Chapter 6: 7:42
1140 Words
“Wait.”
Daniela stared at Amara.
“What do you mean you think somebody wants me to believe you were there?”
Amara looked around the staircase.
“Can we not discuss this here?”
“Why?”
“Because, babe, this school has ears.”
Daniel frowned.
“School has ears?”
Amara rolled her eyes.
“You know what I mean.”
Daniel looked at Daniela.
“She has a point.”
Daniela folded her arms.
“Fine. Let's go somewhere.”
“Library?”
“No.”
They both looked at her.
“The library is already giving me bad vibes.”
Amara nodded quickly.
“Thank you. Finally, somebody with sense.”
They went behind the classroom block, where students hardly came during break except when they wanted to eat in peace or avoid teachers.
Daniel leaned against the wall.
“Okay. Talk.”
Amara looked at Daniela.
“I came to school around eight.”
“Exactly.”
“So whoever sent that message is lying.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Not necessarily.”
Amara frowned.
“How is that not necessarily?”
“The video could have been recorded another day.”
Daniela shook her head.
“No. Look at the uniforms.”
They all went quiet.
The video showed Daniela wearing the same uniform she had worn yesterday.
Same hairstyle.
Same bag.
Same shoes.
Even the small stain on her sleeve was there.
Amara noticed it too.
“Okay…”
She rubbed her forehead.
“This thing is getting too much.”
Daniela pulled out her phone.
“There's something else.”
She showed them the message again.
NOW ASK YOUR FRIEND WHERE SHE WAS AT 7:42.
Amara stared at it.
“I told you where I was.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you looking at me like that?”
“I'm not.”
“You are.”
Daniel interrupted.
“Guys, calm down.”
Amara looked at him.
“Easy for you to say. Nobody's sending messages using your own number.”
Daniel's expression changed.
“Fair.”
For a few seconds, they stood there in silence.
Then Daniela remembered something.
“The noticeboard.”
“What about it?” Daniel asked.
“The writing.”
Amara nodded.
“The purple marker.”
“Yeah. It had the same crown.”
Daniel looked confused.
“So?”
“So whoever is doing this keeps using purple.”
Amara snapped her fingers.
“Exactly.”
Daniela looked at her.
“Maybe purple is their thing.”
“Or maybe it's just the easiest colour to find.”
Daniel shrugged.
Amara gave him a look.
“Why do you always ruin detective moments?”
“Because you people are doing FBI with one pen.”
Daniela laughed.
“Abeg, leave us.”
For a few seconds, everything felt normal.
Then the school bell rang.
Students began flooding out of the classrooms.
“Come on,” Amara said. “If we miss assembly again, that VP will finish us.”
---
By lunch, the whole situation had become even weirder.
Daniela sat with Amara under the tree beside the canteen, picking at her rice.
“You're not eating?”
“I don't feel like it.”
Amara looked at her plate.
“Since when does mystery stop you from eating?”
Daniela smiled.
“Since yesterday.”
“Hmm.”
Amara pushed her bottle of water toward her.
“Drink.”
Daniela took it.
“Thanks.”
Across the compound, Daniel was arguing with one of his friends about football.
For once, he looked completely normal.
Amara watched him.
“Daniel is acting suspicious.”
Daniela nearly choked.
“You're the one accusing him now?”
“I'm not accusing anybody. I'm just saying.”
“You literally just said he's suspicious.”
“Okay, maybe I'm paranoid.”
“Maybe?”
Amara laughed.
“Shut up.”
Then somebody shouted from behind them.
“Daniela!”
She turned.
A girl from SS1B was running toward them.
It was Teni.
“What?”
Teni stopped in front of them.
“Someone is asking for you.”
“Who?”
Teni pointed toward the old classroom block.
“A senior.”
Daniela frowned.
“Which senior?”
“I don't know his name.”
“Guy or girl?”
“Guy.”
Amara immediately shook her head.
“Nope.”
Teni looked confused.
“Nope what?”
“She isn't going.”
Daniela stared at her.
“Amara.”
“What? We're not following random seniors into empty places. This is not a Nollywood movie.”
Teni laughed.
“He said it's important.”
“Tell him to come here,” Amara replied.
Teni shrugged.
“Okay.”
She walked away.
Daniela looked at Amara.
“You didn't have to do that.”
“Yes, I did.”
“You're becoming my bodyguard.”
“Someone has to.”
Daniel arrived a few minutes later.
“What happened?”
Amara explained.
Daniel frowned.
“Which senior?”
“We don't know.”
Then Teni returned.
“Guys…”
“What?”
“He's gone.”
Daniela stood up.
“What?”
“He said he wasn't waiting anymore.”
Amara looked at Daniela.
“See?”
Daniel sighed.
“Let's just leave it.”
But Daniela couldn't.
Something in her gut told her this was connected.
---
After school, Daniela stayed behind to finish an assignment.
The classroom was almost empty.
She packed her books slowly.
Amara had already gone home because her mum was waiting for her.
Daniel had football practice.
Daniela was alone.
Or so she thought.
She heard a chair scrape behind her.
She turned quickly.
Nobody.
“Hello?”
Silence.
She looked around.
The classroom was empty.
Then she noticed something on the floor.
A piece of purple paper.
She picked it up.
Her heart dropped.
7:42 WASN'T ABOUT AMARA.
Daniela's eyes widened.
She turned the paper over.
Nothing.
Then her phone buzzed.
A new message.
CHECK THE PHOTO AGAIN.
Daniela opened the photograph from yesterday.
She zoomed in.
The person behind her and Daniel was still blurred.
But this time she noticed something she hadn't seen before.
A school badge.
The person was wearing one.
And underneath the blur, she could make out the first letter.
D.
Daniela stared at it.
D.
Daniel.
Daniela's hands suddenly felt cold.
“No…”
Her phone buzzed again.
One final message appeared.
YOU TRUSTED THE WRONG BOY.
Daniela slowly lowered her phone.
Outside, the football field erupted with shouting and laughter.
Everything sounded normal.
But Daniela wasn't listening anymore.
Because suddenly, she wasn't wondering who was watching her.
She was wondering whether the person she had been trying to solve this mystery with…
was actually part of it.
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