At this point, you might think you've put the pieces together, but you'd be wrong.

One thing you might be right about though; Zehan's agenda would beget nothing good. One could say he held the fate of others in his hands and for someone miserable, he knew all the secrets and had the rage-a a good recipe for destruction.

Asides from the fact that we were all trying to get by, we all had secrets to hide-including suicidal thoughts which Zehan knew or at least, would find out.

The suicide note was supposed to change everything, and in a way, maybe it did. Or actually, it made everything worse.

You decide how you see our story but we didn't get to decide how our story played out.

No one here is innocent but some could be pitied.

◈ ━━━━━━━ ⸙ - ⸙ ━━━━━━━ ◈

If anyone had told Ms. Isong that her white shirt would be soaked with sweat at the end of the day, she would not have believed it.

At that time of the day, Newland Secondary School was nearly empty since the bell for dismissal had been rung nearly twenty minutes ago. Ms. Isong had spent a good part of thirty minutes trying to get the nonchalant principal to look at the suicide note.

For a moment, Ms. Isong could've sworn that the principal wasn't listening to her because she was new to the job but on the other hand, she felt like Mrs. Elias had even considered seeing her because of the time the woman had spent liking Ms. Isong during her Secondary School days.

"Esther, you're supposed to understand that these kids like playing all sorts of silly pranks and jokes," Principal Elias explained before leaning into her seat, "and since you're a new teacher, I'm afraid these students just want to make jest of you."

"Ma, with all due respect, I think that if they wanted to play pranks, I would have gotten more than one." Ms. Isong sighed. "At the end of the day, I received only one and I'm telling you that... This is serious. My spirit is telling me to find this person-whoever they are."

"Esther, I don't know what else to say to you, you of all people should know that although Newland Secondary is a private school, the students go... rogue sometimes." Mrs. Elias's accent was foreign, Esther knew it was as a result of her time in Britain.

Mrs. Gina Elias had been the Principal of Newland Schools ever since Ms. Isong could recall. She had smooth brown skin and an elegant statue. Although the woman was tall, she was a little plump but still looked young for someone in their late forties.

"My advice dear is that you should ignore this," Mrs. Elias lifted the piece of paper before her, "if you go through with trying to find out who wrote this, the culprits will only laugh at you."

Ms. Isong sighed, not knowing what else to say. Something in her gut was telling her to find whoever had written that note. Principal Elias was making it look like nothing but child's play but she had a feeling that things were a lot more serious than that.

Before getting up to leave the Principal's office, Ms. Isong had made her decision.

She was going to find that troubled student, no matter what it would cost her...

Holding on to the suicide note tightly, Ms. Isong made her way down the stairs. As soon as she reached the last step, she felt like running back towards the Principal's office.

In a casual but yet intimidating-looking manner, Kendrick Kanayo stood before her.

She knew she would have to face him sooner or later but she didn't expect it to be so sudden. She thought she would have mustered up enough confidence before running into him. This was not a good time.

"Esther," Kendrick mumbled, displaying his sparkling white teeth that complemented his black skin, "I was wondering when we would see each other. Mrs. Elias told me you got a job here but I've been so busy-"

"I've been very busy too," Ms. Isong said before sighing at how gorgeous Kendrick looked while batting those eyelashes.

There was a little silence as the two teachers just smiled at each other with Kendrick nodding slowly and Esther adverting her gaze occasionally.

"I really need to..."

"How..."

They both chuckled after speaking in unison.

"You first," said Kendrick.

"I was saying that I really need to go and pack up before going home." Ms. Isong cleared her throat as though she wanted to say something else.

"Oh okay." Kendrick adjusted his hold on his backpack. "I was going to ask how you've been."

Ms. Isong opened her mouth and hesitated while looking for the appropriate thing to say. "I've... been coping."

"Okay, if you need anything... Maybe some company or anything, you can find me in the Computer Lab in the other block," Kendrick said, gesturing with his thumb to the direction of the other block since they were both standing in the administration building.

"Okay, thank you," Ms. Isong replied, "By the way, I think your sister is in my class... The resemblance is alarming." That made Kendrick laugh and Ms. Isong grin. She felt awkward making Kendrick laugh, it had always been the other way around.

