Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-One


    Knock knock.


    Lila opened her bleary eyes, blinking away as much sleep as she could.


    “Yeah?” she yawned, sitting up and stretching her arms above her head.


    Daniel sidled in, folding his school tie around his neck. “Morning.”


    His voice had a croaky quality to it – but Lila could tell that it wasn’t because it was early in the morning.


    “Morning,” Lila said warily, rubbing her eyes to clear them. “What’s up?”


    “… It’s a school day.”


    “Well, yeah. I know that. But my alarms haven’t even gone off. You’re up way too early.”


    He sighed, undoing his tie. “I know. I’m nervous.”


    “About the meeting with the Headmaster, I’m guessing.”


    “Yeah. I read all my notes, Asher’s notes, suggestions, business plans, I even tried to look at Fair Trading legislation, but my brain’s too small for that.”


    Lila’s eyelids fluttered in surprise. “I didn’t even know you knew what Fair Trading was.”


    “Googled it. Didn’t get very far, though.”


    “It’s a good thought,” Lila yawned. “At least, I’d assume so. But I highly doubt you need any of that. This would just be more of a school activity, rather than a full business.”


    “I know,” Daniel murmured, smacking himself in the face with the end of his tie. He pressed his lips together in frustration, undoing it yet again. “Just… want to be prepared.”


    “You’ll be fine. I know I can’t go in there with you, but I’ll sit just outside his office, yeah?”


    He gave her a meek smile. “Thanks, sis.”


    “You’re welcome. Now get out.”


    He snorted, promptly leaving and closing the door behind him.


    They sat on the bus together that morning, though Daniel looked paler than usual. She did ask if he was sick, but he insisted otherwise. From what Lila could recall, Daniel hadn’t ever met the Headmaster before, let alone in circumstances that could toe the line of being expelled or heavily punished. She didn’t need to wonder why he was so spooked.


    They parted ways at the bus station, Lila watching him go for a few moments before heading to her locker. She wouldn’t be surprised if she got caught up worrying about him all day, though she knew it wouldn’t be helpful if she did that.


    Though she’d fallen asleep relatively easily yesterday, her mind had been whirling, swept up with all facets of her discussions with Asher yesterday – about them, and about the morphine ring. These thoughts returned with a vengeance as she impatiently waited for Design to be over, the usual calm and quiet atmosphere now getting on her nerves.


    Mr Dillon finally released them and she shot up, throwing her bag over her shoulder. She burst out of the classroom, her eyes already looking towards the direction of her English class. It seemed, though, that she should’ve taken more care to look elsewhere as she stumbled into a male student.


    “S-Sorry,” she mumbled before looking up into very familiar, delighted eyes.


    “Someone’s in a rush,” Asher chuckled, lifting her bag from her shoulder.


    “What’re you doing here?” Lila asked, her heart racing from both the shock and the visceral reminder of what they’d talked about yesterday morning.


    “I wanted to walk to class with you,” he said simply, offering his arm for her to take. Lila smiled, curling her arm around his.


    “Is that all?”


    He gave her a sideways glance as they set off towards English. “I’m sure you know the answer to that.”


    She gently squeezed his arm, a cheeky grin brightening her face. “I’d rather hear you say it.”


    He held her gaze for a moment before bringing his face close to her ear, his voice low and breathy. “Of course that’s not all. But from the look you’re giving me, I feel like I’m not the only one.”


    She gave a startled gasp, her face immediately burning a bright red. “H-How-”


    “After what you told me yesterday, I finally figured out why your eyes sometimes look at me like they’re hungry for something that’s not food,” he snickered, his tone carrying a distinctly flirtatious air. “Why do you think I keep giving you lunch?”


    She swatted his arm and he let out a deep belly laugh in response. “Only kidding,” he said, his eyes twinkling. “About the lunch thing.”


    “I’m so embarrassed,” she whispered, hiding her shameful expression with her free hand.


    “Don’t be,” Asher’s tone switched to one of complete and utter seriousness. “It’s really attractive.”


    Lila felt as though she’d forgotten the English language in its entirety, her mind stuttering like a broken record. He glanced at her again and she settled for leaning her head on his arm as her response to his statement.


    It wasn’t much further until they reached the English classroom. He stopped short of the door, turning his head to look at her.


    “This teasing thing is kinda fun,” he winked at her playfully before opening the door and gesturing for her to head inside. She took her usual seat, pressing her cold hands to her blazing hot face. Was she really so obvious? Or was he just much better at teasing than she was?


    She heard him chortle as he took his seat next to her and passed her bag along. She tried to ignore him as she pulled out her English materials, feeling once again she wasn’t going to survive English with Asher. But… it was for an entirely different reason than it had originally been, back in February.


    As she felt his leg lightly touch hers under the desk, she remembered with a smile the first day that they had been paired as English partners. If Lila could tell her past self that they’d be dating, her past self would probably laugh. He’d seemed so unapproachable – severe, even – back then. Not at all as warm and playful as she now knew him to be.


    Then, she realised with a hitch in her breath, that if he’d been battling against sexual thoughts about her for as long as he’d said… then had he thought about it when they were first paired up? He hadn’t seemed excited or happy at all to be working with her back then. If she recalled correctly, he’d said something along the lines of just getting it over and done with.


    He caught her eye with a wide, gleaming smile as Ms Shard connected her laptop to the projector screen.


    “What’s the smile for?” Lila whispered, smiling back at him. He shook his head.


