Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Eight


    As she''d hoped, her Dad wasn''t home yet. Neither was Daniel nor Clare, though she knew Clare had come back, owing to the small bag from the jewellers sitting politely in the middle of her desk. It was a 50/50 chance whether her Mum was home, but she hadn''t seen or heard her on the way upstairs.


    With that, Lila felt it was safe to sneak into the home office. Even if Daniel were to come home, he would immediately hole up in his room until dinner – that much Lila was certain about. Clare was most likely out with Alex or friends, but if she did come home, she''d similarly be unlikely to go anywhere near the home office.


    Lila softly knocked on Clare''s door, in case she was home without her car (a very doubtful, but not impossible, scenario) and received no response. So, she tiptoed downstairs, her blazer firmly on, and anxiety making her hands slick with sweat.


    Lila poked her head in the living room in case her Mum was curled up on the couch or doing some non-TV-related activities, but it was empty.


    ''So far, so good,'' Lila thought to herself, proceeding down the hallway towards the home office. For some reason, Lila was far more on edge this time than the last time she rifled through her Dad''s investigation files. Perhaps it was because she knew there would be information stored here. Or maybe it was because her Dad had made it clear that the investigation was confidential, now that it was with the Police. He''d definitely be unhappy with her if he found her sneaking around for information that he''d basically banned her from obtaining…


    She did have one thing on her side, though – prior experience with picking these specific locks.


    Despite knowing this, she still needed to take a deep breath before opening the door to the home office.


    She flicked the light switch on, pausing when her hand brushed against the pocket that held her phone. Last time, she''d videoed her search, since Asher was in Vanuatu. Surely she didn''t need to this time?


    She glanced around. Everything… seemed the same – or, at least, the same enough. It was clear that her Dad had been in here recently, shuffling things around. There were a few cardboard boxes and bags of varying types and sizes along the back wall, though Lila was aware that he would be attending a convention for investigators soon. Perhaps it was a small amount of merchandise for him to give out as part of networking? Or maybe he had a stall this year?


    Curious, she gently lifted the flap to one of the boxes, peering inside. Sure enough, it looked like bundles of pamphlets advertising her Dad''s PI company, as well as some business cards and pens. She replaced the flap to its original position, taking a step back with a contemplative finger on her chin.


    What did these conventions even look like? What did people do there? From what she knew, there would be a mixture of State, Federal and Local Government bodies, plus private investigation firms, including her Dad''s, among other related places – but… did they just stand around all day? She highly doubted there would be performances for something so serious as an investigators'' convention.


    It was a shame that it was in another State this year. Otherwise, she might''ve asked if she could go along, just to see what it was all about.


    ''Lila, you''re getting distracted,'' she admonished herself, shaking her head. She spun, facing the cabinets along the wall. The Wagner file had been in the final cabinet, so she made a beeline for that one, pulling out Asher''s kit from her inside breast pocket.


    She selected a pick and the tension wrench and got to work on the lock. As it had been last time, she was met with some resistance but she knew how to handle it. Within a minute – her speediest time yet – a satisfying click sounded and Lila replaced the tools inside the pouch and back into her blazer. Time to hunt around.


    She went straight to the ''W'' section of her Dad''s case files. WAGNER – CMS 2122046 was still in here – the one about the missing husband and suspected infidelity, requested by Helen Wagner. Lila was slightly surprised that she remembered those details upon reading the number, but didn''t linger on this thought as she pulled out WAGNER – CMS 2223007.


    It was significantly chunkier than she remembered. Her heart skipped a beat. There were new things in here.


    She glanced at her phone – she''d only been here for a few minutes. She still had time. With that confirmation, she moved the folder to her Mum''s desk, since it wasn''t cluttered like her Dad''s.


    Flipping open the folder, she was greeted with a mug shot of Jason''s smug face. To Lila, it seemed that he was very confident that he wasn''t as in trouble as he likely was, given this was taken in a Police station.


    The mug shot underneath Jason''s was far less smug. Evelyn Whitley, by contrast, looked far more grim than her son. Lila thought there was some level of fear hidden in the blue eyes that she had passed down to her son, though she of course couldn''t interrogate the image to check if her suspicion was correct. Strangely, there was another photo underneath the mug shots – one which appeared to be taken from some very shoddy CCTV footage. It appeared to show a dark-haired man in a white Doctor''s coat, but from this angle, Lila couldn''t tell anything else. There wasn''t any writing on it either that could attribute the picture to a particular person. Who was he?


    In the absence of a video of her going through the folder, Lila decided to snap pictures of everything inside on her phone. She took a couple extra of the CCTV still for good measure.


    Underneath the CCTV image was a transcript. Lila hadn''t ever seen one before. It took her a while to figure out that it was a written record of an interview (noted by the ''ROI'' acronym at the top) between Detective Constable Louis Conrad, Jason and Morris Whitley, who Lila knew to be Jason''s Dad from her Facebook searches she did the day Asher came back from Vanuatu.


    It was a fair few pages – possibly even two interview transcripts, so instead of reading any of it, she took pictures of each of the pages before moving on to the document underneath it. It was another transcript – this time between the same Detective Constable and Evelyn. It seemed she had no support person.


    Lila snapped more pictures. The next document seemed to be records of access card use within the Forestglade Private Hospital attributed to Evelyn, which Lila took another photo of. Underneath that was the documentation Lila had given her Dad, which was followed by the two documents that Lila had first seen within this folder. Even though she''d already seen these, she took pictures of each document – if only to show the chronology of her Dad''s document storing.


    She pursed her lips. There wasn''t anything else – nothing about the raid on the school, at least. Unless…


    She flipped back to the transcript of Jason''s interview. Flicking through the pages, she skimmed bits here and there before landing on something that the Detective Constable had said.


    DC Conrad: Jason, I don''t think you''re aware of the trouble you''re in here, mate.


