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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq06dH8W9pD
But neither Naomi nor Jabari knew the full picture.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0dA1Sy8Haj
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmI4dCSFU4H
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAyVBcov9QU
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ39nH6J5ohp
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZXeut0we6z
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOmel3p3fea
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlPHPm7Ix89
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY6Eymb6HST
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.
**********51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbaSRQV1l8K
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlmRiP1eLuk
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.”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKDcpT9tH4Z
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbmGvEeqN2Z
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlaRxb0Xlg4
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8IUX3hRk3J
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6BHnyKgd8t
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB398p1KXXd
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvmkn3MeyQh
But Amina was watching.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRGyidXvctP
She always watched.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡquOtyBahLR
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡITBHr81Tod
"When the lights rise, do not look up. Look left. We will pass through the still ones."51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdkPxHCdnnD
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbs9DrNSsyL
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrPJrtNry45
Amina’s loyalty lay across the wall.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeQ84BlzTTV
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa71vIJh17r
She adjusted her path accordingly.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOlMS3hm4Jk
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5HyK7OHWzG
Still, the fallout was brutal.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX7UL8bI2AL
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSbZhOicGNq
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK1J1SKfSjV
But she couldn’t stop.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtNDvKy8BNc
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVcKwO7qoYc
And when they moved, she would move too. For Jabari. For the Order.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7X7UyJoEfW
Even if it meant losing everything on her side of the wall.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgus80ss4s5
Even if it meant becoming a ghost for good.
**********51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO3O4h045CM
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVw9ZSzd389
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjeh8LiDxol
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ98teLIz8MF
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?51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJBfT7HBh9H
Her heart ached with unanswered questions, tangled with a reluctant hope that maybe, just maybe, he felt the same.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPwxkUTL6DH
But the walls between them — both physical and invisible — still held their secrets tight.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCspl6WFj10
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnwVzqMcFIH
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaHmldpkPZy
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeGmfKbB4Q4
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIQ6gQn5PnO
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfvbTIJLcGc
But no answers.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ9iT6Wz6mD
Kim clenched her fists. The wall between their schools was more than concrete. It was silence, secrets, and distance.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaekTcHPLV2
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrn6M8N49Wn
Her next steps were uncertain — but one thing was clear: she could no longer let the silence define their story.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqxFsoizIRn
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnarghHlkWv
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.”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtFfCmCe8OD
Mary’s eyebrows rose. “That’s mysterious. Why don’t you just say Juma?”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZtaCKhusgr
Kim shook her head. “I don’t know if he’d want me to. Just… be careful.”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtcS74Xedw6
Mary nodded; her face serious. “I’ll make sure he gets it.”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGCrSu0Otdz
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk47shlFqd7
She folded her arms, staring at the empty space where they had just vanished, wondering if her words would reach him at all.
**********51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJhzaWO0nJ5
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOsUZfnuOSR
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1xDxAlR66G
Kim’s fingers trembled as she unfolded the note. The handwriting was unfamiliar—neat, careful, yet with a hint of urgency.
Kim,51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeYYut8SptW
Your message reached me through the usual silence — thank you for trusting the shadows.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK76k0huQHx
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhTwyLz61Wi
I am only a prefect, but not just any prefect. I carry burdens you cannot see — duties that bind me tighter than chains.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkKmY6mQphm
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJqe0yHAgUC
If you want answers, patience is your ally. For now, keep your questions close, and your heart closer.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx9qXdpWJCO
Juma.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv8K9IsGUSB
Kim spun around to see Seline standing there, eyes sharp and unreadable.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFruFBe2hGz
Seline took a step closer and glanced at the letter in Kim’s hand.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkrQtsrrhZo
“Let me see it,” she said quietly.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIUF0tUBOtW
Kim hesitated but then handed over the note.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqLY0D6Ysdx
Seline’s eyes scanned the lines, her expression unreadable.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuznjX6SKFD
When she looked up, she said, “This isn’t just from any prefect, is it?”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Qxjogiy2z
Kim shook her head.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfCvL9AtFDe
“How do you know?” she whispered.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPyHMydaeOe
Seline smiled, a little sadly.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF5Q0bfwQSu
“Let’s just say I’ve heard whispers. Juma’s no stranger to me.”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZCCNSeoBCY
Kim’s mind raced—why was Seline here? Why did she care?51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKPVXxyxzIp
Seline folded the letter carefully and handed it back.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdgfgt1o1aD
“Be careful, Kim. There’s more at play here than you realize.”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVSktpDxMKn
Kim nodded, clutching the letter tightly.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk74w2hwTk0
The mystery of Juma deepened.
**********51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmrRnKSaNKH
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa8y2yuT8D1
His fingers ran down the page — detention rosters, noise makers, dorm checks — until he heard a voice.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnTLXTKE06q
"Oi, prefect Juma!"51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMlbtmqRobP
He looked up. A Form Two boy — lanky, eyes darting — jogged toward him holding out a folded paper.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu0Pd4xHJl5
“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—”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEDJ92hvQ44
Juma’s heart jolted. He took the paper with steady hands. “You sure it’s from across?”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcqzNjyghDG
The boy shrugged. “Girls came for that music thing, right? She passed it just before they left.”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCyOd8cWQxN
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. 51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp1MdRE9u1e
The handwriting stopped him.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDxtM9xFO4
It wasn’t dramatic. It wasn’t desperate.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLcVa9WkaHb
It was her.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX4WQsFGdSq
Kim.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ28HHnJs1RH
He read the first line. Stopped. Then read it again. Slower.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK5Ex6eHHeZ
“I know you’re a prefect. I know your name — only the first — but somehow, that was enough to notice the patterns...”51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnPUw5HvpM0
His pulse shifted.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLsAEgdZIyy
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl1vFnmGr2W
She knew. Or at least, she had guessed.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQjWcAyP5Jb
And now she was asking.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXnaPFRfNqE
Why did you help me?51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLxBJrhclG2
Did you ever mean for me to know?51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcUbkiQJ0AM
He folded the letter back, slowly, carefully. Like it was something sacred.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHDfSZRSbPK
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7prItGC7QG
For months, he’d lived with the guilt. Watching her maneuver battles he’d softened from behind the curtain.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdwTIBs5ZH1
He’d convinced himself silence was safer — for both of them.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPtXXtIY48x
And yet, her words had made him ache.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN0FE348ie7
Not just from guilt. But from the hope he’d buried.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjG4SGMlWhv
She remembered.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFIqfjrtua
Not just the signs — but him.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPyh8dahAb
He read the letter again.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxHMbrEhuix
And again.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkKubp3Coxm
Then, for the first time since he joined the Order, Juma felt something stir that no doctrine could quiet.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ54onikPlwb
Something terrifying and honest.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT15gFIBpY9
He had a choice now.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvu6gfBcDpa
To write back — and unravel everything.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUsjZ8a0FtD
Or to stay silent — and lose the only girl who ever saw through him.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcTfm0JCBBV
51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVf7mWkp33m
