Chapter One Hundred and Seventy-Nine


    Time ticked by and her eyes were wide open. It… was more tempting than she’d thought it would be to look at the photos Asher’d taken of her.


    ‘Why am I like this?’ Lila thought desperately, placing her hands on her eyelids as though forcing them closed would make her fall asleep. Of course, it didn’t, and so she continued to lie awake. She couldn’t remember it being this hard to fall asleep when Asher had been by her side over the weekend, but perhaps that was part of the problem.


    She rolled from her side to her back, her hands falling to her sides, staring vacantly at her ceiling. Clearly, thinking about the photos, and what they did to get those photos, wasn’t a good course of action if she wanted to sleep. Clare’s situation just made her angry, which wouldn’t help, either.


    So, she turned her mind to Marlene and their conversation that afternoon. It’d been incredibly insightful, Lila reckoned. Even though being given a win was annoying, at least she’d come out of it with some gold about Marlene.


    For one thing, she never expected Marlene to have a boyfriend – not because Marlene didn’t deserve one, but because it was impossible to believe that Marlene had the time. When Lila had suggested that Marlene had a boyfriend when they saw Jamie – at least, who Lila now assumed to be Jamie – she was hardly serious at the time because of that fact. Lila hadn’t asked how recent Marlene''s relationship was, but Marlene’s routine when Asher watched her all those months ago was very prompt. Marlene had never gone home later than the time it took for her to walk back after her shift finished – that much Lila was sure of.


    ‘Though, the two times we saw her after camp, her routine wildly changed,’ Lila thought with a frown. ''First with getting that Nepalese duck from her boyfriend and then something from Dad. Both times she went home straight after, even finishing her shifts early.'' Clearly, then, whatever had been in those bags, though Lila conceded that the first bag Marlene had received was from her boyfriend, was far more important than a visit to Jamie after her shift. Marlene evidently didn''t thank Jamie for the duck privately that day and she didn''t visit him on the day Lila''s Dad visited ''Beans & Biscuits'' from what Lila could surmise. This was a foreign concept to Lila. Lila wanted to see Asher every single day. Did Marlene not feel the same for her boyfriend?


    Lila also hadn’t stepped into the antique store on any of the days they’d watched her. Marlene’s boyfriend could have possibly been travelling to find more antiques at the time Marlene picked up the bag from Lila''s Dad so Marlene couldn’t see Jamie. Perhaps, then, Lila didn’t need to think too deeply about this. He was well-travelled, after all, and even if he''d just returned from Nepal, it didn''t preclude him from taking off again for another trip almost immediately after.


    Then, of course, there was the duck obsession. Lila was slightly disappointed that it only amounted to how charming Marlene found real ducks, but liking ducks wasn’t the most uncommon thing in the world. Ducks were pretty charming, after all.


    Lila smirked as she remembered that Marlene said she’d sneak duck statues into Gabriel’s side of the cottage. That was another side of Marlene that Lila hadn’t expected. She didn’t seem like a prankster with how serious she normally was at Asher''s.


    Marlene’s confirmation of her streaming persona was another win for Lila. After all, it just added to Marlene’s credibility generally with her being forthcoming about that.


    With a smile, Lila focused her gaze on the ceiling.


    Then, her smile faded. Credibility?


    ‘I especially love any game that has some strategy to it to keep my mind ticking,’ was something that Marlene had said. The way Marlene had played during their board game seemed to reflect this – but… had their conversation been that way, too?


    Lila sat up. ‘Who the heck reads the paper to find a job as a maid? Especially in your early 20s, when websites like Seek and all that exist. Does anyone read ‘the paper’ anymore?’


    Marlene hadn’t mentioned which paper had led her to the Wagners, but Lila had a pretty good guess that the Forestglade Press might’ve been one – possibly of many.


    She grabbed her phone, her eyes darting down the photo on her screen for a millisecond before swiping to Google. She tried a variety of search terms on Google itself before moving on to the Forestglade Press website. They’d started putting their articles online in the 2010s, it looked like, and their classifieds were preserved on a separate webpage, but only for those posted in the last 12 months. Entire newspapers were on another webpage called ‘Archives’ but they weren’t searchable. Did Lila need to read through the whole of the ‘Archives’, paper by paper?


    Lila shook her head, typing in another search term on Google. ‘Calm down,’ she thought to herself as her search loaded.


    ‘Forestglade Press archives wayback machine’ generated a hit.


    She opened it up. She was in luck. A snapshot existed for the Forestglade Press’ Archives twice each year from 2009 until the June that had just passed.


    ‘Much easier…’


    She flicked through each snapshot from 2009 until 2015. They looked comprehensive – and, while there were plenty of advertisements from maids requesting work, there weren’t any from a person requesting a maid.


    Now that she was thinking about it, the odder it seemed. If there were so many people advertising themselves as being a maid, it would’ve been easy to pluck them from the classifieds and hire them. Some of the classifieds looked dubious, but at least a couple seemed legitimate.


    While it didn’t necessarily mean much, the absence of an advertised job in at least one newspaper matching the one Marlene had at Asher’s did niggle at Lila’s brain. Searching the whole of the internet sounded like a terrible idea, but… could Asher ask his Dad about Marlene’s hiring process? What would he say?


    Lila continued to stare at her screen, though her eyes were unfocused. She hadn’t felt as though Marlene had lied to her during the conversation, but… thinking back on it, Lila couldn’t shake the feeling that she couldn’t be sure of that. Marlene’s empathy and sympathy had seemed real, definitely – yet… yet…


    She couldn’t put her finger on it. It was incredibly unsettling, whatever concept it was that had appeared in her mind that she still couldn’t grasp. Marlene had asked all the right things, said the right things, and Lila had felt that it was easy to open up – a comfortability that she felt when she talked to Clare in recent times. But why did Lila feel that way?


    And, actually, Lila had told Marlene quite a bit of information – a lot more than she’d intended, really. Some of it Lila had elaborated on to see Marlene’s reaction, but some of it was entirely accidental. How orchestrated was it? How much strategy had Marlene used in their conversation?


    If Marlene had intentionally extracted information from Lila and Asher without their notice in the moment rather than innocently carrying on the conversation – what the hell did she need it for?


    Lila needed to think, to remember, what had been said. What had they told Marlene?


    Though her mind strained, it was evidently too much for her to handle. The next time she closed her eyes sent her off into a dreamscape of meaningless, hazy colours.


