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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWrrYBHvS3H
But neither Naomi nor Jabari knew the full picture.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0bNpxuOpBL
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp6VyoiaxN6
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ396XguyW9o
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhL1Oh87PfW
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBh6RlCm8U8
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡibSvKVkYkn
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdiRdNqi5sY
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOORAUfQbL9
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.
**********57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJZIFiaSQj
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhWjMjccz5I
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.”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡImNYXpfVf9
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFD4kNCRrUS
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiR7jrNchXw
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPNZpythvTQ
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBMyXpmDnxW
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEzeXOUbk4i
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaaL2G2Cb9z
But Amina was watching.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6g5NYHpne
She always watched.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkcuxhe5RlT
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcmyVuhEzeD
"When the lights rise, do not look up. Look left. We will pass through the still ones."57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPyMioyJcmb
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWK0TY66BBp
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP4s4sl3OdO
Amina’s loyalty lay across the wall.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxu7I4W71qS
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf3tc06lvNz
She adjusted her path accordingly.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0VFwQ24UZ
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsLDjyY6ITQ
Still, the fallout was brutal.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Rt1Md5y52
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEkqLLoCxJY
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUuql5hcGaL
But she couldn’t stop.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSzMWBPXW55
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Ua7cFrNG9
And when they moved, she would move too. For Jabari. For the Order.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkWK4JhMQqm
Even if it meant losing everything on her side of the wall.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyFwAy0N2FW
Even if it meant becoming a ghost for good.
**********57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ92jQRAKjEP
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhnLo1F7XtJ
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMe5VJDUZYW
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxEgosybyNv
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?57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Ue0v1TJck
Her heart ached with unanswered questions, tangled with a reluctant hope that maybe, just maybe, he felt the same.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGv5NUp1U7l
But the walls between them — both physical and invisible — still held their secrets tight.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZl7sWT6kng
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEp3GxtaxXn
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu7VJosmkJh
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZwMki6q5Kx
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Get0DZsyo
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4OSYGoZcaq
But no answers.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9lIOgsXJYP
Kim clenched her fists. The wall between their schools was more than concrete. It was silence, secrets, and distance.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD9RgXAI1wm
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNjwYmiwjd2
Her next steps were uncertain — but one thing was clear: she could no longer let the silence define their story.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrEeoaKfnL3
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV1mFpUqTar
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.”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7an1UXxF0U
Mary’s eyebrows rose. “That’s mysterious. Why don’t you just say Juma?”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWcmccwOZGR
Kim shook her head. “I don’t know if he’d want me to. Just… be careful.”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6aYIlxG9gp
Mary nodded; her face serious. “I’ll make sure he gets it.”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLHuDndawb8
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLYGkPo77vZ
She folded her arms, staring at the empty space where they had just vanished, wondering if her words would reach him at all.
**********57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡviZOowlj9O
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡajAsiui6Qo
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5OnqzglHIN
Kim’s fingers trembled as she unfolded the note. The handwriting was unfamiliar—neat, careful, yet with a hint of urgency.
Kim,57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjvI5ymWFjV
Your message reached me through the usual silence — thank you for trusting the shadows.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtdr1BS255a
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJk5ROK3thQ
I am only a prefect, but not just any prefect. I carry burdens you cannot see — duties that bind me tighter than chains.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtgg1RFuwJ4
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzXSx1sAuGA
If you want answers, patience is your ally. For now, keep your questions close, and your heart closer.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEN5hPzn3ug
Juma.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM1fgoN9IaY
Kim spun around to see Seline standing there, eyes sharp and unreadable.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJXGMv7a87
Seline took a step closer and glanced at the letter in Kim’s hand.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH4gyvcO9E0
“Let me see it,” she said quietly.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBqZZ8SFHmv
Kim hesitated but then handed over the note.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡheEu0n6ddK
Seline’s eyes scanned the lines, her expression unreadable.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwHJcCYLzok
When she looked up, she said, “This isn’t just from any prefect, is it?”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT9NVfZExae
Kim shook her head.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEVDmKmdQb5
“How do you know?” she whispered.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB8qewaUdM2
Seline smiled, a little sadly.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5tHXzBt9Yz
“Let’s just say I’ve heard whispers. Juma’s no stranger to me.”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3vtUfnCNaT
Kim’s mind raced—why was Seline here? Why did she care?57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwp5uOrquzf
Seline folded the letter carefully and handed it back.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgRWdalOP3F
“Be careful, Kim. There’s more at play here than you realize.”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO3LLgV4HZw
Kim nodded, clutching the letter tightly.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZcHIYGGsw
The mystery of Juma deepened.
**********57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKr5qFZWLkN
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡio4LNvTcFr
His fingers ran down the page — detention rosters, noise makers, dorm checks — until he heard a voice.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnKBJxbLo23
"Oi, prefect Juma!"57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡocBqj60rK1
He looked up. A Form Two boy — lanky, eyes darting — jogged toward him holding out a folded paper.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqq0tDKDDkv
“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—”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOc5EjxwERo
Juma’s heart jolted. He took the paper with steady hands. “You sure it’s from across?”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVjufulEljY
The boy shrugged. “Girls came for that music thing, right? She passed it just before they left.”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMgmrMxsrs4
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. 57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpNS5XErUNL
The handwriting stopped him.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTDdk7Wy1nr
It wasn’t dramatic. It wasn’t desperate.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ31w2KqA1w9
It was her.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLU31Rv8VkR
Kim.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd8INJgrTN5
He read the first line. Stopped. Then read it again. Slower.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7qDgor9uaK
“I know you’re a prefect. I know your name — only the first — but somehow, that was enough to notice the patterns...”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN0orIpBlUc
His pulse shifted.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwf1O6WLpQc
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3nMO6PLWJF
She knew. Or at least, she had guessed.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcLObAnMA6n
And now she was asking.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFCCUfbZ2in
Why did you help me?57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXevHfYLrpH
Did you ever mean for me to know?57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSMmTrEnSFD
He folded the letter back, slowly, carefully. Like it was something sacred.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmjPi5LUvfW
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiRx9TKhEAB
For months, he’d lived with the guilt. Watching her maneuver battles he’d softened from behind the curtain.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6UP66MLmav
He’d convinced himself silence was safer — for both of them.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGM9LhhOYtr
And yet, her words had made him ache.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ8fl8DvUjd
Not just from guilt. But from the hope he’d buried.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwLxo3uizUS
She remembered.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN1Yi6udZkE
Not just the signs — but him.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkC09MZnUOf
He read the letter again.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡySwQgo1ZmN
And again.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡweAjIuQUbQ
Then, for the first time since he joined the Order, Juma felt something stir that no doctrine could quiet.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz6MDHTvBhd
Something terrifying and honest.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBKM4xnzmlC
He had a choice now.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhD2UddoLbR
To write back — and unravel everything.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEfXdEg5lTm
Or to stay silent — and lose the only girl who ever saw through him.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5QyyzlHZe7
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwyfrREWG5u
