Everyone turned to stare at a perplexed Kelechi. She stared at the phone in the teacher's hand, shocked that it was in her bag. She wondered who put it there because she was absolutely sure she had not entered the room after sports time when Miss Toke had asked her to get her bag.

"Kelechi, do you care to explain yourself?" The teacher asked.

"Ma, I really don't know how that phone got in my bag, I swear. I have not even opened that bag since Saturday when I was looking for my phone," Kelechi said and Jazz facepalmed while Ronke shook her head.

"Did you just say that you were looking for your phone?"

"Yes ma, but I didn't lose it in school."

"So because you lost your phone, you decided to steal Miss Toke's phone to compensate for your loss right?"

"No ma, it's nothing like that I promise," Kelechi said, trying to control her shaky hands.

"No, it is exactly like that. I cannot believe you did this to your own class teacher, you will be punished for this. You, go and call Miss Toke." Amarachi nodded and left the room.

"Ma, I think this is just a misunderstanding, Kelechi never steals no matter how tempting it is. Maybe the phone doesn't belong to Miss Toke, why don't you turn it on so we can see if it really belongs to her," Ronke said and the teacher turned on the screen which displayed a picture of Miss Toke in the background.

Ronke was stunned, she didn't have anything to say after that. She knew Kelechi was innocent and someone was probably trying to frame her but she just couldn't figure out who it was. It couldn't be Jazz, obviously, and it couldn't be Amarachi and Fatima, they loved Kelechi to bits and would never think of doing such to her. Whoever did this must hate Kelechi very much to be able to do this to her. But who could this person be?

Something didn't seem right to Ronke. How did that person even get hold of the phone when Miss Toke's bag was in the teachers' office and how did they enter their room without anyone seeing them?

Amarachi returned with Miss Toke who gasped when she saw her phone in the teacher's hand.

"That's my phone!" She said, collecting it from the teacher. "Where did you find it?"

"In your dear student's bag."

"Who?"

"Kelechi."

"What?" Miss Toke was bewildered. Her eyes widened in shock at what she just heard. Kelechi was the one who stole her phone? She couldn't believe this.

"Are you sure you found my phone in Kelechi's bag?" She asked, just to be sure.

"Everyone here is a witness to that. She even admitted that she had lost her phone three days ago, maybe that is why she stole yours," The teacher offered.

"I still can't come to terms with the fact that the thief is Kelechi. She is such a good girl," Miss Toke said.

"Well, the proof says it all; Kelechi is a thief. Sometimes the people we think are good are in fact just wolves in sheep's clothing and one day, their true nature will be exposed."

"I am not a thief and I didn't steal Miss Toke's phone. Please, you have to believe me." Kelechi broke down in tears.

"Don't try to fool us with your crocodile tears. You should've thought of the consequences of your actions when you were doing it. Stealing is a punishable offence and you must be punished for having the audacity to steal a teacher's phone."

"I didn't do anything, please. I don't know how that phone got into my bag."

"Just keep quiet and come with me, we are going to the principal's office." The teacher dragged Kelechi out of the room, Miss Toke and the other teacher following behind.

"Oh no, who did this to Kelechi and why in the world would they even do this?!" Fatima cried.

"That is what I'm still trying to figure out. And Kelechi, who told her to say that she lost her phone, now they will think that she stole Miss Toke's phone because she lost hers." Ronke shook her head.

"I think I might know who did this," Jazz said and Ronke looked at her.

"Ella," They said simultaneously.

"Ella? Isn't it Jazz she hates?" Amarachi asked. 

"Yes, but she doesn't like Kelechi either because she's friends with Jazz," Ronke replied.

"That scheming little..." Jazz stormed out of the room.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"Ella, you won't believe what just happened," Titi said as she ran excitedly into the room.

"Titi what is it again, must you exaggerate everything?" Ella complained.

"Miss Toke's phone was found in Kelechi's bag few minutes ago, and as we speak, she is being taken to the principal's office!"

"What?! How could Miss Toke's phone be in Kelechi's bag, it was supposed to be in Jazz's bag."

"Wait, what?"

"Yes, when Miss Toke asked Grace to take her bag from the library to the teachers' office, I asked Grace to take the phone so we could frame Jazz with it. Grace then surreptitiously took the phone from Miss Toke's bag when no one was looking. She was supposed to put the phone in Jazz's bag but instead put the phone in Kelechi's bag, ugh." Ella groaned.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know the bag I put the phone in belonged to Kelechi," Grace apologized.

"Now you have ruined my plan to get Jazz expelled and reclaim my position as the queen bee of this school."

"It was a mistake na, I said I'm sorry."

"We will just have to think of something else to use to frame Jazz so that she also gets expelled."

"I knew you were behind this," Jazz said, leaning against the open door.

"What are you doing here?" Ella asked.

"I'm here to tell you that your little game is over because I heard everything you just said," Jazz replied.

"Who do you think you are eavesdropping on us like that?!" Ella asked angrily.

"And what does framing a sweet and nice girl like Kel make you huh? Superheroes?" Jazz asked back, equally angry.

"It was supposed to be you," Ella spat.

"It doesn't matter because she still got framed and is about to face the law of this school. But I am not going to let that happen," Jazz said and stormed away.

"Oh no! What are we going to do now?" Grace asked, scared.

"Calm down, it's not as if anyone will believe her," Ella said.

"What do you mean no one will believe her?! Jazz is everyone's favourite including Mrs William's so why would they believe us over her?!"

"I know that she can't prove you're the one who put the phone in Kelechi's bag because nobody saw you, see." Ella smiled at Grace reassuringly.

"Yes, you are right," Grace said and smiled back.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"Ronke, what is this I'm hearing about Kelechi stealing a phone?" Somto asked as she entered the room.

"I don't even know. Someone put Miss Toke's phone in Kelechi's bag and now she's being blamed for stealing it."

"I don't believe this. Kelechi has never stolen anything before."

"I know!"

"Speaking of, I've been meaning to tell you guys something but I decided to wait till after sports to tell you."

"What is it you wanted to tell us?" Ronke asked, uninterested.

"Now that this has happened, I think it would be helpful to know that I saw Grace sneaking into your room just before sports time. She didn't stay long enough for me to sneak and see what she was doing before she left. But now that I think of it, she may be the one who put that phone in Kelechi's bag," Somto said.

"I knew they had something to do with this but I just didn't know how to prove that it was them. Somto, you have to come with me to the principal's office so that you can tell Mrs William what you saw and prove Kelechi's innocence." Ronke grabbed Somto's hand to leave but stopped when she saw Jazz coming into the room.

"I overheard Ella saying that she and her crew planned to frame me but ended up framing Kel by accident," Jazz said.

"We were just on our way to the principal's office to report them. Somto said she saw Grace sneaking into our room earlier. Now she can be an eye witness when we tell Mrs Williams that it was Ella and her friends that framed Kel."

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

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You guessed it right - Kelechi is innocent and was framed. Not to worry, cause Kelechi is not going anywhere as she plays a major role alongside Mrs William in transforming Jazz.

Thank you for reading and voting. Stay tuned for the next chapter which is coming soon, hopefully ☺

Au revoir 👋

Love,
Kemas ❤