The name rang in Chidiogo's head for a moment. How Mmachi managed to end up in the centre of every single thing which ever went wrong was something she couldn't fathom.

Miss Esua raised a brow when she heard the name. "She's the prefect?"

Justin manged another nod.

"Whose brilliant idea was that?"

Justin stared at the floor without saying a word but judging by his clenched fist, anyone could tell he was offended.

"Kamsi isn't the prefect?" Wale spoke up for the first time since Miss Esua arrived.

"No," Justin replied.

"Which means Mmachi gave the keys to her," Wale said, throwing Mmachi a dirty look.

"More like she stole the keys from me," Mmachi said unsmiling.

"And you think I'd believe that?" Miss Esua asked, turning so she faced her.

"I know I have a lot of bad records and you must definitely hate me which is totally my fault." Mmachi sighed. "But you have to trust me on this."

Miss Esua folded her arms. "You haven't given me many reasons to trust you."

"You once taught us during morals that no one is incapable of changing."

Miss Esua stopped short of laughing. "I've given you too many chances and what did you do?"

"Okay," Mmachi said after a few seconds, "let's just assume that I gave her the key—which I didn't—I should have asked what she wanted to do with it and—"

"That doesn't justify anything."

"So what are you trying to say? I planned to pour acid on Amara!?" Mmachi's brows scrambled together, her voice becoming a pitch higher.

Miss Esua ignored her tone. "I didn't say anything. You said so yourself."

"Let's not pretend like you weren't already suspecting me."

"It wouldn't be beneath you, to be totally honest," Quinn chipped in before Miss Esua could reply.

Mmachi kept a straight face, not looking away from Miss Esua.

"I believe I was the one speaking to Mmachinemerem," Miss Esua said, glaring at Quinn.

"I'm sorry ma." She looked down at her crossed arms.

Miss Esua stared at her for a little while longer before clearing her throat.

"Alright. Let's make this easy for everyone. Mmachinemerem and Kamsiyochukwu will both report to the Principal's office once we leave here."

Her voice echoed around the lab as she walked to the elevated structure in front of the class. "If you know you would create any sort of nuisance during the activity we're about to start now, you know the way to the door. Don't let me fish you out. Better leave before I reach my seat."

Chidiogo kept her eyes on Miss Esua while she talked until her peripheral vision caught a movement. She turned just in time to find Mmachi heading to where Kamsi was seated.

She noted that Kaima somehow managed to sleep through the whole incident which took place, even still asleep as Miss Esua kept talking. Mmachi walked past her and grabbed Kamsi by the hand once she got to her seat.

Kamsi put up a little struggle when she tried to pull her up but Mmachi ended up still dragging her out of the lab before Miss Esua got to her seat.

---††††---

Mmachi's head throbbed. It remained on Justin's laps as he yanked at her hair in a futile attempt to put it in braids.

She stretched out her bent knees on the wall they were on, resisting the urge to stop him from destroying her hair. She tried hard not to panic at the thought of how much hair he must have ripped out.

She didn't like anyone touching her hair and he wasn't an exception but she let him be since it distracted him from asking her pointless questions like how she got bruises and what the principal had to say about the Chemistry lab incident.

She raised her phone from her belly for a moment, pushing her head up a bit so she could get a glance at the screen without disrupting Justin's actions.

The screen lit up showing that it was still a few minutes past five pm. In less than an hour they'd have to go for prep.

She found herself wishing the previous week hadn't gone by so fast. Resumption week was the only time the prep was made optional and she had managed to waste it.

Another tug on her hair forced her head to jerk back a bit. She was about asking Justin to let go when he muttered an apology.

She ignored him and readjusted a bit so she could see her phone properly. She keyed in ekila as her password and went on to scroll through Instagram.

She was quick to get engrossed in watching reels and almost didn't hear Justin when he spoke.

"Have you gone to see Amara?"

She paused the video and glanced up at him for a while before she made sense of the words.

"Um... No?"

"Why not?"

She scrunched her face. It didn't make any sense why she needed to see Amarachi.

Wasn't it just acid which spilt on her hand?

Mmachi refrained from voicing the thought out.

"Uh... What happened to her?" she asked instead, feigning confusion.

"Weren't you there in the lab?"

"Yeah, yeah I know but..." Mmachi searched for a better way to phrase her words. "She isn't in the ICU right?"

"No, she's at the nurse's..." Justin started saying but stopped, his brows lowering, "I don't get your point."

"She just got acid spilled on her hand, it's not like she's dying or something so why do I need to see her?" she asked, finally deciding to be blunt.