    J Whitley: I don''t know what to tell you, Officer, they''re not mine.


    DC Conrad: Then what explanation can you offer about the presence of ten vials of morphine in the lunchbox that was in the locker assigned to you at your school?


    Lila was tempted to read further but she instead closed the folder. She double-checked that all her photos were crisp before returning the folder to its original place in the filing cabinet. She gently closed it and reversed her lockpicking so that it was locked, testing it with a firm tug of the drawers.


    She cast one look around the home office to ensure that nothing was out of place. Upon being satisfied, she flicked off the light and tiptoed out, closing the door behind her.


    Her throat was parched – likely from the subconscious stress of what she''d done. She slipped Asher''s lockpicking set into her inner breast pocket as she walked down the hall and towards the kitchen.


    The front door jiggled as she passed and she immediately darted inside the kitchen.


    ''Act casual. Natural. Nonchalant. Juice,'' she thought sternly to herself. It was probably Daniel, after all.


    She picked up a carton of juice from the fridge and poured it into a cup she''d taken from the overhead cupboard with trembling hands. ''Get a grip,'' she admonished internally. She inhaled deeply, which helped stabilise her hands. The footsteps shuffling towards her sounded like her brother, so she kept the juice out of the fridge.


    "Yo," Daniel greeted her, his school bags still hanging off his shoulders, "gimme the box."


    Lila wordlessly passed it to him and he poured himself a glass of juice as well.


    "Intense assembly, aye?" he asked, taking a sip of his juice.


    Lila sighed. He was talkative now? Just when she wanted to flop onto her bed and read through the interview transcripts?


    "Yeah. There''s probably a lot of students affected by the morphine Jason and Livi were spreading around," Lila said monotonously. "It makes sense to show those resources for help, at least."


    "A couple of weird dudes came in today," Daniel said conversationally. "They wanted to know if I''d taken over Livi''s operation, which I thought was pretty ironic. Like, what am I? Minced beef? Or is it chopped liver? Either way, they could only do their stuff ''cause of my operation. I pretended I had no idea what they were talking about and they got really awkward. Mr Singh was there, but he didn''t really do anything besides look at them. They danced around it for a bit then eventually they got the hint that I wasn''t going to give them morphine and left."


    "You''re probably going to get more of those as time goes on and the withdrawal gets worse."


    "Yippee," Daniel uttered sarcastically, pouring himself more juice. "Well, it''s whatever. The school obviously decided not to chase down the customers and expel them, so I''ll just have to live with it."


    "You should recommend they talk to the school counsellor."


    "Nah." Daniel paused before eyeing Lila. "… That''s actually a good idea."


    "Thanks. I''m full of those."


    "Blackmail being one of them?"


    "It got them expelled, didn''t it? Now they''re not around, mooching off of you and otherwise being shady as hell, or putting students in danger."


    Daniel gave her some major, judgemental side-eye as he put the carton of juice in the fridge. "I still think I could''ve talked to Zack, at least, for the info."


    "Then Zack could''ve told Jason that you were snooping around," Lila countered. "At least when I did it, he had no idea it was me."


    They gave each other resolutely stubborn looks before Daniel sighed. "It''s done now, I guess. By the way, I forgot to tell you that Zack got hit by a bus."


    Lila spat out the mouthful of juice she''d just taken. "W-What?" she asked as she desperately dabbed at her front with some paper towels.


    "Yeah, dude. The Police were escorting Jason, Livi, Zack, Jake and Harper off campus after the raid and Zack decided to make a run for it – into an oncoming bus."


    "Jesus Christ, Daniel, you didn''t want to tell me earlier?" Lila''s voice was bordering on hysterical.


    "Slipped my mind. The dude''s fine, it was more a love-tap than an actual hit. He didn''t go very far anyway. I think he sprained his ankle and fell on the road, but the bus stopped pretty quick."


    "And you know this how?"


    Daniel smirked at her. "Saw it from my SOSE classroom. It was real funny. Well, it was funny when we realised he was fine. I didn''t know a body that solid could ragdoll so spectacularly."


    "How could that have slipped your mind when I asked you what happened last week?"


    Daniel shrugged. "Wasn''t important. You see, I''d just unlocked-"


    "Yeah, yeah," Lila cut him off impatiently with a wave of her hand. "Next time, you gotta lead with that – not wait an entire weekend to tell me."


    "I was only reminded ''cause I was thinking about your texts with him and his bus phobia. Poor guy."


    "… That is kinda poetic, though," Lila admitted. They shared another look before bursting into laughter. Normally, Lila wouldn''t find it funny – nor should she – but, as Daniel said, the humour was there since Zack was ultimately fine. She wondered, through giggles, whether Zack thought the Rock betrayed him, or that the Police organised a hit on him via bus. If she was invested in conspiracy theories, she might have been inclined to agree with the last one given the circumstances.


    "Anyway, I''m gonna head up. See you at dinner," Daniel said, readjusting his bags and taking his cup of juice with him as he went. Lila made a sound of acknowledgement and remained behind in the kitchen until she heard his door close.


    She picked up her own cup and headed upstairs as well, the imagery of Zack being ''love-tapped'' by a bus and ragdolling across the road forcing her to take each step carefully, lest she drop the cup.


    She took a sip of her juice once she was safely in her room before putting it down on her desk. Now, she could look at everything she''d taken pictures of.


    Something occurred to her as she opened up her gallery. There were transcripts of the interview with Jason and Evelyn – but none with Livi, Zack, Jake and Harper. They''d all been arrested on the same day (well, except maybe Evelyn) and, other than Zack''s unfortunate meeting with a bus, there wouldn''t be a delay for any of the other interviews by now. So… why were those transcripts not included?


    Lila was aware that the physical file at home wasn''t necessarily the only file her Dad had – there was, of course, the electronic one, and he potentially had one in his PI office with more information. Even still, the fact that he''d specifically selected these interviews, out of around six, to bring home seemed to be telling Lila something. But what?


