"Nah, not even possible," Chidiogo said, dismissing the idea immediately.

"Everyone is a-"

"Yeah, yeah, everyone is a suspect," Chidiogo said interrupting Sky, "I know that already but you aren't even a suspect. You weren't even in this school when I first got attacked. You resumed late, remember?"

Sky's lips, which hung slightly open initially, pressed together. Chidiogo didn't give her a chance to properly process her words before continuing.

"And also, you saved me when Kamsi and Wale left me to die. If you wanted me to die, that was the perfect opportunity. No one would have come out until the next day. Before anyone found me, I would have been dead. Do you see why it's logically impossible for you to even be a suspect?"

Sky pursed her lips for a moment before they morphed into a smile.

"Wow," she said, the smile on her face broadening, "I'm impressed. I guess you've actually been more attentive than I thought. I'm even starting to trust your judgement."

"So you'll believe me when I say that Mmachi is the one behind everything that's going on?" Chidiogo asked.

Sky shook her head with a small laugh.

"I guess time will be the judge of that," she said stretching out her body, "I'll get going now. Take care of yourself and keep what I said in mind. Also, if possible, try to get in contact with your parents again."

Chidiogo nodded. As Sky turned to leave, a question popped up in her head.

"Do you have Amarachi's number?" she asked.

Sky paused but didn't turn fully to face her.

"I doubt," Sky said, giving her head a small shake. She was about to turn again but stopped. Her head snapped back to Chidiogo and her eyes flitted down to her attire. "Aren't you going to change your clothes?"

"I was," Chidiogo said, "I mean I am, but it doesn't really matter whether I change it or not."

"We have to be in school by 5:30."

Chidiogo furrowed her brows. "But there's no prep today."

"There's a meeting with your form teacher, for all the S.S.2's. It's"-Sky glanced at a small golden pocket watch Chidiogo hadn't noticed, dangling from her belt holder-"5:25 now. She'd probably be out of the staff quarters by now and heading to your class. That's where the meeting is going to hold."

"How come I didn't hear about this earlier?" Chidiogo asked.

Sky shrugged. "You and Chikaima left early. I'll get going now. See you in school."

"Is the meeting compulsory?" Chidiogo asked, halting Sky in her tracks again.

Sky, who had her back turned to Chidiogo, tilted her head a bit. "Yes. Although I doubt it would be important. Just attend to avoid trouble."

Sky didn't wait for Chidiogo's reply before walking away.

Chidiogo stood in the hallway for a while after Sky left before the buzzing flies around her broke her reluctance to move. She returned to her room to change her clothes and ended up heading to her class together with Amelia.

She found out from Amelia that Chikaima and Kamsi already left for the meeting before she returned to the room.

The class was packed by the time the both of them arrived, almost every single corner of the class occupied by students. The crowd was so bad, you couldn't go two steps without brushing by someone.

A particular stench hung in the air, the smell accompanying so many sweaty bodies packed in one space.

The characteristic stuffiness hovered around, the flow of air staunched by the numerous bodies crowding the room. Chidiogo held her breath as she walked into the class, her grip on Amelia's hand involuntarily tightening.

"This meeting would have been better in a bigger space," Amelia muttered and Chidiogo couldn't agree more.

The dull hum of the air conditioning filled her ears informing her that it was turned on. It did very little to dispel the heat.

"Let's see if we can stay under an air vent," Amelia said and Chidiogo nodded, not trusting herself to speak without reproducing the lunch she had earlier.

A few extra chairs had been added to the seating arrangement, disorganizing the class. Chidiogo and Amelia moved up the rows, avoiding students who made a seat on the steps.

When they finally got to the back of class, they found several groups of students clustered under each air vent.

"I think we should just stay at the door. If we remain in here, I might just die. I don't know who gave Miss Esua this brilliant idea of convening all the classes here," Amelia said, stopping short of hissing.

Chidiogo could already feel her lunch creeping up her throat. They had just began descending the rows when Miss Esua walked into the class.

She scrunched her nose as she walked in, her eyes moving around the crowded classroom. It took her one swift scan of the class to make an announcement.

"Attention everyone! I need you all to move to the dinning hall!"

The noise in the classroom presided over her voice and she had to repeat herself a second time before some students began to comply.

Chidiogo and Amelia, who were already on their way down, continued moving. By the time they got out of the class, Chidiogo took a deep breath.

"At least she had the good sense to change the location," Amelia muttered to herself as they continued walking.

They got to the dinning hall in no time. Just as Chidiogo was about to walk through the door, she caught sight of a figure which made her stop and turn.

She got a clear view of Mmachi's rear view moving in the direction opposite the dinning. She glanced at her wristwatch. It was ten minutes to six pm.

She looked up to find that Mmachi had put a good distance between the both of them. Mmachi seemed to be in a hurry, occasionally looking over her shoulder before continuing her journey.

Chidiogo didn't give a second thought before her feet swung into action, taking long strides to cover the distance between herself and Mmachi.

Mmachi went missing almost every night and thinking back, she couldn't remember a time she saw Mmachi after six pm. If anything, she was almost never present during prep.

Chidiogo tried to keep up with Mmachi's pace while her mind travelled at the same speed as her body. She dug through her memory trying to find substantial information.

Mmachi didn't have a particular time when she went missing. At least not one Chidiogo had noticed. She only returned at a particular time.

Given she wasn't just moving around aimlessly, Chidiogo could finally find out where she disappeared to every night and what she did there.

Chidiogo's lips had started tugging up at the thought when Mmachi halted abruptly, causing her heart to slam against her ribcage. Chidiogo froze for a moment.

Her eyes moved around in search of a hiding spot. She jumped behind a wall, the first spot she could find.

She remained there, with her back pressed to the wall, before finally getting herself to check if Mmachi had continued moving.

The first thing she saw, on peeking out from behind the wall, were a pair of dead honey brown eyes staring back into her own eyes.

A/N: APOLOGIES IF THE ENDING FELT ABRUPT OR IMPROPER. I JUST WANTED TO GET SOMETHING OUT BEFORE THE END OF TODAY.

FIRSTLY I WANT TO THANK YOU ALL FOR THE LOVE YOU GUYS SHOWED ME WHEN I WAS SICK AND HOW YOU HAD THE PATIENCE TO UNDERSTAND MY SITUATION.

SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO AgiFavor and Talkmarie11 . THANK YOU GUYS❤️.

AND SINCE I TECHNICALLY HAD TO CUT THIS CHAPTER IN HALF, EXPECT AN UPDATE SOON. GOODNIGHT 🥰.