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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8jOfOVyaf9
But neither Naomi nor Jabari knew the full picture.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1nEMe1Fzst
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT0nDrSO5Uw
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmooCHz1Ad4
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJZLXr5OiMA
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRhNmUdsIhj
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMSJvfmTgXi
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSn63JU3a8A
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdk8uCwBClN
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.
**********47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbIXf0QPokq
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLWilSSvVnI
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.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZTJN0ZRdXK
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzkAfL12ePC
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ53dpngBpHJ
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6BQNf7VCJK
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEMZLQ1gbMD
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrtaEBZFyqt
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhNIL0EMapd
But Amina was watching.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfuQnk2f7bz
She always watched.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo8cUzoKfLl
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRHypkcSn8K
"When the lights rise, do not look up. Look left. We will pass through the still ones."47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡry2G5zdSp8
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvQUQXDwUkY
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6DHa45o4Y
Amina’s loyalty lay across the wall.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKK0HboHFRV
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs7hNAKUWfI
She adjusted her path accordingly.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkzjXDwg32h
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeILbrLwGgR
Still, the fallout was brutal.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCna39ARmKx
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9sYc98Mm4K
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMHlgnn5efc
But she couldn’t stop.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMm1R53t4Vs
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDOwEBWw5c5
And when they moved, she would move too. For Jabari. For the Order.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWYwk4S2Rew
Even if it meant losing everything on her side of the wall.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0X1hbRxMhc
Even if it meant becoming a ghost for good.
**********47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3G1OMeBuuI
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmz0K3iSx4y
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfxSBcnMCLv
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3byeW4sdva
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?47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7MhLGd2hb3
Her heart ached with unanswered questions, tangled with a reluctant hope that maybe, just maybe, he felt the same.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ09HW8eLCun
But the walls between them — both physical and invisible — still held their secrets tight.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM8MlTJyIS1
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTy5fEYFkYq
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoF3baGjisn
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXP0xrdcqOP
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡce50vfQZCR
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxReVuYyZyO
But no answers.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8AFhKDFANh
Kim clenched her fists. The wall between their schools was more than concrete. It was silence, secrets, and distance.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGoip6iPP6H
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ57t9RaU2w3
Her next steps were uncertain — but one thing was clear: she could no longer let the silence define their story.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRhNIIDVHld
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIJC2q7kdus
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.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3zmAMMetyN
Mary’s eyebrows rose. “That’s mysterious. Why don’t you just say Juma?”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsB0ROWjQ4W
Kim shook her head. “I don’t know if he’d want me to. Just… be careful.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrxTuijU2E7
Mary nodded; her face serious. “I’ll make sure he gets it.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW6SmhrTPTJ
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtxNcUDA4MP
She folded her arms, staring at the empty space where they had just vanished, wondering if her words would reach him at all.
**********47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJki1ySb7F9
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvU8dEg2GKz
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCjXODyfPFT
Kim’s fingers trembled as she unfolded the note. The handwriting was unfamiliar—neat, careful, yet with a hint of urgency.
Kim,47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrzKYS0fWyu
Your message reached me through the usual silence — thank you for trusting the shadows.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQMjZ3juLxD
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqWSKn0FT9Y
I am only a prefect, but not just any prefect. I carry burdens you cannot see — duties that bind me tighter than chains.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtnA4OTQGyb
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9zfTtLrKYl
If you want answers, patience is your ally. For now, keep your questions close, and your heart closer.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAsFa0jTrf3
Juma.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU1gZXy7nLg
Kim spun around to see Seline standing there, eyes sharp and unreadable.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzuAMXxyMm0
Seline took a step closer and glanced at the letter in Kim’s hand.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ntock6Q2V
“Let me see it,” she said quietly.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ps4SyPyHe
Kim hesitated but then handed over the note.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ04TPwgXT9y
Seline’s eyes scanned the lines, her expression unreadable.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSdEwu25oNz
When she looked up, she said, “This isn’t just from any prefect, is it?”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLT7Yo9snej
Kim shook her head.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5JOGJPe8sy
“How do you know?” she whispered.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcx7HENhvNy
Seline smiled, a little sadly.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmyMxqup9s6
“Let’s just say I’ve heard whispers. Juma’s no stranger to me.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRMgfrz7puV
Kim’s mind raced—why was Seline here? Why did she care?47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq1hiziqhU4
Seline folded the letter carefully and handed it back.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4vL71F37uW
“Be careful, Kim. There’s more at play here than you realize.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdVLPyq0Nq5
Kim nodded, clutching the letter tightly.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxX7OQGI39O
The mystery of Juma deepened.
**********47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8QB3XJQyXY
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1WIxKcElPv
His fingers ran down the page — detention rosters, noise makers, dorm checks — until he heard a voice.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYvYh81tmoT
"Oi, prefect Juma!"47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ZrT6GqbnA
He looked up. A Form Two boy — lanky, eyes darting — jogged toward him holding out a folded paper.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd6DC85Msbd
“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—”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhXMMIBs4iY
Juma’s heart jolted. He took the paper with steady hands. “You sure it’s from across?”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA2y90gzPux
The boy shrugged. “Girls came for that music thing, right? She passed it just before they left.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUU8LQ8eiuj
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. 47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6CXJx8wm6k
The handwriting stopped him.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkiz5TdSise
It wasn’t dramatic. It wasn’t desperate.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeCESbMpb3z
It was her.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFlHSOe809f
Kim.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbt7OBlYTtm
He read the first line. Stopped. Then read it again. Slower.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV5eWJVOyPZ
“I know you’re a prefect. I know your name — only the first — but somehow, that was enough to notice the patterns...”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt0xJv4GG91
His pulse shifted.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3r29DA8DMi
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNCo0FYuLw3
She knew. Or at least, she had guessed.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNGcpnC2FSc
And now she was asking.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrfJmoTZKnv
Why did you help me?47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX1YuHHHWmw
Did you ever mean for me to know?47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡURNooTTLGe
He folded the letter back, slowly, carefully. Like it was something sacred.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB4E7Vssx0d
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCucwMUEJOs
For months, he’d lived with the guilt. Watching her maneuver battles he’d softened from behind the curtain.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj9v0rgymLh
He’d convinced himself silence was safer — for both of them.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjrDYzgGGeS
And yet, her words had made him ache.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvdQmijNxxx
Not just from guilt. But from the hope he’d buried.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdX91PeTXm2
She remembered.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZdaqsZp3LV
Not just the signs — but him.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgaai25pSZt
He read the letter again.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhU4MSj8or5
And again.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZgQZmDlV8Q
Then, for the first time since he joined the Order, Juma felt something stir that no doctrine could quiet.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKopJFGwr1E
Something terrifying and honest.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWrT4OnhpEz
He had a choice now.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGtoc8PqxsK
To write back — and unravel everything.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM0xkeiULpB
Or to stay silent — and lose the only girl who ever saw through him.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡofVUnCWcLM
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBnGDkFuzrf
