordlessly enjoying Asher’s company. Despite how upset he’d been yesterday at Lila’s, he seemed relatively okay this morning. Perhaps the walk was doing him some good.


    Eventually though, once the class approached the koala sanctuary (which was more or less a forest of eucalyptus trees with the occasional koala sitting in them, and park benches and other amenities dotted around close to the entrance), Asher’s mood began to turn.


    “I’ve been stressing,” he admitted to Lila in a low voice as they stood some ways away from the rest of their class, who were resting after the walk. Lila peered up at him before searching the trees for a glimpse of a koala.


    “Makes sense,” she said softly, shielding her eyes from the needlessly bright winter sun. “I''ve been anxious about it too. I hope it goes okay.”


    Asher nodded grimly. “I think I might be overthinking. Psyching myself out.”


    “That’s understandable. We haven’t seen Livi upset, really. I hope Vi’s there, at least. She seems to be able to rein Livi in.”


    “You don’t hope that Theo’s there?” he was inspecting a cautionary sign showing a koala and what not to do when encountering one with great interest as he asked this.


    “I’m… apathetic about whether he’s there or not.”


    “Apathetic, aye… he seemed pretty cut up about you,” Asher’s eyes glinted as he glanced at her, a grin creeping up on his face.


    “Doubt it,” Lila replied bluntly. “It was never going to go anywhere.”


    “Then why’d you go on a date with him?”


    “I told you why, and I told you the info I got out of it. I’m not going to change my answer.”


    Asher fell silent before placing his hands on the top of his head. “I would’ve thought you two would be a great match.”


    Lila shrugged. “He’s a lot different than he is at school. It took me by surprise. It wasn’t necessarily a bad different. But he’s not for me.” A blush started to rise on her cheeks and she turned to face the entrance of the sanctuary to hide it from him.


    “Do… you have a crush on someone?” Asher asked softly. Lila whipped around to face him. His face was entirely serious. Lila suddenly felt the urge to take Asher by the shoulders and shake the daylights out of him. But she restrained herself. He opened the proverbial door. It was her turn to follow through.


    “I… do,” she eventually said, her eyes fluttering down to an assortment of fallen leaves by her feet. Her knees were shaking as she wiped her sweaty hands on the side of her PE shorts. She tried to muster the courage to say the simple, one-syllable word to get it over with, but her breath had been knocked out of her. She struggled to catch it as Asher looked at her intently.


    “Wh-”


    His attempt at speaking was cut down by three sharp claps. They both looked around to find the source.


    “Looks like we have time to go to the park if we go right now,” Ms Wright’s voice called over the hushed rustling of hundreds of eucalyptus trees. “Let’s go.”


    Lila’s class grouped up again and they marched briskly to the playground between the sanctuary and Forestglade College. Asher didn’t say a word to Lila again, and she had lost any and all momentum she once had in carrying on a conversation with him.


    Upon reaching the playground, Ms Wright gestured at it vaguely.


    “Go play,” she said dismissively, waving her hands towards the equipment. It was a rather large playground, with several sets of swings, a couple of child-sized diggers, some slides, a massive climbing net, and a myriad of other things. Lila’s class silently looked at each other before all hell broke loose. The class scrambled to get to their preferred playground equipment, shouting and carrying on, with Justin and Connor already fighting over one particular digger, sand flying everywhere.


    “Race ya to the swings!” Asher announced excitedly to Lila, already sprinting.


    “H-Hey!” Lila yelled after him before breaking into a sprint of her own. Lila had no hope of catching up, given his head start, so settled for trying to push him off the swing that he’d jumped on. He held on tightly, cackling, and all her pushing served to do was boost his swinging potential.


    Giving up, she took a step back as he soared through the air, delight plastered across his face. She smiled to herself as she watched. His joy was infectious. As he sailed back down to the ground, he let out a childlike, “Wheeee!” and she chuckled. It turned out that she didn’t need to be on the swing to enjoy herself.