    “Just… feeling happy,” he replied, also in a whisper. “Am I not supposed to?”


    “It’s giving me an ominous feeling, given what we’re doing at morning tea.”


    “Alright, I’ll be sad then,” he grinned before morphing his face into an exaggerated frown.


    “Asher, are you paying attention? I can hardly concentrate with the faces you’re pulling,” Ms Shard called, peering over at them over the rim of her glasses. Lila stifled the giggle in her throat as he jumped, looking incredibly guilty.


    “Yes, ma’am. I’m paying attention,” he responded glumly.


    “I’m not above separating you two,” Ms Shard noted, though her expression seemed rather amused. She continued on with her lecture, and Lila didn’t dare look at Asher again, let alone talk to him.


    Finally, class was over and Asher stood with a yawn.


    “Let’s get this over with, yeah?” he said, offering her his hand. Her heart skipped a beat as she recalled that that had been the first thing he said to her this year. How strange it was, that things could be so circular. She took his hand with a smile and he retrieved her bag before they exited the classroom.


    “Do you think they’re in the same spot?” Lila asked quietly as they traipsed towards the usual lab that hosted the Banker’s dealings.


    “I never thought that they wouldn’t be,” Asher replied as if the notion that they’d be elsewhere disturbed him.


    “Well, it’s not like we don’t have a source that should know where they are,” Lila laughed, lightly patting him on the arm. “You don’t need to panic.”


    “Me? Panic? Never.”


    She laughed again and he joined in. Then, she decided to just go for it. The small realisation that asking him something like this would’ve usually elicited a period of um-ing and ah-ing, but did not so much as phase her now, gave her a slight smile as she spoke. Was she getting braver?


    “Asher, I’m curious.”


    “Uh oh. That’s not good.”


    She rolled her eyes playfully upon registering the cheeky grin on his face.


    “A-Anyway, I was just thinking, y’know. About the fact that, well, we weren’t close at the start of this year. But, after what you said yesterday… what did you think, when we got paired for English? Especially with your, uh, thoughts about me.


    He was silent for a few moments. He gave her a sideways glance before sighing heavily.


    “That’s a question I’d never anticipated,” he said simply. “I mean, I already told you that I was really happy when we got paired up.”


    “I know you said that, but you really didn’t seem like it in the beginning. So… what was going on in your mind?”


    “Well…” he trailed off, slowing his pace. He looked pensive as he lightly ran his thumb along the back of her hand. “I… well at first, I thought it was my chance… so I started thinking about a couple of things – like whether I should go for it, until I remembered I had a girlfriend. Then because I had a girlfriend, I figured I needed to keep you at arm’s length. ‘Cause, like I said before, I thought that my crush was over until we starting working together. Then I sat next to you, and…” he turned a bright red, averting his eyes from her. “And you smelt really nice… but then you kept staring at me. I thought you disliked me or something since you kept frowning.”


    Lila closed her eyes, holding back a chuckle. She kept frowning, huh…


    He shook her hand and she looked at him in surprise.


    “What?” she queried.


    “Well… what about you?”


    “What about me what?”


    “What did you think about when we got paired?”


    “I couldn’t stop thinking about you,” she responded after a brief pause. “Mostly why you looked and seemed so… different.”


    He nodded slowly, a grin creeping onto his face. “Intrigued you, did it?”


    “Why do you think I asked you about it?” Lila replied bashfully.


    “I’m glad you did,” he murmured, kissing the back of her hand. “If you hadn’t… perhaps we wouldn’t be together now.”


    The suggestion caused a lump to rise in her throat, which she managed to swallow down. The idea that perhaps she wouldn’t have ended up being his girlfriend was one that she tried not to think about. It’d been such a journey to get to this point…


    “Looks like it’s a bit quiet,” Asher observed in a low voice, bringing Lila’s attention back to the task at hand. He was right – there weren’t many students milling around outside the lab. Lila presumed that most of the customers would prefer to order delivery for lunch, since it was a touch longer than morning tea. Although… given Daniel’s information that he’d been receiving a lot of complaints… perhaps Livi had driven plenty of the customers away.


    They continued towards the door to the lab that usually held Livi and her friends. Asher reached for it with his free hand before hesitating for a split second.


    “You sure you’re okay with this?” Lila asked gently. He turned, looking down at their intertwined hands before moving his eyes to her face.


    “’Course. After all, our burritos are waiting to be purchased.” He smiled at her, opening the door.


    They stepped inside the threshold, with Lila relishing the insulated warmth the lab was providing. It seemed like everyone was here, doing what they usually did. Jake and Zack flanked either side of Livi, who was absently scrolling on her phone. Theo was behind a mountain of textbooks, seeming deep in concentration, and Harper and Jason were typing away on their laptops. Vi glanced up at them before returning to her book, leaving Lila with the impression that Vi hadn’t actually seen them.


    “Get out,” Livi’s sharp voice snarled, startling Lila.


    “Livi,” warned Vi, looking up from her book. “Are you sure you want to send Asher and Lila away?”


    Livi scowled, setting down her phone. “What do you want?” she asked, her tone even frostier than the outside air.


    “Lunch,” Asher replied simply. “For today.”


    Livi rolled her eyes, pulling out a notebook. “Put the details in there.” She pointed to a blank row, placing a pen next to said notebook.


    Asher gently slipped out of Lila’s grasp, stepping forward to the desk Livi continued to sit behind. He started writing, the lab entirely devoid of any other sounds aside from the pen connecting to paper. Lila hung back where he’d left her, not willing to get any closer to Livi.