"Anyway, I'll see you later, Ken." Ms. Isong punched his shoulder and immediately began walking away very fast after she'd realized what she'd done.

Kendrick turned around and watched her walk away with an amused look when he realized that it had been a long time since he had heard her call him Ken. But then again, it had been ages since they'd last seen each other.

And that punch? Well, it was something Esther did a lot back then in Secondary School whenever she was nervous. Kendrick touched the side of his shoulder where she'd punched him to make sure it was real before shaking his head with a big grin on his face.

He had to ask himself where he had been going to before running into Esther before he remembered he had been heading to the Principal's office.

Ms. Isong on the other hand kept on mentally smacking herself as she made her way back to the staff room. What had she been thinking punching Kendrick on the shoulder like that? It almost felt like they were in Seconds School again but still, things were different now.

Ms. Isong had nearly jumped out of her skin after entering the supposed empty staffroom only to find a light-skinned boy standing at her desk.

It was only when CJ Ikem raised his eyebrows at her that she realized that she must have screamed a little on seeing him.

"You startled me! What are you doing here?" She said all at once because she knew very well the staffing had been empty before she left to see the principal and she wasn't expecting to see anyone there.

CJ thought that it was ridiculous since she was the one who had walked in and yet still complained of being startled. What would've happened if he had unexpectedly walked in on her?

"You said to come and see you," CJ replied after clearing his throat a thousand times while Ms. Isong took her seat and tried arranging her desk littered with essays.

"Huh?" Ms. Isong looked confused before remembering she'd asked him to come to see her after he'd arrived late that morning. "I asked you to come during the break," she said slowly while squinting her eyes suspiciously at the teenager standing before her.

CJ shrugged, "I wasn't chanced then."

Ms. Isong had to raise her eyebrows and open her mouth without knowing what to say to the boy. She was seeing another side to that boy who was late to everything and didn't seem to care about anything at all. Could it be CJ Ikem had so much gut in him?

Before the young lady could even come up with a response, another student walked into the staffroom and headed towards her desk.

Ms. Isong would recognize Kasy Kanayo anywhere she saw her. Although she was very little the last time Ms. Isong had seen her, her resemblance now to Kendrick was something she couldn't overlook.

"Good afternoon, Ma," Kasy greeted after she'd gotten to Ms. Isong's table. Kasy added another piece of paper she'd been holding to the pile on the teacher's desk.

Ms. Isong found it a little funny how CJ and Kasy looked while standing next to each other. One was extremely light-skinned and the other was as dark as charcoal.

"That's the class list for SS 2B," Kasy explained while Ms. Isong tried to remember when she'd asked for a class list.

"Oh, thank you." Ms. Isong smiled a little at the girl.

Just as Kasy turned around to leave, Ms. Isong got an idea.

"Wait, Kanayo," Ms. Isong called the girl by her surname since she wasn't quite familiar with her first name yet.

Kasy turned around and headed back to the table. It was then she noticed that she had been standing next to CJ Ikem. She wondered what business Ms. Isong had with the ne'er-do-well.

"I think you'll need to do me a favor." Ms. Isong had said it slowly as though she was contemplating whether what she was about to ask for was a good idea or not.

"Okay..." Kasy trailed looking confused.

"And CJ, you'll help with it."

CJ couldn't care less about whatever she was saying. He only needed to get out of the premises. It had almost been an hour since the school was dismissed.

"I was going to do this myself..." Ms. Isong trailed as she looked down on the suicide note. She hadn't noticed that Kasy and CJ had exchanged looks of confusion and irritation respectively.

"But I think I might need your help, both of you." She looked at the students as though she was waiting for one of them to oppose. She still couldn't tell if this was the best idea.

"What is it?"

Kasy was a little shocked to hear CJ speak but she soon got over it since she knew that he wasn't dumb after all.

"A student submitted this note," she handed the note to CJ, "I don't know who it is but if you read it, you'll realize that...this person might be thinking of... Committing suicide."

Kasy snatched the piece of paper from CJ when she realized that the writing looked very familiar.

"Look, I'm new here... kind of," Ms. Isong mumbled the last part knowing that the environment wasn't exactly foreign to her.

"My point is, one of your classmates wrote that and you're the only ones who can find out whoever it is... discretely."

