Mrs Isioma's gaze shifted from the hall window to the uninterested students before her. It has been three days since the incident at the hospital and she decided to tell Alisha's classmates about what happened.

    "I hope everyone is present." She said and she got a few nods in response. "I gathered you all here today to inform you of something important. It is important for us to understand the value of life because one minute, we can be with someone and the next they're gone.."

    "She should just go straight to the point." Damien muttered and Kelvin nodded.

    "Her motivational speech is making my head hurt." He replied.

   "Your friend and classmate, Alisha Idris, has left us. She passed away on Thursday last week and -"

   "Jesus!!"

  "Hei!"

   "She's dead keh?!

   The students exclaimed and the principal stayed silent. Her hands shook as she watched the students in distress. 

   "She.. she took her own life. So from now on, there will be a guidance counselor who you children can talk to. Nobody is allowed to carry any drug at all even if it is vitamin C. Those with health issues should meet the school nurse." She paused and let the students talk amongst themselves. "That will be all." She concluded before making her way down the steps of the stage.

    The students shakily left for their classroom. No one said a word as they all entered the class. Many eyes were on the desk that once belonged to Alisha while the rest was on Amber. They wondered what she was thinking, how she was holding up and if she knew what her friend planned to do beforehand.

   "But.." Nini's voice came out in a whisper as she and her friends settled in their seats. "But Mrs Isioma didn't talk about the pregnancy." She said and Brume hissed.

   "Are you okay at all?" Brume said, "Can't you see this is not the right time to bring that up?"

   "Alisha was pregnant?" A voice said and the girls looked up in shock. 

  Ugochi looked at the girls expectantly. She was on her way to her seat when she overheard the heart pounding news.

   "Alisha keh?" Kelvin exclaimed and it was only then did the three girls notice the entire class was watching them, waiting for a response.

   Amber froze as she heard the conversation. A part of her was happy that at least they found out about it. The principal could not hide it forever.

    "Amber, is it true?" Natasha asked directly since the two girls were practically sisters.

   Amber laid out her cards carefully. She didn't want to be the one to spread the news and at the same time, she wanted her classmates to know the truth.

   "I think so. Alisha never mentioned it but I had a feeling that something was not right." She replied. She decided to continue playing the oblivious card. She already had a plan ready to be put in motion so being in the spotlight and answering their questions was only going to stall her.

    "Omo but Nini how do you find out?" Natasha asked and Nini shrugged.

   "Nnenna told us." She stated and Nnenna facepalmed. So much for telling her not to tell anyone. She decided to retell the story again and hopefully nobody will carry the news out of the class.

    "You people should just rest na. See how all of you are eager to hear the pregnancy news but you've forgotten that the girl in question is dead. Like she's gone forever." Gabby finally said.

   "Honestly.." Damien started making the entire class silent. He stood up from his chair and faced them. "Gabby is right. You all should understand that this is fucking real. You're just interested in the latest story and stuff like that but can we just keep quiet for a minute and respect our classmate? Tomorrow or next it can be any one of us. Let that sink in." He said and they all had guilt written all over their faces.

    A minute passed and Kelvin looked at his friend who nodded back.

   "May the soul of Alisha and the souls of all the faithful departed.." he started.

   "Through the mercy of God rest in peace." His classmates chorused.

   "And may they rest in peace." 

   "Amen."

  After the short prayer, some of the girls in the class began to cry as the reality of the situation sunk in. Their physics teacher was about to storm into the class and yell at the science students for being late to the lab but when he saw the mood in the class, he turned around and left.

***

    While the rest of the students headed to the hostel later that day, Amber went to the class mapped out for night prep. 

    She stood in front of the classrooms which were in a straight line and studied the wire connections. She smiled in relief as she realized that tweaking a few wires won't be as difficult as she expected. 

   All she needed was ten minutes power outage and if her plan goes flawlessly, she might just be back before the time elapsed.

***

   "Settle down, settle down." The teacher in charge of the prep class said but the girls in the senior class didn't even spare her a glance.

   Amber weakly walked into the class a few minutes later and the teacher stopped her by the door.

   "And why are you late?" She asked and Amber gripped her stomach.

   "I'm having a stomachache ma." She replied quietly. The teacher gave her a suspicious look before letting her in. Amber took her usual seat at the very back of the prep class beside the back door.