    Frowning, she decided to just look at her photos instead of dwelling on it. The answers might be hidden right on her phone, after all.


    She flicked past the two mug-shots. She paused at the CCTV image and zoomed in. The person just looked like an ordinary Doctor to Lila. She couldn''t see how they were related to her Dad''s investigation – unless the Doctor was signing off on Evelyn''s demands for morphine as a prescription, to conceal the theft?


    Pursing her lips, she moved past that as well, stopping when she landed on the transcript of Jason''s interview. The interview, it seemed, commenced on Wednesday at about 11.13am.


    ''So, they must''ve been raided pretty much as soon as school started,'' Lila thought, flicking to the next photo she''d taken.


    The transcript was a decent size, with the beginning preamble identifying him as a suspect in the sale and distribution of restricted Schedule 8 drugs, that he had the right to remain silent, and that he had his father as his support person. It was similar, in a way, to the preamble that Lila had received at her Police interview, but she hadn''t been identified as a suspect – just a witness.


    The interview started shortly after.


    DC Conrad: Jason, this is a very serious matter. Distribution of drugs is taken very seriously by the law.


    J Whitley: I know.


    DC Conrad: Tell me how this all started.


    [Pause]


    J Whitley: Some kid had a really good gig going, with getting loans for students.


    Lila frowned again. At least Jason didn''t name her brother.


    DC Conrad: Alright.


    J Whitley: Eventually, there was so much money just floating around that, well, I thought we could borrow it. It wasn''t stealing, ''cause we put it back.


    DC Conrad: Who''s we?


    J Whitley: Livi- oh, Olivia Malouf. She mainly handled the finances for the loan stuff. The kid really liked her for some reason.


    DC Conrad: Okay.


    J Whitley: So she took the money.


    DC Conrad: But you knew about it.


    J Whitley: But I didn''t do it. She did.


    DC Conrad: Who put it back?


    J Whitley: She did.


    Lila emitted a soft sigh, in lieu of a snort. The admission and then immediate blame-shifting was a bit amusing.


    DC Conrad: Okay. So, where''d you get the morphine?


    J Whitley: What morphine?


    M Whitley: Jason, should you really be talking?


    J Whitley: Dad, it''s fine. I didn''t do anything.


    Lila blinked. But he''d just said…


    M Whitley: Jason.


    J Whitley: Besides, I''m under 18.


    M Whitley: Jason.


    J Whitley: I''m just having a chat, Dad.


    M Whitley: Jason, he said you''re a suspect.


    J Whitley: And I''ll be unsuspected after this. Anyway, you said morphine? Whatever you think it is, it''s not mine.


    DC Conrad: Jason, I don''t think you''re aware of the trouble you''re in here, mate.


    J Whitley: I don''t know what to tell you, Officer, they''re not mine.


    DC Conrad: Then what explanation can you offer about the presence of ten vials of morphine in the lunchbox that was in the locker assigned to you at your school?


    [Pause]


    J Whitley: It''s easy to break into lockers.


    DC Conrad: The lunchbox had your name on it.


    [Pause]


    J Whitley: I got them from someone else.


    DC Conrad: Okay. Who?


    [Pause]


    J Whitley: Mum''s boyfriend.


    [Pause]


    M Whitley: Who?


    DC Conrad: Morris, I''ll ask the questions. Jason, do you have a name for this boyfriend?


    J Whitley: Only his first name. Hunter. Uh, he''s a Doctor at the hospital Mum works at. But because she''s the Vice CEO, they''ve kept it really hush-hush.


    DC Conrad: How long have they been dating for?


    J Whitley: I don''t know. A year? Just over? Dad, when did you guys get divorced?


    M Whitley: [unintelligible]


    J Whitley: Yeah, so just over a year.


    If it had been just over a year… then Jason''s Mum had been dating this Doctor just before Asher''s Dad asked Lila''s Dad to investigate the missing drugs. Lila filed this away in her mind as something of importance to bring to Asher''s attention when they talked about what she found.


    DC Conrad: What kind of person is Hunter?


    J Whitley: A chill dude, I guess. He''s smart, since he''s a Doctor. He''s got an accent – I think he''s Dutch? Or German? Some kind of European. He never really talked about his personal life, but he seems nice enough.


    DC Conrad: Any distinguishing features?


    J Whitley: I dunno. Looks like a regular white guy, I guess. If I saw a photo of him, I''d be able to tell you straight away.


    DC Conrad: So, Hunter was supplying you with morphine. Was there an arrangement?


    J Whitley: Yeah. He asked me to sell it, basically, and give him a cut. Then, he asked me to expand the network into other schools – not that I wasn''t doing that already anyway. We were making bank.


    DC Conrad: How often did he give you the drugs?


    J Whitley: Every week. He''d come over with an esky – one side had, like, wine for him and Mum, and the other was the drugs. I have my own bar fridge in my room, so I''d take it and put it there until it was time to give it out.


    DC Conrad: Who were your customers?


    J Whitley: Mostly the sports teams. Everyone on the tennis team is on them, ''cause that''s where I started with it. Then, I had Zack, Jake and Harper distribute it on.


    DC Conrad: For a cut?


    J Whitley: Of course. I''m not a monster.


    Lila squinted at the screen. There were so many slices being taken out of this operation – just how much money was being made here?


    DC Conrad: So, you expanded the network?


    J Whitley: Yeah. At comps, we all offered it to the other schools. Female teams didn''t buy into it as much, except for Mulberry Heights and Sandy Lakes. All of them are feral for it.


    She wondered why Jason was so forthcoming with all of this information. Did he really believe that he would be cleared after this?


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    DC Conrad: Okay. How many schools?


    J Whitley: About ten.


    M Whitley: Jesus Christ, Jason.


