Chapter Six

The Rebels did not know what to do. To obey or not to obey? To give or not to give? Doing both would get them into serious trouble. If they obeyed and gave her the documents, then they would be in trouble for breaking and entry, and theft. On the other hand, if they chose to disobey Miss Briggs and not give her the documents, they would be in trouble for insubordination. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"Miss Briggs," a student walked into the library, "Principal Winter is calling for you. There is a teacher's meeting taking place right now and you're late."

The Rebels looked at their savior, Dexter, with relief and gratitude written on their faces. At the moment Esther saw Dexter as an angel. There was a halo on his head and a bright light was glowing right on the spot he was standing. The fact that he was wearing all white made her vision seem more realistic.

"Am I really that late?" Miss Briggs asked.

"He was shouting when he told me to come and call you," Dexter replied, leaving Miss Briggs to answer the question herself.

"Oh, dear!" Miss Briggs exclaimed and ran out of the library, forgetting about the documents.

Dexter watched Miss Briggs run out and then turned to look at the three people who were looking at him with smiles on their faces.

"I don't know what you are doing with your faces but I don't like it. Stop it," Dexter said and walked out of the library.

"Phew, thank God," Andrew sighed. "Let's get going."

The three rushed out of the library with the documents.

"Where do we go now?" Lisa asked.

"I think we should finish our duties before we continue with our meeting. As interesting as the documents are, we still have tasks to fulfill as individuals and we can't neglect them," Andrew replied.

"Alright, then I guess we'll see each other later," Lisa said.

The Rebels were about to bid farewell to each other when Dexter came up to them. They stared at him, waiting for him to speak, but he did not say anything until after a while.

"Esther, I need to speak with you privately," Dexter said. He did not wait for her reply and walked away after ending his sentence.

His voice sent chills down her spine. Why did he want to speak with her privately? Did he find out about the group she started? Did he find out what she did the previous night? Dexter had never asked for her help or asked to see her before. What was going through his mind? All these thoughts flooded her brain as she handed Lisa documents and ran after Dexter.

When she caught up to him she was breathing hard and her chest was paining (even though he was only a few feet away from where she was). Dexter turned to look at her but he didn't say anything. He instead continued to walk out of the building and to the sports ground. Esther followed him quietly, wondering where he was leading her.

The sports ground was located at the back of the school. Since they had left through the front gate it took a while longer to get to the school ground. The weather was chilly. There were no security guards during the day, save for the gate man whose responsibility was to make sure that no student left the school without permission. A tall, brick red wall fence surrounded the school, making it difficult but not impossible for someone jump over it and leave the school. The person, however, would have to face the forest that circled the school.

"I wanted to... Ahem... apologise to you, I guess," Dexter spoke as they walked. He scratched the back of his neck. His eyes failed to meet hers.

Esther was stunned. Was the Dexter Paige apologising to her? Not only that, but there was a tinge of red on his cheeks. He was nervous? The only problem was that she had no idea as to why he was apologising and what for.

Dexter stopped walking and turned around to finally meet her eyes. When she did not say a thing he continued to speak.

"I'm sorry for what I said to you after the meeting," Dexter took in a deep breath on air. "You have an equal say as I do in matters concerning the school. I'm not trying to abuse my power, or make you inferior to me. I just have a reason as to why I said we shouldn't tell Principal Winter about the missing students. I know what I said must have hurt you, but please find it in your heart to forgive me."

Dexter looked at Esther, waiting for her to reply, but she remained silent. He was afraid for a second that she would not forgive him, but when she opened her mouth he felt relieved. Esther tried to speak but nothing came out from her mouth. She held her throat and tried to speak again but had the same response. She had lost her voice!

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Dexter asked.

Esther cleared her throat, "Ahem. It's okay. You're forgiven."

Her voice came out in a quiet whisper.

"Hold on. Have you lost your voice?" Dexter asked and Esther nodded.