    After a few moments, he leaped off mid-swing, landing with his feet firmly planted on the ground. It was rather impressive, actually.


    “Here,” he said, breathing heavily and standing. “I can’t steal all the fun.”


    He grabbed onto the swing, which was still moving due to having left it abruptly, and held it out for her.


    “N-No, it’s fine. You were having fun,” Lila replied, shaking her head. Her face began to turn red as he continued to hold it for her.


    “C’mon,” he cajoled with a cheeky grin. “I’m an only child, we don’t like sharing. I’m one second away from hogging this all day.”


    Lila relented and sat down. He pushed her a couple times before she took over. Asher stepped back and watched while she continued to swing, trying to get as high as she could go. The wind rushing past her ears, the force of her body flying through the air, and the rhythmic whine of the swing were all she could concentrate on for now. It was freeing, really, clearing her head like this.


    Eventually, they swapped again before Ms Wright instructed everyone to start heading back to campus. All of their classmates seemed to be in much higher spirits as they chattered and giggled along the way back.


    Well, all except Asher.


    Lila snuck a peek at Asher while they walked in silence yet again. His flushed face was the only hint of the exhilaration he’d just experienced on the playground as he furrowed his brow. His eyes met hers and he gave her a half-smile.


    “That was fun,” he said, though she could tell anxiety was beginning to brew within him again as he looked back down at the concrete pathway towards the school. “But now all I can think about is lunch.”


    “It’ll pass just like PE did,” Lila replied quietly. “Then we can look forward to the holidays.”


    “Yeah…”


    <hr>


    “You’re going back again? Asher too?” Grace’s mouth dropped open during morning tea after Lila’s apology about missing lunch with the group in favour of going to see Livi.


    “Didn’t you see how fast he booked it out of there when we all went? When Livi asked Isaac to rate you?” Elise asked incredulously. “It was like his ass was on fire.”


    Lila shrugged nonchalantly, though her hands were trembling in her lap. “It’s probably the last time we’ll be going. We’ll survive.”


    Grace and Elise looked at her dubiously.


    “Look, I don’t know what’s up with this Livi chick, but she says some real crazy shit,” Elise remarked after an agonising sigh.


    “Water off a duck’s back,” Lila quipped. “We’ll be fine.”


    “Yeah, you might be. But it’s really obvious that Asher is not having a good time at the moment,” Grace interjected quietly. “Can you just go by yourself?”


    “Asher has to be there,” Lila lamented. “Non-negotiable.”


    “Why’re you even going?” Elise pressed, emptying her yoghurt cup into her mouth.


    “It’s… for Daniel.”


    “What’s Daniel doing with the Banker?” Grace asked, alarm clear in the way her eyebrows flew up her forehead. “He’s too young to be getting involved in all that.”


    “That’s exactly the point. He got in some trouble, so we’re sorting it out. Well, Asher’s better at maths than I am, so he figured out a payment plan of sorts,” Lila replied quickly, silently praising herself for thinking on her feet like that. Elise pursed her lips.


    “Alright. Well. If that’s how it’s gotta be, then I guess we’ll be here for the fallout,” she said flatly.


    “Thanks guys. I don’t want to, but I have to for Daniel.”


    “Just big sister things,” Grace smiled. “Sacrifices you have to make.”


    “It really is a sacrifice,” Lila responded morosely.


    The girls began discussing other things whilst they ate their morning tea. Elise was deep into some McGossip when Isaac dramatically flopped onto the ground next to her, causing her to flinch.


    “Why are you here?” Elise grumbled, shuffling over to widen the circle to admit Isaac.


    “Asher chased me off,” Isaac sighed. “He went to do something, and he had the gall to say he’s ditching me for lunch.”


    “This one’s ditching us, too,” Elise stated, jerking a thumb at Lila. “They’re like two peas in a pod.”


    Lila frowned before a thought crossed her mind. Now that all three of them were here without Asher, she could interrogate them. Smirking, she cast a look at each of them and straightened up.