    Joy groaned in annoyance as the noise wasn't letting her read. She tried to shush the ones around her but they barely noticed her existence. As if the Dean read her mind, he walked into the class.

    "Look at students that are planning to write JAMB in less than a month or so. Will you all close your mouths and study?!" He barked and got a not so subtle hiss in return. The Dean was a short, plump man who had a receding hairline which the students made fun of. In all honesty, what terrified them was not his strict attitude but his dental arrangement that looked like damaged piano keys.

    "Mr Ken, here are the books you asked for." A junior student, who was standing behind him said. The Dean glared at the girls in the senior class one last time before signaling the junior student to follow him.

    Amber noticed the car keys he was swinging in his fingers and realized he was probably ready to go home. It was time to execute her plan. She waited for a few minutes before turning off the switch under her table. The entire block where the female students stayed for prep became pitch black as the power went off.

    Amber stood up from her seat and tried to navigate her way to the middle of the class without bumping into anyone.

    "Settle down. The security men will handle the power outage." The teacher said. Amber took a deep breath and screamed, "Rat!!! There's a rat in the class!" And just like that, the entire block was in chaos.

    The girls ran out and about just to avoid the disgusting rodent. Amber took that as her chance and snuck out through the back door. She ran like she has never before to the uncompleted building at the back of the school. Her heart thumped wildly as she tried to avoid the cameras. She had studied the locations of the cameras so she knew the routes to take. It was now or never.

    "Place the books in the passenger's seat and meet me in the ground floor." Mr Ken ordered, giving the girl his car keys.

   "Why sir?" She questioned and he let out an animalistic growl.

   "If you ask me anything, I'll make you pay severely." He spat. He walked into the uncompleted two storey building.

   The junior student shook in fear as she unlocked the car which was parked in front of the building. She kept the books on the passenger's seat and unknowingly kept the car key there too. She closed the door of the car and went inside the building.

    Hands grabbed her before she could even take two more steps inside the building. She tried to scream but a beefy hand covered her mouth tightly. She struggled against his hands but his grip was too tight on her lean body.

   " You failed almost all your subjects in the previous term. I can make you pass." He grinned but the girl shook her head wildly. "I'm sure you don't want to repeat your current class." He added, loosening his grip on her a little. The petite girl took the chance and stabbed his arm with her pen. 

   The Dean howled in pain but she didn't give him a chance to do anything as she stabbed the side of his neck with the pen. 

   "I-i'll d..deal with.. you." He stuttered. Tears rolled down the petrified girl's face as she dashed out of the building. 

    Amber made her way up the second storey of the uncompleted building and saw cement blocks littered around. She carried one and placed it on the balcony rails. She looked down and saw the height from the top. Just then, the girl ran out of the building. Amber tightened her hold on the cement block and raised it.

   "This is for Alisha." She breathed.

    A few seconds later, the Dean staggered out of the building and Amber released her hold on the block. As soon as she heard his body collide with the ground, she ran back downstairs. She hid beside the building and checked out her work. She saw that Mr Ken's fingers were still moving and she knew he was still alive. That was not the plan.

    In a few minutes, the power would be back on in the classroom block. She didn't want to step closer to him to finish the work to avoid the camera capturing her. Her eyes came in contact with the car parked right in front of her. It was like the deities were on her side as the car was unlocked with the key seating comfortably inside. She inwardly thanked her uncle for teaching her the basics.

    Amber smiled and looked at the sky. Even the heavens were on her side, who could be against her?

****

    The power was finally back on. The teachers gathered the students back into their classrooms and ensured they settled down. The teacher in charge of the SS3 class looked around and noticed the empty seat at the back.

   "Where's Amber?" She asked and the girls shrugged.

   "Ma, I'm here." Amber replied as she walked into the class gripping her stomach with her washed hands.

   "Is your stomach still troubling you?" The teacher asked in concern and she nodded. "Take a seat okay? Meet Nnenna later for some medications." She said, patting Amber's back.

   As she sat down on her seat, Amber tried to fight the victory smile on her face but she couldn't. She never knew how satisfying justice was till now. She looked down at her hands with the biggest grin on her face.

   She rewrote his fate. The story of the Dean that impregnated a naive student and gave her drugs knowing fully well what it was for. She REWROTE his fate. She almost laughed out loud at the surge of electricity inside her, the adrenaline pumping in her veins. She.. she felt like a god. 

*****
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~Korisa🧡