The smell of freshly mowed grass snaked around Chidiogo, invading her senses and luring out the lunch she had earlier. She gagged as she increased her steps, putting a big distance between herself and the field.

She slowed down when she got far enough, her shoes crushing tiny stones on the tarred floor. She came to a halt a few kilometres away from the school entrance.

She glanced at it before moving closer to the small garden separated from the tarred floor by a green fence. It stood just before the entrance.

The letters 'Crest Academy' stood in front of the green gates bordering the garden. She didn't know whether to call it a garden like the others did or not since the flooring was just mere concrete with overlaying carpet grass and she doubted the authenticity of the tree like structures found around the so-called garden.

She moved closer to the green gate which couldn't be more than three feet in height. She stepped over it with ease ignoring the voice at the back of her head which made her feel like she was trespassing.

She moved closer to a large model of a book on a stand which stood in the middle of the garden. When she had first seen it, she'd been curious to find out what was written in it other than the drawing of a tree which could be made out from the other end of the gate.

She went nearer until she was just inches away from it. She peered into it for a while before making out the words: lux Christi regnabit super omnes.

Latin her brain registered but she didn't know the meaning of the words. Underneath it, she read the words: Lumen Deo College.

She recognized it as the school's previous name before it was bought by some other person. She didn't know the full story behind it. She'd once heard Mmachi mention that she preferred the new proprietor of the school. Sometime around her J.S.S.2.

She stared at the name again. She knew Deo meant God but Lumen was something she wasn't exactly familiar with. If the school had been founded by the church, that sort of explained the architecture—the cloisters and all.

She couldn't find a better explanation for it. She reached out to touch the model, unable to get over how real it looked, when a voice startled her.

She turned with her heart in her mouth to find Justin on the other side of the fence. She sighed, relieved for a moment.

He had been appearing a lot of late and she couldn't tell if it was something she should just wave aside. Apart from him tracking her down on the night of the party, she also met him at the nurse's office earlier during school hours when she went to check on Amara.

Though he had been there before her and claimed Amara was like a sister to him, she couldn't just shake off the feeling that the meetings weren't mere coincidences.

Or maybe she was just overthinking things again.

She walked to where he was and crossed over the fence which was the same height as the gate. He leaned back on a pole watching her.

"Hey," she said attempting a smile.

"Someone doesn't look so pleased to see me."

A lazy smile played on his face as he spoke.

"No, it's not that. It's just... You know who I am right?"

"Yes, Diogo."

It felt weird hearing someone other than Mmachi addressing her by that name but it did make sense that he borrowed the name from her since they were a couple after all.

"Right. So why did you decide to give me a heart attack out of the blue?"

"You weren't supposed to be in there. You could get in a lot of trouble. Thought I'd just inform you."

"Right."

She wanted to ask what he was doing outside his hostel but figured he stepped out a little early for prep since judging by the darkening atmosphere, it couldn't be anything earlier than six pm.

Justin looked lost for a moment as he stared at the flag bearing the school name behind her. She nudged him and tilted her chin in his direction, her eyebrows raising on their own.

He shook his head, a thin smile making its way on his face before he looked back to the garden.

"What were you doing in there anyway?"

His voice was a bit low, his eyes not focusing on anything in particular.

"I wanted to check what was written in the book. I've been curious ever since I first saw it. I know it's sill—"

"You can actually see what's written in it from here," Justin said, before she could finish her statement.

"What?!" Chidiogo shouted, her eyes wide as she turned to take a proper look at the model.

All she could make out was dotted lines which appeared blurry.

"You can't see it?"

"Bad vision," she said with a smile.

"Oh. You don't wear glasses?"

"I left them at home but I'm with my contacts I just forgot to wear them again."

"You really shouldn't forget stuffs like that, I mean, for your own safety."

She found the statement odd but just nodded.

"I guess we should start heading back to class," Justin said, standing straight.

"Was about to suggest that."

She soon fell in step with him as they made a beeline to the entrance. For a moment, she thought about what Mmachi would think if she saw the both of them together.

The last week's incident scalded her memory and was still a bit too fresh since she still heard rumors. Mmachi could be very unpredictable and could flip just because she saw them together again.

"I'll go to my class from here," she said stopping.

"Our classes are in the same direction."

She nodded and gave him a tight smile realizing how stupid she sounded.

"Right... How is Amara?" she asked in an attempt to throw off attention from what she just said.

"She's fine now. Turns out the burn wasn't that bad."

"That's good news."

She bit on her lower lip for a moment wondering how to put her next words.

"Do you think Kamsi really..." she trailed off, the words eluding her quicker than she expected.

"Well, it's not totally unbelievable that she did it on purpose," Justin said, catching onto what she meant, "I mean, with the amount of dislike she has for Amara, sometimes I fear that she might want her dead."

Chidiogo nodded, remembering how Kamsi glared at Amara the first time she saw her and how much her words dripped with venom and hate when she wasn't even the one who got hit.

"And Mmach–"

"Mma would never do that," he said, cutting her off, "She doesn't stab from behind. She might make it clear that she dislikes someone but it's not her style to attack the person from behind. Most times, she doesn't even act. Unless you really do something to provoke her."

Chidiogo nodded, refraining from voicing her disagreement. She knew Mmachi better than he did and if getting what she wanted meant smiling at someone she wanted nothing more than to drive a knife into, then she was more than willing to do that.

Her slippers clapped against the tiled floor as she ascended the stairs. She couldn't wait to reach her class.

"Like her reaction when she walked in on us in the classroom."

Justin's voice startled her a bit since she'd expected him to die the discussion. She tried to shut out his voice unable to comprehend why he always brought up the class incident like it wasn't awkward enough without it being mentioned.

She tried, without success, to block out the baritone voice but it persisted and in no time, filled her eardrums again.

"...time when she found I and Kaima in a similar situation though it was a huge misunderstanding but she was surprisingly calm, I honestly thought she'd bring down hell since it was Kaima after all and knowing our history, I thought she'd"—he sighed—"she really can be unpredictable at times."

Her ears perked up at the mention of Chikaima's name, her curiousity arousing.

"What history was there between the both of you?"

"She–"

"I finally found you!" Mmachi's voice came interrupting them.

Chidiogo turned to find Mmachi's hands wrapped around Justin's.

"I've been looking all over. Didn't know I'd find you here." She threw Chidiogo a dirty look.

"Was actually heading to class. Didn't know you'd stick around for prep."

"Who loves punishment?" Mmachi asked chuckling and he joined her.

"Diogo honey, you wouldn't mind if I steal him for sometime right?"

Chidiogo opened her mouth to speak but Mmachi continued talking, "Oh never mind. It's not like you get to mind anyway."

She smiled when a frown etched on Chidiogo's face. "See you later."

And with those words, Chidiogo watched her pull Justin away.

She continued her slow pace ruminating over Justin's words. Kaima's rheumy eyes as she watched Justin and Mmachi, her having a history with Justin, it did explain a lot.

She stopped walking for a moment, becoming conscious of footsteps which seemed to mirror hers. They ceased almost that same instant she stopped.

She turned around but saw no one. She glanced down through the stair railings hoping she would find someone but no one came into sight. The zigzag structure of the staircase didn't help her situation.

She continued her journey up the stairs with an increased pace unable to get over the feeling of being followed and unable to make out a pillar in time to prevent her headfirst collision with it.