In the days following the prank, the schools awoke to an uneasy silence beneath the usual buzz. The spectacle had faded, but its echoes clung to every corner—whispers in dormitories, furtive glances in classrooms, a subtle tension in the air like static before a storm.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGCQoRGCwZk
But neither Naomi nor Jabari knew the full picture.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJJHE2Qq5k
Both schools harbored spies—students loyal to their respective Orders—working within their own schools, reporting on suspicious activities and even on their fellow students. Each side believed only they had such internal networks, a unique advantage in this silent war.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiQLThbN4G5
Naomi’s agents moved like ghosts through Kisumu Girls. They shadowed friends and rivals alike, questioning with smiles that didn’t reach their eyes, watching for the slightest sign of weakness or guilt. Reports trickled back in coded messages hidden in routine notes, scraps of conversation overheard in the dining hall, and subtle shifts in behavior observed under the watchful eyes of their handlers.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA5hvqnW3N2
But something was wrong. The usual smooth flow of intelligence had stuttered; several trusted operatives had disappeared into sudden “investigations” by the prefects. Fear whispered through the ranks — loyalty was no shield now. The crackdown was indiscriminate, and paranoia was bleeding into every corner.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVJx2q3hwH4
Across the wall, Jabari’s network was under similar strain. Couriers once swift and invisible were being stopped and searched. Trusted informers had gone silent, either scared or silenced. The usual channels of communication—secret knocks, hidden notes, coded gestures—felt exposed, brittle, vulnerable.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWKQVJwHgOe
Jabari stood at the edge of his usual meeting place, a quiet courtyard where orders were once given in shadows. Now, even here, eyes seemed to linger too long. He gave terse instructions to his closest circle, urging caution and patience. The prize was still out there—the small battered tin, the relic slipped through the chaos—but the path to it was growing tangled.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7IC3t1nb4w
Neither leader knew the full extent of the other’s reach, but their actions had begun to bleed into each other’s shadows. Girls loyal to Jabari found themselves under scrutiny in their own dorms, questioned by Naomi’s agents. Boys faithful to Naomi were hunted down in classrooms and corridors by Jabari’s watchers. Each crackdown threatened to expose the entire fragile web of alliances.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPFCevGqDCB
Despite the growing pressure, neither side dared to pull back. The risk of revealing their networks was too great. Instead, the hunt intensified—silent, relentless, and blind to friend or foe.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIJLpifZZ7Q
And somewhere between the walls of Kisumu Girls and Kisumu Boys, the game had shifted. It was no longer just about the prank, or even the tin. It was about control, about survival in a world where every shadow might hide an enemy—or a traitor.
**********78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOEqJlyPzqV
Amina moved through the corridors of Kisumu Girls High with practiced ease, her steps light but purposeful. To most, she was just another diligent student, her notebooks filled with neat diagrams and formulas, her laughter rare but genuine. But beneath the surface, Amina carried a secret heavier than any textbook.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWstMHt4WFH
Months ago, in the quiet aftermath of a tense interschool debate, a subtle approach had changed everything. A senior boy from Kisumu Boys — never named, always careful — had found her in the library, slipped a folded note into her hand, and vanished before anyone noticed. The note was simple: “We need someone like you. Trust no one.”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL9PJa89HuG
It wasn’t just curiosity that pulled Amina in; it was the promise of something bigger — a way to look beyond the wall, to bridge the invisible gaps, even if it meant walking a dangerous line. She joined the boys’ Order, becoming one of their eyes and ears inside the girls’ school.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKF5j34UUgo
Now, as the lanterns from the recent prank still flickered in memory, Amina’s role had never felt more critical. She moved silently among her peers, listening, watching for cracks, for whispers that might hint at the other side’s moves. Every smile she gave, every word she spoke, was carefully measured.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxWE1euO1OU
In this clandestine dance, trust was a currency rarer than gold — and Amina had learned to spend it sparingly. The risk was immense. If the girls’ Order ever discovered her allegiance, it would mean exile, or worse.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAyD1WqlCEs
Yet she pressed on, driven by a stubborn hope that maybe, just maybe, these walls weren’t meant to divide forever. And for now, she was their silent shadow inside the fortress of Kisumu Girls.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwfwz64U0Ki
The corridor was quieter now. After the prank, after the scramble of prefects and the tightening of patrols, the school had recoiled into a tense stillness. But to her, this silence was an invitation.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ66L49AhmEJ
She walked with purpose but not urgency, her expression composed, her posture corrects. Everything about her radiated normalcy. A model student. Invisible in her perfection.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6vrSbWwqqh
But Amina was watching.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh4LyZAYqio