    <hr>


    Now that Lila had woken up without the answers to her questions from last night, she realised just how much she and Asher needed to discuss. She was sure they’d be able to at morning tea today since the last week of term was usually reserved for giving out new assignments to look through so that their teachers could continue marking their exams.


    She’d taken a moment this morning to take a peek at the pictures yet again, which helped distract her from her brewing frustrations about the conversation with Marlene however that came with the unfortunate side effect of consuming her mind on the bus ride to school.


    When she met Asher’s eyes outside her locker, she felt an odd thump in her chest, as if his very existence knocked her heart out of rhythm. Would she ever stop feeling this way about him?


    “Good morning, my love,” he said, moving out of the way of her locker.


    “Good morning, my love,” she echoed, inputting her code. She glanced up at him and paused. He seemed… different.


    “Everything okay?” she asked, opening her locker and putting her bags in.


    “Perfectly,” he replied, though again, she was struck by the feeling that something had changed. His body language was almost jittery, but it didn''t seem like he was anxious.


    “Something seems different, my love,” she said softly, attempting not to overthink this.


    “Ah,” he responded, shaking his head. “Sorry. I… I’m starting the day in a mood.”


    “In a mood?”


    “Let’s just say… I made the mistake of looking at our pictures this morning as I got ready for school.”


    She bit back her smile as she closed her locker. “Same here.”


    He took her hand, and they set off towards English, his face pink. Neither of them spoke, with Lila’s mind drifting off right into fluff.


    Then, as the door to their classroom was within sight, Asher sighed. “I still feel guilty about doing, uh, that to you.”


    “Don’t, my love. The fault’s mine for asking.”


    “Elise is right, though. I can take responsibility. I should’ve-”


    “Asher, it’s the best damn feeling when you do that to me. I don’t regret it.”


    His pinkness turned to red as he touched her cheek. “Are you feeling any side effects from the medication?”


    “Nope. I’m right as rain.”


    He sighed again. “If you say so.”


    “I do. I’m also going to do some research.”


    “Some research?”


    “About how okay it is for you to fill-”


    He kissed her, stopping her sentence short. “Let’s not get into it here,” he whispered, his eyes shining with a lustful spark. “For my sanity.”


    She grinned. “Okay, my love.”


    Ms Shard didn’t take long to appear after that and they filed into the classroom, sitting as close to each other as they could. Ms Shard commenced the lesson with an overview of their upcoming assignment – looking at contemporary literature and analysing contemporary techniques – assigned their book and said they could commence quiet study as she marked.


    Lila definitely still wanted to talk to Asher, but not here in English. So, she started looking at the SparkNotes for their book and noticed Asher doing the same.


    Eventually, their self-study was interrupted by the sound of a rolling chair inching towards them. Lila and Asher both looked towards the sound in confusion before Lila’s expression swiftly changed to disgust.


    “What do you want now, Liam?” she whispered harshly. “Go away.”


    “Me?” he whispered back, his tone exuding false innocence. “I want to know if the rumours are true.”


    “What rumours?” Asher murmured impatiently.


    “That you two were getting freaky behind the IT building.”


    “Yeah, and?” Asher responded, his impatience clearly growing. Liam looked taken aback.


    “You’re just… admitting it? You, Asher?”


    “Again, yeah, and?”


    “I… I thought it was fake,” Liam mumbled. “Since you’re such a goody-two-shoes-cuck-”


    “If you don’t fuck off right now, I will punch your lights out,” Asher snapped, drawing the attention of Ms Shard.


    “Uh, boys? Language,” she called shrilly. “I’ll happily give you both detention if you don’t separate this instant.”


    Liam zoomed to whence he came on his chair without another peep. Ms Shard seemed satisfied with this, and she resumed her marking.


    Lila frowned at her laptop, eyeing Asher as he scowled at Liam. Then, he turned and met her gaze before giving a light exhale.


    “You know, I’ve thought this for a while, but I think Liam has a crush on you,” Asher said quietly.


    “Huh?” Lila felt her eyes bulge as she looked back over at Liam, who seemed rather downcast as he looked at his laptop. “No way.”


    Asher nodded. “Way.”


    “Ew,” Lila shuddered. “Ew!”


    Asher smirked, his pose relaxing. “Not a double ew.”


    “Infinity ew, more like it. Ugh, why’d you put that thought into my head? I think you’re imagining things.”


    “Think about it,” he said, his voice low as Ms Shard scanned the room before looking back at her test papers. “He’s taken the time to talk to us together and separately about relationship stuff and sexual stuff, too. No one else has done that so frequently, so unprompted and as offensively as possible all at once.”


    Lila wrinkled her nose in disgust. “He did ask if I was pregnant like a weirdo.”


    “Maybe he’s into that.”


    “Asher, you’re making this so much worse.”


    Asher smirked again and she tapped his arm reproachfully.


    “Hey, he might have a crush on you instead,” she said, also in a low voice.


    Asher narrowed his eyes as if considering this before shaking his head. “Nope. He checks you out too often.”


    “He does?”


    “Yeah. Like, every time he approaches.”


    “I never want to be approached by him again.”


    “Maybe you should ask him. He’s in your PC class, right?”


    “Asher and Lila, your continued whispering is very distracting,” Ms Shard frowned at them both. “Cease, please, or be sat elsewhere.”


    They ceased for the rest of the lesson.


    Once the lesson was over, however, they resumed.


    “No, I’ve been thinking about it all lesson and he can’t like me,” Lila insisted, taking Asher’s arm as they walked to the STEM area.


    “Why, my love?”


    “He’s too much of an asshole to me,” Lila replied, shaking her head. “Why would he be an asshole if he likes me?”


    “Sometimes, that’s how guys show it,” Asher said, as though that were that.


    “That’s stupid! That’s almost guaranteed to get their crush to hate them.”


    “Worked for you, didn’t it?” he asked playfully, looking down at her with a grin. “I was a bit of an asshole at the start of this year.”


    “I…” Lila faltered. “No, that’s not why I-”


    “I’m just teasing,” he chuckled. “Either way, though, that’s what some guys do ‘cause they think it works since it gets them attention. All attention is good attention, right?”


    “Absolutely not.”


    He chuckled again. Lila pursed her lips in displeasure, thinking more about English.


    “Would you have made good on your promise to punch his lights out?”


    Asher glanced at her in surprise. “Why’d you ask?”


    “Well… I’m just curious.”


