Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Four


    “You’re fucking kidding me,” Lila’s voice came out in a weak tremble, despite her word choice. Clare’s face was drained of colour, her eyes fixed on Lila’s as she slowly shook her head.


    “I’m not. I’m so sorry, Lila,” Clare whispered, her eyes sparkling once more with tears. How many more tears would Clare shed that night?


    For a moment, anger burned through Lila’s veins. Why hadn’t Clare gotten rid of them? The mounting frustration, fury, and absolute terror, for a fraction of a second, almost compelled her to slap Clare.


    Instead, Lila turned on her heel and promptly walked to Clare’s door, her breathing heavy. Her restraint was dangerously flimsy now – most likely because of how tired she was. Staying any longer would make her snap.


    “Lila-”


    “I’m going to bed,” Lila responded, closing Clare’s door forcefully behind her.


    Lila’s stomach twisted as she realised that she’d have to open her own door and see what carnage awaited her. She paused, her hand outstretched for her doorknob. Would sleeping on the couch be suspicious?


    But… if she slept downstairs, then the likelihood of encountering her Mum was basically guaranteed.


    Gritting her teeth, she twisted her doorknob and swung her door open.


    It was dark, but she could tell it wasn’t the same as she’d left it that morning. She stepped in and closed the door behind her before turning on the light.


    Blinking against the harsh brightness, Lila tried to take in the state of her room. It wasn’t as bad as Clare’s by any means, but clothes had been thrown out of her closet and her desk was littered with the contents of her drawers.


    Her bed had a similar scattering of objects, and she dejectedly changed out of her clothes and into pyjamas that were lying around. Rubbing her eyes with a yawn, she decided that she’d just sweep the stuff off her bed and deal with it tom-


    Her heart skipped.


    There was a folder on her bed. The folder. The godamn folder filled with the documents they’d found in the farmhouse. She frantically picked it up. Would anything be missing?


    With shaking hands, she opened the cover. The documents… looked fine. There wasn’t anything missing from what she could remember. She wasn’t sure whether her Mum opened it – there were other schoolbooks and related materials on her bed, too.


    ‘The photos of Marlene’s house,’ a voice inside her mind whispered. She placed the folder on her desk, her eyes darting all across her room. If her Mum found the folder, then the photos had to be somewhere.


    The envelope wasn’t on her bed so she turned her attention back to her desk. With a sigh of relief, she saw it sticking out under a textbook that had clearly been knocked sideways from its previous position. At least her Mum had left it in her room. She opened the envelope, hoping that at least these photos had remained.


    From her quick glance, nothing seemed amiss, which would suffice for now. It would be impossible to go through everything and catalogue it, with how heavy her eyelids were feeling, so she simply placed the envelope on top of the folder.


    As she’d already decided, Lila swept everything that had been on her bed to the floor and climbed under the covers. Her mind was awake now, wondering whether her Mum had picked up on the fact that Lila shouldn’t have either the folder or photos of the interior of someone else’s house. Would that be another thing her Mum would yell at her about when she saw Lila next?


    Lila turned around, facing the wall with a shaky breath. She wasn’t a sex worker, but the photos Piper had prepared weren’t exactly even evidence in Lila’s favour. How apt was it that weeks after Piper’s death, she still somehow managed to haunt Lila and mess with her life…


    With this thought, Lila fell into a slumber that felt far too light to be refreshing once she opened her eyes again. Lila went through her morning routine with suspense, distinctly aware that her Mum might still be at home. Fortunately, she didn’t see her by the time she walked to her bus, shivering against the cold.


    It was with disappointment that she realised that she didn’t have classes with Asher that morning on her trek to the locker room. Of course, when she arrived, he was standing outside her locker, his face tense with worry. Though his face usually relaxed when he saw her, today his furrowed brow deepened.


    “Lila,” he said simply as she put her bag into her locker and assembled her things for Design and Japanese.


    “Good morning,” she replied with an involuntary yawn.


    “Is it?”


    “It is,” she smiled, closing her door and locking it. “You’re here, after all.”


    He sighed, taking her things from her with a slight shake of his head. “You know that’s not what I meant.”


    Lila pursed her lips. She’d been so eager to just go to sleep that she hadn’t told Asher that her Mum had found the photos – of her, and of Marlene’s house.


    “Let’s… just start walking,” she murmured, her eyes lingering on the door to the locker room. Students were filing in at an impressive rate now, and she didn’t feel safe talking about either of those things here.


    She held on to his arm as he parted through the crowd. It was a bit of a squeeze to get out of there, but once they started heading to the Applied Tech building, there were far less people.


