Picture a fifteen-year-old boy at the edge of the rooftop staring down at another teenage boy. The only difference is that the latter is laying lifelessly on the ground, swimming in his pool of blood. Some people might say that was the beginning of chaos in Newland but that wasn't when things began falling apart.

My name is CJ Ikem. I was supposed to be a nobody in this story, and maybe I am. I was nothing but the class thief when this little story of ours started but then, we all thought of ourselves as one thing or the other when the simple truth was that we were all just stupid teenagers.

One thing you need to know before continuing with this story is that it starts with death and ends with death-all because of the things we did. No one in this story is innocent.

If you're going to be keeping track of everything happening here, then I suggest you start with Ismael Essien. Our story starts with him.

The things we do have an aftereffect on the people around us and even people we never knew so yes, our story begins with Ismael Essien and his brother, Zehan Essien. Let's start with the Essiens as a family.

In the end, you might want to ask yourself, 'Who is to be blamed?'

I'll make the answer short and simple for you:

Everyone.

◈ ━━━━━━━ ⸙ - ⸙ ━━━━━━━ ◈

Zehan didn't think he would ever see daylight again. He was hoping he would never wake up again. He had prepared himself for the burning flames of hell after trying to get his one-way ticket to the land of the dead. So you could imagine the expression on his face when he woke up and found himself on a hospital bed and an IV drip connected to his right hand.

If there was one thing he hated, then it was the smell of hospitals but he had gotten used to it being that it was the second time he was admitted for trying to take his own life.

He could only imagine what his parents would say this time around but he couldn't care less because they didn't care either.

Zehan tried to make himself a little bit more comfortable on the hospital bed because he knew what was coming. The loud argument that was coming from outside the small hospital room told him that it was only a matter of time before he would have to face his parents and explain to them why they had to waste money on hospital bills all in the name of pretending like they cared whether he was alive or not.

"If we don't do something now, it might be too late." He heard his father say.

"I'm not going to have people looking at me and gossip about how my child is in a psychiatric hospital." Monica Essien's voice was much more hushed than her husband's, just as Zehan expected. She wouldn't want anyone getting the slightest idea as to what the conversation with her husband entailed.

"We don't necessarily need to send him to any institution," Raheem Essien said. "The doctor advised -"

"I don't care!" Monica snapped at her husband.

"You've never cared," Zehan mumbled to himself, wishing he could just go back to sleep. He tried massaging the back of his palm where the drip was fixed to and decided that listening in on his parents' not-so-loud argument wouldn't do him any good.

• • •

Assessing her backside through the full-length mirror, her face immediately morphed into a frown of dissatisfaction. Kasy wanted her butt to be bigger so boys would finally revere and talk about how sexy she was, just like they did with the other girls.

Turning around to scrutinize her frontal features, her frown deepened because she wasn't impressed with her breasts either. She was already so close to questioning her creator for cheating her.

Kasy wasn't ugly but she never saw herself as beautiful either. Her skin was almost as dark as charcoal, her lips were small and not as plump as she wanted. Her nose was small and flat. She'd tried caving her bushy black eyebrows multiple times but every attempt ended up making her big black eyes look dull. If there was anything Kasy liked about her features, then it would be her eyes. She liked the fact that her iris remained white and her pupils were black and big.

What she couldn't understand was why everything about her was small except her eyes. She had a small frame but at least she was average in height.

In as much as her father would always remind her that she was beautiful, she hated seeing her reflection. She wanted to be tall, robust, and have a lighter skin-just a little lighter.

She sighed before using a rubber band to tie her natural twists into a small bun with a few shorter strands poking out by the sides. She hissed when she remembered how short even her hair was.

She took her grey blazer and wore it over her white shirt which was tucked into her grey flay skirt. She knotted her tie hurriedly upon hearing footsteps making their way towards her room.

The tall, muscular figure belonging to Kenneth Kanayo made its way into her room after a knock on the door.

"Nkasiobi, you know it's quarter to eight, right?" Kenneth folded his hands and leaned against the door frame while watching his daughter walk to and fro, shoving books and lip gloss into her small Gucci bag.

"Yes, yes, I know," came Kasy's reply as she tried zipping her overfilled bag.

"And you don't seem bothered. I know it's because you're now in SS 2," Kenneth stated with a smug smile.

"Yes." Kasy didn't even bother denying it as she finally zipped up her bag and turned to her father, mirroring his smug smile.

"I'm usually the one to wake you up, what happened today?" Kasy lifted her bag with one hand and made her way towards the door where her father stood.