    J Whitley: You''d do it too, Dad, with the amount of money there is in it. I haven''t forgotten why you and Mum got divorced.


    Well, that piqued Lila''s curiosity even more. Was this a ''like father, like son'' kind of situation? Or, rather, a whole family tendency, what with Evelyn''s involvement? If that was the case… then a mother involving her son in distributing drugs illegally might be an expected outcome.


    J Whitley: Anyway, it''s not my fault. Hunter asked me to.


    DC Conrad: Would you like to submit that as part of your statement?


    J Whitley: Yeah, Officer. He''s the one who taught me how to do all this. I think he was distributing it himself, too. I''m surprised there''s any morphine left at the hospital.


    DC Conrad: Did your Mum know about this?


    J Whitley: I never talked to her about it, but I''d assume so. How else can he get that much morphine? Like, he''s a Doctor, but still. Supply chain shit or whatever.


    [Pause]


    DC Conrad: Okay, Jason. From here, we''re going to take a break. You''ll need to be remanded in custody-


    M Whitley: Detective Constable, isn''t that a bit much?


    DC Conrad: I''m afraid that''s how this will play out, Morris. I can supply further details, but as of right now, Jason will be taken into custody until we figure out a few things. Jason, I''ll be interviewing you again once some of your information has been verified.


    J Whitley: But it was all Hunter.


    DC Conrad: We need to do some more inquiries. I''ll be in touch and let you know when you need to come back, Morris. I''ll be turning off the recording – the time is now 12.46pm.


    There actually looked to be another, much smaller transcript beneath this one with Jason, his Dad and Detective Constable Conrad. It looked to be of an interview undertaken on Sunday at 10.10am. The preamble was the same but started very differently.


    DC Conrad: I understand you have some information for me?


    J Whitley: Yeah. Look, it wasn''t just me at Forestglade College spreading it all. Sure, I helped introduce it to other schools, but it was those contacts that I sold to who then distributed it themselves.


    [Pause]


    J Whitley: So, I want to give you the contacts that I dealt with, or know of. Since you said there could be a deal for me?


    DC Conrad: Yes. I did say that. We''d need a little bit of time to evaluate what information you give me, but we could see about a bail release while you await trial.


    M Whitley: Any idea on cost?


    DC Conrad: It depends, Morris.


    M Whitley: Alright.


    J Whitley: Here goes…


    The list of names was mostly unfamiliar to Lila, but she at least had a photo of them to give to Asher. One did stand out, though – Dylan Huntley, at Mulberry Heights.


    ''So… Holly''s boyfriend was a distributor,'' Lila thought with a slight frown. His discussion with Will Reedy at the end of the last match, though she didn''t hear what they spoke about, was probably related to that, then.


    DC Conrad: Thank you, Jason. This will be very helpful.


    J Whitley: To be clear, though, I got it first from Hunter, who probably got it from Mum or at least with her authority, since she''s the Vice CEO. So it''s not my fault.


    DC Conrad: I will add your statement to the record. Is there anything else you''d like to add?


    He didn''t mention anything else, but from the context of what Jason said, it seemed like there might''ve been further interviews in between Wednesday''s and now Saturday''s. This interview ended at 10.35am.


    Lila flicked through her photos before returning to the one she''d left on. There wasn''t anything else with Jason. So her Dad had either selected these two purposefully to take home, or he hadn''t been given the others. If it was by design – why? Wouldn''t he have preferred to take home a lengthier interview – one with more information, and verified information at that?


    Puzzled, she looked through Evelyn''s interview transcript. This one was shorter – short enough that Lila could skim the contents and realise that there didn''t seem to be anything of note in it. Evelyn steadfastly denied everything and, in fact, sounded a little confused. There was also no mention of Hunter, or any kind of romantic relationships at all, though this interview happened on Wednesday morning at about 9am – likely while the raid was taking place, and definitely during school hours. Lila considered that it was probably strategic – to limit the potential for Evelyn to warn Jason that the Police were on to them. Just like Jason, she remained in custody following her interview.


    Lila was curious about why the Detective Constable didn''t participate in the raid if he was at the Police station interviewing Jason''s Mum, but perhaps raids required a different set of skills that he didn''t have. Lila was also curious about why the Detective Constable didn''t inform Jason that his Mum was in custody. Perhaps he left that out in the initial interview to see what Jason had to say without knowing that information as another strategic move.


    Lila moved on to the photos of the documents she''d provided her Dad. They looked the same-


    ''Wait… that''s not what I gave Dad,'' Lila thought as she zoomed in to the first document – the list of employee names at the corporate level. Beneath that were ID photos of the individuals named in the document, and organisational structure information – showing what area of the hospital the people worked in. Some names had been redacted, too, though Lila had no hope of knowing the reasoning behind this.


    With her brow furrowed, Lila changed to the next photo. Blueprints – but these weren''t scratched up at all. Had her Dad found a different set of blueprints and discarded hers?


    ''Hang on. The one underneath is scratched…'' Lila thought as she checked the next photo. There seemed to be a difference between the two blueprints. The one she''d secured from Mr Snugglebutt''s sharp claws was dated in the 1930s. The one that had appeared in her Dad''s case file was dated 2014. Some of the rooms had changed – including the availability of an underground room, beneath the morgue. The purpose of the now-missing room wasn''t listed on the blueprint from the 30s.


    Though it had disappeared from the modern blueprint, did that room still exist? Why was its existence, or not, relevant? Or had her Dad simply received a new blueprint from Asher''s Dad, because that was the latest version, and stored it with this case file for safekeeping?


    The next photos were of money orders. Just like the previous two documents, there seemed to be more here than what she''d provided her Dad. She peered at one of the new pages. There was an initial, which looked to be ''H.V.'' as an authoriser for some. Another initial looked to be ''E.D.'', along with ''I.W.''. Some of the ''E.D.'' initials seemed quite different from each other, but there wasn''t anything in particular that led Lila to feel this way that she could point to. Perhaps Asher would know, upon looking at this. There were a myriad of other initials but they all seemed uniform enough for Lila to not take note.