She always watched.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeXuoG37LYy
In her blazer pocket, folded between the pages of a Chemistry handout, was a note. The paper was watermarked with an unfamiliar sigil, and though she had burned the original copy—as protocol demanded—she’d copied its contents by hand. The message had arrived two days before the prank, smuggled through a borrowed Literature anthology returned late to the library.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDNVzgsL8en
"When the lights rise, do not look up. Look left. We will pass through the still ones."78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvGfSaG3ohc
She didn’t need to know what “it” was. She didn’t need to ask who “we” were. Her job was not to know, only to observe. And to report. To the boys.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYDM10L3goJ
Not to Naomi. Not to her House Captain, not to the prefects, not even to the senior girls who had begun tightening their own networks in the aftermath.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡACRrJ8wwQ4
Amina’s loyalty lay across the wall.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4uLHqaxqaD
She paused by the science block, adjusting her bag just enough to catch the reflection in a window. Two girls, one of them always five seconds too early to morning assembly, the other constantly retying her braids. Watching her. Watching everyone. They weren’t Order, not hers anyway. But they were someone’s.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUFq2oYCDjs
She adjusted her path accordingly.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpYWb5YL1S7
The tin had passed through. She was almost certain. She’d seen it change hands near the staffroom side entrance, disguised as part of a snack’s delivery. A risk, but a clever one. The prank had pulled too many eyes toward the wall. But not hers. She had obeyed the message. She had looked left.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡplvyH4RET7
Still, the fallout was brutal.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkD2t3CFKwb
Naomi’s crackdown, while calm on the surface, had sent tremors through the entire school. Bag checks. Room sweeps. Silent interrogations disguised as routine prefect sessions. Everyone was a suspect. And now even she—one of the Order’s oldest field shadows—had begun to feel exposed.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvfNlkdVj6y
Amina knew she had to be careful. The girls on her side were getting smarter. Naomi’s network was beginning to spot the patterns—the subtle path deviations, the library entries logged twice in different hands, the missing pages in the sign-out sheets.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOZyBohW7P9
But she couldn’t stop.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2MrCg8tmcX
If anything, this was the moment she had been trained for. A moment when everything tightened, when trust folded in on itself. That’s when the real agents moved.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp5c6qp5Pp2
And when they moved, she would move too. For Jabari. For the Order.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6cgl7l4xHa
Even if it meant losing everything on her side of the wall.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxYswwRXKwn
Even if it meant becoming a ghost for good.
**********78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuX8uuf9EGc
Months had passed since the events that tangled their lives — the secret messages, the near encounters, and the shadowed help that saved her more than once. Yet Kim still had no answers.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5QHwTvfJwY
Sitting in the quiet corner of the library, she absentmindedly traced the faded crease of a folded note — one that had somehow found its way to her during the most chaotic days. The words weren’t signed, but she knew who had sent it.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK52L8FOP6l
Her mind churned, replaying everything she’d pieced together — the strange help from the shadows, the moments when it seemed Juma was near but never quite close enough to reach, and the puzzling silence that followed each attempt to connect.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSuXJRwusue
Why did he help me? she wondered, voice barely a whisper. How did he know everything — the dangers, the secrets? And why did he pull away when she most needed him?78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkNfq6FKpsV
Her heart ached with unanswered questions, tangled with a reluctant hope that maybe, just maybe, he felt the same.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡofkCM51jdD
But the walls between them — both physical and invisible — still held their secrets tight.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTCRFX2Po9o
Kim closed the book she had been pretending to read, her fingers tightening around the worn cover. The library around her buzzed with the usual quiet chatter and shuffling footsteps, but her world felt suspended in a fragile bubble of doubt and longing.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6E6iBJsVs6
The past months had been a maze of half-truths and silent messages. Every time she thought she understood Juma’s reasons, new questions twisted tighter around her heart. She remembered the way he smiled at her that day on Sports Day — a smile that had seemed to hold a promise. But after that, he had vanished into the shadows, his help subtle and distant, leaving her to wonder if it had been real at all.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVy1dYkCXlR
Now, a fresh rumor was drifting through the school — whispers that the Order was cracking down harder, and that anyone connected to secret dealings risked exposure. For Kim, this was more than a threat. It was a signal.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFWPVYeD6DR
If she wanted answers, if she wanted to understand Juma — she couldn’t wait for fate to pull them together. She had to take the risk herself.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZLVvwMkMvg
She remembered Seline’s sharp gaze the day after Sports Day, the silent tension whenever Juma’s name came up, and the strange calm in Juma’s eyes when they briefly locked.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4VJo5SEjB5
But no answers.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhsj8gvyqnU
Kim clenched her fists. The wall between their schools was more than concrete. It was silence, secrets, and distance.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQviognztB
Yet, somewhere deep inside, a stubborn voice whispered that Juma wasn’t just part of the Order or the game. That maybe he cared. Maybe he wanted her to find him.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJbu21hqyQU
Her next steps were uncertain — but one thing was clear: she could no longer let the silence define their story.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS9gxUpoKsC
Kim stood back by the edge of the school grounds, out of earshot and sight of the boys’ side. The music festival team from her school was preparing to cross over for practice—a rare chance for the mixed group to rehearse together. Kim stood a little distance away, clutching a folded sheet of paper. The crowd of girls preparing to cross over for their session buzzed around her, laughing and adjusting their instruments.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOSY2Qp4gHU
She handed her folded letter to Mary before she stepped through the gate, she thrust the letter into the other girl’s hand. “Please, if you get the chance… give this to the prefect. The one in charge of discipline. I don’t know his full name or class, but he’s a prefect.”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpsTZ7oX6Ra
Mary’s eyebrows rose. “That’s mysterious. Why don’t you just say Juma?”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4VHvJLfB1P
Kim shook her head. “I don’t know if he’d want me to. Just… be careful.”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxglOnU5CQW
Mary nodded; her face serious. “I’ll make sure he gets it.”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMzS2XGmBjI
As the girls disappeared beyond the boundary, Kim felt a quiet hope — but also the sting of distance. Once they were on the other side, everything was lost to her—the voices, the sounds, even the possibility of a reply.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu18ERUiZKH
She folded her arms, staring at the empty space where they had just vanished, wondering if her words would reach him at all.
**********78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQcEM5vlUQC
The late afternoon sun cast long shadows over the courtyard where Kim sat alone, scribbling notes for her upcoming school assignments. The air was thick with the scent of rain yet to fall, and the hum of distant chatter from the other students blended with the rustling leaves.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQL9qVqMHn8
Suddenly, a scrap of folded paper slid quietly across the stone bench beside her. She looked up, startled. No one seemed close enough to have dropped it.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvAIWv0JOR2
Kim’s fingers trembled as she unfolded the note. The handwriting was unfamiliar—neat, careful, yet with a hint of urgency.
Kim,78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNUJrq9WuM4
Your message reached me through the usual silence — thank you for trusting the shadows.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNtmdZbdast
You ask why I watch from afar, why I help without revealing myself. The truth is this: the wall keeps us apart, but it also keeps us safe. If I showed myself, we would both risk everything.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3887jZ4qY2
I am only a prefect, but not just any prefect. I carry burdens you cannot see — duties that bind me tighter than chains.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFihLRXfSIN
The Order watches. Trust is scarce, and words are weapons. That is why I must be cautious, why I send my help wrapped in riddles and folded papers.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAIbPWziRQx
If you want answers, patience is your ally. For now, keep your questions close, and your heart closer.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ04uPULaymW
Juma.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTfFq33iK3T
Kim spun around to see Seline standing there, eyes sharp and unreadable.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPN46AOfMjA
Seline took a step closer and glanced at the letter in Kim’s hand.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdNt5p4Wcq2
“Let me see it,” she said quietly.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoZowpEcP8X
Kim hesitated but then handed over the note.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyS7i4p1pme
Seline’s eyes scanned the lines, her expression unreadable.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMjEdoKKd38
When she looked up, she said, “This isn’t just from any prefect, is it?”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNIaKX8CmO1
Kim shook her head.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK9HiDzEmjM
“How do you know?” she whispered.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFBg2EW6QiE
Seline smiled, a little sadly.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDQm1IuEn3u
“Let’s just say I’ve heard whispers. Juma’s no stranger to me.”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyRSyJF3Fzl
Kim’s mind raced—why was Seline here? Why did she care?78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiOYnIyK8kr
Seline folded the letter carefully and handed it back.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5qiA571vci
“Be careful, Kim. There’s more at play here than you realize.”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPIISS7JOow
Kim nodded, clutching the letter tightly.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvy3G5rEMWY
The mystery of Juma deepened.