Kasy scrunched up her nose and halted in front of the six-foot figure, "Is that a woman's cologne?"

Kenneth brought up his arm to his nose and sniffed the sleeve of his white shirt. Kasy watched as his eyes grew wide in surprise as though he hadn't perceived it initially.

"Uh... I think Bianca might've used her cologne on my clothes while ironing them." Kenneth explained to the short girl in front of him.

"Bianca?" Kasy furrowed her bushy brows in confusion. "I thought it was Cassandra."

"No, it's Bianca." Kenneth corrected.

"Oh, yeah, Cassandra was the one from two days ago." Kasy nodded her head slowly as she remembered. "Didn't she work at a nightclub?"

Kenneth awkwardly cleared his throat and glanced down at an imaginary watch, "Waoh! Look at the time, you need to get your ass to school and channel all these annoying questions to your teachers!" He clapped his hands together for effect while grinning at the amused look on his daughter's face.

"You're not even wearing a watch." Kasy stated the obvious as her dad took her bag from her and swung it on his shoulder as usual. Kenneth Kanayo did that every day because to him, Kasy was still his baby girl.

"Nkasi, bia ka anyi si ebe a puo, biko." Kenneth beckoned on his daughter in Igbo as he took long strides down the hall, still carrying her bag.

Kasy shook her head before trailing behind her dad.

• • •

Kasy watched as her father drove towards the entrance of the estate, speeding past the middle and lower ring. Kenneth hummed to his Michael Jackson tapes while driving and Kasy watched him intently wondering why he wasn't wearing a suit over his fitted white shirt and black trousers. The first three buttons of his shirt were intentionally left undone to reveal his muscular, well-built chest, and Kasy shook her head slightly in amusement knowing fully well that the intentional display of sexiness was meant to accompany the smile he would be flashing every female he came across.

"When are you planning on getting married?"

The question had taken Kenneth by surprise and it had taken everything in him to avoid stepping on the brakes and bringing the car to a halt. Luckily, he was able to get over the shock and continued driving without stopping or ramming into the car ahead.

"Nkasi, ogini?" Kenneth briefly turned to his daughter with wide eyes before focusing on the road ahead, "Kee ebe ajuju a nile si n'ututu a?" He wondered why Kasy had chosen a nice Monday morning to give him the third degree.

"It's just... All the women..." Kasy trailed, not knowing how to put her feelings into words. She didn't even want to.

The car came to a halt in front of the school, close to the huge gates of the estate.

"Nkasi, just go to school, biko." Kenneth Kanayo's voice oozed with annoyance but he tried to talk as softly as possible.

Kasy sighed before grabbing her bag from the backseat and making her way out of the car.

"Kasy," She turned around after hearing her name and found her dad popping his head out the window with his outstretched hand that held a familiar red, plastic badge, "You forgot this."

"Ah, thank you!" Kasy exclaimed as she took the badge from her dad. She knew Annika would have skinned her alive if she'd forgotten to put on her badge again.

"See you later." Kenneth waved before he drove off in his red Toyota Avalon.

Kasy looked down at the badge in her hands as she read the inscription 'NSS DEPUTY HEAD GIRL' and sighed before pinning it onto her blazer pocket. She made her way into the school premises afterward.

"You're late!" Annika barked as soon as she'd seen her assistant walking in majestically without any care in the world. "Thirty minutes late for that matter." She added.

"I know, sorry," Kasy mumbled as she approached Annika and the other prefects on duty under the mango tree. Kasy eyed the badge attached to Annika's breast pocket before looking up to meet her judgemental gaze since Annika was at least two inches taller.

"Look, Mercy-"

"It's Kasy, not Mercy." Kasy corrected with a frown evident in her facial expression. She was already used to correcting Annika each time she referred to her with something that wasn't her name but each time she had to correct the taller girl, she felt horrible because she was hoping the almighty Annika Malan would be able to remember her name. This did well in proving that Kasy was simply a nobody and people like Annika didn't care to know who she was even if the school had simply managed to squeeze her into the office of Deputy Head Girl.

"If you want to be my assistant, you have to take this job seriously." Annika continued speaking as though Kasy hadn't just said something. Kasy was yet again reminded that whatever she said was worthless. "If you're going to be assistant Head Girl, you're going to have to sit up and be exemplary."

"Deputy Head Girl. . ." Kasy trailed in another failed attempt to correct Annika. She hated being referred to as 'assistant', it made her feel like she was someone's secretary. And besides, her badge clearly had the word 'Deputy' on it.

