The class became noisy the moment the Economics teacher stepped out. Sounds of shuffling seats, exiting footsteps and chatter, dethroned the silence which had taken presidence during the length of the teacher's stay.

Chidiogo slammed her Economics textbook shut—the sound drowned out in the noisy classroom—before letting out a sigh.

She turned on hearing Chikaima's voice and found both Sky and Chikaima staring at her.

Sky wasn't in their class but since the Economics and Geography classes were held in the same period, the Economic students came together in the C.A. class for the period while the Geography students assembled in the C.O. class.

Since Mmachi and Amelia both didn't offer Economics, they weren't present in the class. Mmachi would return any moment from her Geography class and Amelia would have started making her way back from the library, since she didn't offer either of the subjects.

Kamsi also wasn't present in the class which was odd since she did offer Economics but Chidiogo couldn't have been more grateful for her absence. The last thing she needed was any form of confrontation.

"I noticed you've been absent since the beginning of class, anything wrong?" Sky asked, staring at Chidiogo.

Chidiogo shook her head, a bit too tired for words. She understood what Sky meant by her being 'absent' but she didn't want to come up with an explanation since she couldn't even give one to herself.

She'd been distracted for half the class and found herself staring at Justin way too many times, her head swirling with images of the first time they kissed and she couldn't help wanting to feel his lips on hers again.

It didn't help that he sat on the desk right next to theirs.

"Right." The word came out dragged and something in the way Sky stared at Chidiogo made it obvious that she didn't believe her but Chidiogo waved it aside.

Sky was a nice person and even though her and Chidiogo had grown quite close over the course of a few days, she didn't have to know everything.

"I wanted to ask though, this assignment, it's—"

"Hey guys."

Chidiogo looked up to see Justin smiling down at them. She felt her heart do a flip and for a moment she felt confused.

She turned back to Sky who didn't look very pleased by Justin's interruption before returning her attention to him.

"Hey." A broad smile lit Chidiogo's face as she spoke, "How are you doing?"

"Great. I just decided to check on you. Sorry I haven't really asked how you've been doing for—"

"It's okay, no problem at all. You shouldn't even be apologizing."

"I know but—"

"No buts, there's no need to apologize okay?"

Her hand itched to find his, to have their fingers intertwined and her head reveling in the warmth he had to offer but she kept her hands to herself, curling her fingers and tucking her hands away while she gave off a broad smile instead.

He smiled back before responding, "Okay."

Just then, they heard Sky's voice and Chidiogo was reminded of her presence.

"Hey."

A wide smile was plastered to Sky's face as she stared up at Justin.

"Hi . . . We've met before right?"

"Yeah, she's the one that took me to the school clinic. She's in your class." Chidiogo beat Sky to giving a reply.

"Oh, right! I haven't seen her around before though . . ."

"I just resumed. Around last week. You probably weren't there when the receptionist introduced me," Sky said, maintaining her smile.

"I see . . . Nice to meet you." Justin stretched forth his hand with the words.

"Same," Sky replied ignoring his extended hand, "If you're done interrupting me now, I'd like to get back to my conversation with Chidiogo."

Justin scratched the back of his head while Chidiogo let out a small chuckle. "Sorry for that, I'll leave now."

He waved Chidiogo goodbye and turned to say something to Chikaima but found her sleeping.

"See you later."

He smiled at Chidiogo before turning to leave. He stopped in his track when Mmachi appeared in front of him out of the blue. He stood paralyzed for a moment, his eyes not leaving hers.

"Hey boo!"

The wide smile on Mmachi's face was unusual but she maintained it as she stared at Justin.

Their faces were so close, their lips were inches away from touching. Chidiogo looked away, unable to explain how her mood went from cheerful to sour.

She turned to look at them on hearing Sky gushing over how cute they were. They weren't standing so close anymore and while Mmachi hugged her Geography textbook to herself, Justin had his hands tucked inside his pocket.

Chidiogo wondered what cute thing they had done that warranted Sky's gushing. At that same moment, Sky spoke up again, this time to Mmachi.

"Hey, I haven't seen you around in a while. How are you doing?"

Mmachi glanced at the girl with squeezed eyebrows for a moment before turning back to Justin.

"Are you going back to your class now?"

Justin gave a small nod, his eyes fleeting to Sky's direction. Chidiogo also stared at her, her smile had fallen and Chidiogo couldn't help feeling bad for her.

She had a feeling that Justin also felt the same way but didn't say anything because it was Mmachi.

Mmachi pecked him before smiling. "I'll see you later then."

He gave her a curt nod, doing his best to return the smile before leaving.

