Chapter Four

Nighttime in Landgema Island was beautiful but Esther could not appreciate that beauty because of the person standing before her.

Full of fear Esther began to sob. The last time she had cried like that was three years earlier but that was a story for another day.

She tried to stop the tears but failed miserably. Just why did she have to embarrass herself in this manner?

The man who chased her looked confused and surprised by her outburst so much so that he squatted beside her and shone the torch to his face.

"Don't cry. It's just me, Dalphon James. Look, it's me," he said while beating his chest lightly with the palm of his hand.

Esther wiped her tears with the back of her palms and looked at the person squatted in front of her. He was indeed much more recognizable with the torch shone in his direction as she could see his face clearly.

Dalphon was the most popular student at Preston Prep because his father was the president of Landgema Island. However, he did not have many friends, or any friends whatsoever.

"Is it really you?" Esther asked foolishly.

Esther and Dalphon had never spoken before – despite being in the same class for three years – due to her inability to make new friends and his unapproachable demeanour.

"Yes, what are you doing here at this time?" Dalphon asked.

"I might as well ask you the same question," Esther shot back.

She felt embarrassed that she had ugly cried in front of Dalphon. Not because he was popular but because he wasn't part of her friend group. Crying in front of Korah would have been another issue, but Dalphon? He probably would never forget about it.

Dalphon smiled and looked up to the sky, "Nighttime is the only time when I am free and can be myself. As the President's son I have a lot of eyes watching me, from both the students and the teachers. It is different at night because no one can see in the dark. I come out to free myself from the boundaries of the school and the people in it."

"Do you smoke, or something?" Esther asked. "What could you possibly do at night that you can't do in front of everyone else? And did you sneak out of the school?"

Dalphon turned back to Esther and shook his head. "I don't do drugs or anything bad. You could just say I get rid of negative energy when no one is watching. It calms me down. Do you understand?"

Esther shook her head, "No, not really."

"You should because you are a student who holds power. Eyes are also on you."

I barely have any power whatsoever, Esther thought.

"Let me help you up."

Dalphon offered his hand to Esther to help her up but she ignored it and got up on her own. She stretched her legs and picked up the documents one after the other.

Dalphon retracted his hand, "So, are you not going to tell me what you're doing here?"

"Why are you wearing all black?" Esther asked, ignoring his question.

"I always ask the security guard to let me come out but Principal Winter doesn't know anything about it," Dalphon replied. "He leaves and enters the school whenever he likes and I can't risk being caught going against the rules. Now, what are those documents?"

Esther hid the files behind her back. Her entire body was shaking. She couldn't tell whether it was from the cold or fear.

"T-These are assignments," Esther lied. "I didn't have time to do them earlier in the day, so I chose to do them in the library when everyone had gone to bed."

Esther mentally kicked herself. Even she wouldn't believe that lie if someone else told it to her.

I didn't want to do it while everyone was awake because I was scared that they would copy or steal my assignment," she continued. "It wouldn't be the first time they did that. I printed the assignments using the printer in the Staff Room but when I heard some footsteps, I jumped out of the window, scared that I would get into serious trouble."

"But we are in the same class," Dalphon stated with one eye brow raised. "How come I don't know about these assignments?"

"U-uh, I-I made up the assignments on my own. Yes. I guessed that the teachers might give us these assignments in future, so I did them in advance," Esther let out a nervous laugh. "The assignments have not been given yet but I think they will soon."

Dalphon nodded his head and stretched out his arm, "I see. Can take a look? Wouldn't it be nice if we both had our assignments done in advance?"

Esther glared at his hands and said, "It's cold, I'm going inside. I'm also tired and I need to sleep."

Dalphon gave a polite bow, "It was nice talking to someone for a change. I hope we can speak in the near future. Have a good sleep."

Without a reply Esther ran to the entrance doors of the school. She placed the files under her armpit and searched for the keys in her pocket. After trying several keys, the door finally opened and she entered the building. She locked the door once again, and not knowing what to do with the keys, she carefully placed it on the floor, near the door.

With the files, Esther quietly passed through the girls' restroom and ran up the stairs. She could hear voices in the restroom but did not bother to find out who or what it was.

She snuck into her dorm room and climbed onto her upper bunk with the files. She placed the files under her pillow and used her blanket to cover her freezing body. As she lay on the bed she thought of what had happened and how she had nearly been exposed. Again.

She said a prayer and closed her eyes, hoping that she would fall asleep soon.

