Dre leaned back in the library's forgotten corner, his eyes flicking through a dusty archive of student disciplinary records. He wasn't there for knowledge—he was mapping patterns. Names, punishments, teachers who turned blind eyes. He was hunting roots, not leaves.
Emmanuel sat across from him, eyes wide as he watched Dre highlight something on an old, crumpled sheet.
"You seriously think this is connected to that night?" Emmanuel whispered.
Dre didn't answer immediately. Instead, he pushed the paper forward. At the bottom was a name: Mr. Tosin Adewale – Head of Discipline. Suspended 2021 for alleged misconduct, reinstated 2022.
Dre's voice was low. "Why would someone this dirty be allowed back in?"
"Maybe they needed him?" Emmanuel said.
Dre nodded. "Exactly. They needed someone who would look the other way."
Before Emmanuel could respond, Okiki appeared, slipping into the seat beside Dre like a shadow.
"They're watching you," Okiki said, sliding a folded note toward Dre.
Dre opened it slowly. The handwriting was neat and threatening:
"Stop digging. Not everything wants to be uncovered."
Dre folded the paper without emotion and tucked it into his pocket.
"We're not stopping," he said calmly. "We're accelerating."
Okiki smirked. "Kade's been asking questions again. About Mira. About you. He's desperate."
"He should be," Dre replied. "He thinks he's playing catch-up. He doesn't know he's already three moves behind."
---
Elsewhere, on the football pitch…
Kade kicked the ball too hard, letting it bounce out of play. He wiped sweat from his forehead as the coach yelled something he didn't bother to hear. His head was pounding—not from the heat, but from confusion. Every clue about Mira seemed to vanish when he got too close.
Then there was Dre. Always so calm. So quiet. So precise.
It was getting under his skin.
"Kade!" a voice called. It was Sofia, Mira's friend.
He jogged over.
"I heard she's not answering your texts," she said.
"She's... going through something," Kade replied, avoiding eye contact.
Sofia raised a brow. "You think you're the only one who sees she's changed? The silence, the stares… It's like someone turned the light off inside her. She's not telling me anything anymore."
Kade clenched his jaw. "I need to know who's behind it."
---
Back in Dre's room…
The lights were off, not for drama, but focus. Dre sat on his bed, a notebook open, its pages filled with symbols, patterns, and connections.
He circled one name: Principal Lawal. Then drew a line to Mr. Tosin, then to Group 9A, then to Dre's old neighborhood.
It was a web—and at the center was something far darker than expulsion or bullying.
His phone vibrated. A message from an unknown number:
"We see you, Silent Dre. Careful, silence doesn't mean invisible."
Dre's lips curled into a cold smile.
"Then let them see me," he muttered.