    He looked thoughtful before nodding. “He’s pissed me off all year, and now thinking that he’s into my girl pisses me off again. Besides, I’ve already punched Jackson. What’s another body when there’s already one?”


    “You didn’t murder Jackson.”


    “Pretty sure I murdered his ego, though. That’s basically killing someone like him.”


    Lila pursed her lips again, her mind thinking instead of their conversation with Marlene yesterday. She lightly swung his hand, looking up at his still-amused expression.


    “So… yesterday,” Lila began. He clenched his hand around hers in response and she continued. “We talked a lot to Marlene but we never debriefed.”


    “We didn’t,” Asher agreed, his eyes darting around him. “We can at morning tea.”


    “Alright.”


    They emerged at the breakaway point in the STEM area with Asher casting another look around.


    “No Isaac,” he commented, looking down at Lila with a smile twitching on his lips. “What’re the chances that he’ll avoid us-”


    “Not very high, mate,” Isaac replied, his voice sounding as though he’d given up all hope. “We’ve- I’ve. Um.” He sighed, running his hand through his hair. “I’ve decided… that… being embarrassed is a bit stupid. Since, well, we’re all doing it. But, man, that’s easier said than done.”


    Asher handed Lila her Maths things as he said, “I’ve been thinking the same thing.”


    Isaac sighed heavily. “Not… that I wanna talk about the fact that we saw each other-”


    “Yeah, nah, that’s going a bit far,” Asher said quickly. “C’mon, let’s get to Chem.”


    The boys waved Lila off, and she headed to Maths with a small smile. Their embarrassment was endearing in a way, but she was glad for it to come to an end. After all, whilst finding each other at the same pharmacy once more for things relating to sex was embarrassing, it was also hilarious if she was in the right mood.


    Lila was more than ready to head off to have morning tea with Asher by the time her Maths class ended, so she skipped out with a smile into his awaiting arms.


    “Hello again,” he laughed, taking her bag off her shoulder. “Ready for morning tea?”


    “More than ready. I’m starving.”


    “Can’t have that,” he grinned, taking her hand. “Let’s go.”


    The jaunt to the locker room was filled with light chatter about next term’s projects. They promptly split off with a promise to return just as quickly once they arrived.


    As Lila pulled her morning tea out of her locker, she caught sight of Elise slipping past her with a pensive look on her face.


    “Hey, Elise,” Lila called. “What’re you thinking about?”


    Elise jolted, evidently not expecting Lila to speak to her. She shiftily looked around before standing next to Lila and interlocking their arms.


    “Lila, what’s it like being on the Pill?” she asked in a whisper. Lila blinked at Elise.


    “I mean… fine,” Lila replied, furrowing her brow in confusion. “Bit of a random question.”


    Elise sighed. “The morning-after pill messed me up yesterday. I made it to, like, hour four before I started throwing up and cramping. I’m fine now, but Isaac freaked out. Said he’ll take me to the doctor and pay for the Pill so I don’t have to worry about it.”


    “Yikes,” Lila said, her tone concerned. “Nah, I had nothing like that. Glad that you’re okay now, though."


    She looked intently at Elise''s face to verify this before continuing, "The Pill took a bit to get used to taking since I’ve never had to take medication regularly before. Clare said she had a bit of spotting when she started. Otherwise… well, my first period was a bit weird,” Lila paused, trying to think if there was anything else to tell Elise about. “I guess you’ll just need to tell the doctor about your reaction to the morning-after pill, in case that’s connected to the Pill in some way. I know that there’s heaps of different types, though I don’t know what the differences are. Some of them can help with acne, I think.”


    “Do… you think I should take it?”


    Lila took a careful look at Elise’s nervous expression. This was something else Elise had missed out on by keeping her relationship with Isaac secret – the ability to get open and honest advice about stuff like this.


    “Like Asher said yesterday, we were getting the morning-after pill ‘cause we ran out of condoms. Parts of the fact sheet made it seem like if you’re taking it properly, you won’t need both. I… think we’re going to keep using condoms, but, honestly, if we don’t have to worry about them, then that takes heaps of stress-”


    “You two are huddled together quite closely,” Isaac’s voice instantly broke them apart. “Whatcha talkin’ ‘bout?”


    “What it’s like being on the Pill,” Elise replied frankly, her face flushed.


    “Carry on,” Isaac said swiftly, turning around and seeming about to skedaddle away.


    “I thought you decided not to be embarrassed,” Lila said reproachfully.


    “Yeah, well, not about… girl stuff,” Isaac responded, turning back to face them, hunching his shoulders and waggling his fingers in their direction.


    “So, you’re fine with being in-”


    “See you at the exit, Lise,” Isaac said, knocking into Asher’s shoulder in his haste to escape. Asher looked bemused as he stood by Lila, looking between her and Elise.


    “Seems like his embarrassment is just transferring to other topics,” Lila smirked at Elise, who sighed.


    “He’s completely fine with me when we’re in private,” Elise said with a shake of her head. “Not sure why he’s like this with you guys.”


    “Of course he’s completely fine with you when you’re in private,” Asher replied with a nod. “He loves you. If he wasn’t comfortable around you, then that’d be an issue, wouldn’t it?”


    “I suppose,” Elise trailed off, looking in the direction Isaac had disappeared. “I don’t think you finished what you were about to say, Lila.”


    “Right,” Lila said, turning completely to Elise, “anyway, so, I think you should try it, at least. I mean, it’s peace of mind, right? So that if something happens, you don’t need to take the morning-after pill again-”


    “I’ll see you at the exit, too,” Asher interjected, his face reddening. “Sorry for intruding.”


    They both watched him go before exchanging a look and laughing.


    “At least they’re just as bad as each other,” Elise said with another shake of her head. “You’ve got your morning tea already, so I’ll let you go. Thanks, Lila. I’ll try it out, like you said.”


    “Oh, this is the one I use,” Lila said, pulling out her phone. She’d taken a photo of the box of her Pill during the first week of using it so that she’d remember what it was called for refills. She opened up her photos before instantly turning her screen off again, feeling the warmth rising in her cheeks. She pocketed her phone and firmly zipped it up.


    “Uh, is everything okay?” Elise asked, her expression a mix between concerned and curious.


    “Y-Yeah. L-Levlen. Levlen ED is the one I use,” Lila stammered, testing that her zip was definitely still up. “Your doctor might prescribe a different one, but that’s what I use. Um, I don’t want to keep Asher waiting.”


    Elise’s curious expression didn’t abate. “Are you sure-”


    “Yep! See you at PC!”