    The photos of her Dad''s documentation – that she''d seen the first time she looked in this folder – looked the same. A list of corporate roles, and the document listing analgesic drugs. It did look as if her Dad had circled ''morphine'' where previously it had only been highlighted.


    She locked her phone screen and placed her phone on charge before staring up at the ceiling. She was slightly disappointed with the information she''d found. Sure, there was something – confirmation that Jason and Livi''s group were arrested and that Jason''s Mum had been too. It also seemed like the Police were confident enough that they could keep Jason and his Mum detained, which she supposed was a good sign. But… nothing was really lining up in her mind.


    She either needed to sleep on it, or Asher would help her connect the dots tomorrow. For now, it seemed like the gears in her brain had stopped turning altogether.


    With a sigh, she eyed the bag Clare had placed on her desk. She should probably check that it was the right one.


    It looked a lot better in person than in the photos Clare had sent, the brightness of the silver contrasting brilliantly against the blackness of the cushion it sat upon. The ''L'' was a good size, too.


    Another flash of doubt crossed through her as she placed the necklace back into the bag. Would he like it? This was uncharted territory for her since she''d never asked his opinion on jewellery. She hoped he''d like it, since… well… the necklace he''d gotten for her made her happy. She was proud to wear it, even when it was hidden under her uniform since it served as a tangible reminder that she was Asher''s.


    ''Well, I''ll just have to find out tomorrow,'' she thought reluctantly as she sat on the edge of her bed. Now that she''d accomplished those things, she supposed she should put the necklace in her school bag so she didn''t leave it behind.


    Opening her school bag revealed her maths textbook and a few other bits of work that she''d taken home for study. She found an empty pocket and gingerly placed the jewellery bag containing the necklace inside before regretfully extracting her study materials. He had said to her that she needed to study too.


    Getting stuck into study felt like a chore, but Lila pushed past this feeling all the way until dinner. Once her Mum called for her and Daniel, she was relatively pleased. She''d made some decent progress, at least.


    Clare didn''t join them for dinner that night, with Lila''s Mum explaining that Clare was instead with her boyfriend. Lila smiled – the fact that Clare had told their Mum where she was, and that she was with Alex, meant that they were definitely on track to normalcy. However, this sweetness was ruined by Daniel spitting out grains of rice across the dining room table.


    "She''s with her what?" he demanded, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.


    "Don''t be a drama queen," Lila frowned. "You know what a boyfriend is."


    "Well, yeah, but Clare has one?"


    "Why, shouldn''t she have one?"


    "She''s never mentioned having one."


    "Well, sorry to throw something else onto you, but you''re meeting him here on Wednesday night for dinner," Lila smirked.


    Daniel wrinkled his nose. "Here?"


    "Yeah," Lila nodded.


    Daniel seemed miffed by this.


    "What''s with that look?"


    "Well, some dude''s coming over," Daniel frowned.


    Lila laughed. "You''ve met Asher here plenty of times."


    "Yeah, when he was just your stalker."


    Lila rolled her eyes. "He was not a stalker. I know what those are like. We were friends when he started coming over, and ''some dude'' to you."


    "He was not just ''some dude''. He was… my… tutor? What would you even call it?"


    Lila glanced at her Dad, who seemed amused by this conversation. "I dunno, business manager?" she suggested, looking back at Daniel.


    "Sounds lame."


    "Better than ''tutor''."


    Daniel fell silent, jabbing at his pork chop. Then, he gave Lila a sideways look. "Have you met Clare''s boyfriend?"


    Lila paused without meaning to. She knew it looked suspicious, but she attempted to mask it by immediately shoving some green beans into her mouth. "No," she finally said after swallowing.


    "Wonder what he''s like. He''d have to be insane to want to be with Clare."


    "Don''t be rude."


    "All I''m saying is that he''ll never know peace. She''ll just be bugging him all the time, being nosy and all up in his business and whatever. Imagine willingly being subjected to that."


    It was Lila''s turn to fall silent. Lila wasn''t sure if Clare had already started seeing him casually or whether that started after Lila had inadvertently met Alex. She had no idea about what kind of relationship dynamic they had, except that he sounded sweet enough by Clare''s brief stories. In saying that, though, he''d been very intimidating at Coolisimo…


    "Eat your food, you two. It''s getting cold," Lila''s Mum said after a few moments. Lila and Daniel both obliged without another word.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Lila pulled the bag containing her PE gear out of her school bag and popped it at her feet before halting. She… had class with Asher now, but not for the rest of the day. Should she give the necklace to him before class? Or during morning tea? Lunch? Before practice? Dinner? What was the protocol for these things?


    She hesitantly reached for the jewellery bag.


    "Good morning," Asher''s voice made her immediately slam her locker door shut, her heart almost thumping out of her chest.


    She cleared her throat. "G-Good morning," she replied, feeling her face, neck and ears turn red all at once. She tried to meet his bemused eyes but found that she couldn''t.


    "Everything-"


    "Peachy. Let''s go to PE." She bent down, grabbed her PE bag and locked her locker with trembling hands. Her back was still turned to him as she surreptitiously attempted to take a deep breath.


    "Well, before that," he murmured, his lips just grazing her ear. All hope for taking a breath was lost as she shuddered. He took hold of her shoulders and spun her towards him. There was something quite different about the look he gave her now than most mornings before school. Determination was there, yes, but also something else that she was on the cusp of understanding. She found there was no escape with how close his body was and how the cold, hard metal of her locker pressed against her back. She also found that she didn''t want to escape, either.


    "Y-Yes?" she squeaked, her face feeling hotter than before.