    Livi tapped her right index finger against the desk, seeming impatient for Asher to finish up. When it was apparent that he was taking his time, Livi opened her mouth, staring directly at Lila.


    “See you guys are dating,” Livi said, without even a shred of joy in her tone. “Surprised you’ve lasted this long.”


    “Keep being surprised then,” Asher replied flatly, placing the pen down and looking straight at Livi. “I happen to want to make this work for as long as possible.”


    “Sappy,” Livi snorted. Then, her eyes sparkled with malice, her mouth cocked in a devilish half-smile. “Guessing that means you’re getting some. No one’s ever serious about their boyfriend or girlfriend in high school without being pussy-whipped.”


    Lila saw Asher’s body tense up for a second. What would he say?


    “You sound too concerned about whether I’m having sex or not. What, do you have a crush on me?” His tone sounded amused, as though he knew this wasn’t correct but was trying it on anyway. Jason howled with laughter, the sudden sound jolting everyone else in the room.


    “Good one, mate,” Jason chuckled, wiping at his eyes. “How about it Livi? You got a crush on him?”


    She narrowed her eyes at Asher, her mouth pressed into a thin, white line. “You wish,” she eventually retorted, pulling the notebook towards her.


    “I’d really rather not,” Asher snorted. “You don’t compare to Lila in the slightest.”


    The silence following his statement felt laden with a tense energy. Despite this, Lila did manage to contain her smile.


    “He’s right, you know,” Theo piped up, shuffling his textbooks around which cleared his line of sight of both Lila and Asher. “You don’t.”


    Livi’s face turned an interesting shade of pink as she bristled behind her desk. “Cash or card?”


    “Card, thanks,” Asher replied automatically, pulling out his wallet. Livi sighed, but otherwise rolled through the procedure to pay without another irrelevant word. She pulled out the Square reader, which Lila craned her neck to see.


    “How’s the system working?” Asher asked idly as he tapped his card onto the reader. It beeped and Livi promptly put it away again.


    “Fine,” Livi stated, her voice entirely displeased. “For Daniel, anyway.”


    “Why not for you?”


    She rolled her eyes at Asher, pulling out her phone again. “Preferred handwritten notes. Is that everything?”


    “For now. We’ll be back,” Asher replied, turning around. He was stopped mid-step by Livi’s voice.


    “From your reaction, it seems like you two are virgins,” Livi tutted. “How long is going to last? Until marriage, like lameos?”


    His eyes met Lila’s and she felt a blush forming in her cheeks. He stiffly turned back around, his arms crossed.


    “I feel like you’re trying to get a rise out of me, but you’re just not aware that it’s not going to work,” he said coolly. “It’s sad, really.”


    A few snickers floated around the lab, mostly from Zack, Theo, and Jason. Livi clicked her tongue disapprovingly.


    “I’ll find something,” Livi eventually said sweetly. “Hope you’re ready for lunch.”


    “Doubt it,” Asher retorted shortly. He swiftly turned back to Lila and placed her hand within his.


    “Hope this one doesn’t cheat on you since you’re so frigid,” Livi called, her voice carrying on with that sickly sweet tone. Asher didn’t respond and instead gently pulled Lila towards the exit. They stumbled out and Asher stopped walking altogether.


    “She found it,” he said softly, his eyes bright with emotion. He shuddered, quickly wrapping his arms around himself.


    “C’mon,” Lila said quietly, grabbing hold of his arm. “Let’s go somewhere quiet.”


    He obediently followed her lead, his face growing stonier with each step. Eventually, they came across an alleyway between two classrooms on the way to the locker room. There were bits of discarded plastic wrappers littered about, which suggested that it had some amount of traffic, but it was empty for now. Lila pulled Asher deeper into the alleyway, almost to the other side, before turning to him, her eyes full of concern.


    He sank to the ground with a pained groan, his hands over his eyes and knees to his chest. “I thought she had nothing on us. Fuck.”


    Lila slowly sat down, facing him still. He shuddered again, but it didn’t seem like it was from the cold in the slightest.


    She reached out to touch his leg and he jumped, looking up from his hands. His posture relaxed, though his face remained taut with distress.


    “Asher,” she whispered, shuffling closer to him. “Asher, I wouldn’t cheat on you.”


    He grimaced, hanging his head. “I… I feel like I know that, but… I can’t see the future.”


    “Do you trust me?”


    He lifted his head just a touch, meeting her gaze. “… Yeah.”


    She reached out to touch his cheek and he placed a hand over hers, closing his eyes.


    “Asher, I would never cheat on you. Firstly, that would involve finding someone I’d want to have sex with… and I’m hopelessly thinking only of you. Secondly, I can’t imagine a scenario where I’d ever hurt you like that. After seeing how you were when you found out about Holly… my heart broke. I never want you to feel that kind of suffering again. Ever.”


    He opened his eyes, and she was shocked to find how red they were. His face looked worn ragged, as though he’d somehow aged thirty years between the walk from the lab to here.


    “I… hope so,” he whispered, his voice cracking. “If… you did cheat on me… I don’t think I’d ever recover.”


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    “Asher…”


    They sat in silence, Asher’s eyes focused on his hands, which had fallen to his lap. Lila wasn’t exactly sure what she could do or say to allay his fears, but she had one idea.


    “Here,” she murmured, pulling out her phone. “Here’s my passcode.”