    Asher didn’t say anything and she kept her hand on his arm, holding it now for comfort rather than to avoid being swept away. They continued this way for some time before Lila finally spoke.


    “Mum found the photos.”


    Asher took a sharp inhale and she could feel his arm flex beneath her hand.


    “Did you see her?” he asked quietly, looking directly into her eyes.


    She shook her head. “Haven’t yet. I… would love to avoid her, if I could. At least… either until Clare talks to her, or we tell Dad about… yeah.”


    “Well… I’ll talk to Marlene about dropping you off tonight, after our date. Then… well, there’s tomorrow’s debate, so she could probably drop you off then, too. Did you want to talk to your Dad on Saturday or Sunday?”


    “I think it depends on what we get. We might need to go through what we’ve got, which could take some time. Either works, I think.”


    “So… I’d have to go over,” Asher said tentatively. Lila nodded, suddenly anxious about the idea that Asher would interact with her Mum. If her Mum hadn’t already recognised him as being the guy in the photo Piper had taken, Lila was sure that her Mum would after seeing him again.


    “I’m guessing that you’ll just ask your Dad about me coming over?” Asher asked after a couple of moments. Lila nodded again.


    “He might already know something happened with Clare and me, but I haven’t seen him either. He’s a much calmer person usually, so… I’m not quite as worried about talking to him. Plus, he knows about the photo of us.”


    “And your Mum doesn’t?”


    “We… kinda all agreed not to tell her. Even Dad.”


    Asher paused. She thought he’d say something about that being a mistake, but he didn’t say anything at all.


    “There’s something else,” Lila mumbled. As soon as she said that, she wanted to take her words back.


    “Something else?”


    Lila sighed again. She didn’t want to ruin his morning, though he’d previously asked her to let him in and to rely on him. Now that she was in a situation where she felt like she really needed to, she could hardly bring herself to. It’d worry him, probably unnecessarily so, but… it wasn’t like she could talk about it with Elise and Grace. She glanced at him and, upon seeing his concerned yet gentle eyes, admitted defeat.


    “She found the folder, too.”


    “Folder?”


    “The one we found. In the farmhouse.”


    Asher stopped walking altogether. “S-Seriously?”


    “Yeah. And I think she might’ve found the photos of Marlene’s place, too.”


    Asher whipped his head around as if to see if there were any eavesdroppers nearby. There weren’t – Lila had checked.


    “Do you think… she knows their significance? At least, for the folder – how much does she know about your Dad’s cases?”


    Lila tightened her grip on his arm. She had no idea. Sometimes, her Mum would go with her Dad to his office to do the books, but she was, for all intents and purposes, a housewife. Once her Dad’s PI business took off around the time Daniel was born, her Mum didn’t need to work for money anymore – so, she hadn’t.


    “I… don’t think she does any case-related work. I mean, being a PI means you have to do a lot of reading and writing – you know, researching source material, and writing investigation reports. Mum’s verbal English is really good – but I don’t think her writing and reading is up to that sort of work.”


    “And since your Mum left them in your room… then she probably didn’t think they were important enough to take to your Dad.”


    “It’s what I’m hoping.”


    Asher wiped his face, the stress showing on his face for a very brief moment.


    “I’m not going to panic,” he said quietly, looking down at Lila. “We’re planning to give it to your Dad this weekend anyway, right? So… even if he does see it beforehand, then it won’t matter so much.”


    “I guess.”


    “As for the photos of Marlene’s place… well, we took a lot of pictures of her little animal statues. Your Mum might think it’s some weird high school project. It’s not like there were really any strange pictures-”


    “Except for the corkboard of Piper.”


    “… Except for the corkboard of Piper.” Asher sighed deeply. “If she saw that and recognised who Piper was, she might think you murdered her after all.”


    Lila shivered. “Please don’t say things like that, even if it is a joke.”


    “Sorry. Just… spitballing the worst-case scenarios.”


    “I think I’d rather be thought of as a sex worker than a murderer.”


    “Please don’t say things like that, even if it is a joke.”


    Lila looked intently at Asher. Was being a murderer really better than a sex worker in his mind?


    “Sorry… just… well…” he looked incredibly awkward now, his face rather red. “The… imagery of- well. Y-You, uh, doing things. With other people. Is… not one that I want-”


    “It’s okay,” Lila interrupted him, her own face feeling red-hot. She supposed that imagery would be worse to her boyfriend than her simply being a murderer. She didn’t want that imagery either, of him or herself. “I get it.”


    Asher pressed his lips together, as though he was forcing himself to keep quiet.