    With that, Lila darted to the exit, almost dropping her morning tea along the way in her flustered rush. She burst out of the locker room door and barely registered that Asher and Isaac had been standing awkwardly across from each other, their hands in their pockets, as she barrelled into Asher and took him with her via his arm. She hardly said ‘bye’ to Isaac as they left him, though she did catch sight of his perplexed face.


    “Whoa, whoa,” Asher said in bemusement after a few paces, slowing them both down. “What happened?”


    Lila simply shook her head and continued tugging his arm in the direction of the library.


    “My love?”


    She turned her head to face him, and her panic must’ve been extremely evident as his expression instantly morphed into unease.


    “L-Library,” she managed to utter. “Can’t talk about it here.”


    “Okay,” he responded gravely.


    They legged it to the library and Lila collapsed into a chair in the meeting room they’d managed to snag, placing her head in her hands.


    “What happened, Lila?”


    She looked up at Asher in despair. “I almost showed Elise one of the photos.”


    “Photos?”


    “From yesterday.”


    He blanched. “Huh?”


    “We were talking about the Pill and whether she should get on it and… and I’d taken a picture of the brand I use a while ago so that I could remember what it is when I need to get it again. Except I had one of the photos open in my photo app, and then the whole collection takes up the whole first page.”


    “D-Did she-”


    “No, she didn’t see, but she almost did. I threw my phone in my pocket and ran away.”


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    With that, Asher seemingly melted with relief. “Thank God.” Then, he reached out to hold her hand. “My love, if she didn’t see anything, then there’s no reason to be so panicked,” he said sensibly after caressing the back of her hand with his thumb. “Don’t worry.”


    She squeezed his hand before flopping chest-first onto the table. “But-”


    “Lila, you saved it. We’re good.”


    She took a deep breath before exhaling loudly, the exhale taking with it a groan.


    “I think I’ll die if someone sees them,” she said after a beat of silence passed.


    “Same.”


    “Sorry for the close call and… my reaction.”


    “Don’t be. I’d react the same if I was going to show Isaac something on my phone and that popped up.”


    They continued to sit in silence for a few more moments before Asher gently shook her hand.


    “I think there’s apps that can make secret folders and stuff on phones,” he said. “Let’s get one so it doesn’t actually happen.”


    She slowly sat up, pressing the back of her free hand against her boiling-hot face. “Yeah. Let’s.”


    They independently searched for one on their phones, comparing reviews and the like, before settling on one and downloading it. With more sustained silence, they set their secret folders up, moved the photos over and deleted the evidence from their normal folders and even their chat history.


    “There,” Asher smiled. “Now it won’t possibly happen unless you’re logging into the app around someone else – which I doubt you would.”


    “Definitely,” Lila replied with a small shiver. “That was horrifying. I’ve learned my lesson.”


    “And I’ve learned from you once again.”


    “Probably not a lesson you wanted, though.”


    “All the same – a valuable one. Plus… it’s a bit exciting, having a secret spot for… this.”


    Lila’s mouth twitched into a roguish smile. “Are you planning on adding more to the collection?”


    “I never said that,” he replied, though his eyes were glittering with interest at the idea.


    “I mean… there’s no limit to how many things can go in this folder.”


    “My love, you’re looking mischievous over there.”


    “Who, me? I’m entirely innocent.”


    “Says the one who begged me to do exactly what we shouldn''t over the weekend.”


    She pouted. “You’re supposed to go along with what I’m saying.”


    He smirked, opening his sandwich bag and pulling out a mandarin. “Am I? I don’t want to be a liar, though.”


    She exaggerated her pout even further and he chuckled.


    “You’re so easy to tease,” he said fondly, breaking into his mandarin and holding a piece out to her. “Did you want some?”


    “No thanks,” she replied, slightly miffed by his statement.


    His smirk widened. “I love you.”


    “I love you too.” She eyed him carefully. “So… is that a no to adding to our collection?”


    He met her gaze. “Of course that’s not a no. If you’d like to add more to our collection, then I’m happy to test my photography skills.”


    “I can’t wait.”


    He brushed her cheek with his fingertips, his eyes still locked onto hers. “Neither. Eat, otherwise your food will get cold.”


    She blinked down at her food – an apple along with some packets of snacks. Then she whacked him on the arm, and he chortled.


    “Luckily I like cold apples,” she said playfully.


    “Well, that’s alright then.”


    She smiled at him, taking a bite of said apple. As her anxiety dissolved, now that they’d come up with a solution to protect their photos, she started to reiterate in her mind all the things she wanted to talk to Asher about regarding Marlene.


    “Asher…”


    He glanced at her with a smile. “Yeah?”


    “Can we-”


    “Talk about Marlene?”


    “Yeah.”


    He nodded and she breathed a sigh of relief. “What did you think about the conversation?”


    “What did I think?”


    Lila nodded. “Since you’ve known her for years.”


    He leaned back in his chair, his pensive look deeper than any she’d seen before.


    “Well… I think it went well,” he said tentatively after a few moments of silence. “At least, in terms of getting to know her better, like you wanted. I definitely feel a little less freaked out by her. I’ll see how that feeling goes tonight when I get home, of course.”


    She continued to look at him expectantly. “Anything else?”


    Asher gave a long drawn-out sigh. “I think she was pretty cagey, all things considered.”


    “How so?”


    He frowned. “It’s hard to define, but it seemed like she was carefully choosing her words. I’m not sure why she would, though.”


    “So you felt it too.”


    He met her gaze, his expression serious. “So I did.”


    “Do you think she lied about anything?”


    “Lied?”


    She nodded again.


    He paused. “When… I was younger, just before Marlene first started working for us, Mum said she met Marlene years ago – that she was like a family friend.”


    Lila furrowed her brow. “So why would Marlene say she found an ad in the paper?”


    Asher shrugged. “Beats me. Maybe Mum just said that because I was pretty lonely and anxious as a kid so that I’d be more comfortable with Marlene.” He gave a short laugh. “Not much has changed there – except I’m not so lonely.”


    She reached forward and grabbed his hand in hers, giving it a gentle squeeze which he reciprocated. “You better get used to not being so lonely.”


    He grinned. “Already did, my love.”


    She returned his grin with her own and he looked thoughtful once again.


    “I mean, Marlene might’ve seen the ad in the paper and contacted my parents directly, if she knew them before. Mum doesn’t trust strangers easily, so it’s kinda hard to believe she’d put an ad in the paper for someone to live with us like that randomly to begin with. If she did, then she would’ve been relieved that Marlene was interested.”