    His eyes widened and he pushed her phone away. “N-No, I don’t-”


    “Asher, there’s nothing on here that I want to hide from you. You can even look through my texts with Theo, or whoever. I trust you, but I know that what Holly did will still haunt you for a little while, at the very least. I feel that you trust me, with a lot of things, including your heart. And I want to protect that trust. So, here’s my passcode.”


    He remained silent, though she could see that he was mentally noting down what it was. She passed her phone to him and he took it with trembling fingers.


    “I… don’t want to look,” he eventually said as he stared down at her phone. “Not because I think there’s anything on there that I’m scared to find… but because I do trust you, Lila. And I want to respect your privacy.”


    “Privacy? When your tongue has been in my mouth?”


    His own mouth fell open and his cheeks turned a bright, glowing red. He didn’t speak and eventually looked back down at her phone. He looked back up at her, his eyes glistening with nervousness.


    “I-Is it okay if I try it?” he whispered.


    “Go ahead. I’d prefer it if you did.”


    He appeared to be on the verge of backing out of this idea but instead went through with entering her passcode. As expected, it opened. Just as quickly as he got in, though, he pressed the side button, turning the screen off.


    “Thanks,” he said tentatively.


    “No wo-”


    “Here’s my passcode,” he cut her off, though it seemed as if he hadn’t realised she’d spoken.


    “It’s alright,” Lila insisted. He shook his head.


    “It’s only fair. Besides… i-it’s not as if… you couldn’t be scared that I’d cheat on you, either.”


    She fidgeted with her hands, unable to refute this statement though she wanted to. She’d never, until this moment, considered Asher cheating on her as a possibility. She still didn’t think it was likely, but… fear could be a powerful emotion if unchecked.


    He showed her his passcode before handing her his phone. She paused, unsure if she wanted to try it or not, but he gave her an encouraging nod. It opened up, as expected, and she also turned the screen off before passing it back to him.


    “I’m really glad that we had that talk yesterday morning,” he mumbled after a few moments of silence. “Especially since Livi seemed to think that I’m frigid, and that would be why you’d cheat on me.”


    “I’m glad too,” Lila smiled. “You’re nowhere near frigid… with me, at least.”


    He gently touched the side of her face. “Definitely not,” he chuckled. “Trying not to take your clothes off is a daily battle.”


    She swallowed, the statement lingering in her mind. If he kept saying things like that… she wasn’t sure she could resist as they’d planned.


    “Asher… if we’re going to do that thing you suggested… where we just spend time together as a couple, without the physical stuff carrying us away… then please don’t tempt me.”


    “Sorry,” he said genuinely. “I… understand what you mean completely.”


    “As long as you understand.”


    He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand before leaning forwards and bending his head towards her. She immediately met his lips with hers and was surprised by how gentle this kiss seemed. It was more tender – reassuring, perhaps – rather than one filled to the brim with passion. She was glad, though. It toned her down from her thoughts that had begun to gradually build in the background.


    He pulled away, his expression looking far calmer than a few moments ago. “I think it’s time for class,” he said despondently. “I’d like to hide away here with you forever… but I think Isaac would murder me for missing PC with him.”


    Lila snorted. “Can’t have that, can we?”


    “No ma’am.”


    They both reluctantly stood before Asher interlaced their hands together. They started meandering towards the locker room until Asher turned to Lila once more.


    “Lila,” he said sincerely, clearing his throat. “Thank you. I feel a lot better about it all now.”


    “That’s the aim,” Lila grinned. “Seriously, though, if you feel worried about anything at all, we can talk about it.”


    “I know,” he smiled. “That’s… exactly the type of relationship I’ve always wanted.”


    “I feel like it’s a pretty basic requirement of one. Especially now that we’ve started talking more and more about things, I see that it’s pretty critical.”


    Asher shook his head. “You’d be surprised. Despite being with Holly for six months, I still never found the courage to tell her about my Mum, even though I was really upset about it all. Still am, but it’s not as raw.”


    “Then… it’s a basic requirement of this one,” Lila said with a nod. He smiled, squeezing her hand.


    “Deal.”


    They ruefully separated as usual in the locker room with confirmation that they’d meet outside the lab once lunch rolled around, as they would both be in the STEM area.


    It felt as though she blinked and she was standing at their meeting point, nervously shifting her weight between her feet. She thought that Asher’s fears about Lila cheating on him were soothed, but she was beginning to worry that he’d start overthinking again.


    For her, at least, putting her faith in Asher was the only option that felt right. She couldn’t see him cheating on her at all, what with how long he liked her and how affectionate and devoted he seemed. But, at the same time, it was terrifying. She thought she was ready to give him her heart in its entirety, but now that Livi had crawled into her mind, she wanted, in some respects, to clutch it tighter.


    “Hey, Asher’s girlfriend,” Isaac’s voice floated over to her. She looked up, seeing them both grinning at her. Asher’s joyful expression upon seeing her eased her worries about him overthinking and she grinned back at them.


    “Hi, Isaac. Hi, my boyfriend.”


    Asher’s grin widened, his eyes lighting up as though seeing the sunrise for the first time. He closed the distance between them and tilted her head up to his with his index finger. They kissed, with Isaac making exaggerated gagging sounds in the background. Lila giggled, standing on her tiptoes and placing her arms around his neck, pressing her lips even more into his. His hand trailed down to the small of her waist, applying just the right amount of pressure for Lila to feel herself start to swoon.


    “Alright, alright, Jesus Christ,” Isaac said sharply. “Guys, find a private spot will ya?”


