Scattering Lilac Ashes

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Lila almost forgot her copy of Romeo and Juliet when she woke with a start on Wednesday morning, having slept through her first two alarms. Panicking, she took two stairs at a time as she rushed out the door, her hair still undone. The school bus was just coming up over the crest by her house when she desperately flagged it down.

After tying her hair up haphazardly on the bus, Lila separated out what she needed to bring with her that morning so she could simply throw her bag into her locker and hurry off to English. She wasn't technically late, but it sure felt like it when she flew past Ms Shard, who was just about to close the classroom door.

"Morning!" Lila called as she scurried to her seat next to Asher, who was looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"You're a bit later than usual. Is everything okay?" he murmured as Ms Shard started marking the roll.

"Nah, yeah, all good," Lila puffed, pulling out her copy of Romeo and Juliet and her laptop.

"You seem... frazzled, at best."

"I just missed my alarms, that's all."

"Was something keeping you up?"

"No."

"You sure?"

"What's up with the interrogation?"

Asher sat back in his seat, crossed his arms, and pensively looked at his desk.

"You're right," he muttered finally. "Sorry. Just thought there was something wrong."

"All good," Lila whispered back, looking at the PowerPoint presentation Ms Shard was now showing them regarding the history of Romeo and Juliet, "I just need to settle in. My whole routine is outta whack."

"Fair."

Every so often, as they listened to Ms Shard's lecture, Asher's eyes would light up. He whispered extra details to Lila, extending upon Ms Shard's content with unbridled passion. His knowledge regarding Shakespeare, that time period, and contemporary interpretations of Shakespeare's work was impressively vast, and Lila couldn't help but be enthralled with his words. Listening to him speak, Lila thought he seemed thrilled to be delving into Romeo and Juliet, even if it wasn't his favourite work of Shakespeare's.

Before Lila knew it, English was over and she was sitting in Bio again, next to a deflated Cecelia. Lucas seemed to be running behind.

"Cecelia, is everything okay?" Lila asked. She didn't want to channel Asher's interrogatory vibe from that morning, but Cecelia was definitely off today as well.

"Yeah," Cecelia said sadly.

"That's so unconvincing."

Cecelia gave Lila a faint, sarcastic 'ha', but didn't elaborate.

"Well, if you need to chat, just let me know," Lila said with an encouraging smile. Cecelia smiled back, but the appearance of a sweaty Lucas outside the Bio door dropped her smile immediately. He slinked into the classroom, somehow managing to avoid catching Mr Johnson's attention, and sat down in his usual seat.

"Hey," he said to Lila and Cecelia, pulling out his Bio notebook.

"Hey," Lila replied. Cecelia remained tight-lipped. Lucas looked at her for a moment, before casting his eyes downward. The rest of the lesson progressed in a tense silence that Lila didn't know how to shatter.

With about five minutes left on the clock, Lucas finally asked, "Cecelia, did I do something wrong?"

Cecelia audibly exhaled before turning to Lucas, her eyes seeming hard. "No, you didn't," she replied loftily.