Saint Patrick's College

Chapter Twenty-Three

That Sunday evening, Adaeze was restless in her room. Sleep was not in the cards for her. She was fine with that. She hadn't been sleeping much recently either. She could do that when the Nwafor case was done and dusted. She could do that when she was back home for the holidays with her family. For now, she had responsibilities. Self-imposed, but responsibilities nonetheless.

She sat up and kicked her legs over the side of her bed.

Ayomide who sat crisscrossed on her bed with her phone in her hand, looked up from the device. "Something bothering you?" She asked when she saw the strained look on Adaeze's face.

"That obvious?" Adaeze set her phone down on her bed.

Ayomide nodded. "What's on your mind?"

Adaeze thought about how she could go about telling her friend about the leather-bound book. It was about time she came out with it. "What would you do if hypothetically, I lied to you about something important?" She ran her tongue over her bottom lip, her hands clammy.

Sensing how important the conversation was, Ayomide set her phone down too. She sat at the edge of her own bed and faced Adaeze.

"Have you been lying to me about something important?" She frowned.

"Remember that diary Daniella and Elizabeth wanted us to find?" Adaeze bit down on her bottom lip. She couldn't back down now. It was the right time. She'd gone through everything the book had to offer, there was no reason for her to still keep it concealed.

"Yeah?"

"I kind of found it that day in Ogechi's room." She cringed waiting for Ayomide's reaction.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Ayomide shot to her feet.

"I don't know." Adaeze said. She hesitated, then reached under her pillow and pulled out the leather-bound book.

She held it out.

Ayomide's eyes widened as she took in the sight of it.

"Where did you even find it?" Ayomide asked, almost in disbelief, as she took the book from Adaeze's hands.

"It's a long story," Adaeze replied. "But this book... it knows things. Things about everyone in Femi's clique."

Ayomide's eyes flickered with skepticism. "What do you mean, it knows things?"

Adaeze took a moment to explain everything, from when she found the book in the back of Ogechi's wardrobe to its accurate revelations about Femi and his friends.

Ayomide's expression shifted from disbelief to a thoughtful frown.

"So, this book is like a school diary but with everyone's secrets?" Ayomide summarized, setting the book down on her own bed.

Adaeze nodded. "Exactly. And I've been using it to uncover the truth about Ogechi's case, about everything happening in this school."

Ayomide ran her fingers through her hair. "Adaeze, why didn't you tell me about this earlier? We could have worked on this together."

Adaeze let out a breath.

Ayomide wasn't mad.

Disappointed, but not mad.

"I was scared, Ayomide. Scared of what it could mean. And I was selfish. This was the only thing that could help us uncover what really happened to Ogechi Nwafor and I didn't want to share that with anyone."

"God, Adaeze," Ayomide heaved a sigh as if she didn't know what she would do about her best friend.

"But now, I think we need to use this information wisely. It could help us find out what really happened to Ogechi."