"Follow me," Dexter said and walked back in the direction from which they came. Esther followed him closely behind.

Dexter walked all the way from outside into the school building. Esther followed him and he entered into the kitchen. The kitchen was adjacent to the cafeteria. One could enter the kitchen from the door that linked it to the cafeteria, but the kitchen also had its own door. The two entered the kitchen using the main door.

"Hey, Bertha," Dexter greeted. "May I please use the kitchen?"

"Oh, my dear. It's been a long time since you last came to visit me," Bertha stood up from her chair and walked up to Dexter. She planted a soft kiss onto Dexter's forehead. "Of course, use the kitchen all you'd like."

"Thanks, Bertha," Dexter said with a smile.

Esther was shocked to see Dexter smile. It was probably the first time in the three years they'd known each that she'd seen him smile.

Dexter grabbed hold of a kettle. He went to the sink and filled the kettle with water and placed it to boil. From the cupboard he got a box of tea bags and a coffee mug. He placed one tea bag into the coffee mug and walked to the fridge. He found a jar of honey and took it out, and placed it on the table – where the coffee mug was sitting. He opened the drawer and retrieved a spoon. He then placed the spoon on top of the jar and stood quietly, waiting for the water to boil.

"I'm making my grandma's famous honey tea," he said. "She used to make it for me whenever I got sick. It works just as well as medicine, but it tastes better."

Esther nodded and the two waited for the water to boil in silence.

When the water boiled Dexter poured some of the hot water into the coffee mug and stirred the water with the spoon. He removed the tea bag and threw it into the bin, and then added two spoons of honey to the mixture.

"Would you like some milk?" Dexter asked and Esther nodded.

He placed the jar of honey back into the fridge and took out a carton of milk. He added some milk to the tea, before placing the milk back into the fridge.

Satisfied, he walked back to Esther with the coffee mug in his hand and handed it to her. "Be careful, it's hot."

Esther took a sip of the honey tea and was blown away by the taste. It was hot but not too hot as the milk had cooled it down, and the honey sweetened the tea. Esther wasn't a fan of honey. She had never been a fan of honey but she loved the honey tea.

"The tea does wonders to the body. It's a two in one cure," Dexter said. "It's hot and will warm up your body, getting rid of your cold in no time. And honey is known for soothing the voice, your throat will be healed and your voice will be back in no time. You just have to drink at least one cup every day."

Esther could already feel her voice coming back.

'Thank you,' she mouthed to Dexter.

"No problem," Dexter said. He lifted his wrist to look at his watch, "It's already ten-thirty, I have to get going. I have things to do."

Esther nodded and Dexter walked out of the kitchen without giving her a second glance. Esther stood quietly, carefully sipping her tea. She wished she could enter the cafeteria and drink the tea while seated at one of the desks, but some students – who had been punished by Miss Greene for not doing their homework – were cleaning the cafeteria.

Esther finished her tea after a long while, and washed the coffee mug and spoon, and dried them using the dish cloth. She placed the coffee mug in the cupboard, and the spoon in the drawer.

"Thank you, Bertha," Esther said to Bertha (who was chatting with the other lunch ladies).

Her voice was not back and her throat was still sore, but she took the effort to thank Bertha.

"No problem, dear," Bertha said and went back to taking to her fellow lunch ladies.

Esther exited the kitchen. She closed the kitchen door and turned around to walk to her room but jumped back in fright when she saw that someone had been standing outside the kitchen door. She looked up to the person and saw that it was Dalphon.

She placed a hand on her chest, "Goodness, Dalphon, you startled me!"

Dalphon smiled and stepped back to give her a little space, "Sorry."

"What do you want?" Esther asked him.

"To give you this," Dalphon said and placed a polythene bag into her hand. "That's medicine. It was cold last night and you weren't wearing a jacket outside. I felt that you would have a cold this morning, so I bought this for you."

