After Amarachi was called into the principal's office, Mrs William told her that Fatima had fallen from the staircase as some careless person had spilled water on the steps and didn't bother to clean it up or call a cleaner. Fatima had been taken to the hospital where she was receiving treatment. When Amarachi asked to be allowed to go to the hospital to see her friend, Mrs William refused, saying they could communicate with each other through the phone.

Knowing there was nothing she could say to the principal to let her go, Amarachi reluctantly agreed and made to leave but Mrs William stopped her. She told Amarachi to pack all of Fatima's belongings including her clothes, books and other important things. When Amarachi asked the reason why, she was told that Fatima's parents decided to withdraw their daughter from the school because of what happened.

Amarachi couldn't believe what she just heard. Her best friend was leaving the school. They had been best friends since they were in JS2 and never did anything without each other. Now she was leaving. She may never see her best friend again but at least they could talk on the phone. Mrs William snapped her out of her thoughts and asked her to do what she had been told to do before Fatima's parents arrived.

Amarachi obliged and left the office, still sobbing. She told her roommates what happened when she got back to the room and proceded to packing Fatima's things as she was told to. Her roommates consoled her, telling her that they could be her best friends if she wanted. That was just Jazz joking though and the rest of them laughed, knowing that no one could replace Fatima.

Fatima's parents later came to retrieve her belongings and they had a heated argument with Mrs William where they complained about the nonchalance of the students of the school which put their daughter in hospital and in a critical state. Mrs William tried to apologize to them but they wouldn't hear it, they were very angry. They finally left after they promised to deal with the school.

They definitely have anger issues, Mrs William thought to herself.

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The following afternoon, Mrs William called for an assembly. The students knew that whatever she wanted to say to them was important because they rarely had assembly in the afternoons unless something urgent came up and she wouldn't just interrupt their classes for no good reason.

"First, boring classes and now, another assembly? Could this day get any worse?" Jazz groaned as the teacher ushered them out of the class.

During the assembly, Mrs William informed the students and teachers of an inspection that would be carried out in the school. Apparently, Fatima's father, who was a renowned lawyer, involved the Ministry of Education and now it had sent representatives to inspect the school. No one knows what he had said to them to make them want to conduct an inspection on the school.

The students were then ordered to stay in their rooms until the inspection was over. Some teachers were assigned to stay in school with the principal and her vice while the inspection was going on while some were assigned to stay in the hostels with the students.

"This could've been done in the morning so we would have a day off," Jazz whined as she, Kelechi and Ronke headed to their room.

"We wouldn't have gotten a day off, Mrs William only asked us to go back to our dorms because it's almost closing time and you know how excited and noisy students can be when school's closed for the day," Kelechi explained with a chuckle.

"At least we won't have to go for prep today," Ronke said and shrugged.

"You're right," Jazz agreed, smiling.

By the time they got to their room, Amarachi was already leaving. "Where are you going Amara?" Kelechi asked.

"To my friend's room," Amarachi replied.

"What if you get caught staying in a room that is not yours?"

"That's why I'm taking advantage of the chaos, everyone is going to their rooms at the same time so I'm going to sneak into her room without anyone noticing."

"But what if-"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I already packed all that I'll need in this bag," Amarachi said and gestured to the bag she was carrying. "I may not be coming back tonight cause staying here without Fatima is going to be lonely for me so it's better I hang out with my friends to feel better. See you tomorrow," She added and left, not giving them a chance to question her any further.

"And she's gone," Jazz said as they entered the room.

"What do we do now?" Ronke asked Kelechi who shrugged. "I don't know, maybe we could just study or do our assignments and we can even do a reading session and talk about books we've read," she replied excitedly.

"I guess I asked the wrong person," Ronke said and turned to Jazz. "So, what do you think we should do?"

"I think we should have some fun!" Jazz yelled, throwing her bag on the floor.

"Shh, keep it down! We don't want to draw attention to this room and we are not going to do anything that could possibly lead us into trouble so I strongly suggest we just sit down and read our books," Kelechi objected.

"Your motto is probaby 'be a good girl, don't get into trouble, study hard and live a boring life'," Jazz said to Kelechi with a deadpan look.

"I don't care if I live a boring life, all I want to do is make my parents proud and make them smile down at me from Heaven. I also want to make my uncle proud cause he has done so much for me," Kelechi replied and brought out her books from her backpack.

Jazz stared at her amusedly. "Wow, you're taking your motto seriously. Come on, you're already like, really smart so a few hours of fun isn't going to dent your good-girl-reputation or your awesome grades," she said.

"I know, but I just want to read."

"Fine, then we'll just have fun without you."

"Hey, we can play Whot," Ronke said.

"What?" Jazz asked.

"Whot, it's a card game. I can show you how to play, it's actually fun," Ronke said and searched through her side of the wardrobe. "I think I should have a pack of it in here somewhere... Ehe, here it is."

"Cool, let's play."

Jazz and Ronke changed out of their uniforms and settled on Jazz's bed to play a game of Whot. "Wow, you learned how to play so quickly and now you're beating me," Ronke said and nudged Jazz playfully.

