Chapter 64 The party invitation
The evening air hummed with noise and excitement. The bleachers were packed, lights bright enough to bleach out the stars. The crowd’s energy was infectious, banners waving, voices shouting names, the smell of popcorn and fresh-cut grass swirling together.
Lila hadn’t felt this alive in a long time.
She sat beside Asher, her red scarf tugged close against the cool breeze. The world around her was loud, but her mind was somewhere quieter and caught between wanting to enjoy the moment and waiting for something to go wrong.
The game hadn’t started yet, but the field was already alive with players warming up. Damian jogged along the sideline, laughter glinting off him like sunlight on glass. Every time he turned, the crowd cheered louder.
Beside her, Asher leaned forward slightly, his arms resting on his knees. His gaze wasn’t on the field, it was on her.
He broke the silence first. “Can I ask you something?”
Lila looked up from the program she wasn’t really reading. “Sure.”
He hesitated, then said, “Is there something going on between you and Professor Mercer?”
She blinked. “What? Why would you ask that?”
“Because,” Asher said, his tone even, “he’s been a bit different and distant. Not like before. And the way he looks at you in class.”
She cut him off with a small, amused smile. “Asher, you’re reading too much into it.”
He frowned. “Maybe. But you said he used to check in with you about your projects. He doesn’t anymore.”
Lila sighed softly, glancing at the field where players were forming huddles. “He’s just being Prof Mercer. I discovered he likes control. And I stopped letting him have it.”
Asher raised a brow. “Control?”
“He wants everything done his way, how I write, how I think. Who's office I go to and why I was there. It’s like he can’t stand when someone disagrees.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her voice calm but firm. “I’m not here to be molded by anyone, not even a professor.”
Asher studied her face, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “You’ve changed, you know that?”
Lila tilted her head. “Changed how?”
“You sound stronger.”
Her eyes softened. “I’m trying.”
For a few moments, they sat in companionable silence, the roar of the crowd swelling around them. Then she spoke again, her tone casual. “What about Professor Beckett? I haven’t seen him around lately.”
Asher’s expression shifted. “He’s on sick leave. Two weeks, maybe more.”
“Sick leave?” She frowned. “He didn’t look sick.”
“Maybe not physically,” Asher said quietly. “People get tired in other ways too.”
Lila nodded, unsure how to respond. Something about the way he said it lingered in her mind that subtle heaviness that always came when Beckett’s name entered a conversation.
Before she could dwell on it, the referee’s whistle pierced the air. The game began.
The stands erupted in cheers. Lila stood up, clapping and shouting with everyone else. Her pulse quickened with the rhythm of the crowd. She hadn’t expected to feel so invested, but watching Damian move across the field, swift, confident, and alive she couldn’t help it. Every goal, every close pass, every shout from the announcer made her heart race.
For the first time in months, she wasn’t thinking about notes, roses, or ghosts from the past. She was just there surrounded by sound, by people, by life.
She laughed when Damian scored the first goal, her voice carrying above the noise.
Asher looked at her, and for a moment, his usual guarded expression softened. He didn’t say anything, but the relief in his eyes said enough. The fact that she was smiling again made him happy..
When the final whistle blew, the scoreboard flashing 3–1, the crowd went wild. Students rushed down from the bleachers, waving banners and throwing confetti someone must have smuggled in.
Lila didn’t think. She just ran.
Her sneakers hit the turf, her scarf trailing behind her as she pushed through the crowd. Damian stood in the middle of the field, teammates slapping his back, their voices overlapping in celebration.
“Damian!” she called.
He turned, sweat on his forehead, his grin wide and unguarded. The moment he saw her, it softened that easy, familiar smile he only seemed to have for her.
Without thinking, she threw her arms around him.
He froze for half a heartbeat, then hugged her back warmly. The noise around them blurred. She could feel his heartbeat, still racing from the game, and for an instant, the world was simple again.
When she pulled back, Damian was still smiling, eyes shining under the stadium lights. “You made it,” he said, his voice low but full of relief. “I didn’t think you would.”
“I said I’d come,” she replied, breathless. “You were amazing.”
“Thanks,” he said. “It means more coming from you.”
They stood there for a few minutes, smiling like the rest of the world had disappeared until the sound of footsteps approached behind them.
Asher’s voice cut through the noise, calm but sharp. “Lila.”
She turned. He stood at the edge of the field, hands in his pockets, expression unreadable. “We should go.”
Damian glanced between them, his jaw tightening slightly. Then, with a light, practiced tone, he said, “We’re having a small party, more like a team celebration. You should come, Lila.”
“She’s not coming,” Asher said before she could answer. “She’s had enough excitement for one day.”
Damian’s eyes flicked toward him, steady. “Then come with her.”
The tension between them was quiet but unmistakable, two very different kinds of concern clashing in silence. Lila could almost feel the air tighten between them.
She sighed. “You know what? Asher, you can attend the party with me. No fights, no drama.”
Asher met her gaze, hesitated, then gave a slow nod. “Fine.”
“Good,” she said, smiling faintly. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I should probably change before I embarrass myself.”
Damian chuckled, stepping aside. “I wouldn’t want that. See you soon?”
“Yeah,” she said softly.
By the time Lila reached her dorm, the energy from the game had begun to fade, replaced by that slow, creeping quiet that always seemed to follow joy. The hallway was dim, most doors were closed. Her footsteps echoed faintly against the tile.
She hummed under her breath something she hadn’t done in ages and turned the corner toward her room.
She greeted a few students and she was just two rooms away from hers when she something lying in front of her door
She got closer and saw it was a small box wrapped neatly in golden paper, tied with a dark red ribbon. It looked ordinary, almost beautiful except for the way her heart dropped the moment she saw it.
Her pulse quickened. The hall felt too quiet now. The kind of quiet that listens.
She crouched down slowly, eyes fixed on the box. There was a card taped to the top white with the typed letters perfectly aligned.
She didn’t have to open it to feel the chill crawl up her spine.
Her fingers shook as she lifted the note.
“I love you, Lila.”
That was all it said. No signature. No initials. Just the words, printed cleanly on paper that smelled faintly of roses.
Her breath hitched. Her first thought wasn’t why, it was since when.
Since when did this person love her? Who is the person?
How long has this been going on? Why leave a love note without your identity? How would she locate the person?
For a long minute, she couldn’t move. Her throat went dry. The echo of the crowd from earlier, the laughter, the cheers, the brief moment she felt safe all vanished.
Only silence remained.
Lila took a careful step back, her hand gripping the strap of her bag like it was something to hold her steady. Part of her wanted to run, to call Asher, to tell Damian she wasn’t coming to the party after all.
But another part, the quiet, stubborn one that refused to be scared again whispered, “You won’t let them win.”
She stared at the note one last time, the words burned into her mind.
“I love you, Lila.”
The same chill she’d felt after every message, every gift, crept through her again, that strange mix of affection and threat, beauty and danger.
She didn’t know what it meant.
But she knew this much, whoever it was hadn’t stopped watching her. And the night wasn’t over.
As she turned to unlock her door, the faint vibration of her phone startled her.
She glanced at the screen and saw a text from an unknown number flashing again.
“See you at the party, my red darling.”
Her fingers went cold.