    “A-Anyway,” Lila stammered, her eyes staring at the road as they walked, “uh, so… if it’s okay with you, I’d rather stop thinking about Mum and all that for today. It… I don’t want to be upset during our date tonight.”


    “Of course,” Asher immediately responded, his voice sounding filled with relief. “Whatever you need.”


    “What are we doing on our date tonight?” Lila asked curiously, looking up at him.


    “I have a couple ideas in mind,” he replied with a grin. “But I thought I’d keep you in suspense. That way, even if it’s not spontaneous to me, you’ll still be surprised. It’s not quite so impressive though, since we’re only going to the shopping centre, but we’ll definitely have ramen.”


    Lila pouted. “Well, now I won’t stop thinking about it.”


    “Perfect,” Asher laughed, taking her hand and pulling her towards the Applied Tech building that was just ahead. “Isn’t that what you want?”


    Lila smiled, squeezing his hand. “I guess I did ask for that.”


    When they met up again after class, walking to the Language Block hand-in-hand, Lila was still thinking about what he had in mind for their date. If she had to guess, perhaps they’d go to the bookstore?


    She felt Asher’s hand shake in hers and she glanced at him, only to find him suppressing his laughter.


    “What?” she frowned, hoping that he wasn’t laughing at her. He shook his head, a smile taking shape upon his lips.


    “Whaaat?” Lila repeated, this time shaking his arm impatiently.


    “It’s nothing,” he replied, his grin widening. “Just… observing that you look to be seriously thinking about tonight.”


    “Of course I am. You’re being awfully mysterious.”


    “I don’t deny that, but… I think you might be building it up a little bit too much.”


    “Then you’ll just need to live up to my expectations.”


    “Those are?”


    Lila took a moment to think. What were her expectations? Ultimately, she didn’t really have any. Except…


    Her heart began to pound as she remembered both the feeling of his lips against her neck and the sounds she’d made at the time. For some reason, her butterflies were making it difficult to think, her embarrassment mounting in her cheeks and her chest. She suddenly couldn’t bring herself to look at Asher, the memory pulling her shyness to the forefront. What answer could she give him? One that didn’t make her look absolutely stupid. Or needy. Or… gross.


    “… Not much. Honest. Just… that we spend time together. A-As a couple. Since… the last time we were there, we were just friends.” ‘Friends who knew they liked each other,’ she added to herself.


    “Just friends with crushes on each other,” Asher chuckled.


    Lila stared at him for a moment before shaking her head, a small smile on her face.


    “Sometimes, I get paranoid that you can read my thoughts,” she joked. She wasn’t quite sure if this was any better than what she’d been thinking about a moment ago, but she certainly didn’t feel quite as embarrassed as she would’ve if she’d talked about that.


    “If I could, then it wouldn’t have been an ordeal for you,” he replied bashfully. “Y’know, making you confess, and all that. Then making you wait, too.”


    “You know, I feel like you’re still hung up on that.”


    “I am,” Asher said, his voice serious. “But I’m working on it.”


    “It was the scariest moment of my life,” Lila admitted quietly.


    “Sorry.”


    “It’s not your fault. I mean, I know why it happened like it did, and… it’s sweet.”


    “Sweet?”


    “Well…” Lila trailed off for a moment before grinning, “Knowing you liked me so much that you thought you shouldn’t try is endearing, in a way. Adorable, even. I do wonder if you would’ve gotten the courage one day.”


    “Probably not,” he replied, his face tomato-red. “I never thought that you liked me, even before you confessed. Despite Isaac and Daniel saying to just go for it.”


    She squeezed his hand. “Then I’m glad I went through such an ordeal. It’s… been better than I imagined.”


    “R-Really?”


    “Yeah. Really.”


    It seemed that he’d lost his capacity to speak, his face an impossibly deeper shade of red. She pulled him forwards with a giggle, the idea that saying what she felt stunned him into silence being one that she rather liked. They were going to be late to their language classes if they didn’t get a move on, though.


    <hr>


    Lila and Asher spent both morning tea and lunch in the library, their carefree conversations and laughter being exactly what Lila needed. Asher seemed brighter somehow, his smiles and exuberance calming her mind. Though she didn’t want to think about the problems laying in wait for her at home, they would intrusively pop up every now and then – but basking in his light made them fade away just as quickly.


