The storm had only just started, but the cracks were showing.
Rina wasn't smiling anymore. She sat in class with her arms folded, lips pressed tight, eyes flicking toward every phone that buzzed. Gossip was wildfire in Elite Crest — once it started, it spread fast and scorched everything in its path.
Just like the flames that once consumed Nara.
But Nara's fire wasn't done.
She was just shifting her aim.
*Next target: Mr. Adewale.*
The beloved Literature teacher. The "cool" one. The one who quoted Shakespeare while ignoring cries for help. In her past life, he smiled as she burned — too loyal to the father of his favorite student, *Daniel*, to speak up or act.
This time, she had something better than fire.
She had truth.
---
*After School – Staff Room Corridor*
Nara leaned against the wall outside Mr. Adewale's office, pretending to scroll through her phone. Her real focus was on the sound — muffled voices, drawers opening, footsteps pacing. She was waiting.
At 3:12 PM exactly, he stepped out and left for the staff meeting.
As expected.
She slipped in before the door could close.
Everything in the office was as she remembered: polished desk, neat folders, his award for "Educator of the Year" gleaming on the shelf. She went straight to the bottom drawer.
*Locked.*
She smiled.
Too easy.
From her blazer pocket, she pulled out a small silver hairpin. In her past life, she had spent months teaching herself how to pick locks after being framed. She'd been desperate for control.
Now, she was just prepared.
Click.
The drawer opened.
Inside — files. Photos. USB drives. And exactly what she needed: the *Student Incident Folder* for *Daniel Umeh*. It included a report on a bullying case Mr. Adewale had covered up, along with voice memos from a suspended teacher who tried to expose him.
She copied everything onto her flash drive.
Before she left, she pulled a red marker from her bag and scribbled something across a sticky note on his desk:
*"You taught us words, sir. But now, it's time you learned what truth sounds like."*
She stuck it beside his coffee mug.
---
*The Next Day…*
At 10:00 AM, a "leak" hit the school's shared network:
A voice memo of Mr. Adewale threatening a student to stay quiet about Daniel's attack on a younger boy.
By lunch, a student protest had formed outside the admin building.
By 3:00 PM, Mr. Adewale was suspended pending investigation.
He walked out of the building red-faced, silent.
And Nara?
She sat under a tree, calm, a book open in her lap — *The Tempest* by Shakespeare.
How fitting.
Someone dropped beside her.
Zayne.
"Two shots fired," he said. "You're really going for the high score, huh?"
"I told you not to get involved."
"I'm already involved. Even if I don't want to be." He watched her, brows furrowed. "You're not just here to survive. You're here to destroy."
Nara closed her book. "Good observation."
"What did they do to you?" he asked, voice low.
She looked him dead in the eye. "They killed me."
Zayne didn't laugh. He didn't smirk. He just nodded, slowly, like he understood something he couldn't explain.
"Then I hope they know… ghosts don't forget."
--