    “How’d Gabriel get hired?”


    “I think one of my cousins or an Uncle or something was going through culinary school with Gabriel and he met my parents through them. It’s such old news that I doubt Gabriel remembers that connection, to be honest.”


    Lila brought a finger to her chin, her mind running through this new information. If Tabitha wasn’t trusting of strangers, then was whatever happened to her the work of someone she knew?


    Lila hadn’t consciously decided on whether or not the perpetrator of Tabitha’s disappearance was at the hands of a stranger, or someone known – just that Marlene seemed to be a likely suspect. Random kidnappings could happen, sure, yet that didn’t explain the absence of any CCTV regarding Tabitha’s movements in or out of the house after returning from the airport with Ivaan that fateful December afternoon. Though, what would-


    “Otherwise, she seemed pretty truthful,” Asher said, stretching his arms out in front of him. “She didn’t really give us much that we didn’t already know, though. Kinda seemed like she didn’t know much with all the questions she asked.”


    “See, I was thinking about that too and we gave her a lot of information. It just came flying out and all that – but I’m wondering if she orchestrated that.”


    Asher looked disturbed. “Why would she do that?”


    “No idea. I wanted to think through what we told her with you. We might be able to tell if she was purposeful or just… I dunno, being nosy or something.”


    Asher placed his hand on his chin, staring down at the table between them. “Alright. You kicked off the conversation by asking why she started working for my family. We already know she said Mum placed an ad in the paper for some maid services, but Mum told me before Marlene started that Marlene was a family friend. I was, what, six or something at the time – so she could’ve just said that so I’d trust her and make the transition easier or that’s the truth.”


    “Then she said she likes the work,” Lila murmured. “I mean, there probably are more people than just her who like being maids because they actually like the work, so in the absence of anything else, I guess we can treat that as the truth.”


    “Yeah… then… she asked if we were friends for long.” He paused, his eyes flickering to hers before being trained on the table once more. “Then you mentioned Elise dating Isaac, which meant our circles lined up.”


    Lila nodded, tapping her index finger on the table as she ruminated further. “See, I’d move past that, but Elise connected to her Mum, which connected to the drugs.”


    “Hang on,” Asher knitted his eyebrows together as though the table had done something to offend him. “You can read Marlene’s questions as being innocent – but didn’t they also sound like she was pushing you into telling her more about Elise?”


    “That’s it!” Lila firmly tapped the table before placing her hands over her eyes. “She was. Making comments about Elise being quite the girl, how she made Isaac into a hard worker, and how admirable Elise is… I mean, all of those things are true but if you know Elise is my best friend, which I mentioned, and start complimenting her, then of course I’m going to gush about her.”


    “Sure, but you also used it to see if Marlene knew anything about the morphine, right?”


    “Absolutely. And… it looked like she didn’t.”


    “No. In saying that, Marlene did give us a suggestion about reporting Hunter to the Health Ombudsman.”


    “She did. Should we?”


    Asher ran his hands through his hair with a long, low sigh. “I… I don’t know. I mean, with the info we have, they’d hardly take it seriously, right?”


    “That’s what I’m worried about yet at the same time… what if they do and he gets arrested or something for impersonating a doctor?”


    Asher hesitated. “That’d… be a good outcome, wouldn’t it?”


    “Yeah.”


    Asher sighed again. “We could, but surely your Dad would’ve? Right? Or the Police? Since the info about Hunter was gathered from Jason’s interview.”


    “Oh.” Lila sat back. “Right. Probably. Should… should I ask Dad?”


    “Ask him what? Didn’t he say you’re not supposed to be snooping?”


    Lila bit her lower lip. “Yeah… but… I mean, what if he hasn’t? What if he’s done that thing where everyone, including him, thinks that someone else has reported it and therefore no one has?”


    “I think you should give your Dad more credit than that.”


    Lila exhaled slowly. “You’re right. He would report it.”


    They were silent for a while before Lila glanced at Asher and murmured, “I’ve been wondering how big this morphine ring was. I… I really want to know if Elise’s Mum was a victim of it since it''s just a theory we have at the moment. I mean, taking advantage of school kids is one thing, but sick people? People who are truly in need of pain relief like that? That’s just… absolutely cruel. Evil, even. It’s to the point where I think if the ring was bigger – extending to your Dad’s hospital at the very least, then that’s…” She trailed off, unable to articulate the feeling that was punching a gaping hole in her chest. It was horrible to even try and think about other victims aside from Elise’s Mum who had been ensnared by Hunter’s plot – victims who were now left to suffer the ramifications of a sudden absence of morphine.


    “I think if it went much further than the hospital and local schools, my Dad would be incredibly pissed,” Asher said quietly. “It might be why he hasn’t been around at home much, too. I mean, he usually is really busy, but it’s been much more noticeable. Or maybe I just notice it ‘cause Mum’s not here – but either way, my Dad’s the type of person who tries very hard not to let me in on his work situation. Mum too. I think they get worried that I’d get worried for them, which isn’t wrong. Still, though – he’d lose his mind.”


    “Not that I’d want your Dad to lose his mind, I think the fact that he’d take it that seriously is good. It shows that he’s empathetic, at least.”


    “Of course he is,” Asher replied softly. “He’s reliable in that way.”


    Lila let this statement hang in the air for a moment before thinking back to Marlene.


    “She seemed surprised that both Piper and Jason were expelled. You also ended up telling her that we saw Jason, Zack and Jake exchange morphine with the rugby boys. That also seemed to have surprised her. Then… she drew us into a conversation about Jason’s friends and family… which led to me telling her about Alice and Evelyn’s new connection, and the pregnancy, of course. We then talked about murderers generally – which connected to the fact that Marlene consumes a lot of true crime media on the way to work… then she told us about her boyfriend, her duck-collecting hobby, which also explained that drop with the Nepalese duck, her streaming, her love of strategy games… then she gave me the win, told us that she considered ‘serving the Wagners’ as her real job, and left. Am I missing anything?”


    “Nothing, my love.”


    Lila pursed her lips, her frown so deep that she almost felt that it’d be permanently etched on her face. She relaxed it before sighing with a touch of impatience.


    “Asher, who the hell is Marlene?”


    “My maid, a barista, a streamer and an avid duck collector, apparently.”