    The atmosphere in their English classroom was filled with an anxious haze, which almost triggered Lila’s own – until she remembered that she’d handed in her draft yesterday afternoon. Asher looked quite relaxed as he leaned back on his chair, typing every so often but not nearly as furiously as their surrounding classmates. Ms Shard looked to be going through drafts that she’d already received but didn’t admonish their class for the level of noise that seemed to be creeping up. That was one thing about Ms Shard – she seemed to know what her students needed, and for now, freaking out with some noise seemed to be that.


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    “When did you hand in your draft?” Lila asked Asher curiously as she watched him stretch his arms above his head.


    “Me?” he blinked at her before setting his chair flat on the ground again. “Last Friday.”


    “Seriously?”


    “Very. I always hand things in well in advance.”


    “But wouldn’t you rather have more time to work on your stuff?”


    “Why, so I can overthink it to death?” His eyes sparkled with humour as he smirked.


    “I guess you’re right,” Lila replied with her own matching smirk. “But how do you balance all of the things you do? I mean, if I’m over at yours, we’re hardly studying.”


    “Breaks are just as good,” Asher shrugged. “It just means I reshuffle my priorities so that all my breaks can be taken in one day, instead of scattered throughout the week. Besides, we’re not at the pointy end of the Term – not just yet, anyway.”


    “Did you take into account yesterday?” Lila’s voice was low, guilt suddenly gripping her mind.


    “Yesterday was meant to be a study day,” Asher conceded, his eyes on her for a moment. “But you needed me more than my assignments did.”


    Lila swallowed, her guilt burrowing itself into her brain like a parasitic insect.


    “That’s why I hand my things in early,” he said quietly, his knee grazing hers. “Have to expect the unexpected. If I worked right to the deadline and got sick or injured myself, or something else happened, I’d need an extension and that would make me way too anxious to be productive.”


    “I… see.”


    His eyes darted to Ms Shard, who seemed to be entirely absorbed in her marking, and he took her hand that was resting on her keyboard, caressing it briefly before letting go.


    “You look like you’re worried about you coming over with Clare yesterday,” he observed. “Don’t be. I’m glad you did. Seeing you is always going to make my day, even if I’ve got other plans in mind. If I needed to rearrange my whole life so that I can spend more time with you, I’d do it. Whether that be now, or the future.”


    Lila felt the beginning stages of tears forming behind her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away. This was exactly what she meant when she said it was better than she’d expected. At the same time, though, she couldn’t let him do that at the expense of himself.


    “Don’t say things like that,” she replied with a small shake of her head. “Don’t rearrange your whole life for me. We haven’t even been together for a month.”


    “Sorry. Am I going too fast?”


    “No… but I just think… well. I don’t want you to rest your future on me, since you’re set for success, with your grades and everything else. I can’t drag you down.”


    “You’d never-”


    “Asher, I might. You’ve got the world’s possibilities just there for the taking. If that involves a life without me, you have to take it.”


    He grew very quiet, his eyes fixed on his laptop. She hoped she hadn’t made him mad, but after a few moments he woke his laptop up again and began typing. She pressed her lips together, keeping her impending sigh inside. There wasn’t really anything more she could say about it, though she’d hoped he would tell her what he was thinking. But distracting him from his work would defeat the purpose of what she’d said just now, so she let him be for the rest of class.


    Once it was over, they walked to the STEM area, hand-in-hand without exchanging a single word. The fact that he was holding her hand let her know that he wasn’t mad, per se, but his continued silence was starting to worry her.


    He slowed his pace as they approached the point that they usually split off for Maths and Chem respectively, his expression strangely cryptic. He took a deep breath before stopping entirely and turning to her.


    “Lila, I appreciate what you said back in English, I really do. But… I think you’re missing the point that you’re also one of the world’s possibilities.”


    Lila’s heart felt as though it flipped for a second. He looked incredibly serious, the hold his eyes had on her freezing her to the spot.


    “Asher-”


    “It… frustrated me, to be honest. To hear you say that,” he continued as though he hadn’t heard her. He ran a hand through his hair before dropping it to his side. “Lila, I know we haven’t even been together for a month, but… I’m determined anyway. This… everything between us – unless you don’t want to be with me in the future, I’m not going to throw it away, no matter if something bigger and better, in your eyes, comes along. If it means being without you, it’s not even an option.”


    His words were so compelling and warm. If he kept saying things like this, she couldn’t help but feel like would fall further – into him and the promises he made. Was… that okay? She felt a thrum of emotion rushing through her body, culminating in more tears behind her eyes. Why was she feeling so emotional?


    She’d never felt quite like this before and, if she was honest, it was starting to make her panic. Lila trusted him, with everything she had, and she didn’t want to stop what she was feeling, but the realisation that he had her whole heart in his hands was one that she hadn’t fully appreciated. She’d logically known it, since before she confessed to him – however, it was on such a different, deeper level than way back then. Now, what it truly meant was starting to hit her with full force. She… was in trouble.