"You bought it?" Esther asked. "I thought we weren't allowed to leave school."

"The principal was going out, so I gave him money and asked him to buy it," Dalphon smiled. "You do know we are allowed to do that, right?"

Esther did not know because she had never needed to buy extra necessities. Her mother always made sure she had more than enough before sending her off to school.

Esther nodded awkwardly, "Sure. Thank you, Dalphon."

"Did you lose your voice? You sound like you're forcing yourself to speak."

"I'm fine. Thank you for the medicine. I'll definitely feel better after taking it."

Dalphon smiled but didn't say anything. When Esther noticed that he was done talking, she bid him a farewell and returned to her room.

Alice was not in the room as expected. Alice rarely stayed in the room on Saturdays. She would sleep for a little while before leaving to 'chill with the girls' – as she put it. Esther didn't know who 'the girls' were, but she wasn't in the least interested. She couldn't care less as she did not want to be a part of Alice's friend circle.

Esther placed the polythene bag on her study desk and climbed up the ladder to her bed. She lay on her bed and closed her eyes, thinking about Dalphon and Dexter.

She really did not understand either of them. They weren't her friends. The first time she had ever spoken to Dalphon was the previous night, so she didn't understand his sympathy. Dexter's sympathy was understandable. They had known each other for a long time. Nevertheless, she was grateful for Dalphon.

Esther lay quietly in her thoughts and did not know when she slowly drifted off to sleep.

---

Lisa was washing her clothes in the girls' bathroom when a girl walked up to her from behind.

"Hey, Lisa."

Lisa turned around to meet her best friend Avery. Avery and Lisa had been best friends from time immemorial. Their mothers were best friends and they had automatically turned into best friends. Avery was the head cheerleader and a gorgeous teenager. She had silky, long black hair, big blue eyes and was slightly above average height. She had a soft voice.

"What's up?" Lisa asked, momentarily stopping what she was doing.

"You've missed cheerleading practice for most of this week," Avery said. "I'm wondering if everything is alright with you."

"I came on Monday."

"Only. This is not like you," Avery said. "Is everything alright? Coach is thinking of cutting you from the team."

"Then let her take me off the team," Lisa sighed and got back to washing her clothes. All she had left to do was to rinse them and spread them outside. "I just have too many responsibilities right now."

The cheerleading team was important to her but she did not see where it would take her in future. Through cheerleading she had made a name for herself in the school and she could spend more time with Jackson, but she just had a lot to do in the time being.

It was not like coach would have her cut from the team. She valued all the members of the cheerleading team and treated them as her children. The worst Coach Murphy could do was to give her a speech on dedication.

"This isn't like you at all! Is this about Aunt Genevieve?" Avery asked.

"No, Mom is fine... I hope. I'm just really busy," Lisa said.

"Don't tell me the rumours I've heard are all true."

Lisa paused and looked up immediately, "What rumours?"

"I heard you have made new friends and forgotten about me," Avery said. "You don't even eat at the same table with us anymore."

"I have made new friends, yes, but I haven't forgotten about our friendship," Lisa admitted. "Nothing's wrong. We're still besties. Now, if you're done complaining, come and help me finish rinsing my clothes."

Avery laughed and rolled up the sleeves of her sweater, "I'll do anything for you, bestie."

---

"Hey, Andy, want to play football for a while?" Elias, one of Andrew's friends barged into his dorm room.

Andrew lifted his eyes from his textbook and looked at his friend. "Nah, man. I gotta study. Mid-terms are coming up."

"Okay, man," Elias said. "I'll see you later."

Elias stepped out of his friend's room, making sure to close the door behind him. Andrew then continued to read his Biology textbook, but he was unable to concentrate on his studies. There was a lot on his mind.

What would happen if they were caught? Would they be arrested? How could he maintain his image and the image of his family if the entire school found out?

Andrew groaned in irritation and closed the book angrily. He threw the book on his study desk and stood up to lie on his bed.

