BOOK TWO13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEDqWyyz4cg
CHAPTER ONE13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuBg0aO2iJ0
Seline13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQbM7Oqx7Oc
As chief editor of the school magazine, I’ve taken pride in chasing down the stories that matter-the ones everyone whispers about but no one has ever managed to solve. This term, it’s the mystery of the missing furniture: desks, chairs, even a projector, all disappearing from classrooms and storerooms. 13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEozRWaRZFh
It’s not a new problem, either. For as long as anyone can remember, the best pieces of furniture have always gone missing at odd intervals, almost like it’s some strange school tradition. 13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡedprTKoTO4
Teachers grumble, prefects get blamed, but the truth is, nobody has ever figured out where it all goes. Every year, fresh theories and wild stories circulate in the pages of the journalism club, but the real answer has always slipped through everyone’s fingers.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2yRleQGKAZ
The administration is tight-lipped, but I’ve pieced together enough to know the thefts aren’t random, I know it’s bigger than that. Things don’t just walk away on their own. Someone’s hiding the furniture somewhere on school grounds.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMAPfsGz9OI
My theory is that it’s all stashed somewhere near the wall at the edge of the compound. It’s the only place that’s out of sight, where teachers rarely go, and where the ground is always muddy enough to cover tracks. 13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE1bNyI3K5h
I’ve spent hours circling that stretch, looking for clues-drag marks, fresh footprints, anything. But every time I think I’m getting close; the trail dries up. It’s like someone’s always one step ahead, erasing the evidence before I can find it.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4t5obASyMF
I’ve been piecing together the timeline, marking down every report of a missing item, every odd movement around the compound. My theory? Whoever’s doing this knows the school’s routines. They’re slipping in after hours, maybe even hiding things near the wall or under the old bougainvillea. I’ve checked for footprints, scuff marks, anything out of place. So far, nothing solid. But I know I’m close.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzXcXxbAq6e
Then there’s Kim.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVZe4qx5nSh
During one of my stakeouts two weeks ago, I spotted Kim by the bougainvillea. She looked lost in thought, her hand buried in her pocket, almost as if she was hiding something. At first, I dismissed her as just another girl sneaking out for some air. 13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfvfKqC80kT
But the way she kept glancing around, tense and alert, stood out to me. She didn’t look guilty-just… suspicious, from that moment, I started to wonder what she might be up to, and made a mental note to keep an eye on her.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqItkkzG6NV
I started noticing her more after, on the weekend at the last sports event- I saw her with Musa. The way he looked at her, like she was the only person on the field, made something twist inside me. 13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlf2OY551yN
I’d never seen him like that with anyone, not even me, and we have history. It’s stupid, but I can’t help it. Every time I see Kim now, I wonder if she’s hiding something-or if I just want her to be.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdsijfnOakX
Since then, I’ve watched her more closely. She’s always near the wall at odd hours, never with the others, and after what I saw with Musa at sports day, I can’t help but wonder if there’s more to her than she lets on. Maybe I’m letting my jealousy get the better of me-Musa never looked at me the way he looked at her-but I can’t shake the feeling that Kim knows more about the missing furniture than she’s saying.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDj0OAUSDk3
Part of me is convinced she’s connected to the thefts. Why else would she be sneaking around the wall, acting so secretive? But another part of me knows I’m not being entirely objective. Maybe I’m letting my feelings for Musa cloud my judgment. Maybe I’m just jealous.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaolVljZdkk
I keep telling myself this is about the story, about doing my job as an investigator. But the truth is, it’s personal now. I need to know what Kim is hiding-about the wall, about Musa, about everything. 13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4nUdfP5WKC
Still, I have a job to do. I owe it to the magazine, and to myself, to find out the truth. So, I keep watching Kim, taking notes, waiting for her to slip up. If she’s innocent, I’ll let it go. But if she’s not… well, I’ll have my story. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll understand why Musa looked at her that way.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1NTSDnTtjx
Kim13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaK8ljxcHg8
I read the letter again, tracing my finger over the loops and swirls of the handwriting. 13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiS88Y9h5vY
“Leave something blue in the bougainvillea.” It’s such a specific thing to ask for.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡViE0ahtf6k
I sit tucked away at my usual table in the library. The world outside is fading into evening, and the hush in here makes the words seem even more secret. I keep turning that phrase over in my mind, trying to make sense of it. 13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAL1eDiQ3vk
Why blue? Why that spot by the wall? It feels like a code, but I can’t crack it.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUHNlvc7LfG
I picture the bush at the edge of the compound, its purple blossoms heavy in the evening, and wonder if there’s ever been a blue ribbon or a bead tucked among the flowers. Maybe there have been other notes, other tiny signals left behind for someone who knows where to look.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhHho42ONVj
The way the letter is folded, the way it’s hidden in the crack of the wall-it all feels so deliberate, like this isn’t the first time someone’s left a secret here. I wonder if there are more notes, more little blue signals tucked away in places I’ve never noticed.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzz95BrkcQz
For a second, I try to imagine the girl who wrote this. “S.” She must be brave, or maybe just desperate for someone to listen. I wonder if she’s done this before-left clues, waited for answers, watched the wall like it might give something back, waiting for a sign, hoping someone on the other side is listening.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaCkpQwAO2M
I can’t help feeling like there’s something else going on. The bougainvillea, the wall, the timing of the footsteps… it all fits together too neatly. There’s a part of me that thinks there’s more to this than just a secret crush. But I can’t quite see how. It’s like there’s a pattern I’m missing, a thread just out of reach. 13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc4DCGLDQac
But I can’t quite put my finger on what it means. Maybe it’s just the way secrets work-they always feel bigger than they are, like they’re connected to something you can’t see.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ZUVcsH0qm
I glance down at the book I’ve been pretending to read for the last half hour-The River and the Source, its cover soft at the edges from so many hands. I slide the letter between its pages to keep it flat, barely noticing which chapter I leave it in. 13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2m9newuWRC
For a while, I just sit there, staring at the shelves, thinking about Akoko-how she lost so much and still found the courage to walk away from everything she knew, carrying her secrets and her hopes into the unknown.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOojak3hVc1
That’s how I feel now: suspended between what I understand and what I don’t, holding onto a secret that doesn’t belong to me, unsure if I should keep it or let it go. I wonder who “S” is, and what kind of bravery it takes to write a letter like that-to risk being found out, to hope for an answer.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFlirA6vm4H
The library is almost empty. I gather my things, still distracted by the mystery, and absentmindedly close the book with the letter inside. Without thinking, I slip it back onto the shelf, my mind already drifting ahead to prep and the long walk back to the dorms.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡASavmYcfCG
It’s only when I’m halfway down the corridor that I realize the letter isn’t in my pocket anymore. I stop, heart thudding, but the library is already closed for the night. The secret is out of my hands now, tucked between the pages of a story about courage and loss, waiting for someone else to find it13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYsSmEfehLC
**********13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBUDuA9whii
Seline, always keeping a careful eye on Kim, notices her in the library. She watches from the next aisle as Kim slips a folded paper into a copy of The River and the Source and returns the book to the shelf. 13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVu0wICJ3f4
Once Kim leaves, Seline quietly retrieves the same book, her curiosity piqued.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtm8Qb9nBhe
She flips through the pages and finds the letter, the handwriting elegant and unfamiliar. Seline’s heart beats faster- has she stumbled onto something unexpected?13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi6UhWniNWC
With the letter in her hand, Seline realizes she’s closer to Kim’s secrets than ever before. But as she reads, she also senses there’s more to this than just her investigation. She knows that sometimes, answers bring more questions-and she’s ready to follow wherever this new clue leads.
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