    Asher took another deep breath, the sound tearing through her thoughts. It sounded like he wanted to say something else. Would he take it all back? Say he was kidding?


    “Lila, as I said, I know we haven’t been together long but… I…” he gave a heavy exhale, his face reddening in colour. “It’s so different, what I feel with you in comparison to my… previous relationship. And I know now that I-”


    “Hey guys,” Isaac’s voice was chirpy – at complete odds with the sincerity and graveness of Asher’s. Asher’s eyes flashed, anger marring his face for the slightest moment.


    “Hey Isaac,” Asher replied forcefully, turning away from Lila. Isaac halted in his approach, his expression rather concerned.


    “Everything okay?” Isaac asked, his eyes darting between them both.


    “Peachy,” Asher said flatly. He returned Lila’s belongings to her, seeming unable to meet her eyes. “I’ll see you after class, Lila.”


    “Y-Yeah,” Lila found herself uttering. “See you then.”


    They departed without another word, Asher’s hands firmly in his pockets. She saw Asher and Isaac speak amongst themselves, though it still didn’t look like Asher was happy to see Isaac. What had Asher been about to say to her?


    This question, and the feelings that she was starting to place in her mind, plagued her throughout Maths. She was lucky enough to write down which section of the chapter they were working on from her textbook – her page otherwise remained blank.


    Once it was over, Lila threw her things into her bag, having not settled on any kind of answer to the questions she had. She’d have to ask him.


    But, when she saw him outside her classroom, he looked wary.


    “Hey,” she said softly as he removed her belongings.


    “Hey,” he replied just as softly. They stood there for a couple of moments – long enough for awkwardness to settle in.


    “Um… so… about what you were saying before. I think you were going to say something else?” Lila queried in a murmur.


    He shook his head, a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes stretching across his face. “I said all I wanted to say.”


    “You sure?”


    “Positive. Let’s get our stuff and get going.”


    Lila wasn’t convinced in the slightest, but she didn’t want to push him, either. If it was important, he’d let her know. At least, she hoped.


    They headed to the locker room in total silence, with Asher appearing totally pensive the entire way. She almost wished she could sit inside his mind, however she continued to keep her curiosity to herself.


    Once they met up again, hats and bags assembled, Asher seemed to have perked up.


    “So, I don’t think any of the usual school buses stop by the shops,” he said upon reaching her. He took her hand and led her out of the locker room. “We’ll need to walk down the road, to the bus stop just across.”


    Lila followed his lead, relaxing more as they walked.


    “So, what’re we doing first?” she asked once they finally reached the requisite bus stop.


    “Well… I thought we could wander around. Maybe grab a drink. Then… we could watch a movie.”


    “A movie? Which one?”


    “Well, there’s that one based on this book…” Asher’s eyes lit up as he explained the brief premise, and she was immediately sold on the idea.


    “Then, we’d get dinner and I was thinking that we might hit up the arcade for a bit before Marlene picks us up,” Asher concluded with a nervous smile. “I told you it’s nothing fancy-”


    “It sounds perfect,” Lila nodded, a reassuring smile on her face. “Exactly what I need, I think.”


    His expression eased into relief. “I’m glad. I thought… maybe I’d need to try harder. I dunno, to impress you, but after yesterday… I figured something casual was a bit better.”


    “You made the right choice.”


    He beamed at her, just as their bus appeared from around the corner. He flagged it down and they hopped on, with Lila now feeling her excitement about their date returning.


    Stepping off the bus, Lila could see a large number of people milling around. In fact, quite a few seemed to be high school couples like Asher and Lila.


    Though they’d had breakfast before visiting the museum as their first date outside as a couple, her dreams about wandering through the museum and experiencing it all in Asher’s company had been dashed. As much as she loved her friends, her worry about them had taken over her ability to really enjoy the day. Now, though, they had no interruptions.


    Despite the fact that they were still in uniform, Lila pulled out the necklace he’d given her, letting it rest upon her school tie.


    “Are you sure you should-”


    “Of course I should,” Lila promptly cut him off, a light frown furrowing her brow. “It’s not like we’re on campus.”


    “I should get you a different one,” Asher murmured, though his smile was glowing. “Something more subtle. That one’s pretty big. Maybe a small L, for Lila.”


    “Or an A, for Asher.”


    He looked at her like she was insane for a moment, before evidently realising that she was serious.