    “I heard it was your idea to follow me at the aquarium, by the way,” Lila said lightly, surveying Isaac closely. He choked on his banana and beat his chest with a closed fist.


    “D-Did you guys throw me under the bus?” he spluttered after taking a drink from his water bottle.


    “Mayhaps,” Elise replied loftily, shrugging with her hands palm-up.


    “Well, thanks for the heads up,” Isaac said sarcastically.


    “Doesn’t matter to me who suggested it,” Lila cut in, “but I want to know why. I know you said it was to see that nothing ‘nefarious’ was going on, but I know that that’s not the only reason.”


    Elise, Grace, and Isaac all looked similarly uncomfortable.


    “Oh no,” Isaac said lamely, looking at his watch-less wrist. “Is that the time? Looks like I have to go to class…”


    His attempt at escape was thwarted by Elise, who grabbed the hem of his blazer before he could fully stand and pulled him back to the ground.


    “She’ll hunt you down,” Grace explained warily. “You may as well just stay.”


    Lila huffed and crossed her arms, impatiently waiting for an explanation.


    “Fine,” Isaac relented, throwing his hands up in the air. “We wanted to see if you liked Theo. Or were falling for him, I guess. If you were, we were going to tackle him.”


    “We were going to tackle him? I think only you signed up for that,” snorted Elise.


    “Why’d you want to do that?” Lila queried, relaxing her arms.


    “’Cause if you were going to fall for Theo, we wanted to stop it,” sighed Grace. “We’ve literally been trying to get you and Asher together for, like, the whole term, and Theo just rolled up and trampled on all our hard work.”


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


    Lila felt the blood rushing to her cheeks. “Y-You have?”


    “Did you really think we were dumb enough to get lost in the cinemas? We’d bought the tickets for the other movie online. Only you got a ticket for the superhero movie,” Elise clarified, tapping her toes together with apparent satisfaction.


    “If the door to the storage room in the Applied Tech building didn’t have a lock on the ouside, I was just going to stand against it to close you guys in,” Isaac added casually. “But then it locked for real and we freaked out.”


    “Besides, do you really think us three running conversations alongside you and Asher at lunch is an accident? I don’t think I’ve actually said anything directly to Asher in weeks,” Grace revealed. “There’s only so many McHot Takes a girl can listen to, you know.”


    “Oi, I thought you enjoyed those,” pouted Elise.


    “Girl, I probably know as much about working at Maccas, at your store specifically, as Isaac does at this point. May as well give me a uniform,” Grace teased.


    “And that’s why you were so annoyed seeing me talk to Theo,” Lila nodded at Isaac.


    “Yuppers. Annoyed and panicked,” he uttered, popping the ‘p’s and lying down in the grass on his back. “I mean, on paper, Theo and Asher are pretty similar. Imagine if, after all our hard work, you got with Theo instead?”


    “Why do you guys even want Asher and me together that bad?” Lila asked softly, looking down at her skirt and picking at fraying threads along the hem.


    “Well, I’ve been shipping you two since we broke up,” Isaac said lazily, stretching a hand up to the sky.


    “I feel like what you just said was illegal,” Elise gasped.


    “I already told you this at one of our secret meetings, why are you gasping again?” Isaac lifted himself up by his arms to furrow his brow at Elise.


    “Personally, when Asher asked you to go over to his place in Term 1 just after we were talking about him, I thought your face was super hilarious. Then, when I saw how you two were at semi together, I couldn’t take it anymore,” Elise said, ignoring Isaac. He fell back down to the ground with a ‘hmph’.


    “When I heard you fought with Clare about Asher, I knew for sure that you liked him,” Grace remarked casually. “You and Clare are almost always on the same side.”


    “I also wanted my eyes back,” Isaac joked. “Not having them these past few weeks made studying real difficult.”


    “What?” Elise asked, looking at Isaac in apparent concern. Lila laughed.


    “Just… something Isaac said a while ago,” Lila explained lamely.