She returned her attention to her phone after speaking. She looked up after sometime when all she could hear was the low buzzing of insects flying around.

She found Justin's eyes trained on her, his face blank. She couldn't tell how he felt about the statement she made but there was something in the way he stared at her which made her backtrack.

"I mean, you know she doesn't really like me and seeing me might just make her feel defensive and all especially since Wale believes I had something to do with the whole incident. He probably mentioned it to her already. And you know Amara better than I do. Her behaviour can be a bit off most times."

"Yeah, I know but... It'll still be nice if you could see her."

She sighed. "Okay, if you say so."

"Promise?"

"I won't promise anything but I'll try."

"That's good enough for me," he said, a smile stretching across his face.

"Just to be clear I'm not doing this because I suddenly like her or anything and I'm not really doing it for you either it's just... Since I'm technically at fault for what happened, I should have been more careful with the keys."

"Yeah, I definitely believe that," he said smirking.

She rolled her eyes. "Believe whatever you want."

He let go of her hair and she almost sighed in relief as she sat up, raking her fingers through it. She checked her reflection in her phone to make sure she didn't look like a zombie. His voice made her look up at him.

"I'll do just that," he said, leaning towards her with his eyes fixed on her lips.

She mentally rolled her eyes.

"Yeah yeah yeah." She gave his head what should have come off as a playful push with her finger and gave him a smile.

He chuckled a bit before he began saying something she wasn't interested in. She readjusted her position so that she faced him with her legs dangling on either sides of the wall; an action which caused her sky blue gown to further ride up her laps.

She looked down at her phone, unlocking it and opening her WhatsApp.

She found herself nodding every once in a while; managing to pick up a few words. Parents, career, choice. She'd piece them together much later.

She became so engrossed in her phone, she didn't realize when he stopped talking. She looked up after a while when she noticed he had been silent.

He stared at her but he looked lost. She put away her phone for a moment before asking, "What happened?"

The question seemed to jerk him out of whatever thoughts he was lost in. "Oh, it's nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah... It's just... I feel like a really terrible person sometimes."

That piqued her interest.

"Why?"

He glanced down at the wall they sat on, his head leaning off the pillar behind him. "You know my sister... The one who was supposed to get engaged last week?"

She nodded even though she had no idea what he was talking about.

"Well... I kind of got her wedding called off."

Mmachi blinked. "How?"

"I sent her nudes to her fiancé's best friend."

It took a while for Mmachi to digest what he just said.

"I know you think I'm a horrible person," he said covering his face with his palm when her silence stretched out for too long.

"No, no. I just... How did you get the pictures?"

"I found them in her gallery." His voice came out a little muffled since his palms still shielded his face.

She wrapped her hands around his wrist and pulled his hands away from his face. "I don't think you're terrible."

"But I ruined her-"

"What matters is why you did it."

He glanced down at her small fingers wrapped around his wrists before speaking, "She's actually my step sister... She's the daughter of my father's second wife. Like, she had her with her first husband."

Mmachi's lips formed an 'O' as he continued his story. "Ever since my dad tossed my mom out and brought them in, she's made my life a living hell. Sometimes I wonder why my dad didn't just let me go with my mom and sister... I mean it's obvious but still..." He sighed. "I'm probably boring you."

"You're not boring me."

He looked up at her and she gave him another smile. "Look, you're not a terrible person okay? Maybe she just got what she deserves. It's enough that you already feel bad about it. Besides, who keeps nudes in their phones? She probably already sent it to countless people."

Justin remained silent for a while as he stared into her eyes. He had a dark expression and his eyes seemed to be caging a storm brewing within him.

He scared her at times like this when he opened up about himself and sometimes she found herself asking what he was really capable of but she had to remind herself each time that she was the one with the criminal record.

"You really think I'm not a bad person?"

"We all make mistakes. All you need to do is don't let it get you down. So you have to stop thinking about your sister or what happened. It's already happened and no matter what you do, you can't change it..."

She bit the inside of her cheeks to prevent the rest of the words from coming out.

"I know but—"

She cut him off.

"You'll not think about it right?"

It took a while for him to nod. "I won't," he added, giving a small smile.

This time she was the one who leaned in for a kiss. She couldn't explain it but it felt nice to hear his story, to be reminded that she wasn't the only one who had made a mess of her life and that she wasn't a monster compared to some people.

Deep down, she knew something in her was capable of worse. Something locked away and tucked somewhere she wasn't ready to find; looming around like clouds on a stormy day but she ignored it as she relished the kiss.