"Where have you been?" Alice asked from the lower bunk, causing Esther's eyes to shoot wide open. "Lisa came in a few minutes ago. She said that she was looking for you. Did you get into trouble with our Dorm Supervisor?"

"I-I didn't get into trouble but I did meet her. She just wanted to give me some files," Esther lied.

"But you went out long before that. Where did you go and what did you go to do?" Alice asked.

"I went to use the restroom, and why should I tell you what I was doing?" Esther asked and sat up on the bed, feeling frustrated from the night's events. "Do you need me to explain in detail my bowel movements?"

Awkward silence filled the room. On her bed, Alice's eyes were wide open because she did not expect Esther to burst out the way she did.

"I-I'm sorry?" Alice apologised but it sounded more like a question.

Esther did not reply. Instead, she lay back on her bed hoping to fall asleep. A headache was forming and all she wanted to do was sleep.

---

The following day was Saturday. The students were usually free on Saturdays, but the headmaster's announcement early that morning ruined their moods.

"Good morning school, this is Principal Winter. Last night someone locked our school custodian, William, and I in the girls' restroom and stole his keys. I urge whoever did it to confess. If I fish you out on my own it will not be good for you. I am giving you up till one o'clock this afternoon to confess."

A few minutes following the headmaster's announcement Andrew sent a text message to Lisa.

Andrew Thompson

Lisa, call Esther. We need to talk. We can meet in the library.

When Lisa received the text she knew exactly what it was about. Sadly, Esther did not want to speak to either of them. She had gone into Esther's dorm room as the Dorm Supervisor to ensure that the dorm was cleaned. However, Esther did not do as much as greet her. She just went about making her bed and sweeping her side of the room.

Every Saturday, before breakfast, all the students were expected to clean up their rooms. The teachers on duty would then hold inspections to find the cleanest dorm. The results would be announced later in the evening and on Sunday afternoon, after their church service, the top two Dorm Supervisors would be taken out of the school for lunch in a luxurious restaurant.

Lisa replied to Andrew's text message.

Lisa White

I'll meet up with you at ten but I don't think Esther's interested. I think she's angry with us.

Lisa turned off her phone and got back to supervising the cleaning of the dorms. As the Dorm Supervisor, Lisa had her own room. The Student Presidents were also supposed to have their individual rooms but Dexter managed to convince the headmaster and teachers that it was unnecessary and a waste of space.

Lisa woke up earlier than everyone else and cleaned up her room before going on to supervise the other rooms. She wasn't the Dorm Supervisor of the juniors but she occasionally supervised them to ensure that they were listening and being respectful to their leaders.

Lisa checked the time on her wrist watch. It was eight forty-five.

"Make sure you clean up well," Lisa told the two thirteen year old girls whom she was supervising. "Especially if you want your Dorm Supervisor to win this week."

"But why should we care?" Martha, one of the girls, asked. "Only she will get to eat out."

Martha was an outspoken redhead girl. She had beautiful milk skin and dark brown eyes, and was cute from the way she talked to the way she walked. Her roommate, on the other hand, was quiet and rarely spoke. Rumours spread among her classmates that she was mute, but she occasionally spoke to Martha.

"Don't worry, I'll tell Katy to bring back something for you guys if you win," Lisa smiled. "I need to get going now."

"Goodbye," both girls chorused as Lisa opened the door to leave.

Lisa exited the room and returned to her own room. Breakfast on Saturday was at nine, so she had to bathe before then. By nine ten (09:10), the doors to the cafeteria would be closed and whoever had not entered by then would miss out on breakfast, unless they had a loyal friend who was willing to save lunch for them.

Lisa made her way to the girls' bathroom after grabbing a change of clothing, a bar of soap, and her towel.

Lisa was hit by a whiff of steam and soap once she entered the bathroom. The bathroom was a large room. There was a large mirror, several sinks below the mirror, and each shower was located in a cubicle. There were drains below each shower on the floor that drained the water.

The bathroom was already filled with senior students and only one or two juniors. After greeting a few people, Lisa made her way to an empty cubicle to take her morning bath. It was difficult to find an empty cubicle as there were many other girls who were also desperate to take their own showers, making it a competition to acquire an empty cubicle before the others.

Lisa hung her clean and dirty clothing, and towel on top of the cubicle door and turned on the shower tap.

After her bath she dried herself with her towel and changed into her fresh pair of clothes; a pair of blue denim jeans and a white long sleeved shirt with a grey sweater on top of it. She then brushed her teeth at the sink.

