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Chapter 2 – The Mission Begins

The next day, I walked to school alone.

No dumb arguments. No sarcastic banter. No Mo walking beside me like some oversized, mildly offensive shadow. Just me, the wind, and a whole lot of questions swirling in my head like a blender set to "anxiety."

I even took the longer route. Added fifteen minutes to the walk just to avoid the metro. Just to avoid him.

The moment I stepped into school, I got to work.

I pulled aside everyone I knew who had ever breathed the same air as Mo.

“Do you know what school he’s going to?”

Nope.

“Did he mention any names, even once?”

Nada.

“Anything at all? A brochure? A rumor? A coded message hidden in his doodles?”

Nothing.

It was like he’d vanished into the fog of war, and I was the only one who knew he was secretly plotting something unholy.

That’s when it hit me.

There’s only one person who’d know for sure.

His parents.

Now, a normal person would’ve waited until after school, gone politely to his house, maybe even brought cookies to soften the awkwardness. But me?

I was already halfway down the hall when the idea finished forming.

The school’s utility room smelled like broken dreams and mop water. I grabbed the old wooden ladder leaning against the far wall. The thing creaked like it was begging for death, but I hoisted it over my shoulder and marched to the courtyard.

My eyes locked on the school wall. No turning back.

I propped the ladder against the side of the building, took one deep breath, and climbed.

By the time I reached the top, my palms were raw and my heartbeat was trying to breakdance. I balanced on the ledge, looked down, and aimed for the thick branch of the oak tree that leaned just close enough.

“Here goes everything,” I muttered.

I jumped. Caught the branch. Hung there like a sack of terrified potatoes while my muscles screamed.

“GET DOWN FROM THERE!” a teacher shrieked from below.

I didn’t even look. I swung once, twice, then dropped to the next branch. Then the next. One after the other like a squirrel on a mission from God.

“STAY WHERE YOU ARE!”

“STOP RIGHT NOW!”

I landed in the grass and bolted like a demon was chasing me. I couldn’t stop—not now.

I was too close.

I hit the metro station, gasping, sweat dripping from my hairline. Slapped a bill on the counter.

“Six stations, please.”

The guy looked at me like I’d just come from war. He gave me the ticket anyway.

I collapsed onto a seat once I was on board. The rumble of the train soothed nothing.

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I kept thinking…

What if I was wrong?

What if Mo wasn’t some unhinged predator with the social filters of a toaster?

What if I was overreacting—again?

But then I remembered the look in his eyes when he said, “Those girls look hot.”

That deadpan, straight-faced sincerity.

He wasn’t joking. And that’s what scared me most.

I wasn’t just trying to find out where he was going.

I was trying to stop him from becoming something worse than a weirdo.

I was trying to protect people.

Even if no one believed me.

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The train hissed to a halt.

I sprinted up the stairs two at a time, burst onto the street, and made a beeline for Mo’s apartment building. Ten floors of concrete and regret. I didn’t even wait for the elevator.

Stairs. One by one. Two by two. My legs burned. My lungs wheezed. I didn’t care.

By the time I reached the 10th floor, I was shaking like a blender on max speed.

I rang the bell.

It opened a few seconds later, revealing a kind face with tired eyes—Mo’s mom. She smiled.

“Oh, Seno! Do you want to come in?”

“I—I can’t right now,” I panted. “I just need to ask something. One thing. Just one.”

She tilted her head slightly, confused. “Of course, dear. What is it?”

I looked her straight in the eye and asked the million-dollar question:

“Which school is Mo going to next year?”

She blinked. “El SHARKAWY School.”

Time stopped.

That name echoed in my skull like the toll of a cursed bell.

El SHARKAWY.

The elite institution. The perfect cover. A school for both boys and girls. From ages five to eighteen.

Five to eighteen.

I couldn’t breathe.

I couldn’t blink.

I couldn’t even scream.

Because in that moment, I realized something…

Mo had just walked into paradise.

And I was the only one who knew it was hell.

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