He pulled out his phone from underneath his pillow. It was almost eleven o'clock, two hours until one. With a sigh he got up from his bed, looked for his sports shoes and left his dorm room. If he couldn't relax he would at least play with his friends for a while.

---

When one o'clock came by, the students were more than eager to find out who had locked up Principal Winter and William in the restroom. However, the announcement that came was not what they expected.

"Good afternoon school. This is Principal Winter. Since none of you decided to take responsibility for your actions, all of you will suffer the consequences. From now onwards all your electronics will be confiscated. You will only use the school's computers to do your research work but only when a teacher asks me for permission to do so. Forget the lunch meant for the winning Dorm Supervisors. You will eat whatever is offered by the school. Lastly, from now on the lights will go out at nine o'clock. I hope you have learned you lesson. Have a great day."

With that, Principal Winter ended the announcement.

All the students groaned after the announcement was made. They were all angry with the announcement and the people who refused to turn themselves in. Almost immediately after the announcement was made teachers piled into the halls, classrooms, extra-curricular rooms and dorm rooms with carton boxes, and began to collect the electronics of each student one-by-one.

The teachers were also unhappy because they weren't supposed to report for work on Saturdays – except Miss Briggs.

Korah and Jackson were in their dorm room when they heard the announcement. Jackson was on the top bunk texting Lisa, while Korah was on the lower bunk reading a novel.

A teacher, Mr. Rodrigo, walked into their room, "Phones, boys."

Korah got up from the bed and placed his phone and laptop in the carton box. Jackson got down from the top bunk and placed his phone, laptop, tablet, iPod and headphones into the box. It took him a while to find the electronics because he rarely used them, save for the phone.

Mr. Rodrigo watched Jackson put his electronics in the box in surprise, "Does your father own and electronics company or something? What are you doing with all these? Are you done?"

Jackson looked around the room before nodding his head, "I think so. Yeah."

He himself was unsure.

Mr. Rodrigo stepped out of the room and Jackson went back to his bed while Korah stood up.

"Are you sure that's all you had?" Korah asked him with one eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"You didn't check your bed or under your study desk," Korah said. "I've seen you with way more electronics than the ones you gave Mr. Rodrigo."

"Eh, I'll check later," Jackson said.

"Why do you even have all these electronics?"

"Dad thinks that he can buy my love and forgiveness. That is why he continually buys me stuff and why I have all these electronics," Jackson explained.

"At least he tries to get on your good side," Korah sighed. "He rarely comes to visit and thinks that taking me to the most popular school in the Landgema Island is enough."

Korah placed his hand on the door handle of the room door and opened the door. He wanted to have a talk with Esther, Andrew and Lisa.

"Where are you going?" Jackson asked.

"To meet my friends."

"Do you even have any friends?" Jackson asked and barked a loud laugh.

"Brat," Korah muttered under his breath and walked out of the room.

It was going to be difficult to gather the three of them, especially because they no longer had their electronics and the boys were not allowed to go to the girls' dorms and vice versa.

He made his way to Andrew's dorm room. There was a sign on the door of Andrew's room that read: Dorm Supervisor, Andrew Thompson.

Korah knocked on the door thrice but got no response. He stood outside the door, thinking of what to do when a young boy passed by.

"Excuse me," Korah called out to him.

The boy stopped in his tracks and turned his head to Korah. The boy had long hair that covered his forehead and his eyes. His hair was a curly afro. It was in need of a serious trim.

"Yes?" The boy asked.

"Do you know where Andrew Thompson is?" Korah walked up to the boy.

Korah doubted that the boy knew who Andrew was because he wasn't his Dorm Supervisor.

"The Year 13 Dorm Supervisor?" The boy asked and brushed his hair away from his eyes.

Korah nodded his, "Yeah. Have you seen him around?"

The boy bobbed his head up and down, causing his hair to bounce. "He is playing football outside with the other seniors."