    “If… you want something like that. Are you sure?”


    “Would I say something like that if I wasn’t?”


    He slowly exhaled, before looking uncertain once more. “It sounds dramatic, but it’s kinda like saying I own you, you know.”


    “You say that like it’s a bad thing. I thought you wanted to decorate me in everything my heart desires. And… my heart desires you. So, if there’s the option of an A, I’d love that.”


    The word love had left her lips so quickly and easily that it took a moment of seeing a pinkish hue splotching across Asher’s face to realise what she’d said. It almost sounded like she said she loved him. It wasn’t what she meant – at least, not in that context – but she would still love to keep an A around her neck. Something for her to keep on her at all times, and something that she could show off. While the necklace from Vanuatu was nice, it didn’t necessarily scream as something her boyfriend got her – especially since they weren’t dating at the time he bought it.


    “Alright, alright,” Asher finally said, pulling her into him. “Don’t have to twist my arm about it.”


    She could hear how heavily his rapid heartbeat was drumming in his chest. She tried to step back to look at his face, but he remained firmly wrapped around her. Eventually, his heartbeat slowed and he let go.


    “Let’s get a drink or something,” he suggested quietly. “Are you a fan of bubble tea?”


    “Is that even a question?”


    Lila fought off Asher’s attempt to pay for her pearl milk tea and found his defeated pout endearing. They contentedly roamed the shops, chatting away without a care in the world. They popped into various stores, admiring or condemning the goods until they approached the dollar store. The memory of Asher laughing so hard that he was asked to leave the last time they were here made Lila snort.


    “What’s up?” he asked, looking down at her with a small smile.


    “I wanna go in there, but only if you don’t get kicked out again.”


    He gave a surprised chuckle. “I promise to try.”


    “Good. You missed out on a lot of weird stuff.”


    And so, they spent some time giggling over the merchandise, which had turned over by now, leading to many more oddities to point out to each other.


    After checking the time, Asher hurried them both to the cinema, making jokes along the way about what they’d seen. Upon arriving, Lila was hit with the scent of buttered popcorn and carpet, effectively telling her that they were indeed at the right place. They purchased tickets and snacks from a rather unenthused employee who didn’t even bat an eye as Asher jostled Lila out of the way and gleefully paid.


    As she checked their tickets, she recognised with a soft smile that today’s movie was in the same theatre as the last one they’d seen together. They shuffled to their allocated seats towards the back of the theatre. No one else was around them, which made this portion of the date feel even more private.


    As the trailers began to roll, Lila recalled how their friends had ditched them so they could watch a movie alone together. Evidently, they must’ve hoped that Asher, or even Lila, would make a move in the darkness, but the only move that was made was Asher making sure she wasn’t cold by giving up his jacket.


    A certain, nostalgic fondness settled in her chest as Asher lifted the armrest between them and took her hand in his.


    “It’s a bit different,” he murmured in her ear.


    “What is?” she asked, making herself at home against his shoulder.


    “Being able to do what I wanted to the last time we were in the cinemas. Malteser?”


    “You offered me some of those last time, though,” she chuckled, taking a couple.


    “Sure, but we had an armrest between us…” he trailed off and she looked up, catching sight of his contemplative expression. She smiled, pressing herself even more against him.


    “This is much better,” she said happily. She felt him lightly touch her head.


    “Much,” he agreed.


    They stayed like this for a little while before a question occurred to Lila. “Did you believe them?”


    “Believe who?”


    “Isaac, Elise, and Grace. When they said they got trapped in that Pixar movie.”


    Asher chortled, the rumbling of his chest shifting her slightly. “Not for a second.”


    Lila sighed. Of course he wouldn’t have.


    “Did you?” he asked, offering her some more Maltesers.


    “… yeah.”


    “Seriously?”


    “Yeah.”


    He was silent for a few seconds before saying, “I wanted to believe them. Since the alternative was thinking that they knew something I didn’t. Specifically that you liked me. But… it was too convenient, how it all played out. I settled on thinking it was a prank, instead of them trying to set us up. Until Isaac told me I was being a dumbass and that I should go for it. He confirmed it for me then. Uh, before you went on your date with Theo. Then… well, I thought you liked Theo, so I gave up on the idea Isaac gave me.”


    “That makes sense,” Lila replied softly. “I… well, I trust them, especially not to blatantly lie like that to me. They told me their plans a while after, and I was actually pretty shocked. One of those plans included that they closed us in that storage room on purpose.”


    “I didn’t know about that one,” Asher responded, his voice sounding amused. “I reckon Isaac still laughs his ass off about it.”