Lisa made her way back to her room and with her dirty clothes. She placed her dirty clothes in a bucket that was full of her other dirty clothes and made her way to the cafeteria after turning on her phone and closing the door to her room.

No sooner had she entered the Dining Hall than the bell rang, signaling that it was nine o'clock and time for breakfast. Even though food had just started being served there was already a queue of people waiting to be served by the lunch ladies, and more students came rushing into the cafeteria. Lisa grabbed one of the trays, a knife and a fork, and joined the queue.

As she stood in line she studied the room in search of Andrew but her search was in vain. There were too many students in the cafeteria and their constant movements made her task even harder. The movement in the queue to the lunch ladies was slow but gradual.

Lisa was still on her toes looking for Andrew when the lunch lady shouted, "Next!"

Lisa stepped forward and the lunch ladies served her the Saturday breakfast; toast with jam spread, warm milk and bacon with two eggs. It was a hearty breakfast. She then made her way to an empty table, hoping that Andrew would find her.

Lisa had stopped eating with her friends, the girls from the cheerleading team, ever since she, Andrew and Esther joined arms to find the missing students. They had asked her if she was doing it deliberately but she simply avoided the question. Jackson had also been questioning her but her response was the same.

She said a short prayer and began to eat her breakfast. She was so engrossed in her food that she did not notice when Esther came to sit beside her.

"Morning," Esther greeted Lisa with a frown.

Lisa looked at Esther with confusion written all over her face. She was surprised that she came to sit with her even though she had refused to talk to her earlier.

Esther did not look like her usual smart self. Her hair was all over the place and she was wearing baggy sweatpants with an equally baggy sweatshirt. She also did not sound like herself. The Vice Student President looked as though she did not care how she presented herself and what everyone else thought about her.

"Hey, how are you? You don't look too good," Lisa stated the obvious.

Esther let out a load sneeze before answering.

"Let me see... Last night you guys ran away and left me alone in the headmaster's office. I had to jump out of his window in thin clothing and I got a cold. Oh, wait; I was almost caught by Dalphon James! Alice al-"

Lisa held up a finger, "Hold on, did you just say you were almost caught by Dalphon James."

Esther nodded her head and sneezed once again, "He chased me down like I was some sort of criminal."

"What was he doing there?"

Esther gave Lisa a thorough look, "Why should I tell you when you and Andrew abandoned me last night and saved yourselves."

"We didn't abandon you," Lisa said. "I went to warn Andrew because he was still in the kitchen. The headmaster left the office because William was screaming from the girls' restroom. He unlocked the restroom to find out what was going on and then entered it. Once he got in Andrew locked the both of them in the restroom afterwards. I then came to get you from the office, but you were gone and the window was opened, so I closed the window and went to your room to see if you were there, but Alice was awake, so I asked her about you and left because she provided no useful information."

"Then who unlocked the door for William and Principal Winter?"

"Andrew did this morning, to get on their good sides."

"But didn't William recognise him?"

Lisa shook her head, "Nope. It turns out that William cannot see clearly without his glasses, especially at night."

"Then why does he clean at night?"

"Do you seriously want me to keep on answering your question, or can I eat my breakfast?" Lisa asked.

"Sorry," Esther apologised.

Lisa took a sip of her milk and dropped the cup back onto the food tray.

"What about the files? Did you manage to get them?" Lisa asked.

Esther took a bite out of her toast before replying, "I got some files. I didn't manage to read them, so I jumped out of the window with whatever I grabbed from his cabinet. I still haven't checked them out. I kept them under my pillow."

Lisa nodded, "Aren't you worried that Alice may find them though? I mean, she is always sticking her nose in everyone's business."

"The day Alice touches my stuff will be the day I slap her."

Lisa burst out laughing, "Esther Brown and violence do not go together. Like, you're a goody two shoes."

"And so are you," Esther stated. "We're only like this because our classmates are missing and we haven't heard anything from the teachers at all. We have to do this else we may be next. However, I am never breaking into an office ever again, I think it was wrong and we almost got caught."

"Yeah," Lisa said with a serious face and then began to laugh.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Can you imagine that this week was the first time that you, Andrew and I ever spoke without it being about our duties, and we've already gotten ourselves into trouble?" Lisa asked. "I mean, I've had a really clean record and so have you and Andrew, well, until this Tuesday."

Esther smiled, "It's not a good thing to get into trouble with school authorities, but I'm happy that we have each other's backs. I'm glad that we haven't been caught."

"Am I missing out on anything?" Korah joined the conversation and sat beside Esther. Good morning, Esther and Esther's friend."