    "It''s been one month," he whispered, his face inching closer to hers. Her stomach gave an interesting flop, her eyes now fixed on his.


    "Y-Yeah. Happy one month, Asher," she managed to say. "Um. You''re really close."


    "I know." He bent his head low as he placed his hands on either side of her, capturing her lips in his. Her heart fluttered as their kiss deepened, the passion mounting with each subtle movement.


    They took their time, with Lila savouring each lip-tingling second. He seemed to be keeping himself in check, the slow burn of their kiss further inflaming her cheeks. It was with a gentleness that he eventually broke away, rather than panicked abruptness, and she smiled.


    "What''s this all about?" she asked coyly, placing a hand where the ''A'' rested underneath her uniform. Her breathing slowly returned to normal as he took a moment to respond.


    "I can''t say hello on a day like this without a kiss," he said with a similar smile. "Now we can go to PE."


    It turned out she enjoyed hello kisses far more than goodbye ones. Still smiling, she placed her PE bag in Asher''s awaiting hand.


    They set off to the gymnasium, her footsteps as light as her heart. She eventually turned to Asher, who seemed to have kept his own smile all this way.


    "That was a little bit risky from you," she said playfully.


    "It was, wasn''t it?" Asher replied just as playfully.


    "What if Isaac saw us?" she asked, imagining how frantic he would''ve been upon seeing that kiss.


    "I may have paid him off."


    "What?" Lila laughed. He gave her a serious look.


    "I gave him $50 to get me some jellybeans from the vending machine outside Tuckshop."


    "That''s oddly specific."


    "It''s the only one that sells ''em. Told him I use them as study snacks, which isn''t a lie. Most expensive jellybeans I''ve bought but… definitely worth it."


    She beamed at him and he laughed, his eyes crinkled with joy.


    "You seem happy," he observed.


    "''Course I am. It''s a great day."


    They made it to the gymnasium with some more laughing, talking and goofy smiles before splitting to get changed. Once they were seated inside, they waited for Ms Wright to start the lesson, Lila''s spirits still high. She glanced around to check how far away Ms Wright was and met Ayla''s gaze. In an instant, Lila remembered what Ayla had told her through tears during camp and she gave Ayla a tentative smile. Ayla smiled back.


    "Well, that''s positive," Lila murmured to Asher, turning back to face where Ms Wright usually stood.


    "What is?"


    "Ayla smiled at me."


    "I''ll bet she feels a lot better after talking to you," Asher nodded. "It sounded heavy, from what you told me."


    "Yeah… it''s no wonder she was away for so long – especially since she wanted to see Piper the day that… well…"


    "Yeah."


    Though her mood was more sombre now, Lila took comfort in the fact that Ayla''s smile was much nicer than her death glares.


    Ms Wright arrived not a second later, a bright, peppy smile on her face.


    "Look at all of your fresh faces, back from camp," she said approvingly. "Easy one today, since you all had plenty of exercise last week."


    A few of Lila''s classmates cheered.


    "Well, if you''re going to be that energetic, perhaps I should kick it up a notch."


    A smaller number of Lila''s classmates booed. Ms Wright smirked.


    "Alright, alright. Let''s get set up for dodgeball."


    "Again?" Connor whined as Lila and her classmates scrambled to their feet.


    "Yes, Connor. Again," Ms Wright confirmed. He grumbled incoherently as Justin helped him to his feet.


    "Hope you''re not planning to smack me in the face again," Lila said to Asher with a smirk. His face visibly paled.


    "Wouldn''t dream of it," he replied seriously. "I''m really sorry-"


    "Asher, I''m joking. It''s dodgeball. You''re meant to hit me."


    "Not in the face, though."


    "What''s a couple balls to the face?"


    As soon as she recognised what she''d said, helped along by Asher''s sudden coughing fit, she scrambled to find a way to backtrack.


    "D-Dodgeballs to the face. They''re light, s-so even if you do hit me, it doesn''t hurt."


    "Noted," Asher responded, looking away from Lila, his cheeks pink.


    Why had she said that? She probably ruined things now, after their conversations back and forth about… doing more. Now that she''d seen his reaction, although she hadn''t intended her words to be euphemistic, she was not feeling encouraged that he''d turned his mind around on the idea of doing more.


    They were placed in separate teams once again, though with Connor being in Asher''s team, the threat of Asher hitting her in the face with a dodgeball was significantly reduced. She managed to stay in for quite a while – longer than Asher, at least – but, with ten minutes left to spare, was struck in the thigh and begrudgingly shuffled off the court.


    "Good work," he smiled at her as she sat next to him.


    "Thanks," she smiled in return.


    It didn''t seem as though her previous comment was still affecting him, so she relaxed a little, placing her hands next to her hips and leaning back. Overthinking would probably end up killing her one day.


    They spent the rest of the lesson taking bets on who would be next to get out and talking about nothing in particular, which helped her relax further. Finally, class was over and they changed before returning to one another''s side, falling into step with ease on the way to Design.


    "Managed to get some study in yesterday?" she asked conversationally with a small smile.


    "Sure did," he replied, giving her a sideways glance. "Did you?"


    "A bit."


    He seemed relieved. "That''s good. I doubt you''ll be able to today."


    Her heart skipped a beat. "Why''s that?"


    He blinked at her. "Well, we''re going on our date tonight after practice. We wouldn''t be going home early, that''s for sure."


    "Yeah," she sighed before pressing her lips together. Yep – her death would surely be met by the hands of her own overthinking. What was she even hoping would happen? Her head was a mess that she needed to straighten out. But there was something about him that just… kept making her act up.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    As Lila left Design, she locked eyes with Asher, who grinned at her in greeting.


    "Morning tea time," he declared, stretching his arms before taking her bag back from her unsuspecting hands.


    "Sure is," Lila laughed.


    "Got any energy to skip with me?"


    "I might be able to find some."