Mmachi walked over to her seat which was occupied by Chikaima. Before she could even bother with waking her up, Chikaima stood and shifted to Amelia's seat.

Her energy made it a bit too obvious that she hadn't been sleeping. Chidiogo also remembered her saying something right before Justin came over to their chair.

Chidiogo glanced at her, wanting to speak but she spoke first.

"Hey, sorry. I asked if you could help me check for my Physics note in that bag."

Chidiogo followed Chikaima's index finger and found her pointing at a black mini leather backpack which sat on the floor, right next to her seat.

Chidiogo picked up the bag and pulled the zip open in a matter of seconds. She wanted to dip her hand into the bag but paused on seeing several sachets of white powder.

The bag was stuffed to the brim and it seemed to only be occupied by the sachets. Chidiogo stared at it, still considering whether or not she should check the content out when the bag was torn away from her grip.

Her eyes flew up the same instant to be greeted by an image of Kamsi clutching the bag to her chest. She squinted at Chidiogo, already yelling profanities before Chidiogo could understand what was going on.

"Why the fuck are you going through my bag!?"

Chidiogo blinked trying to comprehend what was happening.

"Relax, I asked her to help me get my Physics note."

Chikaima's voice drew both Chidiogo and Kamsi's attention to her. Kamsi stared at her for a moment before narrowing her eyes. Her voice filled the classroom afterwards, rising over the noise and dragging attention to them.

"Couldn't you wait for me to come back!? Like do you always have to be a pain in the ass!? You knew I would be back any minute and yet you—"

"I didn't know you would be back so soon!" Chikaima's voice rose to match Kamsi's own, staying afloat amidst the storm that threatened to tear it down.

Chidiogo glanced between Chikaima and Kamsi. She hadn't known the bag belonged to Kamsi. If she had known, she wouldn't have touched it to begin with but something about the sachets made her curious and Kamsi's reaction only heightened the curiousity.

It wasn't as if they'd stolen anything from her and after all, Chikaima was her best friend.

"What kind of silly response is that?" Kamsi asked, raising a brow.

"You weren't even present during Economics, what guarantee did I have that you'd be back before we started heading to the Physics lab?"

Chikaima's voice had dropped considerably as she tried to make Kamsi see reason.

"You should have waited!" Kamsi said, staring down at Chikaima.

Chikaima rolled her eyes before replying. "So I would serve undue punishment? No thanks."

Kamsi gritted her teeth, glaring at Chikaima. She uncrossed her arms, holding onto her bag with one hand and pointing her index finger at Chikaima. "Next time, just stay the fuck away from my things!"

"Quit acting like a child. I'm honestly not in the mood for this drama. I know how many times I asked you to return that note. Besides you go through my bag all the time, I just asked Chidiogo to help me get my note."

Chikaima let out an exasperated sigh afterwards but Kamsi continued speaking

"Even thou—"

"Can you two just stop it already? You're giving me a headache!"

Mmachi cut Kamsi off, reminding them that she had been seated there all the while. Her outburst managed to get the both of them to keep quiet but Kamsi shot both Chikaima and Chidiogo a glare before leaving with her bag.

"You haven't given me my note yet!" Chikaima yelled after her but she didn't turn.

"Drama queen!"

Chidiogo heard Mmachi say just as Kamsi left. She turned to find Mmachi rolling her eyes.

Mmachi turned at the same moment, her eyes meeting Chidiogo's. Chidiogo tried to look away but Mmachi stood up and pulled her hand.

"Come with me."

Chidiogo scrunched her brows wondering what Mmachi was up to. She tried to resist but Mmachi's death grip didn't let her free her hands, at least without sustaining bruises.

Mmachi pulled her along, Chidiogo putting up very little resistance since it would be futile.

Once outside, Mmachi let go of her hand.

Chidiogo rubbed her wrist a bit, her eyes widening at the red marks left behind. She looked up at Mmachi, ready to give her an earful but stopped when Mmachi apologized.

"I'm sorry for dragging you out here like that and I'm also sorry for your hand"—Her eyes drifted to Chidiogo's hand for a second as she spoke—"but this is really important and we can go right to the nurse's office after... That's if you wish."

Chidiogo crossed her hands over her chest and just kept her gaze on Mmachi. The noise from the classroom slithered out for a moment as Chidiogo tried to look for any sign that Mmachi was trying to trap her.

She found none and for the first time, she almost believed that Mmachi was being genuine. But then Mmachi had always been good at hiding her true emotions and even better at mimicking emotions she didn't feel.

She sighed, deciding to trust her for once. "What do you want me to do?"

The grin that appeared on Mmachi's face was instantaneous, almost tearing her face in two.