"Morning," the two girls greeted.

Esther studied her friend. He was dressed smartly, as usual. He was wearing a black dress shirt that was tucked into black jeans with a black sweater.

"Are you okay? You sound ill, Esther," Korah said.

"Just flu. I'll probably be fine by next week," Esther said.

Korah placed the back of his palm on her forehead, "Do you have a fever? Have you visited the nurse?"

"Yeah, she gave me some tablets and told me to get some rest."

"Why do you go around dressing like Dexter all the time?" Esther asked.

"I just like to look smart," Korah replied. "Mama says a person judges by appearances first. Besides, Dexter dresses all classy. I'm dressed casually."

"I guess so," Esther agreed.

It wasn't a lie. Dexter was always dressed like he was a special guest at a black necktie event. Esther was certain that he also slept in a suit at night. The fact that he played the violin made her think that he was a man born in the early fifties disguising himself as a teenager. It was a really a stupid thought.

"By the way, did you hear of what happened to Principal Winter and William last night?" Korah asked, looking between Esther and Lisa.

"Yeah, pretty hilarious though," Lisa laughed nervously and popped one bacon strip into her mouth.

"It won't be funny for the person who did it if Principal Winter fishes him out himself," Korah said.

"You and Esther are practically the same person," Lisa scoffed.

"How is he going to find out who did it anyway?" Esther asked.

Korah pointed to the top corner of the wall of the cafeteria, "Look up."

Esther and Lisa lifted their heads simultaneously and when realization dawned upon them they both said in loud whispering voices, "Cameras."

"Are the cameras located everywhere in the school?" Lisa asked.

Korah nodded, "Everywhere except the dorms, library, gymnasium, restrooms and bathrooms, but I'm sure that Principal Winter will use the hall cameras to find out who did it."

Esther's eyes bulged out of their sockets. She looked at Lisa and she had the same look on her face.

Esther stood up from her seat, "Look, Korah, we have to go. I'll see you later."

"Already? You only ate half of your toast," Korah pointed out.

"I have no appetite," Esther lied. "Please eat the rest of our breakfast, Korah, we wouldn't like the food to go to waste. Let's go, Lisa."

Lisa nodded and stood up from her seat. Just as she stood up Jackson walked up to talk to her.

"Hey, Lisa, do you want to hang out after breakfast? We've barely spoken to each other this week. You've been really busy and I don't even see you at practice these days."

Lisa gave him a smile and took his hands into hers, "Jackson, I would love to hang out with you today, but I'm very busy right now. Maybe later."

Lisa dropped his hands and ran out of the cafeteria with Esther running behind her.

Jackson walked closer to Korah and put his hands in the pocket of his jeans. He then looked at the door of the cafeteria where the girls had just run out from with a confused look on his face.

"What's up with Lisa?" He asked Korah. "I've never seen her look that nervous in the entire three years that I've dated her – ten years since I met her. That was really weird."

"Tell me about it. Esther just ran out as well," Korah said.

Jackson looked at the table, "Ooh, free food."

He sat on the chair where Lisa had sat and grabbed the fork. He stabbed one of the eggs with the fork and shoved it into his mouth.

"Gross," Korah said, "you didn't even wash the fork. How did you even manage to get that entire egg into your mouth."

"What does it matter? The food was getting cold," Jackson looked at Korah, spitting on his face as he spoke.

Korah wiped his face with his napkin, "Did you even pray before you ate? How is it possible that you're an athlete, yet you eat like a pig? Where are your manners?"

"I'll pray when I'm done eating and I have fast metabolism, that's why I don't gain much weight. I threw my manners down the drain when I found out that I had an illegitimate brother," Jackson said and swallowed the food. He wiped his mouth with the back of his palm, "By the way, have you heard any news about Richard?"

Korah shook his head, "Nope, nothing. Don't you think that you should call his mother and report him missing? She deserves to know."

"Our school is practically located in a forest," Jackson said. "The signal is really bad here. The line breaks if I call someone who's not in or near the school. It's also against the rules. All I can do now is to protect Martha."

"Who?"

"Martha. Richard's younger sister. She's a junior here," Jackson replied.

"Oh."

"You better get started on my homework, nerd," Jackson grabbed Lisa's and Esther's lunch trays and walked away with them. "I'm going to eat this."

Korah watched Jackson walk away in shock. Why exactly did he act the way he did? One moment he was all nice and the next he was back to his rude self. It was then that Korah realised Jackson had taken Esther's food tray as well. Brat! That was meant for him.