Kasy looked up at Ms. Isong after she'd heard the last word. She couldn't help but wonder how they could ever be discreet about a suicide note.

CJ on the other hand was finding the whole thing a little funny and annoying at the same time. Whoever had written the note must've either been crazy or just stupid or maybe, seeking attention. Did they think they were the only ones to whose life had been unfair? Did they think they were the only ones who had lost all hope? He was sure whoever had dared to write down such nonsense hadn't even gone through half of what he'd been through.

This coward, whoever they were, could shoot themselves in the head and throw themselves off a bridge for all he cared.

"CJ?" He heard Ms. Isong call out to him as the shorter girl next to him stared at him with raised eyebrows. He must've zoned out.

"This is pointless," CJ said.

"Why do you say so?" Ms. Isong asked with a confused look. She was still trying to get used to this new CJ Ikem that spoke his mind.

"There's no use in finding a coward that doesn't want to be found." CJ shrugged as Kasy adjusted her standing position to get a better look at CJ.

"Coward?" Kasy asked.

"Yes, coward," CJ confirmed. "You don't give up on life because it's unfair or because there's no hope. That's cowardice. If that was the case, I'm sure half the world would've been dead."

"Well, not everyone is like you." Kasy furrowed her bushy eyebrows at the taller boy and CJ only scoffed in return.

"Are you guys done?" They both turned to Ms. Isong who was still seated at her desk. "Look, please, just do this for me. I'm not asking you to take it personally but I need you to find out who it is."

"I'll do my best," Kasy assured and Ms. Isong smiled warmly at her before turning to CJ who now had his arms folded in front of his chest.

"With all due respect, I think this is a waste of time," CJ said, "but I will try to find whoever it is and let them know that they're stupid for pulling a stunt like this."

"How come you never talk like this in class?" Ms. Isong asked and that was enough for CJ to start admiring the floor again. Kasy found it hilarious.

"Anyway... Remember, you could save someone's life, I'm serious." Ms. Isong looked from Kasy to CJ and wondered if they were the right pair. "You can go, we'll meet on Monday. Although, I don't know when the person plans on..."

CJ was the first to start making his way towards the door and Kasy soon followed him out with the piece of paper still in her hand.

They had already gotten outside the building when Kasy called out to the boy walking ahead of her, "So how are we going to do it?"

"Do what?" CJ asked after he'd turned around.

Kasy sighed and replied, "Work together to find this person."

CJ hesitated. "I don't know, I'm very busy." He shrugged before turning around and walking away.

Kasy knew that she would have to do it alone anyway.

In the meantime, she needed to find out why the handwriting seemed too familiar.

• • •

Monica Essien had finally decided to come back home to find her son on his tablet. As though that wasn't surprising enough, he looked like he was having a good time. She didn't bother asking why he had bandages covering the fingers on his right hand because she wouldn't like the answer.

"Good afternoon, ma." She heard Zehan greet after she'd in through the door and found him seated on the biggest sofa with his tablet in hand.

Zehan had finally taken his bath after treating his wound and changing into a black hoodie and black jeans.

"I thought that thing wasn't working anymore," Monica said, referring to the tablet.

Zehan sighed as he continued tapping away on the screen, "it works perfectly."

Monica went into the adjourned kitchen and came out with a bottle of red wine and a wine glass. She took off her heels after she'd taken a seat at the dining table and placed her wine and glass on the table. She tied her braids into a bun before opening the bottle and pouring herself a bottle of red wine.

"Are you going somewhere?" Zehan heard his mother ask from the dining table. He had his back to her so he couldn't see the suspicious look on her face.

"No," Zehan replied, "Unless dad comes to take me to aunty Dora's place."

Monica cringed on hearing her sister's name but she was still trying to find out why Zehan seemed so vibrant all of a sudden. It seemed suspicious to her although she couldn't bother herself about that.

"That won't be necessary though." Monica was refilling her glass when Zehan had turned around to look at her. "Your brother, Jamal, will be here tomorrow till God knows when since ASUU has gone on strike...again. So you'll have someone to watch you. That's if you still want to stay."

"And what about you?" Zehan asked.

