"Did you hear what happened between Jazz and Ella?" Zainab asked Mitchel as she occupied the empty space beside him, gingerly placing her food on the table. Mitchel sighed indifferently. Whatever happened between them would be nothing new, they had been literally fighting like cats and dogs ever since Jazz started attending the school.

"What happened this time?"

"Jazz pushed Ella down the stairs and is currently facing judgement in Mrs. William's office. I heard Ella was seriously injured and had to be taken to the sick bay."

Mitchel stopped eating and so did Osas, who was sitting opposite him.

"Jazz would never intentionally push someone down the stairs," Mitchel thought aloud.

"Seems like you don't know her as well as you think."

"When did all this even happen? Was it not just about fifteen minutes ago that we closed from school."

"I heard that it happened when they were on their way to the cafeteria for dinner."

"Who did you hear this from?" Mitchel inquired, getting up from his seat.

"One of the girls on the same block with them. She claimed that she was at the foot of the stairs when Ella fell so she thought Ella tripped and fell or something. But when Titi accused Jazz of pushing Ella, she ran to inform Mrs K."

"Where are you going?" Zainab eyed him.

"I'm coming," he simply said and left the cafeteria.

"I wish someone can love me the way Mitchel loves Jazz," Osas mused, causing Zainab to snort.

"You are looking for someone to love you when you are not even fine," she mocked and Osas glared angrily at her.

"Just because you are the head girl doesn't give you the right to insult me."

"I'm sorry if you feel like I'm insulting you, it was not my intention to," she apologised with a teasing hint in her voice. Osas scowled at her then continued eating his food.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Mitchel found Kelechi, Ronke and Titi in front of the principal's office. They were waiting for their friends to come out so they could know what the final verdict was. Kelechi rubbed her hands together nervously as she paced about while Ronke and Titi just snarled at each other. He approached Kelechi as she was the most reasonable person he could ask for an explanation. He knew that Ronke and Titi would add sugar and spice to the story.

Kelechi explained all that happened to him and he stood arms akimbo, staring at the door to the principal's office.

"Are you happy now? Your girlfriend almost maimed my bestie," Titi complained when she saw Mitchel.

"She's not my—" Mitchel started to say but Ronke cut him off.

"She should have maimed her sef, because the only thing your so-called bestie uses her legs to do is to look for trouble," she snapped.

"I wasn't talking to you, loud mouth!" Titi retorted, glancing over Mitchel's shoulder to glare at her.

"Who are you calling loud mouth? Look at this little lamb that follows Ella everywhere she goes."

"Ronke, it's okay, she's just trying to spite you," Kelechi tried to reason with her.

"No, she must finish what she started."

"I didn't start anything," Titi defended.

"Girls, it's okay, we're in front of the principal's office so we shouldn't be making this much noise," Mitchel pleaded.

"They are just trying to frame Jazz, she didn't do anything wrong," Ronke said, seeming to calm down.

"If she didn't do anything wrong, why is she in there?" Titi asked mockingly.

"Titi, please, stop," Kelechi said.

"Shut up."

"Did you just tell me to shut up?" Kelechi asked incredulously. Ronke chuckled dryly.

"E shock you?" She asked her. (Are you surprised?)

Mitchel sighed as he watched the girls bicker. He wondered if they ever got tired of arguing and fighting.

The door to the principal's office flew open and everyone paused in their tracks, turning slowly to look at Mrs. Williams. She didn't look pleased.

"What's the noise about?" She asked. "And why are you all gathered in front of my office?"

"Nothing ma, we were just passing and they suddenly started arguing about something. We're sorry ma, we're leaving now," Mitchel replied.

Mrs. Williams gave them a stern look before going back into her office. Mitchel motioned for them to keep quiet by putting his index finger to his lips. Shortly after, Jazz and Ella exited the office, both wearing deadpan looks. Titi rushed to assist a limping Ella, while the others rushed to Jazz.

"Jazz, what happened?" Kelechi asked her.

"What is going on here?" She asked instead.

"We wanted to know what Mrs. Williams decided concerning yours and Ella's case," Ronke answered.

"Why is he here?" Jazz inquired, eyeing Mitchel.

"I came as soon as I heard what happened."

"How did you hear about it?" Kelechi asked him curiously.