For a split second, Annika looked irritated with the way Kasy kept interrupting her but she immediately resumed her scolding which seemed very important to her. "I cannot be monitoring other prefects and telling them the right thing to do when my assistant is falling out of line. So Mercy, you better up your game because I have enough on my plate already."

The way Annika had brushed past Kasy immediately after she uttered the last word, anyone watching would be able to tell that she was done with Kasy. Although Annika might've been the one to walk away, Kasy felt dismissed just like anyone would've felt after getting a good scolding from the ever-serious, never-smiling Annika Malan. That was just the way Annika was. One could describe her as a perfectionist and although Kasy admired her and would eagerly give up her grandmother's kidney just to be like Annika Malan, working with her was like going through military school and trying to please her was as impossible as deceiving America into electing another black president.

Tightening her grip on the straps of her small leather bag, she watched as Annika took long, graceful strides over to a bunch of junior students who were kneeling for one reason or the other. Kasy could see the look of terror on their faces as the Head Girl approached them. Even the junior students knew how ruthless and mean Annika Malan could be sometimes.

The other prefects who were supposed to also be on gate duty, punishing latecomers, were either busy chatting amongst themselves or simply trying to see if the ripe and half-ripe mangoes on the tree would come falling as they used stones and long sticks to hit them.

Enock Sakala could be seen carrying his girlfriend on his shoulders while Olusola Fadiya on the other hand tried to reach for the mangoes that were reachable. The couple's hysterical laughter and loud chuckles attracted the attention of the other prefects who smiled and laughed in amusement.

Annika rolled her eyes at their childish behavior before turning back to the trembling junior students before her.

"Do you know what you guys are going to do for me?" Kasy watched as the juniors shook their heads frantically to Annika's question. "You are going to frog jump to your classes."

The junior students looked very displeased with their punishment as though they'd been expecting a punishment from Annika Malan to be anything less than brutal. Kasy had thought that Annika had gone easy on them that day probably because she was in a good mood. On a normal day, the juniors would be asked to cut the hip of grasses surrounding the incomplete building at the far end of the premises till it was break time.

"Senior, please, I wounded in my leg," one of the small girls in JS 1 pleaded.

"Okay, should I call Senior Dele?" Annika asked and all the junior students yelled a deafening "No" in response. This attracted the attention of everyone within proximity.

"Shut up!" Annika yelled with so much authority and command exuding her. No one needed to tell the terrified junior students to immediately shut their mouth or else they would suffer worse fates.

As though he'd heard his name from wherever he was, Bamidele Akindele could be seen casually making his way out of the Senior block and approaching the latecomers with one hand in his pocket and the other one holding on to the long, thin cane or 'weapon' as he liked to call it. The junior students could be seen crying already as he approached them.

They were doomed.

"Well, say your final prayers," Annika told the juniors before walking away without even looking the least sorry for the poor children.

Kasy felt bad for the juniors knowing very well that Dele never came out with a cane if he wasn't planning on lashing people. Once Dele had a cane in his hands, it would definitely kiss someone's back or butt. He never flogged anyone on their palms.

Yet, Kasy still couldn't say Dele was the most ruthless. Annika was actually worse than the Deputy Head Boy on a bad day. Whenever Annika punished the junior students out of anger, it would take the intervention of the other prefects and even Dele himself for her victim to make it out conscious.

As Dele, in all his glory, approached Kasy as she stood next to the latecomers, he smiled sheepishly, and Kasy blushed as he did that.

Bamidele Akindele was everything Kasy ever wanted in a guy. He was dark, handsome, and oozed confidence and authority just like Annika so it made sense when he brushed past Kasy like she wasn't even there and the smile on his face transformed into a grin as he got closer to the girl who was the reason for his smile in the first place: Annika Malan.

Kasy felt like a fool for thinking that Bamidele Akindele would smile at her just like she thought Annika Malan would ever befriend her.
Dele and Annika: they were literally made for each other. One could actually say they were the same person.

"I'm going inside," Annika told the boy who was still grinning at her. "Handle them," she muttered to Dele before walking away with her usual long strides and head up high. Annika Malan was the true definition of confidence-something Kasy would never have.

Watching the Head Girl walk away, Kasy was filled with so much jealousy. Why didn't God give her a figure like Annika's? Kasy would kill to have Annika's gold skin and curly hair.