"Me? I'll be in Lagos till next month." Monica stood up with her full glass of wine in hand before she picked up her heels and headed towards her bedroom while mumbling, "I need to sleep."

Zehan stared at nothing in particular as his thoughts went haywire.

Maybe it would be best for his mother to remain in Lagos and not hear about the havoc he would be causing in Newland Secondary.

He'd spent the whole day planning on how he would carry out his revenge and strangely, the thought alone had given him strength and made him feel alive.

He picked up his tablet once more and continued what he'd been doing since morning-scrolling through Dele's Facebook page.

• • •

They say, if wishes were horses, then beggars would ride.

Kasy had finally managed to find Annika's Instagram account and although it seemed to be a new account since it had less than fifteen pictures, Annika already had nearly two thousand followers while Kasy had barely gotten to two hundred.

Scrolling through the Head Girl's pictures, Kasy wished she had a wand.

All she wanted was to have people come into her comments section and tell her how beautiful she was, how she was created on a Sunday morning, and all those silly things they said to Annika who never actually seemed to appreciate them.

Maybe there was something she could do about her hopeless condition.

She immediately exited the Instagram app and when straight for her Google. When she got there, she typed in, 'How to grow boobs'

Kasy furrowed her eyebrows at the search result. Why would she have to eat apples to grow breasts?

She sighed and shook her head before trying something else. 'How to grow bigger butt' she typed and hit the search button.

Once again, she wasn't exactly pleased with the results. But the bright side, she'd gotten a link directing her to an exercise app that could help her butt plump. In as much as she hated exercise, she had no choice but to hit the download button.

She immediately shoved her phone under her pillow when she heard a knock on her bedroom door.

"Yes?" Her voice was shaky as though she'd been caught stealing meat from a pot of soup.

"Madam, won't you do anything this morning?" Kenneth Kanayo stood in akimbo after he'd walked into Kasy's room wearing a Chelsea jersey and pair of trainers. With the way he was breathing heavily, Kasy knew he had just returned from his early morning Saturday jog.

"Good morning, daddy," Kasy greeted, "I kept waiting for you last night until I got tired and went to sleep."

Kenneth scratched his head awkwardly. "Yes, well... I was working late."

"Till midnight," Kasy stated, raising her eyebrows.

"Yes, it's possible," Kenneth defended himself like a little child caught lying.

Kasy only sighed and shook her head, wondering what club he'd gone to and who he'd spent the time with.

"Anyway, how was school yesterday?" Kenneth asked, looking around the room awkwardly.

Kasy rolled her eyes knowing that it wasn't what happened at school he was concerned about. "Daddy, you can ask me about Kendrick, you know." Kasy sighed. "Besides, he's fine. Anytime, I mention you, his mood changes. No one is telling me what's going on."

"You won't understand." Kenneth avoided his daughter's gaze by all means.

"If you don't want to tell me then that's fine," Kasy mumbled with a shrug, "But try and talk with Kendrick. We're supposed to be a family."

Kenneth simply nodded before turning around to leave. "I'll prepare breakfast," he announced before finally closing the door behind him.

• • •

Everyone knew Timi Disemi was made Head Boy by luck. Ever since anyone could remember, Bamidele Akindele had been seen as the future Head Boy, but, it only took one incident with Zehan Essien for that birthright to be taken away from him.

Now, Dele had to stand behind Timi and play the supportive Deputy now that he was back.

"So what did I miss?" Timi asked as he tried to keep up with Annika's pace. Kasy and Dele silently walked behind the Head Boy and Head Girl.

"You said you would only be in Lagos for a week. You spent two weeks." Annika stated without stopping to look in anyone's direction. They were all heading to the assembly hall for an important announcement.

Timi adjusted his glasses and smiled shyly. "You know how my dad is. God comes first."

"Don't start now. You sound like Tamara," said Annika. "Kasy, what about the speech?"

Kasy had to run a little to keep up with Annika's pace before handing her the paper she'd been holding.

One glance at the piece of paper and Annika said, "It's okay, you'll give the speech."

"Really? Are you serious?" Kasy asked.

Annika had finally stopped in her tracks not because she wanted to answer Kasy's question but because they'd arrived at the entrance of the assembly hall.