**********78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRKOYiQ7HS9
It was a slow Thursday. The kind that dragged itself across the compound like an unwanted chore. Juma sat on the old stone ledge behind the dining hall, a cracked red prefects' ledger balanced on his knee. The sun was slipping behind the Jacaranda trees, dust floating through the shafts of gold.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZNSAs9xtA1
His fingers ran down the page — detention rosters, noise makers, dorm checks — until he heard a voice.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxxc3tGeEG3
"Oi, prefect Juma!"78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYFse4ACQIv
He looked up. A Form Two boy — lanky, eyes darting — jogged toward him holding out a folded paper.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmMMTy3OPRL
“Someone from the girls’ side told my cousin to give this to a prefect. Said it was urgent but... weird. No names, just ‘give to a prefect, maybe he’ll know.’ I thought you might—”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnMwcOvfUsg
Juma’s heart jolted. He took the paper with steady hands. “You sure it’s from across?”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD5xNZ4U1vB
The boy shrugged. “Girls came for that music thing, right? She passed it just before they left.”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLIGR96NCTR
Juma almost dismissed it — he got things like that often. Requests. Club lists. Messy signatures from juniors hoping to gain favor. Unfolding it felt... dangerous. Sacred. 78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6FxfIhFcgc
The handwriting stopped him.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQCSDwDZWyQ
It wasn’t dramatic. It wasn’t desperate.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPSHJcyePFa
It was her.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs5IZS0UZ7F
Kim.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgQ1OH0COH4
He read the first line. Stopped. Then read it again. Slower.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsB0SnGS54C
“I know you’re a prefect. I know your name — only the first — but somehow, that was enough to notice the patterns...”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHUjnpuL7yZ
His pulse shifted.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD1z8TrLDTo
As he kept reading, his jaw tightened — not with anger, but something heavier. He stood still in the narrow corridor, one hand bracing the wall as if the truth written in ink had tilted his balance.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVpL2tgzMqT
She knew. Or at least, she had guessed.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjFQMUk8TkH
And now she was asking.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpQQ2I059pX
Why did you help me?78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFpyZP2WvWj
Did you ever mean for me to know?78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkhxEQy34ea
He folded the letter back, slowly, carefully. Like it was something sacred.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjN58jIZyrf
Then he sat down — on the stone ledge by the wall outside the chapel block — where no one would ask why a prefect looked like he’d just had the wind knocked out of him.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbzyw4fe63z
For months, he’d lived with the guilt. Watching her maneuver battles he’d softened from behind the curtain.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7MUl0okGtE
He’d convinced himself silence was safer — for both of them.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94jGHGh6EL
And yet, her words had made him ache.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8JcWzaaC5y
Not just from guilt. But from the hope he’d buried.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwPjRwsA1lY
She remembered.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhezyYbs8Jk
Not just the signs — but him.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡot9VArAvJg
He read the letter again.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc2aoGP9CTq
And again.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFHD6gahSK4
Then, for the first time since he joined the Order, Juma felt something stir that no doctrine could quiet.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6LTXJwYPt8
Something terrifying and honest.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡod28DBNIez
He had a choice now.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2e9lbDRRtm
To write back — and unravel everything.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqtpTbk4ESL
Or to stay silent — and lose the only girl who ever saw through him.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Uj2QPyEQm
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL1tc37eQmx
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