    Lila’s frown returned. “Yet… yet none of those jobs require a lot of intelligence, right? She’s brilliant at board games, and I just get this eerie feeling that she took charge of that conversation but so subtly that I didn’t notice at the time. She gave us a lot about her in theory – if we hadn’t known about all that before. The only new thing she mentioned was her boyfriend, who we’ve seen anyway. She’s got a university degree and settled to be a maid. She’s the most overqualified maid in existence, really. Why would being a maid be her real job – one that she seems to really love? She clearly loves to be mentally stimulated too – but folding washing is about as stimulating as watching paint dry.”


    “Sure, but that’s why she plays Warcraft games and streams, right? And she said she loves socialising at her barista job. That’s mentally stimulating.”


    Lila hugged herself tightly, the only comfort in the absence of answers. “Do you remember when I went over the second or third time, I think, and you said she was standing outside the library and keeping tabs on you?”


    He shuddered. “Yeah.”


    “Does she still keep tabs on you?”


    He blinked. “… Actually… I… haven’t noticed.”


    “Really?”


    He shook his head. “Really.”


    She pursed her lips again. “Something about the way Marlene talked to us… it was like… she was seeing what we knew. But if that’s the case, then she must know a lot more, right?”


    “Yeah, to know where our limits are.”


    “But at the same time, she seemed like she hardly knew anything.”


    Asher held his head in his hands. “It’s quite the oxymoron, isn’t it?”


    She nodded, thinking once more. Then, she stood up, almost in shock.


    “Asher, Marlene mentioned Mr Snugglebutt but she never elaborated on who that was – and we never told her that we knew it was her cat. Asher – that was a test.”


    “A test?”


    “A test. To see if we were paying attention. I didn’t pick it up. Damn.”


    “Hold on, my love. How can you be sure it was a test?”


    “Think about it. Mr Snugglebutt has led us to a whole bunch of stuff – the documents and the codes. That one that said ‘Hello, my name is Percy’ or whatever and that picture of us. If Marlene made Mr Snugglebutt do all those things, then us not clarifying means that we uncovered his nickname – which was in her room and in the code – and that we’re so familiar with him that it didn’t even occur to us to ask her.” Then, her tone took one of urgency. “Asher, what if that’s what she was doing with us?”


    “What do you mean?”


    “Playing dumb to see what we say – testing us against her own knowledge. Except we were supposed to play dumb then.” She bit her lower lip and slowly sat down. “Then, like our lack of questioning was exactly what she wanted, she fed us the information about her being sneaky to get more ducks. Like a reward or something.”


    “Then doesn’t that mean we passed the test?”


    “Her… letting us win means we lost.”


    “Huh? Lila, my head’s spinning, slow it down. Where are all of these conclusions coming from?”


    Truthfully, Lila’s head was spinning too. Chasing all the threads that had bloomed in her mind’s eye was getting her tangled.


    “Asher, wasn’t it convenient that she decided to show up and give us drinks when we were talking about how Elise’s Mum might be addicted to morphine given to her by Hunter? I know that’s just a theory of ours – but she started pulling the conversation to my friendship with you, and subsequently our friends in general straight away. She was trying to see what we knew – but I think she also had no idea who Elise was. I didn’t say that Elise is my best friend when we were talking about our theory in the library, at least. So… she went with the idea that Elise is our friend – probably ‘cause we know about her Mum.” Then, she clapped her hand to her forehead. “Fuck, I gave Marlene Elise’s last name!”


    Asher looked alarmed. “Is that an issue?”


    “Yes! Asher, if Marlene was extracting information from us like that, then… then… she needs it for something. That’s not just being nosy. Clare’s nosy as hell, but she doesn’t drive a conversation like that. She just comes out with it and bullies info out of me when she’s in her nosy mood. But this – this was-” Lila shivered. “I don’t want to think about it anymore.”


    Asher’s alarm only increased on his face. “Really?”


    “I… I need a break. My mind- it’s going crazy.”


    He reached for her hand and held it gently in his. “Okay.” Then, he gave a small sigh. “So, we’re visiting Dad’s hospital this weekend.”


    Lila felt ease wash over her immediately. “Yeah.”


    “I still don’t think we’ll find that room you think exists.”


    “I don’t think it exists. It does exist – or at least it used to, back in the 30s or whatever.”


    “Sure, but security’s tight, you know.”


    “Not tight enough to keep the morphine under control.”


    It seemed like he didn’t have a retort to that one.


    “W-Well, anyway, I’d put it in for this Saturday, but I’ve got the finals now,” he said, clearing his throat.


    “So, Sunday?”


    “Looks like it. I mean, I can see how I’m feeling after finals-”


    “Nah,” Lila shook her head with a smile. “You’re gonna be drained one way or another.”


    He immediately looked flustered. “Lila, I hope you’re not teasing me.”


    “Despair in the fact that I am.”


    He snorted and she winked, lightly brushing her fingers against his knuckles.


    “I love you,” she murmured after a moment.


    “I love you, too.”


    “I’m still excited to see the morgue.”


    He sighed, hanging his head. “My love, I don’t think you’ll be able to.”


    “Fine. I’m excited to see where crimes took place.”


    “We don’t need to go to the hospital for that. Just look at your phone.”


    She playfully shoved his arm. “Rude.”


    He laughed. “Just being truthful, my partner in crime.”


    She laughed with him before sobering up just as quickly. Try as she might, the distraction regarding their visit to the hospital wasn’t enough.


    She looked up at Asher, who looked contentedly back at her, caressing her cheek for a brief second. Instead of comfort, she felt an intense, white-hot flash of anxiety burn through her. He was so sweet, so tender and loving as always – but Marlene’s presence… would it break him even further now? Especially since she’d evidently heard them talk before she entered with drinks. Inside the library with… incredibly thick doors-


    “Lila, something’s wrong again, isn’t there?”


    “My love, your library’s not safe,” Lila whispered, pressing her hands tightly together, her new revelation making her quiver. “If… if she came in there ‘cause she heard our conversation, she must’ve been able to hear it clearly – not just through the door. So… so… we can’t hang out in there.”


    “Or,” Asher responded, placing his hands around hers, “we test her right back.”


    “Huh?”


    His evident nervousness at this idea slipped his lips into a grimace which swiftly disappeared. “Yeah. Now that we know her game, we can try again. If it’s as we think – that she knows more than what she outwardly showed – then let’s play again. We don’t know why she needed all that information. If we keep talking to her, with some strategy this time, then we might be able to figure it out.”