    “Righto,” Elise shrugged. “Thought he was just being weird again.”


    “Oi!” Isaac protested.


    “You are pretty weird,” Lila replied shortly. He pouted and the quartet lounged in silence for a few minutes.


    “We pretty were concerned about how Theo would be with you on the date, though,” Grace added softly. “He’s got a… reputation.”


    “Reputation?” Lila asked, lifting an eyebrow. “I know one of the girls in his Grade thought he was asexual.”


    “HA!” Isaac exclaimed. “That’s a godamn lie. Sex is all the guy talks about in the changing room.”


    “That’s what the other Grade 12 girl said. He never mentioned it to me, though. Well, he asked about hooking up but quickly retracted it after he saw my reaction,” Lila said thoughtfully.


    “Huh, maybe he’s actually quite gentlemanly with potential partners,” Grace mused. Isaac looked at Lila darkly.


    “If you had said yes to hooking up, he probably would’ve just parked the car and done something there and then. Or gone into, like, the bathrooms or a quiet corner in the aquarium,” Isaac said disapprovingly. “He’s done those kinds of things before, apparently.”


    “Well, if we had, that would’ve been my choice,” Lila frowned. “Not that I would’ve wanted to do that in those places, even if I was interested in him.”


    “You’d hope, but that’s why we kept an eye on you,” Isaac replied cautiously.


    “Squad’s got your back,” Elise grinned.


    “Thanks ‘squad’,” Lila responded. “Not that I needed you guys to.”


    “That’s why people pay for insurance,” Isaac commented idly. “Just in case.”


    The group fell silent once more, though it certainly seemed comfortable. Lila smiled when she remembered Isaac’s intrusion on their lunch around Valentine’s Day. She hadn’t predicted that it would be a much more regular and even welcomed occurrence this year. After a few minutes, Isaac checked his phone.


    “Uh, guys,” he said, sitting bolt upright. “We’re late for class.”


    <hr>


    Ms Wang’s stern warning to Lila, Elise, and Grace about being at class on time did nothing to quell the anxiety still within Lila. As time ticked closer and closer to lunch, she couldn’t help but wish for it to slow down.


    But as Ms Takahashi paused the Studio Ghibli movie, Kiki’s Delivery Service, promising to continue it the next lesson, Lila couldn’t get her wish. She could hardly stand but powered through, being the last to leave, and stumbled outside into Asher.


    “S-Sorry,” she stuttered. “I didn’t realise you were outside.”


    “You took a little bit longer than usual to leave, so I wanted to check if you were okay,” Asher replied, his eyes seeming nervous. They stood there for a moment before Lila sighed.


    “Nothing else for it,” she said, shaking her head. “Let’s go.”


    Unlike their previous visits, the area surrounding the science lab was rather empty. A few groups of students were waiting, shivering against the cold, but they were not nearly as numerous as usual. Zack was standing nearby, bundled in a scarf and jumper, shooing students who wanted to do business with the Banker. He nodded at them as they approached.


    “Door’s open,” Zack said simply. “I’ll lock it after you get in.”


    Asher glanced warily at Lila.


    “You okay?” she asked him gently.


    “Should be. Probably won’t go as badly as I’m anticipating,” he said unconvincingly. He opened the door regardless and they entered.


    The atmosphere here was incredibly tense. Livi’s usual group was all accounted for, though Livi looked distinctly unimpressed with their arrival. Daniel glanced over his shoulder at Lila and Asher, his conversation with Theo, Jason, and Harper halting. Daniel seemed rather collected as he turned around and smiled at Asher. As promised, Zack locked the door behind them.


    Theo waved at Lila, and she smiled back, unwilling to take her hands out of her pockets. The rest of the Grade 12s nodded at Lila and Asher in acknowledgement. Once they were done greeting each other, Livi folded her arms across her chest.


    “So,” Livi said contemptuously. “Our boss over there says you’re bringing about some changes.”


