Jazz barged into Mrs William's office while Ronke and Somto remained outside, prepared to knock before entering.

A visibly upset Mrs William glared at her and said, "Jazz, we have been through this before. Go back and knock!"

"I just wanna tell you that she is not the phone thief," Jazz said, pointing at Kelechi whose head was hung. Kelechi whipped her head up immediately to look at Jazz, her eyes bloodshot and puffy from crying.

"Go back and knock or else I won't listen to what you have to say," Mrs William ordered and then there was another knock on the door. "Come in!" She said. 

Ronke and Somto came into the office and walked past Jazz as she stomped her way to the door.

"Are you girls also here to tell me that Kelechi is not the phone thief?" Mrs William asked them.

There was a loud knock on the door but Mrs William ignored it.

"Yes ma," Ronke replied.

Jazz knocked on the door properly this time and Mrs Williams hollered, "Come in!"

"Really?" Jazz asked as she came into the office.

"If you do not knock properly then I won't let you come in," Mrs Williams stated and turned to Ronke. "Yes, you were saying?"

"Kelechi is not the one who stole Miss Toke's phone," Ronke said, earning a laugh from Mrs William.

"So you think that coming here and telling me that your friend is not the thief will change anything?"

"Yes, because we came with proof." Ronke put her hand on Somto's shoulder before continuing, "She said that she saw Grace sneaking into our room just before sports time which was when Miss Toke asked Kelechi to get her handbag. I believe that Grace is the one that put the phone in Kel's bag."

"I remember now," Miss Toke suddenly said, causing everyone to look at her. "I had asked Grace to take my bag from the library to the teachers' office before it was sports time."

"See? This Grace girl must've been the one that stole the phone," Jazz said.

Mrs William stared thoughtfully at them before saying, "You, go and call Ella and her friends here." Somto nodded and left.

"I don't understand what is going on in this school anymore. My own student having the audacity to steal a teacher's phone and try to frame her fellow classmate for it," Mrs William said, shaking her head in disapproval.

"I was shocked that my phone was found in Kelechi's bag and I just couldn't fully accept the fact that she was the one who stole my phone. Now that I think about it, Grace is also a suspect because there is no way Kelechi was the one that stole my phone," Miss Toke said and Kelechi smiled at her.

A few minutes later, Somto returned with Ella, Grace and Titi after knocking and being asked to come in. They greeted Mrs William but she dismissed the greeting with a wave of her hand.

"Now tell me, I've been told that you are responsible for stealing Miss Toke's phone and planting it in your classmate's bag to frame her. Is this true?" She asked them.

"Come on, you don't really expect them to own up to it," Jazz said.

"I want to give them a chance to speak for themselves," She said and turned to Ella and her crew. "Well? What do you have to say to defend yourselves?"

"Ma, these are just false accusations. They hate us and that is why they are cooking up these lies agaisnt us," Ella said.

"Then why was Grace sneaking into their room when no one was there?" When none of them responded, she continued, "I'm giving you a chance to defend yourselves now, won't you say something?!"

Ella thought hard on an explanation to give before Grace blurted, "It was Ella that made me do it, I swear this wasn't my idea!"

Ella and Titi slowly turned to look at her, surprised by her sudden outburst.

"What are you talking about?" Ella asked her, trying to use her eyes to signal her to keep quiet.

"I'm talking about how you asked me to steal Miss Toke's phone and put it in Kelechi's bag," Grace said and Kelechi gasped, then glared at Ella.

"It is obvious that you are high on something," Ella snapped. "How dare you blame me for a theft you committed?!"

"Don't try to deny it Ella, you know you are also a part of this."

"How can I deny something that I know nothing about? Come, behave yourself oh, stop blaming me falsely."

Mrs William, Miss Toke, Jazz, Kelechi, Ronke, Somto, Titi and the teacher just looked on with amusement as Ella and Grace argued back and forth before Mrs William finally stopped them.

"Enough!" The two girls stopped to look at her. "Titi, are you also involved in this?" She asked.

Titi shook her head violently, causing Jazz and Ronke to snicker. "Ma, I did not even know about their plan until they had carried it out and told me," She confessed.

"What do you mean by 'their' plan?" Ella asked loudly.

"I don't know," Titi replied incoherently and turned away.

Mrs William sighed deeply. "Grace, judging from what you've been saying, you have admitted that you are indeed the one who stole the phone and planted it in Kelechi's bag. And for that, you are hereby expelled from this school with immediate effect. I will call your parents and ask them to come and take you. You have been in this school for a while so you know the rules and regulations. Stealing is highly prohibited and not only did you steal, you tried to frame your classmate for it," She stated.

Grace broke down in tears. "No ma, please don't expel me, my parents will kill me, please. I'm sorry, I'm sorry for everything I did but please don't expel me, please." She knelt down and begged.

"It's too late for apologies now. If you hadn't been exposed, poor Kelechi would've had to suffer the consequences of your actions. Now go to your room, pack all your things and come back here to wait for your parents," Mrs Williams ordered.

"What about Ella, she was also a part of this, she's the one who asked me to steal the phone," Grace said as she stood up.

"You keep claiming that she's the one who asked you to steal the phone but don't you have a brain and a mouth to know that it is wrong to steal and tell her no?" Mrs Williams asked her and she looked down in humiliation. "She is not the one who carried out the act so she will be suspended for the rest of this week. During her week of suspension and next week, she will carry out severe punishments which will be given to her by Mr Nwosu. I will also call her parents and let them know about their daughter's involvement in a theft. Go and do what I asked you to do, don't waste my time." Grace threw one final glare at Ella before leaving the office with her head hung.

"And you, what are you still waiting for to leave?" Mrs William asked Ella and Titi and they scurried out of the office.

"I'm sorry you had to bear all this, you didn't have to. It's a good thing the truth was revealed because I was also having a hard time believing that you were the thief, you have a clean record in this school. I was even ready to conduct proper investigation before concluding that you were guilty. You're lucky you have good friends who look out for you," Mrs Williams said to Kelechi and smiled. "You girls may leave now."

"Thank you ma," They chorused and left the office. Once they were outside, Kelechi gave Jazz and Ronke a big hug while Somto just smiled at them.

"You guys are the best, you actually came to my rescue. For a moment I thought I was alone but then you guys showed up at the scene and changed everything," Kelechi said.

"We know, we know. We love you too." Ronke grinned.

"I'm just glad you didn't get expelled, you were the first friend I ever made in this godamn school," Jazz said and Kelechi hugged her tighter.

"Not a tight hugger." Jazz pulled away from the hug, making Kelechi chuckle.

"Thank you for caring about me that much, it really means a lot to me if you don't know," Kelechi said, wiping her tears with her palm.

"Seriously Jazz, when did you start caring for someone other than yourself?" Ronke asked playfully.

"She's finally understanding the true meaning of friendship and the importance of friends because she didn't want to lose me," Kelechi replied, smiling and Jazz rolled her eyes.

"Now now, let's not get all mushy, I still prioritize myself above everyone else," Jazz said as they made their way back to their dorm.

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Finally, justice for Kelechi 🙂

What do you think of this chapter? I know some of y'all were expecting Ella to get expelled along with Grace, but she can't leave just like that since she's the main antagonist

Pleazzz, do vote for this chapter before you go. Thank you 😚

Stay safe 👌

Love,
Kemas ❤