    Lila was about to add to that very likely conclusion when the theatre was plunged into darkness, signalling the beginning of the movie. Throughout the movie, Lila felt herself drawing closer and closer to Asher, who didn’t seem to mind. Overall, it was a pretty good pick, and Asher seemed particularly enthralled almost the entire time.


    Once it was over, Lila reluctantly extricated herself from his embrace and they made their way out of the cinema, swapping comments and theories about what they’d seen. Some of it had evidently strayed from the book, which Asher didn’t hesitate to explain with a certain bitterness that Lila found endearing.


    They rounded off the evening with hot bowls of tonkotsu ramen, an umami haven for Lila who almost inhaled it all at once.


    “Is it good?” she asked Asher after pausing to take a sip of water. He looked up over his bowl at her with several strands of noodles dangling from his mouth. He bit them, swallowed, and seemed to choke for a second before downing a glass of water himself.


    “Very,” he breathed, his face flushed. “To die for. Almost literally.”


    “Please don’t,” she grinned. “I was just starting to like you.”


    “Starting?” he looked almost offended before clearly noticing her cheekiness. Then, a mischievous glint appeared in his eyes as he said, “I’ll try not to die, then. No guarantees – you might kill me yourself with how adorable you are.”


    Her face immediately turned bright red and she started swatting at him in protest, which he dodged with hearty laughter.


    “See!” he grinned after she gave up. “Oh no, the light… I’m fading!”


    “Oh, shut up,” she smiled in spite of herself, his dramatic death pose almost making her snort out her ramen.


    “No can do. These lips are unoccupied, you see.”


    “Are you angling for a kiss?”


    “Only if you’re angling to give me one.”


    “I’ll have to think about it,” she replied loftily. He pouted and she laughed.


    “Even if you met me halfway, I wouldn’t be able to reach you,” she explained, taking another spoonful of ramen broth into her mouth. “There’s too much table in the way. It’s not that I don’t want to.”


    “Well, that’s alright then,” he acquiesced with a smile. “Looks like I have to eat faster.”


    Once they finished dinner, with Asher winning the battle for payment yet again with a well-worded reprimand about this being her reward for handing in her English draft, Asher gave Marlene a quick call, requesting her to pick them up. Once he ended the call, they meandered off to the arcade, hand-in-hand.


    They didn’t get very far when Lila stopped him.


    “Hmm?” he queried, glancing at her. In response, she gripped the lapel of his blazer, bringing his body closer to hers.


    “You almost forgot your kiss,” she whispered before pressing her lips to his. His whole body seemed to relax into it, and she could feel his smile against her lips. It wasn’t a particularly long kiss, but satisfying enough for Lila, at least.


    “I’m offended that you thought I had,” he replied after she stepped back, lightly brushing his thumb across her cheek. “Of course I remembered.”


    “Then why didn’t you ask again?”


    “I thought I could surprise you in the arcade with one of my own.”


    “Well, don’t let me ruin the surprise.”


    He chuckled and they continued on, entering the brightly coloured arcade, filled with a cacophony of sounds coming from the various machines and patrons. As they ventured further, Lila heard the sound of bowling pins collapsing, and the collision of bumper cars ahead of them. They wouldn’t have time for either, but she made a mental note to suggest these activities for another time.


    Lila’s eyes lit up upon seeing the air hockey table just to the right of them. He stumbled behind her as she excitedly pulled him towards it, chuckling when he realised what she wanted to do.


    They were neck-in-neck for a couple of rounds before Lila couldn’t continue, her laughter causing her to sink to the floor. Asher had managed to score against himself twice in about ten seconds, his face just as bewildered each time, and even more so when the scoreboard declared him the loser. He also broke into laughter, placing his mallet on the table.


    “I’m so dumb,” he huffed through wheezing breaths.


    “I think we’re delirious,” Lila gasped, rubbing her aching stomach. He glanced at her before collecting her in an embrace and kissing her lips gently. It managed to sober her up as she leaned into him, almost toppling him over on to the air hockey table. This promised kiss from Asher made her heart swell with joy whilst she pressed even further into him. He laughed, breaking off from her and holding her hands for a second until he suddenly fished for his phone, taking it out of his pocket before putting it back. He inhaled deeply and offered her his hand.


    “Marlene’s here. Time to go.”


    She took his hand and they toddled off to the exit, still giggling every now and then, before climbing into Marlene’s awaiting car.


    “Good evening, Mr Wagner. Lila,” Marlene greeted them as they buckled themselves in. “You both seem to be in a good mood.”