    “Sure am,” Asher said coldly. Daniel gestured at Asher to join him by Livi’s desk, his face incredibly serious. They began discussing the new process, with Livi scowling the entire time. To Lila’s surprise, she didn’t interrupt once.


    Theo stood up from his table and wandered over to Lila, who was standing awkwardly just behind Asher and Daniel.


    “Here for emotional support, I’m guessing?” he asked with a grin.


    “Suppose I am. But they’re talking business for now. Seems to be going well,” Lila replied tentatively.


    “I wouldn’t be so sure,” Theo whispered. “She’s been pissed all day.”


    Lila felt a sinking feeling in her stomach as she looked over at Daniel, Asher, and Livi again. She appeared to be well-behaved, but perhaps she was just waiting for the right moment.


    Lila saw Asher nod at Daniel before stepping back, closer to Lila and Theo.


    “Daniel’s just taking her through the Square reader,” Asher explained, glancing back at Lila. He did a double take and turned to face Theo. “Why’re you here?” Asher asked combatively. Theo raised his hands in surrender.


    “Don’t hit me,” Theo said, his eyes twinkling with mischief. “Just having a chat with Lila. She was lonely over here.”


    Asher’s eyes flickered to Lila before he turned back to face Daniel and Livi, his arms crossed. “I see. Don’t mind me.”


    Theo winked at Lila, his shoulders quivering with suppressed laughter. They didn’t say anything else, but he remained by her side as they continued to watch Daniel and Livi. With a satisfying ‘beep’ from the reader, Lila knew the demonstration was over. They’d survived. Livi hadn’t done or said anything in particular that would give rise to concern. Maybe they were safe. Lila noticed that Asher’s whole body seemed to relax – perhaps he was thinking the same thing.


    Just as Daniel walked away from Livi’s desk though, she began to speak, a malevolent grin scrunching her typically pretty face.


    “So, Asher,” Livi said sweetly, holding her head in her hands. “How does it feel, knowing that Theo asked Lila on a date and she said yes?”


    Asher took in a deep breath, his fists clenched tightly, before shrugging. “Am I meant to feel something?” he asked defiantly.


    “Oh,” Livi said softly, her voice almost melodic. “Denying things to yourself today, are we?”


    Her eyes flickered over to Theo and Lila. “Did you enjoy your date? Share any food? Take any selfies? Kiss? Hook up?”


    “Don’t know why it matters to you,” Lila replied shortly.


    “Doesn’t matter to me,” Livi replied loftily. “I can guarantee that it matters a whole lot to father of the year, over there.”


    The atmosphere deepened immediately from intensity to oppression, as if the word “father” had flicked a switch. All eyes were wide, staring directly at Asher, who had turned a sickly pale colour. Daniel looked at Livi, then at Asher, and finally at Lila.


    “Father? What?” he asked, his eyes narrowed in confusion.


    Livi laughed incredulously. “What, you didn’t know? Your buddy Asher, Dux of Grade 11, is a few short months away from becoming a teen dad.”


    Daniel’s eyes bulged as he stared at Lila. “Huh? With who? Not you, right?”


    “His ex-girlfriend that he dumped mercilessly after finding out she was pregnant, of course,” Livi explained loftily. “Cares only about himself. He’s a deadbeat dad, if I’ve ever seen one. Ran away when the going got tough.”


    Even Theo seemed shocked by the news as he looked between Asher and Lila.


    “You don’t seem very shocked, though, Lila,” Livi mused. “Heard it all before? And you’re still clinging onto him like a lost puppy. Dunno if you need a wake-up call or what, but he doesn’t want you. He doesn’t even want his kid. I’d run for the hills. Who’d want to be stuck being a step-mummy at 16?”


    Asher was trembling now, his eyes shining. That only seemed to amuse Livi even further.


    “Wait, I’ve got it. The reason why you’re still around is because Asher’s lied to you. He’s said he’s not the father, and you believe him. So na?ve.”


