Every Move Must be Calculated

Leaving their classroom very late wasn't a norm for Anna and Sylvia. In fact, they were usually the first to leave, especially after what happened to Sylvia. But today Anna couldn't leave early because she had an assignment to complete and Sylvia waited behind for her because she was always afraid of moving around the school alone. 

After Anna was done with her assignment, she packed her books into her portable school bag as her mind traveled back to her meeting the new senior, who turned out to be Stanley's sister. She was the perfect ally and Anna could barely wait to get started on her mission. It was almost at the tip of her lips to tell Sylvia all about their plans, but she knew Sylvia would advise her against it. And the last thing she needed was someone telling her to halt her plans of destroying the school, she thought to herself before walking out of her classroom.

Chatting absentmindedly with Sylvia, it surprised her when her friend suddenly halted, Anna looked up then to find out why Sylvia had suddenly stopped and lo-and-behold Senior Gloria was standing in their path with her arms akimbo, a hostile glare on her dark face.

Anna stiffened. "What did she want again?" "Why was she blocking their path?" Suddenly, Sylvia clutched her arms, shaking in fear as she hid behind her, and the sudden movement alarmed Anna. Prompted by Sylvia's fear, she looked up to see the source of her friend's fear. And It was senior Clinton and Pablo who were both standing in front of their classroom veranda, watching them silently.

"Hey! Youngie… what are you both still doing in school by this time?" Senior Gloria snapped at them, her heart suddenly rejoicing that Anna was once again in her trap.

"I was doing my assignment. She…" Anna tried explaining before senior Gloria cut her short.

"Shut your mouth… Who asked you? Don't you know you are not supposed to be on the school premises after school hours? Don't you?" She barked, desperately looking for a reason to punish Anna.

"Yes, Senior, we were doing an assign…" Anna tried explaining again but Gloria rudely interrupted her.

"Keep quiet! You talk too much! Are you not supposed to be on your way to the kitchen now for your kitchen duty? Or do you want me to report you to Mrs. Gracious? Lazy brat!"

"I will, so can we go now?" Anna asked impatiently for the sake of Sylvia who was fidgeting under the heavy stare of Pablo and Clinton.

Gloria said nothing in reply as she continued to glare at Anna, still desperately searching for reasons to punish her. After waiting for some seconds for senior Gloria's response and there was none, Anna held Sylvia and continued moving towards the direction of the hostel.

"Are you stupid? Did I permit you to leave? Ehhhhheee! I can see you are losing your respect for you seniors. You think your mum will come to school to save you again this time?" Gloria growled at her.

"Right? Can you imagine this stupid brat walking out on me! How dare you?"

As Gloria's screams rang into the deserted school compound, Naomi stepped out her classroom to see who was being harassed. And she stiffened in anger when she saw it was Anna, her newly found ally. Disgruntled, she wanted so badly to yell at Gloria to stop, but she held herself back just to see how things would play out. With her eyes fixed on Anna, it wasn't hard for her to notice her clenched jaw and the girl hiding behind her in fear or shame. Naomi had no idea which it was. But something told her she was the girl who had been raped by some seniors.

Her eyes roamed the quiet school compound and just then she looked at the extreme end of their class veranda and noticed the Bernard boy walking towards her. Her mind was screaming curses at him and she wanted to frown at him or even scratch out his eyes, but it wasn't the right time. So, instead, she kept her feelings hidden in a plain look as she watched him bounce towards her, his pride obvious in his gait. He probably thought she was going crazy for him, like the rest of the girls in their school. Naomi sighed.

Gloria was still scolding Anna when she saw Clinton walking towards the new girl, which made her heart somersault. "This cannot be happening!" "Clinton can't fall for her!" She screamed in her head as she watched Clinton flash a smile at the girl, who didn't seem even a bit impressed by his handsome face or magnetic personality.

Naomi wasn't interested in what the brute, Clinton or whatever had to say to her. She hated him so much and would have told him so if she could. But for the sake of not blowing her cover, she kept her mouth shut as he tried to woo her. He said a lot of things that would make other girls tingle with excitement, but Naomi wasn't interested in any of that. Her primary focus was on Anna and her friend,who stood like slaves as Gloria harassed them with words. Gloria's voice suddenly died down, and Naomi noticed it was because she was watching her and Clinton. The envious look on her face was hard to conceal and because of that, Naomi started responding to Clinton's flirtation just to anger Gloria.

Gloria became so angry that she could barely concentrate on the juniors when she saw Clinton and Naomi smiling and chatting with each other. Angrily, she dismissed the juniors, drawing her long skirt up as she climbed up the stairs to ruin the pleasant time Clinton was having with the new girl. Anna and Sylvia didn't hesitate to run off when senior Gloria released them because Sylvia was so scared that Pablo would pounce on her at any moment.

Gloria hurried up the stairs till she got to where Naomi and Clinton were chatting playfully with each other like they were long-time friends, her heart racing with anger.

"Can I speak to you privately?" Gloria asked Naomi, with some hint of bitterness in her voice.

Naomi was glad someone had released her from the torture of having to spend even one more second with Clinton. She despised him and pretending to like him was such a hard act for her to sustain, and if she didn't leave soon enough, he would have seen through her pretense. So, she nodded eagerly at Gloria's request before walking off to a corner with Gloria without even sparing Clinton another glance. Clinton frowned as he watched her go, feeling insulted.

"You should be careful who you joke around with in this school, especially with that boy. You know you are new here. Do you know who he is… He is a member of a secret gang in school. Everyone avoids him. And you can get in trouble by associating with him." Gloria advised Naomi like she actually cared about her.

"Who was she deceiving?" Naomi thought to herself as she watched the hypocrite feign concern for her when it was very obvious she was saying whatever she was saying because she didn't want her snatching the Bernard boy.

"Oh My God! So, there's a secret gang in a missionary school? What? What kind of school is this? Is the Deaconess not aware of this?" Naomi asked in a fake surprised voice. 

"The Deaconess is busy with so many things. She can't possibly know about something that bad. I'm just saying…" Gloria tried defending her mum before Naomi interrupted her.

"I think the Deaconess is incompetent and should be removed. How can she call herself a Deaconess when something so bad is happening in her school and she doesn't know? She must be so daft!" Naomi said in a derisive tone.

"She is my mum!" Gloria growled, her face suddenly clouding with anger. "Just watch who you mess with or what you say in this school, new girl. Bishop Evangelical College is not the innocent place you think it is."

With that last statement, she walked away, her heart tightening with a newly found hatred for the new girl.

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It was their second meeting, and they spoke in low voices as their eyes darted around in search of intruders. They had both agreed that the art room would be their secret place for holding their meetings on how to take down the school. Sneaking all the way to the art room was always difficult since it was far from the hostel. But somehow, they both found their way to the art room. Yes, they were willing to do that even at the expense of being caught by teachers. Their secret mission meant that much to them!

"I told you they are all evil! Gloria! Pablo! Clinton! All of them! All heartless! Did you see how she harassed I and my friend for no good reason? I hate every one of them!" Anna whispered as soon as they settled into the quiet art room.

"I saw everything, and I had the urge to slap her fat face into shapelessness. Look, Anna, we are starting with her. Here's what we need to do." Naomi said, gesturing for Anna to move closer for her to whisper into her ears.

Anna's eyes lit up when Naomi was done talking, and her faith in their mission grew stronger. They were both capable of taking the school down, that she was sure of it. "Senior Gloria is going down!" She smiled but Naomi wasn't smiling. Her eyes were staring blankly at the wall ahead as she calculated every move they must take.