    "Perfect."


    They linked hands, which seemed to transfer Asher''s infectious joy straight to her as they skipped along for a few moments. Eventually, they both somehow decided simultaneously that they''d skipped for long enough and settled down into a walk. Feeling carefree with Asher like this, even though assignments and their limitations for seeing each other for the next few weeks loomed overhead, would never make her upset.


    They chatted – well, Lila complained – about their upcoming assignments, before a voice caught their attention.


    "Asher!" Isaac called, waving. They''d crossed paths just outside the locker room without Lila realising. She glanced at Isaac, who beamed as he thrust three packets of jellybeans at Asher.


    "Got a few," he announced. "I did accidentally eat a packet on the way here. It was a long walk. Sorry. We''ll call it the courier''s fee." Lila exchanged a quick look with Asher before they both looked away, with Lila biting back a smile as the memory of the kiss they''d shared in the locker room returned with a surprising amount of force.


    "All good – only needed one. Thanks, mate," Asher replied, pocketing all three into his blazer as they entered the locker room. "Really helped me out."


    "That''s what friends are for," Isaac nodded, clapping him on the shoulder. "Guessing you two are having morning tea together again?"


    "Yeah," Asher said, glancing at Lila as if to check that he was correct. She nodded and he headed off with Isaac to their aisle. Lila shoved her things into her locker, her mind drifting back to the necklace.


    ''The dinner date is probably best,'' she thought as she pulled out her morning tea. ''There''ll be a more romantic atmosphere than school, at least.''


    With that in mind, she closed her locker. Asher arrived a few seconds later and they immediately left in the direction of the library.


    They very nearly weren''t able to find an empty meeting room, but finally managed it and sat down. Lila began to peel her banana and bit into it, hunger suddenly taking hold. Asher himself munched away on an apple and they stayed in a contented silence for a while.


    Once she was done with her banana, Lila set aside the skin and looked up at Asher.


    "By the way," she said, "here''s your lockpicks."


    The faintest trace of a blush appeared on his face as he accepted the lockpicks from her inner breast pocket. "Thanks."


    "No, thank you. It was really helpful," she said meaningfully. They met each other''s gaze for a moment before Lila realised she should probably tell Asher about tomorrow''s plans.


    "So, you know how I mentioned that my family wanted you to ''meet'' Alex at my place with them?"


    "Yeah?"


    "Apparently, tomorrow night works for them both. Since it''s a public holiday, can you come over? After we keep an eye on Marlene. Clare said about 4 or 5pm."


    Asher looked apprehensive. "Well, I guess so, since I''ve already written the day off. I will admit though, the idea of meeting him again after the Coolisimo incident makes me a bit nervous."


    "Me too. He was… kinda intimidating. At least at first."


    "I guess that means I''ll have to get Gabriel to drop us off, and let him know we''re not having dinner." Asher pulled out his phone and immediately started rapidly tapping the screen. A few moments later, he pocketed his phone. "Apparently, he''s irrecoverably disappointed, but understands."


    "Poor Gabriel," Lila replied sympathetically. He chuckled in agreement before taking a sip from his water bottle.


    "Lila, I want to know what you found," he said slowly, replacing the lid on the water bottle. "But there''s something I want to talk to you about first. It… should hopefully be short, but maybe we should keep the morphine ring investigation for lunchtime."


    His seriousness made her tense. Was he going to tell her off about the ''balls to the face'' comment after all?


    "… Okay."


    For some reason, his face turned a deep shade of red and he turned his gaze to the table. "I''ve… been thinking I should… let you in about-" he took a deep breath, the anxiety that was suddenly emanating from him making her feel twice as nervous, "-about why, uh, why I''m hesitant to do more."


    "You don''t need to-"


    "I know I don''t. At the same time, I think you deserve to know. It''s… not a full explanation. I''m not ready to talk about the rest. It''s one that''s been heavily weighing on my mind, though."


    "You already told me that you''re struggling with the idea of… losing control."


    "That''s… a part of it, yes. But… here goes. I''m just… I really respect you and your body, and I guess part of what I''m struggling with is… the things I want to-" he swallowed, his eyes still fixed on the table, "-do to you… comes off as disrespectful."


    "Don''t say that."


    He whipped his head up to look at her before staring back down at the table just as quickly. "Sorry. I-I''ll keep that to myself."


    Lila felt her ears growing hot as she hastened to explain herself, her heart thundering in her chest as her mind raced in tandem, the images flashing through her mind almost derailing her. "No. I meant, well. That was really hot, what you just said. So, don''t say that if you don''t mean it."


    "What?"


    She''d never seen him quite so dumbstruck and flabbergasted all at once. She felt her face flush, her ears still burning.


    "Well… uh," she coughed as if it would make words come to her. They didn''t. Could she get out of this somehow? Never mind what she''d said in PE – this would surely ruin things.


    "Uh, well, I, um. I don''t really think you''d be capable of doing that," she said, now thoroughly flustered. "Disrespecting me. But now… I want to see you try. Shit, I''m making this worse."


    "Lila, I''d have to put my-"


    "You don''t need to explain how it works to me."


    He fell quiet, his face still red and expression looking as though his mind was racing through a million things at once. He leaned forwards, placing his head in his hands.


    "I''m… gonna need at least ten business days to think about what you said," he muttered, his voice significantly muffled. Why couldn''t she keep her stupid mouth shut?


    "S-Sorry."


    "No, no," Asher looked up at her once more. "It''s just… I… didn''t think you''d feel that way, and now that I know, it… it''s helpful."


    "Helpful for what?"


    "My clarity. I… know you want to do more, but I didn''t know that meant… you felt like that on the topic."


    Did that mean he was getting close to letting it happen after all? She shifted in her seat, trying not to look hopeful, which was difficult to manage with the butterflies soaring right from her stomach and into her chest.