    For a moment, Lila’s head began to spin. She’d never considered that Asher may have lied to her. But, just as quickly as the doubt appeared, she dismissed it. The pain, shame, and guilt that Asher had been through, that he’d shown her – that was real.


    “Lila,” Asher’s voice croaked, desperation in his eyes as he turned to her. His face was still pale, and she could see that tears were about to roll down his face.


    “Guys lie all the time,” Livi shrugged. “Maybe his grand plan is to try and spread his seed as far as it can go. He’s done with his ex, and now he’ll move on to you. Theo’s trying to do you a favour, to save you from the fate of Asher’s irresponsibility.”


    Livi stared straight into Asher’s face as she continued. “How dare you leave your pregnant girlfriend in the lurch as she’s carrying your child and lie to poor, innocent Lila? I wonder how your parents feel, that they raised such an irresponsible coward. But I bet you haven’t even told them about your failings as a decent human being. All that money and smarts put into you, and you’re probably going to drop out to earn money for child support. I bet your Mum would cr-”


    Slap.


    At the speed of a lightning strike, Lila darted forward and slapped Livi across the face with as much force as she could muster. The sound rang out like a clap of thunder, mingled with the gasps of Vi and Harper.


    Lila found herself shouting without any restraint, “WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM?!”


    Livi held the spot on her face where Lila had hit her, tears welling in her eyes. At once, the room filled with the sounds of scraping chairs across the linoleum floor as everyone who was seated stood. Theo pulled Lila back behind him, taking her away from smacking distance of Livi. Lila breathed heavily as she glowered at Livi over Theo’s shoulder. From where she was standing, she could also see that Daniel’s face was as white as a sheet, and Jake and Zack looked incredibly dumbfounded.


    “It’s not his kid,” Lila spat. “So shut up.”


    “Whoa, what?” Theo turned to look at Asher, who was still standing where he had been, frozen. Theo quickly glanced at Lila. “Are you sure? I mean, Livi says a lot of bs, but that bit about lying could be true.”


    Lila moved away from Theo, anger marring her face. “Asher would never lie to me. Never. I trust him. With everything I’ve got.”


    Silence blanketed the occupants of the room for a second before Asher marched forward, towering over Livi. Lila saw that his face was red as he passed her. His expression, though, was entirely resolute yet there was something undecipherable beneath it.


    “Sucks to tell a bitch like you, but I’ve never had sex,” he hissed, slamming his hands on the desk between them. Livi jumped, slack-jawed with shock. “Can’t father a baby if you don’t do that.”


    “Well, that’s embarrassing,” Jason drawled. Asher shot him a withering look and Jason swiftly looked down at the table he was standing beside, a smirk twitching on his face.


    No one else responded. Livi still held her face tenderly, but her expression, instead of showing anger or even humiliation like Lila expected, looked entirely ashamed. A beat passed before Asher inclined his head towards Zack. “Let us out,” he commanded.


    “Okay,” Zack replied instantly, fumbling around for the keys. Asher turned on his heel and gently grabbed Lila’s arm.


    “Let’s go,” he said quietly. She nodded and followed his lead.


    “Looks like we’re done here,” Daniel said, picking up the Square reader.


    “Just a few more things, Banker,” Vi piped up. “Just a bit longer.”


    Daniel paused before sighing. “Alright. If it can’t be avoided.”


    Zack opened the door for Lila and Asher and they exited into the freezing winter air. Asher let go of Lila and she wrapped her scarf more tightly around her neck. Now that they had left, and her temper had (literally) cooled down, she had absolutely no idea what to do or say. Had she just messed everything up for Daniel? Was Asher okay? He ended up telling the last people he probably wanted to know that he was a virgin… And Jason had reaffirmed exactly why Asher would be reluctant to do so. There was only so much embarrassment he could take… And did Asher feel embarrassed by Lila slapping Livi like that? She’d tried to control herself, but as soon as Livi had mentioned Asher’s Mum, she’d lost any hope of impulse control.