    “You’re the dummy standing here,” Lila complained breathlessly, lowering herself back to the ground. Isaac sighed.


    “You’re not wrong. I’m not wrong, either. The teachers will start targeting you.”


    Asher slipped his hand into Lila’s, his face a light pink. “I know. Thanks for being concerned, Isaac.”


    Isaac shook his head before clapping Asher on the shoulder. “Mate, I know you’d die if you got detention.”


    Asher squeezed Lila’s hand. “I’d survive.”


    Isaac looked gobsmacked. Then, he started smirking. “That’s not the Asher I know.”


    “What do you mean? I’ve always been like this.”


    Isaac laughed heartily. “Don’t quit your day job to go into comedy.”


    Asher swung out a leg, lightly tapping Isaac’s shin. Isaac snickered, readjusting the bag on his shoulder.


    “Alright, well, I’ll see you guys later,” Isaac said, giving them a wave goodbye. They waved back and watched him head off towards the locker room, shaking his head again.


    “Shall we?” Asher asked pleasantly. She glanced up at him, seeing that his expression was rather carefree.


    “If you’re ready,” Lila smiled. He paused before shrugging.


    “Well, we won’t be able to grab our lunch if we keep standing here,” he responded. “I’m hungry.”


    “Same.”


    They wandered off in the right direction, neither saying much. There were far more students outside the lab now, standing around and chatting whilst they waited for the runners.


    “We could probably stay out here and wait for our food?” Lila suggested. Asher seemed to contemplate this before he shook his head.


    “The food is just a consequence of what we’re aiming to do,” he said carefully. “We still need to watch what they do in there.”


    Lila sighed. He was right, of course, but she wasn’t keen on seeing if Livi had figured out something else to push their buttons on.


    They weaved their way through the ambling students, stopping only when they reached the door. Asher hesitated for just a moment before swinging it open.


    “Back again,” Livi’s smile was dripping with malice, her eyes flashing with a type of glee that made Lila want to turn around and walk out.


    “Yup,” Asher nodded. Lila surveyed the room, finding it almost exactly as it had been that morning tea, with everyone in their places. It was almost as though they were actually acting in a play – with all the players lined up on the stage, waiting for their next line. Theo’s eyes met Lila’s and he nodded in greeting before returning to whatever task he was doing behind his pile of textbooks.


    “You know, I’ve been thinking,” Livi said, leaning forwards on her desk. “There’s no reason why you wouldn’t cheat on Asher, Lila.”


    “Livi-” Vi’s warning was cut short as Livi spoke over the top of her.


    “He’s just such a goody-two-shoes. Boring, even. At least with Theo over there, he’s got piercings and tattoos. And he’s always talking about sex. With Frigid Asher over here, the only spice you’ll be having is if you do cheat, Lila. No wonder his girlfriend got pregnant by someone else.”


    She finished her statement with a satisfied smile. Lila nervously peeked at Asher, only to find that he seemed rather collected.


    “You done?” Asher asked impatiently. Livi blinked.


    “Doesn’t the imagery of Lila getting fu-”


    “I’m not above slapping you again,” Lila interrupted Livi with a glare.


    A badly suppressed snicker sounded from the direction of Jake and Zack, though Lila couldn’t pick who exactly it came from.


    Lila thought she could detect a hint of fear in Livi’s eyes as she fell silent.


    “Anyway,” Asher sighed, checking his phone. “What’s the ETA on our food?”


    Livi scowled, checking her own phone. “A few minutes.”


    Asher nodded, gently taking Lila’s hand. “Good.”


    The room was filled with an awkward, quiet energy. It seemed as though Livi had given up testing Asher’s patience, though she kept her eyes on them. Lila took the opportunity to observe the others as surreptitiously as she could.


    When Lila compared the setup to the last time she was here, it looked much the same. At least, Jake, Zack, and Livi looked much the same. The main difference was a far smaller collection of notebooks and a far less entertained Livi. Clearly, they were using the Square system as implemented – but had still retained some of the old procedures. To Lila, this made sense as Daniel seemed to be avoiding addressing any management-type issues with Livi – so perhaps he hadn’t tried to change what she was doing too much to avoid a blow-up.


    But… looking over at the table at which Theo, Jason, Vi, and Harper sat, though they looked to be calmly enjoying their lunch break through various innocuous activities, they seemed different somehow. Was it the energy? Normally, they didn’t pay much attention to Lila and Asher, except to intervene with Livi on occasion. However, today, it seemed as though their eyes were resting on Lila and Asher far more often than usual. Was she imagining that?


    Asher crossed his arms, seeming just as intent on watching the activities of everyone else as she was. Yet the silence still persisted. Was this because they were watching them just as carefully?


    Then, the silence was broken.


    “Hello?” Jason spoke into his phone, standing up immediately. “Yeah. Now?”


    He cast a meaningful look at Livi before walking out of the lab, his hand in his blazer pocket and the door softly closing behind him. Was that a deal in action? Or something innocent? Lila was tempted to follow him, but that would definitely be far too suspicious. Harper and Vi glanced at Lila before reengaging in their various tasks – Vi seeming far more lively than a couple of moments ago. If it was a deal, was she setting something up for it now?


    Livi sighed, putting her phone down. She seemed to have tensed up for a moment, but then rested her head in one of her hands, looking at both Asher and Lila directly.


    “I hate silence,” Livi said casually. “You two really haven’t had sex yet?”