"Thanks, kid," Korah said and rushed past the boy before stopping. "One more thing, you need a haircut. It will make you look smarter."

"Mr. Rodrigo said so too but I can't go to the salon, we're not allowed to leave the school," the boy said.

"You can come and ask me anytime," Korah said. "I have a barbing machine. You can find me in Dorm Ward 9, Room 5."

"Aren't barbing machines also electronics? Weren't they confiscated by the teachers?"

"I think the teachers only wanted those electronics that you can communicate with, and barbing machines don't fall into that category."

The boy smiled, "Thanks."

"No problem," Korah said. "Now if you excuse me. I have to get going."

The boy reminded him of someone he felt indebted to. Treating the boy nicely made him feel like he was treating his creditor in the same manner.

Korah made his way down the stairs and outside to the sports ground.

Indeed, Andrew was playing football with his friends. Andrew was fast but his mind seemed to be elsewhere as he kept passing the ball to his opponents.

Andrew's team was wearing blue while the opposing team was wearing red. They weren't dressed in their football attire but in comfortable clothes that was still able to protect them from the cold weather.

Korah sat on the bleachers and watched as one of the boys in blue passed the ball to Andrew. Andrew dribbled the ball towards their goal post, and once he got to their goal post, he passed the ball to a boy in red. The boy in red passed the ball to the goal keeper and he kicked it in the opposite direction.

Exhausted, Andrew left the field for the bleachers. He had failed to get his head in the game and he was sure that his friends would be angry with him after the game. The game was not as important as inter-school competitions but for the boys, it was equally as important. The losing team would have to give their best snacks to the losing team, and Andrew loved his potato crisps.

Andrew looked up and saw Korah sitting on the bleachers. Korah waved at him to come by and he did so.

"What's up?" Andrew asked and sat beside him.

"I've come to talk about the whole issue of the school," Korah replied. "Especially about the confiscation of our electronics."

"What about it?" Andrew asked as he untied the shoe laces of his sports shoes.

"Don't you find it awkward?" Korah asked. "Locking him in the restroom has no link to our telecommunication devices."

"Maybe he's just upset and he thinks he's punishing us," Andrew said. He sat straight and looked at Korah. "He thinks that we can't live without our electronics and this is our punishment."

"That makes sense but remember that we are also not permitted to use the school's computers without a teacher's supervision, and that teacher also has to ask Principal Winter personally for permission before they can be used," Korah said. "That doesn't make much sense."

Andrew thought about it for a while before nodding in agreement, "I agree. But what do you think is his reason for doing this?"

"Maybe he realised that someone hacked the school system and deleted the camera footage," Korah said.

"Or maybe someone found something against him and he doesn't want the news reaching a larger audience," Andrew said.

"What do you mean?" Korah asked in confusion.

"Remember we broke into his office last night to steal some documents?" Andrew asked in a whisper. Korah responded with a slight nod. "Well, according to the documents we found, our parents donated almost 900, 000 Pounds last term alone for things that don't exist in the school. He probably noticed that the files are missing."

"900, 000 Pounds? That's insane!" Korah exclaimed.

"The only problem is that we don't have real proof against him," Andrew said. "We don't even know how to acquire proof against him."

"Why don't you ask the teachers?"

"Huh? Ask them what?"

"Why don't you ask them about your findings?" Korah replied. "If the documents are genuine, then the teachers should know about the contributions and what the money is being used for. If the teachers are oblivious to it, then you can use that against him."

"That's a good plan but I have one problem: teachers aren't particularly fond of me," Andrew confessed. "Someone else should speak to the teachers."

"I can do it," Korah said after much consideration. "You can just show me the documents, so that I can know what exactly to ask them."

"That's no problem," Andrew said. "Lisa has the documents. All we need to do is have a meeting with the girls and inform them about our next move. We also have to read the remaining documents and then find out Principal Winter's secrets."