    “Fantastic, actually,” Asher replied. Even from the back, Lila could hear the smile in his voice, resulting in one appearing on her face, too. Marlene asked no further questions, and Lila felt a bit too awkward to start a conversation on the way home, though she did want to talk more with Asher. It had been a great date, and exactly what she needed – but now that home was looming ahead of her, the glow that she carried from the date was starting to fade.


    With nothing else to do, Lila took her phone out of her pocket. She hadn’t even glanced at it today, but it didn’t seem like anyone messaged her.


    Given it was Thursday, Lila thought that she should turn on her eSim and check if she’d received anything from Zack.


    Her heart pounded as one message popped up, sent thirty minutes ago.


    I’ll do it.


    There was no way Lila could consult with Asher about what to say now, but she figured that a simple ‘good’ or similar would suffice. She flicked through her settings, making sure to turn off her physical Sim card, before replying.


    Glad to hear it.


    What do I need to do, Mr Rock?


    Lila sucked in a breath, her laughter almost escaping. She saw Marlene’s eyes lock onto hers in the rearview mirror and Lila coughed, hoping to disguise said odd behaviour. Marlene’s eyes flicked back to the road and Lila looked back at her phone.


    Like I said, I need evidence against Jason. Screenshots, photos, anything like that. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee your safety.


    From the bus?


    Lila closed her eyes for a second. It was getting harder to get a grip.


    And from the Police, she sent with a small shake of her head.


    The Police will hit me with a bus?


    ‘Oh for fuck’s sake,’ Lila thought, pressing her lips together. If he did end up getting expelled, he’d probably be great at comedy.


    No. But they might arrest you for dealing morphine.


    Oh


    There was no response for a couple of minutes, which helped Lila calm down. Then, when he did reply, it was a myriad of photos – photos that she’d need to go through with Asher.


    Ok Mr Rock – here’s what I got


    Do the photos show that you’re talking to Jason?


    Oh


    There was no response for a couple more minutes, setting Lila slightly on edge. Screenshots were good, but if there was something that conclusively said that who Zack was talking to was indeed Jason Whitley, Head Boy of Forestglade College, that would be even better.


    The next collection of photos had exactly what she needed. A quick flick through and it looked like there were bank account details from Jason and a selfie of him denouncing the changes to his tennis uniform, among other things.


    Perfect. You will hear from me again.


    Thank u Mr Rock


    Lila immediately switched her Sim cards so that her eSim was off and her physical Sim was on. She couldn’t wait to be rid of her eSim, so that she didn’t have to keep remembering to do that.


    It wasn’t long after this that Marlene slowed the car to a stop outside Lila’s house.


    “Thanks for dropping me off, Marlene,” Lila said politely as she unbuckled herself and collected her things. Asher jumped out of the car, taking them from her.


    “I’ll walk you to the door,” he insisted. She glanced at Marlene, who nodded at them both.


    “Thanks,” Lila replied with a smile.


    She couldn’t see any lights on the first floor of her house, which generally meant that everyone was in their rooms upstairs. It was a bit late, so it wasn’t unusual.


    “He sent us the things,” Lila whispered to Asher as she unlocked the front door. He looked at her sharply.


    “Anything interesting?”


    “We’ll have to look through it together tomorrow. I’m… a bit tired.”


    “Fair enough. Get some sleep, then.”


    She opened the door and grabbed her bags out of Asher’s hands, placing them just inside the entryway. She turned to him with a wide, contented smile.


    “Thank you,” she said quietly, taking his hand in hers. “For today. I had a really good time.”


    “I’m glad,” he grinned, squeezing her hand. “If you’d had a bad time, I wouldn’t have forgiven myself.”


    She chuckled before leaning in for another kiss – this one bittersweet, unlike the previous two. She didn’t want to leave him again, but there was no other way around it since there was school tomorrow.


    “Goodnight, Lila,” he murmured, his smile dropping slightly. “See you tomorrow.”


    “Get home safe. See you tomorrow.”


    She waited until he climbed back into Marlene’s car before closing and locking the door. She slowly took her shoes off, the cold, empty darkness of her house instantly reminding her of the fact that she still hadn’t seen her Mum since the fight with Clare. Lila picked up her bags and quietly trod across to the stairs, peeking into the living room just in case. There was no Mum, so she hurried up to her room and closed the door, her heart pounding with a small amount of fear.


    She knew she couldn’t hide from her Mum forever, but she wasn’t ready to face her now, either.


    Luckily, her date with Asher and the interaction with Zack suitably exhausted her enough to almost instantly put her to sleep as soon as she pulled the covers over herself.