    She gazed into his eyes. She wanted to do exactly that, but this want was overtaken by her surprise at his suggestion. He’d wanted to avoid Marlene since Lila started hanging out with him – but now he wanted to go talk to her again?


    “My love, it’s okay. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable. She works for your family and lives on your property, after all.”


    “I’m already uncomfortable.”


    “I know but – what if the answers we get aren’t what you want?” Lila’s voice dipped as she added, “What if she’s dangerous?”


    “We already know she is. She punched the hell out of that intruder in April, remember?”


    Her continued gaze was steady. “And you want to poke the bear.”


    His eyes flickered to the ceiling behind her. “It’s a risk I’m willing to take. I can’t just pretend like all of these inconsistencies about her aren’t freaking me out. We figured out a lot about her and for a hot second, I thought it eased me – but now that I’ve thought deeper about it… I can’t unthink about the fact that I don’t know her intentions at all. I… don’t- I can’t trust her. Not at the moment. Not like I used to. Ever since Mum’s gone missing, it’s like this veil over Marlene’s shattered. Now I’m seeing that I haven’t been seeing her, you know.”


    Lila continued to survey Asher as he looked back at her, his smile pulling in a way that told Lila he was still apprehensive about the idea. But there was something new in his eyes – determination.


    “You really want to do this,” she murmured.


    “Really,” he confirmed with a nod. “I… I’ve had enough time sitting around. I can’t even pretend to be passive anymore. Mum’s been gone since December, there’s a murderer on the loose, and I can’t just hide my head in the sand and keep trying to ignore the fact that the Marlene I thought I knew might not be that at all. I want to trust and believe in her – but I need to find out for myself. At the very least check, you know. She said that serving the Wagners is her real job and that she loves the work – so… I’m hoping that means she’s loyal to us, loyal to Mum. But… fuck, I don’t know anymore. What if that’s another lie to get me to blindly trust her? Lila, I don’t want to be blind anymore.”


    She took his hands in hers, squeezing them tightly. “Then let’s dig. She seems incredibly crafty. So… we need to really be on top of our game if we want to try and get information out of her. I… I’m not feeling up to planning today – or even talking any more about this for now. Let’s think about it and come back to that idea. Maybe tomorrow. We’ve got the school holidays after Friday, which gives us the perfect opportunity without any of the stress of schoolwork.”


    Asher’s face looked hesitant. “Well… there’ll be some schoolwork.”


    She pouted. “What do you mean?”


    “J-Just that… I got a pretty complicated assignment this morning for Chem, and we need to research-”


    “Alright, alright. We’ll be productive at least some of the time over the holidays,” Lila said reluctantly. Truthfully, the book Ms Shard had assigned for English was a bit on the longer side, so she would need to dedicate some time to reading and analysing it. Begrudgingly, of course.


    Asher checked his phone before nodding at Lila. “It’s time to get to PC.”


    <hr>


    Elise was surprisingly quiet during PC. Enough so that Grace questioned it.


    “Huh? Me?” Elise responded, her eyes wide like a deer caught in some headlights.


    “Yes, you,” Grace replied, though not unkindly. “What’s going on?”


    Elise met Lila’s eyes – the implicit message behind this clear; that she was still much happier avoiding Grace than talking to her – before saying, “I’m just thinking about what Lila and I talked about this morning.”


    Grace looked between them both. “About what?”


    “The Pill,” Lila replied, dropping her voice to a whisper and glancing behind her at the teacher’s desk. Ms Wang was busily marking papers, her usual instruction to keep the noise down casting an invisible hold over the classroom.


    “The Pill? Oh, that pill,” Grace responded in understanding. Then, she shuddered. “I can’t do medicine. So glad I don’t have to worry about that.”


    “Yeah…” Elise said awkwardly, giving a slight, nervous laugh. From there, the conversation absolutely folded and Lila didn’t try and talk any further to Elise. She’d have to grab her when she was by herself – likely at soccer practice tomorrow afternoon if she was going.


    <hr>


    “Thank you, ma’am,” Lila murmured as she received her marked Modern History assignment. Then, she gasped. She couldn’t not notice it.


    “What, what?” Elise asked, craning her neck to see Lila’s assignment. Then, she too gasped. “Holy shit, Lila, what’d you do?”


    Lila''s hands shook as her eyes darted from the name scrawled at the top – Lila Moloney – to the bright red ‘A+’ in the top right-hand corner.


    “I-I… I-”


    Now Grace was craning her neck to see Lila’s assignment as well. “Oh my gosh, Lila!”


    “And here I was, happy with my A-,” Elise sighed, though she did flash Lila a smile. “Should’ve asked you for more help.”


    “It’s a mistake, surely,” Lila replied faintly. But it couldn’t be. Mrs Popovic had never made such a mistake before, and Lila wasn’t sure that Mrs Popovic was even capable of doing so.


    “Not a chance, Lila,” Grace said, pointing. “That’s your name.”


    “Well, I know that,” Lila frowned. “I-I’m just gonna read my feedback.”


    She scanned the criteria sheet, flicking to her assignment to compare, before looking up at her friends. “Somehow I did it,” she breathed incredulously.


    “It’s all that time you’ve been spending with Asher,” Elise insisted assertively.


    “But it’s not like he takes Modern History.”


    “That’s not the point,” Elise said frankly. “The point is that being together makes you happy, and that happiness means you’re more effective at doing schoolwork.”


    “Is that how it works?” Lila asked tentatively.


    “Worked for me,” Elise shrugged.


    “And me,” Grace added.


    Lila stared back down at her criteria sheet. Should she take a photo to show Asher? Would he call her a ‘good girl’ again?


    ‘Wait, what?’ Lila thought, placing her hands over her cheeks, feeling her heart pulsating blood to them. ‘Where’d that come from?’


    Elise pulled out her phone and snapped a picture with a grin. “I’ve gotta show Isaac,” she said, “I had so much trouble with this one and he said he believed I could do it. An A-!”


    Lila shakily pulled out her phone and snapped a picture too. She wouldn’t necessarily show Asher but… there was no harm in taking a picture.


    Lunch swiftly followed after the class returned their marked assignments to Mrs Popovic. Asher and Isaac were waiting outside and Grace quickly said her goodbyes to the group before rushing off in the direction of the Performing Arts area. Lila and Elise stood by their respective boyfriends before the four of them glanced at each other.


    “Locker room, I guess?” Asher said, looking pleasantly down at Lila. She nodded and they all set off in relative silence.