"What can I say, I was born to win," Jazz replied jokingly.

Kelechi went over to them. "Hey, mind if I join you?"

"Of course," Ronke said and moved for Kelechi to sit down. The three of them played and started chatting, giggling and joking around, enjoying themselves.

"See, you're having fun, better than reading those boring books of yours," Jazz said to Kelechi.

They continued playing for a few more minutes until they heard a teacher's voice boom from the corridor. "Why are you not in your room?! Trying to sneak out eh? Come here!" That was what they heard before their door opened and Miss Chinaza pushed Ella into their room.

"But ma, this is not my room," Ella protested.

"I don't care. Stay here until the inspectors have gone. If I see you outside again, you will have yourself to blame, you hear me!" Miss Chinaza warned and left, banging the door in annoyance.

Ella turned around to meet the angry stares of Jazz, Kelechi and Ronke. She groaned. "Oh no, not their room!" She whined and made to leave but stopped and turned back around. "I have to stay here because Miss Chinaza asked me to and I don't want to get in trouble with her," She said as she sat on Jazz's chair and folded her legs.

"Whatever, as long as you don't say or do anything, it's cool," Jazz told her and returned her attention to the cards, and so did Kelechi and Ronke.

"Instead of you people to read your books, you're playing Whot. This is a good way to prepare for the mid-term exams which will be starting next week," Ella said sarcastically and sneered. The girls looked at her then back at their game, ignoring her statement.

"Ronke, you know that Jazz and Kelechi are very intelligent and can easily pass without studying too hard, but you, you know you're not as intelligent but still, you chose to play cards with them," Ella continued and Jazz dropped the cards in her hands in exasperation. "Can you shut up already! Don't make me throw you out of here," Jazz warned and picked up her cards.

"You can't do anything to me, a teacher asked me to stay here and that's why I'm here. I didn't come here on my own."

"Then shut your mouth or you're gonna get a fistful to your face," Jazz snapped.

"If you dare touch me, I will report you."

"When I'm done with you, I don't think you'll be able to do anything at all," Jazz retorted and stood up from her bed but Kelechi held her hand, shaking her head. Jazz reluctantly sat back down and glared at Ella who chuckled.

"I told you that you can't do anything to me." Ella crossed her arms and smirked.

"You know, if you spent less time making fun of other people and spent more time improving on yourself, then you would be a much better version of yourself and not the annoying bitch that everyone hates," Ronke said to Ella.

"And you think you're not an annoying bitch?" Ella quipped and shook her head. "Honestly, Divine is trying by putting up with you," she added.

Ronke lunged towards Ella but Kelechi held her back. "Don't let her get to you okay, let's just continue our game and pretend we can't see or hear her," Kelechi said to her.

"I don't know about you, but if she says or does anything to tick me off, I'll maim her," Jazz stated.

"I would like to see you try." Ella laughed.

"Me too." Jazz laughed as well.

After a while, Ella noticed a Chanel bag on Jazz's desk and picks it up. "Ooh, this looks expensive, I'm sure it belongs to Jazz," she said and tried to open it but the zip was stuck so she continuously tried to open it. Jazz saw her and yelled, "Hey! Put that down!"

She stood up and made to take the bag from Ella but Ella already pulled the zip so hard that she pulled it right off the bag. Jazz screamed and dragged the bag from Ella. "You fool! You just ruined my designer purse and I haven't even used it yet!"

"I- I didn't mean to," Ella said meekly.

"Why were you even trying to open it, it's not yours!" Jazz continued.

"I said I didn't mean to, it was an accident okay, stop shouting at me," Ella said and Jazz stared at her incredulously.

"That's it!" Jazz pulled Ella out of the room by her hand. "Leave me alone!" Ella cried.

"You! Didn't I warn you not to come outside? I knew you were stubborn, that's why I stayed here so I would catch you," said Miss Chinaza who was standing right in front of the room.

"Ma, I didn't come outside on my own, she dragged me out," Ella said and pointed to Jazz who was fuming.

Miss Chinaza's stern expression softened on seeing Jazz. "Why did you do that?" She asked her.

"Well, I was just throwing out the trash, that's all," Jazz replied sweetly.

"How dare you call me trash?" Ella snapped.

"Cause that's what you are, and don't think of coming back in here."

"Don't tell me what to do!"

"What on earth is going on here?" Miss Chinaza asked.

"I'll tell you," Ronke answered as she stood by the door. "Ever since Ella entered our room, she has been bothering us and looking for our trouble. She even spoilt Jazz's expensive bag."

"Why were you bothering them and spoiling their things?" Miss Chinaza asked Ella.

"Ma, don't mind them, they are lying. They just don't want me to stay in their room," Ella answered.

"Why would they? After what you've done to them. Now, come with me, I think it's best you stayed in the matron's office," Miss Chinaza said and walked away. "I said come with me!" She bellowed and Ella scurried after her.

The girls went back into their room and happily continued their game of Whot until the inspection was over and it was dinner time.

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GLOSSARY
Whot- A popular card game in Nigeria.

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Thank you so much for reading and voting! I yuv yu all ❤