    “Why are you so obsessed about that?” Asher sounded on the verge of frustration. “Do you want to watch or something?”


    More snickers echoed around the room – all from the boys. Lila was sure that if Jason was here, he’d make another comment – but he hadn’t yet returned.


    “No,” Livi replied with a shake of her head. “I just feel as though I’ve watched you two get together. It’s been cute. So now I’m just curious.”


    “You can die curious,” Asher said shortly. Livi laughed – one that was far more earnest than any Lila had heard from her before. It sounded brash – something that conflicted with Livi’s appearance, but one that matched her true personality perfectly.


    “I probably will,” Livi responded. Her eyes sparkled with an imp-like mischief as she observed them both. “You should probably figure out what you’d do if Lila gets pregnant.”


    Asher rolled his eyes, but Lila could see a subtle shift in his posture at the word ‘pregnant’. Perhaps Livi had grazed another nerve.


    “Though, for such a high roller like you, I’m sure you could afford a few abortions,” Livi commented idly, inspecting her nails. “They give them out like candy now.”


    “That sounds like you’ve got personal experience with that,” Asher responded.


    Livi held his gaze for a moment before shrugging. “Who knows? But, it seems as though pregnancy is a touchy subject for you. It’s no wonder, considering what happened to the last girlfriend.”


    “If you know that, then why are you trying?” Asher’s question was accompanied by a bemused sigh, as though he couldn’t believe Livi was still going on. “I knew you weren’t nice, but man you don’t make it a secret, either.”


    Livi narrowed her eyes at them before throwing her hands up in the air. “Fine, you win. The first to win for a while.”


    “Win… what, exactly?” Lila asked suspiciously.


    “You’ve become way too boring for me to take any interest in,” Livi replied nonchalantly. “Congratulations.”


    Asher squeezed Lila’s hand, though she tried not to react. Livi admitting defeat sounded too good to be true. Before anyone could speak, the door swung open with a clang.


    It was Jason, pocketing his phone with a smirk. “Jake, Zack, you two are up.”


    “Where to this time?” Jake asked, rolling his shoulders.


    “Usual place,” Jason confirmed with a nod. “Five minutes.”


    “Righto,” Zack responded. He leaned over behind Livi’s desk for a moment and Lila caught sight of a small bumbag in his hands. He clipped it around his waist before nodding at Jake. They made their way to the exit, bumping into Jason who nodded in acknowledgement again.


    ‘Weird,’ Lila thought, watching as they left. ‘That’s not part of their usual routine. They don’t usually leave Livi alone like this.’ The door had just closed before opening widely yet again, looking as though it had been pushed open by a school-shoe-clad foot. Nate, one of the runners, popped his head into the room before entering, his arms laden with plenty of paper bags.


    “I’ve returned,” Nate called proudly, waddling over to a nearby empty table and depositing all the bags at once. He rubbed his arms for a moment, seeming incredibly unaware of the strange atmosphere. He whipped out a piece of paper from his pocket and began sorting through the bags.


    “They’re like seagulls out there,” he commented with a chuckle. No one responded, but he seemed used to this.


    “Did you guys order food?” Nate asked, looking towards Lila and Asher.


    “Yeah, under Asher,” Asher said quickly, stepping forward. “Mexican today.”


    “Nice,” Nate replied, though it sounded far more like a customer service response than any particular opinion he held. “Just picked that one up. Here you go.”


    He passed over their bag and Asher accepted it with thanks.


    “Goodbye,” Livi called out. “I doubt I’ll see you two again.”


    Was there more meaning to this than the fact that it was obvious Asher disliked Livi? Or had she figured out that they were checking in on the operation and had no further use of them? Lila wordlessly followed Asher’s lead out of the lab without a backwards glance at anyone.


    “What do you think they went to do?” Asher asked Lila in a low voice once the door was firmly shut behind them. They began walking towards the library, with Asher digging around in the bag of food. He pulled out a burrito and passed it over to Lila, who unwrapped it thoughtfully.


    “My bias is telling me that they went to seal a deal,” she sighed. “Not that we have any proof of that. It was kind of a waste, checking in on them.”


    “Maybe. But now we have a secondary baseline at the very least,” Asher replied reasonably. “Once the Headmaster decides what to do about the business, we’ll need to visit again. But, by Livi’s reaction, I doubt she’ll talk much – if at all. Which… would be good. At the same time though, if we could somehow steer the conversation a certain way, maybe she’d slip up.”


    Lila shook her head. “You’re a goody-two-shoes in her eyes, remember? She definitely wouldn’t slip up with you. Plus, I’m his sister. I doubt they know that we know money went missing, but even so, I don’t think they’d want to risk letting it slip.”


    “So is sending me in as a mole a bust, then?”


    “Last resort,” Lila corrected him. “Although… perhaps we could follow them the next time they do something like that.”


    “Next time?” Asher blinked, slowly unwrapping his burrito.


    “By ‘usual place’, that means they’ve been wherever they were going more than once,” Lila said reasonably.


    “Makes sense. Guess it’s time to break out those stalking techniques again,” he chuckled, taking a bite of his burrito.


    She smiled at him, taking a bite of hers. Then, she sighed, relishing the flavours. “Man, I love coriander.”


    “Not many people I know do,” Asher said conversationally, taking another bite of his burrito. “They say it tastes like soap.”


    “Heathens.”


    Asher snorted before tapping his chest as if to dislodge something. He swallowed harshly and shook his head. “Agreed,” he finally said. “Heathens.”


