CHAPTER FIVE199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBen4m0qbTA
Kim199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Kn4iXd8JK
I should have known the Order wouldn’t just let me walk away with their secrets. But I never expected them to go this far. It starts on a Thursday, just before morning assembly. 199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJjqAWN4Xd
I’m heading to class when two prefects stop me in the corridor, faces grim. They tell me the Deputy Principal wants to see me immediately. My stomach drops. I can feel eyes on me as I walk to the office, whispers already starting to swirl.199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkMB1LUnV7P
On the Deputy’s desk is a small, battered envelope-my name scrawled across it. Next to it sits a confiscated phone and a stack of exam papers. The Deputy looks at me like I’m something he scraped off his shoe.199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLUusLFkzPF
“Kimberly Diana Otieno, do you know why you’re here?” he asks.199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLRSKwCXJGX
I shake my head, but my voice is stuck somewhere in my chest.199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4eMS380uVV
He slides the envelope toward me. 199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2vEfYciGQu
“We received an anonymous tip. These were found in your locker.” 199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdpSEMD4zGx
He opens the envelope and pulls out a cheat sheet-answers to last term’s math exam, written in my own handwriting. Except I never wrote them. I never even saw them before.199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzpq53RjvXn
My mind races. I realize, with a cold, sinking certainty, that this is the Order’s work. They must have forged the notes, planted them in my locker, and tipped off the teachers. The phone, too-it’s not mine, but it’s loaded with messages that make it look like I’ve been selling exam answers. The evidence is overwhelming, and I know exactly who’s behind it.199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡstgxUifK6d
I try to explain, but the Deputy doesn’t believe me. “This is a serious offense, miss Kimberly. You could be suspended-or worse.”199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbqOOf1u2Dj
As I sit there, numb and furious, I remember the blue thread I found tied to my locker that morning, the silent warning I didn’t understand. The Order has made their move. They’ve turned the school against me, and unless I can prove my innocence, I might lose everything.199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKOVCw6hziE
Now I know just how far the Order will go to protect their secrets-and how alone I really am.
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Seline199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUX7WVO2Ajl
I see it all unfold like a bad play I’ve watched too many times: Kim, pale and shaking, being led down the corridor by two prefects; the whispers that follow her like a shadow; the Deputy Principal’s office door closing with a heavy, final sound. 199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkEwMudWvCJ
I know that look on her face-the look of someone who’s been cornered by something bigger and meaner than she ever expected.199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmOJQGmg57V
I’ve been tracking the Order of Hermes for weeks now, mapping their movements, decoding their signals, watching their messengers slip between the cracks of school life. I saw Kim meet one of them by the chipped stone, her posture tense, her eyes darting. I saw the blue thread tied to her locker this morning. I know what it means: a warning, a threat, a mark.199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtW47EeJJ2C
When word spreads that Kim’s been caught with exam answers and a strange phone, I know instantly it’s a setup. The Order has done this before-anyone who gets too close, anyone who threatens their secrets, ends up isolated, disgraced, or worse. It’s their way of keeping the rest of us in line.199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrRGXeXuIMN
But not this time.199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Jtn6WXBKV
I scribble a note planning to slip it into Kim’s bag during lunch:199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡorlgKCfNQF
Meet me behind the chapel after prep. We need to talk. 199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfHTsIjoQ4A
When she shows up, her eyes are red but her jaw is set. I tell her everything: the coded notes, the way the Order moves like a shadow through the school. I tell her I saw her with the messenger, that I know she’s not guilty.199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ77jzBtYCUF
“We have to work together,” I say, voice low but fierce.199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6VWYu05AFw
“They want to make an example out of you, but if we move fast, we can turn the tables. I’m sure the Order is tied to the missing furniture-and if we catch them at it, we can clear your name and finally write the story this school has been hiding for years.”199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1tSVZGWhSI
We make a plan. I’ll keep watching the usual suspects; Kim will gather any notes or signals she receives. We’ll talk to the students who’ve been burned by the Order before, and we’ll set a trap for the real thief. 199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFyJfhCp5pA
For the first time, I feel like I’m not just chasing rumors-I’m hunting the truth, and I’m not alone.199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtdZVDn1BRP
This is my chance to finish what others started, to shine a light on the Order of Hermes, and to finally tell the story that’s been buried under secrets and fear. 199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡesloGpt3J6
And with Kim by my side, I know we might just have a fighting chance even though I still don’t trust her fully.199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2g3cTtBeeg
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Juma sat on the cracked edge of the abandoned pool, his mind only half on the heated discussion swirling around him. The Order’s meeting was more tense than usual. Papers rustled as a senior girl from the girls’ school stood, holding up a folded slip.199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjpS2KjxI92
“This is how we did it,” she announced. 199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTk2mgawtrG
“The anonymous tip came from our side. I made sure the prefects found the cheat sheets and the phone in Kim’s locker. The Deputy Principal was told first thing this morning.”
Juma’s heart thudded. He realized how deep the Order’s influence ran, how easily they crossed school boundaries when it suited them. The web of secrets and schemes didn’t care about uniforms or which side of the field you were from.199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBfCnZZwFDW
He listened as the girl described how she’d used the prefects as unwitting pawns, how the tip had been slipped to the Deputy in a way that left no trail back to the Order. The plan was airtight. Kim didn’t stand a chance.199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡorwpAHaIQk
Juma’s stomach twisted with guilt. He thought of the letter he’d sent Kim, the one that might have drawn the Order’s attention to her in the first place. He hadn’t meant for any of this to happen.199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDpXPtkYIba
He knew he couldn’t help Kim openly-the schools were separate worlds, and he’d risk exposing himself as a traitor to the Order. But there were still ways. He could use the Order’s own network: coded notes left in the library; messages slipped behind the chapel.199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ86uRbxatk
Juma’s resolve hardened. The Order might have set Kim up, but he still had a chance to help her. He would use everything he knew-every secret passage, every code, every drop spot. Even if the Order had eyes everywhere, he wouldn’t let Kim face this alone.
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