With a serious look on her face, Annika turned to Kasy, "Do I look like I'm joking? Besides, the Head Girl and Head Boy can't keep doing everything." She turned to Dele, "You'll join her on stage."

Dele looked like he was going to protest but at the end, he simply said, "yes ma,"

Annika gave a curt nod before she and Timi walked into the hall.

Kasy was about to trail behind them when Dele took a hold of her elbow and drew her back. She looked utterly confused by Dele's action.

"What is wrong with you?" Dele asked her before letting go of her arm. "When will you stop kissing Annika's butt?"

"What do you mean?" Kasy asked. The Principal's voice could be heard over the microphone she was using and the students would give a round of applause now and then.

"What joy will you derive from reading a ridiculous speech, hmm? You just want to please Annika that bad, don't you?"

"I don't know what your problem is. I'm not forcing you to climb the podium with me so I don't know why you're so worked up." Kasy sighed. "You've changed, a lot, Dele. This is not the Bamidele Akindele that I grew up with."

"Well, in case you've been asleep for the past one year, a lot has happened and it's enough to make me change. But I've changed for the better." The look in Dele's eyes looked foreign to Kasy. It was almost unbelievable.

"Are you still angry about the Head Boy thing? I see the way you look at Timi like you want him dead," Kasy stated. "You can't blame Timi for what happened."

"Well, Zehan isn't here for me to blame and neither is Ismael. So I guess I'll just have to settle for Timi, won't I?" And with that rhetorical question hanging in the air, Dele marched angrily into the hall, and Kasy trained behind him.

The assembly hall was big and crowded and as a result, all prefects had to make sure that the students maintained decorum.

Prefects stood at each entrance and each searing row. And while prefects like Tari Disemi kept admiring her nails, prefects like Enock Sakala and Olusola Fadiya were busy staring or rather, glaring at each other from across the large hall.

Ahmed didn't need to do any work since his presence alone was enough to command total silence while his sister, Amira, stood next to him reading a novel.

One wouldn't even guess that CJ Ikem was a prefect with the way he sat quietly at the back of the hall with arms folded in front of his chest.

After Principal Elias had finished her long lecture about examination malpractice and education being the key to success, it was time for the Deputy Head Boy and Deputy Head Girl to ascend the podium and read a detailed speech on the new rules the school had enforced or rather, new rules Annika Malan had enforced.

Kasy was first to ascend the podium before Dele reluctantly joined her. One thing Dele hated was public speaking.

"Good morning students," Kasy greeted and the students replied, "Good morning."

Halfway through the speech and Dele couldn't help but pause and look at his colleague in utter confusion.

"No more ankle socks? Seriously?" Dele mumbled to Kasy standing next to him. She simply shrugged and nudged him to continue reading.

"No student should be found in the incomplete building... for any reason whatsoever." The memory of what Ahmed had done to the junior student there the previous day flashed through his head and that was enough for him to stop reading and just stare at the paper.

Kasy was quick to take the paper away and continue with the never-ending speech. She was so engrossed with what she was reading that she didn't realize that the students' attention had been divided and drawn towards the hall entrance.

"What in fuck's name..." Enock Sakala mumbled to himself on seeing what everyone was looking at.

Ahmed's jaw nearly dropped to the floor when he'd turned to the main entrance. "Devil don get phone number,"

Amira stood in shock next to her brother.

Timi and Annika stood dumbfounded. Timi opened his mouth and closed it like a fish out of water. Annika had to ask, "Timi, what the hell is your cousin doing here?"

Tari couldn't believe her eyes, she felt like she was in some kind of nightmare. "This can't be happening..."

CJ Ikem had to turn around to see what everyone was getting all worked up about. His eyes widened immediately and he mumbled, "Holy shit..."

Standing on the podium, Dele was boiling on the inside. He balled his fists and the veins on his head were evident. His breathing had become unsteady and uneven. He was vibrating with rage.

It took a while for Kasy to realize that something else was going on but all she needed to do was raise her head to come face to face with her worse nightmare. "Oh my God..."

Olusola Fadiya sighed and mumbled to herself, "Finally, something interesting around here,"

Standing at the main entrance with his backpack in hand, Zehan Essien smirked at the looks of terror on Dele and Kasy's faces as they stood on the podium glaring at him.

"Let the games begin."