Kasy used to think that it was simply because of Annika's South African origin that she turned heads wherever she went but that wasn't it.

Annika Malan was the tallest girl in her class and on top of that, she had full, curly hair that was always put in a high bun. One could say Annika looked like a model. She might've not been the most beautiful when it came to the face but she had thin long brows that arched nicely to compliment her evident cheekbones. Her long nose was also something else to admire.

No wonder Bamidele Akindele was all over her like flies on rotten food.

The sound of the cane against flesh and the whimpers and sobs from the juniors was enough to arrest everyone's attention.

Dele was just as ruthless as Annika when dealing with the students. The only difference between Dele and Annika was that he was cheerful and friendly with his friends, unlike Annika who was a true definition of all work and no play.

Nonetheless, even in that moment of wickedness Dele seemed to be exhibiting, Kasy still found everything about him endearing. Even when he bullied her and acted like she didn't exist, Bamidele Akindele still owned a soft spot in her heart and mind and was the only person who had access to her mumu button.

• • •

Walking down the empty corridor, she pulled down her black skirt for the fourth time with her free hand. She tightened her grip on her handbag before looking down to see if there was any stain on her white shirt. She couldn't screw this up.

As soon as she saw the entrance to the SS 2 class, her heart began beating rapidly against her chest, making her wonder if her heart was planning on making its way out of her chest.

She patted her cornrows once more to make sure they were still in a perfect bun as she came to a halt at the entrance of the classroom.

The SS 2A classroom didn't have a door so it was easy for the deafening noise from the students to be heard in the deserted corridor.

Esther could only hope that these kids would take it easy on her. With the way she'd heard loud laughing and shouting, she was suddenly starting to feel insecure and unsure of what she was about to get herself into. She could already see a million ways her first day could go wrong.

With her flats barely making any sound against the tiled floor, she took a deep breath and walked into the noisy classroom, all the while squeezing the life out of the handle of her bag.

The class seemed to have quieted down a little as soon as she stepped in and in as much as she was thankful for that, she didn't appreciate the way the teenagers glared at her.

"Who be this omaricha nwa wey just enter?" Ahmed cooed and in turn, got the attention of the rest of the class who weren't paying attention before. A few of them chuckled at Ahmed's remark.

"Let's hope this one actually knows how to speak English," Sola mumbled to Annika who refused to look up from the Economics textbook in front of her.

"You mean the new English teacher?" Annika asked while highlighting a paragraph with her highlighter. "I heard she was a student here before... Uncle Kendrick's set."

"You mean it?" Sola turned to her friend with wide eyes. "So the both of them did not see anything better to do than to come back to their secondary school to teach?"

Annika simply shrugged and finally looked up when the young lady standing in front of the class finally decided to speak instead of just looking at them like an alien observing the human species for the first time.

"Good day, class," Esther began after she felt like she'd cleared her throat enough, "I'm Ms. Esther Isong, your new English teacher and form mistress."

"Na so!" Ahmed loudly remarked once more and the class chuckled. Only a few people rolled their eyes at Ahmed's childish behavior. To his classmates, Ahmed Yusuf was just the typical loud mouth and comedian.

"Emm..." Esther trailed, not knowing what exactly to say next.

During her Youth Service Corp, she'd been assigned to handle the JS 1 students in a much smaller school. This was nothing compared to that. She felt like she was standing in a room full of her agemates which was reasonable since she was barely twenty-four.

Esther felt like the teenagers were laughing at her every move. What was she thinking when she applied for a job in her Alma mater?

Although none of these kids would know her as the former Head Girl of Newland Secondary, rumors had a way of spreading like wide fire so she decided she would rather inform them herself.

"I'm actually a former student of this school." Whispers filled the air as soon as she'd said that. "I was the Head Girl. Class of 2013. Five years ago." The murmurs continued and she took her time in taking a deep breath. "So I'm not exactly a newcomer here."

"Excuse me, ma." Tari raised her hands in the air and most of her classmates rolled theirs at her 'notice me' agenda.
"Yes?" Esther nodded towards the overactive girl raising her hand.

"Does that mean you are Uncle Kendrick's set? You were classmates?" Tari asked, beaming with so much eagerness. The transparent lipgloss on her lips was a little overdone.

Kasy rolled her eyes at Tari's question. She wished they would just drop the topic already. Any conversation concerning Kendrick and how handsome Tari and her clique claimed he was always made her uncomfortable. She felt it would be a good time to walk out of the classroom but she couldn't do that.