    Asher started walking wordlessly down the pathway out of the STEM area and Lila followed, with nothing else to do. She couldn’t bring herself to look directly at him. Not now, anyway. They continued their stroll at a moderate pace before Asher began to slow down near the locker room.


    “That… went a bit shit,” Asher finally said.


    “Uh-huh… sorry,” Lila replied in a small voice.


    “Wasn’t your fault.”


    Lila looked up at Asher and was surprised to see him grinning at her.


    “I wish I could replay that moment over and over again,” he said, his voice teeming with joy. “She deserved it. Has done since the first time we met her.”


    In the face of Asher’s reaction, Lila wasn’t sure what to say in response. Usually, Asher would leave Livi’s group upset and broody for quite some time. But… for some reason, he seemed elated. Was it really just because she slapped Livi? With the questions swirling in her mind, she followed Asher to his locker. He opened it, passing her a lunchbox.


    “Hungry?” he asked.


    “I… don’t actually know,” she replied, unzipping it slightly to see its contents. It looked like a stir fry of some kind.


    “We don’t have that much time left, so let’s quickly eat,” Asher said urgently, shutting his locker. They made their way to a secluded spot in the alleyway between the locker room and the next building.


    Asher seemed ravenous as he dived into his food, shoving as much as he could fit into his mouth. The fervour with which he ate was vastly unusual – had he been starving himself? Lila ate at a more reasonable pace and was still eating when Asher finished with a long drink of water.


    “Lila,” he said seriously, replacing the cap on his bottle and resting it beside him. “Thank you.”


    “For?” she asked, another bite of stir fry centimetres from her mouth.


    “… for trusting me. I… thought for a second that you’d believe Livi. And… I know why you slapped her when you did. ‘Cause she brought up Mum. It… yeah. I noticed. Thank you.”


    Lila lowered her fork and looked at him with a tight smile.


    “Thank you,” she said. “For helping Daniel, and even going back to be subjected to all that clownery. I know you hate going there, but you’ve pushed yourself so many times on my, or others’, behalf. Besides… I already told you I trust you. Why would I believe her over you?”


    Asher’s face reddened as he looked back down at his lunchbox. “… Yeah.”


    He remained silent as Lila finished her food. When she was done, he stood up.


    “Class is about to start,” he said simply, holding a hand out for her. She stared at it for a moment before taking it. He pulled her up and they started walking back to the locker room.


    “What you did back there was awesome,” he said softly as they passed a gaggle of girls who looked at Asher before bursting into a fit of derisive laughter. It was easy to figure out that they had likely heard the newest batch of rumours about Asher’s alleged status as a teen dad. He steadfastly ignored them as he continued to speak. “But I can’t get what Livi said out of my head at the moment. Just like usual, she got me where it fucking stings.”


    “That’s to be expected,” Lila replied gently. “I was pretty surprised with how… upbeat you seem.”


    He gave her a cocky grin. “I’m just drowning out what she said in my mind with my recollection of the sound of your slap.”


    Lila blushed, gripping the sides of her lunchbox tightly. Now that she’d been out of the situation for a little bit, the shame of letting her emotions get the best of her was flooding in. Though, a niggling thought tickled the back of her mind. Seeing as she was the Banker’s sister, how was he handling what just happened? Firstly, he had to manage the new system change, but, secondly, he also had to manage a likely irate Livi who’d just been slapped by her boss’ sister. Plus, the look on his face when Livi divulged the latest rumours… he clearly had heard nothing about them. She’d definitely need to check in with him after school today…


    “By the way,” Asher said candidly, interrupting her train of thought. “Do you wanna come over to mine? On the weekend? Uh, Saturday maybe?”


    “Sure. For what though?” Lila responded, hugging her lunchbox close to her chest.


    “Planning,” he said simply, giving her a meaningful look. She smiled and passed the lunchbox back to him, having reached the point where their paths diverged.


    “Sounds like a plan. Pun intended.”


    He chuckled. “Of course it was. See you later.”


    “Bye.”