Rudd was late to class again, marking his second tardy day that week. His hair was messy, his shirt half-tucked, and his eyes looked duller than usual. Scarlet noticed, and so did everyone else.
Mrs. Nduka barely flinched when he slid into his seat during Chemistry.
"Nice of you to join us, Rudd," she said, her tone dripping with mild sarcasm.
"Sorry, ma," he mumbled.
Scarlet kept stealing glances at him. He didn't bother to open his notebook; he just stared blankly at the board.
During break, she finally managed to catch up with him near the tap area, where he was splashing water on his face, almost as if he was trying to shake off a deeper fatigue than just sleep.
"Are you okay?" she asked quietly.
He nodded a bit too fast. "Fine."
"You haven't seemed fine for days."
"I said I'm okay."
His tone caught her off guard, making her take a small step back. But she didn't walk away.
"I just want to help," she murmured.
He looked at her then, really looked. His eyes were filled with too many unspoken thoughts for a seventeen-year-old boy.
"Then stop expecting me to be someone I'm not and not interested in becoming"
With that, he turned and walked off.
Back at the hostel, Dapo and his friends were lounging on the corridor railing. Jide was teasing a junior who had accidentally mixed bleach into the mop bucket. Everyone was laughing, except for Dapo, who was flipping through Scarlet's old Chemistry notes. She'd lent them to him during one of their late-night hangouts.
He still hadn't given them back.
When Rudd passed by, Dapo didn't say a word. He just watched him go. He'd been picking up on the signs—the way Scarlet sometimes seemed distracted by someone else even when she was with him, how quiet she got when Rudd was mentioned, and how Rudd himself had started drifting away from the group.
It wasn't jealousy. Not entirely, at least. It was more like frustration—a competition he didn't sign up for but felt himself getting pulled into.
Later that evening, during prep, Mr. Oboh called Scarlet out of class.
As soon as she stepped outside and spotted the serious look on his face, her heart sank.
"What's going on?" she asked hesitantly.
"Come with me."
He didn't answer her question, just led her straight to the staffroom.
Inside, Miss Ifeoma, the Literature teacher, was there with a thin file and a weary expression.
"Scarlet," she started gently, "your exam scripts have been flagged."
Scarlet blinked. "Flagged?"
"For irregularities."
"I don't understand."
"It seems some of your answers in Government and Chemistry are too similar to those of two other students."
She swallowed hard.
"I didn't cheat"
Miss Ifeoma nodded. "We want to believe that. But the school board requires a formal review. You'll be placed under observation for the next two weeks while they look into it."
"But… I studied. I always—"
"I know," the teacher said softly. "We're just informing you, not accusing you."
The word 'accusing' echoed in her mind like a storm.
Back in class, everyone noticed her pale face when she returned. She didn't say anything. Rudd tried to catch her eye, but she avoided his gaze. Dapo looked confused and a little worried, but she didn't give him the chance to come over.
Amara cornered her after prep.
"What's wrong?"
Scarlet finally let her guard down, just a little.
"They think I cheated."
"What?! You? No way."
"I didn't. But they said two other students have similar answers."
"Who?"
"They didn't say. But I think… I think one of them is Dapo."
Amara went quiet.
"You're not sure?"
Scarlet shook her head. "No. But I helped him study. I gave him my notes. What if he—?"
"Scar, you can't accuse him without proof."
"I'm not. I'm just scared."
In the boys' hostel, Dapo stood by the window, holding his phone against the faint breeze coming through the mosquito net.
Jide was behind him, chuckling. "So the girl finally knows."
Dapo didn't turn around. "Knows what?"
"That you used her."
Dapo clenched his jaw. "I didn't—"
"You did. And you're still doing it. That exam thing? Clever. You didn't even come up with most of your own answers."
"Shut up."
Jide laughed. "She's too good for you, man. And you know it."
Dapo turned to him, his fists tightening, but he didn't swing. Not yet.
Rudd couldn't find sleep that night. He sat on his bunk, his sketchpad untouched, his thoughts swirling.
Scarlet was falling apart. Dapo was pushing his buttons. And Gab? Gab hadn't completely disappeared—he'd sent a message through a junior earlier that day.
"If she gets burnt, don't come crawling for pity. Some lessons require scars."
He knew Gab was talking about Scarlet, and that thought scared him more than anything else.
Scarlet sat at her desk late into the night, the weight of the investigation pressing down on her. Her grades, her parents, her dreams—they all felt like they were hanging by a thread.
And Rudd? She couldn't even bring herself to look at him without thinking about what could've happened if he'd just spoken up sooner.
Now, everything felt twisted. Blurred.
And the first real crack had formed.
Not in their relationship.
But in her.