    They reached the library and stepped inside, looking for an empty meeting room. However, to their surprise, not a single one was left unoccupied.


    “Seems like people are getting serious about studying,” Asher observed, shoving the rest of his burrito into his mouth.


    “Guess so…” Lila trailed off, looking down at the remains of her burrito. “Where will we go tomorrow?”


    “Tomorrow?”


    “Well…” Lila cleared her throat, looking up at the skylights along the top floor of the library. “Maybe we should start looking for somewhere else to go. Isaac seems pretty insistent, at least.”


    Asher’s face turned pink as he nodded. “I mean… w-we could. Not that… well, I mean, would that not be inviting trouble?”


    Lila glanced at him and he seemed to avoid her eyes. “Maybe. But we’d want to talk about the whole… well, what you’re going to be doing this afternoon, right?” she said, looking back at her food. She took a bite as she waited for a response.


    “I’m sure you’ll hear about it from Daniel.”


    “I’m not going to push for answers right away. He’s been freaked out over the weekend, and now with this… I think I should give him time to process.”


    “… Good point.” Asher ran his hands through his hair before bringing a finger to his lips. A small smile crept across his face before it faded again. “Any places in mind?”


    Lila thought back to her wanderings around the school in the past at morning tea and lunch. She usually went where there was traffic – down the road to tuckshop, the library, around the locker room… but…


    “The Performing Arts area seems pretty quiet if we avoid where the staff rooms are,” Lila murmured, tapping her chin. “I’m sure we can find a corner somewhere to sit and talk.”


    He held eye contact with her for a moment before smirking. “Talk, huh? Your eyes say otherwise.”


    She whacked him on the shoulder and he laughed. “Well, don’t just admit it!”


    She promptly buried her face in her hands and he gently pulled them away, interlocking one of her hands with his.


    “It’s okay,” he whispered. “You can admit it.”


    She whacked him again and he snickered before letting her go and jogging to the exit of the library. She followed him with speed and they hurried off into the distance, laughing once Lila caught up and pounced on him. He spun her before setting her down on her feet.


    With that, they leisurely walked hand in hand towards the locker room, talking idly about nothing in particular. Then, with only a minute to spare before they had to go to class, they stood outside her locker, her back pressed to it, with Asher looking quite serious again.


    “So… the meeting is for 3.45,” he said quietly, his hands in his pockets. “It might be more efficient if you head straight to the Headmaster’s Office once class is over.”


    “Alright,” Lila replied just as quietly. “I’m guessing Daniel will just go there straight after class too.”


    “Yeah. I texted him this morning.”


    “What time?”


    “About 6am. Why?”


    Lila laughed, shaking her head. “No wonder he was so freaked out so early in the morning.”


    “Oh, sorry. Is he normally not up at 6?”


    “Definitely not. But… I think he would’ve been up anyway,” Lila sighed. “These are the consequences of his actions, but I still feel bad for him. It definitely went a bit far.”


    “A bit?” Asher smirked. “You could say that, but at the same time, it’s gone far enough.”


    “How do you figure?”


    “If Daniel plays his cards right with the Headmaster this afternoon, there’s no way he could refuse the business proposal.”


    “You sound more confident than you were before.”


    “I’ve always been confident,” Asher chuckled, shifting his position so that he was leaning on her locker door, his arm raised just above her head. “About things I could win.”


    “Surprisingly, that list is quite small,” Lila replied, her tone playful.


    “Hey,” he murmured, leaning in close to her ear. “Careful now. There’s something on that list that interests you quite a bit.”


    She felt her face flush, both with the closeness of his face and the implication behind his words. She placed her hands on his chest and he touched his lips to hers.


    “Oi,” Elise’s voice called as she rattled the locker next to them. “Cut that out, will ya?”


    Lila looked over Asher’s shoulder at Elise, who was smiling mischievously. Asher sighed, pushing himself off Lila’s locker.


    “You wouldn’t happen to know a private place, do ya?” he asked Elise, shoving his hands in his pants pockets again. She tilted her head, seeming confused by his question until her eyes widened in apparent understanding. Her face turned slightly pink.


    “No,” she shook her head, “but, damn, you’re forward.”


    “Isaac’s been pestering us,” Asher replied simply.


    “Pestering? Just giving you friendly advice,” Isaac interjected, throwing an arm over Asher’s shoulder. “Like I said, the teachers will start targeting you.”


    “And you know this how?” Lila replied, raising an eyebrow. Isaac gave her a sideways glance before smirking.


    “Didn’t you hear about what happened to Cecelia and Lucas?” he asked.


    “No,” Lila shook her head, now very intrigued. “What happened?”


    “Apparently, they were making out in the locker room after school, and maybe getting a bit too handsy. Teachers dragged them out, gave them an earful, and detention for two weeks,” Isaac laughed. “Can’t believe you didn’t know.”


    “When was this?” Lila asked, slightly miffed.


    “Last term. Lucas was complaining about it in Engineering. Said his life was over. He’d never had detention before.”


    Lila snorted. That sounded like Lucas. She’d have to ask about it next time she had Bio.


    “Anyway, looks like you’re going to have to find it on your own,” Isaac said loftily. “Class is starting soon. See ya later.”


    He waved, heading towards the exit. Asher squeezed Lila’s hand.


    “See you after school,” he said, gently letting go.


    “See you.”