He shrugged. "Zainab told me."

"She wasn't even in the dorm when it happened, news sure does travel fast in this school," Ronke remarked.

"Mrs. William hasn't made a decision yet, she just wanted to hear our sides of the story. She's going to make her decision after meeting with the disciplinary committee," Jazz told them.

"This is so unfair! You did nothing wrong!" Kelechi cried.

"It's fine, don't worry about me," Jazz assured her.

"If you get suspended, we're going to miss you, not to mention your parents are going to punish you for getting yourself expelled."

"I know, but like you say; the truth always prevails."

"But Jazz, did you really not push Ella on purpose?" Mitchel asked. They all stared at him in confusion.

"What sort of a question is that?" Ronke retorted.

"I know I should be on your side and all, but I need to know if this was really an accident."

Jazz stormed off and didn't answer even when her name was being called. She was upset that Mitchel would even think that she pushed Ella on purpose. He wasn't even present at the scene so how dare he make conclusions?

Mitchel tried to go after her but Ronke held him back. "Don't go after her unless you want her to give you uppercut. Give her time," she advised, shaking her head.

"But why would you even ask her such a question?" Kelechi asked him meekly.

"I just wanted to know the truth, but now, on second thought, I wish I hadn't asked."

"You've really hurt her feelings and you know how long it took you to get close to her. Now it's going to take you ages to get on her good side again."

"Is this some kind of soap opera?" Ella jested.

"Are you still here?" Ronke asked, giving her the stink eye.

"Yes, I'm waiting for my mummy to come. I asked Mrs. K to call her for me and I know she won't take this news lightly. After all, I'm the apple of her eyes."

"Yen yen yen." Ronke rolled her eyes.

"You won't be yenning when your friend gets expelled."

"Okay," Ronke said curtly, knowing it would irk the hell out of Ella. She got the reaction she wanted as Ella stomped her feet with a huff.

"Whatever, I'm going back to the sick bay. I need to rest. Mitchel, I'm glad you came to check up on me, but I want you to know that I'm all right."

Titi rushed to her side as they left for the sick bay.

"Can you believe that human being?" Ronke scoffed.

"Don't mind her, let's go," Kelechi said and they walked away. Mitchel stood there, debating with his thoughts before he eventually went back to the cafeteria.

"What's up?" Osas asked him as he took his seat.

"Nothing," he mumbled.

"So you were gone for that long and you don't even have any gist for us? That's not fair," Zainab pouted. She was really hoping that she would get the gist firsthand from Mitchel.

"Are you sure it's nothing, or you don't want to tell us," Osas probed.

"A decision hasn't been made yet."

"Oh, I'm guessing Mrs. William wants to consult the oracle of the disciplinary committee," Osas joked, but no one found it funny.

"Poor Jazz. Ella has finally gotten the opportunity to frame her," Zainab said, shaking her head.

That statement made Mitchel feel bad. Even Zainab who was not a friend of Jazz trusted her. Then why didn't he trust her? It was not like he didn't trust her, he didn't even know why he had asked that foolish question in the first place. He was going to live to regret it if Jazz didn't forgive him. He lost his appetite and just stared at his food until the bell rang and they all filed out of the cafeteria.

"Guy, if you knew you wouldn't finish your food, you should have given it to me instead of wasting it," Osas scolded him as they made their way to their dorms to get their books for evening prep.

"I didn't know you wanted it, sorry."

"Are you alright?"

He nodded.

"Okay oh, I just hope it's not girl matter that's making you frown like this."

While the students were studying during prep, a commotion from the floor below distracted them. Everyone looked up and at each other, wondering what the noise was about. They could hear about two to three voices arguing, though one voice seemed to be louder and angrier than the rest.

The teacher supervising their class was Miss Chinaza and even she too was perplexed. She ordered them to be quiet and remain in their seats until she returned, then instructed Kelechi to write down the names of those that dared to make noise or leave their seats without permission. After brushing her hair with her hands and dusting her clothes, she left the class.

Barely two minutes after she left, the students all tiptoed out of the class, including Kelechi. They went downstairs and were met by other brave students who were also eager to find out what was happening. The scared ones watched from a distance as they didn't want to get into trouble.

Kelechi gasped, causing Jazz and Ronke to stare at her.

"Isn't that... Ella's mum?"