    The silence prevailed even into the locker room, broken only by their parting words as they split off into pairs, with Lila and Asher heading off to the library as usual.


    When they sat down in an empty meeting room like usual, Lila’s heart began to race again, her mind dancing back to what she’d thought about in Modern History. She’d… never told Asher that she liked what he’d said to her, but now it felt far too late.


    “I’m so relieved,” Asher said as he opened his Tupperware container and picked up his fork. “So far, I seem to have maintained my grades for my assignments. I’m feeling far more comfortable with how I’ve been going this term.”


    “Were you worried?” Lila asked, opening her Tupperware container too.


    “It’d be a lie to say I wasn’t,” Asher replied. “Mostly ‘cause… being with you wasn’t something I’d incorporated into my analysis.”


    “Analysis?”


    Asher nodded. “Every school holiday, I set aside time to look at my assignments and exam scores and make a plan of attack for the next term. Vanuatu gave me a lot more time than I usually give myself and even though I’d planned to ask you out, I had no idea what us being together would do to my studies.”


    “Did you think it’d be bad?”


    “Not exactly,” Asher responded carefully. “It was just a factor that I couldn’t account for. Being with Holly did nothing good or bad to my studies, so I was hoping it’d be neutral at least except I already knew that I was far more into you. Being with you has been addictive from day dot, you know. It killed me to push you away those couple of weeks, but since I couldn’t account for what being together would do, I had to.” He stretched with a smile. “I worried a bit too much, it seems. My marks have been strong A+’s, with all the ticks in the right spots.”


    Lila’s shoulders relaxed as she returned his smile. “I’m glad.”


    “Have you gotten any marks back yet?”


    Her cheeks immediately felt warm as she nodded. “Modern History.”


    “How’d you go?”


    She pressed her lips together before pulling out her phone and showing him the photo she’d taken. His beam was instant.


    “That’s amazing! Good job,” he said happily, passing her phone back. Her stomach fluttered as she put it back in her pocket and clasped her hands together under the table.


    His beam remained for but a few seconds more before being replaced with concern. “You don’t seem happy about it,” he remarked.


    She shook her head almost violently. “No, no, I am – just… I-” she stopped herself. There was no way she’d be able to articulate what she wanted to tell him – that, actually, him praising her did a lot for her. No way.


    “What’s wrong, then?”


    Despite that, she didn’t want to see him so concerned either.


    “I… I realised, um, that… I… really like it when you praise me,” she stammered.


    He gave a relieved laugh. “Is that all? Gee, I thought something was really wrong.”


    “I, uh, don’t… just mean… general praise. I mean, I like it, yeah, but…” she swallowed, her resolve to abate his concern as shaky as her voice.


    “But?”


    “Never mind,” she said swiftly, picking up her fork and shoving a bit of honey-glazed pork into her mouth.


    He blinked. “I’m minding.”


    She fought to swallow before hanging her head with a sigh. “… You… called me a good girl yesterday.”


    He paused, his face turning bright red. “I… did.”


    “A-And… I really like it.”


    “Oh,” he breathed, his eyes trained on his untouched food. “I see.”


    “B-But, like, not that I want to make you call me that, but I just realised that, um, it might… do a whole lot for me.”


    “I’m assuming you mean-”


    “Yes,” she squeaked, hiding her face with her hands, the admission taking control of them with almost enough force to knock her out.


    “T-Then…” he hesitated before gently taking her hands in his, his eyes locked onto hers, “how about I take you back to mine tonight and I tell you how much of a good girl you are in my bed? Besides, marks like that need to be rewarded.”


    She fought to keep herself from squeaking again. “I-I-”


    “I love you, Lila,” he continued, silencing her stuttering. “You’ve always been a good girl in my eyes.”


    “I think I’ll die if you keep going,” she whispered, breaking their eye contact.


    “Well, I can’t have that,” he replied with a smile. “Will you come back to my place tonight?”


    She was about to nod when she considered his request more carefully. She still hadn’t talked to her Dad about having Asher join her as an intern over the summer holidays, and she wanted to see how much she could get about the morphine ring. Plus, returning home might give her Mum incentive to let her stay over at Asher’s for longer over the upcoming holidays…


    “I… want to, but I think I should go home,” she finally said reluctantly. “Sorry.”


    “No, no, it’s okay,” he said immediately, squeezing her hands. “I’ve been taking you away from your family quite a bit recently. I’m sure they’d appreciate it if you reminded them that you still live there.”


    She gave a soft chuckle and he grinned at her. “C’mon, eat. I can raincheck that plan of mine for the weekend, or whenever you do come over next.”


    She returned his smile with a much more muted one, her sudden shyness constricting the muscles in her face. Plan of his? “I can’t wait.”


    They ate their food in contented silence. Lila contemplated discussing once more what they had at morning tea but decided to leave it. The plan to talk to Marlene needed a lot more consideration and planning than they’d be able to achieve mere hours after deciding on it, after all.


    Then, in a flash, the end of the day was upon them, alongside their hats, as they meandered to her bus stop.


    “I’ll see you tomorrow, my love,” Asher said as they slowed their walk even further, their unwillingness to part once again evident in their shuffling footsteps.


    “I’ll see you then, my love,” Lila responded, turning so that she could face him as she continued to walk along past the teacher on hat duty. “Sorry I said no to going home with you.”


    He shook his head. “Don’t apologise, otherwise I’ll have to get George to kidnap you, which could’ve been a good idea if your father wasn’t a private investigator.”


    She laughed. “You’d be right about that. He’d hunt you down immediately.”


    “And then I wouldn’t be able to look into his eyes ever again. It’s already hard enough as it is.”


    She giggled and he smiled down at her, seeming ready to say something else. However, before she could hear it, he was rudely interrupted by her bus with its annoyingly impeccable timing as it rounded the corner with a squeal.


    With a dejected sigh, she accepted her belongings from him.


    “See you tomorrow,” he said with a small smile. “PE first up.”


    “Yeah,” she replied, her smile just as small. She peered over his shoulder, checking that the teacher on duty was looking the other way, before pulling him in for a kiss by his lapel. He reciprocated with a chuckle.


    The door of the bus creaked then behind her and she stepped away from Asher, lightly dusting his blazer off.


    “I love you,” she said as he straightened her hat.


    “I love you too.”


    With that, she joined the line onto the bus, looking behind her every so often to see that he was still there. He was, of course, and remained so until the bus pulled away from the station, his hand raised in a wave which she returned.