    The next couple of classes flew by as Lila’s anxiety about her brother’s meeting with the Headmaster grew. She knew she couldn’t be involved in the meeting, and the fact that Asher would be there gave her some solace, but she still couldn’t help it. Elise and Grace seemed to pick up on this during Modern History, her last class of the day, and asked if she was okay. She’d given them some excuse that she couldn’t remember now as she walked along the path to the Headmaster’s Office, keeping an eye out to see if Daniel was nearby.


    The sound of rushing feet behind her drew her attention and she turned, seeing Asher looking flushed but calm.


    “Hey,” he said, immediately pulling her bookbag off her shoulder. “Fancy meeting you here.”


    “You as well,” she replied with a smile. “Still confident?”


    “’Course. Plus… meeting with the Headmaster as much as I have over this past year alone has made it not quite so daunting anymore.”


    “Lucky you,” Daniel grumbled, having caught up to them both. His face was pale, but he looked rather determined.


    “You’ll be fine,” Asher said soothingly. “Today’s all business. He’s not going to talk to you like you’re in trouble. I think.”


    “So comforting,” Daniel shivered, hoisting his bookbag higher. “Wanna carry mine, too?”


    Asher smirked but obliged Daniel nonetheless. Daniel opened the door to the Administration Building and Lila and Asher filed in.


    “Where do we go from here?” Daniel asked, looking between Asher and Lila.


    “There’s a waiting room here, but I’ll have to tell the admin lady that we’re here for our meeting,” Asher said, pointing towards the waiting room. “You can take Daniel there, Lila.”


    They split off and Lila settled into a chair. Daniel nervously looked around before taking his own seat. Asher reappeared not even a second later, sitting down next to Lila.


    “Ready?” Asher asked Daniel in a low voice.


    “Guess so,” Daniel murmured. “What if he doesn’t sanction it?”


    “Then you’re free,” Asher nodded. “I already worked out with him that any punishment for this, if it’s not sanctioned, would be mild.”


    “That’s good of you,” Daniel muttered, though it seemed to set him more on edge.


    They were silent for a few moments and the door to the Headmaster’s Office swung open.


    “Oh,” Mr Lockwood said, looking incredibly surprised to find Lila and Daniel. “I hadn’t realised I would be seeing you so soon again, Lila. I presume one of you is the person of the hour?”


    Daniel heaved himself to his feet, his face set into a hard expression. “Yes, sir.”


    “I’m sorry, Lila, but you’ll need to wait here,” Mr Lockwood inclined her head towards her and she smiled.


    “No worries, sir. Asher already told me.”


    “That’s good of him,” Mr Lockwood returned her smile before standing back and gesturing for Asher and Daniel to enter. They did so, leaving Lila quite alone.


    She looked up at the clock, seeing that it was 3.45pm on the dot. She hoped the meeting wouldn’t take long, but her hope began to dwindle after half an hour passed of her leafing through her Japanese homework with no indication that they would be emerging.


    With a sigh, she pulled out her phone, absently scrolling through her social media apps and then moving on to some phone games. This seemed to do the trick in both settling her mind and passing the time. She heard voices close to the door and looked up at the clock. 5pm.


    “… As I mentioned, I will let you know of my decision by Thursday,” Mr Lockwood’s voice said as the door opened.


    “Thank you, Mr Lockwood,” Daniel replied, his face having some colour in it.


    “Thank you, sir,” Asher nodded.


    “Get home safely,” Mr Lockwood said, remaining by the door. They thanked him and he swiftly closed the door behind him.


    “That was awful,” Daniel bemoaned, shuffling over to Lila. “Let’s go home. I need to sleep for a hundred years.”


    “You did great, Daniel,” Asher said, patting him on the back. “How are you guys getting home?”


    “I’m guessing the buses aren’t running now,” Lila sighed. “Someone should be home. I’ll call Clare.”


    “Nah, I’ll get George to take you home,” Asher replied. “Just meet us at the carpark Daniel.”


    “Alright,” Daniel responded. They walked some of the way back to the locker room before Daniel split off, heading towards the Grade 9 locker room.


    “Did it actually go well?” Lila asked once Daniel was out of earshot.


    “Brilliantly,” Asher confirmed. “He doesn’t have anything to worry about.”


    “That’s a relief,” Lila grinned. It really had lifted a weight off her shoulders, and they grabbed their things and waited for Daniel in the carpark without any further discussion, as many students were milling around after their co-curriculars had ended for the day. Asher explained the situation to George who seemed happy enough to drop Lila and Daniel off.


    Daniel wearily walked up the hill towards them, his face still anxious.


    “I thought I was gonna die,” he said once he was within a couple of metres of them.


    “You didn’t, though,” Lila said, leading him to the taxi.


    The ride home was relatively quiet and as soon as they arrived home, Daniel departed with a hurried thanks to George.


    “Don’t mind him,” Lila said to George as she started to climb out. “He’s had a big day.”


    “I’ll bet,” George chuckled. “I’ll see you another time.”


    “See you,” Lila said politely. “Thanks for the ride.”


    “Anytime.”


    Lila said goodbye to Asher, who mournfully said the same.


    It seemed that Daniel had already scurried into his room by the time Lila entered. As she’d said to Asher earlier, she decided to leave him be for now. Even if the meeting had gone as well as Asher had said, she could empathise with the fact that he would still need to process what had happened.


    She had a brief word to her parents, who were sitting in the living room, to the same effect – that Daniel would probably need some time to himself. They seemed concerned but agreed to give him space.


    After that, though, Lila was feeling rather exhausted herself. It had been quite the day for her, too.