    He remained quiet for a while, and Lila slowly finished the rest of her morning tea. Every so often, her mind would wander – over to where he''d said that the things he wanted to do to her came off as disrespectful. It''d started to set off a curiosity that she wasn''t sure she''d be able to satisfy until she''d experienced each and every one of those things.


    She swallowed again. She needed to ask, or else she''d go crazy with her imagination.


    "A-Asher. Um, what exactly… did you mean by the things you want to do to me?"


    "Lila," his voice sounded desperate as he hung his head low, his hands over his face, "Lila, don''t make me say it. I won''t be able to hold back, and I really, really need to. For… my sake. I''m still not ready. Plus, we''re at school."


    Well, that just made her curiosity so much worse.


    "… Okay. Sorry."


    "It''s not your fault. It''s all me, and this stupid brain of mine. If… I was a different person, I''m sure I would''ve gotten over this by now and-" he cut himself off with a deep breath. "Yeah. Just. I need to think – properly. Clearly. I haven''t been able to do that, since my brain takes me elsewhere and then disappears. Sorry, Lila."


    It was a feeling Lila could relate to. "Okay."


    He clenched his jaw for a brief second before pushing aside the remnants of their morning tea, reaching for her hands. She gave them to him and he met her eyes with sincerity.


    "I am trying," he said.


    "I can see that. I appreciate it but don''t rush yourself. Besides, we''ve got study to worry about."


    "We do. I saw you working hard on your English assignment yesterday. How''d it go?"


    Lila and Asher talked for a while before he checked the time.


    "We''ve got about ten minutes left. I think we could start heading now-"


    A sharp knock sounded on the door, making them both jump. They''d never been knocked on before when they were in the school library.


    "Y-Yeah?" Asher asked tentatively, standing up from the table.


    "Thank God," Isaac''s voice responded as he swung open the door, his face as white as a ghost. Lila stood up in concern as both Isaac and Elise filed in.


    "What''s wrong?" Lila asked, looking between their pale, stunned faces.


    "Do you guys not know about Jason?" Isaac asked quietly.


    "Uh, I feel like everyone does," Lila replied uneasily. "We did attend a whole assembly about his expulsion yesterday."


    Isaac shook his head. "That''s not what I mean."


    "What, then? What happened? You guys look-"


    Lila was cut off by Elise gently placing her phone in her hand. Isaac gave his phone to Asher, who took it with a furrowed brow. Elise''s phone was open to an article. Was it about the drugs?


    It took Lila a moment to recognise what she was reading, the sense of déjà vu almost overwhelming her.


    ''BODY OF TEENAGED MALE FOUND IN LOCAL PARK'' read the headline. Lila''s heart began to race. Isaac had said… this was connected to Jason?


    ''At approximately 9.03 this morning, the reporter, Julie Matthews, came across the body of an unidentified male at Flora Park alongside Honeysuckle Boulevard, posed in a sitting position on a park bench.


    ''His general description, from what the reporter could identify, was that the deceased was a tanned white male of about high-school age. He was approximately 180-185cms tall, looked to be 70-75kgs, with short, wavy brown hair. He was dressed in a white t-shirt, denim shorts and lace-up Vans.


    ''Of particular note, the teenaged male was


    heavily mutilated. His eyes were removed, along with his ears and fingertips. His mouth was additionally sewn shut, with severe bruising across his face.


    From what the reporter could tell, there was


    severe bleeding in the groin area.


    ''Immediately upon discovery, police were notified. The park has been sealed for crime scene investigation and is expected to remain closed for the rest of the day.


    ''Upon police attendance, the victim was identified as Jason Whitley, former Head Boy of Forestglade College. He was last seen on Sunday night at approximately 6.30pm, exiting the Forestglade Police Station. Should you suspect you know anything about this crime, do not hesitate to contact the Forestglade Police Station…''


    The rest of the article included details of how to contact the police, including where the station was, and warnings against using the emergency hotline.


    Underneath this was a school photo of Jason in his Forestglade College uniform. His bright blue eyes pierced into Lila, like his mother''s had in her staff photo, and he was grinning from ear to ear – a grin that had been


    sewn


    shut forever. Just like Piper.


    The similarities were uncanny and horrifying all at the same time. There seemed to be more to the article, so Lila scrolled down.


    ''On a personal note, despite changing my jogging routine to later in the day to avoid dead bodies, it appears that this tactic did not work. As a result, this is my last article. I will be moving on from the Forestglade Press into new ventures. Follow me on JMattSews on Instagram and X, formerly known as Twitter.''


    "Fuck," Asher said softly, returning Isaac''s phone to him. Lila returned Elise''s before hugging her torso, as though it''d stop the nausea coursing through her stomach.


    "When did you see this?" Asher asked Isaac, moving to Lila and placing a warm hand on her shoulder.


    "About ten minutes ago. Kinda freaked out and tried to find you guys," Isaac replied, his face still pale. "It''s terrifying. I… can''t believe it."


    "Neither," Lila and Asher said simultaneously. Jason had been alive just a few days ago. He''d been talking to the Police just before that. And, this time last week, Jason had been a student, walking around campus – likely with that trademark smug look he always seemed to have.


    The way that he''d been killed – it was almost exactly like Piper, except for


    the bleeding groin bit.


    What did that mean? What did any of it mean?


    She brought a shaking hand to Asher''s, both for comfort and stability before she started swaying. Considering how quickly Jason had been killed after being expelled… had Lila and Asher killed him? Had… they also killed Piper, since they''d also been part of expelling her?


    "I… think I''m going to throw up," Lila murmured. Asher''s hold on her tightened.


    "C''mon, guys. Let''s get out of this room," he said, freeing one hand to grab their rubbish and belongings from the table. Elise curled an arm around Lila''s. Asher let go entirely and stepped back as the girls left first – into this strange, new reality; one where two former Forestglade College students had been butchered since July.