"It's simple... Well, it's not actually simple but—"

"Hey!"

They both turned on hearing Paschal's voice as he came to a stop in front of them. Chidiogo had been so engrossed in hearing what Mmachi had to say that she hadn't picked up his approaching footsteps.

"Hey," Mmachi said waving at him, "glad you made it."

"Yeah... This better be important though, I'm about missing Physics class because of you."

"I'm missing Physics class too and Diogo is supposed to be having Literature so I guess we're all going through the same thing."

Chidiogo stared between Mmachi and Paschal at loss before she found her voice. "Woah, hold on a second, I never agreed to missing any classes."

"Well, you just have to. You agreed to help me already."

"I didn't. What am I even helping you with?"

"Well, it involves breaking into the school's records."

"WHAT!?"

Paschal's words echoed Chidiogo's own and they glanced at themselves for a moment before looking away.

"This isn't what I signed up for," Paschal said, taking a step back.

"Yeah, I'm not doing any illegal thing with you," Chidiogo said and turned to leave.

"Could the two of you just listen for a moment?"

"So you could give us reasons to do illegal stuff?"

"Diogo, you don't want to piss me off right now so could just chill your horses and listen to me."

Chidiogo huffed but remained quiet.

"Thank you. Now see the thing, I have my suspicions about someone and I can't actually prove them wrong until I get my hands on some solid evidence."

"Who are you talking about?" Chidiogo asked, becoming interested.

"Kamsi. I know she spilled the acid on Amara's hand on purpose and I know that as we currently speak, she's up to no good. But then for her to have the mind to do this, she must have something giving her morale—"

"And you think going through her past records can help?"

"I know it would give some kind of lead."

Chidiogo stared at Mmachi, not believing her words. "And why do you care all of a sudden?"

Mmachi let out a sigh. "Mostly it's because she dragged me into the mess by trying to frame me after she stole the keys from me but then my counselor also made me realize that leaving things broken is never the best idea.

"The shards lying around from the mess you made would not only prick you but innocent people around. And yeah, getting rid of the broken pieces might never be enough to erase what happened, or replace the damage that's been done, but at least it protects you and others from further harm.

"I've hurt Amara way too many times to just turn a blind eye to what Kamsi is doing. I fear that she might do something drastic, especially if no one puts her in her place."

The solemn look on Mmachi's face and the genuineness in her voice almost swayed Chidiogo.

"Won't you help me with this? Won't you give me one chance to at least fix the mess I made? I know I've never really been the 'defender of the helpless'"—she air quoted the words, smiling a little—"but I just can't stand by and watch Kamsi get away with torturing Amara. I don't think I'd forgive myself if anything happens to her."

The weight of Mmachi's speech settled on them and Chidiogo ruminated over her words. She didn't buy the idea of breaking into the school's records but she couldn't stand by and watch Kamsi make Amarachi's life any more miserable.

At that moment, pain shot through her head—as though a reminder not to meddle again but she ignored it. Something in her knew for certain that Amarachi wasn't at fault. There was much more to the story than what lay on the surface.

"Okay, I'm in," she said, against her better judgement.

A/N: HEY ONCE AGAIN. IT'S BEEN A WHILE, OKAY MAYBE A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN A WHILE BUT IT'S THE SAME. I'M STARTING TO THINK I SHOULD HAVE PLANNED THIS BOOK AS A SERIES OR A TRILOGY BECAUSE THE MORE I WRITE, THE MORE I REALIZE HOW FAR I AM FROM REACHING THE END😩. AT THIS POINT I MIGHT JUST CUT THE BOOK IN HALF🥲😂.

THAT ASIDE, THIS CHAPTER SHOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH LONGER BUT THEN I HAD TO CUT IT BOTH BECAUSE IT WAS GETTING TOO LONG AND I HAVE TO GET BACK TO READING (IT FEELS LIKE MY PRODUCTIVITY COMES ON AT THE WRONG TIME🥲).

SO BY GOD'S GRACE, I'LL BE ABLE TO WRITE THE NEXT CHAPTER AND GET IT OUT SOON BUT THIS IS ALL I COULD COME UP WITH AT THIS MOMENT.

THE DYNAMIC BETWEEN THE TOO SISTERS KEEPS GOING BACK AND FORTH AND PRETTY SOON I MIGHT JUST GET A HEADACHE.

AND I'M STARTING TO THINK THE ONLY MMACHI DOES IS TO GET OTHERS INTO TROUBLE. WE'LL KNOW HOW TRUE THAT IS IN THE NEXT CHAPTER SO ANTICIPATE.

UNTIL THEN, STAY SAFE ❤️.