Esther remained mute for about five seconds. She knew Kendrick's name would come up but she still wasn't prepared to talk about him. "Em... Yes, Kendrick Kanayo was my classmate."

"And former Head Boy?" another student yelled from the back.

"Yes, he was former Head Boy too." Esther hoped the students wouldn't sense the awkwardness she felt while answering questions concerning Kendrick.

Kasy buried her face in her palms and loudly groaned into it. That was just as awkward as having to sit in one of Kendrick's classes.

"Please, be quiet," Esther said calmly, trying to see if she could get the students to stop chattering amongst themselves about ancient history she never wanted to go back to. As the noise slowly faded away, she continued speaking, "With time, I'll get to know your names but right now, we need to get started on what we have in our scheme because the principal said your former teacher didn't finish your second term scheme... And we're already three weeks behind for this term."

Sola scoffed. "Good luck with that," she mumbled to herself but Annika could clearly hear her. "How does she think she can cover the second term scheme of work and this term as well? Even if she's Flash, we're not."

"If she doesn't cover it, then we'll have to read up." Annika shrugged while absentmindedly jotting whatever appeared on the whiteboard as Ms. Isong wrote.

Sola on the other hand couldn't care less as she folded her arms and glared at her friend. "Sometimes I wonder how we're friends, I swear."

Annika snickered. "Are you finally admitting that we're friends?" She looked amused but kept her eyes on the notebook in front of her as she wrote.

"It's just because you help me during Maths test oo." Sola cooed.

"Olusola Fadiya, learn Mathematics. Being an Art student isn't an excuse." Annika said with all seriousness as she finally turned to look at the dark-skinned girl who was wearing thick black eyeliner and rocking an afro haircut.

"That one bash you oo! You're my friend and you will help me in the Maths test." Sola concluded and Annika simply shook her head with a small smile.

Behind Annika and Sola sat Dele and his squad engaging in their own gossip.

"O boy, this babe fine die!" Ahmed whispered to his friends who were taking notes-something he would never do in his life.

"Which babe?" Dele who was in the middle asked.

"This Esther..." Ahmed nodded towards Ms. Isong who had her back to the entire class as she wrote on the board.

"You mean Ms. Isong? Guy, you're not well." Enock was first to respond and he shook his head in amusement.

"Guy, dey well, jare." Ahmed glared at Enock who wasn't looking at him. "Abi you no dey see wetin she carry for back?"

"You're freaking high, dude." Enock chuckled and continued scribbling down whatever he felt like without actually checking if it was the right thing.

"You guys should just shut up, abeg." Dele who was in between the two guys was tired of their bickering.

"Dele, dey well o. Because say no be Annika ba?" Ahmed eyed his friend and Dele only kept silent in turn and hoped Annika didn't hear her name in their conversation since she was just seated in front of them.

Esther was trying to concentrate on the elaborate note on Report Writing she was currently pouring out on the whiteboard when she saw someone walk in through her peripheral vision.

She turned properly and covered the whiteboard marker when she noticed that the person awkwardly standing at the class entrance was actually a student. A tattered-looking student.

"Canada don land!" Ahmed yelled, referring to the light-skinned boy who had just walked in, and that earned him a few chuckles.

Esther was confused at first but soon assumed 'Canada' was their nickname for the light-skinned boy who looked like he had just gone through the First World War with the way his white shirt was rolled up his sleeves and flying out of his trousers. His tie was loosely hanging on to his neck and the brown stain close to his breast pocket was irritating and childish. A dirty, grey shoulder bag lazily hung on his right shoulder while the black strap ran across his chest and stomach to latch onto the ridiculously huge bag on his left side.

His full brown hair was slowly turning into spikes on its own since it hadn't been combed or cut in centuries.

"Who are you? Are you in this class? And are you just coming to school by this time looking like that?" Esther couldn't help but ask all at once. The look on her face was priceless while the students just laughed. They were already used to the boy's tattered and rough nature.

"That's Canada for you!" Ahmed's remark came yet again and his classmates laughed as usual while Esther just looked stunned.

"Can't you speak?" Esther snapped at the light skinned boy who stared down at the tiled floor the whole time because he didn't know how he was supposed to tell her that he'd gone to his workplace at early as 4 AM to repair cars just so he could be able to feed his siblings and pay their rent that was long due.

"Get out if you can't speak!" Esther was clearly irritated with the boy while the other students just wallowed in amusement.

It was then that the boy finally looked up at her and decided to speak.

"My name is CJ. CJ Ikem."